Goofenhowzen Express

Exploring Lawton, OK.

2011-09-29T23:40:00.012-05:00

Acknowledging the fact that it has been a long time since I have added to this blog, I can say that I finally got an excuse to travel and do a bit of updating. Following a National Muster with one of the clubs Christa and I belong to, we are moving down towards Texas in a liesurely manner to meet up for another muster with our travel club. In the mean time, we stopped over in Lawton, OK to check out some sites and relax a bit on our own. First order of business is to check out the local casinos. Not to bad, though I can say that I did my part to help our First Nations Peoples in their bid for prosperity.

On this trip we decided to bring the bike for a little adventuere. So far the adventure has meant a new battery and a new tire to replace the flat on the rear I got the other day. After the repairs, we were finally able to get out and explore a bit. The nearest object of interest is the Witchita Mountains near Lawton. The first site to stop at was Medicine Park at the foot of Mt Scott. The homes are built with cobblestones giving the place a unique look. We also stopped in at the local bike store "Chaps My Ass." Appropriately named, the store carried plenty of motorcycle accessories modestly priced.

After a poke about there, we left and began the climb up Mt Scott, the prominent peak in the area.

From atop Mt Scott the view is extraordinary. Though fires had left their mark, the rock exposures and views of lakes and surrounding mesas were quite breataking. The Juniper was above was just an amazing contrast to the background, I couldn't resist the shot.

After taking the amazing scenery from Mt. Scott, we proceeded down towards the little hamlet of Meer, OK. There we weer told of a unique little burger joint named, appropriately enough, The Meers Store. They grow their own beef (Longhorns) and bost the largest burger in Oklahoma. Very nice as the restaurant was built on an old mining post and is very rustic in nature. the place was an obvious favorite of the locals as the place was hopping at 2pm in the middle of the week.

After a fine little lunch, we were back on the road returning to Lawton. We payed another visit to the Commanche Nation Casino where I faired about as well as I previously did and (after a couple hours) returned to our RV.

Tomorrow we will be back on the road headed to Witchita Falls, TX for a few days. Maybe we'll see y'all on the road.

July 4th, 2010

2010-09-05T08:45:00.001-05:00

Another DAV 4th of July, this year with a twist. Comrade Mike Fore and myself rode our scoots in the parade this year. May have to rethink that decision next year.

As the temps were in the high 80's to low 90's and the bikes were really under the gun to maintain temps (especially the Harley guy ;) ). We loaded up a truck full of members and proceeded on to one of the biggest parades I had been party to in Seguin.

Some 400+ entrants to the parade stretching out a little over a mile long. Almost 1.5 hours in length.

Following the parade, we had a great BBQ provided by our Commander and his family cooking the meats and our Auxilary taking care of sides, desserts and drinks.

A 4th done up right.

Texas Hill Country Fall Ride

2009-11-16T22:43:00.001-06:00

Thought I'd post some pics of my most recent ride through the Texas Hill Country. Started out on a very cool foggy morning, Saturday, Nov 14, 09, and had to stop a couple miles after starting to put on my cold weather gloves. Damp and cool made for a question as to whether it would be a good day for a ride. But, the weather report said it was supposed to clear up and be a clear day. Taking I-10 to Loop 1604 to SH-16 I made the highway cruise to Bandera, TX, where I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie at the Ole Spanish Trail cafe. Met a couple of riders and we discussed the usual biker stuff, roads, sights, weather, near misses, you know the usual stuff. I stayed long enough for the fog to start to clear off and warm up a bit, then saddled up and continued up 16 towards Medina.

Some beautiful fall color as noted here with a shot of the scoot.
A little further up the road, I came across this shot. The picture does not do the scene justice (a wide angle lens would've helped). Anyway, had to take a shot.
Although this was my usual weekend ride, I actually had a goal, the Lonestar Motorcycle Museum in Vanderpool, TX. A favorite of motorcycle and car enthusiasts, this little museum out in the middle of Southwest TX has an excellent collection of privately owned motorcycles dating back generations.

I obviousle drifted towards the classic Triumphs, but there were Ariels, Matchless', Nortons, Hondas, Harleys, Indians, Vincents, and a few whose names I can not remember. All in beautiful condition. Obviously, I rcommend a stop if you're in the area.

They also serve some fine road cuisine. Famous for their burgers and fries, I instead had to try out the Chicken Curry Meat Pies. Deliscious.

After a casual meal and a thorough going over of the bikes, I headed back to the road and winding my way home.

Back through some beautiful winding roads, up and down hills, and crossing small streams here and there (really special after the year and a half drought) along the way.

Making it back to Bandera, I refueled and returned at a fairly good clip the way I came. Bandera is famous for rodeos, and trail rides. Here a couple of cowpokes entertain some tourists with rope tricks and a how-to on dutch oven cooking. All in all, about a 230 mile rounder and was well worth the sore butt I came home with. I was greeted at home with the Cowboys getting soundly whomped. Bummer dude. But I did get a good nap in.

Short November 09 Solo Run

2009-11-02T00:46:00.001-06:00

What a great day for a ride. Temps in the low to mid 60s expected to warm to the middle 70s. A crisp clear very cool morning for a ride in south of Texas. Usually I am running in the Texas Hill Country, but the Dallas Cowboys will be playing at noon and I have to make it a short trip.

That means I'm running in the farm and ranch lands east of San Antonio and south of I-10. Leaving my house I catch onto FM775 heading west. A couple of miles down the road I pulled over to get a picture (1st pic) of this fine clear morning, surely the Lord's work at his finest. Continuing west I passed through the little town of LaVernia and catch Hwy 81 going north towards Loop 1604, then west again. Seeing signs for Lake Calaveras, I decide to pay a visit as I had not been to this lake in quite a while. $2 entry and I'm in taking a bit of a rest (mostly to warm up). Still pretty much the same as it had been the last time I was here. A recreation and power lake, Calaveras is of a fairly good size with lots of fishing. The 2nd pic is of the scoot sitting in front of a plant (no, I don't know what the plant does) residing on the lake. Checked out the facilities and headed back on the road going west on 1604 again.

This time I'm heading for Braunig Lake a little closer to San Antonio (20 minutes fro downtown actually) just to check it out again as well. Going west 5 more miles, I take a right onto I-37 North and go another 4 miles taking the Lake Braunig exit. Another power/recreation lake, Braunig offers great fishing, picnicing and limited camping (primitive only). Still, a good little lake. A short pause to enjoy the scenery, take some pics (3rd one above) and then I'm back on the road north staying on the frontage road. I have an alterior motive here.

Next year I take over Muster Master for the RV travel Club of which I am a member. One of the duties of the Muster Master is to look for new places for the club to rally to. So I gave the Braunig Lake RV Resort a quick once over, including a chat with the manager about rates, accomodations and such other things before realizing that it was already after 11am. That meant it was time to mount up and blaze a trail home to make the Cowboy game in time. A short run, but a nice one as folks had not yet gotten out onto the roads yet. The only bummer was the throng of Long Nosed Brown Butterflies that have been blanketing the area lately (literally). Thankfully, I'm running with a windscreen. Made it home only 5 mins late to watch the Boys put a licking on the Seahawks. What a day.

VFW 2nd Annual POW/MIA Run

2009-09-25T18:00:00.012-05:00

My first big run in quite a while. Appropriately, it was a run sponsored by VFW Post 12058/MC group 16 and hosted by Cowboy Honda in Kyle, TX. Open to the public and all bikes, bikes started arriving at 9am to begin registration (if you hadn't registered earlier, I did). This was the 2nd annual POW/MIA run for 12058 and would prove to be a good one. I didn't get an official count, but by my eye about 70 bikes were there for registration while I was there.

Between 9 and 10 was a meet and greet opportunity where we all checked out bikes and then of course check out Cowboy Honda's inventories of stuff. I picked up a can of wax for the scoot and I noticed a number of other's picking up odds and ends (maybe even a new bike?). Anyway, a good turn-out from Cowboy's point of view as well. During this time I met a couple of enthusiasts, Phil from Flugherville and Jack from McQueeney (both HD drivers) and we struck it up pretty good and figured we would be a sub group on the ride.

At 10am, we gathered around for the POW/MIA ceremony. Being an officer of a veteran's service organization, I have done plenty of these (and honored to do so everytime), but this one was with a biker's twist to it and I thought it was done nicely. Instead of the table with a place setting for one, a bike (the Goldwing) was used with all the items that remind us that there is someone unable to join us, in this instance, for a ride.

After the service, we mounted up and headed out for the first checkpoint. The instructions had us return down I35 frontage road and turn right on Brent Rd and cruise through Kyle to pick up Rebel Rd. west. Ride to the junction of Rebel (SH150) and Kyle Road (RR3237), There was the first checkpoint at a quickstop. After we collected the ticket for this checkpoint we continued west on Kyle road. This leg took us through the town of Wimberly (no stop) and picked up 2325 on the west side of town heading west. The route continued on this rode till we intersected with RR165 at which point we turned left heading for Blanco. This is Hill Country Riding on the main roads, that means fairly good clip on well maintained roads. Nothing super twisty, but fun at the higher speeds (50-60). Beautiful country side with vineyards and medium sized ranches along the way. Often we were at the top of the hills and had some really great views.

Upon making it to Blanco, we arrived at the Sunset Bar & Grill to get our tickets. We were in the 2/3s part of the group, so the pub was fairly full by the time we got there. No big, at the same time Blanco was having their Market Day in the town square, So we ambled on over for some bbq and sausage sandwiches and talked it up with a couple of the locals (who were glad to see a hungry bunch by the way).

