Travels With Linda
postcards from the road of life
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On the Lake

5/23/2020

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A Busy Lake
We took the RV up to Lake Conroe for some boat time and a little bit of on-water social distancing. We had great weather and enjoyed three days in a row on the boat. It was windy and the lake was choppy with some whitecaps, but all-in-all our time on the water was lovely.

On Saturday – our third day – everyone showed up for their first boat day of the year. On Thursday and Friday I had counted just six to eight trailers when the tractor took us to the launch ramp. Saturday I lost count at 45 trailers! The tractor drivers were going non-stop. 

Our storage facility being busy was just a foreshadow of how busy the lake was going to be. In our 13 years keeping a boat at Lake Conroe, I cannot remember seeing so many boats on the lake. 

Holiday weekends are good times to avoid being on the lake, and we usually do. There are just too many inexperienced folks in too many boats with too much beer. This weekend was no different. We saw any number of dumb things being done on the lake, including one boat that came about right in front of us. I said to Linda that we would read of at least one death before the weekend was over. It did not take long. On our way back to the RV, we were passed by an emergency vehicle towing a rescue boat. A man fell off a personal watercraft wearing no safety vest – what a surprise.

Our Private Cove
One of the things we like to do when on the lake is wander up into a quiet cove, drop anchor, eat a bit of lunch, and take a nice relaxing dip in the lake. When we do that the living is easy. And we have our favorite, private places. Places others don't go to. Places where we can be by ourselves. Private places.

That was our plan on this busy Memorial Day weekend Saturday. We headed for one of our favorites, a shady little cove along the edge of the national forest. Just Linda and I and a few egrets fishing. Everything was great and going as planned until...
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Our Private Cove
Yes, that's a picture of our quiet, private, "secret" cove. It was simply awash with boats, many more than show in the photo. I quit counting boats at 30.

We wandered along the shoreline until we finally came to a place that was quiet and found our refuge. We stayed for a while, ate our lunch and relaxed. Then we decided to cut the day short and get off the water while we were still safe and before the holiday boaters dug in to their back-up beer coolers. After all, we can always go back another day.

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Our Quiet Refuge
My Covid-19 Rant
COVID-19, the novel Caronavirus, is officially no longer a problem in Texas. It's over. Done. Complete. Kaput. Finished. No more. 

I know this because the governor of Texas announced that it was okay for us all to go to restaurants, bars, beaches, and every other essential place people want to go. And because the governor, who knows his pandemics, said it was okay to go out, everyone is out. And they are out without their gloves and their masks. Who needs gloves and masks? Social distancing? Hah! We don't have to social distance. This pandemic is over.

I went in a store on Friday and suddenly I am the only person (well, there was one other old guy) wearing a mask and gloves. A week ago everyone was wearing a mask. Does everyone think the danger has completely disappeared because things are starting to open up again? Do they understand that restarting is more about political and economic reasons than any clear proof that the virus has waned to less than critical importance? I don't think so. But if they do, then they just don't care. Either way, it is absolutely amazing. 

Anyway, if you are out and about, please keep staying safe. It ain't over 'til its over.

​
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Virus, Schmirus

3/19/2020

3 Comments

 
Are you self-quarantining? Sheltering in place? Hiding in the garage or basement?

Did you find your grocery delivery down at the end of the driveway?

Is working from home with your kids and spouse underfoot really better than being at the office with that wierdo who is two cubicles down from you?

Do you have plenty of cookies? Sodas? Hand-wipes? TP? Other essentials?

Are you rooting for them to "flatten the curve?" Do you even know what that means? 

Navigating through life with the novel coronavirus – COVID19 to the cognoscenti – is starting to get interesting.

This past weekend we took the RV to Galveston Island for some solitude to try and mentally cope with the knowledge that we are part of the high risk group quaintly known as “The Vulnerables.” Nah. Not really. We were actually on the island to go to a show at the Opera House, but it was canceled. 

With or without the show we were at the state park for 4 days.  We took a little time on Monday to go to the beach along the Seawall to see how others are dealing with the vicissitudes of this new, bizarre, phantasmagorical, reality.

​So if you are getting bored with hunkering down in front of your TV watching Price is Right and Jeopardy, then here are some ideas for you. These photos, with their captions, will show you how people in Galveston are using best practices to enjoy the beach, stay safe, and avoid the dreaded coronavirus. 

