Southaven, Mississippi Day 6 (GA466)

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.

I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Monroe, Washington. I’m scheduled to depart September 28th.

 

 

 

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 April 20, 2013…

The motorhome is still parked at VFW Post #10567 in Southaven, Mississippi. The location is about 1/4 mile south of the Tennessee Border and about 10 miles south of the City of Memphis. We will stay here while we explore the Memphis area for the next several days.

 

 

Mary had another neck painful day yesterday…so we decided to stay home. But she need to make copies of some legal paperwork…so we had to go out for that task.

 

 

First, we went through our closets to identify seldom worn or tight-fitting clothed for donation to Goodwill…

 

 

 

 

 

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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready at last…off we went. Along the way we passed Don’s Speed Shop with a number of seldom seen vehicles in the lot…so naturally we stopped to take photos…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon returning and by the end of the day, Mary decided she wanted a second acupuncture treatment and phoned to make an appointment. That’s where we will be at 9:00 AM this morning. She’s hoping that will take care of her neck pain.

 

 

Enjoying seldom seen vehicles  is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

 

 

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location near Memphis in the State of Tennessee. 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/

 

 

 

 

 

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/2013/04/20/poking-around-a-clock-shop/

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Forecast for today is partly cloudy 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 -2018

MONROE FAIR PARADE.

We were on our way to the Library and couldn’t get there. We ran into the Monroe Fair Parade, a traditional event held every year at the start of the County Fair.

We were paraded by the Aloha Ladies and their beautiful horses.

A few floats; this one advertising their upcoming Octoberfest.

Various community groups, martial arts…

…a dance group. They were stopped in front of us for awhile and I noticed all the pretty hair-does.  It reminded me of our exchange student from Indonesia who had kinky black hair. We sat in the back row of a church and she pointed out the many colors of hair to me and then became concerned she would be the only student in school with black hair.

I believe the braids are called French braids. I know I envied them on my best friend in grammar school who wore her hair like this. My mom, who is French, could not do french braids.

Politicos were parading, of course we don’t vote here. Carolyn let her dog help out.

What’s a parade without some neat old cars?

The Harley Club paraded with their hogs.

And various princesses representing their club or group, all unfamiliar to us.

I admire her courage to walk a parade in shoes like these. Only the young.

A marcher gave me a piece of candy and this little girl wanted it. I gave it to her, but what she really wanted was to be able to GIVE a piece to Jim. I guess she thought he was being cheated. Then she hugged him and I got her to pose for a picture.

She turned out to be a real ham and I probably took a dozen pictures of her. That unbridled laugh just makes me smile.

The sun was harsh and overhead for most of the parade. But this group of horsemen were behind us and we caught them catching up to the front.

I noticed the strap of his sombrero held near his mouth.

I’m curious to know why that position instead of under the chin?

Magnificent horses make this parade special. Don’t know the breeds by sight, but look at that mane and tail.

This troup danced their horses. You can see the maneuver as the horse is trained to side step and cross a front leg over the other. I’ve been part of organizing a parade and I was impressed how they do it here. And the cost of insurance to allow horses in a parade is astronomical.

Music provided by a flatbed of singing musicians. I know horses love music. At least, my daughter’s horse did. He’d just get silly when someone parked in our pasture and turned on the radio.

Apparently, there is a race track nearby. I noticed that the race cars don’t drive the parade. Each one had a black truck with a padded pusher to get them through the parade. Jim told me high performance engines cannot drive and idle at low speeds.

I counted 12 tractors in the parade…

…and one banana.

 

 

 

 

 

MURPHYS IRISH DAYS.

When Main St. Murphys sports a shamrock and the yellow line turns green, (magically, doncha know), it is nearing St. Patrick’s Day.

Leprechauns dancing in the street with fairies, mind you. You’ve never seen anything like it.

In a heavy Irish brogue this tall fellow told me my picture wouldn’t turn out because you cannot photograph leprechauns. I think that was the old photo development style. He doesn’t know about digital. Aha! The joke is on him.