After a short break, we mounted up again and headed south out of town. We picked up RR32 heading back southeast Canyon Lake area catching RR3424 connecting to SR 306 east. Along the way we stopped at a bar (I forgot the name) and collected our 3rd ticket. After a beer (rootbeer that is) we continued east on 306 until we turned left on SR 1102 north heading to San Marcos. At this point we approaching 2pm, we're to be back at Cowboy's at 3. Our stop in Blanco wasn't as short as it probably should have been so we're hookin along pretty good. At this time we are closed up with the main body, I think there were probably 40-45 bikes or so here. The next checkpoint is Jack's Bar just north of New Braunfels on 1102 and 2439. Pics of me with my TBA and a picture of Phil with his Heritage HD (a real beauty). I think this is at the Comal/Hayes county line as the road changes at that point to SR2439. A short break at Jack's and we're heading north again. Going through San Marcos we pick up SH 80 and then turn onto Hwy 21 N. At this point it's the end of the run, we're a little behind (minutes) on the schedule, so we're just rolling. We finally make it back to Cowboy's a little after 3 and just in time for the drawing to begin.

They really had some prizes, $100s of bucks worth of gear and gift cards from local bke shops and other merchants.

Both my new buddies (Phil and Jack) won some gift cards, I just got be part of the confetti parade. Well, it's all for a good cause the money raised went to the VFW Wounded Warrior programs. Saying adios to my new companions, I headed back home and a good nap. Nice run.

The Re-acquaintance Run

2009-09-25T14:21:00.007-05:00

13 September saw my favorite gal and myself heading out for a short easy run around the general local. This was basically a re-acquaintance ride for Christa as she had not been on a bike in quite a while. A little bit of a re-learner for me as well as I had not carried a rider in quite a while.

So we stuck to rodes close to home that weren't real challenging, but offered all the opportunities to get "back in the saddle." We started out heading NE on Woelke Rd taking a right on Settlers Way, then turning SE on Sweet Home Rd. The roads out here are mostly flat with gentle undulations. Roads are in fair to good condition and are chip sealed, so you do get a little gravel action. Scenery is composed mostly of small ranchettes with a couple fairly large places with horses, cattle, goats and the occassional place hosting some exotic game such as axis deer and one or two places that have small herds of buffalo (I use the term herd loosely, a couple bulls and some cows). The weather was clear sunny, and started with a fair temperature, but became rather warm later on.

Christa was handling the new ride well and hadn't forgotten some of the basics of being a good rider (i.e. not doing strange things on the back of the bike like trying to stand or leaning opposite of the way I was going). My previous bike had a cushy sissy bar for her to lean back on, but the Bonneville just has the pillion seat. We continued on Sweet Home until we turned right on FM 467 continuing to FM 725. Taking a left just south of New Berlin, we proceeded SW to the town of LaVernia. Nice little town and they have some nice restaraunts, but we were rolling and continued until we reached SH 87, turning left and heading for Stockdale. We didn't actually go all the way to Stockdale, but turned right on SH 97 and continued on till a right turn onto US 181 (also known as the Corpus Christi Hwy) in Floresville. Nice straight rodes where we could unwind the bike a little.

About 10 miles up road on 181 we hit a rest stop and decided to take a water break and take an assessment of how the ride was going for Christa. Well, things were OK, but her backside was a little sore. Again the Triumph was not as cushy as the KZ Vulcan. Also, I think I might have adjusted the shocks to stiffly. Next time (will there be a next time?) I'll bring them down a notch. We sat there a little while relaxing as we had a noon lunch date with my sis and bro-in-law at the Texas Pride BBQ joint on 1604.

Shortly, we were back on 181 heading NE until we intercected with Loop 1604. 181 was a true Hwy with 70 mph speeds, so we were able to really open the throtle a bit, though I did keep it kind of tame for Christa's sake. Once heading east on Lp1604 we only had to go a few miles and we were at the Texas Pride BBQ joint. A local favorite with some of the best BBQ around. Top that off with a live outdoor music venue for the weekends (and being out in the country) this place can really draw a crowd. Thursdays are Bike Night, though I have yet made that as my partyin style is sort of mild these days. Still, a great stop if you only partake of the food (great cobbler, too).

After leaving Texas Pride we just sort of wandered through some back roads until we arrived home. A short ride lasting only about 3 hours, but a nice break-in run.

Hill Country Ride

2009-09-19T06:45:00.006-05:00

As promised, I am posting some of my recent rides in and around the Texas Hill Country while on my Triumph America. This post will cover a Labor Day ride that was very enjoyable for me as I am mostly a solo rider. I do on occassion meet up with other like minded scoot enthusiasts while on the ride and find these encounters to be the best parts of the ride.

Wimberly is a little town, once home to many artisans working in leather, stained glass, furniture, antique stores, little bakeries and coffe shops, wood carving and more, but lately has been seeing a lot of expansion as this is a "a place to be." While there is nothing wrong with wanting to be in a place, the increased population brought in affluent buyers building really gorgeous homes, but at the same time making the place to expensive for many of the local artisans that were craft subsistent and, sadly, they have to move on as tey can no longer afford the taxes. That said, there are still many craftsman in the town and the "old Town" part still has that village charm, though many of the stores are now becoming high end Rodeo Drive type establishments selling imported goods. And there are still some of the stores that I still love to visit because of the quality of the goods that are still made locally. There are still some keen bakeries and diners, and I truly enjoy going in for a bite and maybe a conversation with a local.

After a bite of breakfast and coffee At the Wimberly Cafe, I'm ready to get back on the road. I head out towards Blanco taking RR 165. More rolling hills and a decent road with mild twists and turns creates and enjoyable ride for the cruiser or Tourer. Many ranches lie on either side of the road with lots to see.

A quick drive through Blanco, another small Texas town that has been able to maintain its charm, I hit State Highway (SH) 281 headed for Johnson City, where the LBJ State Park and his burial site are located. A bit larger, I just keep rolling through connecting with SH 290 heading west. Just outside the west side of town on 290 I come across a pretty interesting site. It's a ranchette where a local metal sculpture has displayed some of his works throughout the property. Some unusual and beautiful pieces of work are immediately visible from the road and I stopped to take this picture of a metal Longhorn statue. Sort of a tribute to the old cattle days of central Texas. I believe that the property is open to the public at certain times, but I didn't stay to check it out. I'll save it for another day.

Anyway I continue on towards Fredericksburg, enjoying a nice gently curving 290. Along the way are the customary ranches (big ones) dotted witht he occassional specialy store, fruit or vegetable stands and more than a couple BBQ places that bear investigating in a future ride. Just before making Fredericksburg I turn south on RR 1376 heading towards my real goal, Luckenback, TX. Made famous by Willie Nelsons song of the same name, this is a truly distinctive village, if I can use the term, having an old time Post Office (now a gift Store), a general store selling refreshments, burgers, dogs and the like, and a small unsupposing stage. As this was Labor Day, a lot of fellow bikers and muscle car enthusiasts were starting to show up for an impromtu party. A band was warming up (about 1 PM) and people were milling about enjoying a cold one and checking out each others rides.

Some really nice bikes and rods were to be seen. I just stopped for a break, a bit of a chat, and then was on my way again. Driving south I picked up Farm Road (FM) 1888 heading back towards Blanco. After Blanco I headed south on 281 to pick up RR 32, affectionately known locally as the Devils Backbone as the road runs along a "spine" of hills with some great views.

Notvery challenging, the road is paved well and has a couple of nice picnic stops where I met a couple of riders chilling on the road side. After a bit of checking out each others rides we elected to cruise back towards San Marcos untill we would split going our own ways. RR 32 eventually intersects with RR 12 and I'm back in San Marcos heading for the barn. All in all, about a 200 mile drive, a beautiful day (though it did start getting pretty warm towards the end, close to a hundred F), and a chance to meet some interestin folks. A perfect bike day. I frequent this part of the country just for this readon. Hope your days are filled with the same.

My new thrill.

2009-08-23T23:56:00.006-05:00

OK - so I've been away awhile-alright, so it's been a long time. Well all I can say was that the last year was a bit rough and I was being pretty domestic in my travels. So there wasn't much to

write about. But things have changed. I've added a new toy to my box. Check it out; a 2009 Triumph Bonneville America. Picked her up in the middle of July

Used to ride all the time, but gave it up to do the family thing. Now, kids are grown and there is once again time for some of the fun stuff. Keep posted for some of the many rides I'll be doing in the near future. Of course the RV is still around and is currently in the shop being tooled up for a bit of traveling as well. Hopefully I'll be able to combine the two. Best of all worlds. Ciao.

A little catch-up.

2007-12-30T14:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, I've been a little remis since the last entry in September. When we returned to the house after being gone 3 months on the trip to Canada, we founfd that I had become the proud owner of a weed farm. Needless to say the ensuing clean up took about a month just to get the place back into a manageable state.

During that time a couple major Disabled American Veteran's (DAV) events transpired and as the local Commander I had a bit of catch up work to do there as well.

Visits from our friends from Georgia, Curt and Audrey, were a highlight during this time and we really enjoyed their company. Hopefully, they can stop in again next time they're out this way.

Then came Halloween and Thanksgiving. This year was our turn to host the family reunion (held every Thanksgiving around Texas, usually up in Tyler). We had a really nice turn out even though a few family members weren't able to make it due to illness or looking after those who were ill. Needless to say, we had a great time. The picture above is of the reunion.

Christmas came and was another family event though only our immediate families. For us they great joy was to watch our Grandson experience his first Christmas. Below he gets a kick out of his first rocking horse, he had a blast. We had a great time as well.

I hope all of you had as good a Christmas as we had. Now we're looking to the New Year and future travels. Our rig sshould be out of the shop soon and we'll be ready to roll. Hope to see you on the road as well. Happy New Year.

Vegas, Southern Style

2007-09-29T19:48:00.000-05:00

On our continuing journey home we have found ourselves in Tunica, MS, near some casino action (funny how that happened). We arrived on the 26th and will leave the 29th. Sam's Town Casino has an RV resort at a very reasonable rate. Having checked out the other RV resorts at the other casinos, I can say that if you're coming to Tunica in an RV Sam's Town is the best option.

Of course the evening we arrived we had to go out and survey the surroundings. We checked out a couple of the casinos playing at Sam's Town and the Grand. Fun and lively.

