Category: Journeys & Adventures

Wow! I’ve changed timezones twice this week and drove so many miles while fighting the wind that I’m a bit dazed.

We met some wonderful Oregonians who’ve taken us to dinner in exchange for consulting and plan to see the city tomorrow along with more food, of course.

It’s hot and dry here so we drink gallons of water and turn the shower on for moisture. The altitude makes us a bit dizzy.

Santa Fe has more sculptures per square mile than anywhere I’ve seen in our travels. And there are at least 88 art galleries, all showing the world’s best work. It’s inspiring!

“…where the waving wheat can sure smell sweet and the….” Oh, I forgot the words. Oklahoma is quite beautiful! We drove from the Ozarks, where rocky bluffs and wildflowers abound, to the flatter plains where the dirt is red. I love it.

It’s HOT here, so we’re playing pool in the air conditioned club house at the KOA in Elk City.

Never take an RV (or your family) on Hwy 160 West in MO; it’s a killer (or at least the motion sickness will make you think you’re dying). When you get to Branson, MO, though, you’ll be entertained with every country song you can sing; there are 30+ theatres here with big and small-named entertainers.

In one week we went from snow in PA to 90 degrees in MO. It’s so miserable outside that we’ve opted to suffer inside with cold water and ice packs. ‘Spose I could turn on the AC.’ We’re waiting until evening to do the laundry. Tomorrow, I’ll paint and then we’ll keep heading west to NM.

We’re officially heading back west, as you can see from our posts. I plan to stay in NM for 2 weeks to do nothing but paint. Then we’ll visit the North side of the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and other parks near there. Then make the long drive to the NW to Corvallis.

When we arrive, I’ll start teaching on campus again, and looking for an apartment. I don’t really like the RV park in town, so will find something near Jefferson School. If this plan works out, I’ll be selling the motorhome.

So that I can continue the RV lifestyle, I’m looking at ordering a Sportsmobile that uses the Mercedes-Benz deisel engine, which would allow me to run biofuel! I’m playing with designs now.

After 2 days driving through the Shenendoah Mountains in thunder and lightning (and sleeping at Walmarts) we arrived in Lexington to spend time with my uncle and family. They treated us to dinners, deserts, lunches, and breakfast, as well as to custom historical and cultural tours! I’m much heavier now (but we love them anyway).

We toured the Episcopal Cathedral, which is more than 200 years old and the Loudoun House, which was a large station for the Underground Railroad. It now houses a modern art gallery.

Maya turned 10 and was treated to a trail ride at the Kentucky Horse Park, a massive complex with museums, foals and colts, and fancy barns. Even the food was good. Her family then spoiled her with Easter chocolates, ice cream cake, and pineapple upside down cake. Her cousin(?) Sara helped her eat some and I ate whatever they couldn’t.

The forecaster was right. What I saw at 7am was just a trickle. Now we have 5 inches at 9:30am. I had planned on leaving PA for WA today. Guess we’ll stay.

On Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. That won’t ever happen again. You may now return to your (normal ?) life.

I finally got to visit IKEA (College Park, MD) after years of watching Cindy come home with so many fun household items.

We heart NY and now have a shirt to prove it. The bank account proves it, too; overdrawing was a piece of cake! Speaking of cake, we had a brownie bowl at Uno on Columbus and Central Park West. Yum. The pork stew, gelato, and raspberry brownie were almost worth the gold we paid for them at the MoMA. We did do other things besides eat…

The MoMA and the Met were immense and overwhelming. I was in heaven viewing paintings I have studied for years. Most of them looked better in person. We saw Raushenberg, Picasso, Matisse, Munch, O’Keefe, and so many others. Very few of the works were by women, which bugs me.

We can say now that we have been in Harlem, The Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn, since we took three wrong subways and ended up there. We did nothing but turn around and go back to Manhattan, however. Notice the clear blue skies; we where so lucky getting record temperatures!

We were privileged to witness two sets of hip hopping street performers. One in the subway (and not one fell over). The other was in front of the Met. This man flipped over 4 people. Wow!

We ate sushi (sorry; enough about food) and walked around Central Park some more. Did I tell you the people here are helpful and nice? We were not victims of crime, panhandling, or rudeness.

Wow! We made it! We are happily computing at the NYC Public Library on 4Oth and Madison Ave. I’ve got just 12 minutes left, however, so here’s what we’ve been up to…

We’re parked at Liberty Harbor in Jersey City (not cheap but the only place even close to the city). We take PATH to Manhatten (World Trade Center stop) and then the subway to everywhere else. We first stopped at FAO Schwarz to buy Maya’s Wave board for her birthday. She no longer hyperventilates.

We spent the rest of the day looking for Gelato and hanging out in Central Park. Thought we might go to the Met but they were closed.

Tues we went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We were too late to go inside the statue, but enjoyed the view, audio tours, and boat ride.

Today we’re checking email at the library, viewing Grand Central Station, and the UN. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. ToysRUs has a ferris wheel inside!

