Welcome to Round O

From the Bates Motel to our end destination became one of those "heading home" drives. We were so tired of being on the road and our booties were so numb that it was time to find our destination and park for a while. The other thing that happened the last few dayson the road was the lack of systematic packing of our gear. Ron got to the point of "throw this junk in and let's get out of here".

Again we relied on the Navigator and got a tour of the backroads and small towns of South Carolina. This made things go a little slower than we wanted because of what seemed like hundreds of 35 MPH zones. We overcame these issues and rolled into Ron's sister's house about 8:00 PM Monday night. We spent most of the week "just" visiting with Ron's sisters and Roberta's family. We visited her oldest son and wife at their new log home on the Edisto River

and got a chance to visit an Edisto River fish camp. The Edisto is beautiful, southern river that meanders throught cypress groves and has been known to yield 8 pound large mouth bass and 40-50 pound catfish. This is a real fishing area and Roberta and her family love to fish. On Friday night we got a chance to try some real southern comfort food as Ron's niece Bonnie took us all out to Dukes BBQ for dinner.

Friday during the day we traveled Beaufort South Carolina. On our way to Beaufort we stopped

Pon Pon Chapel, one of the areas on the Historic registry.

Following is a clip from Palmetto History.org:

Established in 1725 by an Act of the General Assembly, Pon Pon Chapel of Ease was one of two churches serving St. Bartholomew’s Parish after the Yemassee War (1715) aborted plans for a parish church. The chapel site was located on Parker’s Ferry Road, the busy stagecoach thoroughfare that connected Charleston and Savannah. In 1754, a brick chapel was erected to replace the earlier wooden structure. This brick chapel burned in ca.1801, causing Pon Pon Chapel to become subsequently known as the Burnt Church. The chapel was rebuilt between 1819 and 1822, and was in use until 1832 when it was again reduced to ruins. The façade of Pon Pon Chapel had a central, rounded arched entrance flanked by rounded arched windows on either side, all constructed in a brickwork pattern of one stretcher alternating with two headers. The two round windows in the façade’s upper level utilized the same brickwork pattern. The walls were constructed in Flemish bond. The chapel’s historical significance is due in part to Rev. John Wesley preaching two sermons here on April 24, 1737 and for its burial ground that contains the remains of Congressmen Aedanus Burke and O’Brien Smith, in addition to numerous local leaders. Listed in the National Register January 5, 1972.

It is still amazing to us to see old the history of our country truly is once we get out of Oregon.

In addition to being within a stones throw of one of our Marine air bases, it is also just a few miles away from the training ground of America's finest, the Devil Dogs of the USMC. Parris Island is the east coast camp where our young Marines become MEN. Beaufort is also a very scenic old town that has had many movies shot in the area. The Great Santini, Prince of Tides and Forrest Gump are just three of the better known movies that have been filmed there. We also went out to Ladys and Hunters Islands. Hunters Island has the only public accessible lighthouse in South Carolina and is in a beautiful setting among the Palmettos. It is, like most light houses, only a short walk from the Atlantic Ocean. The problem with the day that we were there was, like the rest of the country, it was cold. We walked out onto the beach, took three pictures and said let's get the heck out of here.

Coming soon St Augustine.