The next day we explored the other non-casino areas including the town of Tunica and the River Park situated on the Mississippi River. Tunica is actually a nice little town and if I might make a recommendation, if you pass through, eat at the Blue and White Cafe. In operation since 1937, the breakfasts are great and lunch looked good, too. I didn't have the camera with me so no pictures of the town, but it is scenic with a nice Historic District.

The pic above are of the River park Museum and the dock that holds the Tunica Queen Riverboat hosting play and dinner cruises. Also on the dock are some Ecotour airboats that take you on a cruise up and down the river. I didn't ride them, but if I get back this way probably will.

Today, we took the drive Memphis, about 30 miles north of here, and checked out Graceland - home of Elvis Presley. Very impressive. I have to admit, the Presley corporation/business machine has done a wonderful job of maintaining the residence and Elvis' memorabilia. I do believe they could do a little better for his fans in the way of the tourist trap associated with the attraction. The place did have a sort of Disneyland feel, especially with the diners (not very good) and some of the services available. But hey, it brings in the bucks, which in turn keep the place alive.

The house itself is very nice and was an old farm estate Elvis bought when he was 22 years old. Not bad. The tour included an audio headset that lets you walk through the estate and listen to an essay of the life and times of the King of Rock and Roll.

Throughout the house are the memories of an extraordinary personality that was one of those larger than life persons that come across every once in a while. Everywhere are the awards he earned through music, tv, and movies. Pictures of the family and friends he loved, the toys he was always playing around with, his cars and planes, and footages of great moments in his life.

I am always pleased, of course, when I am reminded that some of these great persons did some pretty amazing, though ordinary, things with their lives. In this case was Elvis' serving in the army in the late 50's. It wasn't much time, but he finished it with honor and selflessness, when he could've side stepped the whole issue using the money and resources available to him. Good show mate.

Elvis passed on in 1977 and his earthly remains rest on the estate grounds along with his parents and his paternal grandmother. A simple marker also remembers his stillborn twin brother. I was amazed that, 30 years after his passing, his fans still come in huge numbers from all over the world to remember him. Quite a statement of the legacy he has left behind.

Though highly commercialized, I still recommend this as a place to come and see. Just eat before or after you visit.

Tomorrow we will be back on the road heading south on our way home. Who knows where we will be next or see that is worth posting on the blog.

One, Two, Hike, Hike...

2007-09-28T21:49:00.000-05:00

Yep, the leaves are falling, the temps are dropping, it must be that time of year again - football season. You know, we just came back from seeing the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Well that inspired us to check out the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. Seemed logical as it was on the way home anyway.

Christa, Jan, and Mom inside the entrance to the Football Hall of Fame. Ted and Jan and we are still traveling together and figured we would do one last sight before splitting our separate ways for home.

Here's Ted looking on the statue of one of the greatest football legends Jim Thorpe.

Some of the displays in the hall.

Here I am in front of the Dallas Cowboys shrine, I feel blessed standing here. The Hall is spectacular and full of football legends, memorabilia, curious facts and a bunch of stuff those of us who love the game get a kick out of. I thought the Baseball Hall of Fame treated the vets better with free admission, but still, a good place to visit and not to hard on the pocket book.

We stayed at a nearby KOA that was a good location to visit from. Ted and Jan left to go home after this visit and we had a real good time. Hopefully we will have an opportunity to travel together again.

For us, we also will continue on a southerly trek home, but we will be making some stops of interest along the way. See ya down the road.

Are you thirsty...

2007-09-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

... well here is a little water for you. Niagara Falls in Niagara Falls, NY. We stayed in the Niagara Falls Campground and Lodging. A good park, but takes a bit overpriced. I guess when you have a close place to the action. We would only stay here long enough to see the Falls and then move on, talking to most of the other campers this seemed to be a general consensus.

One nice feature to this CG is the inclusion of a tour company on the premises, Bedore Tours. We had a marvelous guide pick us up at our coaches and bring us back, her name is Marnie. She took us to all the American side hot spots at the falls including the "Maid of the Mist" tour boat, the "Cave of the Winds" hike tour, and the whirlpools. Here are some of the picks from the tour.

A great trip. We had plenty of opportunities for photos and we hammed it up.

On the left are the girls: Jan, Mom, and Christa. To the right is me, Christa and Mom.

Here is Jan and Ted standing in front of the American Falls and me with the American Falls behind.

Truly one of those totally awesome natural wonders. The thunder of the water and then rush of the wind caused by the falls are exhilarating.

From this point we start heading southward in earnest. We'll make and overnight somewhere between here and Canton, OH, where we are looking forward to checking out the Football Hall of Fame. We were in Niagara Falls 20-22 Sept.

The Baseball Hall of Fame

2007-09-23T18:44:00.000-05:00

Ok, we're once again back in catch up mode, We're a little behind due to some non-satelite campgrounds so lets get started with a real cool stop - the Baseball Hall of Fame.

We arrived at the Beaver Valley Campground near Cooperstown, NY, on the 18th of September. Of course the main goal is to see the Hall, but we were pleased to stay at a real nice CG. We weren't able to et out with a signal, but the park made up for it with beauty and tranquility. Full hook-ups, friendly ownership, the quietness of an off season stay, and the nearness to Cooperstown make this a superior Camp choice.

We awoke on the 19th ready to go see the Hall and found a beutiful sty for a stroll and sight seeing. This picture is of the pond at the CG, sort of set the mood for the day.

Making the short drive through the surrounding farm land was a pleasant change from the highways and added the enjoyment of this particularly scenic part of NY state. The campground sits about 6 miles from the Hall and so it was a fairly short drive. This is a very nice area with a whole lot of other reasons to visit besides the baseball, I wouldn't mind being here again in the future.

Once in town we parked in the Community Center parking lot which is free. During the high season I can see where you might have to use the numerous pay lots in the vicinity, fortunately we're here in the off season. In this parking lot is the famous Double Day Ball Field, here's a picture of it.

On our way to the main street we passed this statue of "The Sandlot Kid." Sets the stage for where the heart of baseball resides. This theme will be repeated throughout the Hall.

Before going into the Hall, we figured that we ought to forify ourselves with a hearty breakfast. On the CG owners suggestion, we tried the Double Day Cafe. A great choice and I echoe the recommendation. A great breakfast at a reasonable price, we would later enjoy dinner here as well we were so pleased. Fun place.

After a good breakfast and a good time we headed for the Hall of Fame. Here Christa and I pause to create a reminder of the visit.

As you enter the Hall, you get the fealing that the place is probably going to be a small place, this is misleading and the Hall unfolds like the proverbial Ahab's Tent. The cost is reasonable and I was pleased that the fee is waived for active and retired military persons. Even better.

One of the first exhibits is a room that shows some figurines and statues. I couldn't resist this shot of one of my game heroes - Nolan Ryan. Thes figurines are remarkable in their detail.

Turning down the first floor main hall (there are 3 floors), off to the side is a painting honoring this year's inductees, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. I really liked seeing Gwynn as I was able to follow his career closely while I was stationed in San Diego through the 80's and 90's.

Turning down the main hall, we are introduced those who made the Hall possible, they did a great job on this place.

As you turn into the actual Hall of Fame, the first plaque to encounter is dedicated to those players who served in the our nations military service. I found this to be a super touch. Sadly, I was also able to note that there apparently have not been any others to serve since the Korean War. Still, a nice tribute.

In the Hall of Fame are all of the inductee plaques, of which there are many. Here is a shot of the first inductees from the year 1936.

Here, Christa and Mom check out some of the many pieces of memorabilia. This place has so much stuff that to show it all here would be to use up all my allocated space. Again, if you're a fan, you have to come and check it out.

One of the things that I am always forgetting is who is featured on the most cherished and sought after baseball card. The man is Honus Wagner and the card was issued in 1909 by a tobacco company without his permission. Maybe I will remember now.

One of the things I found to be really cool, was they had a place where they had some of the more famous fans on display.

All in all, we spent about 4 hours in the Hall, and could have spent more except my dogs were killing me, and Lucy probable appreciated us getting back to let her out of the rig. This was a fantastic exhibit that I can't recommend enough.

Our next stop is Niagara Falls, that should be a fun stop as well.

The "Live Free or Die" State

2007-09-17T15:06:00.000-05:00

We have been staying at the Field & Stream RV Park near Brookline, NH. A scenic area with plenty of small town appeal. Nestled in some hills in between Milford and Mason, NH, the campground is a descent place for a short stay. Close to a small lake, the park is well maintained. Full hook-ups are available with sites closely spaced, but large enough for slides and awnings.

The next day we found out from Ted (who had inquired from one of his cousins) that there was a locally famous pancake place. Actually, I think they were famous for their syrup and later the pancakes came along to showcase their syrup. Parker's is the name of the place and we arrived around 9 AM on a Sunday to find a line and a 40 min wait. Well, we had nothing else to do and the options were pretty limited so we stayed. The breakfast was worth the wait and we would return the next day (but without the wait on a weekday).

Today, we went on a car tour of the countryside while Ted and Jan went golfing with his cousin. We just sort of wandered around checking out the little towns of Milford and Mason, and the city of Nashua. A beautiful day for the drive here are some photos.

Downtown Milford has that Mayberry feel. Comfortable.

Downtown Nashua has a nice historic district with some wonderful churches and renovated factories made into apartment buildings. Nice.

On our way to the little town of Mason we came across this little piece of history. The original home of Samuel Wilson, the model for Uncle Sam. Mason itself is a very small place, I would call it a hamlet. Probably a very nice place to live, close to a lot of things, but nothing that would really draw a lot of folks to trample your yard, so to speak.

Tomorrow, we are heading out for a short stop in Cooperstown to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. Can't wait, that should be fun.

Back to the Maine Coastline

2007-09-16T16:54:00.000-05:00

Last post had us preparing to depart Hopewell, NB. After an overnight stay in Bangor, ME, we proceeded to our next destination stop - Wiscasset, ME. This stop puts us in between Boothbay and Freeport.

