Enjoy Memorial Day…But Remember The 1,354,664+Dead!

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 22nd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at VFW Post #9650 in Anderson, California. I’ll depart here tomorrow morning.

 

 

 

Enjoy Memorial Day…but remember the reason for it!

 

 

Yeah, most folks enjoy the Memorial Day weekend as a kickoff of the Summer season. Many totally ignore the real reason for Memorial Day.

 

 

According to this Wikipedia link there are 1,354,664+ dead from all U.S. Wars… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war

 

 

Here’s the Wikipedia link that describes the history of Memorial Day…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

 

 

I took the below photo of the National  Cemetery at Fort Bayard in Grant County, New Mexico in 2012. Fort Bayard National Cemetery has an interesting history which you can read about by clicking this link…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bayard_National_Cemetery

 

 

 

 

 

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 35 photos I took at Fort Bayard, click my Picasa Web Album link…https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOiuGyKqUvjuV7I7924EEt8AQDIfFhrjp2AZeOz

 

 

To read the rich history of Fort Bayard, click this Wikipedia link…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bayard_Historic_District

 

 

If you love your freedom, thank a Veteran!

 

Mary sent the following to me yesterday…

 

 

Keep it  moving, please, even if you’ve seen it before. It is the  VETERAN,   not the preacher,   who has given us freedom of religion.  It is  the VETERAN,   not the reporter,    who has given us freedom of the press. It is  the VETERAN,   not the poet,  who has given us freedom of speech.     It is  the VETERAN,  not the campus organizer,  who has given us freedom to assemble.       It is  the VETERAN,   not the lawyer,  who has given us the right to a fair trial.    It is  the VETERAN,   not the politician,  Who has given us the right to vote.               It is the  VETERAN who  salutes the Flag,            It is  the  VETERAN who serves  under the Flag,  ETERNAL  REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON  THEM.

 

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

 Yesterday was sunny and 95 degrees. Forecast for today is sunny and 95 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 California. 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 -2017

VETERANS HONORED IN MURPHYS

Murphys has a beautiful Veterans Park. The Ceremony to honor our veterans began at noon, the sun overhead, it was very difficult to get good photos and I must confess that I’d never been to the park before yesterday. I would see it go together, piece by piece in the newspaper on fleeting trips off the road. I’d estimate a crowd of about 2oo people were in attendance.

You can see my shadow as I tried to get a picture of the base of the flag pole. A local scout group raised the flag. The day became quite warm.

Our district Supervisor Oliviera spoke with these World War II vets, one who flew 93 missions over Germany, another who was part of the occupation forces in Japan. We are lucky there are WWII Vets left in our area to tell their stories. They had every branch of the service represented.

I was able to take five pictures and my battery went dead in my camera.

Jim took this picture of me looking for some of my husband’s friends, Norman Tanner, Leroy Parades was another. Dan Darby.

The whole community was involved, with our local community band, playing and singing the theme songs of every branch of service. It was so well done, it brought tears to my eyes at several points.

Jenifer Berry’s class of students read papers they wrote about appreciating veterans. They all had relatives that were veterans. Jim and I have seen veterans celebrations on the road, but none as thorough and comprehensive as this one. Murphys is one great place to live.

 

Founders’ Day Parade – Aberdeen, 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.

My RVing lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

---

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 22 miles from Ocean City to Aberdeen, Washington.

 

A local told me that during World War II, only two places were off-limits to military personnel, San Francisco, California and Aberdeen, Washington.

 

To read the interesting history about Aberdeen, click this link…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen,_Washington

Aberdeen is located at the eastern end of Grays Harbor as seen in the below Google earth image. The V marks the VFW…my current location.

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…

Upon arrival, I parked the motorhome behind VFW Post #224…

Here’s the usual dinette window photo….

I visited Aberdeen last week, stopped by the VFW and got recruited to march in the Founders’ Day Parade. Here’s the parade poster…

At 8:30 Am, I went inside the VFW post and had breakfast. At number of the other volunteer marchers were doing the same. 48 Killed In Action (KIA) banners had been removed from the wall so they could be carried in the parade…

Since I was a stranger in town, Jim Daley, a 10 year past commander of the post and a 22 year U.S. Marine Veteran drove me over to the parade beginning location…

The next few photos show other early arrivals…

Finally other VFW folks started arriving. The posters were passed around. This is the one I carried…

The is Jim Daley’s car which was in the parade. Jim stand by the driver’s door…

A number of young folks carried banners…

A few more minutes to go…

A future Marine carried a banner…

Gold Star Mothers Shelly and Sally (and others) carried banners of their KIA sons…

The parade was led by the Police Swatmobile donated to the city as Army surplus…

Just about ready to start. The banner carriers were at the head of the parade directly behind the Honor Guard…

Here we go…

The parade was about 3/4 mile long. The people clapped, cheered and yelled “Thank You”. At mid-point we stopped at the reviewing stand where a lady announced about the KIA banners. Taps was played on a bugle and I found myself close to tears…

At the end of the parade the banners were collected…

The back of a VFW Post #224 jacket…

Lots more parade to come, but by that time I had to pee so bad I beat feet back to the VFW Post…

I thank the friendly folks from VFW Post #224 for inviting me to join their parade. It was the first parade I had ever had the opportunity to march in and found it to be a very satisfying and emotional experience. I’m planning to depart Aberdeen next Wednesday.