The Road from Louisiana and Vicksburg

We left Uncle Orville and Aunt Lucille after a dinner of fried catfish, baked potatoes and hush puppies at Big John’s steak and seafood house. We were determined to make Tuscaloosa, Alabama by the end of the drive so that our mileage to the end of the rainbow at Round O SC would be less than 400 miles. More on that later.
When leaving Louisiana and entering Mississippi you cross the mighty Mississippi River. As we were just discussing, after the many trips we have made down I-84 and the Columbia Gorge any other river is just a river. This is strange in a way since the Mississippi is the life line of Middle America. It also might be because we may have seen it for a grand total of 30 seconds and then never saw it again. The first town on I-20 in Mississippi is a town called Vicksburg. It is the site of a 43 day siege during the Civil War in 1863. The Union army led by General Grant had marched 180 miles in 20 days while still fighting and inflicting devastating casualties on the army of the Confederacy, led by General Pemberton. The Union victory assured control of the river and the state, and severed the Confederate states in half. There is a 16 miles circular loop with more plaques and statues than a person can count. Like the average tourist, we had two cameras clicking, trying to capture every little piece of information. This proved absolutely futile, since we only had 2 hours and 20 gigs of storage space. It is another site that needs more time to fully explore, and to just walk through the monuments, as well as the cemetery there. Much like the first time at the Whitman massacre sight in Walla Walla Washington, this is a site where history should be felt and not seen. The cemetery was like seemingly all cemeteries in the Southeast. All the cemeteries we saw were not only neatly manicured, but all the gravesites had what looked like fresh flowers on them, something that is not done in our area on Memorial Day. It is a part of the “yes sir, no maam” respect that the southeast is founded upon. In the middle of the tour we stopped at the Cairo museum. The Cairo (pronounced like Karo syrup not the town in Egypt) was an ironclad ship that was one of seven that the Union built to try to wrest control of the Mississippi River form the Confederacy. It was sunk in the Yazoo River by rebel forces using what were called remote controlled torpedoes. We now call them mines. This was not the wireless remote that we channel surface with, but rather a wired device that a soldier hiding in the brush would use to detonate the torpedo. During the 1960s an engineering using a compass found the gunboat sunk in the mud in the riverbed. After several tries it was raised in 1964 and partially restored.

Addendum: When we think of the Civil War we think of the Southern States as the Confederacy and the border (Mason-Dixon Line) states and New England as The Union. After reviewing our pictures and processing Vicksburg later we found it rather striking that the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota were among the Northern combatants. While talking with my sister's family, obviously of southern heritage, it became quite clear to us how the vast difference in industry and the sheer amount of states supporting the Union made all the difference.
After leaving Vicksburg we set on I-20 at warp speed with the intent to reach Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to make our last leg of the journey less than 400 miles. As we continued through Mississippi in the dark we noticed this weird white substance on the banks alongside the road. After several miles we realized that the substance was snow! Here we were 3500 miles from home wanting to find warmer weather, and we run into snow in the Southeast. I guess timing is everything. Unfortunately our stamina proved not to be as great as we desired, so we called a halt in Livingston, Mississippi. This is where we stayed in what we somewhat jokingly called the Bates Motel. The Navigator told us there was a Comfort Inn at this exit, and since they were on our approved list we pulled off the freeway to get a room. There were three cars in the parking lot, and looked so dark we thought it was closed. Ron went in to check and there was a desk clerk on duty and an open motel. The whole thing was so totally creepy that we were both nervous in the shower, just waiting for that butcher knife. Just another story to tell of life on the road!

E

Uncle Orville and Aunt Lucille

We traveled up the interstate until we had to venture onto the Louisiana backroads. For someone who had really gotten used to 85 mph, this was a true disappointment. Like most of the southern states we have gone through, Louisiana roads are under construction. Most of the way we had to travel at the good old Oregon double nickel speed limit interrupted by some 35 mph zones. Since we were in the south those speed limits were very carefully followed. I did not want to meet Biscuit with his lights on. Biscuit was the big old policeman in my sister’s hometown. He was a 400+ pound man that I use as a symbol of southern policemen. I actually never met the man, but feel like I know him through my sister’s descriptions of him. She always has one of those special smiles when she talks about him, so I like to use him in my imagination as the epitome of a southern smalltown patrolman. What drove this point home even more was the sign we saw when we approached Collinston, La., the community near Connie’s aunt and uncle’s house. A local farmer apparently had grown weary of the town police and paid to put a big sign in his filed just before the city limits that read, “Warning, Speed Trap Ahead”.

Sunday brought us a rare treat. We got to attend church with Uncle Orville and Aunt Lucille Thomas in a little Assembly of God Church in Start Louisiana. Connie’s uncle had retired from the pulpit, but was asked to serve as “interim” pastor at this church. They have to travel 28 miles one way to the church and have a morning and evening service on Sunday, and a Wednesday evening Bible study. On Sundays they stay in the little trailer next to the church and rest to prepare for the evening service. We also got to attend Sunday school with Brother Freddy leading us in a study of Joseph in Genesis 39-41, a good lesson in fleeing from temptation rather than standing, thinking that we are brave enough, and strong enough, to withstand. He also brought up something about tithing that I had never thought about. God asks us for our first fruits and when he says that he means from us also, not just our checkbooks. Who among us spends 2.4 hours minimum per day doing the things of the Lord?