Whatever you do – don't worry, be happy, and have fun! 
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Go to the beach. Stay far away from everyone. But share a blanket with your friend.
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Bury yourself in the sand. Coronavirus cannot get you when you are covered with sand.
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Run real fast and the virus won't catch you.
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Fly somewhere else while using appropriate social distancing.
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Rent your beach chairs, but don't use them. Stay home and watch TV.
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Bundle up like it is February in Canada and sit by a post with a can of Coke.
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Stay away from Porta-Potties.
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Stay away from sea gulls.
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Fish in the surf with your buddy, using the fog to hide from the virus.
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When you go to the beach make sure you have enough stuff with you.
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Enjoy all the regular beach activities – like texting each other.
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Stand on a tall pole to be sure to be alone.
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Go fishing to get away from people – but take your whole posse with you.
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Social distancing? We're gulls. We don't do no stinking' social distancing.
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Back in School

3/12/2020

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This past January I headed back to school – as a student. 

I am taking a photography course at the Glassell School of Art which is part of the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston. My goal is to improve my photography in a way such that a few of my images will perhaps go from nice to special.

The experience of returning to the classroom has been very interesting. I find myself attending class on two different levels. On the primary level I am a student, paying attention to the instructor and the lessons and trying to learn.

On a secondary level the class is a sort of meta-experience, and I find myself constantly doing a mental critique of the instruction. I sit through class thinking "I would have explained this differently" or "he needs a better example here." I have been retired seven years and the old teacher still awakens when stimulated. Fascinating.

Anyway, the class has become interesting, and I am fully enjoying myself. I am out taking pictures rather than just sitting around the house in a comfortable chair thinking about taking pictures.

We talk about our work with the instructor, and he is showing us how to work to our individual strengths. Sometimes I realize just how far I am from the photographer I would like to be, and other times I am surprised at just how close I am to that same goal. 

This past week we displayed our first portfolios to the class. Each of us pinned our photos on the wall and class members all had the opportunity to comment. That was quite an experience knowing that people were going to discuss your stuff right in front of you. I am happy to report I survived.

I selected these images from about 20 or so that I displayed in class so you can see some of what I am doing. These were chosen for their variety of subjects rather than any other reason. Just click on an image to see it full size. Whether you like them or hate them, please let me know your thoughts. 
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Season's Greetings

12/23/2019

1 Comment

 
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Birding in December

12/17/2019

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We had a quick winter visit to Galveston Island this past week. Our main objective was to see the Sandhill Cranes which winter along the Gulf Coast and Mexico. They travel down across the Great Plains from the Alaskan and Northern Canadian tundra. So unless you happen to be in the midwest when they are passing through, the Gulf Coast is the place to see these great birds.

Weather was not exactly with us as Monday was a cold rainy day and Tuesday was very windy with gusts up into the 35 mph range. Birds are not dumb and they stay hunkered down and nowhere to be seen in those conditions.

Wednesday was a magnificent day and the cranes and all the other birds were out enjoying the weather. Sandhill cranes are large and plentiful and like open fields. They should be easy to photograph. But the cranes seem to have a knack for finding the far reaches of the fields, well away from the roads. Even so, with a long lens (500mm) I managed to get a couple of okay pictures. Sandhills are slate gray with a bright red patch of skin on their forehead. They may have some rust color mixed in with the gray, but, generally, the browner the coloring, the younger the bird. Remember to click on the pictures to see them in large size. 
After we had time with the cranes we headed over to Seawolf Park on Pelican Island. Here we could see the comings and goings in Galveston harbor, watch the shipping traffic head up the channel to the Port of Houston, and enjoy the fishermen and pelicans.

The big ship below is known as a "RO-RO" (roll on-roll off) and is specifically designed for shipping vehicles. It seems that I always see a RO-RO in the harbor.

The ferry connects Galveston Island to the Bolivar Peninsula. It operates 'round the clock and is completely free. Look closely at the picture and you can see three school buses on the ferry. The lower peninsula has an elementary school, but the older kids cross the water every day.
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Car Carrier
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Heading Home from School
Along with the sandhill cranes, we also saw a few other birds, although not too many. As always, the brown pelicans, egrets, herons, and white ibises were out and about, but not in great numbers. Anyway I managed to get a few pictures.
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Little Blue Herons
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Brown Pelican
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Killdeer
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Egret in the Grass
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Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
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It Must Be December...

12/5/2019

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White Pelicans on a Dock
...the White Pelicans have returned to Lake Conroe. 

Linda and I took a day on the boat Wednesday and saw two different pods – pod is the collective noun for pelicans not in flight – of White Pelicans on the lake. They show up every year around the beginning of December, migrating in from the lakes and rivers of the Midwest and Canada. Most of them will eventually find their way to the Galveston coast, but some will stay on the lake for the winter.

