V-Travels

2010-10-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

Around Kerrville - Gibson's

2009-10-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

Whatever you need Gibson's has it. AND they truly do. We could spend hours going through this store - and we probably will be frequent customers.

Well is it a 10 gallon, 20 gallon, or 30 gallon? Should he get in in black or tan? I think he needs the horse too. Let us know what you think.

Reach Destination - Kerrville KOA

2009-10-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

We arrive at the Kerrville KOA

This is where we check in and where we will eventually work several hours a week.

We will fill up the tanks on the RV. Diesel is at a good price right here.

The campground is a smaller one - 50 sites.

Our new home. We have already met our neighbors and we are looking forward to our time spent here.

We have a pecan tree to the right of the RV. Some of our friends gather them and save them for baking. White tailed deer feed in the area behind the RV.

We finally get to the Hill Country

2009-10-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

On the road to Kerrville we hit the Hill Country. These were hills not the mountains of Hot Springs.

John has this driving thing down. We had a great day for driving - rains are to come tomorrow.

We actually drove THROUGH Austin. Lucky for us it was Sunday and the traffic was not the headache it usually it. This is a city full of culture and many choices of things to do.

Here comes the Hill Country. Kerrville is not far off.

The hillsides are covered with brush and low vegetation. The population is less dense than the ongoing suburbs and shops flanking the highway earlier.

The hills are high but the roadway provides for a gradual incline and decline. Our ears still popped!

The KOA sign indicating that yes we finally made it. This is our exit from hwy 10.

Church and Supper in Temple TX

2009-10-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Since we were moving on to Kerrville on Sunday, we went to church in Temple, TX. on Saturday night.

Found our first cactus during a walk around the campground.

This is the outside of St. Mary's church in Temple.

An inside view of the church. It was very Spanish in construction and had beautiful wood beams criss-crossing the ceiling.

We were guided to this Taqueria for our dinner after church. It was very good.

Yeah - that is a Margarita and it was good. It is also very large - any bets on walking out of this place under my own power? What happens in Texas - stays in Texas!

Cedar Ridge Campground - Belton Lake

2009-10-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Dallas from a distance - happy to keep it that way. Driving through that city would cause too many white knuckles. Beautiful driving day - we came up to sunny and 82.

Our campsite at Belton Lake was beautiful. We definitely had a water view. The flow from several creeks was dammed for flood control and hydroelectric power. Cedar Ridge Campground (another Corps of Engineers project). Fishing and boating were definitely popular here.

This is looking at the view from the back of our campsite.

The view from the front of our campsite - yes we had a prime spot.

Spending the night at a Wal-Mart lot

2009-10-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

The night of Oct. 22 was going to be interesting.

Wal-Mart parking lot. We had planned on staying in Mt. Pleasant Texas after leaving the Hot Springs area. Our reserved place for the night was at Pleasant View Campground (only a year old) which had received wonderful reviews. We should have been more concerned when we could not find the above mentioned place having driven past it twice. We finally asked directions (not the manly thing to do) and eventually pulled in and decided to pull right out again. Too close to Halloween to even consider staying there. Glad we had not put any money into the reservation. So we go back on 30 and continued on to Sulfur Springs, where a Wal-Mart parking lot greeted us. Another couple were also camping for the evening. After permission was given from the manager we proceeded to have dinner Wal-Mart style. Yes - we had FRIED CHICKEN! and we only felt guilty for a second or two.

What the heck is with the birds? We thought birds go somewhere to roost at night. Not at this place - again remember Halloween is just around the corner. These birds whistle, hoot, cackle, you name it they do it. They were a loud, raucous group, flock - whatever. They were brazen and moved slowly to let cars and people through. Note that a group has commandeered a few of the cars. Try to retrieve your car with those birds daring you to come near. We stayed inside the RV and observed from a distance hoping that Alfred Hitchcock was not remaking his movie.

"Party Barge" Ride with Ranger on Ouachita Lake

2009-10-21T18:17:00.001-07:00

We took a boat tour of parts of Lake Ouachita. This is one of many marinas found along this lengthy lake. Around 80 miles long. There are no houses or commercial establishments because of Corps of Engineers owns the water and land around it. The lake is 40,000 acres and has a dam for hydro electric power. The lake was formed when the Ouachita River was dammed in 1945. The dammed area had lots of mountains and valleys so there are many bays and hundreds if islands.

