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S a l l y & C h r i s 2 0 1 3 S u m m e r T r i p

Tsg, g. OgsYOUs&s.

A Travel Newsletter Issue #2: April 18 - May 8, 2013

Day 16: Friday, Apr 19Chris installed a new door closer on theWilliams basement door.

Day 17: Saturday, Apr 20Following breakfast we drove to theChattahoochee Nature Center, certainlyone of the finest, most well-planned andoperated venues of its type that weveever visited. What makes it so special?

(The new Silver Springs State Park could follow

this idea.) The Nature Center has all theusual trails, hikes, flowers, trees, smallanimals, etc. exceptthe entire focus is onactivities, especially for children. Example:our granddaughters are so excited whenthey go. They each brought three items todonate and verbally explain. A (volunteer)docent listens to each childs explanationand then questions the child about the item

or their explanation, then awards so manypoints. The childs points are recorded in acomputer. Throughout this large room arethe collected, donated items that childrenmay then buy and take home. Asgrandparents (& parents) we becomeinvolved by helping the children collecttheiritems to donate and explain.

We also went geocachingusing an appon Cindis iPhone. Above is a photo of thehiding place for this particular cache ofgifts.

Day 18: Sunday, Apr 21Our troupe drove to Kennesaw NationalBattlefield Park where we ate a picniclunch, watched a video, and then hiked upthe mountain, which is no easy task. Wechose to go up to the peak via the paved

road and then took the rustic trail backdown. From there we drove to Menchies

frozen yogurt and enjoyed a quiescentlyinvigorated treat. Before retiring for thenight we started reinstalling decorativestone that had separated from the exteriorfoundation walls. We used Liquid Nails forinstallation. Kip will follow it with mortargrouting around the stones.

Day 19: Monday, Apr 22It was hard to leave the Williamsresidence; we really enjoyed our stay withCindi, Kip, Symphony & Journey. We

drove to Theodore, AL, a town a few milesoutside Mobile, AL. We spent two nights atJohnnys RV Resort, which is a Passport

America campground (members get halfprice). Everyone there was very nice.

Day 20: Tuesday, Apr 23We spent over 3 hours touring the Mobile,

Alabama Art Museum. It has a very nicepermanent collection enhanced by severalvisiting collections, the best of which wasthe Flatware exhibit. This multi-room displayfeatured all types of flatware that people

commonly call silverware, except most ofit isnt made of silver any longer. This AAAGemsite is a definite stop-and-see if yourein the area.

The afternoon found us driving about 45miles for supper at Lamberts Cafe in Foley,

Alabama, on the other side of Mobile Bay. Wevisit their Sikeston, Missouri location every

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time were in that neck of the woods, sowhen we found ourselves near this locationwe just couldnt say no. Food is excellentwith unlimited extras of country cookin

special side dishes & famous throwed rolls.Its one of Uncle Jamies favorite eatinglocations, and that man knows!

Day 21: Wednesday, Apr 24We left Theodore, Alabama (outsideMobile) and drove about 3 hours westalong I-10 to Baton Rouge. As predicted,

there was rain most of the drive. Arrivingabout 2:30 we set up the trailer at theEquestrian park near LSU. Then drove tonephew Nick, wife Lacy, & son Ashers,

residence inn suite. From there wetreated them to supper at a local Mexicanrestaurant, then back to the suite forconversation. Asher was at first hesitantto play with us but soon becamecomfortable after Chris had him ride hisshoulders while Uncle Chris acted like arideable elephant. I think it was thetrumpet sounds Chris made that finallybroke the ice. Then Asher didnt want toget down.

Day 22: Thursday, Apr 25This mornings breakfast featured thepulled pork leftovers from our banquet atLamberts Cafe in Foley, AL. Then a shortdrive to the Louisiana Rural Life Museum,a part of LSU on the grounds of theiragricultural demonstration center. We firstfound ourselves amongst folks attending agroundbreaking celebration for a neweducational pavilion along with restroomfacilities for school-size groups. Realizing

this wasnt for us we drove further into

the grounds and did a self-tour of theRural Museum. It had many interestingartifacts that filled 3-4 buildings. Then weventured outdoors to explore about 20-25original Louisiana buildings that hadbeen moved to the grounds for display.We spent about 2-3 hours roamingaround. Very nice for just $6 each!

