I'll be home for Christmas.....

Wednesday, 28 November.   Left the Bean Pot campground around 9am after filling up our LP gas tank.  We’re using more of our LP gas for our motorhome’s heater, since the nights have begun to get just a tad cooler – it was in the low 20’s in Crossville last night.  We even had to unhook our fresh water hose from the campground hose bib to avoid any chance of freezing up our PVC pipes.  Anyway, once we left the Bean Pot, we soon I-40 East again and headed for Knoxville.  After about an hour we crossed into the Eastern Time Zone, losing another hour of “travel time,” but putting us another hour closer to our destination for the Christmas holidays.  Today’s trip was pretty much uneventful except for a gas stop just outside of Knoxville.  Due to some minor “operator error,” I managed to get slightly sprayed with some nasty diesel fuel.  Had to change shirts, wipe off my sunglasses, change shoes, and thoroughly wash my hands and flush my eyes out with fresh water.  No fun, let me tell you, but another “lesson learned” in the art of full-time RV-ing.  Stupid gas cap!  Sigh……..

We finally found our campground for tonight – Dixie Caverns – on the outskirts of Salem, VA, around 3:30.  

This puts us within about three hours driving time from our destination tomorrow, Lost River Campground in Lost City, WV.  This campground is only a few minutes away from where our oldest son, Kip, and his family live, and we plan to spend a few days there visiting with them.  Anxious to see those two granddaughters!  Time for PaPa to see some Christmas lists!  So, who’s been naughty and who’s been nice?  

From Boomland to Bean Pot to Pulled Pork BBQ

Tuesday, 27 November.  We left the Boomland RV Park in Charleston pretty much on schedule and headed east again on I-57.  Before continuing with our traveling saga, just a word or two about the Boomland campground.  If ever in this area and you’re looking for an RV park – even for just an overnight stay – pass this one by and find another.  ‘Nuff said.  Even the $12 a night charge (which should have tipped us off) wasn't enough to make us want to consider a return trip.  Pretty nasty. At least the rain stopped during the night and we began today’s journey under partly cloudy skies.  We soon crossed the mighty Mississippi River and immediately took Exit 1 on I-57 in Illinois toward the small port city of Cairo that sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. 

Confluence of Mississippi River (left) and Ohio River (right) with Cairo, IL, in the middle. Notice all the barge traffic on the Ohio.  And these a HUGE barges.

As we drove thru Cairo, much of the town almost looked deserted.  Lots of shops were boarded up; seems this recession has hit this area hard.  It wasn’t until we crossed the Ohio River over into Kentucky – on a very narrow bridge - on the southern edge of Cairo did we see all the barge traffic headed downstream to continue their journey on the Mississippi.  It was quite a sight, believe me.  I had no idea the barges were as large as they were.

Tugboat pulling a river barge on the Ohio River near Cairo, IL

Once across the Ohio, we continued our journey on KY SR 60 toward Paducah, where we picked up I-24.  I-24 quickly took us across the very tip of KY’s southwest corner and we were soon traveling on I-24 in the Volunteer State, Tennessee.  We stayed on I-24 till we neared Nashville, and then skirted the Grand Ole Opry town via Loop 155 until we picked up I-40 on Nashville’s southeastern edge.  We stayed on I-40 until we hit our overnight campground, Bean Pot RV Campground, in Crossville, about halfway between Nashville and Knoxville.  The Bean Pot is a well-kept little park and sits among a grove of trees a few miles north of I-40 on TN SR 101.  

We asked our camp hosts for a good place to eat and they suggested “Lefty’s BBQ” for some mouth-watering food.  The pulled pork platter was outstanding and the servings were quite large – enough for another meal down the road.  This place was certainly unassuming -- and is just a bit off I-40 -- but the food makes the trip well worth it.  It’s where all the locals get their BBQ pulled pork – what’s not to like? 

Goodbye, Branson --- Hello, Christmas!

Monday, 26 November.  Well, we said “Goodbye” to Branson, MO, early this morning.  We had one terrific time on our first trip to this jewel of a small show town in the Missouri Ozarks.  If you haven’t kept count via the blog entries, we ended up seeing seven shows during our week here.  Not bad for our first time around the block!  And we definitely plan on coming back – maybe in a couple years.