Our guide (on the right) was interesting and very informative. She and her family live near Three Sisters Springs in the state park. Our day was overcast and very cool.

There was about 14 people on the "barge tour". We are heading toward the marina where we left from. Since the whole lake and surrounding area are owned by the Corps of Engineers, the marinas are all built and owned by the Corps, they are leased out to the operators. All the house boat, pontoon and power boat slips have covered docks, and the sailboats are out in the open because of the masts. Because there is limited dock space, there are moorings for those who can't get slips.

This is an example of the folding of novaculite and sandstone layers that occurred when pressures within the earth heaved the land above it up. No granite and limestone like is all over Wisconsin.

There are so many areas of exposed rock in different designs it is almost beyond imagination to realize the complexity of the creation process. Here the water action ate away the softer parts of the rock and started caves.

A particularly interesting exposed rock formation.

Here the formation pushed the rock up so high that the top tipped over in a fold.

This is an area where the heaving of the layers took on more of a vertical form

Click on this picture to expand it and you will see what is called "checkerboarding". The rock broke up in very consistent pieces. There are actually two different sections of the rock showing the same effect.

Hot Springs National Park - Arkansas

2009-10-21T07:13:00.001-07:00

Informational Link to Hot Springs National Park.

This is the front of the Fordyce Bath House. It is now the location of the Visitor Center and Museum for the National Park. The park is located in the ZIG ZAG Mountains on the eastern edge of the Ouachita (Washitaw) Mountains. The tops of the mountains consist of folded layers of novaculite and sandstone. The folding occurred when the pressures in the earth pushed the soft rock up causing it to fall back on itself in folded layers. The rain from thousands of years ago fell on the tops of these mountains and trickled through the various layers. The water is heated by the pressures in the earth which are said to be NOT volcanic.

There are 47 springs in Hot Springs. This is number 46 found in the basement area of the Fordyce Bath House.

One of the springs found outside the Fordyce Bath House. The temperature is about 146 degrees. The water is naturally pure and needs no treatment. you can bath in it and drink it - although maybe not in that order.

The dressing rooms where those partaking in the baths could change and wait to be taken for their treatments. The wood of the rooms was absolutely beautiful - there was no skimping in materials. Each small tile on the floor was hand placed.

This is the sculpture of Ponce De Leon in the Central Men's Bath Hall. The cubicles behind each door held a large deep tub for individual treatment.

This is the stained glass mural above the statue of Ponce De Leon in the Central Men's Bath Hall. It is original and totally intact.

This is called a needle shower and is used after the hot tub treatment and the packing treatment (hot towel draped on you while you rest). There might even be a salt rub to slough off rough areas and give you a glow.

If your doctor wrote a prescription for you water therapy would be available for you. For the pictured treatment here you would stand in front of the hoses which would be aimed at the parts of you that hurt. The person on the other end could control both pressure and direction. Hmmmmm- interesting - something akin to waterboarding with a doctor's script.
There was also a table (not pictured) but for those of you who need a visual - picture a morticians table with the hole in it. Those treated here had colonic cleansing. You were requested to bring your own nozzle to fit on the end of the hose. There is probably no need to go in to great detail here. We put people out for that type of procedure today.

This is the Hubbard Tub. Patients were lowered into the hot spring water and aided by a "therapist". Many people used this tub during the polio outbreak of the 40's and 50's.

You could bake yourself in one of these steam machines - again only if your doctor wrote the prescription for it. After roasting, ice would be set below you and cool you down.

This is the music room on the third floor. Again note the tile. Each of these small tiles was placed by hand to form patterns. An original Knabe piano is in the background.

In addition to hydrotherapy, physical therapy was also offered. These are examples of Zander mechano-therapy equipment that was actually used.

More examples of the Zander machines.

A massage table. People would spend weeks at Hot Spring taking advantage of all that was offered to cure what ailed them.

This is the men's gymnasium. Women did not have one - they did not sweat or perspire in those days. They contented themselves in watching their men exercise. This gym is rumored to have been used by Jack Dempsey and Babe Ruth.

