Because Claire in Minnesota told me that she needed an Update on our current condition…..
After two days of questionable luck, we arrived safely at Brian and April’s new home in Appomattox with no further trauma or drama. And because it was only about an hour and a half away, we decided not to hitch the Honda to the back of the motorhome. This facilitated a number of things…. it allowed me to pull into a fuel station of my choosing without worrying about the space needed for this giant bus and its tag-along. I still needed to service the hitch apparatus and it’s easier to do that when we’re parked somewhere where we won’t be in the way for a while, hence their driveway works just fine. And finally, without the car behind (and Paula sitting next to me!) I was able to really test out the repairs that were done on our air braking sysytem….. you know, I really put her through her paces! I was able to take corners on two wheels without Paula screaming in fright, I did a series of those high-speed, jam on the brakes, swing the wheel around, kind of turns that you see in good chase scenes on TV, and then to finish it off, the high-speed, straight line, jam on the brakes, and see if I can keep the whole thing going in that straight line.
The fact that I am seated here writing this Update will be proof enough that I was successful in all that was attempted! Except all that High-Speed stuff…. the fact that I am here is proof that I drove in the old Granny style that I usually do. If we want to make good time, Paula is the far better driver in getting us from A to B. DO NOT get in her way!
Our next (and final) stop will be in our reserved parking spot at Yetter’s Diner, Holiday Campground, and Taylor Ham, Egg, and Cheese Emporium in downtown Augusta, New Jersey! With any amount of luck that will be later on this afternoon as it is a relatively short jaunt to Northern New Jersey from here. We are planning on a (no-more-than) 9-hour excursion.
No, this is not what we are experiencing at this time. This is what we wish that were seeing, and it is a blatant attempt at foisting a caper on you, the unsuspecting reader, with the hopes that a pretty photo will grab your attention. No, I did not even take this photograph. Mr. Internet did.
Dateline: Roanoke, Virginia, in the parking lot of the Excel TruckGroup, 3:05 AM
I feel like I’m writing a Serial Piece as this will seem to be just a continuation of yesterday. Here goes:
“When we last left our Wayfaring Wanderers, they were trying to escape the grip of Mother Nature who was really pissed off because someone had left the freezer door open all night! This setting not only affected our heroes’ batteries but there was even more mayhem afoot as we check in on them today…. “
When using the term “On the Hook” in an idiomatic way, it usually refers to being responsible for something, especially something financial and/or being caught in a vulnerable / tense / dangerous situation.
In our lucky case we hit the Trifecta of Definitions because we are able to add a THIRD definition to this phrase using it as we transfer to a literal meaning …… you guessed it!
Being ‘Towed” from the side of road! (Plus, in this case we get to retain the two previous definitions too, because this turned into a definitely tense/dangerous, and financially disruptive situation!)
And you thought that yesterday’s Post about Frosty Windshields was of questionable genesistical reporting!
Scenario: Cold (very, as previously reported)….. this adverse condition had yet another victim waiting in the long shadows of a wintery day’s early morning hours …… our Brakes.
“Ah, com’on Donny, we all drive around all day long in cold weather and we never have any ‘brake’ issues! They work just fine!”
Well, that may be fine for you Mr. ‘Stopping Systems R’ Us’, but we use “Air Brakes” not the brake fluid type that you all use. This means that periodically moisture enters the system in the form of condensation, and we now understand what happens to said condensation when it encounters some really low temps!
It freezes!
And what do you think may be the bane of an ‘Air Brake’ system? Yup! Clogged (with ice) air lines and/or components of that system.
“Well Donny, did you slam into the rear of that 18-wheeler in front of you? Or careen off of the side of the Interstate in one of those long, crazy turns in Virginia?
Sorry to disappoint you Mr. ‘Looking on the Bright Side’…. fortunately, we were able to discover this current malady before we ended up in the local papers.
As you may imagine, there are some gauges on the dash that monitor this brake system. We usually have well over 100 psi in the system. I noticed yesterday that we were lower, down around 75 or so. Being the worry-wort that I am, (you know, the guy hurtling down the road with the 28,000-pound rolling brick and a little car tagging along behind it) I called my “All Things Truck Related” Life-Line…. he is a former Over the Road Tractor-Trailer Driver, neighbor and all-around good guy with a very nice name…… Don (!)
He obviously always has good, solid advice for us.
He did not sound encouraging.
He told us that if that pressure drops to around 60 psi, then the brakes will automatically lock up and bring us to a (literal) screeching halt. Because….. that’s better than letting any more air escape to the point where you (us!) actually have ZERO stopping power and the Fred Flintstone maneuver just isn’t enough to bring us safely to the side of the road.
So, before we did any of the previously mentioned negativity we pulled over on the shoulder of I-81, just south of Roanoke, Virginia. A flurry of phone calls ensued…. first to Don, then to my guy Corbin up at Campbell’s in Lafayette (our repair facility) then to Andrew at the local Roanoke Freightliner fixers, and finally to the guy at Brown’s Towing who dispatched Ethan in one of those giant “Ice Road Truckers” trucks to save us. All of these guys were a pleasure to deal with, especially Ethan who needed to crawl under our motorhome, take apart the driveshaft and remove some other pieces of equipment that had the possibility of getting mushed when we were put ‘on the hook’.
Giant ‘tongue” under the front of the motorhome attaches to whatever underneath and lifts it up off the road.
Just an aside here: You will have tons more consideration for the broken-down vehicle on the side of a highway after you endure the whoooosh of the passing trucks and cars yourself! We always try to move over a lane when we see someone on the side of the road. You will notice all truck drivers do because they have experienced this at least once in their careers and it’s not fun. In fact, it’s downright uncomfortable! Never mind the safety factor! Unless of course, the traffic is considerable and there is no time/room to make that move over one lane then it’s just ‘hold on tight’!
That was our case yesterday. Unfortunately, soon after we pulled over, someone behind us opened the floodgates and poured so much additional traffic onto the highway that it was impossible for anyone to make their “Courtesy Move-Over” without putting their neighbor into the concrete median. So ‘rock on!’ was our mantra until Ethan hooked us up and extricated us from that situation. We followed our Home on Wheels as it was towed away and stopped when it was deposited at the Freightliner fixer, Excel Truck Group.
“One Adam 12, see the man reporting a small Honda CRV in hot pursuit of a towed motorhome believed to be in the act of repossession” “Roger that Dispatch, we will be ready to intercept and will assume that they are armed and dangerous” (We were really trying to follow that Hobby Lobby truck cuz it’s my favorite store!)
Now the third part of our Trifecta comes into play….. the financial one! We all know that dispatching a tow truck is a rather expensive deal. How about dispatching the giant ‘truck-that-can-tow-another-truck’ truck? Yea…. add some more to that estimate! It’s $450.00 per hour, three-hour minimum. Oh well, at least we are now safe in the parking lot of Excel Truck Group where they let us spend the night. They were closing up when we arrived, so we’re on the docket for this morning, but there are a few customers in front of us.
Stay tuned for the further adventures of Paula and Don in their continuing saga of Highways to Hell (and back)!
Hmm…. I wonder if I can get a credit for Overnight ParkingLot Surveillance because I haven’t slept a wink. Nah…. probably not, I should be thankful that they didn’t charge us for an over-night stay!
P.S. As I write this, that Battery System is giving me fits, I’m glad(?) that I’m awake to monitor the issue. If it turns out to be any more calamitous than just batteries (like a new Inverter!) you will be able to hear our collective screams from the comfort of your own homes, wherever you may be!