Tomorrow we visit the Guggenheim. Friday we’ll do the MoMA or Met. And then I have no idea where we’ll be going! We’ll be back in June to teach; that’s all I know.

Maya is hyperventilating from thoughts of visiting FAO Schwarz for her 10th birthday. She wants a Wave skate board. If it’s a nice day, we can take it for a spin in Central Park.

We are so exhausted from just one day of sight seeing that we’re still sitting at “home” and it’s almost noon. It is cold, clear, and windy here, which I believe is contributing to our fatigue.

We walked to the Capitol yesterday but couldn’t get in; too late in the day. So we walked back to the National Gallery of Art to eat gelato for dinner (again). The fountain on the bottom floor of the new section is spectacular.

The DADA exhibit at the NGA is fantastic. I have a new favorite artist…Sophie Taerber. She collaborated with Hans Arp on several pieces but my favorites are her marrionettes and needlepoint pieces.

If we get off our buns today, we’ll be visiting the Spy Museum.

Today we went to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia where everyone who works there dresses up like a Colonist. Actors did plays in the mddle of the street so the tourists could be involved. It was a lot of fun!

I, Maya, met nice slaves named Will and Hannah. I helped Will decide whether to stay to be a slave for George Washington or join the British troops–they said he would be free if he fought in the war.

But I didn’t believe them. I thought he should stay. He decided to stay and might try to run away when he gets the chance.

It’s taken 2 days to get out of the Charleston and Myrtle Beach areas; the roads are bumpy, narrow, and it’s wall-to-wall malls here!

Our campsite tonight is a beautiful lake-filled resort complete with large mosquitos in mass quantities. We are happy to be away from the wildfires of TX and the tornados of the Midwest, but I’d still like to whine about the bugs. It’s very warm and windy tonight but we cannot keep all the windows open, as the mosquitos find their way in!

Apparently it’s going to rain tonight. I am sad to report that Oregon may have 10 days of rain.

Our campsite in Hollywood, SC, just outside Charleston, was so beautiful that we stayed 2 extra days so I could paint and visit the nearby Edisto Beach, where trillions of large shells wash up on the shore. We are now loaded down with shells (which are surprisingly heavy) as well as rocks.

We visited Magnolia Plantation and the Audobon Swamp Garden. The burro at the petting was a bit too friendly, eating Maya’s shirt. The pregnant miniature goat like chasing Maya around so she could get more grains of corn. Slave street was eerie but amazing; the cabins survived so long because of the fire and bug resistant wood (cypress, I think). We saw egrets, peacocks, and alligators in the swamp.

Charleston is a wonderful town…we rode a horse-drawn chariot through the old part of town to see the single-wide and double-wide homes, old jail, first home, numerous churches, and just to enjoy the warm, humid air. We also gallery-hopped to my heart’s content, and ate gelato for dinner.

There are no RV parks right in Savannah, so we are forced to stay on Tybee Islalnd (and we’re not sad about it at all!).

The beach is looonnnggg and flat and beautiful. We’ve found lots of shells and dead critters (horseshoe crab, some clear straw creatures, and tiny jelly fishes).

Fish and chips here are generally fresh flounder, which I just love, along with the fries. My diet is on hold.

Maya is learning to use her body board in the water, on the ground, in the wind, etc. It has many uses.

We didn’t quite make it to Savannah today and are staying in a beautiful spot. I’ll have to stay another day to paint.

After poor sleep and projects to grade, I decided to stay in Marietta another day. The son of the owner who took my 1-more-day parking fee here in Marietta is a quantum physicist. I had an inkling of what this means, but just had to look it up on wikipedia.com. The humorous quotes of famous physicists listed there made me think of homeopathy…similar quotes have been heard about this branch of medicine. And, of course, here is an article about both subjects for your reading pleasure. The poem at the bottom of this article is especially inspiring (by Mastana; of whom I know nothing about):

Let me be, the way I am

Let me grow, the way I do

Let me free, in the ocean blue

Let me move, as breezes do.

We paid our respects today to Corretta Scott King and Dr Martin Luther King Jr and their family by visiting the MLK NHS and King Center. The exhibits were quite thought-provoking and humbling. The pictures below show both tombs, the eternal flame, and the Historic Ebenezer Babtist Church were King preached.

Up Auburn Street is the Freedom walk, which is now in disarray and haunted by panhandlers. We ate with the locals at Thelma’s Kitchen and Rib Shack, which had the best ribs, catfish, mash potatoes, greens, and sweet potatoes we’ve found so far.

We used the train and bus system to get from Marietta to Atlanta and back each day and were asked not to take pictures in the stations as a terrorist precaution. Hmmm. The relief murals were outstanding.

We parked on the Santa Rosa Sound for a week and enjoyed the eerie quiet and fog of the sound, but didn’t want to leave FL without getting in the ocean…we’d seen photos of the beautiful water and white sand. On our way out of Navarre, we stopped at Henderson State Park in Destin, FL. for a dip. Ooohh, it really is clear and white here. The water is my favorite color as well as warm enough to plung into.

