Bardstown, Kentucky

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the about 75 miles from Park City to Bardstown, Kentucky in an all-day-long down-pouring rain.

Along the way we passed into the Eastern Time Zone.

First stop was at the…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

It’s located about three miles south of Hodgenville, Kentucky. In the visitors center we viewed a 15 minute film entitled…Abraham Lincoln – The Kentucky Years. The film told the story of how he was born here to upper-middle-class parents, Tom and Nancy. After two years the family moved to the Knob Creek Farm about ten miles northeast of this location. Here are some photos from the visitors center…

There’s a replica of the Lincoln cabin inside this memorial building which we did not go to because of the heavy rain, plus too many steps for Mary’s current physical condition…

Here’s the official government website link for this national historic park…
http://www.nps.gov/abli/index.htm

Then we drove the motorhome the about three miles to the center of Hodgenville to the Lincoln Museum that depicts the life of Abraham Lincoln…

Mary Todd Lincoln looked a lot like Mary Matzek…

Here’s the museum’s website link…
http://lincolnmuseum-ky.org/

We then drove the motorhome about six miles to Lincoln’s Knob Creek Farm where he lived from ages 3 through 7. The story told is while living here, he fell into Knob Creek and almost drown. A friend who extended a tree branch to Lincoln saved his life…

After living here, the Lincoln’s moved to Indiana and then Illinois. It was really enjoyable to see and get a better understanding of Lincoln’s boyhood. If it wasn’t for his friend saving his life…we wouldn’t have had him during the Civil War. Lincoln was 56 at the time of his assassination.

We continued on in the motorhome to arrive at Bardstown where we are parked at Moose Lodge #2408…

Here’s the dinette window photo…

The rain finally stopped during the night. It’s still a gray and gloomy overcast morning. We will move along later this morning.

Enjoying beautiful national historic sites and museums is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Kentucky. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Savannah, Tennessee – Day 1

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the about 50 miles from Saulsbury to Savannah, Tennessee. Along the way we stopped at Shiloh National Military Park where on April 6-7, 1862 some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War occurred. You can read all about Shiloh by clicking the official government link…
http://www.nps.gov/shil/index.htm

You can read intimate details of the Battle of Shiloh by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh

Here are some of the photos I took while there…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

While there we viewed an excellent 45 minute film made in 2011 for the 150 year anniversary in 2012…

We also visited the National Cemetery there…

While we did not drive the entire tour route, we did pass the Confederate Memorial…

We also saw an eagle’s nest…

A few miles later we arrived at Moose Lodge #1918 at Savannah, Tennessee…

The view from the dinette window…

We expect to explore Savannah today and depart tomorrow. You can read all about Savannah by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah,_Tennessee

Enjoying beautiful and interesting national parks is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location near Memphis in the State of Tennessee. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Natchez, Mississippi – Day 7

Note: Mary flew from Baton Rouge Airport, Louisiana on March 12 to her home in California. I’m hoping to get her back with me by mid-April. My current plans are to drift SLOWLY north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England for the Summer. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there! The Mississippi River is rich in history…I expect it to be an interesting passage.
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The motorhome is still parked at the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge #1662 in Natchez, Mississippi.

Natchez remained mostly undamaged from the Civil War. Hence this old city with its narrow and many one-way streets remains a beautiful city. To read about Natchez, click this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez,_Mississippi

Yesterday was laundry day…not a particularly interesting Blog topic. So, Instead I’ll share with you what I did on Saturday night. Once again I drove the Bronco the about 15 miles to Ferriday, Louisiana where I was first on Friday to visit the Delta Music Museum. If you missed that Blog posting, here’s the link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-7uq

At the invitation of Judith Bingham, Director of the Delta Music Museum, I went to the Arcade Theater to see the Louisiana Country Music Opry. This wonderful event takes place every fourth Saturday at 7:00 PM.