We left our wonderful ABC campground a little before 9am under cloudy skies.  Our drive up MO SR 65 was uneventful and we picked up MO SR 60 just outside of Springfield.   While SR 60 is not an interstate it is four-lane divided highway with some cross-traffic and the occasional stoplight in a few towns.  We skirted the Mark Twain National Forest off-and-on for a good portion of the day. 

The Mark Twain National Forest area in the "Show Me State"

Traffic was light with very few big semi-trailers – and that’s good.  The day remained overcast and the 10% chance of rain held off until we were just about an hour outside our destination for the night, Charleston, MO.  And then it started raining.  And it rained and rained – actually poured down in buckets in spots along SR 60 – and it is, in fact, still raining while I sit here editing this draft blog entry.  It’s gonna be a pretty cold and rainy night tonight, and if it gets much colder, this rain just might turn into snow or sleet.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we just have rain overnight.  We did finally manage to pick up an actual interstate, I-57, just west of Charleston, so the last few miles, while still traveling in driving rain, was a wee bit little easier.

Tomorrow we’ll cross the mighty Mississippi (again) via I-57 (headed east this time), eventually picking up I-24 and head southeast toward Nashville.  At Nashville we’ll pick up I-40 and stay on that as we make our way back to the East Coast to spend the Christmas and New Year’s holidays with our two sons and their families in WV and MD.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed the weather will stay “RV-friendly” for us as we travel I-40 thru Tennessee and head for the I-81 corridor that will take us up thru the spine of Virginia.  We have two more stops after tonight – one about halfway between Nashville and Knoxville, and one in Salem, VA – before we will finally reach family in WV.  We’ll be staying initially at the Lost River Campground in Lost River, WV, just minutes away from our oldest son, Kip, his wife, Tina, and our two granddaughters, Skye and Rayne.  Oh, and of course, the doggie menagerie of Chewy, Yogi, Rocky, and Sarah, as well as a few assorted cats, and last but not least, Skye’s new guinea pig, Sugar.  And we’re eagerly looking forward to seeing each and every one of them!  Ciao for now!

Our grandkids: Skye, Ben, Rayne, and little Luke

Photo of the Day

Lynette actually took this shot of me and the new, official, groovy, one-of-a-kind LynDen Haus hat while on the Verde Valley Canyon Railway near Sedona, Arizona.  Pretty cool hat, eh?  BTW - I'm saying "Cheese."

Denny makes new friends at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater

Denny and "friends" at Dick Clark's place

"My, such a handsome man!"

SIX -- Our favorite show in Branson. Simply astounding!!!

Saturday, 24 November. Our morning show today was the Comedy Jamboree at the Grand Country Music Hall. Advertised as "a roller-coaster of laughs, comedy, music, dance and family fun," this show is average at best.  Very typical “Hee Haw” style comedy that was pretty corny.  The two starring funny guys repeatedly pulled audience members up on stage for their own brand of down-home humor, usually poking fun at the audience member.  Luckily, nobody got upset. The show featured a sizzling song-n-dance quartet (two gals, two guys) that sang a number of familiar country and holiday songs, and were pretty darn good.  The show’s back-up band was very good, especially pianist extraordinaire, Tracy Heaston, whose hands moved so fast on a couple numbers they seemed a blur.  Absolutely amazing stuff.  In the end, this was, for us, at the bottom of the list of shows we’ve seen during our first trip to Branson.  Mediocre at best.

Our evening show at Mickey Gilley's Theater featured SIX, billed as Branson’s #1 show – and let me tell you, we were definitely not disappointed.  SIX is absolutely amazing! You won't believe what comes out of those mouths!  Drums, bass, instruments and unbeatable harmonies -- and that's just in the first 30 seconds!  An a cappella performance extraordinaire!  SIX is made up of six (duh!) Knudsen brothers – Barry, Kevin, Lynn, Jak, Owen, and Curtis – who have thrilled audiences with their rhythmic percussion, toe-tapping bass, and melodic vocals that mix together seamlessly – and all produced live with the power of just SIX incredible voices.  The first of November began Branson’s run of holiday shows and during this past week here we’ve heard holiday music at every show.  Actually kinda nice – got us in the holiday spirit.  And the SIX show was no exception, featuring some wonderful – and remember, a cappella – renditions of traditional and newer holiday songs.  Their version of "Little Drummer Boy" -- remember, all drums in the song were done by voice -- was absolutely astounding!  If you attend only one show in Branson, make SIX the one!  I guarantee you will have an unbelievable experience.  These guys are AWESOME!

