North Dartmouth, Massachusetts Day 6 (GA569)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Shady Acres RV Park in Yuma, Arizona. I may be here until March 4th.

 

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted August 4, 2013…

 

 

 

 

The motorhome is parked at my cousin Bob’s and his wife Donna’s home at North Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

 

 

Yesterday was a finally decent day. With a light cloud cover the high temperature was 72 degrees with 69% humidity. Still too humid for my liking.

 

 

Yesterday Bob, Donna, Mary and I drove the about five miles to New Bedford, Massachusetts to attend the 99th Annual Feast Of The Blessed Sacrament aka Portuguese Festival. We attended this event during our 2010 visit to this area and Mary enjoyed it so much, she insisted that we do it again. So we did! 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…

 

 

 

 

 

First thing, we headed for the barbecue area where lots of folks were already at it…

 

 

 

 

 

Then Donna and Mary started on ours. The skewers are about seven feet long…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This monkey watched in amusement as Donna and Mary worked…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, they are done and show off their handiwork…

 

 

 

 

 

Now over to the barbecue area…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To get the fixings off of the hot skewer, my cousin Bob inserted it on to a stainless steel V and pulled…

 

 

 

 

 

While Mary collected the fixings into containers…

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s my portion…

 

 

 

 

 

Time to eat…

 

 

 

 

 

This 19-year-old Portuguese girl serves up $8 (each cup $4) worth of Budweiser beer…

 

 

 

 

 

Mary prefers the dark craft beers. She calls my Miller lite that I drink “horse piss”. This photo captures her with her “horse piss”…

 

 

 

 

 

Donna and her sexy sunglasses…

 

 

 

 

 

Some feast goers wear traditional hats. Medeira is an island off of the coast of Portugal where many of the early New Bedford fishermen came from…

 

 

 

 

 

A very young Portuguese girl…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another style of hat…

 

 

 

 

 

We shared this spicy bean dish…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary telling me how much fun she is having…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our meal we wandered around a bit. None of us rode the rides…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love photographing reflections…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of dealing in cash to buy things, you buy a ticket for $1 each. A beer is four tickets…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wandered through a nearby museum…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived early at the entertainment area to have front row seats…

 

 

 

 

 

Mary enjoys her 3 ticket Madeira Wine. For that price for so little amount…I hope it was good…

 

 

 

 

 

A young Portuguese boy came by to light the candle at our table…

 

 

 

 

 

Finally the entertainment started…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made some videos to give you a flavor of the entertainment. You can see them by clicking the below links…

http://youtu.be/gOUWHSbHAM4

http://youtu.be/-_IYOQBOTN0

http://youtu.be/u81irUqmQ9Q

 

 

Enjoying visiting with relatives and friends 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 Massachusetts. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/new-bedfords-portuguese-festa/

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is sunny and 59 degrees.

 

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

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

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/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 works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

The Fading Cajun Culture…

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

The motorhome is parked at Shady Acres RV Park in Yuma, Arizona. I may be here until March 4th.

 

In my many years of wandering, I’ve seen many interesting places. I believe my favorite area is Cajun Country in southern Louisiana. It’s like stepping back in time to 50 years ago, the scenery is unique and spectacular and the people are very friendly. And then there’s the great food and wonderful music!

 

Perhaps my bias is because I’m a full-blooded Frenchman with both sets of grand-parents coming out of French Canada. I looked it up and my last name Jaillet means “someone who lives on marshy land”! So, I guess it’s in my genes!

 

I once had it explained to me that the Cajun man thinks differently than most cultures. After making enough money to cover his requirements, instead of continuing to chase the almighty dollar, he stops working and says… LET’S PARTY!

 

I’ve made several visits to the area and feel I have explored it thoroughly and know it well. I guess it saddens me to think of this as a fading culture.  😦

 

Although during my times there, I ran across a lot of folks who are determined not to let this happen.

 

I stumbled upon the below video yesterday of YouTube and enjoyed it so much I thought I’d share with you today…

 

The opening screen says part 1, but parts 2 and 3 follow immediately. The entire video runs about an hour…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been to many of the places as shown in this story and it brought back some wonderful memories! 🙂

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the video.

Forecast for today is partly sunny and 68 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather 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 Arizona. 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

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

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/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 works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

VARANASI, CONTINUED

Varanasi again. This may be overload, but I will only be here once and the culture fascinates me. At the river, we continued watching the bathers. Some soap up, others swim.

