Installment #7

On Saturday, we took off in the car for Houston sightseeing –


As always, we hope you can click on the pictures to see a bigger picture.

the Chase Tower (the tallest composite all concrete building in the world);
a beer can house (a house clad in cut and flattened beer cans, wind chimes made of beer can tops)(picture);





an art car museum (pictures). The shell of the car comprised millions of small rectangular pieces of thin steel tack welded to each other (see second close up picture).










the Holocaust Museum (http://www.dallasholocaustmuseum.org/)

and the Galleria shopping Center (picture)
(http://www.texasoutside.com/houston/galleria.htm) (spent hours walking around, watching the ice skaters, looking at the Goddard Gallery (http://www.michaelgodard.com/biography.html) – one of his paintings shown here.



No visit to a city would be complete without a driving mistake – Sharon found herself driving down the streetcar lane – luckily no streetcar on the route at the time, but locals certainly honked a lot and finally a car drove up beside and stopped traffic so we could move over into a driving lane (that car just happened to be a police car).

Sights we saw along our travels
A buffalo ranch
Computer in rest stop, made to look like someone’s rendition of the "first computer" (see picture)









Passed through Sealy, Texas, where Sealy mattresses are made.
U-Haul self storage buildings in downtown Houston
Cotton Exchange building in downtown Houston
Talked to a fellow motorhomer from Seattle – the next morning we watched him leaving the parking lot in the motorhome. Evidently, he forgot to hitch up his towed car. He had to reverse back into the parking lot to get it. This has not happened to us……….. yet!!!!


We spent some time with Sharon Kay (a childhood friend of Sharon’s). The doll picture is of dolls she made – they were amazing. Sharon Kay volunteers at the Houston Zoo and has spent years developing a non profit organization to help Native Americans (http://www.northamericanindianministries.org/)
Sharon Kay works mainly with the orangutans – while at the zoo. She gave one of them a drink – and the orangutan spit the water at Sharon – guess she didn’t like not having Sharon Kay’s undivided attention. Some of the sights we saw at the zoo (http://www.houstonzoo.org/) – underwater diver cleaning window inside an aquarium, snakes, rats, giraffes, lizards, bears, birds, tigers (picture), white alligator, lions (picture) and elephants (some of them painting pictures). Zoo keepers put paint on a brush, put it in the elephant’s trunk (picture), put a canvas up close to the elephant, and the elephant swipes the paint onto the canvas. Then the zoo keepers dip the brush in another color and do the process over again. These canvases are sold to the public. Sharon Kay auctioned some paintings from the orangutans for $400.00 at a fund raiser.




When we were ready to head east out of Houston, Tony noticed the tow dolly had a stress fracture in one of the welds. A trip to Wal-Mart for a phone book, several phone calls, and several hours later, we were ready to hit the road again. The welder we found was only five miles from where we were – a lucky break in a city this size. Unfortunately the heat from the welder caused Tony to have to rewire the tow dolly before we could proceed East.

Our next touring point was the San Jacinto Monument
http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/Monument_and_Museum/Story_of_the_Monument/
and the Battleship Texas (commissioned in 1914, was the most powerful weapon in the world, the only surviving U.S. naval vessel to have seen service in both World Wars) http://www.visithoustontexas.com/visitors/attractions/listing.details.php?category=12412&id=28319
We watched many barges and tug boats while we were on the "Texas". The self-guided tour allowed us to go down to the engine room and about 2/3 of the way up the different levels. This visit was recommended by Sharon’s brother Jim. A GOOD recommendation. On the way we saw Solvay Chemicals – the company Jim works for in Wyoming.


Our last stop in Texas was Beaumont at the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum (http://www.famoustexans.com/babedidrikson.htm) - her record for athletic versatility stands at the top for both men and women). Also in Beaumont, we visited the Texas energy museum (here we saw robots describing the finding of oil)(picture); a Victorian Queen Anne home (picture); the Edison museum (http://www.edisonmuseum.org/) ; and the Texas fire museum, with the world’s largest fire hydrant (picture) (provided by Walt Disney after the making of the "101 Dalmations" movie) www.firemuseumoftexas.org



After spending ten days driving across Texas, we arrived in Jennings, Louisiana, via Lake Charles. On the way to Jennings, we stopped at Lake Charles (picture) at the lake where they had an alligator and turtle park. Took a picture of one of the many high bridges we went over (picture). On the road trip we saw what we think is rice fields and a lot of swamp land. This is the worst road surface we have been on. We saw miles and miles where the semi trucks have lost tires – the road is covered with pieces of tread. Tony slowed down considerably and only got honked at one time by a trucker unhappy with our speed of 45 on the interstate.

