CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA
May 19, 2013
We arrived in Clarksburg, W. Virginia, a busy city with lots of hilly areas and one way streets- no streets made for a wide bodied motor home. We had two other options, The Elks and the Eagles. We never did find them but the VFW appeared to have a huge parking area. When Jim pulled between the narrow yellow stanchions to enter their lot, I held my breath. The Commander happened to be sitting on the porch. He told me later he was sure he wouldn’t be able to get that rig in. The VFW parking lot is miniscule. But, it was Saturday and you can see us parked in a bank’s lot that runs right next to the VFW building. The commander assured us we would be okay for the weekend. 
This old cannon has an interesting history, as does the post. Here they accept “Guest Members”, the first time we’d heard the term. We had lunch at the VFW, a gulllinos sandwich for me. I always like to try a local specialty and it was stir fried hot peppers and onion with melted cheese, and a beef patty onTexas toast, which turned out to be the first sour dough bread I’ve had since I left California. I asked her to substitute a chicken breast for the beef patty and she did. I don’t know where they got the name, but the sandwich was excellent.
The forecast was rain. While it was still overcast, we took a walk around a four block area and just took some pictures. This lovely church with the bells, we heard play music at 5:00 while we were reading.
Other lovely churches with stained glass windows. No longer open like the refuges of the 1950′s where you could walk into any church. They were always open 24 hours a day.
Would have liked to have a look inside.
Built in 1863. The plaque says, The Lord Is In His Temple.
You can get a sense of the beautiful glass.
And old town; there was a cemetery that looked interesting as we came into town. Stopping with the rig is not always an option.
.
An old empty theater, a broken window, looking sadly uncared for.
A beauty of a building that looks worth saving. A woman I spoke to on the street, when I asked her what there is to do in Clarksburg replied, “Walmart went in a few miles down the road and sucked the life out of this city. So many local shops closed, it is not a place you want to live anymore.” I was stunned to hear that condemnation for a city of this size. The population is 16,798 from the 2010 census.
There are some signs of degradation, closed up buildings, for rent signs on storefronts.
Graffiti.
This is not the kind of beauty shop I would choose.
You don’t hear or see much about the International Order of Odd Fellows. The historic sign has been retained. The building now houses a couple of shops on the ground level.
Fire escapes up the side of an old building, a rare sight for westerners along with the narrow streets and alleys.
We made it back to the motor home just before the rain started. It cooled off and we spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing.
The City has beautiful buildings, and cities have been known to reinvent themselves. I’m sure Clarksburg will survive to see another economic upturn. I wish we could have spent another day here to look it over, but it was nice to have a day of relaxation, too.
Port Isabel & South Padre Island, Texas
January 11, 2013
Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 50 miles from Harlingen to Port Isabel, Texas.
We spent the night parked at Wal-Mart in Port Isabel because of its convenient location. Parked at the far edge of the parking lot made for a relatively quiet night’s sleep. We’ll move on this morning to Brownsville about 25 miles distant..
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…
As always, i like to show the view from the dining room window…
It ended up being a full day exploring the local area. The Google Earth image below shows Port Isabel as PI and South Padre Island as SPI. The Rio Grande River enters the Gulf of Mexico from the lower left…
Because I took so many photos yesterday…in this Blog entry I’m going to show you only a couple from each location. To see the rest of the photos you will have to click the provided Picasa Web Album link.
First stop of the day was at the Port Isabel Historical Museum…
To see the other 18 photo I took at the Port Isabel Historical Museum, click this Picasa Web Album link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/PortIsabelHistoricalMuseumTexas
The second stop od the day was at the Treasures Of The Gulf Museum…
To see the other 21 photos I took at this museum, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/TreasuresOfTheGulfMuseumPortIsabelTexas
Third stop was at the Port Isabel Lighthouse which provided a nice view of South Padre Island…
To see the other 7 photos, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/PortIsabelLighthouseTexas
A combination ticket to all three museums for seniors was only $5, You can read about theses museums by clicking their website link…
http://portisabelmuseums.com/mopi/
After the lighthouse it was time for a late lunch at Joe’s Oyster House…
Where we both had…naturally…the delicious grilled shrimp plate for $8.95…
Now it was time to cross the Queen Isabela Causeway to South Padre Island. Here’s an aerial view I picked off of Google Earth…
You can read all about South Padre Island by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Padre_Island,_Texas
First stop was at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center…
To see the other 23 photos, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/SouthPadreIslandBirdingNatureCenterTexas
You can read all about this place by clicking their website link…
http://spibirding.com/
Then we drove “up Island” to see the beaches…
To see the other 5 photos, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/SouthPadreIslandTexas
Enjoying beautiful area locations is another joy of the full-time Rving lifestyle!!!
