Exploring and Learning

Last Thursday B and I were feeling better, we have had colds, so we decided to take the 240 mile drive we had been looking forward to taking. It consisted of going on west to the little town of Kaplan and then heading south on Louisiana 35. This road is marked as a scenic route, but we have since learned that it was built as an evacuation route for those living in the area. Their only other route is the water way.

We thought that maybe we would see an alligator but no such luck. We did see lots of snowy egrets.

Here they don't look very large but they are large. They are pretty to see in flight but we weren't able to get a picture as we were usually driving when we saw some flying and there wasn't a place to stop.

The area consists of many wetlands, swamps, bayou, canals, or what ever else you call them. We took the ferry across at Cameron. There are some beach communities, or maybe I should say were, after we crossed on the ferry. We parked and went down to the beach at one of these. The water was pretty brown. The sand is loaded with tiny pieces of shells, not like the sand we saw in Florida. (I wondered if that was due to the hurricanes that they have had.)

From here we could see out into the gulf. Here we saw many oil platforms. What businesses we did see at Cameron were related to these.

We had hopes of getting lunch at a local eatery along the way, but no luck. (It was Lake Charles before we found anyplace.) In the beach areas the only buildings we saw were fairly new or they were trailers/fifth wheels parked on lots. There were many vacant lots with concrete slabs. There were no businesses of any kind. This is one of the homes.
Note how high up the building is from the ground. We saw nothing lower than this or older. Hurricanes Ike and Reta both came through here. From the looks of things, they wiped out everything. We did see some twisted cars/trucks (it was hard to tell) in a swamp area. We also saw a metal building with nothing below about twelve feet except the metal studs. Above that the walls were there, although the sea side was bent inward. In another area we saw two trailers about ten feet up on stilts with water marks and damage half way up their sides.

As Rita and Ike came ashore, I'm sure that there were sighs of relief that they ONLY came to sparsely populated areas. I'm sure that those with property, etc. in the sparsely populated areas weren't feeling very much relief. After seeing some of this destruction and also learning how the communities where we are currently staying (a good thirty miles from the coast) were flooded, I will never again think, "Oh, it is good that the hurricane is coming in there, a sparsely populated area."

A Few of Our New Found Things

We have had some fun exploring Cajun country and learning about the area.

One of the first things that we noticed as we were driving towards Abbeville, Louisiana was the smell of smoke in the air. This is sugar cane country and they are in the middle of harvest. After they cut it off they burn the fields. We were driving close to a field the other day and decided to stop and get a picture. Do you see B. at the edge of the field?
About six miles from where we are staying is a small town that we found sort of interesting.
The land for the town was purchased by an August Erath, who was a Swiss German. He was instrumental in getting the railroad to come to the town. It is named after him even though he never lived there. He lived in New Iberia, a neighboring town that is much larger. The town has been flooded numerous times due to hurricanes coming ashore near it or due to the back wash from others.

We also found this sign not far out of the town of Erath.
I never really understood the difference between Cajun and Creole. I have learned that Creoles are of French and European descent, mainly aristocracy who settled in cities. Creoles take to culinary spices and generally use vast ingredients and several courses.

Cajuns were French, Catholic settlers of Acadian Nova Scotia, Canada. Looking for freedom to live as they pleased, in 16o4 they began moving into eastern Canada. They found fertile fields and abundant fish and wildlife. To them it was heaven on earth so they called it Arcadia, or 'Acadie'. Acadia was a distinct colony of New France, and was geographically and administratively separate from the French colony of Canada (modern day Quebec), which led to Acadians and Québécois developing two rather distinct histories and cultures.

In 1713 the English took control of their settlements after a war with France. The Acadians struck a deal with their new rulers and agreed to remain neutral in any future conflicts between the English and French. In return, they asked to be left alone to live in peace and isolation.

Faced with the refusal of the Acadians to pledge allegiance to the British crown and Anglican Church in 1755, English Governor Charles Lawrence took action on his own and gave the orders that led to the expulsion of the Acadians. Families were scattered and many lost their lives. Some returned to Europe, others moved to French speaking areas, and some went to the English colonies to the south. By 1784 the King of Spain consented to allow them to settle in South Louisiana. The Acadians then joined a scattering of their people who had arrived as early as 1765 from the Caribbean and the East Coast. Since they received a hostile greeting from the French aristocracy, they headed west and into the unsettled territory. They settled along the bayous of south central and south western Louisiana.

Now you know what I've learned.

We went to a concert where some well know Cajun players participated. Last evening we tried out some of the food. This isn't crawfish season so my fish platter didn't have them on it, however the catfish, crab, shrimp, frog leg, etc were good. Bob had alligator and it was good. They also had Cajun music and dancing. The music is interesting. Most of it is a fast three four time played by fiddles, guitars, accordians, and sometimes drumsets.