We stayed at te Chewonki RV park located just off Hwy 1. This was a beautiful park with a lot of activities as a destination park including a clay tennis court, 2 hole golf field, canoe and kayak access point, saltwater pool, and full hook-ups. The only down thing was a funky dog rule where they didn't want you to leave your dog unattended in the RV. I guess they would rather you leave the pet unattended in a car or not go anywhere. Better to just advertise not to bring your pets so we don't travel all the way here to be hit with something like this at the end of a days drive.

None the less, the people were friendly and this is a nice park, just bear in mind the dog rule. Here are a few shots of ours and Ted and Jan's rigs with the views.

The next day saw us taking a day trip to Freeport and paying a major shopping visit to LL Bean retail outlet store. What an eye opener, a 24 hour shop till you drop sportsman's Christmas wish store. I don't know that you get any special prices, but they have every thing. This place takes up a city block. Needless to say we went crazy in here.

That night we followed the day up with an old fashioned weiner and burger roast. A perfect end to the day. Jan and mom enjoy the warmth of the campfire while Ted tells some tall tales.

The next day was a kayak day for Christa and I. We took a paddle around

Chewonki Point, very breezy, but otherwise beautiful.

All in all a pleasant stay and would stay here again if we were in the area. Our next stop takes us to Brookline, NH, for a visit with Ted's cousins and as a waypoint for follow on journey to Niagra, NY.

Hopewell Rocks

2007-09-10T19:38:00.000-05:00

The time has come for us to start heading back toward the States. We have moved to our rendezvous point with Ted and Jan here in Moncton, NB, at the Camper City Resort. Pricey, but a nice park with a level site and good water pressure (its been so long).

All during our travels we have been told we have to see the Hopewell Rocks in Fundy National Park. Seeing as how we had a short travel day we decided to take a quick ride (30 miles) down to check these geologic creations. Impressive formations and we couldn't have had a more perfect day. Check out these pictures.

The cool thing is that this place endures a daily tidal flow that varies around 28' or so, one of the greatest in the world. When the tide is out, you can walk on the sea floor.

Tomorrow we are back on the road and will be across the border making our way back for a second visit to Boothbay, ME. We have rejoined with Ted and Jan and they brought back some excellent pics from around the Halifax, NS, area. You can check these out by hitting there ink above.

Visiting Cap Pele' and Shediac, NB

2007-09-10T18:59:00.000-05:00

As stated in the previous post we are sailing mono for the time being with Ted and Jan diverting to Halifax, NS. As for us, we have found ourselves in the little fishing town of Cap Pele', NB, at the Sandy Beach Camping Resort. We were here 7-10 Sep. We are camped right on the beach, but there is a huge dune we have to cross to get to the water. Still, this would seem to be a great place acknowledged by the locals for it's superb access to the warm waters (75 deg) and there are still plenty coming here to swim.

According to local info, Cap Pele' has the largest herring and sardine fishing fleet in the world with largest number of smokehouses for these delicacies. I have seen a lot of the fisheries and the boats, no doubt about that, but one expect them to be prominent on the local menus, but that is not the case.

Above: Christa, lucy and myself. To the right is my Mom. And below is me testing the claims of the lobster capitol of the world.

The big draw for us is Shediac down the road about 17 miles west of here. Indeed, visiting the visitor center, we saw the biggest lobster I ever saw. It tried to eat me. Our timing, as usual, hung us again as we arrived here at the same time as the annual motorbike festival. Think of a miniature Sturgis, bikes everywhere. Local police had the downtown area roped off and detouring auto traffic. We opted to come back the next day.

The next day, we returned to Shediac and had a look around. This is a small town where fishing is the way of life.

The most enjoyable event was when Christa and I took a stroll on the beach at sunset; here are a few of the shots.

As usual, you can count on me to locate the good eatery. Just down the road from us is one of the main fishing docks and located there is a simple little diner that sells some terrific seafood. Nothing fancy, just the real deal. I had some scallops and they were fantastic. Mom and Christa enjoyed the lobster rolls. Very nice.

Oh, by the way, tonight we enjoyed the last 3 lobsters we had of the bunch we bought in PEI. Scrumptious, check it out.

Tomorrow we head out to rejoin Ted and Jan in the ton of Monckton. A short drive for us, but they will have a full day of it. I am thrilled with this post as this catches me up on our travels. See you down the road as we start to head back to the states.

Cavendish, PEI

2007-09-09T17:03:00.000-05:00

On pulling into the KOA in Cavendish, our new neighbors in a cabin next to us immediately caught our eye with the seafood spread they had laid out and preparing t cook. Man, a table full of lobster. They also had some scallops and fresh veggies, but wow, the lobster. They told us of the market they got it from, and - you guessed it - we put it on the must visit list. But, as the day took longer than we expected all that would be for another day. We were here from the 4th to the 7th of Sep.

The next day we headed out even though it was a rainy dreary day. Still - the ride was interesting and the countryside scenic despite the light rain and coolish weather.

We made our way to the nearby town of Summerside where the fish market with good lobster deals were to be had. After doing a little price comparing we found C&E market where they indeed had the best deal. So after buying a goodly number of the fine little lobsters (and some of the acclaimed PEI scallops) we continued on our way to a great seafood restaurant, Gentleman Jim's (recommended bythe market proprieter). The meal was scrumptous.

We also stopped off at one of the many local farmer's markets for some fresh veggies to go with our fresh seafood.

After getting stuffed on various fruites de mer, we headed out for our next stop of the day - the North Cape. Rumor has it that one can see a terrific display of seapower as the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St Lawrence crash together at this juncture to the north west of the island. Unfortunately, we got there at a low tide and the effect wasn't that great, though you could see where it might get spectacular.

The last day saw us putzing around looking at some of the sites dedicated to the author of Anne of Green Gables Lucy M. Montgomery, who lived here. I took some photos, but not my thing (Sorry). The rest of the day was shopping and eating.

The next day found us on the road again heading back ino New Brunswick. This time, instead of using the ferry we used a toll bridge. This one long bridge, reportedly 9 miles long crossing the Northumberland Strait. Here also, we would break up the caravan for short spell. Ted and Jan wanted to return to Nova Scotia andHalifax. We wanted to check out Shediac, NB, Shediac being the Lobster capitol of the world.

On the road to Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.)

2007-09-09T16:40:00.001-05:00

Finishing up our stay in Nova Scotia on 4 Sep, we have formed into a caravan with Ted and Jan and are headed up to PEI. The main part of this trip is to take a ferry across the Northumberland Strait. The ride takes about 1..25 hours and was a smooth ride across.

The only other eventful item was that our rig is still suffering some loss of power from tha bad fuel incident. However, it only represented about 20 minutes of the transit to the campsite, and so wasn't to much of a problem. The problem has not risen again since I put some additive in with the next load of fuel.

The campground we are heading to is the Cavendish KOA near the town of Cavendish. Our first impressions of PEI is that of a very clean and orderly farming community. There are several large cities, but mostly the countryside is that of farms.

The KOA was pretty nice though once again, asking for a level site seemed to be a bit much to ask for. Still a well appointed park with friendly folks.

Ft Louisbourg

2007-09-08T19:49:00.000-05:00

I must preface that this visit had a wow effect and the effect was based on the fact that this fort is a total reconstruction starting back in 1920. In the 20's all that was available was the ruins which had been burnt and blasted to the ground, but a museum was constructed to show off archeological items retrieved from the sight. In the 60's a novel approach was undertaken to rebuild this fort to preserve history. At the time a number of coal mines closed down resulting in large numbers of unemployed miners. A greta idea was hit upon to put the unemployed miners to work reconstructing the fort. They were retrained in skills reflective of the way things were done back in the day; stone cutters, masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, all were brought onboard to rebuild this fort. What an undertaking.

This Fort, constructed by the French in the early 1700's, was totally destroyed by a second British assault in the mid 1700's as a part of the continual struggle for domination of North America. This is probably the largest reconstruction of a military complex along with a large portion of the associated town next to it. Like the Heritage Center, the Fort is populated by locals in period garb who possess a thorough knowledge of the parts they play. Put together, this was like taking a step back in time.

After leaving the visitor center, we were driven via bus out to the entrance to the fort. The first thing you see is a reconstruction of a fish house where fisherman would bring and sell their catch to the fish merchant. Here the fish are salted, dried and wrapped in oil cloth to be shipped around the world. The fishing industry was the greatest commercial enterprise from the new world.

After leaving the fish house, we had a short walk to the main gate where we were challenged by the guard. We didn't know the password so we had to promise him a bottle of rum when we came back out.

The town was quite a remarkable reconstruction. The entire waterfront district has been rebuilt creating quite the effect of travelling back to this period.

A really nice touch was the re-enactment of a daily exercise of firing the cannon and drill squad training. To hear the roar of this cannon was a blast (litterally).

I feel this is one of the neatest things I have ever seen. My regret is that I had forgotten to recharge my camera and ran out of juice half way through this place. I guess you'll just have to come up here and check it out for yourself.

A Center for Heritage Studies

2007-09-08T18:46:00.000-05:00

Our second big adventure was to visit the Heritage Center near Sydney, Nova Scotia. This was a nice little project to visit as it depicts the way early imigrees from europe lived in Nova Scotia.

Local people demonstrate and give explanation on how early Capers worked and played to survive a sometimes harsh enviroment.

Here we learned a little about the early stone houses built in the area. Ted comes back from a visit to the barn.

There were also buildings from an early stone house through differnet constructs as materials and more people arrived.

Jan checking out an early kitchen.

We were also able to see demonstrations on how to make thread and from that to weave early garments. We also saw how the whole village would come together to perform long and tedious tasks using song to bind them as a community.

Mom, Jan and Christa come out from checking out a church transported down the river from another location. The story of its relocation to the Heritage Center has become something of local lore.

A wonderful experience and much better than the usual tourist traps. The people who worked here were friendly and very knowledgeable about the historical aspects of the peoples they portrayed. A must see in a beautiful setting.

When is a Bell better seen than heard?

2007-09-07T20:05:00.000-05:00

When it's the Alexander Grahm Bell Museum in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. The first truly excellent sight we checked out in Cape Breton, this interactive center displays the life and acheivements of one of histories greatest inventers.

