Monday, April 25, 2011
Well, it’s travel time again. Greetings from the roamin’ Bowman’s.
It’s our first night out, and we’re at Kamp WalMart in Bend, OR – only 135 miles down the road, but away from Eugene. So, it’s a good thing. One of the few good things from the last few days. Getting away is always interesting. What did we leave behind? What did we forget to do? And then, late Saturday afternoon (too late to do much about it) we discovered that the dining room slideout awning had some kind of problem. Just looking at it, you knew there was a problem. One of the arms for the window shade part was hanging loose, and the awning just looked like there wasn’t any tension on it (there is a spring inside the rollup tube that keeps the fabric tight on the tube and from blowing away when you’re driving down the road).
Well, lo and behold, the awning just rolled out when the other arm was released from the side of the slideout. In early March we had the awnings checked by a local rv repair place, and they seemed to be working when we brought the coach home a few days later. Turns out the spring had broken, and now we needed to replace it. Didn’t want to spend any more money on the awning (beyond buying a new spring), so I eventually gathered up enough courage to try and fix it myself.
I poured over anything I could find on replacing an awning spring from the manufacturer (Carefree of Colorado). Found out our particular awning is not made anymore, but you can still get parts. Also, found out that working with the spring under tension can be dangerous, and there were plenty of people “out there” that left things like that up to the professionals. But, there were those other people that would fix anything, you just be careful with things like springs under a lot of tension.
So I got brave, took the awning off the motorhome, and proceeded to take it apart. Got the spring out (in 2 pieces), and now had to find another spring. Called around Monday morning, no luck. “Tell me the part number, and we can order one for you.” Found a couple of places on the internet that sold the springs for about $90. Then I decided to check out Northwest RV Supply. That’s a local Eugene rv parts place (new and surplus) that has something of everything (almost), including about a hundred awning springs – mostly Carefree Omega and Omega II springs. We just happen to have the Omega awning on our coach. And the best part, the price was only $39 each. With a deal like that you just have to buy a spare (we do have 2 slideouts). So, off I went to fix things.
Eventually, I got the spring in, wound it the right number of turns, put the pin (a nail) it to hold the spring from unwinding, and got it back on the motorhome. And the best part, it worked!
But, it took most of the day to figure out how to do that, and then do that. So, we finished putting the rest of our things in the coach, then backed it out of the driveway (you need to stop by someday and watch that process take place), put all the gear on the hitch and the car and then hooked the car up, and we’re ready to go.
Oops, forgot to check the air pressure in the tires. Just a bit low, so start the generator (too far from the 20a plug) and start checking and filling. By this time, it’s so cold in Eugene it seems to take forever to bring all 6 tires up to snuff. Finally that’s done and we fire up T-Rex (what the neighbor calls the coach), but it’s almost 7 pm, and it was snowing on the passes 2 hours earlier.
Putting good judgment behind us, we left anyway, but went over Willamette Pass instead of Santiam Pass (looked better on the cameras the Oregon Dept of Transportation has up there). Stopped in Oakridge, ate at the local DQ and headed into the recent darkness, up 4,500 feet into what? Snow is what, I can tell you. Just don’t stop until you get to the top – might not get going up again. Next thing we know, we’re going down, and we haven’t even seen Willamette Pass or the ski area there. About 10 miles down we get to the Crescent cut-off, and the road is mostly clear of snow, so we turn. 12 miles to hwy 97, and there’s no snow anywhere. Whoopie!!
Turn north and head for Bend. Get there about 10:30, park at WalMart and get out. There’s a white medallion of snow on the front of the coach, and the bikes on the back of the car are covered in ice. Knock off what we can, and bring them inside to dry out (with towels on the floor). I think I heard them say, “Thank you.” Car is covered with ice. There is ice on the bottom edges of the coach. It’s cold, but we’re done for the night. Tomorrow the ice will melt, it it doesn’t overnight. And things will be even better. We get to see our son Paul and his girlfriend, Toni, for a couple of days. Always have a good time here.
After Bend, is Boise (and my cousin Debbie and her husband, Ted). We might even get to do a bike ride there – if the weather cooperates.
So, we’ll see you when we see you. Some of you during our trip, and our family and friends in Eugene/Springfield when we get back sometime in early August (we think). I’ll try to keep the words flowing when I can find the internet. Till then, so long.
rod, rita & lucy
LATER IN THE WEEK - FRIDAY
We’re still in Bend. We moved to an RV park about a mile north of WalMart Tuesday morning, where we have hookups. It has snowed the last 2 mornings – whoopee, winter is still here! That’s not what you’ll hear passing Rita’s lips! She is ready for some sun and warm weather. We haven’t left yet because the weather in Wyoming is pretty iffy right now, and will be through Sunday. So we plan to drive to Boise on Saturday and leave for Evanston, WY on Monday. Of course, that is if Mother Nature is willing.
If it warms up, I may ride my bike today. Rita said, “Have fun.” It was 32 when we got up at 7:30. If it hits 43 or above I’ll try it – I think.
Till next time,
rod
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, October 8, 2010
Chapter 7 - Rozella's Road Trip
Greetings from America's Heartland, Kansas! It has been too long since the last post - almost 4 weeks today. At times it's seemed that we just got here, and then there are the days we get asked if we've moved back home. It has been good to be here. We've haven't spent this much time in our home town since our 2nd year in college, way back in the summer of 1963. It's been good. And now, back to our trip.
The day we left Oklahoma City it rained early, but by about 9 am not much was happening so we headed north. It's only about 170 miles to Wichita, so the trip wasn't a long one. We had gotten somewhat of a recommendation for a rv park in Wichita while in Oklahoma City, so we found Blasi Campground and registered for four nights. As most campgrounds/rv parks go, this was not one of the better ones. Unfortunately, Wichita is not one of the better places for good rv parks. But, we didn't spend much time there, so it wasn't so bad. There was really one thing about the park that was pretty interesting. Two of the three main electrical boxes must have been getting really hot during the hot weather as they had big shop fans blowing air past them 24 hours a day, AND there was a hose hooked up with a nozzle pointing at the boxes so they could spray water on them if it got hot enough. Never seen anything like that before. Never saw the water on while we were there.
We were in Wichita to see Rita's brother, Bud, and family. Helen (wife) had been suddenly struck with an infection of her spinal column last spring and became paralyzed from the neck down almost overnight. After emergency surgery and massive doses of antibiotics, she slowly began to recover. After three to four months of hospitalization and time at a rehabilitation facility, Helen was released to return home about a week before we arrived. Progress is slow, and it is likely she will have to take antibiotics the rest of her life, but she has the spirit and determination to make the recovery. She pretty much needs someone around all the time as she has to use a walker to move around and is not real stable at that. If she should fall she would not be able to get up by herself. It's a big burden for Bud and their son, Ray [lives at home and attends Wichita State University working on an advanced degree].
It is always good to get together with Bud and Helen. We always laugh a lot and have fun. And we hadn't seen Ray for a number of years so that was a bonus for us.
On Friday night we decided to drive to Yoder, KS for dinner. Now, Yoder is about 40 miles west, and a bit north, of Wichita. But, the Carriage Crossing Restaurant & Bakery is in Yoder, and it is run by the Amish, so the food is good. They are known for the family-style meals. You can see their menu on their web site at www.yoderkansas.com. But family-style wasn't for us that night, so, Rita had chicken fried steak & I had catfish [doesn't sound Amish to me, but it was good]. Kind of a long way to drive for supper, but we'd heard about the restaurant quite a few times, so it was worth it to us.
Connecting the Keeper Plaza to each of the two river banks are two suspension foot bridges allowing people to cross from either side. For brief periods in the evening, the Keeper is illuminated by a "ring of fire."