As ironic as it might seem, Uncle Orville spoke from Malachi chapter 3. He did mention our money, but mainly concentrated on robbing God of ourselves. How many times have we seen God orchestrate the worship leader or the person who does the announcements to speak something that coincides with what the pastor is going to speak on? He also embarassed Connie, and himself, with a story about a time 40 years ago when he went to speak at Newberg first Assembly for a revival. He spoke night after night, and on this one particular night he called the youth forward to the altars. As he was praying he noticed his niece and her cousin standing there giggling. He prayed throught to the end, somewhat concerned that his nieces were misbehaving this way. They came up to him later and said, "Uncle Orville we owe you an apology". Feeling somewhat better about the situation he stood there and listened as they offered their explanation. His mindset changed when they asked him to look down at his feet. He then understood that there was not disrespect that was causing the laughter, but the fact that he was wearing one black shoe and one brown shoe. Today they both matched, I think. It was inspiring to see someone who has celebrated 50 years behind the pulpit still working away for God, and still speaking in relevant terms. This from a man who four years ago received a three months to live diagnosis. After some surgery he never went through chemo or radiation. Amazing how immortal we are when God has ministry plans for us that we work to fulfill.

Goodbye Galveston

The night in Galveston was not as peaceful as the other nights we had spent during our trip. As we said in our previous post, we had encountered “Oregon” weather along the way, but what we received Friday night was a little more intense. The wind started kicking up about 10:00 PM and brought in about 2 hours worth of torrential rainfall. I don’t believe I have ever seen or heard that heavy of a rainfall. In the two hours it continued we must have received 3 inches of rainfall and made me happy that we were on the third floor. This was no “wee soft Scottish rain”, as William Wallace said in Braveheart. The amusing thing was that my wife slept through the whole thing. That is also the good thing, since she had been up during our last night in San Antonio with insomnia.
We got a chance to sleep in a little bit this morning since we “only” had 460 miles to go. The only real sense of urgency we had was to make the 10:30 deadline at the Golden Arches for breakfast. After all, on the road you still have to keep your priorities straight.We could not leave town without driving around once more and just look at the buildingsin this town. There is a mix of the old and the new, with old Victorian style homes, as well as the antebellum style Plantation homes. There also is a street called The Strand where next weekend they will have a Mardi Gras parade. I am so glad we got there a week early.

To leave Galveston you have two choices. One is to return to Houston and steer toward your destination. The other is the Port Bolivar ferry. We chose the latter. This ride is a 20 minute ride to Port Bolivar on the peninsula NE of Galveston, over Galveston Bay. A note here, we did not choose the route, but the navigator did. We were not disappointed to miss bumper to bumper traffic through the road construction in Houston. This ride takes you through low-country that has a good share of the houses built on stilt foundations.Since this is the Gulf, they have some inclement weather that blows in now and then, and when the tide surges over the seawalls they are somewhat prepared. Again we got to see the back roads of Texas and the different ways that people cope with their environments.

The Home of Jean Lafitte

After bidding farewell to San Antonio we set off for Galveston. Of course this was not done before we found a couple of breakfast Burritos and a Starbucks. Now having fueled us and the Santa Fe we went east on I-10 toward Houston. As soon as we left the Chevron station we ran into typical Oregon January weather, and it rained on and off most of the way. Arriving in Houston we found a larger version of Olympia to Seattle. Going through midday Friday we found another major American city with it's freeways under renovation. Of course that meant slow traffic going through a city of over 2 million people, so we got to flashback to our previous lives heading down I-5 during our working days.

First couple of stops were for food and room. We ate at a marvelous restaurant called Gaidos on Seawall Blvd. Some of the best seafood we have ever had.

Galveston is an island south and slightly east of Houston that separates Galveston Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. It has had a storied past in it's various occupations. One of those is by the famous pirate Jean Lafitte. Even though he and his men helped the army of Andrew Jackson sway the Battle of New Orleans in favor of the US he was still vilified later for his plundering of Spanish ships and his part in the slave trade. His men would plunder Spanish slave ships and take the slaves to New Orleans to sell them in the markets. Since he commanded a force of several hundred men and as many as 11 ships he could not always control what ships were attacked. Occasionally ships under his flag would attack American merchant ships and that is what caused him to be evicted from Galveston Island.