The red dot on the below map shows our 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
Albuquerque, New Mexico – Day 4
October 17, 2012
Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.
I’m still in Albuquerque making preparations to depart the area. For the last few months I’ve been in rather remote northern New Mexico. Albuquerque is the largest city in the state and the only location where certain things are available.
Yesterday morning I departed the Sandia Casino where I had spent the previous night and headed downtown about 10 miles distant, The first stop was to get the RV washed. It had not been washed since January and really needed it. I pulled into the huge truck stop near where two major Interstate Highways (40 and 25) intersect. The facility where they wash the huge 18 wheel tractor trailers made the RV look rather small…
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…
One half-hour and $50 later the RV and Bronco were once again nice and clean. Next was a two-hour, $300 stop at Costco groceries and gas. I paid the lowest price for gas ($3.46.9) than in the last few months.
Then I needed to decide where to spend the night. It’s been a long time since I overnighted at a Wal-Mart, but this one has a really convenient location and a really large parking lot. I got way over in the back adjacent to a side street with little traffic. With a roving Wal Mart security car, I enjoyed a peaceful night’s sleep.
I always like to show a photo out of the dinette widow of the RV wherever I park overnight. This view is of a high school across from a little used side street…
Today it’s finish my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, then to then local Workhorse Chassis dealer to to have the RV ABS light re-cycled. If I’m finished by 2:00 PM I depart Albuquerque, if not I’ll spend one more night here.
My next planned stop is at Santa Rosa Lake State Park about 100 miles east of Albuquerque. The consensus of opinion seems to be that there is about a six degree difference in temperature for every 1,000 feet of elevation. I need to maintain a degree of awareness about this fact. Here’s why. My last night in Santa Fe at 7,000 feet only four days ago was 29 degrees. Brrr! Albuquerque has an average elevation of 5,200 feet of elevation and it was 76 degrees here yesterday. I spent about three weeks here in Albuquerque last spring and explored it quite thoroughly so I need to move on.
When you head east from Albuquerque you start leaving the Rocky Mountain chain and begin heading for the plains. Go too fast too means excessive elevation drop means hotter temperatures. Santa Rosa Lake elevation is 4,800 feet and the weekend forecast is for the low 80′s…getting kind of warm again! That’s why a traveler needs to pay attention to elevation.
Enjoying the freedom to decide when to get back on the road 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
Albuquerque, New Mexico – Day 3
October 16, 2012
Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.
The motorhomes is still parked at the Sandia Casino about 10 miles north of Albuquerque. I plan to move to another section of Albuquerque this morning.
Yesterday was a routine business day, I drove the Bronco the about 10 miles into Albuquerque to get a new prescription medicine for my occasionally returning sinus infection at the VA Hospital, refurbished my reading supply at the only good used book store I’ve been able to find in New Mexico, lunch at VFW Post #401, a stop at Wells Fargo Bank, a brief stop at Wal-Mart for nasal spray and the last stop was at a UPS Store to ship Mary’s shaman stick to her.
It’s a clumsy awkward device that has been in my way since she bought it more than four months ago and she’s happy I finally found a way to get it to her in California. Here’s the Blog entry link that describes the hilarious event. Don’t miss it…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4LA
In yesterday’s poll, about 70% preferred the regular photo mode. I took the following photos from a small rise adjacent to the casino parking lot at about 7:15 PM…
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 beautiful evenings is another joy in the RVing lifestyle!