Here are some of the photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Ferriday is a town of about 3,000 people. The Arcade Theater sits only about 125 people and everyone knows everyone…

Prior to the show Judith took me backstage to meet Somer Lance, famed rock n roller Jerry Lee Lewis’s grand-daughter who performed that night. I also got to meet Gene King, the leader of the band…

In this photo, Judith welcomes everyone and encourages them to visit and thank the show’s sponsors. She even introduced me to the audience…

The Gene King Band is the regular band for the Opry. It features four guitars, electric, steel, acoustic and bass in addition to a keyboard and drums. They have a real nice sound…

Gene really gets into his singing…

Somer really belts out a tone…must be some of the Jerry Lee Lewis blood. I find no indication on the Internet where she takes advantage of her Lewis background name…

You can see a brief video I made of Somer by clicking this link…
http://youtu.be/blQZTTVxcNU

I missed the name of this almost 14 year-old performer. Her grandfather is playing the steel guitar in the background…

Sam Bass seemed to be an audience favorite…

Just before a 15 minute intermission, Judith has a drawing for door prizes. I did not win one but a nearby couple insisted on giving me their prize…a package of BBQ seasonings. Judith also told the folks how to find my Blog on the Internet. During the intermission many folks came up and said hello and Welcome to Louisiana to me. You just cannot find friendlier people than in Louisiana…

During the second half of the show Somer performed once again…

At my request, the band played one of my favorite Merle Haggard songs…what else but…Ramblin’ Fever! You can see and hear it by clicking this video link…(best enjoyed in full screen view)…
http://youtu.be/O0YgmpvLw-s

Once again after the show many folks came to me to say hello. When I went to buy the band’s CD…they would not take my money. They just insisted in giving it to me. All in all…another most enjoyable evening!!! Thank you Judith Bingham for the invitation!

On the way back to the motorhome, I took this almost surreal photo while crossing the bridge back into Mississippi…

I’ll explore more of Natchez today.

Enjoying historic places is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Mississippi. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Quebradas National Back Country Byway, New Mexico

Two days ago while in Socorro, New Mexico I decided to take the 24 mile Quebradas National Back Country Byway drive with my Ford Bronco II…not a place for the motorhome!

To read about this byway, you can click these two links…
http://byways.org/explore/byways/2090
http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/socorro/quebradas_backcountry_byway.html

It’s located a few miles east of Socorro and claims to be total wilderness never less than ten miles away from a major highway. To get there you first have to cross the Rio Grande River…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

Now to the Byway photos…

Here’s a map of the drive from the above Byways link…

If I had to describe the drive in one word it would be DUSTY! The land is incredibly dry in this area. They warn you that the road is only maintained annually and to be prepared for loose sand.

There were lots of rather steep up and down grades requiring the use of first and second gears. It was a good test for my newly rebuilt transmission although I never had to use the 4 wheel drive.

It was a pretty and peaceful drive that took about 1.5 hours. Another fun thing to do as a full-time RVer is go exploring the back country!

I spent the night at Moose Lodge #1680 in Belen, New Mexico. Today…on an early Sunday morning I’ll enter Albuquerque. It’s a large city approaching 900,000 people that I’ve not been to before so I hoping for very light traffic.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Elephant Butte State Park, New Mexico…

A few days back I wrote about the Elephant Butte Dam…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4by

Which created Elephant Butte Lake…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4c7

Along the west side of the lake…Elephant Butte State Park, over about ten miles, has about a dozen campgrounds…most of them are primitive with no utilities.

Yesterday I moved the motorhome from the Moose Lodge in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico the about five miles to the State Park. I’ll spend only one night. I came to primarily dump my waste tanks, fill my fresh water tank and take a nice long hot shower. After last Saturday’s wind/dust storm I also cleaned the window glass inside and out as well as the solar panels on the motorhome roof.

I’m parked in what I consider the best view site in the state park. I’m situated on an overlook near the park entrance…about 300 feet elevation about the lake.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

Here’s the view through the dinette window…

Another view…

And a panorama view…

Then three Google Earth views…

There are about six overlook sites…each with a three-sided protective shelter…

that have a metal picnic table inside…

that gives a great view of the lake…

People park their RV’s right along the lake shore so they can pull their watercraft onshore nearby their rigs…

When I scouted out this park Easter weekend there were several hundred RV’s parked along the lake shore. The roadways down to there are not well marked…so much so that I got the Bronco into some loose sand and had to put it into 4 wheel drive to get moving again. A local told me that the local tow truck drivers do a lively business retrieving stuck vehicles. They’re not going to get my business…I’m staying on solid ground up on the overlook!

A lovely sunny day of 70 degrees with a gentle breeze made it a delightful stay.