Someone should tell this woman not to touch that water - it is HOT! John immersed both of his hand in it and pronounced himself cured. He probably would have cured the rest of himself - but there is probably some ordinance against that!

Walk Around Ouachita State Park, Arkansas

2009-10-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

The picnic area at the end of the road accessing Three Sisters Springs provides a shallow water beach. The runoff from the springs goes directly into the lake.

Lichen covered most of the dead branches found in the wooded areas.

We found several different types of mushrooms while we hiked. This one had a very smooth, shiny top. John thought this one would be good in our salads - I wisely declined.

This is yet another interesting type of mushroom. We found these growing in only one place along our walk.

Three Sisters Springs was found in 1875 by John McFadden. He attested to the fact that they had healing powers, much like the once in Hot Springs several miles southeast. A resort was built by 1930 with a variety of tourist facilities including a springhouse and bottling plant. "World's Wonder Waters" were bottled and sold throughout the nation. It was claimed that each of the springs could cure a different set of ailments. The state park offices actually used the water until it was tested and found to be non-potable. There are still people who go to these three springs and fill up jugs of water to take home with them.

This is one of the cabins available for rent on the grounds of the state park. There are three bedrooms, full facilities, and kitchen. They even have decks overlooking the lake. They say that fishing is good here - right now they are catching striped bass in the 50 pound range!

Yet another gift from God in the form of another beautiful sunset. Life is good.

Arkansas - Ouachita State Park

2009-10-19T10:25:00.001-07:00

Crossing the mighty Mississippi into Arkansas came up early in our day's journey. There was very little traffic on the river which we found surprising. Our travel day was full of sun and warm temperatures - a relief from the past few days.

We arrived at this very beautiful campground in Ouachita State Park after driving over two lane roads that cut through the mountainsides. We climbed to seemingly incredible heights to soar down the other side into a valley. The road was heavily forested on both sides with the changing leaves of the season. We have found that there is little in brilliant color change - the leaves are green and then change to brown and drop off of the trees.

Link to Lake Ouachita Map. The campground is at the right side of the map.

Our site is on a small peninsula that juts out into the lake. The water is up as evidenced by some of the tree tops breaking the surface of the water not far from shore.

The trees are a mix of mountain pines, and hardwoods. We collected walnuts that were dropping like mini-bombs near our campsite. At first we suspected a squirrel with great aim and a bad attitude, but later discovered an abundance of hickory, walnut, and oak trees willing to part with their fruit.

The sky was teeming with what we thought were crows but on a closer look appeared to be hawks or osprey.

John is deep into a great conversation with his dad. The day is sunny and seasonably cool for this area. We only reached the mid 60's today.

Looking west over Lake Ouachita is the beginnings of a beautiful sunset. At the end of the point where this picture was taken are tent only sites. Each site has a leveled pad, campfire ring and picnic table - oh and an incredible view.
Note the tree tops in right of the picture. The river is at a high stage and some of the trees were partially underwater.

Memphis - visit to Elvis's Graceland

2009-10-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

You may click on the pictures to enlarge them.
Graceland is 6 miles away from our campground in Memphis, so we went there on kind of a gloomy day. The mansion tour for two is about $60 with the parking and is really well organized.

The house was purchased by Elvis in 1955 around $100,000. It is surprisingly modest given the fame and fortune of the man. We learned that from the beginning of his career, Elvis was very generous with his talent and the money which that talent brought in.

Looking into the living room - all of the furniture is original down to the over-sized white sofa. There are pictures of Elvis and his family throughout the room. Looking through the living room to the next room is one of many pianos found throughout the mansion and other buildings.

This is the room on the first floor that Elvis furnished for his parents to make them feel comfortable at Graceland. Rooms on the second floor were not accessible to the public.

The kitchen was said to be busy 24 hours a day. Food was available in the Presley home for those who were visiting. There goes that southern hospitality again! Nothing had changed since Elvis last updated the kitchen.

This was Vernon's (Elvis's dad) office.

The dining room to the left of the living room at the entry was used daily. We were told that family and friends spent a great deal of time around this table creating and sharing memories as well as sharing meals.

This was originally the racquetball court that Elvis built. The room now holds some of his costumes and some of his numerous awards.

This is one of the outfits that Elvis wore on his comeback tour.

The hall pictured shows a few (numerous here - but again only a FEW) of the music awards that Elvis earned.