We'll be heading to Galveston in about 10 days to enjoy the Sandhill Cranes, another group of visitors from the Midwest which come to the Gulf Coast every winter.

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Heading Home

11/13/2019

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We’re on our way back to Texas. We were in Missouri for about 4 weeks after taking two weeks to mosey up along the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. We have made it through apple-picking, soccer for three-year olds, record low temperatures, three-day rainstorms, and the agony of the World Series.

We have had a great time. Linda and I have watched barges go through a lock on the Mississippi River, toured the Missouri countryside, enjoyed local eateries, and visited the St. Louis Art Museum for an exhibit of Dutch Masters.

We have also spent lots of time with the twins, picking them up from daycare, visiting playgrounds, eating at Chick-fil-A, visiting train museums, Halloween costumes, and, of course, watching 3-year-old soccer.

All in all, it has been a pretty busy (and a pretty great) time for a couple of septuagenarians. But it ain’t over ’til it's over, and we still have some days scheduled in the Sam Houston National Forest which is conveniently near Lake Conroe and the boat.

This post is extra long. It is really two (or maybe three) posts combined as a result poor and non-existent internet connections. I just kept writing and adding photos, and it just grew. In fact, with the lack of useful internet service, we will probably be home by the time I send this out. Anyway, lots of words and lots of pictures. Don't forget to click on the pictures to see them full size. Enjoy!
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Ben in His Astronaut Costume
The Twins and Ben
​Since we were married fifty years before grandchildren ever appeared on the scene, we have a lot of catching up to do. So we try to visit Missouri every spring and every fall for a few weeks. And now we have three grandkiddos with Baby Ben who was born this past April. 

Tom and Jack are now 3-1/2 years-old and great fun to be around. We love to take them places and share experiences with them. Ben seems to be getting bigger every day, and we look forward to the time we can include him in our activities.

We try to maximize our time with the twins. We pick them up from daycare to take them to a playground or take them on little “field trips.” Sometimes we stop for a bit of lunch at Steak 'n Shake or Chick-fil-A. Paper hats, fold-up cars, coloring, and good eatin'. Life is good when you are three.

My Steak 'n Shake Hat
Is this Hat Straight?
Some Catsup for the Waffle Fries
Chicken Nuggets and Fries
Soccer!
This fall the twins were part of a kinder soccer program. For an hour every Sunday they met with other three- and four- year-olds to learn the basics of soccer (no hands allowed, kick the ball to the net, etc.), practice their skills, and play a short game. It was wonderful. Somehow the coaches have been able to organize and teach these little people the basics of the game. Half of the hour is spent on skills and the other half is playing a game (no score kept) against another team. A liberal number of water breaks are sprinkled throughout the hour and there is a snack at the end of the game. The coaches are wonderful, it is all rather low key, and the kids seem to enjoy themselves. I find it all great fun.

While the practice session is surprisingly well organized, and the kiddos actually appear to be focused, the game is pretty much what you might expect from these wee folks. There is much running after the ball by the players grouped together in a tight mass. A few always seem to be a couple of steps ahead while another two or three always seem to be a step or two behind. And then there is always someone who would rather look at the grass or clouds. Here are some pix so you too can enjoy a bit of three-year-old soccer.
Tom
Jack
This Soccer Stuff Sounds PrettyTricky.
Boring!
This is Fun!
Footwork
I Am Not Listening to Jack!
I Touched the Ball!
Kick Ball. Get Trophy.
Halloween
Who doesn’t like Halloween? With a chance to dress up and a sack full of candy to look forward to, it is bound to be a favorite time for kids. The twins are no different than anyone else. This year they dressed as astronauts in spacesuits complete with NASA patches and flags on the sleeve. To make it a family affair, Ben also had on his spacesuit. When they returned home they had big smiles and full sacks. It was a successful night.
My First Halloween
Three Astronauts
Candy? I Like Candy!
Crackerneck Lane
Several weeks ago on our way to our campsite on Carlyle Lake in Illinois, we passed a strangely named road, Crackerneck Lane. We looked at each other and asked, “What the heck is a crackerneck?” Well, I think we now have it figured out.​

While at Cuivre River State Park in Missouri, we were out touring and went down an unpaved road toward a Mississippi River viewing area – we were in search of a huge squadron of pelicans we had seen from afar. As we got close to the river we came to a small bridge with some folks fishing. There was a pickup truck parked on the bridge. There were two men with fishing rods at the guardrail. There was a woman sitting in a lawn chair on the bridge. There was a hound-dog sleeping in the middle of the bridge. It was a small bridge. 