I was already of his involvement in inventing the phone, working with the deaf, and improving the gramaphone (an early recorder). What I was unaware of was most of the rest of the man, his involvement in aviation and boating, and his remarkable relationship with his wife, Mabel.

His fame and fortune really worked to help the disabled and modernize concepts in flight and high speed boating. I am always amazed at what you find out by actually going to the history instead of just reading about past events and people.

Meeting the Capers

2007-09-06T18:52:00.000-05:00

After a quick overnight stop near Glenholme, NB, we have arrived at the Cape Breton/North Sydney KOA where Ted and Jan have been work camping through the summer. At this point I am still suffering from my foot affliction and have made the decision to seek medical attention during this stay. I will just say that the experience was a good one with the local hospital fixing taking care of me.
I must, at this time, explain what a caper is; the local population on Cape Breton refer to themselves as Capers. I don't know if they recognise honorary capers, but Ted and Jan have been here long enough to know their way around and steer us to the good places. We were glad to see our travel companions from the our past trip to Alaska. Our intent is to stay here till they are rady to leave and then we will caravan back to the States.

The campsite is located at the western foot of the Seal Island Bridge and we were afforded a superior view of Bras D'or Lake and the bridge itself. We had full hook-ups and the sites were roomy if not very level, although if we had stayed on a higher level, the sites do look to be a bit more level. We were unale to pick up our satelite and had to do without TV or internet, hence the back log of entries.

While here we saw some beautiful sights and I will address these separately as they deserve individual entries. We stayed at the park for 11 days from 24 Aug to 4 Sep.

Of course while we were here we tried out the local cuisine and enjoyed ourselves immensely. However, there were some places that we had to ask "What's in a name." I guess they thought they had a hit on a good one. We didn't try this place, but we did hit up their partner sit "Lick a Treat."

This proved to be a pretty good choice as it involved licking chicken instead of the alternative.

And of course being this close to the water, I couldn't resist pulling out the kayak. Due to the foot problem at the beginning of the stay, I couldn't go for a paddle till the end, but it proved to be a good day for a cruise with Ted. As always I had t include the customary foot shot, but with Ted along, I am able to impress you with a full boat shot of me. Please try to contain yourself as my fan club is on break and I don't have anyone to help with all the emails.

While we did try out many of the local eateries, sometimes there's nothing better than that which you get yourself. At the end of the paddle Ted and I wend around to the base of the bridge where we gathered mussels from the beach head. Below Ted shows off some of the bounty to be had in the area. They were deliscious steamed with butter and garlic.

A Seaside Campover

2007-09-05T20:04:00.000-05:00

Our first campground in Canada (this trip) is the Seaside Tent & Trailer park in St. Matin, NB. A small CG, we were able to park within a short walk of the beach and this beach happens to be part of the undy tidal system. Reportedly, the Fundy tidal system hsa one of the greatest tidal deviations in the world, roughly 28 ft. We were able to watch drastic tidal changes exposing caves and stranding local fishing boats daily (of course they're used to it).
While here we once again took advantage of some good seafood and a number of beautiful sites including a trip along he Fundy Trail Provincial Park. Dramatic scenery marks the area as a must see if your in the area.
As well as the Fundy Trail was just some excellent local scenery and our first opportunity to see some of this remarkable Canadian coastline and meet some really great people.
Unfortunately, a medical problem would flair up that would begin to put a damper enjoying the area-gout. Complicating the situation is that I miscalculated my medication and this would cause a problem later.

Never the less, we enjoyed this small fishing village greatly. The timing of our visit at the end of summer has resulted in few crowds and the occassional good deals, you do have to put up with cooler temps. A good time to visit, we were here from 20-23 August.

Into Canada

2007-09-05T19:06:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm in the catch up mode once again. We encontered a number of areas that we could not get our satellite to lock. Right now we are in the Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) and I will be doing quite a bit of updating.

We go back to the end of August when we left Houlton, Me, and proceeded down to St. Stephens border crossing into Canada. Going over was pretty easy only taking a half hour, but the returning side looked pretty formidable. The line was backed up about a mile and a half from the border into the city of St. Stephens.

As soon as we crossed we went to the New Brunswick Visitor Center to get our bearings and get the lowdown on any special sites or activities.

While at the center I spied this curious contraption in the parking lot. As we were leaving I couldn't resist a couple pics of this very unusual bike - The Big Bike. A 30 person powered bike.

Leaving the center we are heading to St. Martin for a couple of nights, however, on the wasy we would develop a serious problem caused by a tank of bad gas in the rig. We would have to stop in at East Coast International in Caledonia, NB, have the tank drained and a new fuel filter installed. Costly. The International folks were professional and I feel lucky to have come across them, I would like to send the bill to the Webb Mobil station in Randolph, ME. The techs were pretty amazed at what they pulled out of the tank. Whatever it was, it wasn't diesel any longer.

Cruising New England

2007-08-19T11:17:00.001-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since the last post, but many of the campgrounds along the way are encased in trees allowing no satellite signal to get in or out. After leaving Pennsylvania, we clipped the northwest corner of New York State while on I-84. The run through this state was short lived, but what we saw was beautiful. The highways were well maintained and subtle changes in the trees and terrain let you know that you are getting further north. The next state was Conneticutt, the scenery was nice, but a lot of work could be done to the roads, particularly those bridge seams. I thought I was going to loose my front end just going over many of the bridges, especially through Hartford. The one thing I noticed driving up north is that there is no shortage of toll roads.

While individual sections are inexpensive, they add up after a while. Bring plenty of change. After CT came MA ad NH, both went by pretty quick and before we new it we were in Maine.

Our goal for the first New England stop was Boothbay, ME. We pulled it out of a hat as we had no prior knowledge of where to go. Proved to be a great choice. A little seaside town that regardless of the effect of tourism has retained much of its local charm. This is where we would start our gorging on lobster. The prices of this fabulous "bug" are about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost back in the south. And they really no how to prepare them.

Our first foray is to a recommended downtown restaurant that has a bit of local fame, Kaler's. Here we would start off with a couple local favs, fried lobster (Christa had this) and Mary's Lobster Pie (my choice). Both proved to be deliscious, we would visit Kaler's again before leaving.

At the camp site we were staying at, Little Ponderosa Campground north of Boothbay, we were next to a large inlet so, I had to break out the kayak. A beautiful setting, but pretty tame, I had an enjoyable paddle for a couple of hours before heading back to the RV and our next round of lobster feasting. A word here about the campground we stayed at. Little Ponderosa was a rustic and popular little park, we could only get 30 amp power and a 2 night stay, but this was OK. We made the best of our stay and would stay here again though the park down the road looked a bit more condusive to our use of a satellite.

For lunch we returned to Kaler's for a couple of the famous Lobster Rolls the region is famed for making. True to form the rolls were packed with whole lobster chunks very tasty. Mom had an ordwer of fried clams that looked worth stealing a couple (they were).

After a day of touring the city and doing quite a bit of shopping we finished the day off -of course- with lobster. This time the real thing, whole steamed lobster. We looked around at several temping locations before settling on Brown's Wharf. A view of the harbor, great atmosphere, and friendly staff we were totally satisfied.

The order placed, all we can do is wait for our meal to arrive.

Finally, what we have been waiting for- the real deal. Maine lobster at it's best, a side of cole slaw and a little bread make a total meal.

After a bit of dessert in the form of a fresh blueberry crisp and a scoop of ice cream we found ourselves in a totally satisfied state. After the meal we stopped by the outside pens where the lobsters are kept. Here one of the cooks takes the time to show us one of the "Hard Shell" giants they regularly serve up.

The next day we had to continue on the road. I have to admit, I would have liked to spend more time here. A very enjoyable place to visit. But our fate is to the road.

At the time of this writing we are camped in Houlton, ME, just off I-95 about 4 miles short of the Canadian border. This is a small town and is mostly a transition type of town found on the border. Clean and well maintained the town served up a surprise for us this weekend. As it turns out this weekend they celebrated their 200th birthday. What a treat, we were witness to a great small town parade and fireworks that evening.

Also present were civil war reinactments with union troop encampments.

The whole town turned out to make this a special weekend for all and we were lucky enough to participate. The campground we're at, My Brother's Place, is a fantastic park. With full hook-ups and well kept grassy sites, this is truly one of the nicest parks we have come across. Definately a keeper. All in all, a great border town to stop in a nd stock up in just before moving on into Canada.

Tomorrow we are back on the road again heading into Brunswick. Stick around, the main destination is just ahead another 2 or 3 days.

Mana from Pennsyvania

2007-08-13T18:40:00.000-05:00

We have landed at Twin Groave KOA near one of the many Pine Grove, PA, communities. Apparently, there are approximately 8 Pine Groves in different counties in PA. We're at the one off Suedeburg Rd. A very nice family park and a destination point in its own right. A small amusement park, live music on te weekends and plenty other ammenities make this a park of choice. Make reservations though, its a busy place. We used this as a home base to visit Hershey about 30 miles south, but there were some intereting places in and around here as well.

Mostly beautiful mountain surroundings. The nearby town of Pine Grove is like something out of a picture book, very nice.

One thing we were in the area for was a concert held at the Hershey Park Arena: Def Leppard, Styx, and Forgiener. As a Styx fan that was the band I was here to see and I thought they got ripped having to play in front of Forgiener (only my opinion). Christa was here to see the main act; Def Leppard and I have to admit, as usual they put on quite a show. Here are some pics (taken with a compact digital from a long way away, so don't hammer me here).

The following day (once we got up from being out late) Mom, Christa and I came to the Hershey Park proper. What a place; amusement park, sports arena, concert venue, chocolate factory mock-ups, trolley tours of the nearby town and more. To much for one short day. This is definately a destination stop that could use up a week easy just to do and see everything. We took a ride on the Chocolate Tour (Free) which gives you a look into a mock factory that explains the candy making process in a fun way.