We’re still at the beach…ignoring how much it costs to park here because the sun came out and we’re quite happy walking, meeting friends, painting, and body surfing.

Weather.com makes the weather in Florida look lovely; those cute little sun icons with smiles (at least I imagine them with smiles).

We finally got warm weather in Troy where we’ve been for 2 days; after freezing our water pipes (and patooties) off. So we thought perhaps the beach would be even better!

Five hours later, we arrive to see a beach with lots of wind and black clouds. And it’s not warm. So we’ll do laundry and schoolwork. And sleep in. And eat.

Two days later it’s nice and warm! We’re on the beach for hours at a time.

Maya and I discovered ladder golf at the park in Troy, AL. It’s fun for kids and adults. The game has many names and rules, which we learned about on The Fun Times Guide.

We spent the weekend in Selma and Montgomery, AL to start our Civil Rights tour. The Voting Rights Museum is a must see. The door had a black wreath hanging for Corretta Scott King, and just inside the door is a beautiful portrait of her. Each room of the musuem brings back memories and new tears of joy for those who marched for rights, and sorrow for those who lost their lives. Hundreds of personal notes hang on the main wall in the foyer which confirm those who were present during the marches in 1965. Just this weekend, before we arrived, one more person who had marched 40 years ago was visiting and left a note. The Bloody Sunday 41st anniversary event will take place the first week in March, which we’ll be missing.

We stayed overnight at the Walmart in Selma and got up early to attend Brown AME Memorial Church, where the marches were organized. Though the congregation was small, it was full of love and positive messages for the future. The area around the church is quite run down now and in need of a vision and good leadership. Poverty is everywhere.

Then we drove over the Alabama River via Hwy 80’s Pettit bridge, where Bloody Sunday took place. We drove it onto Montgomery, where the marchers, finally, were able to get to on the third try later in March 1965.

Everything we wanted to see was closed (it’s Sunday) so we’ll decide if we come back or not. We took pictures of the Dexter Ave Babtist church where King preached for 6 years. We visited the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Civil Rights Memorial, which was designed by another Maya. The Rosa Parks Library and Museum Childrens Wing was not open yet, so we’ve missed another great site. The capitol was also closed, but the area is quite beautiful; a stark contrast to the povery just a neighborhood away.


We left the city on country roads at sunset and marveled at the beauty and majesty of Alabama. Too bad it’s 40 degrees outside!

Hello from the Mississippi River. See the photo to the right? No? Well that’s because I forgot to take any pictures!!! Too bad; that sunset we saw while walking across the bridge from Vedalia, LA to Natchez, MS was pretty. Natchez is a pretty, antebellum city with lots of history. We didn’t make it to a home tour or the Grand Village, but did enjoy eating waffles, grits, catfish, and hush puppies, buying yarn to make a poncho, and browsing the local bookstores.

We didn’t stay in Natchez to see more sites because of the rain storm. We drove in the rain all day to get as close to AL as possible (and because this park has internet, when many along the way do not!). Meridian is partly cloudy and cool; looks like we’re out of snow range!

The amount of damage from hurricanes is less here, but still apparent. There are lots of blue tarps on roofs, downed tress, and twisted signs.

I just heard the news that Coretta Scott King died in her sleep this week. We will think of something special to honor her. BBC News online.

Ode to Mrs. Coretta Scott King

As soon as we crossed the border from Texas to Louisiana, I noticed a change in the terrain and level of damage to homes and businesses. The trees are scrappy this time of year but definately swampy looking, with lots of water everywhere. Interstate 10 is quite bumpy, so I’m glad we didn’t drive far today. Most homes have blue tarps to cover roof damage. The only repair I saw in progress was to a little mansion. None of the shanties were getting repairs. Signs are twisted down to the ground. Storage sheds are laying down, and lots of businesses aren’t open yet.

I’ve had four folks warn me NOT to take Maya into New Orleans; it’s just too devistating and upsetting (and perhaps not safe). Given this strong advice, we will head north rather than south for the time being. After Atlanta, I think we’ll head to Savannah and that’s as south as we’ll get.

She just lost a lower molar and now two other uppers are loose. When will it end? The tooth fairy is going broke, what with all the teeth, books, and the price of admission!

We spent most of the day at NASA learning about space craft and crews. My favorite part was learning that one of the first things a team does before a mission is to define their mission and design a logo/plague/patch to express that mission. This logo is used on all their clothing, communications, and promotions. A special ceremony commemorates their launch and the plague is hung with all the others on a wall at the Space Center or in the Historic Mission Control room. I’m looking for a book about this, which is out of print. Let me know if you see it anywhere. I could buy a poster, but the logos are too small.

Maya spent most of her time at the Space Station playing with other kids in the play structure. She also rode the antigravity game and took a tour of the Historic Mission Control room.

I bought books about women astronauts. There are more and more each year; it’s very exciting.