I hope you enjoyed the photos!

 Yesterday was mostly cloudy and 65 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly cloudy and 67 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 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 2016

A Great Memorial Day Story!

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.

---

The motorhome is  parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Seaside, Oregon. I depart here on June 15th.

Mary sent this to me via email a short while ago and with tomorrow being Memorial Day…I thought it would be an excellent time to share it with you!

   SHE IS A TEACHER!!!

 

 

In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids  entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. ‘Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?’

She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’

They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’  ‘No,’ she said. ‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your  behavior.’

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout  the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’

At this  point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened  it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside  the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did  it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around  the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have. Now, it’s up to you to  sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’

By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.

I hope you enjoyed the story!

 Yesterday was cloudy and 60 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy/sunny 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 Oregon. 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 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 2016

TOURIST IN YOUR OWN TOWN.

I feel fortunate that I have a friend who not only brings me brownies, but will, at the merest suggestion, drive me downtown Murphys where we pretend to be tourists. That is Jan Stewart. Always ready to seize the day.

I hadn’t been to Hovey’s tasting room in ages, nor had I seen this clever sign.

Inside I was pleased and surprised by the variety of craft beers they support. The public likes wine but they also like good beer.

Another sign drew us into Frog’s Tooth, a wine I’d never sampled.

At 10:00 a.m. neither of us were in the mood for wine tasting, but they had a barrel full of good reds to be had for $12 a bottle.

Of course, because of Mark Twain, frogs are a prominent feature in Calaveras County, but what I liked here is the warmth and friendliness of the staff. A very inviting atmosphere.

This customer is wearing a shirt from a tasting room in  an old school-house, I believe she said in Grass Valley. It reflects the grammar school punishment of writing on the black board over and over again, I Promise Not To Hit Tommy, or some such. Cute.

Town was loaded with motorcycles, all coming for the “Jumps”, as they relate to the Calaveras Fair and Frog Jumping Jubilee. Nationally famous after its small beginnings. I remember a picture of Little Flower, Governor LaGuardia who attended the Jumps as fascination with jumping a frog spread far and wide.

Both bikers, the guy on the left hugged Jan and said,”I know you!”  He is her chimney sweep. His buddy said, “If anybody had told me I’d be a biker with multiple tattoos on my body, I’d have said yer crazy.” I had to laugh to find they are locals from Murphys. Tourists just like us.

I liked this gal’s leathers and took a picture and she said, “No, no. You caught me with a phone and I’m constantly pushing people I know to put their damned phone away and look up.”  So, she posed for me on her bike.

Creative. Guess we can call her Spider Woman, and, by the way, she is from Murphys.

She looked askance at the big hogs lining the street and said, “If one of these guys tips his bike over, he will not be able to pick it up by himself.”  We concluded they are for show and pride of ownership as well as performance.

There were some out-of-towners.

I wanted a picture of this guy’s curled mustache because it reminded me of Joe Cardoza, a former neighbor and local character who grew his curled and waxed mustache about seven inches long for the local Whiskerino Contest. He had too much to drink and went for a haircut. Jack, the barber was a known prankster and cut half of his mustache off, I expect with Joe’s consent. I thought it was cruel, even so.

There were street musicians.

The Murphys Hotel hired a band. The courtyard was packed with people eating, enjoying the music and even getting up to dance in the tight space around the musicians.

A couple local vets told us they placed 400 flags on veteran graves with Memorial Day coming up. They do it every year.

Among  those who served I knew Norm Tanner and a couple others. Norm was a good friend to my husband. I’ll be sure to remember those close to me who were vets; I may not get to a grave, but there will be a knot in my heart has I put out the flag on my deck.

Veterans Memorial Museum – Fresno, California

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.

---

Yesterday I drove the motorhome 123 miles from Bakersfield to Fresno, California.

 

Along the way I stopped at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Fresno…Home of the Legion of Valor. This is the only such museum in the entire United States. I spent an enjoyable 1.5 hours at this unique museum. If you find yourself in the Fresno area, I highly recommend you take the time to visit…you will be happy that you did!

 

You can read all about the Legion of Valor by clicking this link…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Valor_of_the_United_States_of_America,_Incorporated

 

Here’s the museum website link…http://www.fresnovetsmuseum.com/

 

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 museum was established in 1991…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My guide was Jesse Parela. He is standing next to his photo taken during his tour of duty in Vietnam, 68-69. He was 20 years old at the time…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the photos and displays are behind glass which makes photography due to reflections…

 

 

To see the other 30 photos that I took, click the below photo and the slideshow…

Veterans Memorial Museum – Fresno, California

 

 

 

 

After my visit to the museum, I proceeded about five miles north to VFW Post #8900 where I parked for the night…

 

 

 

Here’s the usual dinette window photo…

 

This was just an overnight stop. I’ll depart later this morning.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 

Recently I’ve been running blogs about my 2004 Central America trip. While here I’m intending to continue those postings while also alternating with other past blogs.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was sunny and 85 degrees. Forecast for today is sunny and 67 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 California. 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 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 -2016