Sometimes I wonder if the quandaries served up by the making of, or the lack thereof, those conclusions or resolutions (hopefully arrived at after careful consideration) prove themselves worth their final outcome.
I am quite sure that this will be the case, but this exercise is becoming a test in itself of this process as we are “Low Clearance” overpass high in said accumulated issues (?).
“What in the name all that’s confusing are you talking about Donny?”
Hmmm…. Yes, I can see where you may need an explanation of the current dilemma that sparked that diminutive diatribe.
Last year, as you may recall, we were down at the tip of South America for Christmas. This is their ‘summer’ down there and we were enjoying yet an additional ‘Longest Day of the Year’ on December 21st and the accompanying nice, balmy temperatures whilst aboard the Majestic Princess as she sailed the complete circumference of South America.
Nice.
But to be honest, we did miss being at home with everyone at Christmas. Facetiming and gloating about those balmy breezes gets you just so far in feeling good…..until you close that call and wish you were home.
So! This year, come the proverbial ‘Hell or High Water’ we made sure that we would be back in the old neighborhood for all the right reasons. Getting there was the issue, and the “Decisions” that subsequently followed were the bane of our collective existences (so far) but the rewards of this trek will more than suffice for the efforts. I will let my friend Billy Shakespeare take it for a minute….
To drive, or not to drive, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous road rages
Or to use credit cards against a sea of airline tickets
And by opposing this decision, end them. To drive—to sleep,
On the road, in a now frozen motorhome
No more? Nay, and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks that
Come from deteriorating roadways!
That question is heir to: ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To Fly?, to sleep.
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub:
For in that sleep of at least an Aisle Seat, what dreams may come!
To grunt and sweat under a weary life of dubious automotive electrical systems.
But that the dread of something after death,
(the death of a bank of RV batteries)
The undiscovered auto parts store, from whose bourn
No traveler returns, except the lucky one with the correct tools and parts…. It puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know of?
Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of that dubious thought,
“We should have bought the stinkin’ tickets and be done with it!”
And enterprises of great soul and freezing moments
Spent astride a calamitous auto tow-bar device.
With this regard their currents turn awry
And possibly, lose the name of action.
Action???!!!
We’ve had plenty of action and we’re only two days into this foray!
No heat coming from the dashboard system.
Having to run the generator almost full time in order to keep the little ceramic heaters going that are pointed at us up front.
Worrying about the 90 gallons of water that travels with us, never mind the ‘other’ tanks of a dubious nature that need periodic emptying!
And we still have the next month or so to spend in the Northern Climes of the USA while we visit with friends and loved ones.
For the most part, actually, the WHOLE part, motorhomes, etc. are not equipped for extended cold weather running. The walls are about an inch thick, the systems are barely weather resistant, never mind proof!
All of this was carefully considered, debated, talked about, and harangued over before we made that decision to drive.
We based our final decision on the Law of Averages.
Ha! That Law went out our proverbial frosted windows after the second night on the road when it dropped to 12 degrees (nope, I just checked again… it is now 9 degrees) in Tennessee!
Now, this is mid-December, we’re still in ‘Autumn’ not mid-January or February!
Mr. ‘Law of Averages’ took a powder, and I think he booked out on this year’s South America cruise!
Today we will stop in Appomattox, Virgina to spend a day or so with Paula’s son Brain and his wife April. They just finished a brand spankin’ new house that they nicely considered us travelers and had a ‘full hook-up’ parking space installed! We may never leave! At least this will give me a place (besides a Walmart Parking lot) to check the offending batteries and probably procure some new ones. We will need maybe the full four. These are the guys that let us run electrical items (of a not huge nature) like lights, TV, microwave without running the generator, until they power down and need recharging. Our current ones are feeling the effects of our frequency of using them and have given up.
Or so it seems. Only a Test will tell, and my Official Tester is officially on the fritz, otherwise we would have already surmised this before we left. Ha! famous ‘Last Words’.
To be fair, there were other factors taken into account in order to come to our present predicament, ahh, I mean scenario.
We would have had to rent a car for about a month, and those days of the $29.99 a-day-rentals are far behind us, never mind finding a place to sleep at this time of the year! Just ask Joseph and Mary! We did have several offers of homes to frequent while we were here but as the plaque over the pilot and co-pilot’s seats in the Motorhome says…. ‘There’s No Place Like Home!’
And that is exactly why we’re on our way!
God willin’ an’ the creek don’t rise……
And the temps don’t fall….
And the batteries behave….
And …….
Nine degrees here at the Cracker Barrel in Morristown, Tennessee.
No, this is not it, but I’m quite sure that this is the FLW design that you will recognize most…… the iconic Falling Water just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Next, we have…… Correct! The Guggenheim Museum in NYC! You can tell by the photo and the vehicles in it, that this place has been around for a while.
You will all need to put your Thinking Caps on and remember back a few years to a Post from Mason City, Iowa (Archives: April 2021) that had to do with Frank Lloyd Wright. Now I know that all of you have heard of this famous architect, and I am sure that most of you would be able to identify his most iconic designs, further, I hope that some of you will bear with me here and learn a little more about one of his favorite places on the planet and luckily for us, it is right here in the Phoenix area.
A little background is in order here, a perspective if you will, for understanding FLW only comes with knowing about his passion for his craft and the tenets that he prescribed to when putting pencil to paper, ultimately arriving at an incredible apex of a design that was at the same time unique, and/but totally identifiable as one of his.
One of our side trips while we are out here brought to Taliesin West. (pronounced Tally-es-inn) Taliesin (East) is FLW’s home/studio in Wisconsin where he resided in the early to mid-1900’s. Taliesin West was conceived in 1927 when FLW was out here working as a consultant on the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in the then sleepy (but rapidly developing) town of Phoenix. FLW had started a ‘school’ of sorts for budding architects. He called it the ‘Fellowship’ and these architects stayed with FLW both up in Wisconsin and then later down in Phoenix where thy all aided in the design and construction of a camp which eventually became Taliesin West. For obvious reasons, wintering in this area was far more preferable than in Wisconsin and summering up there was obviously the reverse. FLW originally set up Taliesin as the aforementioned ‘camp’ which meant that his designs and buildings were meant to be ‘struck’ during the summer when they went back North. Hence the original roofs were made of canvas, which he liked and there were no windows per se, as no glass was incorporated in the original designs. FLW loved the way that the natural light came down through the canvas and provided a slightly tinted, diffused lighting source for the workspaces occupied by himself and his ‘Fellowship’.
We need to know and just basically understand FLW’s Four Principles of Architecture, no worries, they are simple in both concept and incorporation….
The Destruction of the Box – Open Concept (wouldn’t Chip, Joanna, and the Property Brother’s be pleased!)
The Nature of the Site– fully integrate the building with its surroundings as not to ‘compete’ with said placement.
The Nature of the Materials– if possible, use the building materials that present themselves from the site. In addition, this rock, timber, wood, stone, concrete, etc. should be used honestly, revealing their inherent qualities rather than being disguised, creating a sense of authenticity and connection to nature.
Designing for Democracy – FLW believed everyone deserved beautiful living environments, aiming to provide affordable, well-designed homes that offered shelter and a higher quality of life.
The time spent here at Taliesin West was a highly social affair, tea was served daily for everyone as they gathered together in one of the dedicated areas/’rooms’ and as the ‘Fellowship’ grew in numbers, the areas used for meetings, lectures, and even movie nights, grew in proportion to those new needs. But…… each one was carefully designed with both purpose and aesthetic design in mind.