They come in all shapes and sizes and it is the only time of year you can catch a glimpse of the wiley creatures.

The street was jammed with thousands of people. Judging from the cars parked and the loaded shuttle buses that ferried people from Kautz Winery, where there is ample parking.  I’d guesstimate 15,000 people came to visit.

The bagpiper band marched and played their special kind of music.

I know of The Daughters of The American Revolution. I didn’t know there was a Sons Of the American Revolution. In each case, they are people who are direct descendants of men and women who served in the American Revolutionary War. They have to be able to give proof to join.

Kids love a parade.

And what would a parade be without them.

I’m not sure how dogs feel about a parade. But there were plenty of them and they don’t seem to mind. Many people bring their dogs with them when they travel. Years ago, dogs would snap and tangle and challenge. Now, they are so socialized, I didn’t hear a-one bark or snap or seem uncomfortable. The Humane Society has done a marvelous job of training people how to handle animals, and temporizing their more aggressive behaviors.

A group of skaters surprised me by executing dance steps and interesting moves in a community where sidewalks are not all that common.

Here you are more likely to see horses and they are nice to see close up for people who don’t often get the chance. The kids love them. This young lady won Rodeo queen, a position she holds for a year.

Of course, you don’t have to be queen of anything to enter yourself and your horse in the parade.

Miss Calaveras and her princesses hung out the windows of a fire truck, which was unique.

The food choices on the street grab you with their smells. Kettlecorn, and sausages get the juices rumbling but we ended up having corned beef sandwiches at the Native Sons of the Golden West, another great organization in town. It was so crowded I couldn’t get near the Irish Soda Bread from St. Patricks Catholic Church Ladies Guild. It is wonderful.

I always meet people I know at the Hall and I like to support them. The sandwiches were delicious, along with potato salad, a pickle and real horseradish to clear the sinuses.

I took a lot of pictures if you are interested, double click on the picture and you can view a slideshow. (And please ignore that I misspelled Irish and Murphys when I uploaded my file.)

2014-3-15-IrshDaysMurphsy

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A CENTURY OR SO MAKES

This is a Ford model R. Based on the Model N. I didn’t know they existed. Ford made 2500 of them. After readers identified the bee smoker and the berry pickers, I again thought of so many items out there that defined life a century or so ago. They are startling, ingenious or not,  sometimes funny. This picture came in an email with a bunch of statistics which I’ll share with you.  We stopped in Spokane for Jim to take an eye test for his driver’s license. We parked just west of Spokane at a little place called Airway Heights for the night.

The Model R was built in 1910 and here are some statistics from 1910:

The average life expectancy for men was 47 years. Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only. Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower ! The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour. The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year .. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year,and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year. More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .. Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which Were condemned in the press AND the government as ‘substandard.’ Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.. Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. The Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke

Pretty amazing.  In my travels, I’ve visited many old schools.  Check out this shocking document:

Telling a woman how many petticoats she could wear seems bizarre as do most of these rules.

This is the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886. Doesn’t look like they were overwhelmed with traffic.

A hunting camp in 1893. Railroads, and logging camps used to hire hunters to feed the men who worked far from cities. It took a lot of meat but the meat was plentiful.

And this phone is a telephone for the blind and deaf. It works like a teletype.  It turns the words into braille. Ingenious.

You think of a prosthesis of today, titanium, comfortable, athletes can climb mountains, ride bike, run marathons and play basket ball after losing a foot.  I’m sure this gentleman was grateful to be able to walk at all. I always thought peg-legs were the province of pirates.

We’re on our way for a stay on a pretty lake at Coulee City near the Coulee dam. But, it is a play catch-up day, with nothing planned. My email does not work in or out even after two hours on the phone with AT&T last night. It worked last night when I hung up the phone, (isn’t that trite?  We don’t “hang up” anymore.) but not this morning. Dang.