The basement area of the home was furnished in navy and yellow. The three televisions broadcast different channels so that the viewer could keep up with the current world news.

The billiard table also located in the basement was well worn. The walls and ceiling were lined with folds of fabric - can't imagine the yardage for that!

Elvis bought horses for Priscilla. The pasture was close to the house.

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The meditation garden that Elvis had built provided a resting place for his mother and father, his grandmother, his twin brother, and eventually him. Floral arrangements arrive daily from fans around the world.

Memphis - T.O. Fuller State Park

2009-10-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

Before leaving the Cedar Creek Campground in Mt. Juliet and Mel, Louise, and Ann, and a wonderful fish dinner feast, there was a pretty good rain for a couple of days. If you remember some of the previous pictures, you will see the river had indeed come up a bit, actually right up to our site. We had no danger of being under water because our site was elevated, but it was interesting to see the fluctuation after the rain.

Thanks again to the Lundies for their kind hospitality. It was really special.

We safely arrived in Memphis and it is a small but nice state park. After doing laundry this morning we are heading to Graceland to see Elvis is hiding somewhere around there.

The temp was 47 this morning and is warming up to 57 now at 1:00. After seeing the Milwaukee area temps, we will take this. At least we will not see snow, although they are calling for spotty frost tonight.

"Charlie" was a cute little dog from the camper next to us.

Cedar Creek Campground Oct 13, Mel & Louise's

2009-10-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

This was the sunset the first night at Cedar Creek. Feet up in our comfy chairs, a crackling campfire to warm us, a glass of wine (actually two) and a bottle of beer, watching the shore birds, river traffic, and fish jumping. Life is GOOD!
Who would have known that this would be at the end of last few miles of our journey. These last few miles which resembled the Wild Ride of Mr. Toad in the Wind and the Willows. We were lead through residential areas with our roadway going up and then dropping vertically into a gully. What the warning signs said were low shoulder - they should have read NO shoulder. Jo endured those last few miles with her hands covering her eyes - it was reminiscent of the roller coaster rides at Great America. The wine, beer, sunset, and campfire at the end were well deserved. John proved that he can really handle this rig.
The majority of the trip from Grand Rivers to Mt. Juliet found us humming safely along on wonderful highways with little construction. Soon after crossing into Tennessee our roadway became less hilly and was flanked on either side by vast farmlands. A long downhill stretch let us know that the Cumberland was nearby and we were approaching the Nashville area. The road was now flanked by outcroppings of rock that had been blasted away to let the highway pass through.

It is still 70 degrees and we are heading to Mel and Louise's house at Del Web in Mt. Juliet, about 15 minutes away from the campground. A barge pushing coal upriver passes by. We have an ideal setting. Our nearest neighbor in the campground is about 300 feet away. The sites are open and very level. The people of Tennessee are very friendly just as they were in Kentucky. Southern charm and graciousness abound. We are truly enjoying this and we have been blessed.

Mel and Louise have a lovely house in a great location in Mt. Juliet.
The Del Webb community at Mt. Juliet is an impressive project for retired couples (55 and older) with plenty of activities. There is a recreation center providing a fully equipped exercise room, indoor pool and spa, running track, meeting rooms, and art room. The building also house an enormous room equipped with a large kitchen for various activities. Tennis, an outdoor pool and spa, and many other opportunities for fun and exercise are available. Classes and daily activities are available. This complex is very nice and the temperature year-round is moderate. Click the Del Webb link above for picture gallery. There is still a change of seasons as we noted in the coloring of the leaves.

Mel and Louise have a home that is beautifully decorated and very comfortable. Their daughter, Ann - visiting from Florida, added to the wonderful company. Again we were treated to Southern hospitality. We feasted, enjoyed conversation and the company of good friends. Louise took us on a tour of this community. We walked through several models and were impressed with the floor plans. Then we feasted yet again! There is something to be said for that Southern hospitality!
The complex is still developing with more homes to be built over a three year period. Taxes are favorable, weather is moderate, people are friendly. They made a great choice.

Leaving Canal Campground 10-12

2009-10-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

Canal Campground was a great experience in Kentucky with lots of friendly campers all around us.