I’m going to end the ‘Lecture’ here and move on to some photos that will hopefully illustrate some of his design parameters and techniques. As much as I am a fan and admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright, to be honest, if it weren’t for the Guided Audio Tour, I would have missed out on a lot of translating his designs into obvious observations. Luckily while we were there we picked up from the Bookstore, a very comprehensive guide to all of his projects around both the USA and the World, so in about, say, another thirty years or so, I should be a Master FLW World Guide.
Operators are standing by so please start booking your FLW Tours with me ASAP as I am quite sure that they will fill up quickly!
This is what greeted the guests to Taliesin West. Please note the square(ish) design of the ‘logo’ used for Taliesin. More in a minute.(See next one)
Ok…. recognize anything on this Petroglyph Rock found on the site? Remember one of FLW’s Four Principles about borrowing from the Site itself? You can check that box off!
Here is an aerial shot of Taliesin West. The light-colored roof panels are the canvas pieces (now under glass) that provided that diffused light to work by. If you stand at the Prow (the pointed spot bottom right) you would be looking out over a huge expanse of desert landscape (photo later on)
View of a multi-layered roof line of the main building. Note all of the local Quartzite rock used in the construction of all of the walls.
Walkways, levels, and funneling effects were used to guide both the person and their eyes along the way.
This is the outside/entrance to FLW’s office and design room. The repetitious long designs (also on the rest of the buildings) emulate the long chutes and crevasses of the mountains behind Taliesin West.
This is the interior of FLW’s office. Note canvas diffusors on the ceiling and the classic Frank designs obvious even under the desk!
Two views forward, looking from the Prow into the desert (and Phoenix)
The ‘front'(?) of Taliesin with the triangular shaped pool emulating the triangular shape of the mountains. Keep noticing the Quartzite used throughout.
Living quarters upstairs, mountains in the back, geometry wherever your eyes wander. Please note the shape of the shadows cast on the rock wall in the foreground. This was intentional. Instead of using a straight piece of wood, FLW incorporated a ‘Dental’ design which then cast its shadow in this manner. No design detail was spared! It is used all around the building.
Another view of the front.
Looking up into the ‘Breezeway’ from a patio area. The Breezeway uses the Venturi Effect that makes air pick up speed as it enters a smaller connecting space which enhanced the winds cooling effects.
A close-up of the Breezeway with the Dining Room on the left.
Paula entering on of the areas used by the Family for meals. Keep noticing that not a space/wall/ceiling/support was wasted. Every part contributed to the ‘flow’ of every aspect of the building.
The Living Room
Same, from the opposite side, low.
These chairs in the Living Room were designed to be constructed from a single piece of plywood, with little waste.
This harkens back to the beginning when there were no windows, just open spaces. The vase seen here was placed in a specific spot for all the right reasons. When glass was added, the theory of that original placement was adhered to and the glass was cut out in order to keep that placement original. Maybe a little extreme…. but you have to love the dedication to concept!
The other side, looking north towards the mountains, of the Dining Room. Note that Dental Molding used here also.
The Dining Room
Good views of the Quartzite rocks incorporated in the build.
This space is aptly named The Kiva. It emulates all of the characteristics of a Kiva, basically underground, smallish exterior light sources and a ‘circular’ cohesive (gathering) design. It was used for gatherings of the “Fellowship” and also as a summer storage area for all of the canvases, etc. that needed to be stored when they all went back north to Wisconsin.
The door of the Kiva, no wasted design ‘space’ here!
The main Design Room where the ‘Fellowship’ worked. Drafting tables abound, canvased ceilings above, and great productivity and community below
While they worked, and when they finished, their designs were displayed on these A-Frame boards. There were six of these double-sided displays in various locations around the room
The view looking out the front towards the Prow and the pool. Still canvas on the ceiling.
The theater, used for movies and for meetings and lectures. The room is narrower at the bottom so that a speaker’s voice naturally amplifies as it moves towards the rear.
This guy sits outside. This signifies the End of this Presentation. I hope that you enjoyed seeing some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s visionary concepts and designs. There are examples of his work strewn all about the United States and many are open to the public. I would obviously encourage you to seek these places out to learn a bit more about my favorite Architect. (And you will be better prepared for the Quiz at the end of the semester!)
A nice early morning view from out here in Phoenix.
I know that this is confusing, but yes, we are in Phoenix.
Hey Donny, we just read your last Post, and you were in Vermont! It was like yesterday! How’d ya do that?
Well, the answer is quite simple, I didn’t finish that Vermont Post until I was already down here and there were only three days between me landing back in Houston and then the two of us taking off from the same three days later.
Oh. Ok…..that ‘spains it.
Now that we have that settled, yes, we are in delightfully nice and sunny Southern Arizona visiting Steve and Phillis who we were supposed to visit in Montana (along with a bunch of other folks along the way) this past September when our usual Far Western Foray was severely truncated as we needed to get back to Texas more sooner than later for raisons mèdicales. We are the proud consumers of services of Doctor’s Unlimited because we have full access to the Phine Physicians of both Texas and New Jersey! And Medicare is accepted no matter where we go!
So we are down here for a few days with Steve and Phillis, just catching up. But have no fear…..I do have a few tid-bits for you!
First, I thought that I had informed you all that I have a nifty new lens for my camera, but looking back over the past few Posts I see that I have neglected to inform you of this Highly Significant Procuration! It is a Canon 100/400 Zoom with Image Stabilization, and it is the variation that is at the top of their quality tier. I obviously don’t need this for regular landscape pic’s, but it sure has been a boost to some long-distance critter pic’s that you will soon see! Having the Iceland/Svalbard trip coming up in July, with the extremely good possibility of some good Polar Bear and Walrus sightings…… well, hopefully it can make the difference between a fuzzy “Is that a smear on my lens?” photo and a “Holy Smokes! I cansee the reflections of those screaming tourists in his eyes!” photos.
We (the collective we) shall see.
Until then, here are the fruits of the past few days.
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron with Tasty Snack
“Who you lookin’at?” says the Cormorant
“Boo!” says the now thoroughly agitated Cormorant to the “Don’t give a s**t” Snowy Egret.
‘Sittin’ on the Rock in the Bay”
“Hold on Honey…. I’m comin’ home!”
“I’m at the front door!”
“Where were you???”
Another Adventure of Measurable Proportions was our experience with WAYMO. This is one of those driverless/taxi/Uber type vehicles that you summon with an app.
This spooky thing arrives at your doorstep, invites you into its lair, locks the door and cackles evilly as you pull away at breakneck speeds and it doesn’t even wait for you to put your seatbelt on as it takes corners on almost two wheels because it needs to get you to your destination in order to quickly eject you from its innards so that it can zoom away in a cloud of dust and smoke in order to arrive to where it gets to trap its next victim.
Well….. something like that….. except no high speeds, no adverse cornering, and no cackling, just nice music playing that she asks you what you’d like to listen to while she navigates the crowded city streets in perfect safety, anticipating every move several steps ahead its initiation.
In other words…. Boring.
If you are looking for an exciting transit of a metropolitan area do not take a driverless vehicle. For an adventurous ride may I suggest a jaunt in a good ol’ Yellow Cab on the streets of NYC! Now we’re talkin’!
“Hey! I’m walkin’ here!”
The Arrival. Note the doohickey on the roof and the extra additions to the front and rear corners of the car that house the quite intricate visual and proximity sensors that help with the quite safe operation of this Electric Jaquar
Spooky Driver
Real-Time information at all times.
The light is RED!!!!! STOP!!!!!! NOW!!!!! No worries here, we glided to a nice stop, and we didn’t even hit anything!
