The drive back Home- part 1

Sorry for the delay

As I was driving through Tennessee, it was clear that the series of storms had caused damage across the state. Besides flooded waterways, trees were broken and bent, and dried mud was on the roads. It was sad. But the days were now clear and the sun beat down raising the temperatures to the 90’s.

I drove past Knoxville and saw big thunderheads forming. I had to stop every 1 ½ hour to cool down. We all needed cooling down, me Dakota and Agatha. We stopped at very nice rest stops on I40. One was named for Al Gore’s father, who was a designer in the national highway system that brought us these great roads. At this stop, there was a celebration and there were free donuts and drinks. Cool.

There was also TV with the weather. A severe storm warning, possible tornado. Now most of my friends know, thunderstorms are not on my fun list. I had about 2 hours of drive time before the storm. I drove about 1 ½ hours, got off at a convenient exit and saw a motel with my name on it. Yep, a night of luxury. AC, Cable TV, WIFI, Queen bed, hot shower and no worry of bad storms getting me. The storm came late at night, big booms and bright flashes of lights. I turned up the sound on the TV and closed the curtains. Dakota cuddled up to me.

The next morning was beautiful. I got back on I-40 and before long there was I-81. I stopped at the Welcome Center near Bristol, Virginia. I knew there were car races here, but this area is really known for the Blue grass music. There was a big festival coming up, which I wished I could have stayed and gone to. But onward. I was on a time schedule, hoping to be able to see Sean.

I moved along and drove a very long day. I ended up at the Natural Bridge. One of the wonders of the US, worth seeing. Nearby was a Jellystone Park. I drove down a very curving road and finally arrived at the campground. This is not the Legacy Jellystone in VA, that was up the road. The people there were very nice. The site was in a big field on the side of the mountain. Nice cool night for sleeping, if fact I was cold and had to get a blanket. Some difference from the 90’s of Texas.!

The next morning, I found my way out and onto a road that would take me east. There was some stop and gos , but most was 4 lane. I travelled through some of the most deadly battlegrounds of the Civil War. I tried to remember the Southern and Northern Generals. I remembered five from both sides and felt pretty good about that. Before long I was in Fredericksburg, VA. I had made very good time and called Sean. Sean had a Frisbee game and could come in late afternoon. I didn't find any campgrounds nearby so I found a Day’s Inn. The manager let me park the RV near the front office and gave me a great room.

Around 4pm I get a call Sean is in the parking lot. I open the door and here is Sean and Courtney with flowers and a present. What a great Mother’s Day . After 1 year away, I get to see Sean and Courtney. It was good. We went out to dinner.

Going back East- a flooded Tennesee

After Trickie's , I was back on Interstate 40. After a delay in West Memphis due to an rush hours accident, we drove over the Mississippi River bridge and into the Land of Elvis. I drove through but I had visited Beale Street and Graceland years before.

So I drove on I-40 east. There were signs of the flooding; mud fields, streams to the banks, and broken trees.

I thought I better find a campground before Nashville, since everything there would be flooded. I saw signs for Loretta Lynn's Ranch and then a campground called Birdsong Resort.

I thought it that sounded nice, so I turned off the highway. Then onto a country road and then onto a twisting rural road. I was thinking "What the hell did I get myself into" The signs said 9 miles, the longest 9 miles I drove.

Finally there and it was expensive, but I wasn't turning around. The resort was mostly seasonal and yearly people living on KENTUCKY LAKE. They told me to find a site anywhere, since the RV park was flooded. I found a site and backed in..yea. I just hooked up the electric.

The park was flooded. I wasn't thinking that this area got so much rain, but they did. Many of the buildings are under water. One photo had an RV underwater. It was amazing how much water was there. It was a great sunset. And lots of birds.

The morning was full of bird song...hey now I get the resort name...I drove back down the rural road and onto Nashville.

The flooding near Nashville was extensive. Even part of I-40 was covered. I drove on passed Nashville and continued onto to near Knoxville. It was very hot. I had to stop every 2 hours to cool off. Then the sky looked nasty and the weather board said there would be storms and possible tornado....so I found a cheap motel and parked my RV in the parking lot..