I returned the boards that I had borrowed to John Stone, the strip mine shovel operator we met. He is showing me the pictures he has of the big shovel we talked about earlier. John and Diane are wonderfully friendly people that we have met on our trip.

We met Ann and Greg from Florida who camped next to us. Greg gave us some great tips about motor homing.

We arrived at Cedar Creek Campground in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee on Oct. 12. It is a spectacular campground along the Cumberland River. 70 degrees greeted us here, but rain is in the forecast for the next couple of days.

This is a Sycamore Tussock Moth Caterpillar that was crawling around the electric hookup at Cedar Creek. It is non-stinging. John thinks he can get me to cozy up to this by the non-stinging comment. I don't think so!

Final Two Days at Canal Campground, Kentucky

2009-10-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

Oct 11 - 70 Degrees! Today we headed out with the car to check out the Barkley Dam. We crossed the bridge over the Cumberland River that is next to the dam.

The dam is a popular fishing spot. There are lots of boats. The launch is just down river from us. It is amazing how close to the dam those boats actually go. On the side of the dam is Lake Barkely. The locks to pass from the lake to the river are to the right side of the dam.

A canal used by pleasure boats and commercial traffic connects Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.

Got a nice picture of the great blue heron who was fishing along the shore line. We also see many egrets. They look like a great blue but are white.

We drove down the "Land Between the Lakes" and came across this osprey nest in an electrical tower.

This is a view south of Kentucky Lake that was created when the Corps of Engineers made the dam. This lake is around 180 miles long and is really beautiful.

Grand Rivers KY "Hunters Moon" Festival and Parade

2009-10-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Technical note - you can click on the pictures for a larger view, use back arrow to return.

Saturday, Oct 10, 2009. It cooled off today - 56 degrees and cloudy.

The Land Between the Lakes has an interesting history. You can find a lot of it on this link.
http://explorekentuckylake.com/index.htm. The two lakes, Barkley and Kentucky, are each around 180 miles long, and the land area between them is reserved for recreational uses, no commercial.

We are fortunate to be in Grand Rivers for the Hunter's Moon festival, with parade, booths and a dance. This is a really small town, and people came from near and far to be part of the activities. Note from this picture that cars share the road with ATV's, golf carts and pickup trucks.

We had lunch before the parade and it was great. (This actually turned out to be lunch and dinner) John had the BBQ chicken and Jo had the pulled pork. Yummy and with the sides of baked beans and some kind of potato-onion-green pepper mixture swimming in bacon grease and butter we will need to double up on the cholesterol meds for the next week. The woman taking our picture is from two boats doing the loop. That had been a dream of ours - but now we are land cruising.

Note the desert menu - deep fried Twinkies and Oreo cookies. Someone said they were really good. We did not try them. (Really - we did not try them!) We figured with what we just ate that the Oreos and Twinkies would have instantly clogged the arteries and we would have run out of the cholesterol meds too soon.

Now, the excitement begins. Here the crowd is lined up and ready for the parade. If you are a people watcher, this is definitely the place to be. The feeling is laid-back and very friendly.

The band looked good. There was a great turnout for this parade. People we courteous in arriving and especially in leaving after the parade. No impatience in waiting.

Of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus were here, pulled by a bunch of lit reindeer from Wal-Mart and an ATV. There were decorated ATV's of all kinds in the parade, cub and girl scouts, cheer leaders, politicians and the softball team. Even the coroner marched in the parade.

This is especially for the gang at Boat Tailors. This might be the record for number of bows and supports on a 24' boat. The top was still floppy.

It seemed the recurring theme of the parade was camo and hunting. The camo was not limited to the marchers - half of the people along the parade route were in camo.

Harley Davidson motorcycles cannot compete with the ATV's in Kentucky, so they have their own brand and do just fine. That would be Faaahn.

We took a ride tonight and found the Barkley Dam. We will come back tomorrow and check out the Visitor's Center. The Kentucky Lake Dam is only 8 miles away and we will check that out too.