You can watch everything on your App!
Here’s a test…. that car directly in front of us has it flashers on and the driver’s door open…. green light and way we go!
“Turn Now !!!!”
No Prob! As we merge silently to the left, don’t cut anyone off, and don’t take the driver’s side door off of that vehicle or slice the driver in half.
Now….. do we look concerned? “We don’t need no stinkin’ driver!”
My most favoritest thing is when we travel and stumble on something especially unique….. and I get to share it with all of you. My only trepidation in these moments is that I do not fully convey the uniqueness of my discovery to all of you, and you end up scratching your collective heads in wonderment saying to yourselves, “So….what’s so special here Mr. Traveling Troubadour?”
Please read on and hopefully I am not deficient in my aspirations of said conveying!
First, the obligatory Back Story!
I took a brief trip last week up to Manchester-by-the-Sea to visit with my son Donny and his family. A nice, direct flight from Houston dropped me at Boston’s Logan Airport a little over three hours later. A short taxi ride brought me to Donny’s office in downtown Boston where we met. I hitched a ride to MBTS with him on his ride home.
We spent a few days there until Wednesday when we gathered the ‘Exited from School for Thanksgiving’ kids and drove three hours north to their ski-house in Vermont for the remainder of the Holiday.
Vermont is one of those places that revels in its own identity and guards said personality with the fervor of an Olympic Skier trying to eke out another 100th of a second in order to win. Skiing in Vermont borders on a religion and while the neighboring New England states all have excellent ski areas, you have to admit that when someone mentions Vermont, the first thing that comes to mind is skiing, or maybe Maple Syrup if your thoughts travel there at Breakfast Time!
Skiing is what brought Donny and Hilary to Vermont in the first place and to the ‘once-was-so-but-now-not-so’ sleepy little village of Stowe in particular. Donny worked at the Ski Area while Hilary was employed by the von Trapp family. Yes…. that von Trapp family…. The one with the world-renowned Lodge where the Sound of Music is the benchmark by which all other movies are judged and judging by the decades of throngs of admirers of that movie, their take on that is not that far off!
The secret to understanding Vermont is to get away from the Resorts and their masses. Now to be fair, if you are going there to ski, then being slope-side is the epitome of convenience ….. you are smack-dab in the middle of all of the action, and it can get crazy! But if you want to experience Vermont then you need to snake your way around the back roads and chance upon little hamlets and towns, of which, thankfully, there is a plethora of.
The folks in Vermont may be a tad laid back, but they are not fools….. they do realize that there are those who travel to their state for this back-country charm and experience. That’s why you won’t find any billboards in the state and why some towns even limit the kind of signage allowed. (Think wooden, carved and painted, signage being preferred) There is absolutely nothing garish about this State and that’s the way they want it.
It was on one of these sojourns into the wilds that we came upon the little town of Johnson. Johnson started back in the mid-1700’s as a town decreed by Royal Charter by King George III. Along came the Revolution, Mr. William Samuel Johnson attended all, and was particularly effective in, all of the Constitutional Conventions, and all four Founding Congress’s. He was particularly sympathetic to some issues having to do with Vermont, so when it was all said and done, they named a town after him! So ever since 1785, this hamlet has been known as Johnson.
‘Downtown’ Johnson, Vermont
‘So Donny, that’s it? All of this hoopla for a little town in Vermont?’
No! No! It’s what’s in Johnson that is so special! And this one is coming up on almost 200 years old….. same business, same location, and in reality, the same family at the beginning and now! Started in 1816 and officially founded in 1842, Johnson Woolen Mills is the pride and joy of its namesake town and with excellent reason.
World Headquarters and Manufacturing Facility🙂
You don’t get to hang around that long unless you are good. One turn around the Sales Floor located just below the loft where all of the sewing machines and patterns are used, will convince you that these are goods that can be the benchmark for everyone else’s products. I always thought that Pendleton was the standard by which all of the others was measured, and it is good stuff, but….. check out the label…. Hmmm, where is this made? Oh, I see…. Vietnam. Ok, that in itself does not mean that it is inferior to anyone else’s product, it’s just that it means that it’s not made here, in our very own USA. To be fair, Pendleton’s blankets are still domestically made, but practically everything else is imported.
Now, by contrast and comparison, Johnson Woolen Mills products are all made right there in Vermont using domestic wool and if you go upstairs on a weekday, you will find good ol’ Aunt Mabel sitting behind her sewing machine assembling what are considered the “Best Woolen Trousers in the World.” The remainder of the employees are busy creating the rest of Johnson Woolen Mill’s assemblage of apparel.
Yes, this is what it looks like upstairs! (I think that’s Aunt Mabel front and center)
When we arrived in the store that morning, we were enthusiastically greeted by Alexalee who was behind the counter. The kids scattered, each in search of the treasures that would soon be theirs. I did a brief circuit of the store, looked at what was offered, saw that each item had a label stitched onto it proudly proclaiming its Vermont pedigree and assemblage. Now I’m all in! Scurrying back to the front of the store, I confronted Alexalee.
“Are all of these items made here in Vermont?”
“Yup.”
“Do you have a factory somewhere?”
“Yup.”
“Where is it located?”
“Upstairs.”
“Up there”? (an incredulous me pointing to the ceiling.)
“All this stuff” ???!!!
“Yup.”
It was then that Alexalee’s smile broadened even more than when she first greeted us. She could tell that she had one hooked, and giving me just enough line to further our conversation, she proceeded to reel me in with each of her following sketches and descriptions of the way it is, and more importantly, the way it was. I learned how many of her past relatives worked at the Mill and how important this enterprise is for the town, not just for employment, but for the collective self-esteem that is quite evident.
I asked a little more about the History and Alexalee toured me around the store and explained the historic photos that adorned the walls. She then handed me a several-pages long copy of the local Historical Society’s missive on the Mill. Flipping through it I realized that this was exactly what I needed! Asking if there were copies of it available, Alexalee announced, “Sure! We have a copier!” And just like that I had my very own definitive work on the History of Johnson Woolen Mills.
I had been searching for something to write a Post about, as I was Traveling, but writing about “I went to Vermont, and it wassnowing” was obviously not good enough. I am hoping 😊 that this short tale fills the bill and is interesting enough!
This is Alexalee (second from right). One of her many responsibilities here is the care of the three Baby Doll Sheep that are about as cute as can be! Note the dam and greenish building just behind Alexalee, you can discern the lower level of the river just behind her.
See!!!???
I guess what really hit me was that this is a family-owned-and-operated business. For those of you that have known me since the Chatterbox days you know how important family run businesses are to me and I am envious (in a good way!) and in total admiration of any that have endured longer than we did…. and this one is coming up on 200 years, which places it as one of the oldest companies in the country that are still operating as it was founded, and by essentially the same organization.
I will not go through the entire progression and iterations of Johnson Woolen Mills, but I want you to remember just one name for now… Simeon Lyman. In 1816 Mr. Lyman was granted (sold?) the rights to construct a mill on this site. And so it began as there were quite a lot of sheep in Vermont back then that were just begging to be shorn and turned into sturdy, quality made, warm clothing!
From the lower side of the dam. The building that the gentleman is standing in front of is shown in the photo below.
This is that greenish building from the previous photos and was the original mill from when the sheepsters (I just made up that word!) would bring their shornings (that one too!) in to be transformed into that wonderful fabric we know as wool!
As it looks today. The Mill now houses some really nice B&B rooms and there is a restaurant that I can’t wait to experience being built inside!