On Saturday we drove the motor home to Newton, Ks - about 35 miles north of Wichita, to attend the graveside service for Buddy McDaniel - my oldest cousin (81) on my mothers side. Buddy grew up in Newton, and then lived most of his life in Wichita. Lillian, his mom, passed away about 3 years ago, and then his partner of about 50 years, Frank, died about 3 months later. Some say he was never quite the same after that. Unfortunately, I never knew Buddy very much. Only saw him a few times over the years, the last time at his mom's 90th birthday about 9 years ago. As we found out after the service, we should have spent time getting to know him.
As a young teenager, Buddy found his life-long love while working at the Newton movie theater - he fell in love with movies. Not just any movie, but the ones of the 20's & 30's & 40's. And he loved music, mostly from the same era of the movies he loved. He had various jobs, even worked at a Wichita tv
I'm not sure if he ever sold any of his records, but he had an EXTENSIVE collection of records - 33's, 45's, & 78's. Thousands of them. When I was about 12 or 13 we visited Lillian and Buddy in Newton, at the hotel she managed. Buddy had a room, floor to ceiling, all 4 walls [9' walls], nothing but records. Nothing I had ever heard before. And the collection must have been much larger at his death. We happened to have the chance to see most of the records at an auction house just south of Newton the day after the service. Impressive, if you're into that music. Unfortunately, some of it wasn't worth a whole lot. And the older records were very fragile. Some had broken while being itemized and categorized for sale by the auction house. I'm kicking myself because I didn't bring the camera to the auction house.
'Nuf said about all things Newton. It was an interesting day & a half. Had most of mom's family there. Nice to have that many together again. That afternoon we were in the motor home on the way to Phillipsburg and got there about 10 pm, where we have been ever since.
That's it for now. Will try to bring everybody up-to-date soon.
rod, rita, lucy & rozella
Ps: I'm posting this without pictures just to get it out to you. Hope to get pictures in.
The day we left Oklahoma City it rained early, but by about 9 am not much was happening so we headed north. It's only about 170 miles to Wichita, so the trip wasn't a long one. We had gotten somewhat of a recommendation for a rv park in Wichita while in Oklahoma City, so we found Blasi Campground and registered for four nights. As most campgrounds/rv parks go, this was not one of the better ones. Unfortunately, Wichita is not one of the better places for good rv parks. But, we didn't spend much time there, so it wasn't so bad. There was really one thing about the park that was pretty interesting. Two of the three main electrical boxes must have been getting really hot during the hot weather as they had big shop fans blowing air past them 24 hours a day, AND there was a hose hooked up with a nozzle pointing at the boxes so they could spray water on them if it got hot enough. Never seen anything like that before. Never saw the water on while we were there.
We were in Wichita to see Rita's brother, Bud, and family. Helen (wife) had been suddenly struck with an infection of her spinal column last spring and became paralyzed from the neck down almost overnight. After emergency surgery and massive doses of antibiotics, she slowly began to recover. After three to four months of hospitalization and time at a rehabilitation facility, Helen was released to return home about a week before we arrived. Progress is slow, and it is likely she will have to take antibiotics the rest of her life, but she has the spirit and determination to make the recovery. She pretty much needs someone around all the time as she has to use a walker to move around and is not real stable at that. If she should fall she would not be able to get up by herself. It's a big burden for Bud and their son, Ray [lives at home and attends Wichita State University working on an advanced degree].
It is always good to get together with Bud and Helen. We always laugh a lot and have fun. And we hadn't seen Ray for a number of years so that was a bonus for us.
On Friday night we decided to drive to Yoder, KS for dinner. Now, Yoder is about 40 miles west, and a bit north, of Wichita. But, the Carriage Crossing Restaurant & Bakery is in Yoder, and it is run by the Amish, so the food is good. They are known for the family-style meals. You can see their menu on their web site at www.yoderkansas.com. But family-style wasn't for us that night, so, Rita had chicken fried steak & I had catfish [doesn't sound Amish to me, but it was good]. Kind of a long way to drive for supper, but we'd heard about the restaurant quite a few times, so it was worth it to us.
One of the more interesting attractions in Wichita is the Keeper of the Plains, a 44-foot tall, 5 ton stylized steel sculpture of an Indian Chief standing at the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas rivers (pronounced in Kansas as R-kansas) in downton Wichita. This land between the two rivers is sacred ground to the Native American people and is also home to the All-American Indian Center. The sculpture was designed by Wichitian and Native American artist Blackbear Bosin (1921-1980) and constructed by Tom Washburn of Architectural Metal Peoducts. It was erected on May 18, 1974 to clebrate the United State bicentennial.
In 2006 the statue was raised another 30' to the top of a man-made promontory following a six-month restoration project. Originally placed looking in the wrong direction, it was turned to point directly to the east, facing the sunrise, which is believed what Bosin had in mind.
On Saturday we drove the motor home to Newton, Ks - about 35 miles north of Wichita, to attend the graveside service for Buddy McDaniel - my oldest cousin (81) on my mothers side. Buddy grew up in Newton, and then lived most of his life in Wichita. Lillian, his mom, passed away about 3 years ago, and then his partner of about 50 years, Frank, died about 3 months later. Some say he was never quite the same after that. Unfortunately, I never knew Buddy very much. Only saw him a few times over the years, the last time at his mom's 90th birthday about 9 years ago. As we found out after the service, we should have spent time getting to know him.
As a young teenager, Buddy found his life-long love while working at the Newton movie theater - he fell in love with movies. Not just any movie, but the ones of the 20's & 30's & 40's. And he loved music, mostly from the same era of the movies he loved. He had various jobs, even worked at a Wichita tv
I'm not sure if he ever sold any of his records, but he had an EXTENSIVE collection of records - 33's, 45's, & 78's. Thousands of them. When I was about 12 or 13 we visited Lillian and Buddy in Newton, at the hotel she managed. Buddy had a room, floor to ceiling, all 4 walls [9' walls], nothing but records. Nothing I had ever heard before. And the collection must have been much larger at his death. We happened to have the chance to see most of the records at an auction house just south of Newton the day after the service. Impressive, if you're into that music. Unfortunately, some of it wasn't worth a whole lot. And the older records were very fragile. Some had broken while being itemized and categorized for sale by the auction house. I'm kicking myself because I didn't bring the camera to the auction house.
'Nuf said about all things Newton. It was an interesting day & a half. Had most of mom's family there. Nice to have that many together again. That afternoon we were in the motor home on the way to Phillipsburg and got there about 10 pm, where we have been ever since.
That's it for now. Will try to bring everybody up-to-date soon.
rod, rita, lucy & rozella
Ps: I'm posting this without pictures just to get it out to you. Hope to get pictures in.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Chapter 6 - Rozella's Road Trip
[I wrote this on Monday, then got busy, so this is a little late - Thursday night]
Finally! Back at it AND we're HOME [in Kansas, Phillipsburg, to be exact]. 34 days and 3,025 miles after leaving Eugene on August 27. And I'm listening to John Denver singing "Hey it's good to back home, again". We always listen to him on our trips, especially when traveling through the Rockies. I'm sitting in the motor home, looking out the window at the big Hackberry tree in mom's backyard. Good to hear the crickets, locusts and the doves cooing to us again. Home is always home to us.
It's breezy and will be in the 90's again today. We did have a break when we left Oklahoma City. It rained pretty hard early that morning, and we decided at first to stay the day and wait out the rain, but by 9:30 we decided the rain was over and we unhooked and set out for Wichita [about 180 miles]. That was on a Tuesday, and the cool front that blew in stayed until Saturday. Air conditioner during the day to keep the "house" cool, but turn it off and open the windows and turn the fans on at night. Actually got into the upper 50's a night or two. Actually, haven't run the air conditioner at night since that rain.
