Archive for January, 2007
January 11, 2007 at 6:28 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
A day of contrasts today. We started at the Squire Creek Country Club, a relatively new golf course and residential housing development, where we were scheduled to present after lunch to a room of about 30 members. Lunch was first-rate, the decor was elegant, the ladies were all very nicely dressed, and after the creme brulee dessert I felt distinctly like I would be a disappointment to the audience. It was a hard act to follow.
Yet either they were all being very polite, or I did well enough. Eleanor and I had picked 59 slides from our collection of 5,722 (today’s count), and I stood up there and did my best to explain why someone would voluntarily sell their home and go out on the road in a trailer full-time. Emma chipped in her thoughts on the subject from time to time as well, much to the amusement of the audience, and we got lots of great questions.
After the talk we were approached by several members of the audience who owned RVs (two owned Airstreams!) who told us about their own adventures, and how much they loved traveling. The co-owner of the country club, a very nice lady, even went so far as to say we would be welcome to come back and park overnight! (I don’t think that offer applies to all travelers, however.) And for classy touch, everyone who attended the speech got a cute little silver Airstream charm.
The rest of our day was not so upscale, but it was darned interesting. We met the affable Scott Terry, who runs the local Chamber of Commerce, and he took us to the quiet nearby town of Gibsland. Gibsland is not a tourist town, but this visit was by request. Gibsland is famous for only one thing, the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde in an ambush by local lawmen in 1934.
“Some day they’ll go down together,
And they’ll bury them side by side,
To few it’ll be grief,
To the law relief,
But it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde.”
That prophetic poem was written by Bonnie Parker, a young girl who could foresee how her life of crime at Clyde Barrow’s side would eventually turn out.
But they weren’t buried side by side. Their bullet-riddled bodies were captured on 16mm movies, displayed to schoolchildren, photographed in the embalming room, and eventually interred miles apart in the Dallas area. Such was the notoriety of this couple that some of their personal possessions were stolen even as they were still warm, lockets of Bonnie’s hair were clipped off, and 10,000 people came to their funerals.
L.J. “Boots” Hinton
The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum is the thing you would come to Gibsland for. Run by L.J. “Boots” Hinton, it is housed in the former “Ma Canfield’s Cafe” where Bonnie and Clyde stopped for sandwiches just a few miles before driving into the police ambush that ended their bloody careers. The museum is encyclopedic: photos, movie memorabilia (from the 1967 film with Warren Beatty), guns, documents, 16mm film footage, books, and the car used in the movie.
Emma tries out the 1934 Ford, courtesy of “Boots” Hinton.
“Boots” will tell you everything you want to know — and he has made a life’s study of Bonnie and Clyde. His father was one of the two Sheriff’s deputies who shot Bonnie and Clyde. Reading the guest register, the most common comment by visitors was “Sorry I didn’t have more time!” I’d recommend at least an hour and preferably a couple of hours to really read and understand everything.
Another big day is planned for tomorrow. Would you believe a visit with the Governor? Stand by … Ruston hasn’t run out of surprises yet!
January 10, 2007 at 6:21 pm · Filed under Places to go
Emma had a rough night, so we let her sleep in today. Some nightmares … probably the result of not burning off enough energy during the day. That put us behind schedule today, so we stayed back in the trailer during the morning and met Jody and Joe for lunch at the Faculty Club.
And thus the Tour Of Ruston began! First stop was the Exploratorium at the university, which is a small but packed hands-on science museum for kids. Emma learned about how tornadoes form, played with some pendulums, handled some rocks she hadn’t seen before, etc., so that helped us do the science homeschooling for the day.
At one point it seemed we had four children
Next stop was Hart Associates, a custom lighting manufacturer. Jody has been enthusiastic about these folks for a long time, and with good reason. They make some fine stuff and absolutely everything is made to order. Consequently, they are high end and worth it.
We got a full factory tour by Sandra Grady Hart, who is half of the husband-and-wife team that runs the place. They seem to be able to make a lamp out of any material, in any size, with a wide range of designs that they develop right there, and put on any finish you might dream of.
