2013 National Balloon Classic

Indianola, IA

WOW! About 75 balloons are participating. Great views of the clear blue Iowa, sky filled with colorful balloons of all shapes and sizes. We have been able to crew for a pilot from Colorado. So, this has been a fun stop for us!  Here are a few samples of what we have been able to see. Enjoy!

 

Time To Move On

It’s time to move on.  The Rally is over.  Many of our friends have headed out.  Some headed home, some headed to new destinations.  We are off to the National Balloon Classic.  It was the pick of day on the Today Show this morning.  Should be fun!  Love to look at and be in the midst of all those balloons.  The colors, the excitement, the energy are all part of the experience.  Will try to post some pictures in a few days.

Where Are You From

This is a question that I get asked a lot.  My answer is now “Tennessee”. I consider TN my home.  But, once answered, that questions is often followed by either a comment of “You don’t sound like you are from Tennessee” or the question that they really want to ask, “But, where are you really from?”
Again I say, I am from Tennessee.  True I was born in Massachusetts and spent most of my life in Rhode Island.  But, now I am a Tennessean.  Tennessee is my home by choice, if not by birth.

Fun Trip

Yesterday we arrived at our "destination".  We are at the Winnebago Factory for the annual Rally.  It is the main purpose of the trip.  While we have more interesting stops planned for the way home, it feels like this is "it", the final destination.  As a result I was in a reflective mood this morning, reviewing the trip here.  Much fun, really enjoyable, great places to visit and I think we all had a great time.  Then I looked at the cats.  And decided, as Tonto was apt to say in the movie The Lone Ranger, "Not so much!".  You decide.

Left or Right

What would you have done?

I generally act as the navigator as we drive down the road.  Today, I had the luxury of being able to use more than one GPS.  We have a stand-alone unit in the RV.  And I also have GPS capability in my iPhone.  So, because I could, I was using both of them.

When we changed route, this is what I saw. 

Conflicted?  I was. BTW, we turned right and got to our destination!

Springfield, IL – Part III

Or I forget the most important!

When was the last time you went to the drive-in?  For many of us that might be measured in decades.  For us, that is no longer true.  It has been just a day or 2.  One of the iconic structures of Route 66 was the drive-in theater.  I am sure there were many along the Route, as there were on many of the scenic by-ways in cities and small towns across the country.  But, today the megaplex rules. 

Springfield has a twin screen drive-in – we just had to go.
 

We watched The Lone Ranger.  We found it an interesting movie (in spite of its rather weak reviews).  But the most fun was recognizing many of the scenes.  Many of the outdoor scenes were shot in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.  We traveled extensively in this area in 2010.  The movie had some wonderful shots from Moab, UT, including Arches National Park and Dead Horse Point.  We have visited both.  They are spectacular.  Arches NP was the first National Park that we visited west of the Mississippi and remains one of my absolute favorites.  Dead Horse Point is across the road and offers spectacular views of the Colorado and Green Rivers.  In addition to The Lone Ranger, Dead Horse Point is where the final scene of Thelma and Louse was shot.  It, too, is a wonderful place to visit!

So, if you get the chance, go to the drive-in!

Springfield, IL – Part Deux

Or more aptly – I ran out of time to post the pictures!

While in Springfield, it was difficult to take many pictures.  Most museums and historic sites have their rules and regulations about picture taking.  Rightly so.  But, one of my fondest activities is to take pictures.  Pictures that I find interesting – flowers, architectural items, interesting occurrences in nature, did I say flowers and more flowers.  But, when the skies are gray, and the sun is not bright com making “pretty” pictures is difficult!  They are just not as appealing.  So, while we had a great time, there were not a lot of good pictures taken. 

Fortunately, I did find 2 that I liked of the Flag lowering ceremony and I now share them with you.

 

Springfield, IL

What more can you ask from a city: All Things Lincoln; museums of all types; a variety of both interesting and delicious food; Route 66 and a Frank Lloyd Wright house!  All spectacular.

Springfield is the city that Lincoln called home for many years.  We were able to visit his museum, library, home, memorial garden and grave site.

The museum was very well done.  There were two very interesting movies about Lincoln.  One, called the Eyes of Lincoln gave an interesting perspective on his eyes and his visage.  I had never noticed that his eyes did not seem to focus on the same point.  Some say that this is from a boyhood encounter with a horse.  And it is remarkable that his face changed so much in the 5 years he was President.  The other movie was a holographic presentation that described the process of receiving and archiving Lincoln memorabilia.  It was remarkable to me that some of the artifacts in the museum had been received only 2 or 3 years ago.