The last entry left off in Frisco, TX. We spent 5 nights there. Hot and muggy. And, it didn't it get much better 200 miles north in Oklahoma City. There are a few nice-sounding parks there, so we picked the one closest to my sister's house in Edmond [just north of OKC] - Twin Fountains RV Park. This one was much nicer than the one just north of Frisco where we stayed when there. Lots of trees, and we got a site with good shade, but it faced NE 63rd St, and the traffic could be pretty fast just 40 feet away. And, then on the north side of the park was I-44. It was elevated so we could see the traffic from the park. Overall, it didn't bother us that much. We were gone most of the day, so we missed most of the noise. The park was about 14 miles and 30 minutes from Becky's house. We tried a number of ways getting there but decided it didn't make a whole lot of difference which one we took.
Since I-35 has a lot of construction going on between Dallas and OKC, we took US-75 out of McKinney, TX when we left the Frisco area. Not a bad drive. Some construction going on there too, but not too bad. And the road was pretty good.
That night we ate at Pei Wei [say "Pay Way"]. I think it's owned by the PF Chang company, and the food looks similar. But, here you order at the counter and the items are different, yet some are the same. Such as the lettuce wraps, one of our favorites at PF Chang. The food was good we had a good time with my sister, Becky, and husband, Don. They were at the Bowman family reunion at SunRiver in June.
At dinner Don pulled out 2 tickets to the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum that happened to be just down the street from our rv park. So, on Friday, we went there. Was expecting something like the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, but this was much more western art than hall of fame. Each year they have a judged contest of western art, and that was on display. Artists from all over, but most from what we'd call the western states. And the art was outstanding. But, of course, you couldn't take pictures of any of what the museum didn't own, which was just about all of what we saw before we ran out of gas strolling and standing and looking. I managed to get mixed up about what you could take a picture of and what you couldn't, and was immediately reminded "not to take pictures in this room", so I had to delete a picture. I think it might have been the one I liked the most.
There were rooms and rooms of pictures and sculpture. We think the most expensive one was priced at $95,000. Many had little blue dots on the label that identified the artist, and medium [think, oil, pastel, water color, bronze, etc.]. That indicated that the picture, or a copy [?] had already been sold. Some of the artists had been in this competition for many years [think the most I saw was 27 years]. Good art. And then they had originals from years gone by. There was a wing with Charles Russel art [pictures and bronze], and Frederick Remington [pictures & bronze] - the 2 preeminent western artist of all time [I think]. I'd say people would recognize Remington's work more often than Russel, but both are at the top of the list of American western artists of all time.
By the time I got through the small room on firearms, I was ready to do something else, and Rita had gotten to that point before me, so we walked over to the dinning room and had lunch. You could order from the menu or pick the buffet. I picked the buffet, and Rita had something from the menu.
Last year when we were in OKC some fried chicken place out in the "country" was mentioned, so this time we asked about it before we left, and on Thursday night we went there. "Out in the country" meant you drive about 35 miles west of OKC to the town of Okarche, OK [not sure of the spelling. can't find the atlas, and no internet at mom's]. Anyway, there's this tavern called Eischen's Bar [supposedly the oldest in Oklahoma] that serves just about nothing but fried chicken. Oh, you can order Frito Pie, or nachos. And, they don't serve Coffee or Tea! Beer, soda or water. The place has been on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The standard order is: how many chickens do you want [that's right, how many?], and how many orders of deep fried okra do you want? We got 2 chickens and 2 orders of okra. You get white balloon bread and
pickle chips with every order. I think we ate it all! That'll do Rita and me for fried chicken and okra for a while.
They do a business. In original bar it's individual tables and booths, and in the old grocery store [they shut that down to expand the bar some time ago] it's some booths and long tables that you may have to share with someone else when they get busy, which appears to be about every night.
On Saturday we had a family get-together. All of Becky & Don's kids [3 of them] live about 5 minutes away, and they ALL came over for dinner. Each of her kids have 3 kids [from about 15 mos to 12 yrs] so it got a bit noisy at times, but it's fun cuz they get along together so well. For dinner Don barbecued chicken, and we had beans, chips, salad, fruit, Rod made ice cream [yep, I took my ice cream maker on the trip - knew it would come in handy!]. Had a good time. Was really good to see everyone again.
On Sunday we went to Becky and Don's church - Church of the Servant [Methodist] in north OKC. We've been before and really like it there. They seem so plugged into the community. This time they were talking about mentoring kids, and they had the names of all the kids from a local school on sort of stick cut-outs. They asked people to come down and take a name and then begin a regular program where you would pray for that boy or girl throughout the school year. They had many more people than names. Pretty impressive. Two of Becky's kids go to church there, so we all got to sit together.
Not much else to report on in OKC. The next stop was Wichita, KS to see Rita's brother, Bud, wife, Helen, and son, Ray. If I work at it this week, maybe I can get caught up.
Hope all is well with everyone out there. We're having a great time. Is always nice to be home. It will be in the 90's today, but haven't turned on the air conditioning yet [2:30 pm] as there is a good breeze that blows through the windows. It was supposed to have cooled into the high 60's last night, and we were able to leave the windows open and the fans on. Slept very good. Tonight is supposed to be similar. Nice not to HAVE TO USE the air conditioner.
Till next time, so long from the Land of Ah-h-h-s [say Oz, kind of].
rod, rita, lucy & rozella
Finally! Back at it AND we're HOME [in Kansas, Phillipsburg, to be exact]. 34 days and 3,025 miles after leaving Eugene on August 27. And I'm listening to John Denver singing "Hey it's good to back home, again". We always listen to him on our trips, especially when traveling through the Rockies. I'm sitting in the motor home, looking out the window at the big Hackberry tree in mom's backyard. Good to hear the crickets, locusts and the doves cooing to us again. Home is always home to us.
It's breezy and will be in the 90's again today. We did have a break when we left Oklahoma City. It rained pretty hard early that morning, and we decided at first to stay the day and wait out the rain, but by 9:30 we decided the rain was over and we unhooked and set out for Wichita [about 180 miles]. That was on a Tuesday, and the cool front that blew in stayed until Saturday. Air conditioner during the day to keep the "house" cool, but turn it off and open the windows and turn the fans on at night. Actually got into the upper 50's a night or two. Actually, haven't run the air conditioner at night since that rain.
The last entry left off in Frisco, TX. We spent 5 nights there. Hot and muggy. And, it didn't it get much better 200 miles north in Oklahoma City. There are a few nice-sounding parks there, so we picked the one closest to my sister's house in Edmond [just north of OKC] - Twin Fountains RV Park. This one was much nicer than the one just north of Frisco where we stayed when there. Lots of trees, and we got a site with good shade, but it faced NE 63rd St, and the traffic could be pretty fast just 40 feet away. And, then on the north side of the park was I-44. It was elevated so we could see the traffic from the park. Overall, it didn't bother us that much. We were gone most of the day, so we missed most of the noise. The park was about 14 miles and 30 minutes from Becky's house. We tried a number of ways getting there but decided it didn't make a whole lot of difference which one we took.
Since I-35 has a lot of construction going on between Dallas and OKC, we took US-75 out of McKinney, TX when we left the Frisco area. Not a bad drive. Some construction going on there too, but not too bad. And the road was pretty good.
That night we ate at Pei Wei [say "Pay Way"]. I think it's owned by the PF Chang company, and the food looks similar. But, here you order at the counter and the items are different, yet some are the same. Such as the lettuce wraps, one of our favorites at PF Chang. The food was good we had a good time with my sister, Becky, and husband, Don. They were at the Bowman family reunion at SunRiver in June.