The Bretts meet 3 Redneck Tenors

Friday, 23 November.  Our 10am morning show on this Black Friday shopping day showcased a family act, The Bretts at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater.  Having appeared on worldwide TV and in more than 3000 live performances around the globe, The Bretts deliver high-energy, high-caliber professional entertainment to audiences of all ages.  Voted “The Best Morning Show” in Branson, The Bretts make their daytime performance the place to be on Branson’s Country Strip. As singers, songwriters, dancers and musicians, each Brett family member has enough talent to deliver a full-length solo performance, but together they are captivating, exploding onto the stage with a constantly moving display of music, dance, lights and artistry that has inspired audiences to clap and foot-stomp for almost the entire show.  The show today was their holiday show, and they performed several wonderful renditions of traditional Christmas carols.  My favorite was their version of "Mary Did You Know" -- absolutely beautiful and very moving.  And very deserving of the standing ovation it received.  After the Haygoods, The Bretts are a very close “second” for our favorite show so far in Branson.

Our evening show today saw us attending a rather unique show, 3 Redneck Tenors Christmas SPEC-TAC-YULE-AR -- advertised as "down home laughs, big city music."   The 3 Redneck Tenors were finalists on America's Got Talent, and their show combines classic opera, backwoods humor and a corny story plot to create family-friendly, knee-slappin' entertainment. While the most of the humor was right out of the old Hee Haw TV show -- corny and bad -- the voices of these three classically-trained singers were magnificent.  The show has been called "Pavarotti with a mullet" and "singing angels in a trailer" and that pretty much summed it up.  John Wilkerson, Alex Bumpas and Mathew Lord play Billy Bob, Billy Joe, and Billy Billee from Paris, Texas.  The guys were obviously having a great time on stage and involved the audience with their corny humor as much as possible -- and it seemed to work...at least most of the time.  We really enjoyed the "holiday" portion of their show since it really highlighted the vocal ranges of their voices.  Their rendition of "O Holy Night" was one of the best I've ever heard and received a standing ovation from the audience.  I was superb - very moving!  In the end, we had a good time.  This show may not be for everyone, but they had a full house tonight.

Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving Day, 2012.  This year saw the first Thanksgiving we’ve spent away from family in a long time – and we missed our two sons and their families so very much.  That said, our ABC campground hosts here in Branson went out of their way to make the holiday as friendly as possible.  They provided smoked turkey, dressing and mashed potatoes, plus all the required eating utensils and iced tea/coffee.  Each camping party who wanted to partake of the Thanksgiving feast was to bring a side dish; Lynette fixed a fruit salad and we also brought a couple dozen rolls.  I guess there must have been over a good 100 people who ended up coming to the family center for the Turkey Day feast. We sat with a couple from Louisiana and had a good time.  Good conversation and plenty of food for all.  While I wouldn’t call it a “great” Thanksgiving – since we were away from our family – we were thankful for the good weather and feastive atmosphere.  The campground hosts also held a drawing for a number of vouchers for free show tickets and we lucked out, picking up free admittance to another show.  This first trip to Branson for us is turning out to be a great Christmas gift to each other. 

John Denver songs, Japanese fiddler's holiday music

Wednesday, 21 November.  Woke up to a very foggy morning today, and it got foggier the closer we got to downtown Branson.  We had tickets for a 10am show – A Tribute to John Denver – at the Little Opry House (LOH), and by the time we got out at noon, the fog had burned off.  Ended up being another pretty nice day in the Missouri Ozarks.  The John Denver tribute starred James Garrett, a long-time personal friend of Denver, and Garret interspersed his songs with anecdotes with his first-hand experiences with the famed singer and songwriter from Colorado. Garrett admitted he was fighting a cold or something, and his voice sounded like it.  Too bad, since he probably has a good voice to perform many of Denver’s songs, and LOH is a small intimate theater – an almost perfect setting to perform John Denver songs.  Garrett was, however, backed up by a very capable group of bluegrass musicians, most notably Jim Glasby, a world champion bluegrass guitar and dobro player.  His rendition of Orange Blossom Special was absolutely incredible.  I’d never seen a guitar player’s hands move as fast as his during this number. 