In both the museum and the library there was a great concentration on the Civil War.  As we were in Illinois most of the information was from the Union perspective, as it should be.  As recent transplants to Tennessee, it always seems to me that the war looks so different from the perspective of the south.  And while much is always made that the war was about slavery, it was really fought for the more underlying issue of state’s rights.  How much right does the federal government have to control what a state can do.  What amazed me in all of this discussion of state’s rights is that today, over 150 years later, we are still arguing the same issue, whether it is about health care, immigration, or marriage.  As a country, we are still trying to figure how state and federal rights are, or should be, aligned.  Most interesting to me!

The Lincoln house in Springfield is the only house that Lincoln ever owned.  He lived in it with Mary and the 4 boys, Robert, William, Edward and Thomas.  (None ever returned to the house after the assassination.  Of the children, only Robert lived into adulthood.)  The house seemed like a lovely home, more modest than one could have expected.  But, certainly luxurious to the man that was lived his childhood in a one room log cabin.  It is now owned and maintained by the National Park Service.

The grave site was most interesting.  At 7:00 PM they have a flag lower ceremony, performed by re-enactors from an Illinois Civil War company.  Bugles, drum, guns and mortar.  It was very interesting.  Before the ceremony, there were several docents that re-created the Lincoln funeral.  Made you feel like it was a friend that was explaining what he had seen during the funeral in Springfield.  After the ceremony, we were able to walk through the tomb.  Abraham, Mary and 3 sons – Willie, Eddie and Tad are buried there.  Robert is buried at Arlington national Cemetery. 

We had planned to walk at least some of the 6 miles of trails in the Garden that now grows plants that were indigenous to the areas that Lincoln lived – Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.  But, the rain had other ideas.  We did drive to it and walk a short distance of the path. It seems to be an well maintained area with lots of green space.

Then there was Route 66.  We have visited/driven parts of Route 66 in Twin Arrows and Two Gun and Winslow AZ, Albuquerque, NM. I had not realized that Route 66 went through Springfield.  Many motels, diners and gas stations still remain.  Some open for business and some in not-so-good shape.  But, it is always interesting to see the signs, the business and all the memorabilia.

The food was most interesting.  We needed to fit it in to all the other tourist things we were doing.  We started with lunch at the Feed Store.  It is right in the midst of historic downtown Springfield.  Sounds like it might be a bit of a stretch to eat here.  They had the best soup and sandwiches.  They are only opened for lunch in a restored historic building.  Great atmosphere, wonderful service and sandwiches to die for!  Then there was the required stop at the Cozy Diner, the Route 66 home of the original ‘Hot dog on a stick”, or corn dog.  Interesting diner that looked like it had not changed since the heyday of Route 66.  But good hot dogs.  Jungle Jim’s Café was our lunch stop on another day.  Great service, well-maintained/restored diner of the Route 66 era and the food was great, too.  All in all we had wonderful experiences eating.  Now we must stop eating for at least 2 weeks. Unfortunately (!!) that will not happen!

And the last prize in Springfield was the Dana Thomas house.  It is a home, one of Frank Lloyd Wrights first, that was “remodeled” in 1904.  The quotes are required because there is little more than a single room remaining from the original home.  But, it was not actually new construction.  It was a lovely home, with all the typical Wright architectural elements or light, merging of indoor and outdoor space, many levels (16 in all), open space and built-in clutter-free furnishings.  The major artistic designs were the sumac and the butterfly.  And this home has more glass still displayed than most other Wright prairie homes. It was quite an impressive home, with many of its original furnishings.  It has been restored (by the state of Illinois) to its 1910 appearance.  Well worth the visit.

Springfield, IL was a most interesting, enjoyable stop.  And, BTW, the campground we stayed at is on Route 66!  Another added bonus!

Day 4 and a New Adventure

Today is Day 4 of this trip.  And soon, I will not be able to figure out what day it is.  And certainly not remember which day into the trip it is!  So, for now we will enjoy the fact that I remember that it is Day 4!

We discovered that there were boat drag races in Pigsah Bay.  We had never been to boat drag races before.  And, while it was not really something on my bucket list, it was a lot of fun to watch.  The weather was beautiful and the view was spectacular.  I am not sure that I understand a lot about the rules and what constitutes a win, but, I know more now than I did yesterday.