Here’s the state park’s official website link…
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/elephant.htm

Today I’ll head out and start wandering north towards Albuquerque where I’m hopefully going to meet up Mary in about 10 days.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

A Democrat’s RV…

Shortly after my arrival here in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico…I took my towed Ford Bronco II over to Elephant Butte State Park about five miles distant to checkout the four campgrounds there. I’ll be moving the motorhome there this morning and I wanted to get to know the lay of the land before I go there as the online maps are very confusing.

As I was driving through the campgrounds…I noticed this Democrat’s RV. I had never seen one before and I thought I’d share it with you…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

Kind of unique…isn’t it? I wonder what a Republican’s RV looks like?

In other news…

This morning I will depart Moose Lodge 2050 after an 11 day visit. I chose to stay here rather than drive in daily from the state park. It’s nice to enjoy good food and drink with the locals. Thank you Moose Lodge 2050 for your hospitality!

In addition to visiting local attractions while here…I’ve also been busy researching my upcoming approach to Albuquerque. The locals here tell me it’s a city of about 900,000 people and everyone drives like they are crazy.

Whenever I’m approaching a large city…which I’ve not been to before and don’t know my way around…I use Google Earth to learn about the area. In this first Google Earth Image you can see that I’ll be traveling…more or less…along side of the Rio Grande River towards Albuquerque about 150 miles distant…

The pins identify pre-planned potential stops. The below Google Earth concentrates on the southeast area of Albuquerque…where I expect to spend the better portion of my time while there. The APT pin marks the location of the airport where I’ll meet Mary hopefully in about ten days…

Since this is my first visit to Albuquerque…I’m planning to enter the city on next Sunday morning when traffic should be the lightest. It sure makes traveling a lot easier having Google Earth and The Internet for researching areas prior to arrival.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Rocking And Rolling All Day Long…

I’m still parked at the Moose Lodge in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico where yesterday’s weather forecast was for sunny and very windy. It did not disappoint!

The wind actually came up Friday afternoon…got up to a steady 25-35 miles per hour during the night. As daylight came on the velocity increased to a steady 45-55 miles per hour with MANY frequent gusts in excess of 70 miles per hour. Since the motorhome was parked facing west and the wind was out of the south…it became rock and roll time as the wind was hitting the motorhome broadside.

The soil here is hard-packed sandy and with the wind whipping across the parking lot…it sounded like the motorhome was being sand-blasted as it rocked and rolled!

I tried to capture a photo of sand whipping across the parking lot…but because of the smallness of sand particles and the velocity they were moving…this is the best photo I came up with…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

By 1:00 PM the wind had shifted to the southwest and I was now being hit at a 45 degree angle on the left front and side of the motorhome. and it was really rocking and rolling. If I wasn’t an ex-sailor…I probably would have suffered from dry-land sea sickness!

Enough of this! I had to do something! The gusts were so strong I thought it might blow the motorhome on its side!

Ah-ha…I knew what to do. I decided to back up the motorhome to the side of the Moose Lodge where I would be in the lee of the building and kind-sorta away from the wind.

The Moose lodge had held a blood drive that morning and the bloodmobile had the better position of being nearer the building…but it at least help reduce my rocking and rolling.

Here’s a closer view of the flag ripping in the wind. It was at a 90 degree straight out position all day long…

As the afternoon wore on the wind came around to the west and now it was hitting the motorhome directly in the front. In doing so the rocking and rolling became less active. The wind continued into the night until it finally subsided. This morning the wind is gone and I’ll move the motorhome back to its pre-wind parking spot. I’ll be moving on tomorrow morning.

The locals told me that strong winds are a normal occurrence in the Spring in New Mexico. They told me that last year it was really bad…blowing for weeks at a time. I’m sure glad I wasn’t here then! I’ve been in New Mexico for about six weeks now and this is the third time I’ve been exposed to really strong winds. Enough already!

Also later this morning I’ll break out the vacuum and do some cleaning…there’s dust everywhere inside of the motorhome! Enough already!

There’s a saying…”some days are diamonds and some days are dust”. Yesterday was a really dusty one for me!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

The Real Culprit…

Note…I’m currently hanging out in the motorhome at the Moose Lodge in Silver City, New Mexico waiting on the completion of a transmission rebuild for my 1986 Ford Bronco II. I’m expecting the work to be finished today.