James Garrett on guitar, Jim Glasby on banjo

In the evening we went to the Shoji Tabuchi Holiday Show starring Shoji and his equally-talented daughter, Christina.  For those blog readers who’ve never heard of Shoji Tabuchi, this Japanese-born fiddler ranks among the most popular musicians in the US and his shows are some of the most popular in all of Branson.  Shoji arrived in Branson in the early 1980’s and after performing successfully for a few years he took a gamble and built one of the most elaborate theaters in town. The theater was finished in 1990, and Shoji has been performing his shows ever since.  Ever the showman, Lynette counted 11 jacket/costume changes during our show -- Shoji obviously loves his colorful jackets!   Besides traditional holiday music, the show also paid tribute to our servicemen and women. BTW, the Shoji Tabuchi Show gives a very hefty discount on tickets to veterans.  We really enjoyed his elaborate, Las Vegas-style show that incorporated a variety of holiday songs and dance routines.  Shoji’s back-up band was terrific and several of the musicians have been with him for many years.  

Shoji Tabuchi in action

Christina Tabuchi -- Knock-out looks, knock-out voice

The Amazing Haygoods -- Absolutely Terrific!!!

Tuesday, 20 November. If you've never been to Branson it's hard to imagine what awaits you.  Since this was our first trip, we weren't sure what to expect.  But imagine if you can, a miniature Las Vegas without the gambling or showgirls.....a G-rated destination where families outnumber singles 10-to-1. Throw in the banjo-picking ambiance of the Grand Ole Opry, a little in mini-golf, assorted wax museums and theme parks, and one theater after another – with world-renown entertainment (at least for the most part), and tyou have Branson, MO --- as unpretentious a place as any you'll find anywhere in the good ol' USA.  Now almost a century removed from its small-town, back-water image, Branson has mushroomed into a tourist-filled, flag-waving, live-entertainment center in the heart of Ozarks.

Our first show in Branson turned out to be a real winner.  The Haygoods are a very talented group of five brothers and one cute-as-a-button sister is the REAL DEAL!  They brought down the house tonight with incredibly tight harmonies, innovative, energetic choreography and amazing performances on over 20 different instruments! The first half of their show tonight was non-holiday, and ranged from rock-n-roll to country to ballads – and a variety of instruments. These are some incredibly talented young performers.  After a 15-minute intermission, the audience was treated to some wonderful holiday songs – some traditional (Silent Night) and some not-so-traditional laced with incredible high energy.  I especially loved their rendition of “Mary, Did You Know” with its perfect harmonization. It is immediately evident that The Haygoods really love what they do - and their excitement is contagious! They take pride in crafting their show for their audiences and the result is an unsurpassed combination of dance, music, and excitement that has literally taken Branson by storm.  And oh, BTW: The Haygoods are the ONLY show in Branson that comes out with an all new show every season!  You have to see it to believe it. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had a great time.  Looking forward to even more great shows during our stay in Branson.

Welcome to Branson!

Monday, 19 November.  Arrived in Branson, MO for our Thanksgiving respite early this afternoon after an uneventful day of traveling.  We left our campground near Benton, AR (just outside of Little Rock), a little before 10am and continued north on I-30.  We skirted Little Rock using the 430 Loop that let us pick up I-40 West toward Fort Smith.  We picked up AR Hiway 65 at Conway and stayed on 65 all the way into Missouri and Branson.  Today’s drive took us thru some beautiful scenery of the Ozark Mts, although for those of us who grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the shadows of the Cascade Mts and Mt. Rainier, the Ozarks are more like hills.  Still, this time of year with all the fall colors (even if we were maybe a few days late for the really brilliant colors) made for a lovely drive.  We had excellent directions to our campground (not always the case, BTW), America’s Best Campground (ABC), located just north of downtown Branson on MO 248.  We checked in, received TONS of info on Branson shows and activities, and also received two free tickets to see The Haygoods holiday show, one of many in the area this time of year.  This brother and sister act was voted Entertainers of the Year so we’re hoping to see a really good show. Will let you know in our next blog since we’re going to see them tomorrow night.  

Our campground hosts are very friendly and went out of their way to make sure we knew about their camp-sponsored Thanksgiving feast on Thursday.  They’re providing smoked turkey, dressing and mashed potatoes, and each camper attending the feast is to bring a side dish.  Believe Lynette is making a mixed fruit salad for us.  We’re anxious to see what Branson has to offer since we’ve heard so much about this place.  

View of the "strip" in Branson

View of Branson

The weather here in Branson is cooperating with our visit and we're seeing lots of sunshine and fall-like temps.  Today we saw a high in the mid-60’s with a low in the high 30’s.  No rain is in the forecast except for Turkey Day (go figure), but then only 30% chance.  Maybe we’ll luck out and find ourselves in that 70% of no rain!