 

Once More

We can chalk up one more dance location for ourselves!  It was Ristorante di Fratenelli in Paducah.  On Saturday nights Reggie Lafaye plays saxophone.  He is a great musician and entertainer.  So, if you are in Paducah on a Saturday night, consider this venue for your entertainment.  We can’t comment on the food, as we sat in the lounge and had a glass of wine.  The wine was good and the food looked great as it was coming out of the kitchen.  Very upscale restaurant.  Loved it!

Live Music and Dancing

One of our great passions is dancing to live music.  We try to find it wherever we can.  We have danced on the beach, in restaurants, in bars, very classy ones and dive bars, as well, on the streets of Lynchburg, TN and Mansfield, TX, in a shopping center on Aruba (as well as a hotel lobby), in Central Park, on the Staten Island Ferry and many cruise ships.  On the 4^th of July, we found a band playing on the banks of Kentucky Lake.  During the performance, they mentioned that they would be playing at a flea market on July 5.  So, we went.  Now, we can add 2 more locations!  Tonight we are off to an Italian restaurant in Paducah that has a saxophonist.  If there isn’t enough room to dance, we can at least listen.

BTW, the name of the band on the shore of Kentucky Lake was Cantageus (rhymes with contagious, I think).  I didn’t understand the name – until the leader explained it.  Now I know it is our life philosophy:  Can’t Age Us.  Stay well and be young!

Land Between the Lakes

What a wonderful area to visit.  We had a great time driving down the trace, stopping here and there.  Saw an elk – no photo possible.  Saw two herds of bison – many photos taken.  And one bobcat crossed the road.  Way too fast for picture taking.  But, I will remember him for a long time.

Young bison nursing

Can you scratch your nose this way?

Flowers are always my favorite.

See y'all tomorrow or the next day or the next.....Sometime in the future!

Fourth of July

Sights, Sounds and Smells

There are so many iconic sights, sounds and smells that represent the 4^th!  I am sure I did not experience them all and I am sure I will omit quite a few but here goes.

Sights:

• The kids in the campground as they rode their bikes down the big hill.  This could have had some sound associated with it.  But, it was only the shouts of glee!
• Flags and all the red, white and blue.  Heartwarming!
• Everyone standing around the campfire or grill, waiting patiently for their cooked burger, or hot dog or corn on the cob.
• Kids eating watermelon
• Fireworks

Sounds:

Fireworks

Patriot songs that were played by the band on the beach.

Smells:

• Those burgers cooking on the grill – so-o-o-o good!
• All the lighter fluid that was added to the charcoal – not so good

• Smoke from the enthusiastic fires in the campground.

That about sums up our 4^th!  I will leave you with some photos of the fireworks, as they appeared over Kentucky Lake.

Normal Phone Conversation

Car 54, Where are you?

For most people, a normal phone conversation starts with “Hi, How are you?”  But, for us, and many other RV travelers, it is something like this:  “Hi, where are you?”  Because we are on the road a lot and use mostly a cell phone for communication, there is a need to confirm our location before we can continue with all the other pleasantries!

My favorite conversation with a fellow RVer was something like this:

Me: “Hello”

Him: “Hi.  Where are you?”

Me: “We are home.  Where are you?”

Him: “We are home, too.”

Thus confirming that we were standing in our homes, blocks away from each other.

Because we travel in an RV, for the next phone call, I will say that I am “home” – that home on wheels, the one that we love, that has a different backyard at each stop! 

On the Road Again

Another Year, Another Trip, More Fun

 

We have hit the road again.  The Adventurer is packed, we are aboard with our cats and we are on the way to new destinations and new adventures.  The only problem is that we had an unwanted guest when we left – the rain!  I think it felt unwelcomed.  It left us at the TN/KY border and the sun is out.  Now we get to enjoy the 4^th of July fireworks.

The fact that we are traveling always makes me want to continue to blog.  So, here goes again - another year, another trip and more blog entries.  Connection speed and reliability always determines how often we make an entry and greatly affects the inclusion of pictures.  As much as we say that we will go back and add them, we do not.  We merely move on to the next destination and the next adventure. So, again for this trip, we make no promises.  But, we will try to keep the blog up-to-date and include pictures from time to time.