Semiahmoo Spit – Blaine, Washington

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Birch Bay RV Resort in Blaine, Washington. This location marks the furthest northern most point of our planned 2014 travels. I’ve been here several times over the years and always enjoy the area. Our departure date is set at August 12th.

Last Saturday I drove the Bronco the 5 miles to Semiahmoo Spit so we could do some photography. The below Google earth image shows the location of the spit…

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 are a few of my photos. At one time the building in the background was the largest salmon cannery in the world…

Lots of seagulls around…

The tall ships were in the area for the weekend…

Crew members in the rigging…

A replica miniature tug boat…

To see the other 15 photos that I took, click this link…

Semiahmoo Spit – Blaine, Washington

To read about today’s location, click this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiahmoo_Spit

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Yesterday was a sunny at 79 degrees. Forecast for today is sunny and 80 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather 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 Washington. 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

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 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

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 2014

The Waterfront At Olympia, Washington

The motorhome is parked at Millersylvania State Park about 10 miles south of Olympia, Washington. I lived in Olympia from 1980 to 1995 and will visit with old friends while in the area. My scheduled departure date is June 24th.

Mary is at home tending to personal matters…home maintenance, family, friends, rentals, etc..  She has made her flight reservations to meet me July 29th in Bellingham, Washington.

Yesterday I took a walk along the waterfront at Olympia, Washington. The boardwalk is part of Percival Landing which you can read about by clicking this link…http://olympiawa.gov/community/parks/percival-landing.aspx

The two below Google Earth images show the general area. Olympia is located at the most southerly point of Puget Sound on Budd Bay…

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…

In this next view I’ve outlined in red where I walked to take today’s photos…

Here are some of the photos that I took. First a 180 degree panorama…

You can read all about this 100-year-old tug boat by clicking this link…http://www.tugsandman.org/

Looking north…

I could not resist a watercolor photo…

The covered boat slips can be seen on the right…

There are a couple of houseboats…

Atop the observation tower looking north into Budd Bay. If there were no clouds on the horizon, the Olympic Mountains can be seen. Large freight ships tie up along this dock occasionally…

From the observation tower looking south the state capital building can be seen atop the rise…

To see the other 20 photos that I took, you will need to CLICK ON THE BELOW PHOTO. ONCE YOU ARRIVE AT THE PHOTO ALBUM, SIMPLY CLICK “SLIDESHOW” AND ENJOY!

The Waterfront At Olympia, Washington

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Yesterday was a sunny day at 69 degrees. Forecast for today is sunny and 73 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather 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 Was. 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

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 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

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 2014

A GLASS MUSEUM AND TO MASSAPOISETT

A glass couple relaxing in glass chairs in front of a bookcase of glass books is an unusual piece for any museum, but a perfect fit for the new glass museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts Located at 61 Wamsutta St. A bit hard to find,  it shares an entrance with a wonderful antique store and is well worth the time to find it.

I will parade for you some pieces I found particularly beautiful, and/or unusual like this golden fruit bowl.

A blue plate.

A hand-painted pitcher with gold accents.

A painted vase.

Clear and colored glass mixed in the same piece.

A goblet you wouldn’t drink from. So why make it so?  There is something so appealing about seeing light through prisms of cut glass whether colored or clear. All glass lovers will know what I’m talking about.

I haven’t room nor money to assemble a collection of pieces like these, so I collect pictures of beautiful items.

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And, again, the unusual, a crystal chair with red cushions and arm rests. The makers did it just to prove you could, but it caught the eye of an Eastern buyer and they became popular sellers to wealthy estate owners from India and Asia.

When this piece was donated to the museum, the owners said it was a fountain but they could never get it to work. The curator here figured it out and you can go to the New Bedford Glass Museum website and see it work.

Some glass ware was made in the 1800’s with bits of uranium when no one knew of its danger. Here it is contained in a case with black lights showing how it glows. One glass expert explained to us that people in those days when they discovered this glowing property made it into  paint for clock hands. The women who painted the hands would lick the brush because saliva added a sticky quality to the paint, not knowing they got sick and died from the practice as did the glass workers making the glass.

They own a huge collection of uranium ware, this case plus another.

They have unusual art pieces like this iridescent glass painting that changes color and hue with the light.

The same painting now half in shadow by holding a magazine above it.

Isn’t this glass spider perfect?

It looks like this glass has been welded together.

The museum has many glass maker’s tools and shows the process of glass making. The lid above is shown with it’s wooden mold.

From the wooden mold, a plaster of paris mold is made. A metal mold is made from the plaster before the molten glass can be poured into it.

This gun is blown glass where it is blown into the mold. These were cheap pieces filled with candy and sealed with paper. I remember miniatures like these filled with candy when I was a kid.

Of course, most glass made was utilitarian like this light globe.

And before the light bulb was invented, whale oil lamps lit up the dark.

Kids played with glass marbles.

Glass perfume bottles came in many shapes. Donna, Jim and I enjoyed the museum while Bob taught a morning class. If you want to see a slideshow of many more pictures, click the link below:

https://picasaweb.google.com/106530979158681190260/201381GlassMuseumNewBdfrd

After lunch, Bob returned and we all headed out to Massapoisett where Bob’s sons both live and were raised. His oldest son, Danny has a beautiful daughter just graduated from High School and headed off to college.

Marissa was the only one home when we arrived for our visit. She got us each a bottle of water and asked about our travels.

