January 13, 2007 at 9:45 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Strange weather. Instead of getting colder and rainy, our weather actually improved, while Texas went into the deep freeze. Emma and I rode three laps around the lake here at Lincoln Parish Park (about 3 miles) under partly sunny skies and temperatures that eventually reached into the mid 70s.
Emma, ready for her ride
Eleanor took advantage of the opportunity to open the windows and vents, by cooking. She pulled out some ingredients and started a homemade soup in the crock pot.
Meanwhile, just a hundred miles to the west it was 30 degrees with freezing rain. I heard this from our friend Paul in Paradise TX:
It’s still 28 out now. Close to 1/4″ of ice on everything. I just finished filling the water tank on the International and going into town to top off the propane bottles. With the amount of ice they are forecasting, if the powerlines go down, we’ll have a safe haven with utilities.
And from our friend John in Austin, TX:
Sit tight! We have had over 6″ of rain in the last 24 hours. All kinds of reports of water rescues and road closings on TV. Many homes in south Austin are inundated; just saw a photo on TV of water up to a chair seat in a south Austin home. All indications are for an ice storm tomorrow and 3 to 4 sub-freezing nights with sporadic rain. They are even forecasting “thunder-sleet”, which is quite rare in this area. A tornado hit San Marcos, 20 miles south of us, and did some major damage. I-35 was closed in San Marcos due to lines down across the highway. I may even miss my weekly breakfast taco tomorrow morning.
So we made the right call in staying here in lovely warm dry Ruston. And Scott, having heard that we were “stuck” here, met us in town and handed us a set of movie coupons so we can go see something on Sunday when it’s supposed to be raining. Kyle from the tourism bureau also called up and offered me a set of tickets to tonight’s basketball game at the college. The “Lady Techsters” are playing. Man, this is too cushy … but I passed on the tix only because we knew Emma wouldn’t be up for it.
While in town we stopped off at the local hardware store to get propane, and I ran into Jody Backus, who owns the store. Jody and I happened to meet yesterday at the reception for the governor. In addition to being a local businessman, he’s also a member of the “Police Jury” which is sort of a Louisiana name for a town council. It turns out his grandfather owned an Airstream, too, and did some cool modifications on it. Jody is going to try to find me some pictures of it.
Jody Backus, in the red shirt
Running into him again so soon really reminded me of how I’ve been feeling about Ruston all week: it’s a big town with a small town feel. Everyone’s so friendly … and everyone seems to know everyone else.
This afternoon I was sitting at our picnic table enjoying the warm south breeze and reading, when a fellow on a mountain bike came riding up. Turns out he was James Ramseur, who has been running the Parish Park since 1996. He designed the mountain bike trails, and lives right in the park with his family.
Our Airstream (left, in the trees) and a vintage 60s Airstream alongside the lake
We told James that the park was too cheap at $20 for a lakeside site with full hookups, but he said people had complained it was too much! Incredible. It’s a steal. This park is excellent, with the woodsy feel of a state park but plenty of amenities, including bicycling and walking trails, a sand beach with swimming area, gazebos, docks, and rental spaces for gatherings. Plus three bars on the cell phone, Verizon Internet works, and we’re only a few miles from everything. We had a nice talk before he had to ride off with his 10-year-old son.
So today has been very nice and we’re happy to stay on a little longer. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll go out for lunch, see a movie, or even visit a plantation home. There’s still plenty to do in Lincoln Parish while we wait for Texas to warm up and dry out.
January 13, 2007 at 9:11 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Last night we culminated our visit with dinner at the Squire Creek Country Club with Jody and Joe. Well, we thought this was the end, but things are turning out differently.
Dinner with Joe, Jody, Eleanor, and Emma
Eleanor and I were up late last night examining the weather forecasts, trying to decide whether to go or not to go to Weatherford TX in the morning. There’s a frontal boundary draped across I-20 just west of the Texas border, and it is moving slowly. Here, it is in the 60s heading for 72 degrees today. We ran the air conditioner last night. But we’ll be getting heavy rain all weekend, so it won’t be much fun.