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
RVing Theory Of Relativity
April 25, 2012
In the last two Blog entries I’ve discussed the process associated with finding a good parking place in a new-to-you large city area. Three days ago I arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico…a large city approaching 900,000 which I’ve not visited before.
Therefore, in a parking place, I was looking for the following items…all relative to each other…
* a location relatively convenient to the only garage that could work on my ABS which stayed lit,
* a location relatively convenient to the airport where I’ll soon meet Mary,
* a location relatively level,
* a location relatively safe,
* a location relatively quiet,
* a location relatively clean.
With these several factors there’s always some give-and-take relative to each other.
I finally ended up at VFW Post #401 which is located in an industrial business park which has locked security gates from 8:00 PM to 7:00 AM. It provides a nice feeling of security in the very large 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...
However in yesterday’s Blog entry I indicated that all was not Ideal…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4im
Those relatively minor items were cured when I discovered an electrical outlet on the end of the building. I negotiated a fair fee for this electrical connection which cured the following items…
* I now have use of my motorhome air-conditioner to provide relief from the near-record high temperatures currently being experienced here,
* While the air conditioner is running it blocks all exterior city noises.
The noisy “musicians” I complained about did not “practice” last night…maybe the 87 degrees yesterday had some thing to do with that. This next photo is from the dinette window and looks at the storage area where they were practicing…
In this location, I’m only (the way the crow flies…presumably in a straight line)…
* 0.71 miles from the airport terminal,
* 0.57 miles from a laundromat,
* 3.3 miles from an RV dump station,
* 1.8 miles from a Wal-mart Supercenter for grocery shopping,
* 4.9 miles from Costco for more grocery shopping,
* 5.2 miles from the motorhome garage.
* within 10 miles of all major attractions we will want to visit while here
In addition to the locked security gates, the area is very well-lighted at night…
It took a little while, but “relatively” speaking this locations suits our needs very well.
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust
Dougles, Arizona (five Blogs for the price of one!)
March 5, 2012
Our motorhome home is still parked at Belle Starr’s Silverado Ranch…13 miles west of Douglas, Arizona.
Yesterday was a busy day for us. So today you get five Blog entries for the price of one!
Blog #1 – John Slaughter Ranch
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a cattle baron in Arizona in the late 1800′s? We did…so we went to find out.
To read all about the Slaughter Ranch, click this link…
http://www.slaughterranch.com
First we drove the 13 miles to Douglas, Arizona. Then we continued on this dirt road for another 16 miles. Since we were so close to the Mexico Border…we saw a Border Patrol vehicle about every one mile along the way…
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 a Google Earth image of the ranch house area where we visited.The Mexican Border is only 600 feet away…
Here are five other photos. Whenever you can see a brown-poled fence…that’s the Mexico Border…
To see the other 43 photos that I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/JohnSlaughterRanch
We spent a very enjoyable 2.5 hours wandering the grounds.
Then we once again drove the 16 dusty miles back to Douglas, Arizona for…
Blog #2 – The Gadsden Hotel
To read about the Gadsden Hotel, click this link…
http://hotelgadsden.com/
Here are some photos that I took….
To see the other 22 photos that I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/TheGadsdenHotelDouglasArizona
We spent an enjoyable hour wandering the hotel and eating lunch in their fancy dining room.
Then a few blocks away to
Blog #3 – It’s The Only Place In The World That You Will See this!
At least according to the visitors brochure for Douglas, Arizona. Church Square is the only block in the World that has a church on each corner! Here’s a Google Earth view…
E is for Episcopalian……
B is for Baptist…
M is for Methodist…
P is for Presbyterian…
It’s always fun to see a one in the world thing!
Then a few blocks to…
Blog #4 – The Big Disappointment…
In 2004, at the end on my 16,000+ mile RV trip through Mexico and Central America…we re-entered the United States at Douglas, Arizona. We went to the local Safeway to shop for groceries and quite by accident parked under the Safeway sign which we took as a blessing that we had managed such a long journey without any major mishaps and returned safely to the United States. We asked a passing woman to take our photo…
Since we plan to depart Douglas tomorrow morning…I thought it would be fun to park our current motorhome under the Safeway sign and take a similar photo. But surprise…the sign and Safeway are gone! Something that was not there in 2004, across the street, A WalMart SuperCemter, has apparently run them out of business. So much for nostalgia!.