From there we were guided by Gary McKenney, the General Manager of the local radio stations. He took us over to meet Ruston Mayor Dan Hollingsworth. The Mayor is a nice guy — proven by the fact that for many years he and his wife took their five children Airstreaming! We had a nice conversation in his office. He asked about Emma’s homeschooling. It turns out he’s really concerned about kids learning to read, and thinks (as I do) that it’s the most fundamental and important skill they’ll learn.
Done? Not hardly. We zipped over to Libby and Andy Follette’s pottery store along I-20, and then over to their shop on Pea Ridge to see Andy making some of the pottery.
Andy demonstrates making a plate
Like Hart Associates, we got the full tour, including a peek into a kiln to see finished products coming out. Each piece is a little different, so it’s a bit like watching a birthing.
The peach trees here aren’t doing much this time of year, but the peach store at Mitcham Farms is still open. So Gary took us over there, too, and we just caught Jim Mitcham as he was about to leave. Apparently in June peaches are a huge thing here, with a massive festival that has been held for about 50 years. Peaches are a very perishable crop, so they don’t ship like apples or oranges. If you want the really, really, fresh peaches, you have to come here in June and eat ’em right away.
Yeah, it’s hot and humid in June. But I bet the peaches are worth it. Since it’s January, we’ll just taste the peach jam and peach salsa that they sell in the off season, and think about those fresh peaches …
A dormant peach orchard
If you think that was a lot, there’s more coming tomorrow. We’re scheduled to present at the country club tomorrow after lunch. I’ve recruited Eleanor to co-present and supply the “woman’s perspective” since the audience will be mostly women. Then we hope to meet up with Scott Terry — the guy who wrote us the funny letter — and go see the Bonnie & Clyde stuff.
January 9, 2007 at 10:49 pm · Filed under Places to go
Not having done any real research for the day’s route, we didn’t know much about Vicksburg National Military Park before we arrived. It is a drive-through park, with a convoluted 16 mile road that rolls up and down the hills that gave the Confederate Army the high ground as they attempted to defend a stretch of the Mississippi River.
Dotted along the road are monuments, earth fortifications, cannons, and interpretive signs. It’s the kind of place where you can spend any amount of time you want, depending on your interest. Despite the roads many twists, it was easily traveled by our 30-foot Airstream, and parking along the road was easy since hardly anyone was visiting today.
A highlight of this road is the ironclad gunboat “Cairo”, the remains of which were rescued from the bottom of the Yazoo River after 100 years. It is now on permanent exhibit under cover, and a museum of its artifacts is nearby. The Cairo was one of seven magnificent boats of the “Inland Navy” created by the Union specifically for the Civil War. Covered in charcoal iron plating 2.5 inches thick, it boasted 75 tons of armor.
But the Confederates found the Achilles Heel of the ironclad, and exploited it by detonating a floating mine which mortally wounded the Cairo. With its port hull ripped open, the Cairo sank in 12 short minutes … but miraculously all 175 crew survived.
Emma snaps a photo of the ceiling
Vicksburg NMP is not the sort of place that Emma finds interesting. She had never heard of the Civil War, and at age 6 her ability to comprehend it was limited. This meant a short visit before heading onward to Ruston.
Before we left Vicksburg, we took a short driving tour of the downtown and riverfront area. Four floating casinos have been established along the riverfront, but their impact on the rest of the city is not visible. Given the depressed nature of much of the town, I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
We’re established in Lincoln Parish Park now. This is a nice spot by a lake, with full-hookup sites. It’s one of those places you might easily miss, but at least from our view before the sun set this evening, it’s very pretty and (this time of year) not very crowded.
This evening we had dinner with Jody and Joe, who are responsible for our being here. They have revealed that we will have a full day tomorrow of red-carpet treatment courtesy of the people of Ruston. What that means exactly remains to be seen.