Motels have air conditioning and great beds etc. There was no restaurant near so I ate PB & J sandwich. There was a big storm. Dakota and I snuggled in bed.

It was a beautiful morning . Have you noticed that after a storm is a really nice day. So onward we go.

THE TRIP BACK EAST- Texas and Arkansas

The trip started with spending most of the day at the repair shop. Agatha needed new spark plug wires, oil change and a few other adjustments. We arrived at 8AM and left about 4PM. It always seems to be a whole day and a whole lot of money to get anything done on Agatha. Mostly

I was waiting for those odd little parts. The good news was Dakota and I stayed in the air conditioned office. I spent the day watching SPEED TV. I saw motorcycle races, monster trucks and drag races. Not my usual watching, but it was tolerable and I learned there are a lot of crazy people out there doing crazy things.

Once the RV was road worthy, I drove north to see out friends Dave and Viola in Big Sandy. I was not sure I was going to get Agatha down this very rural small road, but we did make it. It was nice spending the night there. And this is where Hobo Mike got off the RV road. He plans to do some hobo-ing and east Texas is a good place to hop a train.

Tuesday morning I was on my own. I was starting out to drive across country solo. I have met some other women out there as solo RVers, but I have to admit I was a bit unsure of myself. I took the road north from Big Sandy headed to Gilmer and Texarkana. My idea of Texas was always desert looking, but in the north east part there was pine trees and lakes and small rolling hills. It was clear with bright blue sky. Perfect for driving.

It was around noon when I went through Texarkana and drove into Arkansas. It was 3 days after strong storms had gone through, but I didn’t see any damage. It was getting hot. For lunch Dakota and I stopped at a truck stop and had a PBJ and got some gas.

The road from Texarkana to Little Rock didn’t have much traffic. There were trees and lots of daisies. Yellow daisies. There were some buildings near the exits of the interstate, but most of the drive was tress, birds and flowers. I paid attention to Crow Brother . He warned me several times when there was problems up the road, like a cop who stopped a car. There is a sign for Hope, birthplace of President Bubba Clinton. The sun was heating up to 90 degrees. It was hot in the RV with only Red Neck Air conditioning.

There was more traffic as I got closer to Little Rock. The by-pass missed most of it. Once I got on interstateI-40, I was getting tired and hungry. I stopped at a MC Donald’s for a chicken sandwich. Dakota got a kiddie burger. I drove for a bout 25 more miles and saw a sign for TRICKIE’S RV CAMPGROUND.

Sounded good to me. I took the exit and saw Trickie’s convenience store and right next to it was the RV park.. Well really it was like a parking lot with electric. Half of the sites did not have working electricity due to the storms, or lack of attention.. who knows. I found a site, turned on the air conditioner in the back and soundly went to sleep. I was so tired I didn’t even take off my clothes. Dakota was crashed out right next to me.

Spring Time in Texas

Before I came to Texas, the images I had of the state were shaped by the old cowboy movies. It looked rough, dry and barren. And certainly there are parts of western Texas that are like that. In fact the drive from El Paso to San Antonio is 600 miles of barren flat desert land.

The area around Houston is much different. The weather there is affected by the Gulf of Mexico. During the winter it was mild, although this year was unusually cold. Houstonites told me this was the first year ever that they had two days of snow. There are sections of forests and lots of pastures and small rolling hills. It was a nice place to hang out for the winter. I hear the summers are very humid. I guess that is why most of the snowbirds we camped with have left for the northern climates.

Spring starts early in Houston. In February the flowers were beginning to bud. By spring break we had trees full of green and flowers. I found some pretty wildflowers right outside the campground gate. I love the orange and yellow colors.

Then I got in Agatha to drive to Tyler, about 200 miles north. I drove on the country roads, which didn't make the locals too happy since I drive 50 mph and they go 65 mph. The trip was beautiful. I saw fields of wildflowers among the rolling hills. Some fields were all white, some were all yellow, some were all purple. I just never pictured Texas so beautiful.