There are also lots of oak trees in this area. I now understand "in the shade of the old oak tree." This tree is in the down town area and as you can see it extends out over half of the street. It would cover close to half a block. It is not the only large tree like this.
That is B standing under the tree.
We also took a side trip to Avery Island, home of the McIlhenny Co., Tabasco. I was surprised to see some higher ground. Everything is extremely flat around here with the exception of this island, which has an area over one hundred feet high.

We took the tour and learned that the peppers are not picked until they reach a special shade of red. The same day they are mixed with some salt, ground, strong vinegar added, then the mash is placed in oak barrels, and closed with lids which in turn are covered with salt. Some holes have been drilled in the lids to allow expansion when it ferments. Then the barrels are aged for three years before it is bottled. The salt that is used comes from a salt mine on the island. It turns out that the island is a huge salt dome. The salt was first found about fifteen feet below the surface. They don't know how deep it goes but think it may be many miles. They also found oil.

It has been great seeing and learning about this area. The people here are relaxed, (last night the waitress sat down with us for a chat) and very friendly. We are enjoying our visit.

Cold, Cold, and Cold

Plan A:
Take several pictures, then post them, see how far down the row of pictures before you realized where we were.

Plan A failure:
Got in too late on Saturday to go to the down town area, was too COLD on Sunday and Monday (it got below freezing and the wind was gale force), I came down with a good head COLD on Saturday, still too cold and sick on Monday, finally made it on Tuesday - but my camera decided it was too COLD to work. Only got one picture.

I tried to get a picture of the gas lanterns that were burning, but no cooperation from my camera. I also wanted to get a picture of how narrow the streets are, only two cars wide. You can see that the sidewalks only allow two people to walk side by side down them. We wanted to take in some of the music, but only heard a band as they were in the process of making a movie and they were marching towards Bourbon Street.

Oh, that was our New Orleans experience.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Our youngest son is always accusing his dad of being 'Bah, Humbug' at the holidays. I guess you could say that, maybe, he got his wish. We had a different Thanksgiving.

We have been visiting B's brother and family in Tennessee. The four of us decided to go to Apalachicola Bay, Florida, for an extended Thanksgiving weekend. They have a friend staying down here.

So this is the way we spent the day.

George kept telling his wife that where we were staying was very primitive, no TV, outhouse, etc. He made it sound like maybe this is were we would be.

However, this is where our quarters are, on the top floor.

The bay.

Spanish moss.

There were no turkeys in sight, on or off the table, but lots of peacocks. This one was sitting in the tree, just off the balcony, grooming himself. I love the feathers.

There are also lots of these. They are there at the fish cleaning dock.

This area is noted for it's oysters. Here are some of the boats that do the work.

The 'gravel' along the pathway is interesting.

This is it closer up.

In other parts of the country, there are piles of gravel. Here there are piles of oyster shell as high as those gravel piles.

We also drove out to Cape St George. This is the old light house. Yes, of course we went to the beach, ocean side.

When it was all done, we decided to have our Thanksgiving dinner.
The restaurants were closed.

This is the group.


We all hope that you had a fun Thanksgiving and remembered just how fortunate we are due to the hardships the early pilgrims and pioneers endured.

Radford, Virginia

We made a stop in Radford, Virginia, on our way south to see B's brother. We stopped here because we wanted to see a niece who is working on her PhD, close to here in Blacksburg.

Since we have been away from the trailer for awhile, we needed to move some of our things back into it. We had picked it up from storage on our way from DC. After a long day of driving, getting lost because our GPS sent us astray making us late meeting up with our niece, we decided to lay over a day.

One of the things that B wanted to do was to get a hair cut. So the next afternoon we went into town and found a barber. We decided to take a drive along the river, the New River, back to the trailer. While we were driving I saw a two story log cabin down in a flat field closer to the river. As we went further down the road we say a sign. On it was written: The Ingles Farm 1747. The cabin was on the farm. We tried to go in to it but the gate was closed.

Now that wouldn't have meant anything to us if it hadn't been for a book, "Follow the River," that my sister gave us to read when we were at her place last spring. It is the story of Mary Ingles who was taken captive, along with two of her sons, her sister-in-law,and another man, by Indians at the start of the French and Indian war. She and another captive escaped in late September and made her way home, over three to four hundred miles.

We knew that we would be close to where she had lived but didn't realize how close we would be. Today, it is hard to imagine that this area was the frontier. It is also hard to imagine what she went through to get up the New River, through its gorge, and back to her home. I'm glad that I live now.

Lots of Art Work, National Museum of Art

We went back to the National Museum of Art and finished going through it. There are lots of well known artist's works there, Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, Renoir, Degas, Giovanni,Van Dyck, Rembrendt, Mignon, to name a few. I was a little sad that there was only one of Andrew Wyeth's paintings.

