Wadsworth, Texas – Along The Colorado River Trail

Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 20 miles from Palacios, Texas to the Farm To Market Road 521 Colorado River Trail parking area along the Colorado River near Wadsworth, Texas where we spent last night. We are visiting with some folks who belong to the WIN (Wandering Individual Network), my ex-singles RV group of which I was a member from 1997 to 2007…my BM (before Mary) days. We’ll move on later this morning…

You may have noticed recently that we have been slowly moving north and as we follow the Texas Gulf of Mexico Coast…east. The reason is because on February 6th, we have reservations to enter Sam Houston Jones State Park at Lake Charles, Louisiana for a one-week stay while we enjoy Mardi Gras!

Here are some of the photos that I took. With the exception of the last photo who are WIN’s, all other people in the photos just happened to be fishing here along the 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…

Every afternoon afternoon at 4:00 PM, Win’s have a social gathering. Including Mary and myself, yesterday’s gathering had a total of eight travelers…

Meeting up with old friends is another joy of the full-time RVing lifestyle!!!

Here’s a Google Earth image of our location. The X marks our location…

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…(look closely on the Texas coast…)

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

Heron Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 79

The motorhome is still parked at Heron Lake State Park about 20 miles south of Chama, New Mexico.

I’ll be departing here tomorrow. Over the last few days I’ve prepped the vehicles to be back on the road again including topping off fluids, battery maintenance, topping of tire pressure and cleaning windows.

I’m finding I’m not fully recovered from the May 27 accident. I seem to tire easily…I don’t have the physical resiliency I once had. I seem to be moving at half my normal speed. I’m still wearing my elastic chest bandage, taking Ibuprofen and icing my rib cage area twice a day. Oh well, I’ve no choice but to live with the situation until things take care of themselves. Life still must go on. I’m glad I’m still around to enjoy it.

Lake Heron has an amazing number of widely varied sunrises, sunsets and cloud formations. I’ve got some really neat photos to share. I’ve already taken them and will finish them up over the next few days.

 While they are similar because of the momentary setting…they are all very different and unique. I hope you will open each one and enjoy their uniqueness. I particularly like to enjoy the colors and the shapes. Just like staring at a fire from moment to moment…you never see quite the same thing…

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 foggy mornings is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my new 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

OLD CHINA ON THE RIVER LI

We board our boat, that looks much like this one, for an 83 kilometer trip up the River Li. Ten thousand people a day tour this river to see mystical rock formations. The river bank is thick with blooming acacia; its fragrance fills the air. I would point out that both of these boats are in motion.

The vendor has hooked his boat to the tour boat and hands off  fresh vegetables and fish to the kitchen. The kitchens on these tour vessels are at the back of the boat in the open air.  We watch fascinated. The vendor is precariously balanced as he hands off his product.

The cook can be seen cutting up a chicken or duck.

The much vaunted rock formations everyone comes here to see are smooth, rounded hills and spears treasured for their mystical appearance and ever shrouded in mist.  I’ve seen professional aerial pictures of them that are beautiful, but I find my photos disappointing. They just don’t seem to have that same mystical effect. It doesn’t matter anyway, life along the Li is a glimpse of Old China and fascinates me.

The Dong people are known for their bamboo boats, houses and flutes. It looks like this boatman is offering a ferry service to get a bicycler and his package to the opposite bank. You can click on these photos to make them larger.

People live on their boats. The house boats we see are put together from whatever scrap can be  garnered.

Cows appear to be free ranging, but if you look closely, you will see their tether rope.

People carry heavy bundles. There is little mechanization.

They hand carry water up from the river the old way.

Water buffalo enjoy cooling off in the river. Notice the one with its head underwater; he is grazing.

Up he comes with a green morsel to eat.

These men have harvested and are preparing some type of green to sell. In China, everyone eats multiple types of greens.

A floating garden held up with oil cans. The bamboo fence and net protects the garden from ducks and flying birds.

People from the villages come down to the river to wash their clothes.

So many make their living from the river and work from their boats.

This fancy ferry boat has a motor. The boatman uses his petrol sparingly and prefers to paddle whenever possible.

We are passing a popular Chinese tourist area.

Everyone walks along the river.

The big draw here is an abandoned Yau village with beautiful 200-year-old buildings. People left here 120 years ago because they were persecuted and moved higher up the mountains.

Maybe the lucky ones are those who live on the river. We see villages of children watching and watering their water buffalo; dogs and pigs roam freely. Whole families living on sampans and all around the storybook shapes of the mystical hills.

 

CALAVERAS BIG TREES STATE PARK.

This recent family reunion was special to me since I met my second to youngest brother’s daughter and her family for the first time. (My brother died unexpectedly at age 50 in 2005.) They drove here from Colorado, where they’ve recently moved.   They lived most of their lives in Nome, Alaska. These are my brother’s grandchildren aged 10, 7 and 5, who  don’t like candy, and refuse most  sweets. They are unfamiliar with foods like artichokes, avocados; had never tasted  lemons and limes.  They ask if the fruit they are eating is a peach or an apricot. They had never eaten cherries and were amazed to find out that they are not all red as they are pictured in books. Insects we find normal everyday nuisances amaze them. In Nome they mostly hunt and fish and augment their diet from “The Safeway”.   They are staying with me until the 27th of July and I’ve been showing them around the Motherlode.

Our first stop was Calaveras Big Trees State Park. A huge pine tree had fallen through the kiosk and they were doing business outside under a canopy while the kiosk is under repair.  (A photo of a photo)  The incident happened about six weeks ago. Before we went,  I teased the kids and asked them to trace in the dirt the circumference of the biggest tree they had ever seen.