As we began across the bridge we received unfriendly looks from all. The dog had to move, the woman had to shift her lawn chair, and a number of fishing rods had to be repositioned. Linda lowered the window and asked, “Will this road take us to see the river?” After more than a moment or two there was a response of, “No.” Then after another long pause, “Road flooded.” Three words. Two long pauses. One hostile look.

The “Road flooded” comment did not mean the road down by the river. It meant the road right on the other side of the bridge. Sure enough, just 50 feet on the far side of the bridge we ran into the water-covered road. There was no way to turn around so we had to go back over bridge in reverse. What fun! More dirty looks. More grudging movement from the dog.  Linda got out and guided me to make sure I threaded my way through the men, the
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The Crackerneck Bridge
fishing rods, the woman, the lawn chair, the dog, and the parked pickup. It really is a very small bridge.

If one of these people had just warned us to not cross the bridge, it would have been easier for everyone. We would not have had to go in reverse back across the bridge. The dog would not have had to move. The woman could have remained in her chair, and the fishing rods could have stayed in place. Everyone would have been happy. How hard would that have been?

We’re pretty sure we met some crackernecks.
This picture of the bridge was taken on a another day. The water had risen further and was up to the bridge’s edge. And as we were heading down the road to take this photo we passed a pickup coming the other way. Sure enough, it was our friend from the bridge. Linda recognized the vanity plate – BUM.
Workin’ on the Mississippi 
Moving goods down the Mississippi today is really not all that much different today than it was at the end of the Civil War. In the 1850s they started pushing barges – ones originally used on canals –  with sternwheeler steamboats. They would even lash several together and move them as a unit.

Today, some 170 years later, they still lash barges together and push them up and down the river. Of course there are some differences. Today’s barge is 195 feet long and 35 feet wide with a typical “tow” being 15 barges lashed in a 5 x 3 pattern. Add the Tow boat to push them along, and the total length is close to 1200 feet – almost a quarter mile. And the first lock and dam was opened in 1907, some fifty years after they began using barges.

We watched a tow move through Lock & Dam 24 at Clarksville, Missouri where they have nice observation platform. Locks are typically 600 feet long and this means the tow has to go through in two passes (double-lockage), moving three barges through followed by the remaining two barges and the tow boat. Once through the lock, the barge tow is reassembled and continues on its way.

The tow we saw go through the lock was heading downriver and most likely carrying grain in its covered barges. But coming up the river and waiting its turn to go through the lock was a barge tow loaded with wind turbine blades. Big, 180 foot long blades for huge wind turbines that will be part of the country's new power grid. My inner math teacher burst forth momentarily to tell me that these turbines, will be about 400 feet in diameter and the tips of the blades will be traveling at over 60 mph when the turbine is rotating at just 5 revolutions per minute.
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In the Lock
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Looking Over the Barges at the Dam
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Through the Lock & Heading Down River
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Turbine Blades Heading Up River
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Freight Train Passing the Clarksville Lock
The Mississippi is all about transportation, and the railroad follows the river all the way to Minneapolis. This two-locomotive freight train of all hopper cars came past us while we were on the observation deck watching the barges at the lock.

​In the small town of Clarksville the tracks are right next to the lock. Awesome. Barges in the lock and a full freight passing by with its whistle at full blast. A transportation junkie can see a lot of freight pass through this little river town  without having to move.
Wandering the Countryside with the Camera
We had a free day in our schedule and decided to wander the countryside looking for some possibilities to get a few interesting photos. I wasn't disappointed. Several buildings caught my eye and ended up in the camera.

This brick house appears to be post-Civil War in age. We had seen it on another day and went back for some pictures. It is closed up and deteriorated and most likely will be razed in the near future. But for the moment it still stands, and I won’t be the last person to stop and photograph it. I was able to get several good shots of the house. Here are two views, one in color and one in black-and-white. 
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The Lopsided Symmetry of the Old Brick House
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A Side View
This old barn is an absolute treat. It just gives and gives. It sits by itself close to the road with plenty of room for moving around it for pictures. It is semi-abandoned, paint bare, weathered, and beginning to collapse. There is an old Camero under a collapsing shed roof on one side and a 1971 Chevy sedan tucked in on the other side. It just begs to be photographed, and with its character and texture it is perfect for both color and monochrome images. 
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The Barn in Full Color
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Front View of the Barn
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The Old Camero
This water is known as Sandy Chute. It is separated from the Mississippi by a very thin – less than 100 yards wide – strip of land and is referred to as a backwater. Sandy Chute is located at Lock 25 on the river. You can see from the trees standing in the water that the Mississippi and its backwaters are high. The workboats seem to be always moored on the bank, ready to go where they are needed.
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Sandy Chute
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Work Boats
Here are some photos of the local farm landscape in the Mississippi River Valley. Two views of a barn, grain storage on a farm, and a local commercial grain elevator or what Linda refers to as countryside industry. There is nothing special about these shots. They are just typical views of the rural countryside north of the St. Louis suburbs. 

