Memorial Day Remembered…Five Years Ago

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails South Jetty RV Resort in Florence, Oregon. I’ve been here several times before. I plan to depart from here June 5th. I’ll slow my pace and spend the rest of May and most of June along the Oregon coast. Then into the State of Washington for the summer.

Mary is dealing with her over-flowing to-do list plate which can only be handled by herself. I’m hoping she will be able to rejoin me sometime after July 4th.

During yesterday I remembered back to Memorial Day 2010…

Mary and I were in Connecticut visiting my son and his family. At the time my youngest grand-daughter Jaime was 9 years old and in the 4th grade.

She won first prize in her elementary school Veterans Day Essay Contest and got to read this prize-winner before the about 250 people attending the school’s Memorial Day assembly as the local VFW Commander looks over her shoulder…

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…

She was awarded a nice appreciation certificate from the VFW for these words…

Patriotism Today

You have served: you have died, for our country.

Bravery told YOU to go out on those battlefields.

YOU gave us freedom, independence, and history.

YOU sacrificed YOUR life for us.

Saving lives on the battlefields is the most amazing thing to me.

Every time I go to a ball game or at home,

I wear a hat, stand up and put that hat over my heart.

Friends tell me that taking my hat off at home is not important,

but I think it is.

In school, when we say The Pledge of Allegiance,

we celebrate what you have done for us.

“With Liberty and Justice for all”,

I think is the most important part of the pledge,

because you gave it to us.

That is all.

Pretty neat expressions for a nine-year old, fourth-grader. Way to go, Jaime!

If you love your freedom, thank a Veteran!

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Yesterday was cloudy/sunny and 63 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy/sunny and 59 degrees.

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

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity 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

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

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 would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrvzqm8-IKGdA

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

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

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2015

2010 Year In Review…

Jim says:

2010 was a great RVing year for me. Here’s some on the places I visited, things I did and people met along the way in the about 17,500 miles…

* Arizona
Yuma with a walk-in to San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora Mexico
Apache Junction
Old Tucson Film Studios in Tucson
Biosphere 2, in Oracle
Chiricahua National Monument deep in Apache Country for three days

* New Mexico
Deming with a walk-in to Palomas, Mexico

* Texas
Big Bend National Park for three days
Judge Roy Bean Museum in Langtry
National Museum of the World War II Pacific War Museum at Fredericksburg
Luckenback, population 3
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park at Stonewall

* Louisana
Fred’s Lounge in Eunice
Jean LaFitte National Preserve at Barataria
Mardi Gras in New Orleans for two weeks
Battle of New Orleans site at Chalmette
The mouth of the Mississippi River at Venice
Pilot Town, an island ten miles into the Gulf of Mexico
Bayou Terrbonne to Houma marshlands
Mandalay National Wildlife Preserve and Bayou Black Swamp tour
Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center at Thibodaux
Mr. Charlie Oil Rig Museum at Morgan City
The Oldest Rice Mill and Birthpace of Cajun Country at New Iberia
Tabasco factory and the Annual great Gator Race at New Iberia
Rice and Crawfish country in Crowley
Jean LaFitte Nation Historic Park at Lafayette
Martin Accordion Factory at Lafayette
Saints Football Team Parade at Opelousas
Historic Town of Washington
A visit at the home Greg Girard, famous Louisiana Author at Catahoula
The Great Atchafaylaya Swamp
Louisiana’s Angloa Maximum Security Prison 25 miles from St. Francisville
Civil War Battlefield at Port Hudson
State Capital Building at Baton Rouge
The Last Wilderness Ultimate Swamp Tour
Nottaway Plantation at White Castle
Laura Plantation at Vacherie
Bayou Segnette State Park at Westwego

* Mississippi
Beauvoir – Last Home Of Jefferson Davis, Biloxi,
U.S. Highway 90 and Hurricane Katrina Ground Zero damage area

* Florida
National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola for three days
Blue Angels Precision Flaying Team at Pensacola
Historical Museum at Pensacola
Fort Barrancas at Pensacola
Gulf Islands National Seashore

* South Carolina
A week-long visit with my friends Bob and Judy Michaud at Summerton
Santee National Wildlife Refuge at Summerton

* North Carolina
Asheville
Cherokee Indian Museum at Cherokee

* North Carolina and Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

* North Carolina and Virginia
Blue Ridge Parkway

* Virginia
Skyline drive
A visit with Mary’s stepdaughter and her family at Front Royal

* West Virginia
Harpers Ferry National Park

* Pennsylvania
Gettysburg National Military Historic Park
Hershey Chocolate Factory at Hershey
Dutch/Amish Country in Lancaster County
The Covered Bridge Tour of Lehigh County

* New Jersey
A visit with my friends Jim and Ginnie Palumbo in Wayne
Thomas Edison National Historical Park at west Orange
A visit with my cousin Simone and her husband Pat in Bergenfield

* Connecticut
A visit with my cousin Diane and her husband Bob at Hebron
A visit with my son Jim and his family at Ivoryton
Katherine Hepburn Museum at Old Saybrook
Nuclear Submarine Nautilus and U.S, Navy Submarine Museum at Groton
United States Coast Guard academy at New London
Ivoryton Playhouse and The Buddy Holly Story
The largest casino in the United States at Foxwood
Mystic Seaport
Amistad Exhibit at New London

* Rhode Island
Millionaire “Summer Cottages” at Newport

* Massachusetts
A visit with several different cousins and their families at New Bedford
Whaling Museum at New Bedford
The Island of Martha’s Vineyard for one week
Chappaquiddick Island
A week on Cape Cod including Hyannisport and Provincetown
Sandwich Glass Museum at Sandwich
A visit with old school friends at Revere
The first public beach in the United States at Revere
97th Annual Portuguese Feast/Festival
Lowell’s Boat Shop at Amesbury
Newburyport
Manchester
Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center and Fisherman’s Memorial
Rockport

* New Hampshire
Portsmouth

* New York
U. S. Army West Point Military Academy

* Michigan
Henry Ford Museum at Dearborn
Motown Music Museum and Ford F150 Pickup Assembly Plant Tour in Detroit

* Indiana
RV Museum at Elkhart
Fleetwood Motorhome Factory at Decatur
Workhorse Chassis Factory at Union City
Little Italy Festival in Clinton

* Nebraska
High Plains Museum at McCook

* Colorado
Rocky Mountain National Park
Museum of Northwest Colorado at Craig

* Nevada
National Automobile Museum at Reno

In addition those identified there were many other smaller museums, numerous restaurants and other experiences during the about 17,500 miles of 2010.
Whew! It was quite a year!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com