Lunch was a nearby Golden Corralfollowed by two thrift stores, then a trip tothe Apple (computer) Store, followed by ahalf-hour of trip planning so wed knowwhere were headed tomorrow. We spentthe second night at the equestrian RV

park where Chris had a conversation withWhitey from Connecticut.

Day 23: Friday, Apr 26Traveling west we drove I-10 over an18.5-mile-long bridge through a broaddelta, river & swamp. There was acomfort station in the middle; it was niceto be on dry land (rather than a bridge)before heading out again. The bridgewas somewhat smooth but I-10 after thebridge complex was bumpy! A Louisianastate employee said the delta-swampencompasses about 1.2 million acres.

Whew!

In Jennings, LA (above) we toured the oldTupper Mercantile Store that opened in

1915 and closed in 1949. The contents othe store was put into storage for someunknown reason and not brought out ofstorage until 40 or more years later. Notthe original location, this museum wasnone-the-less a very fun place to visit.

Additionally the museum had a niceexhibit on telephones and a collection ofrestored, late-1940s motorcycles on loan

for display. We spent thenight at a VERYnice Passport

America park(50% off) inBeaumont,Texas: GulfCoast RVResort.All siteshad concretepads, plus our

stay included a continental breakfast w/

Texas waffles, biscuits & gravy, bagels,toast, cereal, coffee & juice and nice folksaround us. The swimming pool was toocool for us, but they also had free loanerbikes for use around the park. Wellremember this place for future visits.

Day 24: Saturday, Apr 27Leaving Beaumont we drove westward tothe Mercer Botanical Gardens &Arboretum near Humble, TX. This freevenue had miles of hiking trails andstunning gardens with many fountains

and flora exhibits. Just as we drove outthe parking lot the rains started andcontinued the rest of the day. As we setup camp near Columbus, TX the rain wasstill coming down some 5 hours later.

Today was Chris birthday and hereceived some nice emails from friends,and several phone calls from our kids,one of his brothers, and a niece. He saidhe really enjoyed his day! Thanks!

Day 25: Sunday, Apr 28

The rain was still coming down strong ataround 4-5 a.m., but when we arose at7:30 the sky was clear & blue. We droveto Schulenburg, TX and worshipped atZion Lutheran Church. Everyone wascordial and we shared interestingconversations with any members,especially the pastor and his wife whoare vacationing in Door County,Wisconsin, where we spent 1.5 weekslast summer.

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Back on the road we kept readingbillboards speaking the laurels of Buc-ees, a store-service station-restaurant-gitshop-etc. It was one stop beyond ourturn-off but our GPS never announcedthe turn so we got off at Buc-ees. Wow,we were surprised this is a mega spot

just outside Luling, TX. Diesel, runningabout 3.899/gal was only 3.379/gal. Chris

bought a very good roast beef sub ($6)and Sally ate a nice prepared sub salad($4), both from Buc-ees.

After Buc-ees we drove to San Marcosand toured Dicks Classic Car Museum,a very well-organized venue with detaileddescriptions of each car, which evenSally found very interesting.

Day 26: Monday, Apr 29We spent the entire day at the BobBullock Texas History Museum in

downtown Austin. Parking in the adjacentramp was $8 but actually the cheapestaround! This museum is a AAA Gemsiteand well worth a visit, having manyinteractive exhibits covering 3 floors. Wealso watched an IMAX movie about thebuilding of the Canadian railwayconnecting the west of Canada to theeast. Lunch in their cafe was also verygood with a loaded backed potato toppedwith pulled beef brisket. Superb.

Day 27: Tuesday, Apr 30We chose to stay in camp and cookFrench Toast before driving to downtown

Austin to tour the Blanton Museum ofArt. Arriving at 11a.m. we found a small

orchestra practicing in the museumsatrium. We discovered there was a freeBach concert featuring college studentsin both orchestral & choral studies. Theconductor will receive his doctorate at theend of this May. The concert was firstclass. Sally & I remarked that we haventhad that much cultural since we both ateyogurt.