The red building on the opposite side was once the original grist mill. For four decades now it has housed the Vermont Studio Center which hosts artists and writers in residence and has a full program of international folks that come and share their experiences with others in their trade and with the general public.
I don’t know about you, but to me this screams ‘old mill, loft, and all-around original facility’ as much as anything!
Probably the best way to describe the lineage of the Johnson Woolen Mill is to compare it to another, totally unrelated, type of entity….. the cool ‘50s type singing group that is still touring, maybe like the Duprees or maybe the Ames Brothers. Now we all know that the original members of those groups are not singing today. What has evolved over the years is that over time, one of the members dropped out and was replaced by oh, say the nephew of another member. This goes on until the next older member passes, and his place is taken by another “new” person. As you can see, this morphing of these members, and the progression that entails, keeps the group as authentic as they can be because there is always a connection that can be traced back through the lineage to the origin of the group. It’s kind of the same with the Johnson Woolen Mill…. as the business moved along, sons and other relatives took the places of their forebears, (one lasted 118 years!) formed new partnerships which brought new blood to the enterprise and so on, until we come to today. The present co-owners and co-operators of the Mill are the Richards family and Erin Desautels.
When you peruse the aisles of the sales floor and stop to examine, and actually feel, the items for sale there, you can appreciate both the quality of the fabric and the sturdiness of the ‘construction’ of these items. That’s what you get when you purchase an item made by a person who’s livelihood and reputation depends on how much skill and care they weave into the item that is on the table directly in front of them.
Thankfully, (for all of you that cannot zoom up to Johnson, Vermont) they have a very modern on-line presence at johnsonwoolenmills.com, a treat that I am quite sure that the originators never even dreamt of!
Now remember when I asked you not to forget the name of the guy way back in the day, from 1816, Simeon Lyman? Well, Mr. Lyman is the Great-great-great-great grandfather of none other than Erin Desautels, one of the present owners.
In my mind, it just doesn’t get any better than that!
Please note the cool woolen (new!) hat on my head direct from Johnson Woolen Mills!
We (Augustus, Eleanor, and Adelaide) are standing in the last covered railroad bridge in Vermont. The Fisher Bridge carried the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad over the Lamoille River. How cool would it be if we could still have small, local railroads chugging around our counties?!
It is an excellent example of the ‘double-truss’ construction method, one of only a few remaining in the State. Please note the wooden ‘pegs’ used to fasten the trusses to each other. No worries, they are quite strong, don’t rust and actually expand when they are inserted (pounded!) into their holes
Tomboy Farm is an example of a Master Class in “Definite Random Eclecticism“ There are two rail cars from the Durango and Silverton narrow Gauge Railroad, several windmills, an assortment of classic old farm equipment and many, many other totally random objects.This photo also is a fine exhibit of the type of weather we’ve experienced for the last two weeks. This makes early morning photography a joy as you will see in the examples to follow!
Our Critter Sitting stint in Durango is almost over, Travis and Lorelyn come home later tonight, reports and photos from the Balkans seem to indicate that they had a great time. Meanwhile here in Durango, the Critters are all safe (it’s a coyote eat anything world out here!) and we have had a respite from that Texas heat. We have had Bluebird Skies for the entirety of our tenure here which makes doing our Projects a lot nicer. If you recall, I asked Lorelyn and Travis to come up with a list of “chores” for us to do while they were away. Coming off of the Texas Chore List (and successfully losing a few pounds) we did not want to regress so when we arrived the List was waiting! We added a few things of our own and hopefully these will be met with Approval when the Wayward Proprietors of Tomboy Farm regain their foothold on USA soil.
I was able to take a few pics almost on a daily basis, some nice ones with my new 100/400 telephoto. Probably the best way to proceed is to just show you the pics and explain the scenes so here they come!
Close-up!
Front of the house. Aspens and Cottonwoods in all their colorful glory
“Who you lookin’ at???”
“Fight! Fight! Billy and Eric are having a fight!”
Just by happenstance, two of our good friends from the World Cruise were traveling around the West and were driving between Pagosa Springs and Cortez while we were here. We are smack dab in the middle of those two towns, about an hour each way. Brian and Kristine live on the coast of Oregon in Newport. We visited them last summer and you can read about it in the Archives. Great people and a great place!
These are the guys that i found when I went out looking for elk. But these are not elk, they are the usual Mule Deer that are so plentiful that even a Buck sighting is ho-hum. Elk run here but this time of year they may still be up higher in elevation, I was only a little above 7000′ here. It’s either that or I’m lousy at spotting them!
One of the Projects….. Travis asked if I could build him another workbench for the other side of the shop. All of that fancy work in the back is functional as reinforcements and stiffeners. They are all attached to each other.
Here is a nice scene from just north of here. Again, early morning glowing light is fantastic to work with.
One of the Projects that we came up with. A large Cottonwood was taken down, and the wood need to be cut and split. Which we did. The Pile is courtesy of “Wood Stacker Paula”
You can see how large the tree was!
If you can view this one in a darker area you will see the constellation Orion. My astrophotography was not as successful as I had hoped. I still have a lot to learn and I probably have some special equipment to purchase! 🙂
Look at this one in a darker area too…… you will see an example (almost) of a “Thomas Kincaide” type time exposure, it looks pretty cool!
“Two for the Road!”
I now qualify for my Operating Engineers license! One of our chores was to move piles of brush across the street to the neighbors ‘burn pile’ so Travis gave me a quick ‘skid-steer’ lesson and away we went!
And here is “Munchie” goating to max, and basking in the warm sunlight.
Well, that’s it for now. In a few days we’ll be back in Texas, and it won’t be long until the Vietnam/Cambodia trip fills our ‘thoughts of preparations’ routine!
Oh, and by the way, we’ve added another trip for next year so you all will have to make sure that you’ve accrued enough vacation time! we are going on a family cruise with Paula’s kids to Alaska via Princess (of course!) slated for the second week in August. Get ready for glacier and maritime critter pics!
Early morning Texas sunrise down by Lake Somerville. Note moon way up top in its own little cloud window!
Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. We are down here in Texas doing chores around the ranch. Lots of maintenance items needed catching up and some new projects started. It’s been crazy hot here ever since we arrived back in early September….. every day has been 90+ degrees, which makes all of these chore-related activities somewhat difficult, but weight reducing at the same time!
But we are in for a huge temp change almost overnight! The temps will plummet, and the lows will be in the 30’s and the highs barely getting to 60! We will not be experiencing any Polar Vortex attributions or even Atmospheric River overflows… because we will be in Durango Colorado for about three weeks Critter Sitting while Lorelyn and Travis go on vacation. Hence our dramatic Weather Reversals!
I am sure that there will be some items worthy of a Post when we get there, in the meantime I have procured a new lens and am experimenting with some astrophotography which should be exquisite out there at 6300 feet of elevation and crystal clear, no ambient light pollution, dark skies. We shall see….. and so will you if the results are satisfactory!
Here are some recent pics with the new lens for your visual enjoyment!
A pair of Mourning Doves posing nicely for me!
Yes, this is with the new lens, 100/400mm Zoom….. handheld, no tripod!
For TONS more information and to find out details, go to www.NJAirshow.com The Annual Show is usually held in June. This one was added because of some inclement weather this past June.
The NextGen Eagles flying one of their precision maneuvers with a very desirable Blue Bird Sky over West Milford at the NJ Airshow this past weekend.
So….. as I last reported to you, we drove back to Texas.
And then I did some chores there and got back on a plane and went back to New Jersey!
???!!!