Places like this grain elevator just seem to pop up in the middle of the farmland or at the edge of a small town. This one was in the farmland. The white barn in two of the photos was adjacent to the old brick house, and I took these photos while walking to the house. The small grain silos were near to 
the big elevator. This photo was taken from the open door of the car.
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Countryside Industry
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Hay Rolls
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Barn Up the Rise
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Farm Buildings
Nature's Art
We visited the St. Louis Art Museum to see a special exhibit of Dutch Masters from the time of Rembrandt. It was a wonderful exhibit.

Alas, no photography was allowed. But I managed to capture the colorful art of autumn with some iPhone shots of these scarlet-leaved trees in front of the museum in all their glorious red. An identical line of red-hued trees bounds the other side of the large greensward to frame the front of the museum.
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Autumn Fire
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The Walkway Under the Trees
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The Calaboose
The Calaboose
If you are as old as I am, you might remember your father (or grandfather) using the word calaboose when referring to a jail. It’s an old word, and not one you are likely to encounter today.

​So it was with some surprise that I saw a sign in a small town pointing to the town’s calaboose (you just have to love the word). I obviously had to check it out. Sure enough, there along one of the streets was an oddly placed little stone building, hugging the sidewalk and very close to a small cottage. A one-room jail. A calaboose. Left over from another era. 

​A Tree on the Bottomland
This tree, alone in a plowed field, struck me with its solitude. We had driven past this field on the day we ran into our crackerneck friends on the bridge. Seeing the lone tree in the midst of the bare soil, I knew it was a picture I wanted. So we drove back on another day (Linda really is very indulgent) to capture this photo. There was a great sky and the sun was where I wanted it. For me, the result was just the image I had in mind. 
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A Lone Tree on the Bottomland
If you made it this far, thanks for your perseverance. Linda and I wish you the best of Thanksgivings. For us, we are thankful for our families – especially our super grandchildren – and our wonderful neighbors. Enjoy your holiday!
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Museums and Apples and Soccer. Oh My!

10/2/2019

3 Comments

 
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A Typical Vintage Brick Building in Paducah
Paducah 
Paduuucah. Pa-duke-ah.

Paducah. What a great name. It is just a little – 25,000 people – county seat town in Western Kentucky. There are more than 1500 cities in the U.S. that are larger. But I am guessing that at one time or another you have probably heard of Paducah and, reading this, you most likely recognize the name Paducah. 

William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame laid out the town and named it. Somehow that seems like a pretty good pedigree to me. In its past Paducah has been a riverboat town and a railroad town. Today Paducah is a county seat and a nifty little river town with an artistic bent and part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. There is an artists' co-op, an active theater community, and a number of museums, including the National Quilt Museum. The downtown area is filled with little shops in early 20th century brick buildings. 

The city lies at the precise point where the Kentucky River flows into the mighty Ohio. Long barge tows move past the town every day. In 1937 the Ohio River reached a flood height of over 60 feet and effectively closed the town for about three weeks. After that catastrophe the Army Corps of Engineers built a flood wall for Paducah.

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The Kentucky River Meets the Ohio
Lemons to Lemonade
The Paducah flood wall along the Ohio and Kentucky rivers protects the town when those waters rise. But the wall is an ugly 15 foot high ribbon of concrete that completely blocks the town's view of the river. In the 1990s Paducah finally got tired of looking at a concrete slab. The city commissioned artist Robert Dafford to paint murals on the flood wall depicting the history of the Paducah area. Now the flood wall is a mile-long work of art. I took a few pictures, but I also found a YouTube video taken with a drone which gives an overall view of the wall and its murals.

The flood wall murals not only gave the citizens of Paducah public art for all to enjoy, but the murals also became a tourist attraction, bringing visitors into the city. Ugly concrete to art. A city eyesore to a tourist attraction. Lemons to lemonade.
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Flood Wall Mural of the Paducah Market House
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Video of Paducah Flood Wall Murals
Quilts, Quilts, Quilts
There are a number of small museums in Paducah, but there is also one of major importance, The National Quilt Museum. Quilts? Really? Yeah. Really.