Piney Woods and Bayous

Friday, 16 November.  Today was strictly a travel day for us as we headed for our Thanksgiving Holiday in Branson, MO.  We left Lake Charles, LA, around 10am this morning, and picked up I-10 East for about 12 miles. At that point we turned north on LA Hiway 165, which would be our road for today's entire trip north to our overnight campground in West Monroe, LA, Pavilion RV Park and Campground right on I-20.  For the most part Hiway 165 was good road, mainly four-lane divided highway, with some sections of two-lane traffic.  Scenery was predominantly piney woods that lined the road with an occasional bayou within sight distance.  We passed thru what seemed like one small town after another -- which kept our speed down (and we indeed spottted small several of LA's finest, either state trooper or sheriff) -- with each small rural burg showing its own identity. The small towns soon became a blur as we continued north: Kinder, Oakdale, Glenmora (sounds more like a Highland single malt scotch), Bosco, Olla, Riverton, and Richwood to name a few -- and the one large town of Alexandria, that actually had a bypass around the town center.  We certainly saw a little bit of small Americana on today's drive into the northeast corner of LA.  Our campground for our overnight stay turned out to be right across the street from a big truck stop where we filled up with diesel for tomorrow's travels.

Saturday, 17 November.  Today started out with some "minor" issues with both the motorhome and in hooking up the Saturn to the RV.  Nothing major, just little nitnoy inconveniences that don't get the day off to a good start.  But start we did, and picked up I-20 West toward Shreveport.  We turned north again at Ruston, LA, picking up LA Hiway 167 toward the small rural town of Bernice, which, we learned, is the home town of New York Knicks basketball great Willis Reed.  Once we hit Bernice, 167 became a very nice four-lane divided highway all the way into El Dorado, Arkansas.  Hiway 167 would have taken us all the way into Little Rock, but we turned west at Sheridan and picked up AR Hiway 270.  AR 270 took us to I-30 where we headed north to Benton and our overnight stay at J.B.'s RV Park and Campground, that advertises a "quiet, country setting."  J.B.'s is indeed very quiet - almost too laid back - and sits right off I-30. The park has a small fishing lake, lots of trees and large campsites.  While the restrooms and laundry (which we took advantage of) are clean and well-maintained, there is little else in the way of amenities.  The park is situated just south of the town of Benton, clearly out in the middle of nowhere.  I looked on the Internet last night for a nearby restaurant, and nothing is listed except for Malvern (just south of us) and Benton, to the north.  Will let y'all know where we end up eating dinner tonight.  I'm betting there'll be a story there.

From here we head north on I-30 tomorrow morning for Little Rock where we'll bypass the city via Loop 430.  We'll leave 430 as it continues to encircle Little Rock, and pick of I-40 as it heads northwest toward the Oklahoma border.  We leave I-40 at Conway, and head north all the way to Branson, MO, on AR Hiway 65.  We're looking forward to spending a few non-travel  days in Branson over the Thanksgiving Holiday and taking in a few shows.  But that's another story for another day.

Sunday, 18 November, at J.B.'s campground turned out to be a WONDERFUL fall day.  Cool, but not uncomfortable temps, with plenty of sunshine.  We put some laundry in the campground's washers and headed out for a short hike to the fishing lake.  I took my Canon along and took a number of pics, which I share with you now.  I think we just missed the really brilliant fall colors, but the park sure look mighty purty! Enjoy -- hope they show the rural setting of the campground and how nice the day was.

Our campsite at J.B.'s RV Park

A view of the one-way road as it exits the park

View of the small, but picturesque fishing lake

An interesting old barn on the grounds of the campground

James Bond and Cajun cooking!