Yup! Back I went to volunteer for a few days at the NJ Airshow which is held annually at the Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford, NJ. You all saw a photo of my grandson Andy’s toolbox at the Airport in my last Post, well, that’s how I got involved with this show.
Mind you now, I did not have to be dragged back there kicking and screaming…… as Airshow’s are some of my favorite events on the planet! If you go back to the beginning of this Blog, October 25th of 2020, you will find one of my original Posts entitled “What You Don’t Know Is….” that has an Aviation slant to it. This will explain most of my affinizations on this topic. Throw in a chance to work with Andy and you’ve got the rest of my story!
WARNING!
This Post has only to do with Aviation and Airshows, this one in particular!
I’m really hoping that fact does not scare you away! I promise that there are some apropos anecdotes, some really cool photos,
(Cool Photo #1)
and the chance to gain valuable insight into the ways and means of airshows and their performers…. just in case that category comes up when you finally get selected to be on Jeopardy! ………..
“I’ll take ‘Airshows for $800’ please, Ken.”
Seen in this photo, this small control surface is usually found at the rear of the plane, not in front as it is seen here, and therefore has a different name.
“Pick me Ken! Pick me!”
First you will need to ring in Mr. Hall, you know the rules.
“Right you are Ken ol’ boy!” (DING!)
Ahh, yes….Don, go ahead…
“What is a canard!”
Correct for $800!
“By the way Ken did you …..”
“Ahh, Mr. Hall we don’t have time for any extended extrapolations here…”
“Yes Ken, but this is fascinating and will only take a minute! Did you know that this particular design was actually the first one used in early aviation!!!???”
Actually Don, I did know that as I am very intelligent, but now that you’ve piqued their interest (sigh) and interrupted the flow and pacing of this tightly and timely controlled television show, why don’t you now go ahead and enlighten the folks in our studio and our viewers at home about this, as you have already said, “fascinating subject”.
“Hey! Thanks Ken!”
Mr. Hall can you please step back behind your podium? This is not a classroom!
“Oops! Sorry about that Ken! Back behind I go! Now folks, if you take a look at this photo that I happen to have in my phone of the Wright Brothers’ plane, you will notice that this particular control surface that we are referring to is right here, up front!
Now let’s look very quickly as Ken is getting really agitated, at this next photo that I happen to have, and you will see where this control surface has migrated to….. all the way back to the tail where it is called a “horizontal stabilizer” which holds the “elevators” which control the pitch of the aircraft and point the nose either up or down when actuated!
In the photo that was first shown, that featured yellow plane is called a Long E-Z, and was designed by the aviation genius Burt Rutan, who also deigned that plane (the Rutan Voyager) that flew around the world non-stop in 1986. And that’s just a small part of it! If we…..”
No! No! No! That’s enough Mr. Hall! You’ve hijacked this Program for long enough! We will now break for a word from one of our sponsors, ahh.… oh no…. Rutan Enterprises???!!! That’s it! I’m outa here!!!
“Bye Ken! See ya next time on Jeopardy!”
Ok, well that little yellow plane was just one of the aerobatic acts that were featured this past weekend at the NJ Airshow. This particular airshow is rather unique in that it also incorporates a ‘Night Show” where we see the airplanes zoom through the dark skies spewing incendiaries all over the place…. A veritable fireworksaeronautic as it were. Add in a really cool Drone Story/Show and firebombs that light up the entire airport with billowing fireballs made by igniting gallons of gasoline. Fireworks? You want fireworks? How about a show that puts the Macy’s 4th of July Show to shame (and that’s not taking anything away from the fine organizations annual NYC show!)
A regular Airshow usually starts around 1:00 PM and goes until late afternoon as those types of acts need daylight to be appreciated. The folks at Greenwood Lake Airport have assembled a treasure trove of talented routines that start in the daylight, move on through the twilight, and finish with the proverbial BANG! (or BOOM!) when the skies are pitch black.
I have never seen anything quite like it!!!
In this photo, please notice top center, those two white parallel lines, that is the Ghost Writer, a Super-Chipmunk which is an incredible aerobatic airplane, this one is outfitted with pyrotechnics and LED lighting. He flew continuously through all of the fireworks. It was crazy!
Yes, it looks fierce! Yes, it WAS fierce! Those are the starts of incendiary gasoline powered explosions that sent huge columns of fiery plumes up into the night sky!
We had a really cool Drones Show that integrated with the entire experience!
Drones!
That “lighted” image just to the right of center is the Ghost Writer flying in and out of the fireworks! Shooting his own off in retaliation to an ‘Alien Attack”!
The NextGen Eagles
Most Airshows offer a variety of seating options. At Greenwood Lake, there are basically three, General Admission, this is where you bring your own folding chairs, maybe a big blanket, and ‘stake your claim’ in the appropriate area. Next is a Reserved Seating option called Front Line. Here you have a Reserved Seat up front, no need to worry about dragging chairs or claiming spots. And finally, there is the VIP Flight Line Experience. This is in its own enclosed area complete with a reserved table (with white linen tablecloth!), private, air conditioned, very clean, no /or short lines, bathrooms, free bottled water, and a private restaurant/grill where you can purchase good vittles right inside your own compound. In addition, you are given a Very Prestigious VIP Area Pass that hangs around your neck that grants you full back and forth entries and exits so that you can go out into the Vendor Area and you can procure the Fried Oreos(!) and other essentials!
These are my Crew Mates in the VIP area, Mimi, Jacklyn, Tom, and Lisa. You can see the tables behind them.
Here you can see the VIP section from the Flight Line. The white building in front of the Lockheed Constellation is the private bathrooms, and the tent houses the VIP only kitchen. The Lockheed Constellation is a rather iconic aircraft. Designed and financed by Howard Hughes. This particular one was flown to West Milford in the 1970’s when the likes of the Playboy Club and Warner Brothers “Jungle Habitat” were its neighbors. Plans were for a cocktail lounge and restaurant.
Some of the friendly guys that work at the airport ….. Wyatt, Travis, and Andrew (my grandson!) Nice looking bunch, aren’t they 🙂
The VIP area is where I put my time in, and I can assure you that our goal is to have you have the best possible time while you are there! Think of us as your own personal concierges, there isn’t much that we can’t facilitate except maybe a flight in the big biplane that’s sitting right in front of you! We can, however, introduce you to the fine group of instructors that can arrange for just an “Introductory Flight” that will put you in control of your own Cessna 182 for a gorgeous flight up and around West Milford and beautiful Greenwood Lake!
These are just a few of the very capable Flight instructors available to train you in all aspects of flight from private to commercial.
Here are some interesting tid-bits that bring a sobering aspect to the business side of this business. Every one of the performers gets paid whether they perform or not. Translation: If it rains and the show is cancelled or the weather is miserable enough to keep the crowds away, the Teams get paid anyway. They also still get free lodging, free rental cars, free food, free fuel (both while performing and in transit) in other words, when an act is booked, it is an all-expense guarantee of being paid. Now this is understandable on the Performer’s part…. why would you book a place and not get paid, as they could have booked at a different place where the weather was good enough to fly and they would get paid. In this business, the onus is on the Operator who cannot hope enough for decent weather! This is why a jam-packed show is quite essential to the continuing operation of any airshow!
We had a packed house on Saturday!
The “Warbird” part of the Airshow. These are a flight of SNJ’s or AT-6’s in a Diamond Formation that were used in WWII to train pilots. They look and sound just like many of the fighters used but are in fact trainers. I was able to fly one of these a few years ago….. my kids got me an hour in one for Father’s Day!