At dinner Don pulled out 2 tickets to the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum that happened to be just down the street from our rv park. So, on Friday, we went there. Was expecting something like the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, but this was much more western art than hall of fame. Each year they have a judged contest of western art, and that was on display. Artists from all over, but most from what we'd call the western states. And the art was outstanding. But, of course, you couldn't take pictures of any of what the museum didn't own, which was just about all of what we saw before we ran out of gas strolling and standing and looking. I managed to get mixed up about what you could take a picture of and what you couldn't, and was immediately reminded "not to take pictures in this room", so I had to delete a picture. I think it might have been the one I liked the most.
 |
| Remington's "Coming thru the Rye" life size |
There were rooms and rooms of pictures and sculpture. We think the most expensive one was priced at $95,000. Many had little blue dots on the label that identified the artist, and medium [think, oil, pastel, water color, bronze, etc.]. That indicated that the picture, or a copy [?] had already been sold. Some of the artists had been in this competition for many years [think the most I saw was 27 years]. Good art. And then they had originals from years gone by. There was a wing with Charles Russel art [pictures and bronze], and Frederick Remington [pictures & bronze] - the 2 preeminent western artist of all time [I think]. I'd say people would recognize Remington's work more often than Russel, but both are at the top of the list of American western artists of all time.
 |
| John Wayne |
By the time I got through the small room on firearms, I was ready to do something else, and Rita had gotten to that point before me, so we walked over to the dinning room and had lunch. You could order from the menu or pick the buffet. I picked the buffet, and Rita had something from the menu.
 |
| Eischen's Bar |
pickle chips with every order. I think we ate it all! That'll do Rita and me for fried chicken and okra for a while.
 |
| Don, Becky, mom & Rita |
They do a business. In original bar it's individual tables and booths, and in the old grocery store [they shut that down to expand the bar some time ago] it's some booths and long tables that you may have to share with someone else when they get busy, which appears to be about every night.
On Saturday we had a family get-together. All of Becky & Don's kids [3 of them] live about 5 minutes away, and they ALL came over for dinner. Each of her kids have 3 kids [from about 15 mos to 12 yrs] so it got a bit noisy at times, but it's fun cuz they get along together so well. For dinner Don barbecued chicken, and we had beans, chips, salad, fruit, Rod made ice cream [yep, I took my ice cream maker on the trip - knew it would come in handy!]. Had a good time. Was really good to see everyone again.
 |
| Saturday Dinner |
 |
| Becky/Don's Grandkids |
 |
| Mom with Great-grandkids |
Not much else to report on in OKC. The next stop was Wichita, KS to see Rita's brother, Bud, wife, Helen, and son, Ray. If I work at it this week, maybe I can get caught up.
Hope all is well with everyone out there. We're having a great time. Is always nice to be home. It will be in the 90's today, but haven't turned on the air conditioning yet [2:30 pm] as there is a good breeze that blows through the windows. It was supposed to have cooled into the high 60's last night, and we were able to leave the windows open and the fans on. Slept very good. Tonight is supposed to be similar. Nice not to HAVE TO USE the air conditioner.
Till next time, so long from the Land of Ah-h-h-s [say Oz, kind of].
rod, rita, lucy & rozella
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Chapter 5 - Rozella's Road Trip
I'm back at it. Trying to get caught up. We're now in Oklahoma City, but this chapter is about our visit with mom's sister, Betty. Betty (not Elizabeth) is the youngest of the family at 82 (83 in October). She lives with her daughter Candy in Frisco, TX, one of many communities north of Dallas that have become incorporated into what is now called Dallas-Ft Worth. Not sure what the size of Frisco is - saw one sign saying 71,000+ and another saying 92,000+. Enough about that, this "episode" begins when we left Las Cruces for Frisco.
Not wanting to drive the interstate system, if another, less busy way was available, it became obvious that the only good alternative seemed to go through Roswell, NM and then straight into the Frisco area. Since mom’s brother, Darrold, had a daughter living in Roswell, we asked if that road was “any good” and how about US Hwy 380 from there into the Frisco area? We found out that US Hwy 70 from Las Cruces to Roswell is mostly 4-lane and a good road. And, according to Google Maps, the Hwy 70-Hwy 380 route to Frisco was actually shorter distancewise (Word’s spell checker doesn’t like that word, but I think it really is a word since you hear it all the time). I’d bet timewise, I-10/I-20 would be shorter. But, we’ll never know – we took the through-Roswell route.
This took us 3 days. After getting a late start from Las Cruces, had to have a “going away” breakfast at Cracker Barrel (one of Dot & Darrold’s favorite places to eat), we headed out. The drive to Roswell was pretty easy. The first part takes you through the Organ mountains just east of town and through the White Sands military missile test area to Alamogordo, NM. Not thinking of New Mexico as a “real” mountain state, I was surprised to see the roadside sign, about 25 miles out of town, announcing the elevation at San Agustin Pass at 5,715 feet! Highest one on this trip, and not many outside of Colorado will be higher. Once you get to the White Sands area, you’re surrounded by mountains, but the White Sands are basically “flat as a table”. Although, on a map there looks to be an area with lots of white sands, we only saw a brief bit while we were driving down Hwy 70.
The first town you get to is Alamogordo. We stopped for lunch and found out what hot desert heat is. It was very intense. We were glad to be on our way again. To get to Roswell, you have to make your way through the Sacramento and Captain mountains, and it didn’t take long to find them. The road winds through them and the area is very scenic. Lots of trees (mostly pine of some sort) and some pretty tall, although not like the Douglas Firs in western Oregon. I was impressed. This is the area of the Mescalero Apache, and hwy 70 goes through their reservation.But it is also the land of Billy the Kid, and the early cattle barons of the area. According to the internet, his real name, Henry McCarty, was rather ordinary. But his nickname still gallops across the high plains of America's imagination. Of all of the Old West's outlaws, it outdistances all the others. He used his familiar, formal alias of William H. Bonney in correspondence. For the last eight months or so of his harrowing life he was known -- as he is remembered today -- as Billy the Kid. Although McCarty roamed New Mexico Territory for only the last nine years of his short and turbulent life, he called New Mexico home. Today, more than 125 years after his death, scores of historic points of interest here still recall the life and legend of Billy Bonney; the five-month-long Lincoln County War; and the life and legacy of the man who tracked him down and eventually shot and killed him, Pat Garrett. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to explore this part of New Mexico.
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| Town & Country RV Park |
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| Rita & her dinner(s) |
Our 2nd night out we stayed in Haskell, TX at the city park. Was not sure where we’d stay but found this park on the internet site: rvparkreviews.com. I use this internet site a lot. The first night there is free, and is only $12 a night for a full-hookup (they have some 50 amp sites). It’s not fancy, and many of the “residents” there are workers that travel to wherever the job is. The city park around is pretty nice for a small town (about 6,000). Worked for us as we got to keep the air conditioner running without using the generator.
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| Haskell, TX |
Pulled into the Frisco area the next day and found Shady Creek RV Park & Storage. Fairly new, but few trees for shade. $30 a night for the first 3, then only $20 when we signed up for 2 more. Could have stayed a week for $125 +electricity.
Got the motor home settled in, and then drove to aunt Betty’s (about 7 ½ miles). Was really good to see mom and Betty together again. Last time was a few years ago. And, Rita & I got to see her daughter, Candy, again. Had only been 46 years (Candy was 14). We had such a good time.