Here’s an interesting aside. The way the crow flies…presumably in a straight line…it’s a little more than 2,500 miles to Portebello, Panama…the furthest southern point reached during our journey. By road the most direct route…add about another 1,000 miles. Here’s a Google Earth image to give you some perspective…
Then just five blocks away to…
Blog #5 – Agua Prienta, Sonora, Mexico...
Mary wanted to add to her list of border crossings into Mexico. So we walked across the border and down a few blocks of the main drag and we were back in the United States in 25 minutes. Not much going on a Sunday afternoon in this rather lackluster border town. Here are some photos that I took…
Another full and fun day in the RVing lifestyle!
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust
I Buy A New Computer…
August 2, 2011
My Toshiba Satellite computer is 6.5 years old…a dependable workhorse…that was showing signs of getting tired. Since I recently installed the 4G modem and router in the motorhome…the cpu would occasionally load up to 100% capacity…locking up the computer and requiring a re-boot to be functional once again. In addition the brightness on the screen was showing signs of diminishing with age and trying to brighten it up via the control panel had little effect. So…I began considering a new computer. Here’s old dependable…
But I really loved my Windows XP operating system and hated the idea of parting with it…but facts are facts…nothing lasts forever and change appears to be the only constant in life. I hate the Windows Vista operating system (which Mary has on her computer and loves) and now that Windows 7 is here…it appeared it was time to go ahead and take the leap.
Last Friday while in town I needed to stop at Wal-Mart and while there stopped by to look at computers. They did not have many on display…perhaps 12…but one of them happened to be the Sony Vaio VPCEH11FX…a very nicely designed unit. Wal-Mart price $499.
Next I decided to stop at the nearby Best Buy store where I was likely to see more computers on display. I immediately zeroed in on the Toshiba Satellite’s…when all of a sudden….there it was again…the Same Sony I saw at Wal-Mart…only at Best Buy the price was $479.
I tend not to be an impulsive buyer…so I didn’t buy it…then. Instead I returned to the motorhome and fired up old dependable…to begin my research of the Sony computer. I’m an ex-engineer…I just cannot help myself…I need to feel comfortable about what I am buying. Several hours later over the next couple of days…the research was completed and I was ready to buy.
Part of what my research revealed is that all companies online are selling this computer for $549…all except Amazon…who usually has the lowest prices…was selling it for $599. I never thought Best Buy would have the best price…I thought they would be the highest. But in this case they were the Best Buy!
So, yesterday back I went to Best Buy and did the deed. Here’s the Best Buy page on this computer…
Here are two photos from the Best Buy website…
If you are interested… here is a short video review of the computer in white…I bought black…
One of my decision-making factors was that Geeks On Tour…RVing computer experts (husband and wife) who travel the country teaching RVers about computers…both own Sony Vaio computers and speak very highly of them. Here’s their website link…
http://geeksontour.com/
Another deciding factor is that I’m a quasi-Sony fan having owned a number Sony items over the years. Last week I just bought a new Sony digital camera. Being an ex- quality control engineer I’ve alway associated the Sony name with quality.
When I went back to Best Buy yesterday,,,I went to look for the Sony computer,,,and couldn’t find it by looking for a $479 price tag. I asked a sales associate where was the Sony compter? We looked together and found it…at a new price of $449. The price dropped $30 over the weekend. So the moral of this story is…it pays to do your homework. In this case…knowledge that it was the right computer to buy…plus a $30 price reduction, Such a deal!
And so I now start the process of learning a new computer, operating system (Windows 7) and the transferring all of my files from the old to new computer. Here’s a photo showing my transfer station with the new computer on the left and old dependable on the right… making it easy to sit before both computers as necessary…
For your techies…the new computer has an Intel Pentium B940 Processor which just came out in June of 2011, 4GB Ram, 500 GB hard drive and a 15.5 inch screen. More than enough computer for my purposes.
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust
Last Night I Lost My Cherry-oke!
April 2, 2011
I left Manteca, California yesterday morning and drove about 50 miles to arrive in Sacramento not knowing where I would be parked for the night.