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Two days ago I wrote about the dis-assembly of the transmission…
http://wp.me/pDCku-44h

Yesterday morning I went to the garage to see how they were progressing. The replacement parts they had to order arrived and they were in the process of the re-assembly of the transmission. Nacho, the shop owner and my mechanic, told me that they had finally come across the real culprit… a mutilated planetary carrier assembly…three inches in diameter. Here are some photos…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

First a top view. Look closely…there are supposed to be three gears…one each at 12-4 and 8 o’clock positions. If you look closely you will see 12 o’clock gear is missing…

Here are some other views of the damaged area…

The mechanics were busy so I did not get into a long-winded discussion of why this part failed. Being an ex-engineer my guess is metal-fatigue. 26 years of internal heat and stress on this aluminum part finally took its toll. As I said in earlier Blog entry…the transmissions in these older Ford Bronco II’s were known to be problem-childs.

The exploded parts view shows 158 individual pieces in the transmission…

Hopefully the transmission will once again be in good running order and I’ll soon be back on the road again!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

La Capilla Overlooks Silver City, New Mexico…

Note…I’m currently hanging out in the motorhome at the Moose Lodge in Silver City, New Mexico waiting on the completion of a transmission rebuild for my 1986 Ford Bronco II.

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Last Friday I explored the historic downtown of Silver City, New Mexico. Atop Chihuahua Hill at the south end of the city sits La Capilla…which in Spanish Means “small chapel” It was during the climb of this rather short, but steep, climb that the Bronco transmission revealed it was having problems. Because of these problems, my visit to La Capilla was distracted. While waiting a few minutes for the transmission to cool down a little, I did manage to take these three photos of the nice view of Silver City…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

La Capilla is a small chapel. It was securely locked…I presume to protect it from vandalism…

A 180 degree panorama of the Silver City area…

A closer view of downtown Silver City…

To read the complete history of La Capilla, click this link…
http://www.silvercity.org/dest_la_capilla.php

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Per Request…I Go Grave-Hunting…

Note…I’m currently hanging out in the motorhome at the Moose Lodge in Silver City, New Mexico waiting on an expected transmission rebuild for my 1986 Ford Bronco II

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Two days ago I received this Email from my friend Randy Vining…

“Jim:  A legendary guy from my area named Ben Lilly who took Teddy Roosevelt bear hunting—then went west and never came back–rumor had it that he ended up in Silver City, NM where he has a monument or marker dedicated to him.  Let us know if you run across it.”

Per Randy’s request I looked up Ben Lilly, Silver City, New Mexico on the Internet. Among the websites provided I found this Wikipedia link that tells all about Ben Lilly…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Lilly

Another website provided was a link about the History of the Memory Lane Cemetery in Silver city, New Mexico…
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nma/grant/history_memorylane.htm

In part…about half-way into the website…the following information is found…

In this pioneer cemetery lie the remains of early settlers, merchants, miners, politicians, and railroad men who contributed to the development of southwestern New Mexico. Among those buried here are Katherine Antrim (1829-1874), mother of Billy the Kid, and Ben V. Lilly (1856-1937), well-known hunter and guide for Theodore Roosevelt. 

Ben Lilly’s grave may be visited by entering the main gate and going for about 20 yards south on the Avenue of Memories. Rose Lane angles off of this in the southwesterly direction. Go down Rose Lane until the road intersects to the right. Go on down Rose Lane about 30 feet and Ben Lilly’s grave is in the third lot (about 50 feet) to the west in section G, Lot 6, Space 1. His marker is not large and reads as follows: 

BEN LILLY

Lover of the Great Outdoors

Dec. 31, 1853, Hazelhurst, Miss.

Dec. 17, 1936, Buckhorn, N.M.

Courtesy: Town Country Garden Club 

A quick search on Google Earth showed the Memory Lane Cemetery less than one-half mile from my current parking location at the Moose Lodge. Within just a few minutes of walking I was there…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

It took me a little while to find the grave location…

The gravestone itself is only about one foot square. Not overly impressive for such a legendary man…

As an interesting aside, Katherine Antrim, the mother of Billy the Kid who lived in Silver City as a very young man, is also buried in this cemetery. Since I did not know the location, I did not seek it out in this rather large cemetery.

Thanks, Randy, for your Email asking about Ben Lilly. Without It I would never had known to look for his memorial.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust