Palo Duro Canyon

 

We drove through Texas ranching country alongside many fields of corn and hay to reach an outstanding Texas State Park, Palo Duro Canyon.   It was apparent on arriving at the park office that the CCC had been involved with building this park.  One of their most impressive structures is now used as the visitor’s center and has “picture windows” with fantastic views of the canyon, including Lighthouse Rock, the symbol of the park.

From the office, we drove down a 10% grade to the bottom of the  canyon to reach Sagebrush Campground, the closest campground to the entrance.  The other CG with 50 amp service is reached by driving through 5 washes – areas where rainwater flows over the road.  The entire canyon area is verdant due to the recent rain.

We drove through the park today stopping to take photos – too many photos – but it was hard to resist  taking  “just another shot” with the beauty of the canyon walls with rocks of many colors. 

Another feature of the park is the herd of Texas Longhorns which graze just inside the entrance.  Several Texas state parks are home to Longhorns  in an attempt to preserve the breed, a part of the Texas legacy.  Incidentally, other wildlife we saw included a roadrunner and what appeared to be a tarantula.

Now for the weather report:  Note the temperature on the thermometer which was at the entrance to a trail. (It reads 110).  Another thermometer was on the overlook near the visitor’s center and registered 10 degrees cooler. 

Heading West . . . Summer 2010

 

We left home Sunday, July 11, heading west to New Mexico where we’ll join our  friends George and Jan in Santa Fe and Taos, and then continue on to Colorado.  The first few days we are mainly  driving, but we stopped Mon. just across the Mississippi River in Lake Village, Arkansas, at Rhoda’s Hot Tamales to sample the tamales.  As it turned out, we also got a take out order for dinner as well:  fried chicken, turnip greens, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, and corn bread. 

George read about Rhoda’s in an RV park review, and the comment was “if you can get past the appearance, the food’s great,” so we decided to try it since it was on our route.  And it was quite a find! 

 

 

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Fire in the Sky April 5, 2010

Video by Irene

During the winter of 2009 we scheduled a stop at Jetty Park campground at Cape Canaveral to see the space shuttle launch, but it was scrubbed due to a fuel tank leak. This winter we were lucky to get another reservation at Jetty park for the May shuttle launch,  but  Irene had three conflicting events come up on her calendar, so we decided to make a quick trip to Titusville for the April launch.   At 6:21 am this morning we stood between US #1 and the Indian River as shuttle Discovery blasted off in a fiery yellow light which seemed to rise slowly from the earth and was well above the ground before its boom and crackle reverberated across the river and reached us. Despite it’s high speed, Discovery appeared to be in a slow motion arc as it shot northeast into space leaving behind an almost florescent white contrail.  As the sun rose, a swirl of deep rose mixed with the white cloud adding to the show. It all was over quickly and the mass of people gathered to view one of the last launches gradually departed, having seen Discovery blast off carrying a crew of seven and an 8-ton stockpile of supplies destined for the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA called the predawn launch "spectacular," "picture-perfect" and its "most visually beautiful launch ever."  Today’s launch was the 35th and final time NASA launched a space shuttle in complete darkness which added to the dramatic effect.  The Discovery crew included three women astronauts joining one already on the ISS, thus setting  the record for the most women in space simultaneously.

We had parked our motor home in a shopping mall parking lot across the street along with many others. Apparently the authorities are pretty tolerant of RV’s during launches. Parking there the night before was very convenient as we didn’t have to get up so early. After breakfast we drove to The Great Outdoors to visit Walt and Joyce whom we met in the mid-90’s through the Overland Trailblazers, our previous RV club, and with whom we visited briefly in January when we were at The Great Outdoors for the Southeastern Country Coachers rally.  They had arranged for us to park our coach in their absent neighbor’s RV port while we were there for the launch, but we decided to move to the mall in Titusville for a better view once we saw others RV’ers parked there. 

It was great to see Walt and Joyce, and it was especially interesting to visit with them today after seeing the launch since Walt worked as an engineer in the space program over a long period of time.  He worked with Werner von Braun at the US Army Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, and his office was next to von Braun’s.  He told us that von Braun told his team of engineers that if they had a better idea that worked, do it; they didn’t need to get his approval.  While working at Redstone Arsenal, his work frequently took him to Cape Canaveral and he moved to the area in the mid-60’s.  He also explained the source of the halo effect we had seen at the launch.  After the solid rocket boosters were jettisoned – after about 2 minutes – we saw a halo effect surrounding the shuttle which Walt said was the main rocket actually consuming the atmosphere as the hydrogen/oxygen rocket engine doesn’t emit any visible light.
 
Later in his career, Walt worked for Morton Thiakol as an engineer designing and developing the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters. We could hear a note of American pride as he commented on the solid rocket boosters. He pointed out that the shuttle’s main engine starts first which is no big deal, but that “when those solid rocket boosters light, you’re going somewhere.”
We enjoyed our visit with Walt and Joyce, and the time to leave and head north toward Rome came way too soon. All in all it was a short trip, but one that satisfied a long-held desire to see a shuttle launch before the program ends in September.

