Lake Charles, Louisiana – Day 4

The motorhome is parked at the 1,086 acre Sam Houston Jones State Park about 12 miles north of the city. We are here to enjoy Mardi Gras and will depart on February 13th.

You can read about Lake Charles by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Charles,_Louisiana

You can read all about the history of Mardi Gras in Southwest Louisiana by clicking this link…
http://www.swlamardigras.com/about/history.cfm

Yesterday was our fourth day in Lake Charles, but the first one with Mardi Gras activity. Before we departed the motorhome Mary got into her Mardi Gras costume. First the R-rated version…

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…

A close-up while she gets into…

her PG-rated costume…

Off we went to the Lake Charles Civic Center alongside the lake. First event of the day was attending the World Famous Cajun Extravaganza/Gumbo Cook-Off. In a very large room with 1,000+ people and about 30 booths offering their own kind of Gumbo, we wandered in. For only $5 per person you could taste and enjoy as much Gumbo as your stomach would allow and all the time a Cajun Zydeco Band provided some great music. Here are some of the photos from that event…

Then we moved outside for a parade…

A view of the Interstate Highway 10 Bridge as it crosses Lake Charles…

Near the pet parade…

Where there are pets there are going to be kids…

Then back into the building on the second floor for a Zydeco Dance. This couple was the best on the dance floor…

A shot of Mary across the floor taking photos of the band…

I made a couple of videos, but because they gobble up so many megabytes, I have to keep them short…

The first is entitled…Mary Loves A Good Time!!!… (just click the link…)
http://youtu.be/4pViYrkMeug

The second is entitled Washboard Zydeco…
http://youtu.be/G2wbem9EAn4

Moire Mardi Gras stuff on tap for today!

Enjoying Louisiana Mardi Gras is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Louisiana. 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

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

Harlingen, Texas – Day 14

Mary has been at home in California enjoying the holidays with her family. She will arrive here in Harlingen tomorrow.

The motorhome is parked at Tropic Winds RV Resort and is scheduled to be here until January 10th. While awaiting Mary’s return, I’ve been seeing some local attractions, performing repairs and preventative maintenance on both the motorhome and Bronco, plus thoroughly cleaning both vehicles.

At my current location, I’m in an area of South Texas known as the Rio Grande Valley. It is also known as The Magic Valley…where anything will grow. The primary is citrus fruits of which the Texas Ruby Red accounts for about 70% of the products. If you have ever tasted a genuine Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit…you will never forget it…absolutely delicious!!!

Like Jackie Gleason used to say … “How sweet it is!!!”

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…

You can read all about the Rio Grande Valley by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Grande_Valley

Here’s an interesting article about the Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit…
http://www.texascooking.com/features/jan2000rubies.htm

A short, but interesting video…
http://www.texasweet.com/texas-grapefruits-and-oranges/

Enjoying a wide variety of fresh local produce is another joy of the full-time RVing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Texas. 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

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

San Angelo, Texas – Day 3

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues. She underwent successful carotid artery surgery yesterday. I’m hoping to get her back for New Years Eve.

The motorhome is parked at VFW Post #1815. I expect to be here another couple of days.

Yesterday I drove the Bronco the about one mile to Fort Concho National landmark. Established in December, 1867, it was built to protect frontier settlements, patrol map the vast West Texas region, and quell hostile threats in the area. It was deactivated In 1889. It claims to be one of the best reserved forts of the Indian Wars Era (1866-1891). It is owned and operated by the City of San Angelo.

You can read all about Fort Concho by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Concho

Here’s the official website link…
http://www.fortconcho.com/

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…

Enjoying old military museums is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

West Texas

The motorhome is still parked at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Airee #3245. This is my fourth day here. I had planned to leave yesterday, but decided to stay an extra day. But, so far as I know right now, I’ll be departing later this morning. The border into West Texas is about 10 miles from my current location.