Their parents were as stunned to see the trees as the kids were who didn’t know what to expect.

The giants never fail to awe. They are sequoia giganteum and are the biggest trees on earth though not the tallest.  Sequoia sempirvirens, the “coast redwood”  grows a bit slimmer and taller.

Trying to count the rings would take all day, but the kids did learn that the biggest stump in the grove is over 1,200  years old. A hunter in the 1800’s discovered the big trees and went back to his camp and described them to the rest of the logging crew cutting timbers for the mines. They laughed at him and thought he was telling stories. He couldn’t get them to come out and see for themselves. So the next day of hunting, he came back to camp and said he killed a huge bear and needed help to haul it in.  When they got up a  couple of horses to carry the bear, they were introduced to the big trees and felt the same kind of awe we all do on a first visit.

They never fail to amaze and I’ve seen them many, many times.

To be able to walk through the hollowed core of a big tree is a pretty trippy experience.

After walking the grove, we drove down to the river picnic grounds and ate our lunch and went swimming. The way the kids described it was, “This is the best water I’ve ever seen.”  All enjoyed the great beauty of the park.

And, they are so right. Great beauty just fifteen miles from where I live. I’m glad to have visitors to inspire me to enjoy these massive giants that were here before Christ, and were alive when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Nome you may or may not know is quite flat,  drab and featureless until the snows fall.  Where they live in Colorado is also quite flat and desert-like, although driving through the state in the mountains, is to experience grand forests and scenic views. They have much to see and learn about this great country, as I do.  It’s why I travel.

FATHERS DAY

In the park, father’s were celebrating their special day by fishing.

A young daughter not quite sure she could see the point in it, stuck it out with her dad. It only takes one catch to make her a believer.

This dad told me he fishes with worms. He likes trout and trout like worms.  He called worms the “old-fashioned” bait.

Comparing this morning’s walk, with the one we took two days ago, was pretty amazing. Both sides of the river was lined with fishermen. Across from us, every 20  feet or so  sat a fisherman on a rock.

Catching  a rock is a problem.  He seemed unsure about how to get his hook unsnagged.  He needed the help of a dad or permission to get his shoes and pants wet.

How nice for a young boy to be  assisted by his “honorary grandfather.” The boy was excited and thrilled about  learning to fish.

These two anglers propped their poles in a V crotch so they didn’t have to hold them.  They looked a bit half-hearted about it. But, who am I to judge?

Now this guy is an entertainer. I think he entertained the fish right onto his line. He said, “Oh, if I’m gonna get my picture taken, I better take off my sunglasses.”  Which he did.

Within seconds he had his fish, and as I took more photos, he said:  “Okay, do I get royalties for my picture?  How about 60% for me and 40% for you since I did all the work?”  I told him absolutely a deal, because 60% of nothing is zero, just like 40% of nothing is zero.

He laughed and offered to give me his fish.  And, I would have taken it, too, but I had “clean out the refrigerator” soup and salad on the menu in  preparation for my returning home.  Jim has many talents but cooking isn’t one of them.

Enjoying the day was what it was all about, even if you are fishing with your sister who went back to camp for something. Dad was sleeping in.

“I’m waiting for my wife.  She is finishing a book she is reading. I come here every year.”

We enjoyed the stroll.  I had a fishing pole in the motor home and hadn’t used it in two years. Jim talked me into donating it to the VFW yard sale back in Ajo.  It has been hot but we are plugged in and have air conditioning.  My time has been spent organizing  stuff to go home. My Navajo horse blanket and Shaman Stick will have to wait for the motor home to make a stop in Murphys next year. And, I read two wonderful books over this week.  Sarah’s Quilt by Nancy Turner, which has been compared to Lonesome Dove. And A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini who also wrote Kite Runner. This book is better. I hope father’s everywhere enjoyed their special day.

NAVAJO LAKE STATE PARK

Navajo Lake State Park, NM, is remote, far from any big cities;  a real respite for campers and travelers.  Huge wild lands with a campground siding a soothing river and a second campground seven miles farther near the lake.  No water hookups, a few electrical hookups.  With our solar, we manage very well without electricity as long as the sun keeps shining.  We like the luxury of electric when it is available.

I don’t believe cottonwood trees are native to the area;  they grow prolifically and get huge and beautiful.  Perfect for a campground except their propensity to crack and break in rough weather.

They are blooming and shedding at this time of year. The fluff flies everywhere and makes great nesting material for birds. Pretty, too.

Like most rivers, it dips and spreads; makes little islands. Anglers cast  in the shallows.

Near this friendly swimming hole, evidence of children having painted mud  petroglphys on a rock made us smile.

The trail is an easy walk through the brush and trees with nothing but a few lizards, ants and cottontails for company.

I talked to this man from Santa Fe. He told me he and his wife each caught two pan-sized trout yesterday, but his wife wanted to sleep in this morning.  We saw stream-side evidence of people using (fake) salmon eggs for bait. He claims he gets better luck with worms. And, he doesn’t care whether he catches a fish or not. He just enjoys being out and enjoying the river.  I like that  philosophy.

I spent most of the day packing a my suitcase with my art work “stuff” that I never work with while on the road.  All the best intentions set aside; there just isn’t enough time where I have space to work. I had a bag full of books that I didn’t want to discard.  And, remember those souvenirs of New Mexico for the totem? Two old hub caps from Route 66? Jim laughed, but  I got them in my suitcase.

A restful day.  We took an evening stroll, too, and I got a picture of these two cottontails.

 

And we had a colorful sunset, the first in  a long while.