Crookston, Minnesota (GA599)

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.
Sadly Mary is struggling with health issues. To see the latest about her situation, click here

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 Thousand Trails RV resort in Palm Desert, California. I’m scheduled to depart here March 26th.

 

 

 

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 September 3, 2013…

 

 

 

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the about 90 miles from Bemidji to Crookston, Minnesota.

 

 

We continued traveling along U.S.Highway 2 West.

 

 

 

 

 

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…

 

 

 

 

 

Labor Day Weekend Monday Morning traffic was light…

 

 

 

 

 

The area is thinly populated. We passed through only a few small towns like this one..

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived just before noon in Crookston and parked alongside the railroad tracks behind the VFW…

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we decided to take a walk around town and shoot some photos…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this sign on the back of a large building…

 

 

 

 

 

The front of the building turned out to be the Grand Theatre. Built in 1911, it remains as the oldest continuously operating theatre in the United States. You can read about this place by clicking this link… http://www.wdaz.com/event/article/id/11591/

 

 

 

 

 

They allowed us to take a few photos before the afternoon movie started…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This old church has been boarded up…it apparently ran out of customers…

 

 

 

 

 

Adjacent and behind the church we stumbled upon Central Park. A city park that has camping…

 

 

 

 

 

We liked it so much, I went back and got the motorhome…

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the usual dinette photo…

 

 

 

 

 

We continued with our walk along the river…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Central Park proved to be a pleasant and quiet place. We enjoyed our stay here very much…

 

 

Yesterday was a decent weather day. 73 degrees with 43% humidity. I could still stand lower humidity. Forecast for today is 86 degrees. YUK!

 

 

We’ll continue our westward travel later this morning.

 

 

Enjoying pretty campgrounds 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 Minnesota. 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/2013/09/03/crookston-minnesota-2/

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 53 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

 

 

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” —Mark Twain

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

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

Ivoryton, Connecticut Day 1 (GA572)

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.

 

 

 

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 7, 2013…

 

 

 

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the about 100 miles from North Dartmouth, Massachusetts to Ivoryton, Connecticut. It’s parked at my son’s home.

 

 

Upon arrival yesterday, I could not get an Internet signal. After an hour on the telephone with Verizon technical support, they decided I had a bad SIM Card. So I drove the Bronco the about 10 miles to the local Verizon store. After about one hour there, I finally had an Internet signal. Back to the motorhome where once again…no Internet signal. Another hour on the phone with Verizon technical support to no avail…back to the Verizon store. Another hour and it was finally working once again. By time I got back to the motorhome it was 8:00 PM, but at least we now have an Internet signal. Computers are great when they work correctly, but when they don’t, they can be a real pain!

 

 

By then it was too dark to take my arrival photos. The first photo is of when I first arrived here in early June. Since I’m in the same exact position, it’s just like it would have been if I took it yesterday…

 

 

 

 

 

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 usual dinette photo was also taken on my arrival here in early June. It wasn’t raining yesterday…

 

 

We expect to depart for the west coast next Monday.

 

 

Enjoying family 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 Connecticut. 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/2013/08/07/lawmakers-summer-break/

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is sunny and 65 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

Minute Man National Park – Lexington & Concord, Massachusetts (GA558)

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.

 

 

 

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 July 23, 2013…

 

 

 

 

The motorhome is parked at American Legion Post #191 in Sudbury, Massachusetts. I expect to depart here tomorrow.

 

 

Mary is back at  her home in California tending to some personal business. She has made her plane reservations and will fly to meet me in Boston, Massachusetts on July 30th.

 

 

The heat wave is supposed to be over but you cannot prove it by me. Yesterday was 89 degrees in the shade with 50% humidity. I ran the motorhome air-conditioner from about 1:00 – 9:00 PM.

 

 

Yesterday I visited the Minute Man National Park…in five stops. This park commemorates the opening battles of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. To refresh your memory of the events occurring on that date, I recommend you click this link… http://www.battleroad.org/history.html

 

 

I drove the Bronco the about 15 miles to the first stop which was at the headquarters of the park located in Lincoln, situated between Lexington and Concord. I viewed an excellent 25 minute multimedia presentation about the fateful day that began an eight-year war resulting in the birth of a new nation. 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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I drove about three miles east to the Lexington Green. No one knows who fired the shot where the first blood of the war resulted…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then about four miles back west to the Paul Revere capture site. You can read the words of all three markers by clicking this link… http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMA88_Paul_Revere_Capture_Site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then about two miles west to the Hartwell Tavern which you can read about by clicking this link… http://www.nps.gov/mima/forteachers/the-historic-hartwell-tavern.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the actual North Great Road also known as the Battle Road Trail, on which the British Troops and Patriot Minute Men walked upon. Note the concrete marker on the right…

 

 

 

 

 

Now barely readable because of being worn by the elements over the years…it reads…Boston Harbor 14M (meaning miles)…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then about four more miles west to the final stop of the North Bridge. It was here the Patriots repulsed the British Troops and fired “the shot heard around the world”. The British advanced the bridge from this side of the Concord River, The Patriots were waiting for them on the other side of the bridge…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/4 mile later on a walking path I came to the North Bridge visitors center…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bridge as seen from the visitors center…

 

 

The park does a great job in presenting the details of April 19, 1775. It was a very emotional visit to walk on such hallowed ground. Here’s the Minute Man National Park official website link… http://www.nps.gov/mima/index.htm

 

 

Enjoying historical places is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

 

 

After sitting so long at my son’s home and then waiting out the week-long heat wave…I had grown tired of sitting around. It’s nice to be back on the move once again!