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…

Mary sent this to me in an Email a few days back. Since I’ll be crossing into West Texas this morning, I thought I’d share it with you…

========================================

I sure hope this comes  through.  Wyman, the photographer, used to live in the old jail in  Benjamin, TX.  The photo of the coiled rattlesnake appeared on the  cover of a wildlife magazine in the 80s.  He said, there were times  he crawled a long way on his belly to get a good shot of a wild  animal.  The music was nice also, didn’t make me want to put it on  mute!!!

The  music is by Doug Smith. Doug is from Petersburg , Texas and lives south of town. Doug  plays by ear- He cannot read music, but has many CDs. A pickup accident  left Doug paralyzed and he does not play anymore. Most of  the pictures were taken in the rolling plains ( cap rock to Seymour , the  Fork, 6666, and Waggoner Ranches. There are some scenes in Palo Duro Canyon  .

Please take a moment and  view….I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such fantastic use of music set  to amazing animal and landscape photography.  The changes in the  tempo perfectly compliment the scenery.  It is simply a beautiful  portrayal of our magnificent home  state!

Note: you may need to click the play button to start the video. Click this link…

http://player.vimeo.com/video/22132017?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0

Enjoying beautiful scenic videos is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Yesterday Was Our Final Day…

of being tourists in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had originally planned to depart Albuquerque next Monday, but finally decided we’ve seen all that is worth our time here in Albuquerque and will now leave on Saturday.

On our final tourist day we…

first went back to Old Town so Mary could get to see somethings she didn’t get to the other day. Since they were girlie-type things, I sat in the Bronco and read.

Then we went to the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park…right in the middle of Albuquerque. Here’s the official website link…
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/rgnc.htm

Here are some 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...

The nature center has an unusual entrance…

I like creating patterns…

The viewing room…

which looks out at this…

the first signs of wildlife…

a couple of Canadian Geese…

we then took a walk along a .5 mile trail…but other than some ants and a few birds saw no other wildlife. Hey, after all, it’s in the middle of Albuquerque. Despite seeing little wildlife we both enjoyed the 1.5 hours of peace and quiet. Being in a large city is really noisy…that’s why I don’t like them.

Here’s a couple of shots of the entrance tunnel on the way out. Like I said earlier…I like creating patterns…

Then we went to see the Rio Puerco Bridge on old Historic Route 66 where I saw some more wildlife…Mary going through a barbed wire fence to fetch a couple of hub caps for her new totem pole back in California…

Here’s some photos of the bridge…

On the way back into town we got to see some older Route 66 Motels we didn’t get to see the other day…

and Jerry Unser’s (of the Unser racing family) old garage…

Finally we stopped at our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch…

where I had two chicken tostadas…

This restaurant has the best tasting Mexican food ever! The salsa is SO GOOD…we bought a quart of it to take home. All in all…a nice final tourist day in Albuquerque.

Today we will dump the motorhome’s waste tanks and fill the fresh water and propane tank in preparation for tomorrow’s departure. In addition, laundry and food shopping will also get done.

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

Our New Bike Rack And Cover Arrived…

late yesterday afternoon.

Both Mary and I have bicycles. I’ve long been dissatisfied with the bring-along storage arrangements. One was a hook-like hanger which attached to a rung on the ladder on the back of the motorhome. In general…it was a real pain in the butt both attaching and removing the bikes. Primarily because of the difficult-to-use securing device meant to keep the bikes from jumping off of the hanger on bumpy roads. That it did…but it also made it a pain to take the bike off for use in a timely manner. it was a real hassle!

The other bike rack we have attaches to the spare tire hanging off the back of our towed Ford Bronco II. This rack had trouble with the weight of the two bikes and wasn’t terribly stable.

So…we decided to try something new. A fold-down rack that attaches to the hitch receiver of the Bronco. Here’s the box it came in…

My primary concern with this rack is that it would work on the Bronco because of the rear-mounted spare tire. So…because it was cold outside…I used Mary’s living room to do a basic-assemble. That is…fit the pieces together without tightening the bolts.