Wednesday, 14 November.  Left our Quintana Beach campground around 10am. Today's destination was Lake Charles, Louisiana.  The drive up Texas 288 from Freeport to Houston’s Loop 610 was quick and painless, as was the drive around the east side of Texas’ largest city.  As my cousin, Doug, had promised there was a very high bridge to cross over a shipping lane but fortunately no high winds to worry about.  We hit I-10 East pretty much on schedule and headed east into Louisiana and Cajun Country.  Found our campground – Twelve Oaks RV Park – just north of I-10 on LA Hiway 171 and we settled and set up by 2pm.  Nice campground, on the smallish side, but well kept with generous and clean restrooms.  Our very friendly hosts echoed Doug’s recommendation for us to be sure and eat at Steamboat Bill’s.  So, the next day we headed out to see a movie, the new James Bond thriller, Skyfall – turned out to be a very good movie.  Typical James Bond stuff, but full of twists and turns, intrigue, and double-cross.  I think Daniel Craig does an excellent job as Bond, although Sean Connery is still my favorite.  Anyway, after the movie we headed out to Steamboat Bill’s for some good Cajun cooking.  In addition to the strong recommendation from my cousin, Doug and his wife, Beke, and then our campground hosts, we also received encouragement to dine at SB’s from a young lady behind the refreshment counter at the movie theater.  And to top it off, even the pharmacist at the local Rite Aid where I picked up a prescription gave us a huge thumbs-up.  Do you see a trend here?  Well, let me tell you, this place serves outstanding food.  We both ordered a bowl of their chicken and sausage gumbo (see photo below); Lynette had the regular size, while I opted for a large bowl.  Absolutely delicious, with just a little Cajun kick – plus, we both ended up taking leftovers home with us for dinner tomorrow.  I also ordered a fried catfish appetizer and it was equally delicious!  The rolls that came with the gumbo were to die for.  Really good, and as we found out later from Beke, SB fries their rolls in peanut oil.  No wonder they tasted so great!  All in all, SB’s is a great place to dine if you’re ever passing through this part of the country.  There are actually two locations: one on 1-10 just after you cross the VERY high bridge that spans the actual Lake Charles, and another off Loop 210 around the south side of the city.  Believe me, you won’t be sorry you stopped at SB’s!

Steamboat Bill's chicken and sausage gumbo - delicious!

Tex-Mex entrees...Blue Bell ice cream for dessert

Tuesday, 13 November.  We spent most of the day getting ready for our departure tomorrow morning.  Mainly RV maintenance, inside cleaning/storing things away, and of course, some grocery shopping to re-stock the cupboards.  We did, however, convince Doug & Beke to let us take them to dinner at a local restaurant.  We picked them up at their place and headed out for some good Tex-Mex food at one of their favorite places, La Casona’s.  Once again, great food (and plenty of it – we all took home doggie bags), delicious margaritas, and wonderful dinner company/conversation.  Stuffed full of good Tex-Mex, Beke never-the-less convinced me to sample some Blue Bell ice cream back at their place to top off the evening.  Beke also had some homemade ice cream sandwiches for us (I mean, me) to sample.  Quite good, I can report.  After more conversation and visiting over the excellent Blue Bell ice cream, we said our “Goodbyes” and headed back to your campsite.  Again, “Thanks ever so much”, Doug & Beke, for your wonderful, warm hospitality. We look forward to hooking up with you guys down the road sometime next year.  Let’s make it happen, okay?

Our visit to this part of Texas turned out to be one great experience.  We saw some family we haven’t seen for years and got re-acquainted; paid a visit to the Johnson Space Center and were pleasantly surprised; and had a chance to really re-connect with a great cousin and his wife – all from the comforts of a well-maintained campground on the Gulf of Mexico.  

Tomorrow, 14 November, we head north on Texas Hiway 288 and will skirt the center of Houston by taking Loop 610 around the east side, where we'll pick up I-10 East.  Our destination is Lake Charles, LA, where we hope to find a good Cajun restaurant!

"That last footprint on the moon? Check it out. That's my boot size." -- Eugene Cernan, Commander, Apollo 17, the last Apollo mission to land men on the moon

Monday, 12 November. After taking a day off to just rest and relax, we headed into the Houston area to visit the Johnson Space Center (JSC), about 90 minutes away.  After a couple wrong turns, we finally arrived at JSC and were immediately greeted at the entrance by a full-sized mock-up of the space shuttle – what a sight!  And this was only the beginning of what turned out to be one terrific afternoon.  We should have allowed more time, but still managed to squeeze in several activities.  Our first was a 30-minute “briefing” by a NASA employee that detailed what is happening today at NASA and specifically with the JSC.  Well-done and very professional.  Another activity was a 90-tram ride that took us to several other JSC buildings, including the Mission Control Center (MCC), which has been restored to its original 1960’s look, since they have a more modern MCC today.  We also took in a 30-minute movie that described the history of the International Space Station (ISS), including its fascinating construction story, and what’s in the future for the ISS since NASA is back in the space exploration business.  The JSC main complex also has a large gift store and we took the opportunity to do some early Christmas shopping for the grandkids – think we got some very unique gifts.  All in all, we were pleasantly surprised and had a really great time during our afternoon at the JSC.  Just wish we’d allowed more time.  If given the chance, you might want to give a visit to the JSC some thought.  If you do go, allow a full day since there are so many activities to choose from.  For the kids, there are lots of hands-on experiences that looked like loads of fun, as you can see from this first photo of me kidding around.