 

 

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/2013/07/23/a-chiropractic-fitness-center/

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is sunny and 72 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

Tumwater Falls Park Near Olympia, 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 Chehalis, Washington. I’ll depart here later this morning.

 

I’m finally caught up with my backlog of photos for new blog postings. I’ve decided to dig back into my archives and republish photos of various areas I visited this summer. After all, what good are archived photos if you forget about them.

 

 

 

Today’s subject…

 

 

About one month ago I was parked in Olympia, Washington. In 2014, I visited nearby Tumwater Falls Park.. 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 34 photos that I took, click this link…

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273/album/AF1QipMShvOJkkLlEAcohANK7woVzOYSE_E5Eh9LEsJ8

 

 

 

To read all about Olympia, Washington, click this link…

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

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Yesterday was cloudy with showers and 59 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy with showers and 61 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

CAUSLAND MEMORIAL PARK ANACORTES

Jim and I have moved on to Monroe, Wa. where we are parked at Thunderbird Thousand Trails on the Skykomish River. But, I’m still blogging Anacortes because it has so many unique features, like this World War I Memorial Park. It is named for Vernon Causland a local vet killed during the war.

War memorials are fairly common things to see as we travel about the country. This is the 2nd one we’ve seen designated a National Heritage Site. It is a beautiful and unique park. The single building, this gazebo type structure is at the front entrance.

The park is fenced on two sides by unique rock walls. This is one corner.

I walked along the side street, fascinated by the detailed work put into this wall.

.

The wall undulates, dipping at places and higher at other spots.

It curves into a side entrance.

The walls are unique, but it isn’t the only beautiful aspect of this park.

It has sweeping vistas of tiered grassy seating and about an acre of lawn above this spot with beautiful trees and flowers. A very restful place.

 

I’ll blog no more of Anacortes, but if you want to see the 40 pictures I took of Mitchell’s Murals in a slideshow, click on the link below.

2014-8-15-Anacortes Murals Project

 

 

VERMILLON VILLE OF LAFAYETTE, LA.

There are two Cajun Villages nearby but the Vermillion Ville, a Cajun/Creole Heritage and Folklife Park has a Saturday afternoon jam, every Saturday. Greats like August Broussard, Ray Landrey and others I don’t know their names take time to help young students learn their great music. August is tutoring Darrien, above. We ran into them when we entered the park.

The park has about 12 buildings along the river in a beautiful park setting that show the Cajun/Creole way of life on a self-guided tour. Cajun houses tend to be small. People spent most of their time outside.

Most of them have stairs leading up to an attic.

The wattle and twig built fireplace heated the house and provided a place to cook.

In hot sweltering Louisiana, a family may have an outside kitchen, with their garden by the door.

A docent demonstrated cooking in a fireplace with a black pot.

The finished dish, grits and grenelles, I think is the name of the dish. It is beef and vegetables in a roux served with yellow corn grits. No tomatoes. She mentioned that most Cajun recipes do not use tomatoes except for a court bouillon.

At the school-house, where a sign on the blackboard reads, “I will not speak French in the classroom or on school grounds.”  A fiddler entertained us and a big contingent of French speakers from Canada, some were unfamiliar with the punishment and edict that tried to force Acadians (Cajuns) to speak only English. He was a humorous old gent named Merlin Fontenot, two months away age 90.

The Vermillion Ville Park is beautiful and we visited about 12 buildings. While Cajun families lived in small house right on the bayou, more affluent Creoles had fancier houses and furnishings.

Regardless of whether they were Creole or Cajun, furnishings were most often home-made like this beautiful cradle.

Trundle beds with mosquito netting for Louisiana summer nights.

And this rather amazing home-made device. A fan you could operate from bed until your arm fell off, or you fell asleep.

A piece of fancier furniture.

It didin’t matter how fancy you lived, when it was cold, you wore a heavy long cloak.

And you still had to light the candles everyday. (Above converted to electric lamps.)

You still had to pull yourself across the bayou with a hand pulled ferry.

There was church on Sunday, work, family and music. Fish in the bayou and herbs in the garden. The park tells its story and we enjoyed it very much.

In the church, a docent was making rosaries from “natural beads.”  Joabs tears. The seeds are picked green, they already have a hole to string them. They need no coloring or preservative.

The finished product.

There is a good French restaurant on the grounds and before going to the jam, I enjoyed a last bowl of gumbo before heading for home.

These two young boys and other older players were learning from the greats. It was fantastic, but we’ve had signal problems on and off all morning. We drive to Baton Rouge today, so I’ll finish blogging the jam tomorrow. I got some good video as well.