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| Mom and Sis Betty |
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| Sam Moon's Main Store |
Rita found a few things, but not the real jewel of a store that we became intimate with – Sam Moon’s. There are actually 3 Sam Moon stores, in a row, but the one you just gotta see is the one with the jewelry and hand bags/purses. Even I think every woman needs to see Sam Moon’s – at least once. We had so much fun, we brought mom when we went back on Tuesday. I don’t know how impressed she was, but she did buy some things. Our first visit had to wait till Monday, since they are closed on Sunday, and we didn’t “know” what it was on Saturday. But, Candy did and she said, “Did you go to Sam Moon’s? You didn’t? Well, you’ll have to go back on Monday, cuz you will be amazed.” That was enough for Rita, and Monday couldn’t come too soon.
There are more purses, hand bags, totes, etc than either of us had ever seen in one place. Big bags, little ones, lipstick holders, shopping bags, etc. Frilly ones, plain ones. You name it, I think they had it. And then, there’s the jewelry. Lots and lots of that. We think all are knock-offs, and therefore inexpensive, but you can then buy more! Had a good time there.
On Sunday we went to church with Betty and Candy. It was a big church. A BIG church. Sat down, and then noticed the 30 piece orchestra on the stage and the 100 member choir behind it. To say they were really, really good would be to short change them and the music. Wow! And then, I looked at the bulletin we were given. Oh wow, this is Chuck Swindoll’s church – Stonebriar Community Church. [I thought it was interesting that the church’s address is on Legendary Drive] Unfortunately, Chuck takes the month of August off and was not there. Would have loved to hear him preach. Betty and Candy said he is really good.
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| Orchestra and Choir |
The church was founded in about 1998, and the current worship center was completed in late 2008, and will seat 3,000. They have 2 Sunday morning services. You can visit their web site at: www.stonebriar.org if you want to learn more about the church and its missions.
Candy’s daughter, Darci, and family live closeby and we met them Friday night and then we all went to dinner at Babe’s Chicken Dinner House for Saturday night. Although the building is only a couple of years old, it was made to look like it had been there for years and was ready to collapse. Turns out, this is a small chain of restaurants that began in 1998 in Roanoke, TX. All are in the Dallas-Ft Worth area.
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| Babes |
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| Mom, Betty, Rita, Candy at Babes |
We arrived just in time, as we were seated immediately, but when we left there were 50+ people in the waiting area, with an hours wait AND it was outside with temperatures in the 100 degree range. Although there were misters going, I'm glad we got there "on time".
Inside, the decor is definitely rustic. Chickens and signs everywhere. And the seating fits right in. Long tables and food served family style. Actually only the side dishes are served family style, and is as much as you want. The main dish is your choice from six: fried chicken, chicken fingers, chicken fried steak, smoked chicken, fried catfish (3 fillets) or pot roast. And, there's desert - Chocolate Meringue Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie, Coconut Meringue Pie, Banana Pudding, and Pineapple Upside-down Cake. Sorry to say, nobody had desert. Too much food.
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| Rudys BBQ and Gas Station |
Another good place to eat in the Frisco area (way too many to begin to mention) is Rudys BBQ. Most of the Rudys are bbq at a gas station. Again, long tables and you can order individual servings (sandwiches, etc) or "family style portions", meaning tubs of the sides and meat by the pound. Being the first time for us, we ended up ordering individual except for Rita and me. The meat (brisket, pulled pork, ribs, turkey) was all good, but the star of the night was the turkey. Never ordered bbq turkey before, but they gave us a sample, so we ordered brisket and turkey. The turkey was the best. And the creamed corn was something else! So good. Should have bought some turkey to take with us, but didn't and we're still wishing we had.
And then, there's Double Dip Frozen Custard. Turns out, the guy that owns this was a neighbor or close friend of the one that owned the Caliches in Las Cruces. Said the formula was a bit different, but we couldn't tell. Really good custard. Ended up going back about every night after we found it. It can be addictive.
Got to finish this. Will try to catch up in the next few days. So long from the road.
rod, rita, lucy & rozella
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| Frisco Sunrise |
And then, there's Double Dip Frozen Custard. Turns out, the guy that owns this was a neighbor or close friend of the one that owned the Caliches in Las Cruces. Said the formula was a bit different, but we couldn't tell. Really good custard. Ended up going back about every night after we found it. It can be addictive.
Got to finish this. Will try to catch up in the next few days. So long from the road.
rod, rita, lucy & rozella
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Chapter 4b – Rozella’s Road Trip
Finally, I’m back at it. Finding time to update everyone on what we’ve been doing and seeing has been an issue. It’s early Tuesday morning in Frisco, TX area, and I will try to get caught up. 4a was in Las Cruces, and this will try to complete our stop there.
I left off mentioning the frozen custard, the burger joint in Hatch, and pecans & chiles.
About a mile south of our rv park was this frozen custard place called Caliche’s. Since Rita loves frozen yogurt, which can be hard to find at times, we pulled in one evening. You either use the drive-up (order and wait at the window), or park out front and walk up to the order window. We drove through the first night. The custard is made fresh every day. The liquid custard mix is poured into the top of the machine and the frozen custard comes out the front, down a spout into a large bucket (looks like about 5 gallons). The buckets sit in a big cooler with wheels so the custard doesn’t melt. When the batch is done, the bucket is moved to a cooler and is ready to serve. The custard is firm enough to scoop, but is not hard like “hard packed” ice cream. That way it stays soft and creamy when it’s served. Caliche’s makes vanilla and chocolate only. The variety comes with the toppings – nuts (pecans, of course, but others too), candy, fruit, etc. They can make shakes or “blizzards”, but most orders seem to be custard and one or two toppings.
This stuff is good! We’ve had custard before, but not as good as this. We ended up making a daily visit, and finally got mom and Dot (her brother’s wife) there so she could try it.
On our Sunday in Las Cruces we drove north of town to Hatch, NM. In early September (4th and 5th) they will have their annual chile festival. The festival attracts over 30,000 visitors from all over the United States, including the Food Network and the BBC. Festival goers can sample famed chile recipes, watch the crowning of the chile festival queen, or toss a horseshoe in celebration of our most famous crop. The event also features chile ristra contests, artisan and food booths, and a carnival. A chile ristra is a string of dried chiles, so that you may have chiles year round (or just for decoration). Apparently, they can be as big (long) as you want, or made into a wreath (round, heart-shaped, etc). It’s a popular belief that ristras are hung in front of your home to welcome visitors and bring you good fortune. Right now, fresh ristras are not very available, so we haven’t bought any. The local vendors will ship a fresh one if you want – shipping about the price of the ristra. We decided not to buy.
Some facts about chiles:
But the festival and chiles were not the reason we were in Hatch. Someone had mentioned this great burger (and more, actually) place up there called Sparky’s. It was hard to verify it’s existence at first, but enough people were found eventually, that we made the drive (about 35 miles). One of the best 35 mile trips we’ve made. As you can see, Sparky’s is decorated and hard to miss.
If you’re in the area, you gotta try the Green Chile Cheeseburger, with the Green Chile Cheese Fries. They warn you that the burger will be pink/red in the middle if you don’t ask for more cooking – Darrold said “well done” which meant no pink. The green chile used is mild, and can be served whole (seeds removed) or chopped up. I eventually had another green chile cheeseburger with the chiles whole, and found I liked it better chopped up (but not too chopped up) like Sparky’s does. We all agreed, worth the trip.
And now for pecans. Pecans were one of the most recently domesticated major crops. Although wild pecans were well-known among the colonial Americans as a delicacy, the commercial growing of pecans in the United States did not begin until the 1880s. Today, the U.S. produces between 80% and 95% of the world's pecans, with an annual crop of 150–200 thousand tons. The nut harvest for growers is typically around mid-October. Historically, the leading pecan-producing state in the U.S. has been Georgia, followed by Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma; they are also grown in Arizona, South Carolina and Hawaii. Outside the United States, pecans are grown in Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, Mexico, Peru and South Africa.