Thanks again for all the phone calls, emails, and blog messages.

~~Sharon & Tony

Installment #6, 2007

Las Cruces, New Mexico – we toured a Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, http://spectre.nmsu.edu:16080/frhm/museum/museum.lasso, 3000 years of New Mexico agricultural history, including a leather working shop for making saddles. Tony & I each tried our luck with a small piece of leather which we stamped with our initials. Sat through a presentation on "Dowsing" by a civil engineer – half-way believable at first, but then got ridiculous (see picture of Tony using dowsing rods after presentation). We watched an exhibition by a blacksmith – Sharon got a nail made by the blacksmith (picture). Also saw 1897 Sears, Roebuck catalog, bale of cotton, dairy cow information, Mogollon pithouse, and a horse decorated in beads (took 100 volunteers two years to complete (see picture)), long horn cattle, and much more.

Just inside the Texas border along Interstate 10, we saw gas at $1.97, unfortunately when it was time to fill up, the gas was back up to $2.25. We were pushed by the wind all across New Mexico and part of Texas, so got better gas mileage on the new motorhome than we ever did on the old one.

After going a whole 70 miles in one day, we stayed at a rest stop. Signs on picnic tables "do not sleep on benches or tables". Next morning we saw a bum going through the garbage – now we know the reason for the sign (picture). Also saw our first live roadrunner (picture). If that’s not a good enough picture, take a look at the next picture of the "world’s largest roadrunner" found in Fort Stockton (picture) (11 feet tall, 22 feet wide).

On our drive towards Fort Stockton, we were parallel with the Rio Grande and all the little Mexican villages – again we saw helicopters in the sky and border patrol vehicles everywhere. Encountered a stop on Interstate 10 by border patrol with one dog sniffing for drugs.
Arrived at Fort Stockton http://www.tourtexas.com/fortstockton Wal-mart (another night with over 20 motorhomes making use of the parking lot). Sights seen - oil derrick, oldest house in area (supposed to be haunted), picnic benches made of stone, wagon used in John Wayne (picture) movies (Comancheros and Undefeated), bench with wagon wheels as sides, chimneys made of brick, cemetery with metal pieces with cross cutouts for some grave markers (picture), cross cutouts used as other grave markers. Just 20 miles east of Fort Stockton we finally saw some working oil wells, and flattop mountains (buttes) taking advantage of wind with hundreds of wind chargers.

Next morning we drove through Ozona, Texas (Crocket county), described by the town as the "Biggest Little Town in the World". Stopped for a look at Davy Crocket memorial statue in the town square. Will probably hear more about him at the Alamo in San Antonio down the road.
Our next overnight stay was in Kerrville, Texas. Here we found another replica of Stonehenge – this one called Stonehenge II, with some emphasis on Easter Island http://www.alfredshepperd.com/Stonehenge/main.html Stone must be plentiful here – we saw stone suppliers everywhere and it seemed every home was made with the stone. Appropriately, on Valentine’s Day, we toured the visitor center of James Avery, jewelry craftsman http://secure.jamesavery.com/about/index.jsp We watched craftsman making the world famous jewelry.

On our travels we saw a mini pickup advertising Red Bull Energy Drink (see picture); quite a few of the wind generators being transported down Interstate 10 (see picture). We calculated it takes six trucks to haul one wind generator. Parked behind us in Wal-Mart was the strangest motorhome I had ever seen….Tony recognized it as a Renault. On closer inspection, we discovered it was licensed in Great Britain (see picture).

On day 48 of our trip we arrived at yet another Wal-Mart – this one is perfect – access to Wi-Fi, a laundromat across the parking lot, cheap gas at the Wal-Mart station, great TV reception. We discovered how to find Rest stops with dump stations and water refills, so are pretty well set for our trip into Houston next. We spent Day 49 touring San Antonio. Of course, our first stop was the Alamo http://thealamo.org/main.html. Notice the picture of a huge old Oak tree on the Alamo grounds. We loved the river walk in downtown San Antonio (see picture). We stopped at a special effects show (picture) at Aztec on the river http://www.aztecontheriver.com/. We walked to the La Villita Historic Arts Village (San Antonio’s first neighborhood). Tony wants Jonathan to see some chairs we saw there (see picture) – selling price over $1000. We toured the Gunther House, located on a bend of the San Antonio River (founder of Pioneer Flour Mills http://www.pioneermills.com/AboutUs/History.aspx ). We took a picture of the flour mill with the turrets on top. Also saw the Tower of the Americas http://www.toweroftheamericas.com/.
We have now arrived in Houston, Texas, Friday, February 16. This is the most traffic we have seen since leaving the Los Angeles, California, area. More pictures and blog information in another week or so after we get out of this mess. Thanks again for all the phone calls, emails, and blog messages.