One Last Florida Bike Ride . . . on This Trip

 

With sun shining, a light breeze, and the temperature in the low 60’s, we set out for the last bike ride of our winter Florida trip by going to nearby Hillsborough River State Park.  Hillsborough River is one of Florida’s oldest  state parks, having been built by the CCC and opening in 1938. The park has had recent renovations and is a lovely natural setting with the Hillsborough River flowing through woods filled with palmettos and moss-draped oak trees.

We parked the truck just inside the park to unload our bikes and rode along the park road to explore the area.  We checked out the campground (which was full) and then rode on to the Wetlands Restoration Trail where we met up with a couple from Ohio on their bikes and continued on the Wetlands Trail together.  It was a pretty rough trail, but we soon reached  a hard surface unpaved road and continued to the river.  We were surprised to see no wildlife – not even birds. 

Interestingly, the Ohio couple told us one of their favorite bike trails is the Virginia Creeper Trail which we also love and biked for the second time with Jim and Hope a couple of summers ago.  They recommended the Hiawatha Trail in Idaho as a great trail similar to the Virginia Creeper.  Now when can we go there?

Tampa – “City on the Bay”

 

Having arrived at Lazy Days RV Park near Tampa on Sunday, we set out Monday to bicycle along the new River Walk area and also Bayshore Drive.  The River Walk is a fantastic asset to Tampa, and while it isn’t yet complete, it connects many areas with a pleasant stroll along the river.  From the Convention Center it’s a short distance to the Marriott Waterside.  We stayed there when we attended a nephrology conference at the Convention Center a couple of months after George’s kidney transplant in 2002. 

Today we ate lunch there overlooking the river on a lovely sunny day.  We continued on to  Channelside, a shopping/dining area, where we stopped for ice cream and then on to the cruise ship terminal where NCL’s Grandeur of the Seas was loading. 

We left the River Walk and bicycled to Bayshore Drive, a wide road with grand old homes on one side and Tampa Bay on the other.  The side walk on the bay side  is wide, and it’s a popular place for walkers, joggers, rollerbladers, and, of course, bicyclers.  The views were great and so was our effort as we pedaled south into a strong wind.  But on our return, we were running with the wind and it was a great ride – and much quicker. 

 

 

 

 

To see a map of our bike ride along the River Walk and Bayshore Drive, click here.

To view additional photos of our Tampa bike ride, click here.

Boca Grande – a Grand Day!

 

We enjoyed bicycling in Boca Grande Thursday on the 6.5 mile trail that runs on the old RR bed from one end of  the island to the other.  We started on the south end at the State Park and began by walking on the beach and visiting the light house museum for a briefing on the history of the island. The railroad brought phosphates to the docks for ocean shipping.

After the first third of the trail we headed east to a harbor side restaurant for lunch.  After rejoining  the trail and heading north, we soon passed through the main part of town enjoying the extensive  landscaping. We stopped at the Loose Caboose restaurant which is in the old depot for ice cream.

We then biked to the north end of the trail, and on the return we detoured into one of the exclusive neighborhoods and admired the homes on the water. After Irene  did some shopping in town and we rode back to the start point, it was near five o’clock. Upon arriving back at the truck, we had ridden sixteen miles.

What a Difference 60 Miles Can Make!

 

On Sunday, Feb. 7 we left the Palm Beach area and drove west to South Bay RV Park on the western edge of Palm Beach County and bordering Lake Okeechobee.  We drove from an area of opulent homes, yachts, and automobiles to an agrarian area dominated by sugar cane and oranges.  To explore this area, on Monday we took the Sugarland Tour offered by the Chamber of Commerce in Clewiston, 15 miles west of South Bay.

Our tour showed us the sugar cane fields which are  burned before  huge machines harvest the cane.  Egrets flock to the fields to eat the insects which are fleeing the fire. The cane is then taken to the U. S. Sugar Company mill where it’s processed and refined into sugar.  Our tour guide cut stalks of cane for the group to sample.  Hendry County, where Clewiston is located, is Florida’s largest producer of oranges.  Most are taken to Southern Gardens Citrus where they are juiced, processed, and distributed to companies such as Tropicana and Minute Maid. 

Clewiston is on the southwest edge of Lake Okeechobee, and the tour guide told about the hurricanes in the 1920’s which killed thousands and led to the building of the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee, the second largest freshwater lake in the contiguous United States.   The Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (L.O.S.T.) encircles the lake atop the dike.

We bicycled a 12 mile section of the L.O.S.T. on Tuesday morning and had great views of the surrounding areas.  We enjoyed bird watching and saw egrets, gulls, and an osprey on its nest as well as a number of boats heading out to the lake in the channel.  Despite a stiff head wind on our return to the RV park (adjacent to the trail), we had a good ride. 

Clewiston is where Irene’s parents met and where they lived when they were first married so she especially enjoyed seeing the area.  Many buildings, such as the Okeechobee Inn where we had lunch, existed when her parents lived in Clewiston and her Dad was an electrician at the sugar mill.

 

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