January 8, 2007 at 9:16 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Leaving Topsail was tough to do, and not just for us. Airstreams slowly cruised the alleyways of the campground but seemed to keep getting “stuck” as they stopped again and again to say goodbye to new friends. One couple said they’d “been leaving” for over an hour but still hadn’t managed to get out the exit road.
It was the same for us. Joe, Carol, Bill, and Wendimere came over and between coffee & lemon cake, conversation, and general procrastinating, we managed to turn our planned 10:30 departure into a 12:30 departure. It didn’t help that the cold front had come through and cleared the skies at long last, leaving us with a dry and sunny 65 degrees. I could have stayed longer.
Finally we hitched up and hauled out on Rt 98 to the Ft Walton Beach post office. Our remaining mail finally arrived, and it includes a thick package of tourist info on the Ruston area, courtesy of the Mayor’s office. I’ll have to remember to take into account the mail delays that occur around holidays. The Post Office says Priority takes 3-5 days. Our experience has tended toward five days, especially when going cross-country.
Then we decided to pile on the miles, since it was a clear day and I wanted to have some extra time to stop on Tuesday. No “blue highways” today: it was I-10, I-12, I-55, and here we are in lower Mississippi. Normally I don’t comment on the roads, but I have to say that I-55 wins my vote as the most boring Interstate in the US — and yes, I’ve driven I-80 through Nebraska. In Louisiana it’s also a teeth-rattling experience, although not nearly as bad as I-95 in CT and NY. Our scale for measuring the quality of a road is to count the number of things crashed on the floor in the trailer after towing. I-55 rates a three, whereas I-95 was about a nine.
We’re parked behind yet another Cracker Barrel for the night. I swear we could be at any Cracker Barrel in the country and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. These places are stamped from one mold, inside and out. Emma even knows where the giant checkboard is set up in the store, and of course she led me right to it so she could challenge me at checkers. She’s getting too good at it (translation: she beat me like a rug.)
Tomorrow the plan is to drive to the Vicksburg National Military Park and spend a few hours studying history while day-camped in a parking lot, then finish the drive up to Ruston.
January 7, 2007 at 11:00 pm · Filed under Places to go
The flamingos were out this morning in a large flock!
Photo by Devoman
But I slept in … and so did Emma, worn out from a big day of cycling on Saturday. I showed up for “breakfast” at site 164 around 9:00.
Herb, Rich, and Joe out for breakfast under the pines
The rally was supposed to end today, but it turned out that many of us were staying an extra night or more. By afternoon I counted 15 Airstreams still here, including Carol, Joe, Steve & family, and Wendimere & Bill.
Bill and Emma race to the beach
We decided to stay one more night. Taking an extra day turned out to be the right move, despite the high cost of this campground ($42 with tax). Instead of rushing out after the rally festivities, we got a chance to relax and enjoy a much less hectic day. Since we got a fairly nice day with temps in the 70s, I was also able to let the awning dry out before rolling it up. We’ve had rain every night and heavy dew as well, so drying things has been tough.
Emma took me, Joe, and Bill out for a bike ride to the beach, which is about a mile down a paved road. The sea was rough, as it has been every day since we arrived in the panhandle. The storms that keep passing through are really stirring up the water, so the “Emerald Coast” is more of a murky green.
On the way back, Emma organized a race. We took it easy because she still crashes regularly. Today she clipped the edge of the beach tram and landed in a big puddle, but got up feeling fine. So far she’s had about six spectacular crashes but no injuries. Everyone in the campground knows her now, either because she’s crashed on their lawn or ridden by screaming “Woo-hoo!”
This evening we had an “impromptu pot luck” which most consisted of leftovers of last night’s huge dinner — and it was good — and then at 7:30 we showed Superman 3 on our big screen for seven adults: Carol, me, Eleanor, Wendimere, Bill, Steve, and Misty. The kids watched “Cars” on Emma’s little DVD player in her bedroom. So yes, with a little creativity we can actually get seven people in position to watch a movie in here.