~~Sharon and Tony

Installment #10 - Retirement Trip

3-25-06

Thanks again to all of you who reply to our emails. Laundry, trip to Camping World in Denton, TX, and a little TV for rest and relaxation comprised our Day 44 on the road. After the downpour over the week-end in Dallas, the weather has turned cold. Watching the weather and hearing from NE and SD relatives, makes us know we are going to stay south for a while longer. Of course, there was the day when we saw it was 62 in Moscow and 32 here in Dallas.

Sharon just had to go to South Fork to see the ranch where "Dallas" (http://www.southfork.com/) was filmed…actually (picture of house, picture of Sharon sitting at table and chairs used in the filming of "Dallas") the story behind the family that lived in the house prior to and during the Dallas filming was almost more interesting. We saw lots of "Dallas" memorabilia in the museum portion. Picture of Tony and Sharon in mirror in one of the lavishly decorated bathrooms in the "Dallas" home.

We did take in Las Colinas in Irving TX, nearby Dallas….the "Mustangs of Las Colinas" (http://oror.essortment.com/mustangslascol_rvqo.htm) , the flower clock, the shopping along the canals, and the marble cows. Next on to Farmers Branch (www.farmersbranch.info/parksrec/historicalpark.html) to see 22 acre historical park, 1885 Queen Anne Victorian Cottage, 1877 depot, caboose (neither of us have ever been inside a caboose, picture attached), one room school house, church, land grant office, and lots of other buildings. On down the road was the "Miracle Mile of Furniture" (78 furniture and home accessory stores along this road).

Day 47 – Drove by the Texas Speedway (huge), and Dale Earnhardt Drive, then on to a tour of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing (http://www.moneyfactory.gove/)(click on Fort Worth (one of two in the U.S., other one in Washington D.C.). Was a great tour, but lots of security to get in. Next was a stop at the American Airlines museum (http://www.crsmithmuseum.org/) – lots of information, great IMAX movie taking us from L.A. to London. Our next stop was Cabela’s (picture) (the world’s foremost outfitter of hunting, fishing, and outdoor gear). This place was amazing – Hundreds of animals displayed…Tony and I even took part in a little target practice at an interesting corner of the store.

We will be leaving the Dallas area on Day 48, Saturday, and heading for Oklahoma, and Kansas to see what other interesting things we can find to see.

Installment #9 - Retirement Trip

3-21-06

Days 38 and 39 on the road. Lots of interesting country when we headed towards Austin. Stopped by to see the Collin Street Bakery where the fruitcakes are made and shipped to every state in the USA and 193 countries (the ones Clair Colburn used to send to us every year). Had a great overnight stay at Sharon’s cousin’s home (Chuck) in Lakeway TX. http://lakewayresort.com/index.asp Chuck’s place of work.
Water tower leading to that town was shaped like a golf ball on top of a very tall column. Chuck’s home backed up to the 18th hole of one of the golf courses in the area. He had quite a house full – 3 dogs (one an old English Sheepdog, 2 rabbits, 2 birds, turtles, aquarium, and small fish bowl). Tony and I were each given a lint remover when we got there to remove the dog hair whenever we felt the need. J

On Day 40, we left the friends in Mabank and went up the road towards Dallas. Stopped for an overnight stay in Seagoville. We sat for a couple of hours just watching the birds fly from tree to electric line. Neither of us had ever seen so many birds. Began to think we were in a scene from Alford Hitchcock’s movie, "The Birds". When it began to get dark, Tony was concerned about where they were all going to go for the night.

Called back home for messages – Tony now has an order to make 25 rug frames for United Notions in Dallas – he called and asked them if they could wait 6-8 weeks for them – answer "yes". That was good news.