When I’m approaching a city/town with which I am not familiar, I get on Google Earth to seek out possible places to park such as American Legion, VFW, Eagles and Moose Clubs, sometimes even a Wal-Mart. All I’m really looking for is a spot that is relatively flat, safe and quiet. Since our motorhome has a solar panel, I really do not need an electrical hook-up as we get our electricity from the sun.
Approaching a larger city like Sacramento is a little more difficult because as the population intensity increases, property prices increases, which usually means parking lot size decreases. Such was the case here. There seemed not many choices in this part of the city. My first prospect was VFW Post #1267.
Google Earth allows me to zoom down on their parking lot to evaluate how well it might accommodate the size of the motorhome and the Bronco of which the total length is 46 feet. Hmmmm…it didn’t look very promising…
Since it was my first potential I decided to swing into the parking lot to check it out. I ended up getting permission to park from the post commander as shown by the yellow line. And am I ever glad I stopped here!
At this point I must tell you that In my many years of Rving that I have stayed overnight in hundreds of similar places. Usually people are friendly wherever I stop. But this place is the friendliest place of everywhere I’ve experienced! Only about 30 people were there, but each and every one of them noticing a strange face (me) came over and introduced themselves and welcomed me to their post. Now that’s something that has never happened to me before!
At 4:30 PM during happy hour I went in for a drink. Only a few folks so I left deciding to come back for the karaoke at 7:00 PM. That’s when all the friendly folks approached. Scotty was the karaoke DJ (the guy in the cowboy hat) and he did an excellent job. Everyone here liked my favorite kind of music,,,classic country from the 60′s 70′s and 80′s…all right! One thing I noticed was that EVERYONE sang including the bartender.
Sure enough folks were soon asking me if I sang and I told them I had never sang karaoke before. Sure enough Scotty urged my to lose my cherry-oke, his term for losing one’s virginity to singing in public. I had had just enough to drink…so how could I refuse?
Are you ready to see me lose my cherry-oke? What song did I decide to sing? If you’ve got the courage, click this link…
I got to thinking this morning, how appropriate it was to lose one’s cherry on April Fool’s Day!
My only disappointment was that my life-partner Mary wasn’t here to share the occasion with me at this very friendly place. I’ll just have to make sure I get her here on a Friday night (karaoke night) sometime soon.
I’ll spend one more night here before moving on tomorrow morning. In case you are wondering…there’s no karaoke on Saturday night, but all my good friends will be there!
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust
Reno, Nevada – Day 4
September 23, 2010
Jim says:
Yesterday Mary visited the Nevada Museum of Art while I visited with my good friend Randy and read. Upon her return, we went to Costco and Wal-Mart to do some shopping.
The day before after visiting the National Automobile Museum, Randy and I walked along Virginia Street and I snapped this photo…
Mary wanted to return after dark to take pictures of the neon signs. I drove while she hung out of the Bronco’s passenger widow taking her photos. I managed to get the three photos…remember the proper technique for night photography is to use a tripod…not driving down a street at night…
Our visit to Reno is now over. My only previous visit here was stopping for one night on my way to California back in 1979. My only real impression is that it is a very small and older version of Las Vegas. I have no interest in gambling our variety shows as offered by these cities, so neither city holds much interest for me.
Today we will drive the motorhome to Davis, California so that Mary can pick up her car from her youngest daughter…then we’ll both continue our trip in separate vehicles to Mary’s home in Murphys, California.
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at
http://www.lulu.com
Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.
Summerton, South Carolina
April 25, 2010
Jim says:
Yesterday I drove about 150 miles from Statesboro, Georgia to my friend’s Bob and Judy’s in Summerton, South Carolina. To testify as to the back roads on which I drove during the last three days…in over 500 miles I did not see a WalMart…how about that?
I drove yesterday’s about 150 miles all on U.S. Highway 301.
Here I am safely parked in Bob and Judy”s yard.
I’m plugged into electricity and expect to be here another week. Weather today was lower 80′s, overcast, light rain and lower humidity. The Weather Wimp (that’s me) was a lot happier than yesterday.
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com
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