Spaceman Denny

NASA's Houston Mission Control Center -- restored to its 1960's look

View of just part of a massive Saturn V rocket -- this thing is HUGE

Lynette next to the Saturn V first stage engines -- again, HUGE

Me and some of America's heroes, the Apollo XIII crew: James Lovell, Commander; John Swigert, Command Module Pilot; and Fred Haise, Lunar Module Pilot

Visiting with some of the Texas Metzer clan

Saturday, 10 November. The day of our little mini-Metzer reunion.  We drove out to Doug & Beke’s place a few miles outside the little town of Brazoria around 1:00pm.  Doug had told everybody we’d eat about 4:00pm, so we had loads of time to visit and get a tour of their place.  Doug & Beke were in the middle of getting ready for the wedding of their daughter, Shawna, at their place in a couple weeks.  Doug had just put the finishing touches on a bridge over the lake on their property, complete with a covered roof, benches, and hanging Boston ferns.  Should make for a beautiful setting for the actual marriage ceremony.  We’re all praying for good weather, BTW.  Slight chance of rain right now, but you know what they say about Texas weather: If you don’t like the weather, stick around for 10 minutes and it’ll change.  One of Doug & Beke’s sons, Matt, also came out.  Matt is “infamous” in his family for bucking the Texas A&M college trend and graduating from Texas Tech in Lubbock.  Me, I’m impartial: I root for the Texas Longhorns!  Ticks everybody off!

My Aunt Francis (who I will know forever as Tootie (and is only two years older than I am) arrived around 4:00pm, along with her daughter Carrie, and Carrie’s daughter, Emily.  Tootie’s son, Jarvis, and his family arrived a little bit later. This included his wife Glenda, and their daughters Ashley (who could be a twin with her aunt, Carrie – two very beautiful young ladies) and Courtney, and their son, Zack.  Doug and I grilled burgers for everyone, while Tootie brought some delicious potato salad and a wonderful lemon cake.  Beke rounded out the rest of our eats for the day with all the fixings for the burgers, and we were set to enjoy some outstanding, down-home Texas-style hospitality.  Throw in some cold beer and chilled wine, and we were good to go.  After eating, we all just set back and visited, told old family stories, laughed-and-laughed and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company well into the evening.  For the blog readers our there, I was actually born in Kingsville, Texas.  We lived in the Bryan/College Station area until I was about five.  Then my Dad packed up the whole family in the middle of December 1951 and we moved to Washington State, where I grew up.  But while living in Texas for those first five years, we lived right across the rural road from my Dad's folks, my Grandpa & Grandma Metzer.  And my sister, Sandi, and I had our Aunt Tootie and Uncle Sonny (Harold) as playmates every day.  We grew up as brothers and sisters and had more fun; we were so close in age. And to this day, regardless of any "other" influences, I still call them Sonny and Tootie.  We took lots of photos, but unfortunately the flash on my camera wasn’t working properly.  So, I apologize in advance for the appearance of the photos in this blog entry.  Sorry about that.  Darn it! 

My Aunt Tootie, her daughter and my cousin, Carrie, me, and my cousin Doug

My Aunt Tootie and her favorite nephew!

Tootie's son, Jarvis, and his family

Ashley (Jarvis' oldest), Carrie and her daughter, Emily

Now tell me: Couldn't Ashley and Carrie be twins?

Tootie and her son, Jarvis, and daughter, Carrie

Cousin Doug -- Some wonderful family time

Thursday, 8 November.  My cousin, Doug, called and then came out for a short visit with us at our Quintana Beach County Park campsite.  Doug is the oldest son of my Dad’s younger sister, Doris Ann (who we called Aunt Sister).  He’s worked for Dow Chemical for over 30 years and is getting ready to retire the end of this year.  After giving Doug the “nickel tour” of our motorhome, we then spent a couple hours sitting outside just catching up on our lives.  He and his wife, Beke, just bought a new 5^th-wheel and are planning on doing some traveling of their own next year after he retires.  We promised to stay in touch and hopefully meet up somewhere down the road as we continue our full-time RV lifestyle.  While Doug had also arranged for a mini-reunion with more of the Texas Metzers for Saturday, he and Beke wanted to take us out to dinner Friday night.  It appears our stay in this part of Texas was looking good.