Let me assure you. These are not your grandmother's quilts. These quilts are works of art. I was astonished by the first quilt I saw and spent almost 10 minutes talking about it with a docent, learning exactly what makes a quilt a quilt.

A quilt is made up of three layers, the backing, a middle layer of batting, and the top layer or face. The design of most 
quilts is made up of discrete pieces of cloth sewn together with incredibly precise stitches, although some quilts have a face of a single piece of material. Those quilts depend on the stitching alone for their design.

Look at the two photos below. These are not Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Straw Hat and Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. These are quilts. Quilts made of an incredible number of seemingly random bits of cloth painstakingly sewn together with fine tiny stitches. Click on a photo to see the phenomenal detail of the quilt.
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Not all the quilts in the museum were like this. These happened to be in an exhibit of a particular quilting artist whose work totally fascinated me. There were many more traditional looking quilts on display as well. If you like art and appreciate fine craftsmanship, this is a great stop. 

As a matter of fact, if you find yourself in Western Kentucky, Paducah is a great stop. Our next time through we will plan to spend more time in this interesting little town. For now, our next stop is Carlyle Lake in Illinois where we will spend a few days before crossing the river into Missouri.
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Our First St. Louis Stop
Carlyle Lake is a Corps of Engineers campground on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, just about 35 miles from St. Louis. We like public (federal, state, etc.) campgrounds. They "tune in" to nature and the campsites are generally wooded and private. Their major negative is a two-week limit for a stay. So we end up being local nomads, for want of a better term, moving from campground to campground while visiting St. Louis. Carlyle Lake, not really close to the kids, is our first stop on this trip.

The day's trip was a pleasant ride through the southern Illinois farmlands, We were surprised to see cotton fields, but there were plenty of them. Some were ready for harvest, and they were so white they looked as if there had been a snow-fall the night before. It was as though we were still in Louisiana or Arkansas.

We pulled into the campground on Friday afternoon, got settled in and rested up. Saturday was to be a busy day at the orchard picking apples.

Apple Picking
With fall finally here, the air has turned a little cooler and crisper – perfect for picking apples. Eckert’s Orchards on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River has to be the Walmart of apple-picking. There are untold rows of apple trees, pumpkins are piled high and hay bales are scattered about. Hundreds (thousands?) of cars are in the parking lots. Families are milling everywhere. Apples and pumpkins are truly in danger – they are going to be picked and carried away.

Here’s how it works. At a booth you pay a small entrance fee, get your hand stamped and grab some bags for your apples. Then you get in a Disney-like serpentine line and wait for a tractor and wagon that will take you to the apples. You get on the wagon and ride to the orchard. The tree rows all have signs with the apple variety grown on that row. You want Braeburn apples? Look for the sign and hop off the wagon.

Once you are off the wagon just walk down between the trees picking apples for your bags, maybe munching on one as you go. If you want another variety, just walk down a couple of rows or wait for a wagon to come by. You will end up with heavy bags and more apples than you need. 

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Those Apples are Tasty
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To the Pumpkin Patch
On your way back from the orchard, you might want to jump off at the pumpkin patch to select the perfect one for a jack-o-lantern. When you finally get back from the orchard, get in line and pay for your apples (who knew you had 12 pounds in your bag?).

You can head back to your car, but, hey, why not stop in the store for some fine foods and gifts. Let’s see. Apples. Pumpkins. Applesauce. Apple butter. Apple this. Apple that. Do you have everything? Great! But don’t leave yet. Have lunch in the restaurant. And if the kiddos get a little antsy, there is a small playground with a slide that goes through an old John Deere harvester.

Eckert’s Orchards. Apples for everyone. Walmart on the farm.

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Jack at the End of the Giant Slide
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Tom Finishes a Giant Slide
Soccer
What could be better than some Sunday soccer? Sounds good, right? You bet. But it is even better when the soccer players on the pitch are three- and four-year-olds. 

This is soccer at its finest. Kids kicking soccer balls. Kids not kicking soccer balls. Kids paying attention. Kids doing other things. 

Some very nice, caring young dads volunteer their Sunday mornings to teach the rudiments of the sport to the kids. Somehow they have the knack to keep the little ones reasonably focused and engaged. They practice kicking and dribbling and maybe some other skills. Then there is a short game. The kids get exposed to the sport, and the mothers learn to be soccer moms early on.
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Jack
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Tom
We'll be back soon with some stuff about the Mississippi barge tows and some other things. See you then!
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Hangin' Around Arkansas

9/29/2019

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Tom, Ben and Jack
Howdy!
It is good to be back!