Following the concert we joined a docentthat gave an hour-long presentation onpaintings of Bachs period withconcentration on an Italian painter whoachieved even greater praise for hisdrawings. The museum is proudest of thefact that they have his most prizeddrawing as a part of their collection. Wewere treated to a tour of their sketchlibrary that isnt generally accessed bythe public.

Breaking for lunch we ate across thestreet at the History Museum we touredyesterday. I again availed myself of theirexquisite baked potato with shreddedbeef brisket. Outrageously divine. Wethen spent the rest of the day touring theart museum, followed by a trip to Lowes.

Day 28: Wednesday, May 1Leaving the campground we foundourselves in morning rush-hour trafficleaving Austin, though it certainly isnt asbad as other large cities. Driving severalhours north we arrived in Temple, TX andtoured the Texas Railroad Museum.Though small, it was well worth the stopas it had a tremendous amount ofdetailed info about railroad history,operation, equipment, rail cars,locomotives, etc. We spent well over anhour just reading signboards and lookingat photos.

Chris suddenly realized that the Templerailroad station was where Sallys dad,

Walter, disembarked to go to Camp Hoodin Killeen, Texas, where he had his bootcamp training during World War Two.Too bad he recently passed away, wewould have driven to Killeen and takenphotos to share with him via email, andhe could have given us feedback aboutbuildings in the camp when he was there.Sallys mom, Ruth, and son, Jim, joinedWalter in Texas while he was in boot

camp.From Temple we drove to Waco to tourthe Dr. Pepper(beverage) Museum. Weexpected a small, uninteresting venue bethought, What the heck, were here,so We were pleasantly surprised tofind a fun museum loaded with things tosee and a scavenger hunt for facts tocomplete a quiz sheet. This is anotherlocation to visit if youre in the area.

Day 29: Thursday, May 2Having originally planned to spend themorning at a car museum we were a littledisappointed to discover the night beforethat the museum was only open onweekends. Sally phoned yesterday just tosee if their days & hours of operation hadchanged. She tried again today and areally nice guy named Royce said he dbe happy to open up just for us. Wow!Talk about folks going out of their way to

make others happy!

We drove to Clifton, TX, a small ruraltown, and easily found the CliftonClassic Chassis Car Museum at 406 W.

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5th. Royce Graham met us at the doorand gave us free run of the museum. Thecollection was first-rate, but the

memorabilia made it even morenostalgic. The museum has a specialmeeting area that is often used forbanquets. And Sally just had to trypushin-the-buttons on the Rockola

jukebox. Photos, manuals, auto ads, andother printed matter give us greaterinsight into the individual cars historiesand the auto industry during particulareras. In the Clifton area? Call to see if theClassic Chassis Car Museum will beopen. Itll be worth the stop.

Oh and Royce encouraged us to go forlunch at the corner restaurant,Somethins Brewing. Another greatplace, run by great folks who know a lotabout great home cookin. (Chris is not

big on chicken salad sandwiches butordered it on Royces recommendation.Wooo-weee, it was terrrrific!

We drove through some great Texas hillcountry and had an ice cream snack atone of the best dairy chains in the nation

Braums Dairy. We super-enjoyed aBraums in Oklahoma two years ago,eating there almost every day we were intown. Today we both had ice creamtreats (Sally a realmilk shake, and Chris

a sundae in a waffle cone) and our totalbill with tax was a few cents over $4.Makes that delicious ice cream that muchsweeter.

We camped that night at Bennetts RVPark behind their RV sales lot and storein Granbury, TX. And it was a windy &c-o-l-dnight, just 37F oooooww! Wewaited for the wind to die down, then

popped the top and snuggled. We sleptwell in our cozy Aliner with just a 1500-watt ceramic heater and a few blankets.

Day 30: Friday, May 3We got a great start today having a lightbreakfast of oatmeal with various berriesfor just $2 each at Braums. Man, it wasgood. Then we drove to the the GranburyCemetery to view the grave of JesseJames. Walking around Chris found thegrave of Davie Crockets grandson.

We then drove north toward Fort Worthto visit old friends from Buffalo, Judy &Larry Ryckman. Judy was Sallys Maid-

of-Honor at our wedding over 46 yearsago. It was great to see them again aswe hadnt been face-to-face in over 42years!

Judy & Larrys kitchen is sooooo cooool!Its decorated in 1950s decor.