Canal Campground, near Grand Rivers KY

2009-10-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

John is checking into the Canal Campground office Tuesday, Oct 6. We had a great trip from Effingham. Weather was cool and overcast. We stopped and had lunch at a beautiful rest area at Rend Lake IL. In listening to conversations we realize that we will soon be identified as Northerners. We approached the Ohio River and the landscape became more hilly and rugged. The roads were well maintained and there was little construction. We crossed two span bridges across the Ohio noting that there was a lack of barge traffic in view.
Our wonderful GPS brought us directly to the opening of the Canal Campground on Kentucky Lake. John is working on his elongated vowels with the worker who checked us in. For those of you practicing with us at home your first lesson is Hi! (pronounced Haaa.ee - two syllables). Jo is known as John's whaaa. if, again two syllables.

Our spot was way off level so we had to get some boards, cut them and create a ramp to raise the back wheels of the coach. John never told me that he brought his whole workshop. I am glad that he did - we will probably need it again along the way.

One of the campers called this a "log cabin" under our wheels but it did the trick. Another friendly camper lent us some boards, and John made a run to a lumber yard for the rest we needed. We are now living in a high-rise, quite the envy of our camping group.

This is the end result, a beautiful camping spot right on Kentucky Lake. We have a great view of the lake from this vantage point. We can see and hear barge traffic as it passes by us. We have seen boats heading south to possibly the Gulf Coast for the winter, maybe some of those are Loopers - making the Great Loop down the Mississippi and up the ICW.

This tug has about nine empty barges that it is pushing downriver. It could be the inspiration for the "Little Engine That Could". Kentucky strip mines provided coal for the power plants in Wisconsin. It was transported from here up the Mississippi to the Illinois, and then to Lake Michigan to the places it needed to go. John, one of our fellow campers, was a coal strip miner for Peabody Coal company who operated one of the world's largest excavators. The excavator was made by Bucyrus Erie in South Milwaukee. It took 300 railroad cars to transport it and it was more than one city block long. At the end strip mining, they dug a huge hole and buried the machine!

We found an interesting pile of driftwood near our camping spot. Large trees and other debris wash up on shore. We hear the sounds of shore birds (herons and egrets) as they come in to feast on dinner. We have heard geese, too. Winter must be close by.

The "Land Between the Lakes" is a government project where two valleys were flooded, creating Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. There are two dams and a lock system as this is one of the main waterway routes between the north and the south. They dammed the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.

Here is a map of the area: http://www.kentuckylakebarkley.org/Resources/LBLFacilitiesMapa.pdf

The green part is "between the lakes" and is all Corps of Engineers Recreational Land - camping, hiking, boating as you can see. I saw at least 50 fishing boats this morning even though the weather is not too good today. The area generates 600 million in revenues each year with no commercial businesses allowed. It covers and area from Kentucky through Tennessee.

Saturday we are going to the doings at Grand Rivers, a little town near the campground. It is the Hunter's Moon Festival, and all the campgrounds and hotels are filled to capacity. Everyone is all excited about it. We will report after experiencing it in person.

La Salle IL, then Effingham IL

2009-10-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 5th, we are at Camp Lakewood in Effingham, IL. The campground is wooded and overlooks a nice lake. The sites are very close together but we are at the end of the season and have no neighbors on either side of us. This is the first time that we have full hookups - electric, sewer, cable TV, and free Internet. We will look for this place on the return trip. Tomorrow we head out for Lake Barkley Lock and Dam near Paducah, KY. We are now about 1000 miles from Texas. We are taking our time, enjoying the sites as we go. Yeah, we have become part of the Snowbird convention.

We made our first day's stop, October 4th, at the Flying J at La Salle, IL. We stayed right in front of the building in an area for RV overnighting. No charge at all, so we ate in the restaurant. They have pretty good food in the Flying J's and a discount on fuel for us. Woke up to 44 degrees outside, but started the generator and ran heat for a while. There are no hookups of any kind, so we had to make do.
We had started our day in very overcast gloomy weather, but Illinois brought the sun out with flat land (yes - here comes the term Flatlander) where you could see for miles in any direction that you looked.

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Leaving Racine

2009-10-04T02:33:00.000-07:00

It took a week to pack up and get everything on the coach. It took since January to get it ready mechanically. Now everything is in good shape for the trip to Texas.

We left Racine Oct. 4 on what was supposed to be a sunny but cool day. We had clouds and a tail wind to help all the way to La Salle, IL.

Thanks to Kris, Jack, and Dan for helping us get ready and finally on our way, and to our parents for their kindnesses.