I then took it out to the Bronco for a test fit. It’s going to fit…just missing the rear-mounted spare tire. If it wasn’t going to fit…that meant boxing the thing back up and returning it to the vendor. But…since it did fit…I brought the rack back into the house and tightened all the bolts. The fold-down action works by pulling the pin with the round finger-hole attachment. Today I’ll put it back on the Bronco with a bike attached and adjust the fold-down adjustment bolt which sets the degree of fold-down so that the bikes do not lay on the ground when you pull the pin.

As I have mentioned in numerous previous Blog entries…the road of life is a dusty and dirty one. The bicycles hanging on the back of either the motorhome or Bronco get very dirty. So to counter that element…we also bought a cover to put over the bikes. Here’s the box…

Hopefully this cover will help keep the bicycles cleaner. We’ll soon know if this new arrangement is going to work.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

More Low-Light Test Photos…

In yesterday’s Blog entry I posted six low-light test photos taken with my new Sony DSCHX5V Digital Camera. They were also the very first photos taken with this camera. Last evening at dusk Mary and I took another walk around our campground. Using the Anti-Blur low-light setting will allow us to take photos in museums where flash photography is not allowed. Here are ten more test photos…

This low-light setting on the camera is really interesting. When you take a photo…it actually takes six different photos at different exposure settings and the combines them into one final photo. Amazing technology!

In other news…

My other Sony camera which was sent to Sony for repair was returned to me yesterday. It was then returned by me to Amazon via UPS. The replacement/exchange process is now complete. The new camera seems to be working just fine.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

Slide-Up RV

Here’s another unusual RV…
http://weirdrvs.rvtravel.com/2010/07/no-slide-out-on-this-rv-just-slide-up.html

In other news…
My good friend Aaron who visited us the day before yesterday, returned yesterday for another couple of hours of chatting with me.

Mary took the Bronco and met her long-time friend Sandy from Tucson in Florence where they spent an enjoyable day together.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

The End Of A Very Pleasant Annual Event For Me!

Jim says:

Yesterday I got to visit with my good friends Horst and Margo Schneider who live here in Yuma, Arizona year-round.

Horst & Margo’s 2010 Christmas photo.

Horst is 90 and Margo is 89 and they are still full of life!

I first met them in 2006 when the Yuma Sun Newspaper did a full-page article about my 2004, 343 day,16,000+ mile RV trip through Mexico and Central America. Horst saw the article and asked the newspaper to have me contact him. He explained that he also was an author. They invited me to their home and we’ve been great friends ever since. The have led most interesting lives! The met as teenagers in pre-World War II Germany and have been together ever since.

Horst has written a book about their early years in pre-World War II Germany and how they came to arrive in the United States.

You can see all about it, in addition to his numerous poems and short stories, on his website at http://bookandpoems.com

You can listen to Horst read one of his 500 word short stories entitled “Sweet Cherries” by clicking this link…(It will only take a couple of minutes and you will enjoy it!)
http://five.bookandpoems.com/SWEET%20CHERRIES-A.HTML

Margo is also a very talented painter. Here’s just one sample…

Just one of Margo’s paintings in their home.

Last December I wrote a separate and more complete Blog entry about Horst’s book. Click this link to view that Blog entry…
http://blog.seattlepi.com/ramblinman/archives/189267.asp

During the last year life has started to change for them. Margo never did drive and for the first time Horst failed to pass his driver’s license examination. Not later than April 15th of next year they will be moving to their oldest daughter’s home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

A genuine sexy senior citizen!

Margo has an identical electric scooter except that it is red. What else?

Without a visit with Horst and Margo, my future visits to Yuma will just not be the same. I’ve promised them that Mary and I will visit them in Baton Rouge in 2013 on our next scheduled trip back to the east coast.

I sure hope I have that sparkle in my eye when I get to be their age! They rank at the very near top of the list of the finest people I’ve ever known in my life!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com