After his departure men of commerce saw the potential of the island as a seaport and the American migration to Galveston was begun. It became the leading Texas seaport and a quite a wealthy and cosmopolitan city. The presentation we saw last night showed slides of the old Victorian buildings that made up the town. Unfortunately in 1900 the "Great Storm" struck. With 100+ mile per hour winds and 15+ foot tidal surges the main part of the city was wiped out and 6000 people lost their lives. Amazingly the city recovered, raised a seawall around it and filled in the land to elevate the city as many as 17' higher than it was. It has not been spared damage from later hurricanes, but it still stands. The latest belt was from Rita in 2005.

We are staying in the Baymont Hotel, a place that has rebuilt and is offering reduced rates to try and attract business back. It apparently worked because we got one of the last two rooms left yesterday, and that for only one night. There is a National cheerleading competition and town and our hotel is full of giggling teenage girls. After being semi-empty nesters it sounded kind of nice to have kids sround again. We knew we were officially in the south when we asked when of them a question and she replied, "yes sir" in a beautiful southern drawl.
We have found this little island another place to return to when we have more time. Need to get ready to hit the road again to head for Louisiana and visit Connie's aunt and uncle, a retired A/G minister. Pictures coming later.

Remember the Alamo

Morning in San Antonio found us waking to a realization that we had not had in a week. We had no intentions of getting in the Santa Fe today! No calloused booties, no stiff back and necks! We could not have asked for a better location. Five floors below us was the Riverwalk, we looked eye to eye to the revolving "Save the Planet" globe of the Hard Rock Cafe(eat your heart out Sherri), and next door to it was STARBUCKS! After a wonderful breakfast of an apple fritter(the first I have had in 2 years) and white chocolate mocha, we set out on foot to see San Antonio. Much like Albuquerque the architecture of SA has a very heavy Spanish/Mexican influence. The town is full of amazing buildings that remind me of what places in Europe must look like, with a lot of stone and concrete structures.
Our first stop was at the Alamo. Living in Oregon all my life I tend to laugh at the people in our state that make a major deal about an "historic" building that needs to be saved. To us history is the mid to late 1800s or early 1900s. In this part of the country the Spanish landed in the 1600s and the Alamo dates back to the 1700s. Now that is historical. If you are history buffs like we are museums are a staple of our travels. The Alamo really needs at least a half day to go through, but since it was a windy 38 degrees we did not tarry too long outside. The artifacts in the museum also date back to the 1700s and the trip is amazing, especially the part inside the church of San Antonio, what we recognize as the Alamo. As you go through the rooms you see where the women and children were sheltered away from the fighting, as well as old Spanish Frescos on the walls. Unfortunately the insides of the buildings are off-limits to photographs so you will have to travel there to see them.

After the tour of the Alamo we toured the Texas Ranger museum, and then both realized that we were extremely hungry and decided lunch was in order, our first actual meal in over 24 hours. When you are in the heart of what used to be Mexico and you have a wife that is a Mexican food fanatic there is only one place to go. Yes we went to another place that has had a major role in Amrican history, the Hard Rock Cafe. We were so stoked to see it behind us and to act like stupid tourists and buy the tshirts that we forgot all about our pledge to get some authentic Mexican food while in SA. Go figure!

After dinner and shopping we headed off to explore the Riverwalk. For those of you that have never been in San Antonio, the Riverwalk is the San Antonio River channeled through the downtown area, and has become a major tourist attraction. There are also gondolas and motorized boats that take people around on tours of the waterways. Way too cold to be stationary in a boat, and for that matter for most of the little shops to be open, so just just power walked. This was the first real chance on the trip and it felt good. We wandered all around the little shops and restaurants and ended up in HemisFair park. This is another place in SA that is dedicated to restoration of older structures as well as celebrating the local cultures. The town was originally established by the Spanish missionaries to minister to the Apache and Comanche Indian tribes, so their are many different cultures that are still alive here.
Alas, we found ourselves foot weary and still relatively tired from the two previous days journeys, so we adjourned one last time to our hotel room to download pictures, split some Ben and Jerrys, and prepare for the next days drive, a mere 245 mile spin south and east to Galveston. We decided last not that we were actually on a scouting mission to find places in our country to spend time in, and in Albuquerque and San Antonio, and later Galveston, we found places that really needed several days to properly see them.

San Antonio we will be back!