The first commercial pecan orchard in New Mexico was established by Dean Stahmann, Sr., south of Las Cruces in the 1930s. By 1970, close to 9,000 acres of pecan orchards were established and more pecan trees were being planted. New Mexico now has about 29,622 acres of pecan trees that produced about 50 million pounds of nuts in 1999. There are no native pecan trees in New Mexico, and all producing pecans are improved varieties. 'Western Schley' is the variety grown most in the state.
About 80 years ago when W.J. Stahmann and his son Deane purchased a stretch of countryside in the Mesilla Valley thirty miles north of El Paso, the area was little more than a barren wasteland of shrub and sand dunes. A buggy-maker by trade, Stahmann came to the Mesilla Valley from Wisconsin. Settling first in El Paso, he raised cotton and tomatoes. In 1926, W.J. purchased the first 2,900 acres of what was to become Stahmann Farms in Southern New Mexico. He and his son cleared the land with teams of mules and planted acres of cotton.
Seventy years later no one knows why Deane Stahmann decided to pull out his cotton plants and plant the first pecan trees in the valley. Some say it was his wife's idea. Others say it was the economy or the development of synthetic fabrics. Whatever the reason, he planted over 4,000 acres of pecan trees in the early 1930's on two separate plots of land. Soon the Stahmanns became the largest pecan producing family in the United States. Years later, when Deane Jr. planted 2,000 acres of trees in Australia, the Stahmanns became the Largest Pecan Producers in the World!
Pecans are the only mass market nut native to the Americas. The average age of a bearing tree is around fifty years. An orchard has a basic spacing of thirty by thirty feet or 48 trees per acre, and you will notice that weeds and grass grow freely among the trees. Today, green and black aphids are controlled with thousands of ladybugs, lacewing flies and other natural predators that live and reproduce in those ugly weeds.
Pecan harvesting is a highly mechanized operation completed in three stages. First, the fields are cleared of weeds, grass, branches and other debris. Second, sophisticated machines called shakers hold and shake specific branches of the tree, causing virtually all the nuts to fall from the tree, as well as many dry leaves and branches. During the third stage of the operation, sweepers form rows of pecans between the trees and finally a harvester picks up the pecans from the ground. Light material such as leaves and sticks are blown back onto the field by the harvester while pecans and rocks are dumped into a cart.
It’s important to water pecan trees at proper intervals. Pecans are irrigated by sprinklers, drip systems, and by flooding. We only saw flooding in the Las Cruces area, but sprinklers and drip systems would be hard to see as you drive by. As you might guess, water is important throughout the season for normal development of the trees and the nuts, and has more of an effect on pecan production than any other factor.
I'm having trouble with the pictures. Can't seem to get them to work right. Anyway, it is what it is. Besides, it's
free. I might have to find another blog to start using. This one doesn't work too well.
This is our last night in Frisco. Tomorrow we drive north to the Oklahoma City area to see my sister and family. We will probably be there till Monday.
Hope all are well. It rained around here this afternoon, but not much at the rv park. It cooled off to about 84 and then went back up to over 95 again. My sister says not any better in Oklahoma. Saw that it was 75 in our hometown in Kansas. Hope that holds until we leave for Oregon around the end of the month.
rod
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| A Happy Rita |
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| Caliche's Frozen Custard |
About a mile south of our rv park was this frozen custard place called Caliche’s. Since Rita loves frozen yogurt, which can be hard to find at times, we pulled in one evening. You either use the drive-up (order and wait at the window), or park out front and walk up to the order window. We drove through the first night. The custard is made fresh every day. The liquid custard mix is poured into the top of the machine and the frozen custard comes out the front, down a spout into a large bucket (looks like about 5 gallons). The buckets sit in a big cooler with wheels so the custard doesn’t melt. When the batch is done, the bucket is moved to a cooler and is ready to serve. The custard is firm enough to scoop, but is not hard like “hard packed” ice cream. That way it stays soft and creamy when it’s served. Caliche’s makes vanilla and chocolate only. The variety comes with the toppings – nuts (pecans, of course, but others too), candy, fruit, etc. They can make shakes or “blizzards”, but most orders seem to be custard and one or two toppings.
This stuff is good! We’ve had custard before, but not as good as this. We ended up making a daily visit, and finally got mom and Dot (her brother’s wife) there so she could try it.
On our Sunday in Las Cruces we drove north of town to Hatch, NM. In early September (4th and 5th) they will have their annual chile festival. The festival attracts over 30,000 visitors from all over the United States, including the Food Network and the BBC. Festival goers can sample famed chile recipes, watch the crowning of the chile festival queen, or toss a horseshoe in celebration of our most famous crop. The event also features chile ristra contests, artisan and food booths, and a carnival. A chile ristra is a string of dried chiles, so that you may have chiles year round (or just for decoration). Apparently, they can be as big (long) as you want, or made into a wreath (round, heart-shaped, etc). It’s a popular belief that ristras are hung in front of your home to welcome visitors and bring you good fortune. Right now, fresh ristras are not very available, so we haven’t bought any. The local vendors will ship a fresh one if you want – shipping about the price of the ristra. We decided not to buy.
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| Chile Ristras at a Chile Stand |
- One fresh medium-sized green chile pod has as much Vitamin C as six oranges.
- One teaspoon of dried red chile powder has the daily requirements of Vitamin A.
- Hot chile peppers burn calories by triggering a thermodynamic burn in the body, which speeds up the metabolism.
- Teas & lozenges are made with chile peppers for the treatment of a sore throat.
- Capsaicinoids, the chemical that make chile peppers hot, are used in muscle patches for sore and aching muscles.
- Chile peppers are relatives of tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants, all belonging to the nightshade family.
- The color extracted from very red chile pepper pods, oleoresin, is used in everything from lipstick to processed meats.
- There are 26 known species of chile pepper, five of which are domesticated.
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| Sparky's |
If you’re in the area, you gotta try the Green Chile Cheeseburger, with the Green Chile Cheese Fries. They warn you that the burger will be pink/red in the middle if you don’t ask for more cooking – Darrold said “well done” which meant no pink. The green chile used is mild, and can be served whole (seeds removed) or chopped up. I eventually had another green chile cheeseburger with the chiles whole, and found I liked it better chopped up (but not too chopped up) like Sparky’s does. We all agreed, worth the trip.
And now for pecans. Pecans were one of the most recently domesticated major crops. Although wild pecans were well-known among the colonial Americans as a delicacy, the commercial growing of pecans in the United States did not begin until the 1880s. Today, the U.S. produces between 80% and 95% of the world's pecans, with an annual crop of 150–200 thousand tons. The nut harvest for growers is typically around mid-October. Historically, the leading pecan-producing state in the U.S. has been Georgia, followed by Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma; they are also grown in Arizona, South Carolina and Hawaii. Outside the United States, pecans are grown in Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, Mexico, Peru and South Africa.
The first commercial pecan orchard in New Mexico was established by Dean Stahmann, Sr., south of Las Cruces in the 1930s. By 1970, close to 9,000 acres of pecan orchards were established and more pecan trees were being planted. New Mexico now has about 29,622 acres of pecan trees that produced about 50 million pounds of nuts in 1999. There are no native pecan trees in New Mexico, and all producing pecans are improved varieties. 'Western Schley' is the variety grown most in the state.