Drove down the freeway into Dallas at the peak of a long, long rain storm that dropped 11 inches of rain that day. Spent the week-end with Sharon’s friend Anita and husband Bill.
Day 43 – ready to tour Dallas. Found an RV park on a lake yesterday…will probably stay here for 4-6 days and see the sites. Tony and I drove into Dallas, whipped into the first parking lot we saw near the JFK memorial. We began walking (probably walked four miles looking at sites for the day) – JFK memorial, Red building (formerly courthouse, now a tourist bureau), Texas book depository, "the grassy knoll". We walked slowly around the whole area where John Kennedy was assassinated and took pictures – spooky. It was pretty obvious by what people were looking at, how they were looking at it and what they were saying that this incident hit the USA very, very hard. They were still selling newspapers on the street showing all the sordid details of the occasion – we dipped into capital and bought one. Continued on walking to Thanksgiving plaza (arrived there just in time to hear the bells toll). Got on the trolley to see the Dallas arts district – trolley was put out of commission in early 30’s, some guy lived in it for 30 years before it was found and restored and put back in use….driver of trolley was more than willing to tell us about everything we were seeing. Walked to the Fountain plaza building, and then to the convention center - huge place - took picture of world's largest bronze monument, 40 Texas longhorn steers and 3 cowboys on horses, in pioneer plaza. Walked on down to see Gilleys of Dallas – they are only open on Fridays and Saturdays. We did go in and take a couple of pictures.

Evening was spent with Pat and Anita (Sharon’s two high school friends) in the motor home.

Installment #8 - Retirement Trip

3-15-08

Thanks again to all of you for the emails and phone calls we are receiving.
Additional information for you - a web site about the Loretto chapel we talked about in Installment #7. http://www.answers.com/topic/loretto-chapel
Our next big stop was Lubbock (now out of New Mexico and into Texas). We stopped at the American Windmill museum – amazing that the beginning of this collection came from Nebraska. http://www.windmill.com/
On our highway drive this afternoon, we say 4 dead skunks on side of the road within 3 miles, loads of cattle feeding ranches, hundreds of oil wells (Tony calls them "nodding donkeys"), one drilling derrick, lots of cotton fields, one bale of cotton in one field, a lot of the new wind generators, a still in business drive-in movie, a cotton warehouse, and many, many trains. Finally saw some long horn cattle outside of Baird.

Unusual signs seen – "La Quinta – Spanish for ‘high speed internet’"; "If you must curse, use your own name. ~God"; "far wood, fer sale";
Stopped in Cisco TX to see first hotel purchased by Conrad Hilton in 1919 – story is that it was the only way he could get a place to sleep. He then rented rooms for eight-hour shifts, tripling the normal income, to oil field workers. http://www.ciscotx.com/ciscopd/conradhilton.html

On to Weatherford TX and a drive by of home where Mary Martin was born and Larry Hagman (JR of Dallas, Mary Martin’s son) was raised.
Next to Forth Worth TX to the stockyards and Billy Bob’s (world’s largest honky tonk). Saw cattle drive down main street of the stockyards.
Motorhome now at friends south of Dallas. We’re in the car heading even further south of Waco to visit a cousin of Sharon’s.

Installment #7 - Retirement Trip

3/12/06
Santa Fe – Spent two nights at a Wal-Mart with a security guard riding around the parking lot in a pickup with yellow light flashing all day and night.

Thanks for all the birthday calls and emails to Sharon.

Santa Fe is at 7000 feet, nights were in mid-30s F. When we left this morning the radio said wind gusts of 65. We decided to stay off interstates for a change – unfortunately there wasn’t much to see on the route we picked (Highway 285 south, heading for Lubbock TX.
Santa Fe was worth the stop – We began yesterday morning by catching the City bus to the Loretto Chappel and much more. People on bus were very friendly (one lady - w/her husband, looked as if they were bums?? - had lived in Moscow 3 years, husband had lived in Seattle for many, many years). These two marked our map and told us where to go to see the best sights.
When we first got off the bus we walked past the Santa Fe Palace of Governors where lines of New Mexicans were sitting all bundled up with there hand-made wares on the sidewalk ready to sell to tourists. Saw lots of bronze statutes.
The Loretto Chappel (picture) with the winding staircase was well worth the visit. We walked to Burro Alley, once a bawdy saloon and gambling district, this street is named for the burros that carried firewood to be sold here. Then on to Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi which had a 380 year old statue of the Virgin Mary inside.
We walked on around town by the Santa Fe river to the oldest house in USA, and then into the San Miguel Mission Church (said to be the oldest church in USA). Saw paintings on buffalo hides done in the 1600s.

On down to Forth Sumner to see Billy the Kid museum (the guy just named it Billy the Kid so tourists would stop). He had a lot of information and memorabilia about Billy the Kid, but mainly it was a collection of everything old – what a place: cameras, typewriters, dishes, farm equipment, old cars, and on and on.

Next to Clovis (they have a brick main street just like Alliance NE – my hometown). Over 100 trains go through Clovis each day. USA’s largest pawn shop was there – covered one city block – we spent over an hour in there – and yes, spent some money too. Tony found a large vice – something he has been looking for for a long time.
Travelled on down highway to Waylon Jennings birthplace and stopped for lunch on Waylon Jennings Boulevard (Littlefield TX).