​It's been a while – 10 months actually – since I have written a post for Travels With Linda. It's not that we were hiding in a cave or anything, it is simply that life sometimes just gets in the way. For us, this was a good thing – the birth of our third grandchild. We spent the three months of spring in Missouri helping take care of the twins (just three years old) while our daughter gave birth to their baby brother, Benjamin. Then it was home to recuperate – it's hard for old folks to keep up with three year olds.

So after summer at home in Texas catching our breath, we are now on a fall road trip that will include a few weeks with kids. We are meandering up through the Lower Mi​ssissippi River Valley. We spent two nights on the Arkansas River, and right now we are beside a small lake in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Our next stop is Paducah, Kentucky on the Ohio River.

Our planned start was delayed for several days as the Houston area was recovering from tropical storm Imelda. While all of the Houston area experienced torrential rains and flash flooding, the hardest hit areas were to the east and north of the city. As a result many of the main roads leading to Louisiana were still closed after the storm with flooding or flood-related damage.

PictureGood Eatin' at the Eat-a-Bite
Living Large at the Eat-a-Bite
When traveling in the motorhome we try to stay off of the highways when we can, and we try to stop overnight at public parks rather than commercial RV parks. These include national forests, state parks, and Corps of Engineers parks. The scenery generally beats looking over the parking lot of the Hampton Inn. Sometimes convenience does rule our choice such as our regular stop at the RV park for the Coushatta Casino.

Our third night on the road was spent at the delightfully named Chemin-A-Haut state park in Bastrop, Louisiana. We took advantage of a needed run to the local Walmart to have dinner at the Eat-a-Bite restaurant just across the street from the county courthouse. We mix in local restaurants with the chain eateries when traveling as we try to keep our cooking to a minimum. And as travelers rather than campers, we are not into cooking on a grille. 

PictureTire Man in Back Gate, Arkansas
Tire Man
On our way from Chemin-a-Haut to the Pendleton Bend Campground along the Arkansas River, we went through the town of Back Gate – you don't get town names like this along the Interstate – and happened upon Tire Man. Is it any wonder we like to avoid the major highways?

We spent two days at Pendleton Bend, a Corps of Engineers' campground right on the river. We all like a water view, and Linda engineered it so we had one of just three campsites right on top of the levee. Super! We enjoyed watching both the fisherman and the 
commercial river traffic. And to make things perfect, there were also beautiful sunsets.

The park is located just down the road from two river barge ports; one port is for soybeans and the other handles grains and fertilizers. Tucked in along the river bank were empty barges waiting to be filled. I watched a towboat move down past us and return with one of the empty barges. I surprised it took them only a few minutes to move the barge out from the riverbank, make it fast with lines, and move it into place to be loaded.

Watching Work on the River
I looked out the window and saw a towboat, the Frances Ann, going by, so I grabbed my camera and went outside for a photo or two. Well, the Frances Ann was going to retrieve an empty barge from along the riverbank to take to the loading port. The whole process took only minutes. The four pictures below show the towboat heading toward the barge, moving the barge from the riverbank, and then moving back toward the loading port. Click on any photo to see them full size.
The Frances Ann
Barge waiting along the riverbank
Grabbing the barge
It looks like a tugboat. It pushes the barges. It is called a towboat. Huh? That's right it is a towboat that pushes barges up and down the river. It seems that multiple barges lashed together are referred to as a "tow." Hence, the boat that moves them along is a towboat. Now you know (and so do I).

Here are some neat barge facts I found at GreatRiverRoad.com:
​"A typical barge carries 1500 tons of cargo, which is 15 times greater than a rail car and 60 times greater than one trailer truck. An average river tow on the Upper Mississippi River is 15 barges consisting of 5 barges tied together and moving 3 abreast. The same load would require a train 3 miles long or line of trucks stretching more than 35 miles."
Craighead Forest Park
Now we are in Jonesboro, and this town has an absolutely super city park. It is almost 600 acres of woodlands with a lake at its center. There are all sorts of facilities, including the RV park where we are staying and enjoying another water view. Next we will be on our way to Paducah, Kentucky.
Sunsets
The last couple of days have given us some very nice sunsets, so I will leave you with some of nature's really good stuff. Enjoy.
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Sun Going Down on the Arkansas River
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Sunset Through the Trees
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Red Sky over the Arkansas River
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Evening on the Lake at Craighead Forest Park
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Galveston Island in Late November

11/28/2018

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Linda the Beachcomber
We like to go to Galveston Island State Park, and we particularly enjoy it in the late fall and winter. We especially wanted to make sure we got in a visit before year's end as the park is scheduled to close early in 2019 to be rebuilt. It was severely damaged and lost almost two-thirds of its Gulf-side campsites as a result of Hurricane Ike some ten years ago (the wheels often move slowly in Texas). 