There was a media stated on some of the German sketches that I wasn't familiar with so I had to look it up, gouache. It is a media that makes water colors non transparent, allowing the artist to paint from dark to light colors, or to paint a light color on a dark color, which can't be done with water colors. Actually, today one can buy tubes of paint that are gouache.

We also saw lots of statues, but our favorite ones were of two youth, the Fisher Boy, and Girl with a Shell, by French sculpture Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux in the 1860's. They were positioned on opposite sides of an entry into a hall so that they were looking towards each other. The marble that they were carved from was very white, partly translucent, and without flaws. I loved their expressions.

I had to laugh when I saw her little toe. It doesn't show very well in my picture but it turns sideways. Maybe we have some French blood in us.

I also liked this next statue which depicts the different forms of art, sculpture and painting.


Looking at all the different paintings, the details, and the different styles makes me want to get out my paint and brushes. Since they are not accessible right now, I guess that will have to wait and I will have to just use colored pencils. That is challenging for me as you have to go from light to dark as with water colors. AUGH!

So Much To See

How do I start this, or where do I start this?

I think for me, it started back many years ago, when I first read my great grandfather's diary that he kept during his service throughout the Civil War. In his diary, he recorded that he went to the Smithsonian Museum and there saw General George Washington's uniform, sword, etc. that he used during the Revolutionary War. He also recorded that his unit had camped south of the capital. At the end of the war he spoke of marching down Pennsylvania Ave. past the White House. I guess I have wanted to walk where he walked.

Way back when we were first married, we planned to spending our first vacation together taking in the sites in DC. Due to a number of things that happened, we didn't get to go. Two years ago we were in the area but only for one day. Having a child in this area has been a real draw, so now I can fulfill my desire.

I'm not sure how many buildings the Smithsonian had at the time of my Great Grandfather's visit, but today there are many. They refer to this one as the Castle. I believe that it was the only one during the time of the Civil War. This is the main entrance.
There are a few things here, but now it is an information center for all of the buildings. There was a nice display of pins worn by Madeleine Albright which she used to make a statement.

We have been to the Bureau of engraving and printing, the Holocaust Museum which was also having an exhibit "State of Deception, The Power of Nazi Propaganda." Having gone to the exhibit first really helped see how Hitler came to power so quickly and how he influenced people to follow him. Unfortunately, we are seeing some of these same tactics in our government today.

We went to the African Art Museum where I learned how coil baskets were made, some even water proof. At the America Indian museum I saw three interesting canoes. One made of reeds,
a birch bark one with a surprising number of ribs in it, and

a Hawaiian outrigger with beautiful wood.

I thought of my nephew who makes canoes.

We also saw gold pieces from South America along with Spanish gold coins that had been made from the gold that was taken by Pizarro.

We went to the National Museum of art where, amongst many known artist's works, we saw Leonardo Di Vinci's Ginevra. It is the only painting of his in the US. We only got through a portion of this building, so we will go back at some time.

I have tried to find where my Great Grandfather may have camped, but it is all buildings now. He wasn't real specific in his journal, just stated "south of the Capital."

A few evenings ago, we were in the White House area with By and L. We walked down part of Pennsylvania Ave. The road is now closed off where it goes by the White House, but I did walk along part the route he took, on the side walk instead of down the middle of the street.

I have yet to see Washington's uniform, etc. That may be in one of the museums we haven't been to yet. I did see one of his sword that he used during the French and Indian War as we went to Mount Vernon. There is no way that he through a coin across the river. It is way too far.
And his teeth weren't wooden. I think they were ivory as we did see them.

I can see why he loved it here, even though he didn't get to spend much of his time here due to wars and his presidency. It is a beautiful, tranquil place.We enjoyed wondering and exploring the buildings and grounds. He was quite the farmer, using a seven year crop rotation so that the soil would not be depleted. I thought this chicken pen was interesting. It was inexpensive to make, kept the chickens in and predators out, and was portable. There was a gate into it on the side.
I have gotten to do some of the things that I have wanted to do and see. There is so much more that I doubt that we will do it all this time. I guess we will just have to make another trip.

Hard at Work

We are so very happy for the new job that our daughter-in-law, L, has. It meant that she had to be gone all of last week for training. But she was at work here this week. As you can see, she is a hard worker. This is her new office.







I think the hat makes it legit. She had been to a meeting, so she did get dressed. This is only temporary and she will soon have a REAL office.

Along Came Fall

Has anyone been wondering what we have been doing with our time? Just in case there is one of you out there who has, here goes.

One of the things that we had never done, while at the West Point area, was to go see Fort Putnam. It was built during the Revolutionary War to help guard the Hudson river and keep the British from going up the river. It was one of a number of forts. The grounds around it are now covered with trees, but I'm sure it was totally cleared at that time. I would not have wanted that job. We had a great guide who took us and told us about it. He was even very patient while we read everything.