About 80 years ago when W.J. Stahmann and his son Deane purchased a stretch of countryside in the Mesilla Valley thirty miles north of El Paso, the area was little more than a barren wasteland of shrub and sand dunes. A buggy-maker by trade, Stahmann came to the Mesilla Valley from Wisconsin. Settling first in El Paso, he raised cotton and tomatoes. In 1926, W.J. purchased the first 2,900 acres of what was to become Stahmann Farms in Southern New Mexico. He and his son cleared the land with teams of mules and planted acres of cotton.
Seventy years later no one knows why Deane Stahmann decided to pull out his cotton plants and plant the first pecan trees in the valley. Some say it was his wife's idea. Others say it was the economy or the development of synthetic fabrics. Whatever the reason, he planted over 4,000 acres of pecan trees in the early 1930's on two separate plots of land. Soon the Stahmanns became the largest pecan producing family in the United States. Years later, when Deane Jr. planted 2,000 acres of trees in Australia, the Stahmanns became the Largest Pecan Producers in the World!
Pecans are the only mass market nut native to the Americas. The average age of a bearing tree is around fifty years. An orchard has a basic spacing of thirty by thirty feet or 48 trees per acre, and you will notice that weeds and grass grow freely among the trees. Today, green and black aphids are controlled with thousands of ladybugs, lacewing flies and other natural predators that live and reproduce in those ugly weeds.
Pecan harvesting is a highly mechanized operation completed in three stages. First, the fields are cleared of weeds, grass, branches and other debris. Second, sophisticated machines called shakers hold and shake specific branches of the tree, causing virtually all the nuts to fall from the tree, as well as many dry leaves and branches. During the third stage of the operation, sweepers form rows of pecans between the trees and finally a harvester picks up the pecans from the ground. Light material such as leaves and sticks are blown back onto the field by the harvester while pecans and rocks are dumped into a cart.
It’s important to water pecan trees at proper intervals. Pecans are irrigated by sprinklers, drip systems, and by flooding. We only saw flooding in the Las Cruces area, but sprinklers and drip systems would be hard to see as you drive by. As you might guess, water is important throughout the season for normal development of the trees and the nuts, and has more of an effect on pecan production than any other factor.
I'm having trouble with the pictures. Can't seem to get them to work right. Anyway, it is what it is. Besides, it's
free. I might have to find another blog to start using. This one doesn't work too well.
This is our last night in Frisco. Tomorrow we drive north to the Oklahoma City area to see my sister and family. We will probably be there till Monday.
Hope all are well. It rained around here this afternoon, but not much at the rv park. It cooled off to about 84 and then went back up to over 95 again. My sister says not any better in Oklahoma. Saw that it was 75 in our hometown in Kansas. Hope that holds until we leave for Oregon around the end of the month.
rod
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Chapter 4a - Rozella's Road Trip
Well, we've been in Las Cruces for 5 full days - and it hasn't been below 95 any of them. And it doesn't look like it will get any cooler the rest of the week. It's not so hard on us, but for Lucy, our Yorkie, it's not business as usual. Way too hot, even in the morning, to leave her in the car while we eat lunch, or do anything. So she stays in the motor home [the air conditioner has been on almost all the time we've been here], or we take her with us in the car when we're driving around or going to Darrold's house, which is cooler. The last 2 evenings have been somewhat better - low 80's by 9 pm.
This is the longest stay for us in Las Cruces. We were going to leave today, but decided to add at least 2 more days. This has been a good stop for mom. She and Darrold are particularly close, and she is staying at his house. Much easier for her to get around - all on one level. Her knee has been acting up since she left Kansas for the reunion in Oregon - Darrold has noticed the difference since he visited mom this last spring at her house.
On Friday, we visited mom's sister, Alvina, at her son's house on the east side of town. Alvina is 98 and is having age issues [memory, hearing and mobility to name a few], but it was a delight to see her again. The last time mom & Alvina were together was for Alvina's 90 birthday here in Las Cruces. It was a good visit, and we decided to get together again on Saturday for an afternoon grilling, courtesy of Alvina's son, Roger. Everyone contributed something, and, of course, there was too much to eat. Good food and good conversation, but it was soon time to leave.
On Saturday morning, before visiting Alvina, Rita & I took in the Las Cruces Farmers Market. We had been to the market years earlier in March and it was too early for a good turn out. This one was much better attended by the vendors and the public. Almost immediately we found a booth selling recycled tin cans. Peter, seated, and his son use a very small oxy-acetylene torch to cut designs into used tin cans. The work is all done by hand, and the designs are all freehand. No copying a design from a template, although it sounded like they have a number of basic designs that they work from. They start with a particular shape, cut that into the can so that it is evenly distributed, and then work from there to cut additional designs in the areas between the initial work.
Peter has been doing this for 40 years, and his 26-year old son, for 20 years. He's sold his designs on the QVC channel on tv - said they sold 1,500 [500 more than he had] in 30 minutes. Didn't find out where he was from [guessing, here in Las Cruces]. Rita was impressed enough to buy a small candle holder - $15. They make lamp shades and sconces [see the one hanging by the son's shoulder in the above picture]. They are not inexpensive [shades that are prewired can run $250 and up]. They have made custom items that run as much as $1,000 or more.
While strolling through the market area, we came across a group of nuns in black habits. At the time I didn't have my camera with me. I was soon wishing I did as I saw one of the younger nuns wearing red high-topped basketball shoes. What a treat! Vowing to get a picture, I returned to the car with Rita's tin-can purchase and some fresh corn-on-the-cob, grabbed the camera and headed back. Hoping the nuns were still there, I spied them, including "red shoes". I quickly snapped a picture to prove my story. Alas, it was too good to be true. Rita had overheard the nuns talking to others about the play "Nunsense", which our Small Group from church in Springfield, OR had gone to see. We now believe this "flock" of nuns was just the cast members from the play, which is now playing in Las Cruces, and had come to the market to have some fun. At one point we saw 3 of them having a sing-a-long with a local performer for a song or two.
It's getting late, and I need to wrap this one up. I hope the pictures come out for all of you. I tried to resize them so you could all see them. There is much more to talk about in Las Cruces - the wonderful frozen custard place just south of our rv park, the trip to Hatch, NM [35 miles north] for burgers on Sunday afternoon, and two of the major crops of this area - pecans & chilies [Hatch is called the chili capitol of the world, or is that the United States?].
So long for now. Hope to post the rest of chapter 4 soon.
This is the longest stay for us in Las Cruces. We were going to leave today, but decided to add at least 2 more days. This has been a good stop for mom. She and Darrold are particularly close, and she is staying at his house. Much easier for her to get around - all on one level. Her knee has been acting up since she left Kansas for the reunion in Oregon - Darrold has noticed the difference since he visited mom this last spring at her house.
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| Mom, Darrold, and Alvina |
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| Table of smaller tin can items |
It's getting late, and I need to wrap this one up. I hope the pictures come out for all of you. I tried to resize them so you could all see them. There is much more to talk about in Las Cruces - the wonderful frozen custard place just south of our rv park, the trip to Hatch, NM [35 miles north] for burgers on Sunday afternoon, and two of the major crops of this area - pecans & chilies [Hatch is called the chili capitol of the world, or is that the United States?].
So long for now. Hope to post the rest of chapter 4 soon.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Chapter 3b - Rozella's Road Trip
We're in Las Cruces, NM. This is the home of mom's brother, Darrold, and wife, Dot, and one of her sisters, Alvina. The drive from San Bernardino went well, as long as we ran the generator so we could keep the motor home cool. After about 2 weeks of sub-90 degree weather in San Bernardino, it got up to 100 on Monday, and we left on Tuesday as it was on it's way to around 100 again. We got a late start, and finally hit the road about 11 am.