Area 51

Morning in Albuquerque found us in a cold (15 degrees) but beautiful city. We wished we had allowed more time to see the town, but we had reservations in San Antonio the next two nights, so we files this one away for a future trip and set off for San Antone. On the way is an interesting little town known as Roswell, New Mexico. Even the McDonalds in town has a UFO theme to it. This is the one time that the Navigator let us down. We were looking for the post office in town, and apparently they had built a new one, and the old one is now the transit office. After driving in circles around town we finally gave up and took off. Never did find that post office. The farther east and south you travel in New Mexico, and on into Texas the more oil derricks you see. By the time we stopped for lunch in Denver City Texas we had even run across the world (and liberal nut-case) famous Haliburton. It reminded me how much I would reallylike to have a Bush-Cheney 08 sticker for driving around back in Portland.

We were right to trust the Navigator on this trip as she saved us over 100 miles compared to the routes laid out by Google and Rand McNally. We saw a great deal of the backroads of the two states, whuch was one of the reasons we took the trip. A little over thirteen hours, and 630 miles, later we arrived in San Antonio. Again the Navigator saved us because the place we were staying was downtown on the riverwalk, and caused us to take a route that made me feel like we were trying to elude a tail. We found out that the Riverwalk was right outside our hotel window, and the Alamo was 2 1/2 blocks away. Finally it looks like a day where we will get to not spend the day driving!

New Mexico

We are spending the night in Albuquerque after leaving Vegas around 10:30. This is day #5 and it is finally starting to feel like the trip we envisioned. Before it was more of a trip to Las Vegas and over to Tacopa Hot Springs Ca to visit Connie's dad. We did meet up with Henry and Maryanne yesterday and had a wonderful 6 hours with them , including lunch and a trip back to their place. Death Valley is an amazingly beautiful place. For Creationists like us it is unbelievable to see what the spoken word of God has created. The mountains surrounding Death Valley are just breathtaking!
Today we got to see the part of Arizona that Oregonians, at least these two, are totally ignorant of. We traveledI-40 through Williams and Flagstaff, and went up through a pass that was higher than anything in Oregon. Just like all of Oregon is not like Portland, so not all of Arizona is not like Phoenix/Tucson. We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch at the Galaxy diner on old Route 66. It is a real throwback to the 60s. My right foot is in love with Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico so far. The 75 mph freeway signs are wonderful and we passed state troopers on the side of the road while we were doing almost 85, and not a look. That may change a bit as we start heading south and east. Traveling across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia might make us a little more cautious.
I know, still no pictures posted, but they will be here within the next two days. We rode almost 600 miles today and may have a 700 mile drive tomorrow, depending on which source you believe. We will rely on the Navigator, our little Garmin GPS. She thinks we have around 600 miles, so will follow her route.

Vegas Baby!

After almost 37 years of touring the ballfields and gyms of Oregon while raising 4 children and one husband we have finally set off on the post-retirement trip of our small dreams. We are spending seven weeks on the road and are hoping to put our footprints on at least 21 states.


We left our home in Newberg, Oregon around noon on the 11th of January and plan to take around 10 -11 days to reach Ron's sister's house in Round O, South Carolina.



Day 1 was a relatively uneventful day through the beautiful Siskiyous, past Mt. Shasta and a stop in Williams, Ca. Uneventful is good to start a 10,000 mile trip.



It is amazing some of the things that run through your mind when you somewhat mindlessly roll up the miles on the road. On day 2 the big victory of the day was finding out our navigation system would find the rest areas for us. That is really important stuff! Also while going through beautiful dowwntown Pixley on highway 99, my sick brain went back to my teen-age years and the old TV show Petticoat Junction. Would they really be allowed to call their town Hooterville Junction today? Fortunately a rest area appeared and we were able to clear my mind for the rest of the ride. At the end of the day we rolled up to our stop at the Worldmark Resort in Vegas. Today after an amazing tour of Boulder/Hoover Dam, we got a chance to tour Vegas after dark. I much prefer the less pretensious look of Portland Or.. driving over the Marquam Bridge. It still has an innocence that has long sense left Vegas. We are looking forward to touring the area and visiting with Connie's dad tomorrow, but then bye bye Vegas.

For those of you that have been here before January 17th you will notice there are now pictures up. They are Mt Shasta taken from a Hyundai Santa Fe doing 80 mph, three pictures taken at Hoover dam, the Excalibur Casino, Miss Liberty from New York New York and sunset from our condo in Vegas.