Afterwards was the customary shopping trip through the gift shop completed our day at the park (no amusement rides today). We feel we have to support our capitolistic lifestyle and then have beans for dinner.

After the park tour we took a drive through the town of Hershey and went through the Hershey Gardens. The town is beautiful and a great reflection upon th efolks that live in the area. Note the Hershey Kiss street lights.

The garden is another beautiful spot (and quiet, too). Here are some pictures of that place.

Tomorrow will see us on the road again heading towards Nova Scotia. We are moving our trip schedule a little and heading straight for Cape Breton and Ted and Jan. This means that the next week will be a fairly quick pace (for motorhomes). So there might be a few days till the next update, but stay tuned I'll work to you fresh.

A Layover in Richmond

2007-08-10T22:39:00.000-05:00

Having left Savannah behind, our next port call is Richmond, VA. This is a particularly good stop for me as one of my oldest shipmates and his extended family live here. We pulled in to the Americamp RV park just north of Richmond off of I-95. A nice camp, we were able to get a site where our dish could pick up a signal and allow me to update the blog

Our first night allowed us to meet up with my shipmate's dad (Bob Sr.). We had not seen each other in over thirty years, man how time flies. We shared dinner at the Smokey Pig BBQ restaraunt. A really great evening catching up with him and his wife Betsy. Bob Sr., Bob and the rest of their family played a key role in my life in the '70s and will always have a place in the heart.

The next day, we just sort of drove around the historical district of Richmond, visiting the local grower's market, and lunching at Copola's Deli, reportedly one of the best eateries in Richmond. I would have to say that they lived up to the press, we had a tremendous lunch.

Later that evening we met my old shipmate (Bob), his wife Ruth and their son Elliot for supper and some catching up on old times. I always enjoy hooking up with my old friends and that is doubly so for Bob and family. During the meal (Mexican at the El Paso restaraunt, very good), Ruth suggested that we check out the Lewis Ginty Botanical Gardens which we took to heart.

The following day we took Ruth's advice and made our way to the Gardens and this turned out to be a terrific way to spend the day. The Gardens are beautiful and I recommend a visit to this extraordinary place.

That evening we arrived at Bob and Ruth's for supper, Bob was cooking. A perfect evening just enjoyning the company of really good friends. Ruth's mom joined us and it felt kinda like a little family reunion. I feel lucky in the friends I have because even though our visits are often separated by great lengths of time, we are able to pick up like we had visited just the other day.

The evening waned and the time came for us to have to leave. As always, the visit was too short, but I know I'll see them again. Tomorrow we are back on the road heading Pine Grove, PA. See y'all down the road.

My Daughter-in-law (Sam) sent us a picture of my grandson (you didn't think I was going to take you on this trip without showing you updates on the greatest grandson ever). Thanks to Sam's thoughtfulness (and modern technology) we are able to keep up with his development. Here is a great photo.

What a cute guy. Look at the new chompers, he's got that Spongebob look going on.

Savannah Revisited

2007-08-07T20:17:00.000-05:00

We're on the road again, currently at a KOA near Fayetteville, NC. Our next destination will be near Richmond, VA, but only for a couple days due to a reservation and concert tickets in Hershey, PA. The last week, we were camping at Skidaway State Park near Savannah, GA. We were camped in the trees meaning no internet or Sat TV, so this entry will be a catch up.

The photos above show the campsite. As seems to be the norm for this trip, the rains chased us into the park and stayed for 2 days. However, the skies cleared and we did have a couple good days, thought the sun came out with a vengence.

Savannah is one of our favorite cities having fine dining, museums, historical significance, and ghosts. What more can you ask. In particular, I love the way this city is layed out and houses and structures with great architectural touches. Easy to get around in and fun to look at. And the food, if you can't find something great to your liking, then you have dead taste buds and should see a doc. The pictures above depict River st, a dining moment at the Shrimp Factory restaurant, the Market (artsy stuff and more great places to eat), and a shot of Broughton St taken from a trolley.

Any of you who have followed my past entries know hat I have a fondness for kayaking. I availed myself of the waters surrounding the State park and enjoyed a good day in the sloughs. Of course my kayak adventure has to include an identifying foot shot to authenticate the journey. A nice paddle revealing many birds and lots of fiddler crabs on the banks. And added surprise was that I encountered dolphins out on the main river course. No pictures as they were plying the banks for dinner and made for a hard catch by the camera. Hot and steamy, the paddle was great anyway.

Oh, and I did mention interesting houses and historical places. For Christa this meant a visit to the Mercer/Williams house where the infamous murder that spawned the book and movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. No pictures were allowed in the house, so the top left pic of the front of the house (with Christa) is a solo shot. We also took a trip to Tybee Island to look at points of interest. There are beaches of course, but the top right photo of a house really caught my attention. Beautiful. We also visited Fort Polaski, a significant confederate fortress that was eventually captured and converted to a prison. I really liked this site as there was a lot of martial science on display. A site well worth visiting with more than I am posting here.

Tomorrow we depart to continue our trek to the north. See you on the road.

A Thomasville Visit

2007-08-02T20:31:00.000-05:00

Below are a few pictures of the Sugarmill Plantation RV park. A very fine park if you are considering the area for a visit. Prices are reasonable and sites are nice and shady.

Whenever we come here this is the place we stay. I like site 4 as it allows for good reception of our motosat dish.

While visiting Thomasville we have to visit friends and family. Curt and Audrey are always a good visit and are fellow SMART members as well. It's always good to catch up on the happenings in our friends lives.

Mrs. Canada, a long time neighbor of Christa's family, is another must stop. A grand lady, she is still full of spirit and and all the local news.

We also stopped in to see Christa's Uncle Curt and family and my friend Jim. We also come back here regularly to maintenence Christa's family memorials.

Tomorrow we will be back on the road and headed for Savannah. Looking forward to that as the city is one of my favorites for sights and (of course) dining. I also hope to get in some Kayaking down around Skidaway Island State park.

On a new adventure

2007-07-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

Alright, the long awaited return to road adventures (well, long awaited by me anyway). After having spent the last year or so working on the new house, we are at a point that we can take some time for traveling once again. Having left home at the end of July we have set our sites on the distant location of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in Canada. There we hope to join up with our friends Ted and Jan who are already at camp there. Along the way we will stop to see other friends and see new places of interest. I'll try to keep the journal as up to date as possible, but a lot will be catch-up when we have a long enough stop to bring the blog up to speed. You are invited to follow along and provide us with pointers if you see us headed toward a particular point of interest. Also, we will be keeping our location posted via the Datastorm map, you can see that by hitting the "Our Location" link provided.

Our first stop was Kinder, LA, to enjoy one of our favorites, the Coushata Casino and a stay at the Red Shoes RV Resort. A truly grand RV resort. Mom and Christa love the area because they don't have to depend on me to shuttle them all over the place as the casino provides that service. I didn't take pictures this time as we have pretty much "been there, done that" in the photo department in the past.

We were supposed to stop in and see our friends Roger and Jeanne near Houston, TX. But, weather problems delayed our departure right up to our reservation at Red Shoes. Not to worry, they're on our regular migration route and we'll be seeing them soon again.

Our next stop is Biloxi, MS. We stayed at the Keesler AFB FamCamp. This is to be my new favorite camp site. Many improvements are in the works making this a very nice place to stop over provided you have access to the this military rec area. The top row of pictures above are of the entrance and campsite of the famcamp. Weather kept me from going kayaking in the nearby boat ramp on the lake to the immediate north of the Camp.

Weather has been a factor for the whole trip so far, the heaviest was seen in Baton Rouge, La, where the rain came down in bucket fulls. A few wrecks resulted in slow driving for the first part of this trip. The rain has chased us all the way into Biloxi, but we did have a little time for the casinos which have opened once again. While much has been done to bring Biloxi back on line, there was still evidence of Katrina in abundance. The hardest part was to see that many of the old homes that used to line US 90 between Biloxi and Gulfport are probably gone forever and are being replace with newer homes that do not have the same archetectural elegance. More concerning is the rising number of condos and casinos in their stead. The Mississippi coast is on the way to a new era, and this is just the way it is, but the coast line will not be like it was before.
Having spent a couple days in Biloxi, we packed up and moved on. Our next stay was Eagles Landin RV Near Crestview, FL. We must apologize to Lamar and Diane as I left without getting phone and email from my desktop, the result was the inability to call to arrange for a short visit. Sorry guys. The park we stayed at, Eagles Landing, was a new one for us and was a very nice surprise. Clean and built with big rigs in mind (as well as smaller ones) we found a park easy to get in, clean, and secure feeling.

We stayed here the one night, but due to its being close to the Blackwater River State Park, we will probably make this a regular stop. The state park is a great source for hiking, kayaking and other outdoor activities.

After leaving Eagles Landing, we headed for Thomasville, GA, and Sugarmill Plantation RV Park. This used to be our home away from home when we lived here a few years back. The park is under new ownership and some improvements have been made to an already nice place to stay. While here we will see a lot of old friends including, Curt and Audrey, and members of Christa's family. I will also take the opportunity to clean up the rig anticipating better weather ahead. We plan to be here for a week before heading off to Savannah, one of our favorite cities.

Welcome aboard the Goofenhowzen Express once again, hope you enjoy the ride.

New photos of the house as of 7/2007.

2007-07-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

Exterior from the garage side.

Front shot, yeah, still working on the grass.

Shot across living room into kitchen.

Across the kitchen.

From the Kitchen to the livingroom.

For those of you who used to keep up with the blog because of the travels, check in periodically as you should start seeing some pics from around the country again. Now that we have the house under a bit of control we will be out into the wide world again.

A Louisiana Casino Tour

2007-03-14T20:35:00.000-05:00

2-9 Mar. After having spent most of last year building the house, and then waiting an insufferable amount of time waiting on the rig to be serviced and repaired, we finally found ourselves in a position to get away for a short trip. The trip ended up being a mini "Shakedown Cruise" (old Navy term) to get some of the bugs out from having sat so long and for us to re-learn some essentials for RV travelling (such as proper stowage of stuff and what all switches need to be turned on or off). However, all that said, we were able to get on the road and head for the Louisiana Casinos. First stop is Roger and Jeanne's in Stagecoach (just north of Houston). Always a good stop to see our travelling friends. We spent the night and enjoyed a terrific meal and fellowship.