Me and my cousin, Doug (apologize for the lousy pic...flash wasn't working properly)

Friday, 9 November.  Doug and Beke picked us up at our campground around 5:15 and we headed out for dinner.  On the way Doug showed us some of the sights in this part of the country, including several of the large petro-chemical plants.  Dow’s Plant B – which we saw on the way back to our campground after dinner – is the largest chemical plant in the world. We had a great dinner at Giovanni's Italian Kitchen in nearby Angleton.  This is obviously one of the area’s more popular eating establishments because if Doug had not made reservations, I’m not sure we would have eaten dinner much before midnight.  Okay, an exaggeration, but the place was indeed crowded. Giovanni's turned out to have wonderful food, good service, and reasonable prices.  Toss in some great company and conversaton and you have the makings for a wonderful evening.  Thanks a whole bunch much, Doug & Beke!  We had a really great time.

P.S.  Oh, Beke, just to let you know: The red wine came out of my shirt just fine.  I'm just glad it was Doug's glass of wine and not mine!  Sorry, had to mention it -- Love ya'!

Doug and his lovely wife, Beke - What charming hosts!

Quintana, Texas - Entry Way to the Gulf

Quintana, Texas: 7-13 November 2012.  Quintana is an island (~100 permanent residents) located between the mouth of the Old Brazos and New Brazos Rivers on the Gulf of Mexico, about 90 minutes southeast of Houston. The town is a non-commercialized, beautiful, natural family beach and also home to wildlife and a bird sanctuary. It offers six miles of beautiful, natural sand beaches.  Our campground, Quintana Beach County Park (QBCP), and Bryan Beach State Park are both located on the island. QBCP is a unique, 50-acre park offering large, paved RV campsites, and clean, but rustic restrooms and showers. Elevated wooden boardwalks provide a view of the Gulf of Mexico and the dunes. Historical homes, pavilions, and a miles of pedestrian beach offer plenty of room to hike, explore, or fly a kite, which we saw several people doing while we were there. Boating facilities, a fishing pier and numerous grassy areas are also available for tent campers or day visitors.

Quintana campground boardwalk; campground in the background

Quintana beach area, with campground buildings in the background

Quintana's history dates back to 1528 when survivors of a Spanish expedition/search party looking for Montezuma's gold were adrift and dying of thirst when they noticed some muddy water flowing into the Gulf.  The water was drinkable and the explorers followed the current to the mouth of the river calling it Los Brazos de Dios, the Arms of God.  Later, Stephen F. Austin's colonists landed the schooner Lively here in 1821.  Austin was commissioned to lay out the town in 1833 and named it after a General Quintana, a deputy minister in the Mexican Government, who was sympathetic to Austin's efforts to colonize this part of Texas.  Quintana prospered and became a popular resort for plantation owners who built huge summer homes on the beach.

During the Civil War a confederate fort guarded the mouth of the Brazos.  During the last decade of the 19^th century the population increased dramatically as a result of work on a harbor and jetties and other improvements related to a deep-water port, and Quintana was incorporated in 1891.  During the last 100 years, however, six hurricanes have leveled nearly every structure and at least two major outbreaks of yellow fever and cholera kept Quintana's population in check.  The 1915 hurricane turned the area into a ghost town.

During WWII, the gun mounds at the base of shipping canal – now within QBCP’s lands – were erected to protect Dow's nearby magnesium plant.  Guns were placed atop the mounds to protect the defense plant from aircraft, warships and submarines. 

WWII gun emplacement, looking out at the Gulf of Mexico

View of same gun from our campsite

Our campsite with WWII gun in the distance

Another view of our campsite, looking toward the Gulf

With the jetties intact, it was now possible to maintain dredged water depths, opening the way for modern shipping.  The discovery of sulphur nearby paved the way for the first of the local chemical industries.  But flooding of the river could no longer be tolerated and in 1929 the Army Corps of Engineers dug a new channel to the Gulf and the old river was sealed three miles above the mouth.  At about the same time the Intracoastal Waterway – which runs all the way to Florida – was also completed, turning Quintana into a man-made island.