When the cooler weather sets in, the Gulf of Mexico seems to change. The sky gets lower and always appears to be a bit overcast while the Gulf's water looks almost as if it were liquid pewter. To me, the island is almost a totally different place from that sunny beach playground of summer. We walk the beach; we tour the island; we look for birds.

​
One of the birds we looked for is the Sandhill Crane. Sandhills summer and breed in the north – mainly Canada and Alaska. Then they migrate across the Great Plains to winter in New Mexico and along the Texas coast. Unfortunately while these birds like open fields and can be easily seen, they also seem to like being far, far from the road. At the Galveston Airport Linda counted a group (called a construction) of 52 cranes! Alas, they were so far from the road that without binoculars we couldn't even be sure they were cranes. Oh well, photos will have to wait until next time.

A Busy Body of Water
We wandered up to East Beach, the absolute eastern tip of Galveston Island where you can see the ships moving in and out of Galveston Bay on their way to the Port of Houston. The port is the country's largest in foreign goods and second largest overall, and ships are continually moving through Galveston Bay and into the Houston Ship Channel.

Often you can see ships anchored in the Gulf all along the coast waiting for their time to move into the port. This day I counted more than a dozen ships crowded at the east end of Galveston Island, each waiting for their turn to enter the bay on their way to being shepherded into the port. The orange ship is empty and riding high, heading into the port. The blue ship is fully laden and riding low in the water, heading out into the Gulf to parts unknown.

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Empty Tanker Rides High Heading into Port of Houston
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Low and Full and Heading out to Sea

​It's Showtime!
While on our way out to East Beach, we stopped at a small lagoon that always seems to have some birds to check out. We were not disappointed. This day we were treated to a wonderful show by a Reddish Egret shopping for food. Unlike its cousins, the Great Egret and the Great Blue Heron which are calm and composed hunters that wait patiently for prey to come to them, the reddish egret is a very pro-active hunter. 


The reddish egret puts on a real show when hunting for food. It stalks. It staggers. It dances. It prances. It leaps in air. It spreads its wings – sometimes both, sometimes only one. When it locates a fish it will make a lightning quick stab. And in between its bizarre choreography it stands quietly studying the water. There is absolutely no pattern to its movements. You never know what you will see. But you do know you will be delighted.

Last spring I lay on my belly on a very wet sand bar for about an hour watching a reddish egret, waiting for the bird to perform its feeding gyrations. Unfortunately, that egret was apparently not very hungry and I managed only a few photos. This guy definitely wanted some lunch and showed us its every move – multiple times. Watching it was a sheer pleasure, and I came away with a slew of good images.

We are fortunate to have these reddish egrets on Galveston Island. According to the Audubon Field Guide there are only about 2,000 pair in the U.S. and they are all along the lower Florida coast and the coast of Texas. This gallery is just eight images from the over 120 I captured of this lovely bird. Be sure to click on one of the photos so you can see them in large-size. 


There Were Other Birds
The unphotographable cranes and the performing egret were not the only birds we saw. On the beach we enjoyed watching the Sandpipers and the Dunlins as well as the little Sanderlings running along with their legs moving so fast they were a blur. Of course there were the gulls and terns and the squadrons of pelicans flying out over the water.
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Terns on the Wing

​We rode around to a few places we have visited while at the birding festival and were treated to a variety of egrets along with some ibises and spoonbills. In one field we saw a Roseate Spoonbill, a Snowy Egret, and a juvenile White Ibis all grouped together doing a bit of foraging. 

As we slowly drove along a wetland we also saw a variety of herons, including the Great Blue, the Little Blue, the Tricolored, and the Yellow-crowned Night Heron. I managed a few photos you can see below. The photos of the dark brown adolescent white ibis and the juvenile and adult night herons clearly show how birds change their plumage as they mature. Just click on one photo to see it full size and then click again to move on to another picture. And when you finish with these photos, please see the beautiful snowy egret that posed for me on the Weekly Photos page. Thanks for visiting!
Roseate Spoonbill & Snowy Egret
Squawking
A Face Only a Mother Could Love
Tri-Colored Heron
Doing Lunch
Sanderling by the Sea
Juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
Adult Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
Juvenile White Ibis
Enjoying the Surf
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TRAVELS WITH LINDA
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DON & LINDA SIMMONS