Next day we were on our way to Lake Charles. I did not take any photos while here (out of practice with packing the camera around all the time), but we did enjoy ourselves. We stayed at the Whispering Meadows RV park in Westlake. A new and small park run by Bob Woodward (a retired swabby as well). A good, clean, and simple park. Sites are level and concrete. Bob and crew were friendly and helpful. This park was within 6 miles of both functioning casinos, Isle of Capri and Lauberge. They were nice and we donated sufficiently to there operating costs. While in Lake Charles we toured the coastline and viewed the continuing effort to rebuild. One thing for fellow campers: it would seem that a new RV park is looking to build on the beach off of Hwy 27. 2 nights in Westlake was enough though and we were ready to move onto Kinder and the Coushata Casino.

We stayed 2 nights at Coushata and enjoyed our time there. The RV Resort at Red Shoes was, as usual, a pleasant camp site. Large level concrete sites with full amenities and shuttles to the casino every 15 minutes make this a very enjoyable stay. There is not much else to do in the area except visit the casino, but if this is your objective, I haven't come across a better set up. We did manage to squeeze in a lunch at Fausto's in Kinder. This is a cajun eatery with a little fame in the area. My crawfish po'boy was excellent.

Our final casino stop was in Shreveport. While here we stayed at the Diamond Jacks Casino RV resort. Small but well appointed, the park is within walking distance to the casino and a short drive to the rest of the casinos in the area. We stayed here for 3 nights and met up with my Aunts from Tyler, TX, who came to see us (and the casinos). We had a great time while here, Christa and I even took the time to visit Barksdale Air Force Base - Home of the B-52. Nice base. Tomorrow we head to Crockett, TX, for a short stay.

Crockett, TX

2007-03-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

9-11 Mar. We have arrived at Crockett Family Camping Resort. Following a week at the casinos of Louisiana, a break in the country seemed in order. This park located just outside Crockett, TX is a great little family park for bringing the kids (or grandkids), or just go fishing. Sitting on Lake Houston, there are a lot of activities for the chidren as there is a well equipped playground and a beach to let them burn off that energy. For the older crowd there is a pear and a small boat launch (do not bring your 30' open water cruiser though, I mean a small launch). For big rig RVers this may or may not be your cup of tea. The sites aren't level and are dirt, maneuvering can get tight, "deluxe" pull thrus are limited. This is an older park, but has a lot to offer the family or the small boater. We were here to attend the "Ancesters" and so did not take advantage of the amenities. I should have brought the kayaks though.

Back Home

2007-03-14T20:01:00.000-05:00

12 March finds us back home safely after having been deluged with rain in east Texas. Good to be back after the "Shake Down" trip. This sunset was a welcome sight shuning from behind our house that evening.

2006-12-27T20:36:00.000-06:00

Xmas Eve 2006. My daughter-in-law, Sam, and my grandson, Asher. He's already getting tired of the paparazzi.

2006-12-27T20:35:00.000-06:00

Xmas Eve 2006. The gathering of the family for dinner and the passing out of gifts to the families. We opted a long time ago to do our family get together on Christams Eve because there is always a bunch of visiting that goes on Christmas Day as well as the gift giving within the families themselves. We're just waiting for all the rest to show. A good time was had.

2006-12-27T20:28:00.000-06:00

Xmas Eve 2006. Here's Christa with our new Grandson. Man is he going to be a monster, he's growing leaps and bounds. At 2 months he is holding his head up well and trying to talk.

2006-12-27T20:26:00.000-06:00

Mid-Dec 2006. We fially have managed to get away for a little trip. Sadly it is without the RV as it is in the shop for repairs. However, as we already had our tickets for the Cowboys/Falcons football game, we were not going to let a broken RV interupt our game plans. So we packed up the jeep drove to Atlanta staying in the Omni Hotel adjoining the CNN center. I have to say, this was pretty neat. We were able to walk to the Georgia Dome for the game on game night. The rest of the time we were able to walk to a local MARTA station for all the other places we visited while in town. One of those other places was the Atlanta Museum of High Arts where a gift presentation of art was on loan from the Louvre in Paris. Scupltures, paintings and some never before displayed drawings by the masters. Unfortunatly, my small camera blitzed out me for this trip so all pics were from the big Olympus. Great shots but bulky to carry around. Bottom line very few shots of this trip, big, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum anyway. This shot was taken from the open air hallway toour room. The globe depicts the entrance to the tourist walk around the CNN newsroom. The bottom floor is a food court/gift shop area. We stayed on the 14th floor. Pretty nice hotel.

2006-12-27T20:13:00.000-06:00

Entrance to the downtown Atlanta Centennial Park. Yea, the lights are a little shaky, but I didnt have anything to steady my shot with while shooting this picture. Christa and I took strolls through this park every night (except football night) while we were here. Beautiful with a lot of people taking advantage of the Christmas feeling presented by the well lit park. This park had received a major remodel for the '96 Olympics and the influence is everywhere in the park. This is a must see place if your in the area. One thing that encouraged us to get out for the walk was that the park is directly across the street from the hotel we stayed in. Great way to kill a couple hours in the evening.

2006-12-27T20:04:00.001-06:00

Some of the Christmas lights in the park.

2006-12-27T20:04:00.000-06:00

Another of the reflecting ponds in the Atlanta Centennial Park.

2006-12-27T20:03:00.000-06:00

The Christmas tree in Centennial Park, downtown Atlanta.

2006-12-27T20:02:00.000-06:00

A night shot of the entrance to the Georgia Aquarium. As has been stated earlier in my blogs, this is a really great place to explore. However, this trip was for the game and the Louvre Exhibit at the Museum of High Arts.

2006-12-27T20:00:00.000-06:00

One little attraction that was brought into the park for the holiday season was this relocatable/tent type ice rink. People were really lined up for this venue and really enjoyed themselves. We had a good time watching everyone from the viewers gallery as well.

2006-12-27T19:58:00.000-06:00

This ice rink was a major attraction during our 3 day stay in Atlanta. We really enjoyed walking the park at night, especially with all the Christmas lights up. This rink was fun even for us non-skating types, but the people inside were having a ball.

2006-12-27T19:55:00.000-06:00

Reflecting ponds in the Centennial Park of Atlanta.

2006-12-27T19:54:00.000-06:00

Mid-Dec 2006. Young folks hanging out by one of the many statuaries in Centennial Park, downntown Atlanta.

2006-12-27T19:52:00.000-06:00

Here is the post-landscaping picture Uncle Ray and I accomplished. This is actually the foundation of an exrensive naturescaping effort that will begin with the new year. Also to be finished will be patios, walkways and drives.

2006-12-27T19:49:00.000-06:00

Dec 2006. When we got back from Thanksgiving, it was time to get back to work. Here Uncle Ray (down from Colorado) helps me with some landscaping work on the front yard. My Unc has a better hand with the tractor and blade than I do. He's on his way down to his winter fishing grounds, but stops by for a month or so, and is always a welcome hand. Aunt BJ is a great cook and is also a welcome treat for the visit.

2006-12-27T19:44:00.000-06:00

Nov 2006. Well, I'm back. Sorry about not having made an entry lately, but haven't been traveling much. The new house build took (takes) up a lot of time. We did however have a chance to breakaway for a trip to East Texas for Thanksgiving with the extended family. Here are all of this year's players (except for Aunt Nancy, I didn't realize that she wasn't in the shot until I processed the photo-sorry). Anyway great time had by all with lots of food (aarrgghhh-too much - almost).See y'all down the road.

2006-10-18T18:19:00.000-05:00

On the 17th of October, 2006, I became a first time Grandpop at age 51. Here Samantha holds Asher up for me to get a picture. Yes, my camera is acting up and needs a little maintenance (hence the fuzzyness). At 8 lb 11 oz and 21.5", he is a good sized young fellow. He is a looker too and I'm not just saying that because I'm a bit biased in my appraisal.

2006-10-18T18:10:00.000-05:00

Born on the 17th of October, 2006, Asher is the son of my son, Joe. A proud but tired new papa holds his boy up for all to see.

2006-10-18T18:08:00.000-05:00

Here is Gramma Lisa with the newest addition to our families, Asher.

2006-10-18T18:07:00.000-05:00

Grammy Christa with her first Grandchild, Asher. Yep, she's pretty happy.

2006-09-22T09:54:00.000-05:00

Towards the end of last month, Christa and I had to make a return trip to Georgia to take care of some personal business. Enroute we caught the Dallas Cowboys vs New Orleans Saints pre-season football game in Shreeveport and cruised through Atlanta, Georgia. While in Atlanta we stopped in to see the newly opened Georgia Aquarium. Those who know me understand my attraction aquariums and I have made it a point to visit many in my travels around the country. Opened in early summer, the Georgia Aquarium had already seen it's 3 millionth visitor. This was a beautiful, first rate aquarium boasting to be the largest in the US and possibly the West. I'm not sure if there isn't something larger elsewhere, but this is certainly impressive. I recommend this as a must see. We did not travel via RV for this trip as speed was a factor, so we did the hotel thing. I can say that if I have my choices I will stay with the RV gig, I just did not get that much out of the hotel stay. Overpriced, older and not taken good care of was the general impression. And these were the big name guys, in one we even had mushrooms growing by the toilet. I mean, we didn't stay in Presidential Suites, but neither did we stay at "roach motels." Executive business I would call them. The end result was to put me off of hotels yet again. Anyway, that is not to say we did not have a good time, we did, and we got to see some old friends before the trip was over and we had to head home.

2006-09-22T09:41:00.000-05:00

After paying for you tickets this is the hall leading into the interior. Pretty cool.