Day 31: Saturday, May 4Sally and I drove to Weatherford, TX toenjoy the communitys First Monday(flea) market, which occurs on theSaturday & Sunday before the firstMonday of the month. (Make sense?!)We bought three books but had a ball

eyeing-up so many items for sale,especially antiques*(*stuff during ourgeneration).

Judy & Larry hosted a terrific barbecue of(Buffalo, NY) hot dogs and sausagesfrom the grill, plus veggies and corn-on-the-cob. Yum, yum.

Day 32: Sunday, May 5

Chris and I attended Sunday worship atCalvary Lutheran Church, about 2 milesfrom Judy & Larrys home. Calvary hasfour services each Sunday morning plusan evening worship. Ours was acontemporary service with a musical stylethat was more blues than rock. Thetempo was fast-paced making worship fitwithin the one-hour time constraint. Thesermon by Pastor Phil was on target hegave a one-minute explanation of thetopics & goals of his sermon and howthey were intended to fold into the

scriptures and lessons. This allowed theworshippers to help fit the pieces togethemaking his job more productive in ashorter period of time.

Following worship we returned to theRyckman residence and all four of usdrove to Traders Village, the largest fleamarket we have everexperienced! HUGEdoes not do it justice. We spent almostfour hours and saw less than half of it.

From there Larry & Judy treated us to agreat supper at Cheddars Restauranta varied menu, excellent prices and greatfood. Chris had a terrific burger while Ihad the BESTMonte Christo Ive everexperienced. Chris did a few magic tricksfor our table and a family seated next to

us, then repeated them for Jared (right),Larry & Judys son. Plus Chris & I did afew of our mind-reading stunts. Jaredseemed impressed.

Day 33: Monday, May 6Our day was spent visiting the FortWorth Zoo, rated by AAA as one of thebest zoos in the USA and we would

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agree. Sally was in her glory looking atall the animals. The habitats wereexcellent with good explanations of the

animals origins, regions of habitation,etc. We arrived 45 minutes after the parkopened and walked out the gate a fewminutes after closing.

Day 34: Tuesday, May 7Chris & Larry drove to his grandsonshouse, Johnny, and worked on his truck.They did a few fixes in hopes to gettingit to run better. Time will tell.

After returning home, Chris & Sally droveto Fort Worth to tour the Amon CarterMuseum of American Art. Not only is

this an AAA GemSite, but its free withfree parking! The museum had

extensive displays detailing how bronzecast statues are created and cast, plus

how first and later castings vary inquality. This alone was worth the visit.

As we drove back to the Ryckman estatefrom the Art Museum, Chris just had tostop and look at a 1932 Ford prison busthat was being rebuilt into a

hot rod. Then we treated Larry & Judy tosupper at the Red, Hot and Blue BBQrestaurant. Food was VERY good.

Day 35: Wednesday, May 8Traveling to downtown Ft . Worth wespent the better part of the day at thecitys History & Science Museum, atrue hands-on adventure venue. Weshared the morning & early afternoonwith about every elementary & middle

school student from Texas. About1:30p.m. the volume lowered to an I canhear myself think now level, but the kidswere good!

There were many videos, exhibits andexperiment areas that folks of all agescould get into. Chris especially liked thecattle stampede video in theplanetarium, the alternative energy &natural gas hands-on displays, and thelab where he made a flying machineout of a small paper plate and a papercone-style drinking cup.

Back at Judy & Larrys we spent our finalevening talking and enjoying a delicioussteak dinner. Weve had a fabulous timereacquainting ourselves with old friends;we shouldve gotten in contact a fewdecades ago, but well be sure tocommunicate often from here on out.

Day 36: Thursday, May 9We will surely miss spending so muchfun time with Judy, Larry & Jared theseare terrific folks! We thoroughlyenjoyedour visit.

It was a travel day today. driving fromNorth Richmond Hills, TX (Ft. Worthsuburb) to the Caprock State Park, NWof Ft. Worth toward Amarillo. The rainheld off until we had Snoopy Twoo setup in our campsite and then we got a bigole Texas deluge welcome.

Hope youve enjoyed the ride so far!

Clouds after a heavy thunderstorm in Caprock Canyons, Texas in the panhandle area. The sky stretches so far on the Great Plains.