On the other side of the front in Texas, it is another world: about 30 degrees with ice forming. I called David Tidmore (of Roger Williams Airstream) on his cell phone this morning, and he reported that his shop is closed today. He said, “We’re having an ice storm. You would be more than insane to come here today.” OK. Towing on ice is bad enough to stop us, but towing on ice in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex is a nightmare I don’t even want to imagine.
Although this decision might seem clear-cut, it was actually tough to make until I spoke to David. We had plans to courtesy park with our friends the Mayeux, and it would have been really fun. I wanted to go for it. It was a big disappointment to call our friends and tell them we weren’t going to see them. But “get-there-itis” will kill you. When you’re on a trip, keep this in mind. No matter how many plans will be upset by cancelling a trip, it’s still less disruptive than an accident on ice.
There’s not much point in going halfway, either. Between here and Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex there are some campgrounds but nothing we really feel like visiting in near-freezing temperatures and rain. Better to stay put in rainy warm weather, where we know a few people and can do some errands.
So we’ll be in Ruston two more days. Who would have figured this would become a major stop? I’ll go find propane, clean out some stuff in the trailer and ship it home, and we’ll watch movies and do some home schooling. Eleanor has a major blog entry to share with you as well … which you will not believe. We’ll post that later this weekend.
January 12, 2007 at 9:20 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
With all the running around we’ve been doing, I haven’t had a chance to really examine or talk about our current residence, Lincoln Parish Park. It’s small, with just 33 sites. The camping area surrounds a 30-acre lake, which is ringed by a paved trail for walking. Most of the back-in sites are directly on the lake, as ours is, and the pull-throughs are very close also. At just $20 per night for full hookups, it’s a bargain.
But the best feature is the world-class mountain biking trails all through the park. Scott wasn’t kidding about the mountain biking here. This part of Louisiana has hills and just enough elevation for trails that can challenge beginners and advanced riders. A whole bunch of triathlons and competitive mountain bike rides are held here each year. I wish I had a mountain bike just for a day … I’d like to at least look at the fabled “Tomac Hill” drop-off that goes 120 feet down followed by a big jump.
We picked up mail yesterday, and found a few surprises. Since I announced our General Delivery address to the world last week, two friends sent things for us. Dr. C sent a couple of books: A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo, and On the Border by Tom Miller. (I’ll report on these later.)
Brad and Mary sent us a can of Spotted Dick, with this note: Enclosed you will find what you have all been looking for all of your lives. Portable English pudding.
Today we met with Mary Margaret van Diest, a reporter for the local newspaper. Mary Margaret interviewed us (I’ll provide a link to the interview when it comes out) and then gave us a tour of the Ruston Daily Leader’s office and printing facility.
The tourism guys took us out for lunch at Ponchatoula’s, a local spot. Eleanor and I ordered a muffaletta to split, but the darned thing was so huge we could only eat half of it. Chris, the owner, came by and chuckled about it: “I love to watch people try to eat the whole thing.”
Just a couple of blocks from downtown there is the small Louisiana Military Museum. For $2 admission (kids free) it’s well worth visiting. The two main rooms are jammed with display cases of artifacts from the Spanish American War, Civil War, WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. The collection of weapons and uniforms alone are very impressive. There’s also a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and a Huey outside. I’ve been told they have far more in the collection that can’t be displayed simply for lack of room, so the parish leadership is trying to find the museum a larger location.
I also took a quick tour of the Parish history museum, which is housed in an 1886 mansion. So now I know the secret of why Ruston is where it is … Mr. Russ cut a deal with the railroad to come through his 600+ acres and the railroad company laid out his town. Good politickin’.
Me, Governor Blanco and Scott Terry
Speaking of politics, you’ll never guess who I ran into today. Well, you might since I let the cat out of the bag yesterday. Governor Kathleen Blanco was visiting and my buddies insisted on introducing us. I showed her my new “Hurricane Relief” wristband and told her that people all over the country were still thinking about what happened. (It’s not over … not by a long shot.)
This is supposed to be our last night in Ruston, but we’re looking at a nasty weather system west of here. There may be icing or heavy rain in Texas this weekend. If things look bad on Saturday morning we’ll spend another day here.
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.
« Previous entries ·
Next entries »