There are no rules. If this were the U.S., guards  would be making you stand your turn in-line and directing you to go this way or that and keeping order.

.

Thousands of people on this river every day, bathing, and burning and depositing ashes. The government has to dredge ashes and move them out to sea.

Before we leave the boats, we pass the laundry. All that bathing, towels, and a change of clothes.

Untouchables do  laundry. Our guide tells us the great fault of their religion is the caste system that designates children born of untouchable parents cannot change their lot. (An excellent book about the fate of an untouchable woman is, “The Space Between Us”, by Thrity Umrigar.

On shore, people are setting up for business. In back, on the steps, people eating breakfast.

Long and steep stairs are covered with water during monsoon up to where the railing ends. Cremations move up with the river.

On shore, I see cell phones in use everywhere.  In my hometown, in the grand USA, I do not get a dependable signal for a cell phone. I use it from my car when I travel.

A girl hides in the corner, her crippled feet wrapped in rags. A women gives her food. My entire time in India, I never heard a word spoken in anger.

 

Among the priests, there is no uniform clothing.

And if someone casually sits on your ghat to rest, no one seems to mind.

The priests have various markings on their foreheads, what they stand for I don’t know.

Two makeshift barbershops. They shave their heads to honor a loved or maybe to be part of a cremation ceremony.

Those anointed have horizontal or vertical marks. Our guide tells us they indicate something about the person, maybe cast, or what sect they belong to?

A simple gesture, its meaning clear;  but there was no hostility or anger because I aimed my camera at him.

The cobra handler’s eyes mesmerize, intense.

The musical instrument he plays looks more like a pop gun, but the snake is flared.

Instruments are rudimentary, home-made and for sale. Interesting shapes. They didn’t wake up his well fed dogs.

When we arrived in the cold, early morning, this bull was asleep on the steps.  Someone anointed him.

We walk back to the bus. Ranvir points out the pilgrims headed for the river are barefoot.

This group of women were laughing and giggling.

I asked what was so funny. It seems one of them had broken her shoe.

Best friends.

Breakfast or lunch is ready.

Hefting their wares closer to the river for sale.

More beggars.

 

A young father with his son. We reach the parking area and load into the bus.

On the way home, Ranvir asks the bus to slow down so we can see a typical laundry. The main necessity, a steady source of water.

After lunch, some visit a silk rug shop. I was hoping the first rug shop would show the entire process. The removal of the silk worm larvae, winding the fibers, dying the fibers and then weaving rugs. I’ve seen it before, but Theo has been sleeping a lot and chose to stay in his room.

The bus took us for an afternoon visit to a Buddhist Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT A BIRTHDAY PARTY?

My friend? No, a friend to everybody, Carol Flemming, held a bash at her house for her 75th birthday party. “My kids insisted on this party,” she told me. I totally understand that. The “kids” think you are on your last legs and counting when you reach 75.

I met Carol when I wrote features for the Calaveras Enterprise. It was 1982 and I featured her costume business, a unique and wonderfully creative business that is still going. Marti Oaks, right, with her son, worked for Carol and at one time lived in my Murphys house.

Pat Patterson, right, also worked costume design. It was fun catching up with old friends.

I also got to meet Carol’s daughter, Liz, whom I’d never met before, along with her daughter, whose name I didn’t get.

Carol’s son Beau barbecued chicken and tri-tip. He, like his mom is a good cook. I’d met him when Carol had a restaurant in Arnold, the Froggy Diner. There is always cooking or a side business in Carol’s life.There were her friends and neighbors of all ages. Names seem to float out of my brain. This woman, like me, is finding acreage hard to keep up and looking to downsize. I hear that more and more from people I know.

Dale said she didn’t take good pictures, but I do. I thought her laugh made her beautiful. It turned out, she knows my brother Clark.

I finally got this little girl to smile for my picture. But she kept a protective closeness to her parents.

My brother Clark was once a neighbor of Carol’s in Burson. This man remembered he and Clark fixing a bridge that went out, before CalTrans was even called.

This woman too, talked to me at length of all the favors that Clark does for the neighbors. He helped with projects after her husband died, making her ever grateful.

This couple also know Clark and talked about him and the neighborhood, and things they’ve done together.