While it may have been hot on the outside, it was cool on the inside as the generator did it's thing and kept the air conditioners working as we drove. The bad part of that is when you stop and open the door to get out, like we did when we got to Phoenix at about 7pm - wow! Blast furnace!! We suddenly realized we couldn't (or didn't want to) run the generator all night to keep the air conditioners going, so while Rita fixed dinner at the WalMart in Avondale, Rod looked for the closest rv park. Fortunately, we only had to backtrack about 5 miles to Goodyear where there were 2 parks just about a mile off I-10. Couldn't find the first one, it was pitch black out, but the 2nd was where the GPS said it was and we checked in at about 9 pm, and as quickly as we could plugged in so we could shut the generator off. Slept good in air conditioned comfort.
As you mighty imagine, not many rvs at the park this time of year, but the small trailer next to us had Oregon plates on it. A young couple from Portland was helping a friend, who had previously lived in Mexico, move back to Mexico. The trailer was a 1977 that he had refurbished somewhat and had traded straight across for an older motor home, owned by their friend who was moving to Mexico. He would be leaving the trailer in Mexico when they got to their destination.
We got an early start, for us, about 8:45 am. As we passed a large sign on the outskirts of Phoenix, it showed the current temperature - 100. At 9 am! Glad to be leaving that behind.
The rest of the day was just driving, with a stop of about an hour for Rod to nap so we could get to Las Cruces. Pulled into our campground at about 10 pm and had to set up in almost total darkness. Didn't hit anything and only had to move the "house" once because of tree limbs that got in the way of the living room slide.
This is a pretty nice campground - Sunny Acres RV Park. It's in the city and was formerly a trailer park, but looks like all but about 2 have been removed and the spaces turned into rv sites. Lots of trees, which is good this time of year. The few pull through sites are completely out in the open, so we asked for a back-in. Got a good one.
Mom's brother and wife pulled in to our space to pick us up for breakfast at about 9 am today. Good to see them again, and I know mom was happy to see her brother again. They talk on the phone quite a bit, and he was up in Kansas earlier this year and drove up to see her, but they are pretty close, so the next time is never too soon. And, mom is staying with Darrold while we're here. No negotiating the motor home stairs to go outside for the next few days. It will be good for her to be close to family again - it's about 8 miles to their house from the campground.
We got together again for dinner, and Darrold's middle daughter drove down from Rosewall to spend the night and Friday before heading back to her job on Saturday. That was a treat, as we've only seen her a few times over the last number of years. We all get along real well, so we laugh a lot. This is the craziest part of mom's family still around. We always have fun with them.
We'll see mom's other sister, Alvina [98 years] tomorrow. She is currently living with her oldest son [Roger] and wife, but sounds like she may be moving to a facility in the near future - not sure about that.
We have 5 nights here, so will leave on Monday for the Dallas, TX area [Frisco]. That's where her other living sister [Betty] lives with her daughter.
Today was about 95 [our car never showed less than 100] and tomorrow should be about the same. Late today a thunder shower moved through the area. Cooled things down to about the high 70's. While we were eating dinner we could see it raining on one side of the parking lot and almost not raining on the other.
This is the rainy season down here. We saw thunder showers in the distance while driving in from Phoenix. And eastern Arizona and this area of New Mexico is just alive - so green. You wouldn't think so, but when it rains everything just grows and blooms. There's one type of cactus that has just bloomed - we see lots of seed pods, but no flowers. In Arizona the pods were dry and brown, but here many of them are still green.
Never seen New Mexico prettier, and we like the scenery in this area a lot.
That's it for now. Will be adding posts to this blog from now on. I'm not sure how this works yet, but will keep trying. I'll send notices when I make a post so you can keep up with our travels. I think it can be set up so it will notify you when there's a new post, but I'll have to look into that. And, I'll be able to add pictures to the blog. That will make it better, too.
For now, so long from Las Cruces.
rod, rita, lucy & rozella
While it may have been hot on the outside, it was cool on the inside as the generator did it's thing and kept the air conditioners working as we drove. The bad part of that is when you stop and open the door to get out, like we did when we got to Phoenix at about 7pm - wow! Blast furnace!! We suddenly realized we couldn't (or didn't want to) run the generator all night to keep the air conditioners going, so while Rita fixed dinner at the WalMart in Avondale, Rod looked for the closest rv park. Fortunately, we only had to backtrack about 5 miles to Goodyear where there were 2 parks just about a mile off I-10. Couldn't find the first one, it was pitch black out, but the 2nd was where the GPS said it was and we checked in at about 9 pm, and as quickly as we could plugged in so we could shut the generator off. Slept good in air conditioned comfort.
As you mighty imagine, not many rvs at the park this time of year, but the small trailer next to us had Oregon plates on it. A young couple from Portland was helping a friend, who had previously lived in Mexico, move back to Mexico. The trailer was a 1977 that he had refurbished somewhat and had traded straight across for an older motor home, owned by their friend who was moving to Mexico. He would be leaving the trailer in Mexico when they got to their destination.
We got an early start, for us, about 8:45 am. As we passed a large sign on the outskirts of Phoenix, it showed the current temperature - 100. At 9 am! Glad to be leaving that behind.
The rest of the day was just driving, with a stop of about an hour for Rod to nap so we could get to Las Cruces. Pulled into our campground at about 10 pm and had to set up in almost total darkness. Didn't hit anything and only had to move the "house" once because of tree limbs that got in the way of the living room slide.
This is a pretty nice campground - Sunny Acres RV Park. It's in the city and was formerly a trailer park, but looks like all but about 2 have been removed and the spaces turned into rv sites. Lots of trees, which is good this time of year. The few pull through sites are completely out in the open, so we asked for a back-in. Got a good one.
Mom's brother and wife pulled in to our space to pick us up for breakfast at about 9 am today. Good to see them again, and I know mom was happy to see her brother again. They talk on the phone quite a bit, and he was up in Kansas earlier this year and drove up to see her, but they are pretty close, so the next time is never too soon. And, mom is staying with Darrold while we're here. No negotiating the motor home stairs to go outside for the next few days. It will be good for her to be close to family again - it's about 8 miles to their house from the campground.
We got together again for dinner, and Darrold's middle daughter drove down from Rosewall to spend the night and Friday before heading back to her job on Saturday. That was a treat, as we've only seen her a few times over the last number of years. We all get along real well, so we laugh a lot. This is the craziest part of mom's family still around. We always have fun with them.
We'll see mom's other sister, Alvina [98 years] tomorrow. She is currently living with her oldest son [Roger] and wife, but sounds like she may be moving to a facility in the near future - not sure about that.
We have 5 nights here, so will leave on Monday for the Dallas, TX area [Frisco]. That's where her other living sister [Betty] lives with her daughter.
Today was about 95 [our car never showed less than 100] and tomorrow should be about the same. Late today a thunder shower moved through the area. Cooled things down to about the high 70's. While we were eating dinner we could see it raining on one side of the parking lot and almost not raining on the other.
This is the rainy season down here. We saw thunder showers in the distance while driving in from Phoenix. And eastern Arizona and this area of New Mexico is just alive - so green. You wouldn't think so, but when it rains everything just grows and blooms. There's one type of cactus that has just bloomed - we see lots of seed pods, but no flowers. In Arizona the pods were dry and brown, but here many of them are still green.
Never seen New Mexico prettier, and we like the scenery in this area a lot.
That's it for now. Will be adding posts to this blog from now on. I'm not sure how this works yet, but will keep trying. I'll send notices when I make a post so you can keep up with our travels. I think it can be set up so it will notify you when there's a new post, but I'll have to look into that. And, I'll be able to add pictures to the blog. That will make it better, too.
For now, so long from Las Cruces.
rod, rita, lucy & rozella
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