For an 18 year old, she has done a good bit of traveling herself. She has hiked in the Grand Canyon, she went to France and climbed the Eifel Tower. She has met some famous people and appeared on television. She recently went camping for the first time where it was necessary to sleep on the ground on a tarp with a mattress pad and a sleeping bag. This is her wall of accomplishments.
Her grandparents, Bob and Donna Parker, are very proud of her.

She excells at competitions that involve the blind. Here she is pictured after winning the Braille contest. She and Helen Keller have a lot of personality in common.

After or visit, Bob gave us a tour of the community of Massapoisett where he lived for many years.

This is his son’s boat. He loves the water, the area, the boats, clamming, fishing. In fact, when he lived and taught school here, he volunteered as a shellfish warden. He loved the job because he was often rewarded with a bucket of quahogs.

Like Murphys, it has a major hotel.

Years ago, people built their summer cabins here.

Now those cabins are being replaced by million-dollar mansions.

Bob took us to see all of his old haunts and then we had dinner at the Chowder House.

A perfect day with lovely weather much appreciated as I type and look at pouring rain through my window this morning.

Ivoryton, Connecticut – Day 27

The motorhome is parked at my son’s home where I’m expected to remain until July 17th visiting with my family.

Mary is back at  her home in California readying for a family reunion. She has a tentative return-to-me-date of July 16th.

My Verizon account recycles at midnight tonight and I’m closing in on my GB limit so photos will be few until then.

In the last two days, i introduced to you the Village of Essex less than five miles from my son’s home.

Here is the official link…
http://www.essexct.com/uniquely_essex.php

The below three images are of photos of photos of Essex on the Connecticut River that I took in the Connecticut River Museum a few days back…

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 Essex by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex,_CT

More photos to follow…

Enjoying historical places is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Connecticut. 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 11

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 I drove the Bronco the about two miles to the Historic Natchez Foundation building located at 108 Commerce Street where their motto is…Keeping Natchez the place you can always come home to…

Executive Director Mimi Miller and her able assistant Patricia Catchings graciously allowed me access to their photographic archives. I told them I was particularly interested in that area known as Natchez Under The Hill…along the Mississippi River waterfront.

It was once a den of iniquity and notorious section of Natchez as described in this historical link…
http://www.visitnatchez.com/custom/webpage2.cfm?content=News&id=96&Cat=NatchezUnderTheHill

Several other short stories of what life in Natchez Under The Hill was like can be read by clicking this link…
http://www.visitnatchez.com/custom/webpage2.cfm?content=Articles&cat=NatchezUnderTheHill

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…

The Historic Natchez Foundation building…

Since all of today’s photos are all my photos of their very old black and white photos…I turned these two T-shirts I saw in a novelty shop into black and white…

All of the below photos were chosen by me because they either show Natchez Under The Hill or the waters of the Mississippi River as they once were…

I just love these precious old black and white photos of days gone forever. Little of the original Natchez Under The Hill remains  today as documented in my second Natchez Blog entry which you can read by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-7rN

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

LOOKING BACK

We like it here in Port Arthur at the American Legion so much, we stayed an extra day and just lazed around. I’m reading a Mary Higgins Clark mystery and played with picture files most of the day. I have to qualify my book. I enjoyed her early books and then at some point she got sloppy and so formulaic you could guess the ending in the first five chapters. I quit reading her books.Recently,  I picked up another, Night Time Is My Time and hey, she has redeemed herself. I get in the mood for mystery and true crime books. But, so far, Ann Rule is the best true crime writer. My recent favorite books? None are genre books. Night Whispers by Judith McNaught, Before Women Had Wings, by Connie May Fowler, Fortune’s Rocks, by Anita Shreve.

Looking back at pictures over the past few weeks, I’ll just post them willy- nilly. But first, let me warn you :

I KNOW YOU wouldn’t.

A beautiful sculpture of a local hero at Rockport.

Jim taking pictures on the streets of Galveston.

Remember the Naked Mermaid store?  Well, they weren’t ALL naked.

I think this mermaid is drunk. I call her the floozie mermaid.

Getting ready for Mardi Gras in Galveston.

Quite a catch. These were caught with a rod and reel, when sport fishing was really a sport. It isn’t against the law here in Texas to pull your pick-up truck next to the river, turn on a big spotlight and shine it into the water, and net the fish up that are attracted to the light. Night fishing or frogging in every state I’ve lived in is not allowed, it puts the critter at such a disadvantage. Can’t call it sportsman-like. It is slaughter.

Another photo of the great Miss Joplin from The Gulf Coast Museum.

And exquisite glass pieces too.

Beautiful, aren’t they?

The way I look at it is this:   I can’t afford beautiful glass like this. But, I can collect pictures of beautiful objects and keep them forever to look at and enjoy again and again.

I have a hard time to fathom the skill and technique it must take to create these pieces. There is a need for those of us who can only appreciate such beauty.

These tiny birds are not magnificent long-billed water birds, but cute little common street birds. I think I must like all birds, even the pesty jays, woodpeckers and crows.

Indelible impressions of the Texas Gulf Coast are the many boats at many marinas. The shimmering shadows in water, the blue, white, and gray colors.  Lovely.

The black gold that put Texas on forefront of the economy.

This is a common practice to honor an artist who has died. Her paint brushes in the back of a turtle sculpture.

So, this is Texas. This morning, the Commander of the American Legion Post we are about to leave, invited us in for omelets with he and his wife and dog. Bar none. The friendliest post we’ve ever been to. What a way to end our stay here. Unforgettable. We will unload in Louisiana by the end of the day. Goodbye Texas, for now.