In their “Bomb Burst” formation
But let’s start at the beginning, with the Performers, the Pilots and /or their support Team, etc. To say that these are a talented bunch of folks would be a huge understatement as what they do, and how well they do it, simply defies an ordinary explanation. Some novice airshow attendees will ask, “When do they start the air tricks in theirplanes?” An innocent enough question, they just want to know when the show starts. But the term “tricks” can leave anyone in the know bristling with an inner rage (?) as these aerial maneuvers are anything but “tricks”. There is no ‘sleight of hand’ going on, no ‘magic wands’, no ‘illusionary tactics’, just pure skill and daring (albeit a ‘safe’ daring) enhanced by thousands of hours of practice and technological improvements that sometimes find their way into general aviation!
Here is another trainer, the veritable Stearman or PT-17. This one is used by the Third Strike Team for aerobatics and a Wing-Walking Routine. Notice here, Joe strapped into the struts of the wing!
This is the Third Strike Team with their Double Wing Walk routine featuring Carol and Joe on the top wing and Stefan is the pilot. Carol is the owner and mechanic of this aircraft while Joe and Stefan are the pilots/ other wing walker. Here they are silhouetted against a Twighlight/Setting Sun for a nicely dramatic photo!
Quite often these Performers are commercial airline pilots that do this as a side business or hobby, and this fact is usually conveyed to the spectators by the Airshow Announcer when they introduce and speak about the current performer that is airborne at that time. I have heard more than once a comment coming from an uninformed spectator watching a series of loops, snap rolls, inverted passes, and they say, “I wouldn’t want them as my pilot!” Au contraire my good novice skywatcher….. that person flying is exactly who you would want as your pilot as they have those thousands of hours of experience in recovering from situations that they probably will never find themselves in, but a little extra practice exiting a “situation” never hurts! (As an aside, commercial airline pilots routinely undergo vigorous training in highly sophisticated simulators where their “instructor/proctor” throws them into almost impossible scenarios (Bird strike/main bus fuse failure/ landing gear failure/ and a meteorological micro-burst all at the same time!)
On top of being skillful, they are all downright friendly and love to walk the Flight Line, before, but especially after their routines. Here they meet you, the Face in the Crowd, and they stop for photos, will sign just about anything, and will have a genuine conversation with you especially if you are a young person! Go get the grandkids, ask any one of the Show Volunteers where the best spot to meet the pilots is and you will become a hero to your grandkid as you were the facilitator of that meeting! And you may get some goosebumps yourself!
Spectators waiting for the next act to finish and come over to the Meet ‘n Greet area
Airport Manager/ Head Guru/ Airshow Promoter Tim Wagner with one of his Flight Instructors. Tim lives in West Milford and has tons of experience with not only the Airshows but running an Aviation business to boot!
Attending an Airshow requires some forethought and information. Let’s face it, if your weather is grand, the crowds should be also. I can assure you that every aspect of your Airshow Experience is thought through and then thought through again before every show. Getting you in and out as expeditiously as possible is paramount to your experience and the Operators are keenly aware of this. Having said all that, you are responsible for some of this, as you must bring with you some intelligence and patience. This is not like exiting your local Shop Rite parking lot as everyone wants to get out of there, usually at the same time, which, because we are human, is actually impossible to do. So why fight it?
Some of that forethought, especially if you’ve got little Attendees in your care with you, will go a long way. My advice is to hang back a bit, go to the vendors, get dinner, hang around where they roll the planes in and out, ask questions about them, watch some of them take off (some do not spend the night) and if you are at a show that allows “Fly-Ins” you can sit and watch hundreds of just regular Cessna’s, Piper’s, Mooney’s, Taylor Craft, and a myriad of others take off and return to their home bases. When this is done, you amble over to your car and (probably) have a “muchly morebetterer” 😊 exit experience while at the same time, an absolute full day of Aviation Enjoyment….. especially that kid, either the one that you brought with you, or the one that is still inside you……. I promise.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some More Random Photos
The Super Chipmunk displaying the Colors.
Carol and Joe with a pre-flight discussion.
Andy and Travis pumping ‘smoke oil’ into one of the planes. This is an environmental approved vegetable oil that gets dripped into the exhaust system to create those long, white smoke plumes that exit the aircraft.
Scott Francis and his incredibly powered aerobatic airplane. It has the same horsepower as the large biplane seen below! That’s like taking a motor from an older Cadillac and putting it into an old Corvair!Scott’s routine will leave you breathless and that is another Promise!
The Wing Walkers at it again! Note the back-lit colored smoke behind the aircraft. This is the reddish light from a gorgeous sunset that night!
You can really see the resemblance to a warbird as theses AT-6’s and SNJ’s bank a turn before coming in for a landing
The Stearman getting ready to run a solo aerobatic routine. It looks like amodel airplane hanging against a blue background 🙂
What a disgusting way to open the Blog, Donny! Yea….. but you didn’t have to clean them all off! This is titled “The Massacre of Interstate 10“
As you can see from the above, we are presently on our way back to Texas. After a lot of debate and logistical finagling we came to the conclusion that heading back there instead of taking the much more scenic and desirable route through Minnesota, Montana, and Colorado was not the best route, in more ways than one. Unfortunately, this decision has left in its wake a few disappointed folks, namely the ones that we were to visit along the way, but no one was more disappointed than we were!
Short backstory.
Paula has spinal ‘issues’ that result in nerve anomalies in her feet.
Solution: Spinal injections.
Moderate results.
Investigations, inconclusive.
Ultimately an MRI
What!!!??
No….. that’s a different issue!
Results: severed ‘anterior tibialis tendon’, time of malady and circumstances unknown.
Probable surgery. Wait.
Oops! Surgery not recommended.
Go West! She was commanded by the Doc. Get PT!
So that’s what we are doing. Add in some other logistical glitches and we came up with the fact that yes, we could wrap ourselves in a Trip of Highways of Circumference, but ultimately it all would have been too rushed. We decided to visit the affected folks later in the year at a more leisurely and quality-based pace.
Next stop, Homebase – Brenham, Texas.
End of Short Backstory!
This past summer had many an item mixed into it, a lot of the time was spent with family and friends, most of which were gladly repeated from experiences in the past. I hesitate to re-report said experiences because as wonderful as they were on that shared family level, there was not enough new material to ply you, the average reader with! And trying to keep up with the actual name of this Blog…. Muchadoaboutnothing-dp.com, I will not tire you with repetitious details. I’ll just leave it at, just like you all, we revel in being with friends and family every year enjoying traditional experiences through shared times!
Having stated that, there were some highlights that do deserve a nod in the ‘fresh’ category and some bragging on family updates!
Graduations, Recitals, etc. were some of the main reasons that we headed back East as early as we did…. three of note here….
Aubrey (Paula) is now in Chatham High School ready to add her swimming prowess to their perennially championship team. Aubrey has been swimming competitively now for about seven years and is constantly improving her best times and leaving her contemporaries in her wake!
Down the shore in New Jersey, we had the opportunity to watch Aubrey (14) swim 1500 meters (the old mile) in the open ocean at an event in Belmar where she bested about 600 other swimmers of ages all above her to come in around 200th out of 800! And this was her first ‘open water’ meet ever!
Yes, Aubrey is the grinning one! Now try and pick her out of the rest while she’s swimming offshore!
The “pod”
About 23 minutes later! (I don’t think I can walk a mile in 23 minutes!)