Tomorrow we will pack up and hit the road. Our date in Ruston is looming, and we need to cover 488 miles on Monday and Tuesday. We have no planned stop between here and there, but a few ideas and we’ll just see how things go …
January 6, 2007 at 11:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Emma has officially learned to ride a bike, at the Can Opener Rally here in Miramar Beach, FL!
Bill and Wendimere arrived today, and Bill immediately got to his task of teaching Emma to bicycle. In July he removed Emma’s training wheels in Aurora, CO. In November, he and Emma practiced in a parking lot in Haines City, FL. And today, the final breakthrough occurred. After a patient hour or so, Emma suddenly became proficient and comfortable at turning her bike, and began cycling madly through the streets of Topsail Hill State Park.
Bill and Emma working on riding skills
The problem was, we couldn’t get her to quit. We took turns riding with her on our folding Birdy bicycles as she circled the block again and again, yelling, “Woo-hoo! I LOVE bicycling! Bicycling ROCKS!” She rode everywhere, shrieking with excitement and attracting plenty of attention from our fellow campers. I was hoping she’d learn to like bicycling, but I never expected anything like this. She has begged us to take her for a long ride tomorrow, so we will ride the one mile (no vehicles) road to the beach, if the weather isn’t bad. Thank you, Bill!
It was “open house” all day, so besides practicing cycling with Emma, we were busy all day with visitors and occasionally getting to see someone else’s trailer. There are three Safari 30 bunkhouses here (including ours) and so I’m interested in swapping notes with the other owners. We’ve already discovered a few bugs common to all of them. Since there are so few of us who own this model, sharing ideas and solutions is really helpful.
In the afternoon, our friend Joe and I did a little talking about our March (?) trip to Mexico. I wish I’d had a chance to view a few trailers, but we were so busy I never got breakfast or lunch. By the time dinner rolled around, I was starving …
Wendimere chills by our trailer in the early evening
… which turned out to be good thing since dinner was a massive potluck event. There was a huge buffet line of everything that people had brought, which included at least fifteen entrees and a dozen or more desserts. One table was dedicated only to Cajun entrees. We had about 80 people attend and there was enough left over that everyone got to take a little home if they wanted to.
The evening’s entertainment was “Raiders of the Lost Ark” projected on a huge white sheet of plastic in an empty campsite. (We “edited” the movie for Emma by covering her eyes or distracting her during the scary parts. At one point I looked over to see her crawling across the pavement toward a dark lump on the ground. She was capturing a frog.) It was a spectacular evening, warm, windless, and bug-free, except for a brief light misting toward the end of the movie. This has been a good time.
January 5, 2007 at 11:38 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
A very slow-moving line of thunderstorms bore down on us all night, bringing a constant distant booming and intermittent rain. This morning the line grew closer, and the sky grew darker until by 9 a.m. we were forced to put the lights on in the trailer. There was nothing to do but wait it out. We watched the weather radar on the Internet and left the TV on in case a tornado was reported.
If a tornado had appeared, our plan would be to run for the nearest safe structure. You can’t tow your way out of danger, and driving along Rt 98 isn’t really practical way to escape an unpredictable tornado either. Once in a while we get caught in a big storm and so I review the escape plan with everyone — in this case, run to the bathrooms nearby, which are made of brick. Fortunately, this storm line brought us nothing but a few hours of rain.
When it subsided, I checked the mail again in Ft Walton Beach. Nothing there. We’ll have to go back again tomorrow.
By the time we hitched up and towed 11 miles to Topsail Hill State Preserve, the sky was miraculously clearing and the rest of the day was spectacular. Not a cloud to be seen all afternoon, and dozens of Airstreams filling the campground.
Our group met up at an empty site (#164) to grill and hang out. I managed to get most of the crowd posed for a quick photo, but since it was a five-second exposure in the dark they’re not all looking their best …
A few friends we knew before are here: Carol, with whom we have enjoyed several adventures (most recently our trip from Salem OR to Idaho in July — see the archives), Herb & Sidra, and Joe (known as 2air on the forums). The rest are new to us, but we’re making new friends fast.
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