Another daughter, Mona and another grand daughter, I’d never met.

And, Carol’s daughter China Rose with her two girls. She also has two sons. I hadn’t seen China in over 17 years.

The baby was determined to sleep, but China wanted her to stay awake for the long ride back to Santa Cruz. I remember those days.

Carol joined the kids in the pool for a cooling dunk. I love it when you get to enjoy your own party.

This smart woman is a former daughter-in-law-still friends of the family. She gave me good advice about AirBnB…ideas have been floating through my brain all day.

The woman in red, Cindy, I think, is an artist. I always complain I never have time to paint or create.  Her very good advice, “Make it your priority, first thing in the morning. Everything else can wait.”

A birthday surprise for Carol, her brother Willie flew in from Hawaii.

I tried to get a picture of everyone. And, I missed Phil, her husband, who was busy, busy, busy, tending the bar and keeping people happy. There is a pattern, here.

Kids, babies, teens, middle agers, old folks…

You know what was different about this party?  I saw no one with their head down, texting and playing with their phone or messages or…whatever they do. That, my friends, is what was special about this birthday party. A rarity. And great fun.

The View from Sirens Restaurant – Port Townsend, Washington

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 21st year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort in La Connor, Washington. I’ll depart here tomorrow. I’ve been here a number of times in past years.

 

I’ll be hanging out in this general area until about the beginning of October, taking maximum advantage of my Thousand Trails membership and very agreeable weather.

 

(Note: I’m currently a little discombobulated right now. My normal mode is to blog what I experienced yesterday. Right now, I’m a number of blogs behind my experiences. I expect to be back in my normal mode in about a month.)

 

 

Today’s subject…

 

About one month ago I visited the pretty and quaint  City of Port Townsend, Washington. As always, I asked a local for an eating place recommendation. I was told Sirens Restaurant. It’s located in an old building on the waterfront, three stories up. It has a large back porch where pretty good meals and pretty good views are available.

 

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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see the other 12 photos that I took, click this link…

(Note: Once there, you may click on any photo to make it larger)

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273/album/AF1QipOfErNbZ1yhotIt3bk9cV6dBYh47iUxp3rHkV8E

 

 

 

To read all about Port Townsend, click this link…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Townsend,_Washington

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Yesterday was mostly cloudy with showers and 68 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly cloudy with showers and 70 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather 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 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

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 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

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 works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet 2016

SHERIFF PLUMMER’S-86TH BIRTHDAY.

 

It was a surprise party held at the Office of Emergency Services hall at Santa Rita Prison.  People crowded around the door waiting for former Sheriff Plummer to enter the building. Charlie holds “office” hours every Wednesday so it was easy to surprise  him. He was stunned and temporarily at a loss for words.

Once he arrived, everyone began finding old friends they hadn’t seen in years. I saw so many faces I recognized, but often the names wouldn’t come to mind, so I decided to print none.  I’m going to let you guess who is who. You can always call Cynthia Crawford at the department for the answers.

The place was mobbed and it was so much fun catching up on old friends, even if I didn’t always know who I was talking to-at first. The way it worked,  we had about an hour to mingle and chat.

There were many hugs and a constant buzz of happy voices.  Some were group hugs.

Several officers took time off work to attend.

I think everyone made it in time for the food.

It was like a family reunion with stories and memories flowing.

After all the camaraderie, we sat down to enjoy the food. I attempted to get a picture of each guest while they were still.

These women put out the word, collected the money and greeted everyone who came. Events like this don’t just happen as we all know.

I’ve worked enough affairs like these to know that it takes many volunteer hands in the kitchen to feed 100 or more people, too.

As one of many attendees, I don’t know who planned and organized it. But our current Sheriff, Greg Ahern, presented Charlie with gifts from the group and I expect he was the ring leader.

When Charlie got up to speak, that strong, commanding voice was still there, with a few cantankerous fighting words to keep us all laughing. An unforgettable character, his peers all over the state and the people who worked for him, hold him in high esteem. His accomplishments during his triple careers in law enforcement are innumerable. I came unprepared to re-hash his career. Let me just understate-that the man of the hour was a major force in Alameda County during challenging times. He left an indelible mark.

To see  the rest of the pictures I took click on the link below:

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/106530979158681190260/album/AF1QipOn-McgxneG6DziZ0sg9XYqHUUTQ77HwF6hocjK