A very proud LaLa (It’s a long story, but that’s Paula’s “grandmother” name)
Madeline (Don) is a Freshman at Ramapo College where she hopes to exit in five years with a Masters with a nod towards a Counseling career. One of her favorite things about Ramapo is their daily (?) bus to NYC. Maddie has more than 100 Playbills in her Broadway Shows I Have Seen collection!
Maddie and me in Times Square. I took her NYC for the day (and evening) for Graduation. Carmine’s for lunch thenthe Bobby Darin musical, Just in Time, then dinner at Del Frisco’s, finally the Tony Award winning TheOutsiders. It was quite a day!
Lunch at Carmine’s
Dinner at Del Frisco’s
And Andrew (Don) graduated at the top of his class from Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Teterboro, N.J. with his A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) firmly in his grasp. He is currently employed at the Greenwood Lake Airport in northern New Jersey where he is gaining valuable experience.
I don’t have a pic of Andy at work but here is his Pride and Joy…. his toolbox! (Which he probably thinks is better anyway!
We were able to have a very nice maritime excursion out in the ocean outside Manchester-by-the-Sea with my son Donny and his family on their 32-foot sailboat, Selkie. When they moved up there from Cambridge about four years ago the kids started sailing lessons, their parents followed suit and now the kids are all involved competitively in sailing. It was a great experience for us to watch the kids, Adelaide and Eleanor (13) and Augustus (15), handle a complex sailboat like they were pros!
Eleanor, Adelaide, Hilary, Paula, and me (Donny took the pic and Gus is down below)
Me and Eleanor working on ‘shaping’ an oar out of along square block of wood. Their Scout Troop was at the Essex Boatbuilding Museum working on building two dory’s
Hilary sanding one of the assembled hulls.
This is what they will look like in two more week(end)s of work.
Eleanor and Adelaide also traveled to Savannah, Georgia to compete on the 1500-meter Relay at the Junior Olympic Trials where they attained an All-America status! The only questionable part of this was someone’s decision to schedule these events in Savannah, Georgia in August where the daytime temps regularly top 100 degrees. Several competitors needed medical attention, and they ended up running some events at crazy late/early hours in order to avoid the heat. We all know the solution to this issue, it’s too bad the organizers did not!
On the Travel Front, you all saw the Posts from the Rhine River and London trip, which could not have been better. I highly recommend that Rhine River trip from either Basel to Amsterdam or the reverse, either one is fabulous.
But maybe I’m saving the Best for Last and it’s totally local! We had the opportunity to ‘tour’ New York City and I say that with all seriousness! How crazy is it that for a thousand years we’ve lived in the shadows of the skyscrapers of NYC, and it took a request from friends of ours that we met on the World Cruise to actually get this experience!
(Another) little back story here is definitely in order.
We met Sandi and Steve, residents of Palm Springs, California and Vancouver, Washington on the World Cruise three years ago. You know them from Posts here about Mt. Hood, Palm Springs, Big Bear Lake, Astoria, Oregon, and several others as we have kept in contact with them and visited them, in those other locales. Well, it seems that even with all of their travels, they’ve never visited NYC! Lo and behold, along comes another ‘World Cruise’ that they took from Sydney, Australia, disembarking in NYC this past August. We agreed last Spring (in Palm Springs) that we would hang around long enough to “show them around “as we obviously knew it better than they did.
I was bound and determined to give them a good experience as they had outdone themselves when we visited them on the West Coast in Palm Springs and Vancouver. You all know our affinity for Tours By Locals by now so with ‘tongue in cheek’ I started a company called Tours by Strangers and proceeded to plan a several-day itinerary for them.
They arrived in NYC on a Wednesday where they walked around Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s. We met them early Thursday morning at their hotel which we were also checked into. Off we went to the West Side of Manhattan to embark on the famous Circle Line that would take us all around Manhattan. The highlights were the Statue of Liberty, lower Manhattan with the Freedom Tower, and the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges that span the East River. That evening was dinner at Carmine’s and then off to see Wicked at the Gershwin Theater.Wicked never fails to impress and Sandi and Steve have obviously never seen a show on Broadway, but they have seen the travel-productions of shows when they came to the Portland, Oregon area. Luckily Wicked was not one of those so they had a First-First Experience!
Steve and Sandi outside Wicked
A walk though Times Square at night on our way back to the hotel capped off a good first day. The second day (Friday) I arranged for an all-day tour of the City by Gary from Tours By Locals and he may be the best tour guide we’ve ever had, and you all know how good our past ones have been! There wasn’t much that we missed on this tour which brought us down into the subway system as this is by far the best way to get around. That evening was dinner at Gallagher’s one of the most long-lived and iconically authentic New York Streak Houses there are. It was obviously superb!
Then there’s always the quintessential ‘dog on the street’ experience that Sandi could not wait for!
The next morning (Saturday) I procured tickets to the top of the Empire State Building. I opted for the ‘Express Service’ which allows you to skip all of the lines and get straight to the top. This is probably double the price, but well worth it! On top of that there is a new ‘Early Admittance’ ticket (yes, that’s even more $$$! But this day was worth the extra expense!) that gets you in a full half-hour before the general public. Throw that on top of the ‘Express Service’ and we found ourselves THE ONLY ONES ON THE OBSERVATION DECK of the Empire State Building! We had the entire place to ourselves, the weather acted as if it was in on this from the beginning, we could see as far as we possibly could and spent the most amount of time that I’ve ever spent up there where we enjoyed showing Steve and Sandi the sights from all four sides.
As you can plainly see the weather was not good at all!
Freedom Tower and Statue of Liberty
By the time we exited it was time to catch a cab back to Times Square where we had a brunch of sorts at Junior’s (you know, those piled high pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, etc.) and then it was time for Paula and me to skedaddle. Steve and Sandi left the City on Monday, heading back to Portland.
This is the part that really aggravated Paula’s ankle-issues, her leg looked like an elephant’s after walking (about 7 miles!) all over. A few hurried doctor’s visits brought us to almost hanging around for a surgery that we thought was imminent but was ultimately contra-indicated so here we are on our way back to Texas.
I started this entry a few days ago, worked on it while Paula was driving (she’s a much better driver than me!) and we entered Texas last evening and are at the first Rest Stop on I-10, the Texas Welcome Center, where we spent the night. It’s about 4:30 AM, the place is as quiet as a truck stop on an Interstate can be, and we still have 200 miles to go before we get to Brenham! That’s the distance from Port Jervis N.Y. to Cape May, N.J…… I still can’t get over how huge this place is!
If you’ve stayed with me this long on this Post, then you get to have the exclusive first-look at where you will be traveling with us this upcoming Travel Season which starts in January!
Here we go:
January into February will be Vietnam from top to bottom, a side trip into the hills to spend time with local folks and then at the end we will spend some more time in Cambodia with Ankor Wat an obvious highlight!
April into May will be the Baltic Capitals with a nice pre-trip to Poland. Both of these (Vietnam and the Baltic’s) will be new ventures for us using Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.) which is the company that Harold and Sherry (World Cruise friends/ Florida, who will be with us) use all the time. They are land-based tours, not necessarily cruises.
Then in July/August we will fly to Reykjavik where we board the Viking Neptune for a fourteen-day cruise around Iceland with Carol and Glenn (Paula’s cousin / Ortley Beach) then on to Svalbard (Spitsbergen) close to the North Pole and way above the Arctic Circle! Then on to the coast of Norway for a few ports, eventually we disembark at Bergen and fly home.
So, as usual, make sure that your passports are up to date (mine just came back from the forgers) and that you pack the appropriate clothing needed to go from hot steamy Vietnam to cold and icy Svalbard!