2006-09-22T09:40:00.000-05:00

The main hall where a number of exhibit halls branch off, including a fairly nice food court with typical fare for the tourist. One exhibit that I do not show here is the Baluga Whale area. My pictures did not turn out well, so aren't shown.

2006-09-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

The aquarium is complete with a kiddie hands on exploretorium. You get to touch various animals on display.

2006-09-22T09:35:00.000-05:00

One of the side exhibits showing invertebrates and other oddities. The simulated whale skeleton on a sea floor was quite a touch.

2006-09-22T09:33:00.000-05:00

The whole aquarium kind of revolves around the main tank, so you weave in and out of several exhibits before getting to the main viewing room. Here we walk through a glass tunnel with the tank and it's inhabitants gliding overhead and to the sides. We caught our first glimpses of the whale sharks here backlit by the sun.

2006-09-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

You can get an idea of the size of the whale sharks in this blurry picture. The big fellow is quite a ways over in the tank, but compared to the humans in front you might be able to gain some insight into his size. The little golden fish schooling around him are 1-2 feet long.

2006-09-22T09:26:00.000-05:00

This is a reef exhibit showing off the smaller, but more brilliant inhabitants, in the sea. I could sit here and watch it for hours. Complete with wave action, this was beauty to behold.

2006-09-22T09:24:00.000-05:00

The main exhibit, this is the one everybody comes to see. They say that this tank is big enough to hold 6 full grown adult Whale Sharks at 25+ feet in length. There are numerous large schools of other fish, sharks, and rays.

2006-09-22T09:21:00.000-05:00

This a picture of the large male Whale Shark measuring in at a little over 16 feet. He is huge. Sorry about the clarity of the shot, no flash, hand held, shooting through thick glass, yada yada.

2006-09-22T09:18:00.000-05:00

...and this wraps up our visit to the Georgia Aquarium. A really fantastic visit. As many of you know I have a fancy for aquariums and find these to be a real treat. Following this visit we finished our business in Georgia and returned home to Seguin and the new house. We have since moved in and are decorating the thing.

2006-08-19T22:47:00.000-05:00

Sorry about taking so long to get some posts out. We've been really busy as the end of construction nears and we have to start putting on the little finishing touches. Counter-tops, floor finishes, final plumbing, continueing electric install, and a whole bunch of little things are flying at us at a pretty good pace. The front door to our new home makes its first appearance. A spanish gothis design made by Masonite, the most popular feature is the "Speak-easy" door at the top. This is a very heavy door, just ask Alex. He had to hump it over from its storage place.

2006-08-19T22:41:00.000-05:00

Mom's front door. Made of an unfinished walnut, this is a beautiful piece of work with leaded glass inset to the upper door.

2006-08-19T22:40:00.000-05:00

Alex, Ralph, and Jose begin the process of cleaning up and preparing to move onto the next job. There is a lot of gear to be gathered, cleaned, and loaded after almost 6 months of building.

2006-08-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry Ron, I really was trying for a better picture. Ron here is our cabinet installer and he has been doing a stellar job. Unfortunately, when these pictures were taken the A/C was yet to be hooked up and with temps in the 100 degree range outside the temp inside was slightly uncomfortable.

2006-08-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

A crowded picture of some of Ron's work on the cabinets. Looking pretty good and considering he does this pretty much on his own he moves along at quite a clip. Kind of hard to see because the boxes and all are in the way, but you get the idea.

2006-08-19T22:33:00.000-05:00

To fend off massive erosion of the hill side, I had to build a retaining wall. I used the left over rocks from the stone masons who created the exterior corner accents.

2006-08-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

Putting the final stones onto the retaining wall. I had to carve the top back so that the slope wasn't so steep on this side. Erosion caught me off guard with some of the now distant past rains we encountered.

2006-08-19T22:29:00.000-05:00

Alex getting things cleaned up. Soon we'll be moving appliances and furniture into the house.

2006-08-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

Stone cutters for Artistic Counter-tops of San Antonio, prepare some of the green granite for our kithchen. With the temps at 100+ degrees, this stuff is hot to handle.

2006-08-19T22:26:00.000-05:00

Working on one of our counter tops, craftsmaen from Artistic Counter-tops, mounts some of the green granite for our kitchen. Beautiful stuff, I do not believe I have the talent to show off this surface effectively. You'll just have to come by for a social.

2006-08-19T22:23:00.000-05:00

A shot from the dive entrance of the build as it nears the final days of construction.

2006-08-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

Taken a couple days ago, we are looking at the near finished build. Of note is the finished STO coat on the exterior, the copper-esque caps along the leading parapet walls, and doors and windows. There are still some electrical works going on inside, but furniture has started to arrive and the place is starting to look like a home inside instead of a building. The next couple of weeks will be the personalization of our new abode. Pictures of the home build will start becoming fewer and far in between at this point as we start getting into processes. Hopefully, we will be able to resume using the blog for our travels again.

2006-08-04T10:55:00.000-05:00

3 Aug. The guys from Tri-County A/C have arrived and are preparing to get us cooled down. They especially liked the ability to drive onto the roof to place the condenser/compressor. Things are moving swiftly at this point, with finishing touches being applied all over the house. Ralph (our builer and crew from RC Smmot Construction, as well as the all the other folks involved, have really stepped up to the plate to make this one of a kind home come to life. The only major thing we're waiting on at this point are counter tops, another 2 weeks should see all that finished as well.

2006-08-04T10:50:00.000-05:00

Shot from the gate, we can see in this phot that color coating is lacking only on the near retaining wall. The whole place is really coming together.

2006-08-04T10:48:00.000-05:00

The final color coat is just about finished being applied. Really looking sharp, especially when viewed up close. Conrad, Alex, and Jose did a terrific job on this project.

2006-08-04T10:46:00.000-05:00

Another view of the final color coat.

2006-08-04T10:45:00.000-05:00

3 Aug. A view from the roof with the A/C condenser in place. Another sign of the nearness of completion. Can't wait. We still need to have power turned on, but that begins this Saturday.

2006-08-01T11:09:00.000-05:00

29-31 July. If you are a reader of this site, you have already seen Jack's tile work in our bath . Now you finally get to see Jack in action. An elusive fellow, he tends to be a bit camera shy. However, when it comes to his work, there is no shyness about him. He gets busy and stays on the job till it's complete. Here he is working on the floor in my Mom's bath. His wife, Tanya, keeps a close eye for quality control.

2006-08-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

Mom's kithen floor as designed and laid by Jack. Once the carpet is placed, this should be a pretty good looking room. As seems to be the case, Jack's work is excellent.

2006-08-01T11:02:00.000-05:00

Jack and Tanya putting the finishing touches to my Mom's bath. Jack does terrific work and is often assisted by Tanya. He likes the work, so if interested drop me a line and I'll send him your way with a great recommendation.

2006-08-01T10:56:00.000-05:00

Setting and hooking up the guest bath sink. A tight space to work, but Ralph is able to get curled up enough to get the job done. Almost finished the guest bath is turning out to be quite a nice piece of work.

2006-08-01T10:53:00.000-05:00

Alex and Jose applying a loose coat of color STO. This the first step to application, the second will be followed by Conrad creating the texture affect as soon as there is enough room for him to squeeze in between Alex and the wall.

2006-08-01T10:49:00.000-05:00

29 Jul- 1 Aug. Conrad and Jose getting busywith applying the color STO. A fast and furious job, their arms were still sore from earlier applications. Another couple days though, should see the whole house complete.

2006-07-31T09:02:00.000-05:00

Work goes on in the kitchen area. Alex and Jose (hidden) are doing some touch-up paint work.

2006-07-31T09:01:00.000-05:00

17-31 July. While Christa and I were sailing the high seas, work continued on the house. One of the main projects was to begin putting down baseboard trim. Using the garage as a staging area, the trim is layed out and sray painted with gloss white oil paint. Other things going on are finish work on the rock designs outside, Jet Welding continues work on the barrell vaults, color STO begins to be apllied, and electrics are to begin getting connected. More work on the cabinets are to take place as well. Water heater and bath plumbing get installed within the next week or so.

2006-07-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

A nearly completed shower stall by Jack, our tile man. He did a fantastic job and the pictures do not do justice here.

2006-07-31T08:53:00.000-05:00

With the walls having round corners, innovative cuts to the trim have to be made to follow the curve around.

2006-07-31T08:52:00.000-05:00

Various materials are used to hold the baseboards to the walls because they are glued in place. The walls being concrete of course have to use glue.

2006-07-31T08:51:00.000-05:00

Alex preps the rocks for STO application. Small details like this are making the house shine.

2006-07-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

Jason and crew from Bexar Electric get busy hooking up the electrics. Hey guys, move a bit faster and you can have some A/C. They came in like gangbusters, but it is a latge project and will take several days.

2006-07-31T08:42:00.000-05:00

Ralph installs trim to the walls.

2006-07-31T08:40:00.000-05:00

17-31 July. Where the color STO meets the rock. The process of applying the color STO layer to the exterior is a time critical effort. To keep the pattern consistant, once you begin to apply the STO, the process can't be stopped lest a breakline in the pattern show up. For this reason, Conrad and team start by doing one whole wall at a time. A couple of these walls are fairly large so they have to get going, especially in this heat where the STO dries quickly. Tying the STO into the rock required some cleverness, but the result was very neat.

2006-07-29T22:20:00.000-05:00

17-23 July. This week is the 25th anniversary for Christa and I. SO, we took off for a temporary break from the house build and took a cruise to the Western Carribean, Cozumel and Calica to be exact. Both are in Mexico and reportedly two of the finest ports for short get aways. We left Mobile Al, on the MS Holiday pictured here. An older vessel, but remarkably clean, well taken care of, and - well, cozy for lack of a better term. Kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing and more than we really wanted to spend considering the house build. But - a 25th anniversary usually only comes around once, so we went for it. We left our home build to my Mom to watch over and the capable hands of our builder, Ralph. We will catch up on the house when we have returned.

2006-07-29T22:11:00.000-05:00

One of the several lounge ares onboard. We haven't even left port yet and people are testing the areas they want to try first.