It overlooks what is now call the plain. There was also a fort located on it. That is part of the Cadet's buildings in the background.

As you can see, the fort is not very large. It sits on a hill overlooking the bend in the river where, during the war, a chain was put across to stop the British ships. We are standing on the barracks.During our time at WP we made a trip up to Vanderbilt's Hyde Park mansion to listen to R play. It was a beautiful evening, not to hot, good music, and a nice sunset.
The time came for us to move on as By & L were looking forward to hanging out in the camper with us in the great out doors. So on we went. We picked them up and went out to the Bull Run area for Labor Day weekend. On Monday we pulled out and went to the Shenandoah River valley. It is a beautiful area with some hiking trails. It seems that I never had my camera with me, so I have no pictures, other than this, to show off the area.
This is a new camping area. It just opened in July. So there weren't the trees in the camping area that had been at Bull Run. Fortunately, the weather cooled and the humidity really dropped. It started feeling like fall. We even saw a few leaf colors.

One of the things that we did was to go to Luray Cavern. It is privately owned, not very large, and well known for it's pipe organ. The pipes are different formations. It doesn't sound too bad. It has lots of formations with many colors, some very white. We hadn't seen that before in the caverns we have gone to.

The next one is actually a pool of water reflecting the formations on the ceiling.
One of the trails goes along the river. The first day that we got there, I went hiking down stream. It reminded me of the creek that I would walk along as a kid on a hot summer afternoon; cooler with lots of trees, the sun coming through in places, dried leaves crunching under foot, and the smell of vegetation dried from the summer heat. The trees that I walked through as a child were quaking asp while these were hard woods. I learned the type of some of the trees as some had labels. There were also lots of pawpaw trees along the river, but alas, no fruit.

Another trail goes up into the trees, gaining altitude very quickly. By decided that he and L could use that loop as part of her running training. The first time they did it too quickly and about killed themselves. It didn't help that it was in the high eighties at the time.

The Shenandoah river is also a good river for canoeing. There are lots of rental places. On Thursday By, L and I rented one and did a seven mile stretch of the river. Again, no pictures as we didn't want to get cameras wet. We should have brought them. B decided to take a long hike.

The water was low so there were numerous times that we scrapped the bottom going over the many rock ridges crossing the river bottom. We almost had to step out of the canoe a couple of times to free it. The water was crystal clear so we could see the bottom along with everything in the water. We saw several small fish, one around nine to ten inches long, a red turtle about a foot across, old tires, cans, etc. In the air we saw two bald eagles circling above us. As most of the float is in forested areas. It would be a great place to see fall colors. We had fun trying to float up on cranes.

The next morning, B and I went hiking up river. Within a couple of miles we came to the canoe rental place from the day before. Had we known that, we would have walked there and back instead of making the about six mile trip by truck out, around and back in to the river.

It was a great time. Even Hinckley enjoyed it. He really got into the trail exploring. Since we got back, he has been moping around.

Remember all those times I started to carve a stick while we were in the outdoors? Well, I finally finished something.

More Summer Fun

It has been almost a month since I last wrote so I thought maybe I should update and at least let some of you know where we are and what we have been doing. I got a call from a son at almost midnight. His excuse for calling so late was that he didn't know where we were.

We spend a couple days at Nauvoo, toured some of the buildings, went to the temple, and saw the pageant. I love that no matter where you are in the old town area you can see the temple.

Prior to our first visiting here, I didn't know what a bustle oven was. This picture shows it well. These were built this way so that there is also an oven in them.

In several areas I saw these large hybiscus plants. The blossoms are 8 to 10 inches across and in several colors. The plants are around 4 feet tall. They were beautiful.
Then we headed east to NY to spend some time with B and R and family. We went into the city and took in the aquarium.

The kids thought that this was a good place to stand.



Almost next door to the aquarium is Coney Island. So we walked the board walk and ate an official Coney Dog at the official place. Now we can say we have been there, done that.

Back on post we got to watch the new cadets come in from their all night march at the end of their basic training. They were a tired looking bunch.

R was playing snare drum as the band lead them back onto post.

A week later we watched the review where they were accepted into the corp. The New Cadets marched in and lined up facing the corp. Towards the end of the review, they march towards the corp, joining it's ranks and become official cadets.

The kids wanted to spend a night in the camper. So we all cooked dinner over the camp fire. First we had to get smoked. Can you believe that someone in this group actually misses the smell?

Then the tongue has to be held just right, as B demonstrated, and you get the perfect dog.
The kids have now gone back to school but we will not accept that summer is drawing to a close. Hopefully, there is more summer stuff for all of you too.