Now I understand why Lady Bird Johnson spent time preserving Texas wildflowers. The amazing colors and varieties. It seems like a Texan secret... spring time in Texas is delightful.

Tyler- Rose Capital of the Nation Rose Garden

Tyler Texas is in the north east corner of Texas, about 100 due east of Dallas. It was named after John Tyler, tenth president of US. Yea I had to look it up. There are about 100,000 people who live here. Actress Sandy Duncan and a bunch of football players are from here. It is a nice small city and easy to get around in.

Tyler is best known as the rose capital of the nation. That is because the sandy soil and sun and rain make it a perfect place to grow roses. So I had to go to the Rose Museum and and fabulous rose garden.

As you enter the building your nose is greeted to the wonderful smell of roses. There was a display of children's art, spring flowers, which was very nice. The Rose Museum has a section on types of roses and their history. Did you know roses came from China?

The coolest part was the exhibit of the dresses and crowns worn by the various Queens for the Festival of Roses. You know how Texas has everything big...well these dresses were unbelievable. They had 20 foot trains. Each dress was matched to the theme of the year: Peacocks, magic, patriotic, birds, dragonflies. Each dress was full of glitter and just spectacular.

Then you go out the door and a rainbow of colorful flowers calls you to run and prance. Yea well ok excitedly walk, but my soul was prancing. There are 35,000 rose bushes and 500 different varieties.

The rose garden was started in 1952, a very good year I might add. It sits on14 acres.

It was like wonderland. Birds flying around, beautiful roses and incredible aromas. There was a peach one that smelled like peaches..really.

I enjoyed walking around and talking to people. I met another full time RVer. She was a single and was originally from New Hope,PA. A lady from Georgia took my pictures. She is in one of mine.

the Rose Festival is in October.

We need more ceremony

I think we can all agree the American culture is so screwed up that no one knows how to make it better. The Navajo say that it is because WE are out of harmony with nature. WE are certainly out of balance. So I thought about this as I watched the news: kid killing kids, elementary kids selling heroin, babies having babies. What is wrong here?

We have lost all sense of right or wrong. Our governments and businesses are corrupt. Our families our dysfunctional. Schools are lost in a quagmire of policies. No wonder our kids are lost; no wonder we are all lost.

History may show us some suggestions. What were people doing right in the past that we have forgotten? Simple traditions.

The most important traditions that we are missing our the coming of age ceremony for young boys and girls. In the past, these ceremonies were used as a sign that young people could marry. But we are living longer than 35, and I don't think suggesting marriage to a 13 or 14 year old is a good idea. But the ceremonies were important as instructional tools to teach young people their responsibilities.

Among Apache: pubescent girls are chanted into womanhood over 4 days by elders. They call the primordial mother was the White Painted Woman. Elders build a ceremonial lodge: 4 main poles (4 directions of earth, 4 seasons, 4 stages of life, 4 myth grandfathers who hold up universe Before dawn, first day, girls dressed by godmothers. (guides). Outside, sprinkled with yellow cattail pollen (fertility). Close ceremony, girls run 4 times around a basket filled with fruit, nuts, candy, and money. (4 times symbolizes: infancy, childhood, adulthood, old age). While running reenacts White painted Woman's travels : 1st West, as old woman, and returned from East as young girl. After 4 times round basket, it is tipped (bounty is out: easy for her to get). Girl returns to lodge: godmother explains responsibilities of sex and motherhood. 4th night, girl dances for welfare of community - sunset to sunrise "You will become the mother of a nation" *

Gabon, Africa: Eshira girls painated white and wearing red adornments for Mabandji rite. Red = life force, white = strength and good reproductive health.*

Kota people of Congo: paint faces Ghost-like colour blue = transformation of boy to man. (age 9-10) Used to sacrifice wild animals, now, after schooling is completed, gifts of money take the place of sacrificing wild animal. * reprinted The Circle of Life (Edited by David Cohen

The Jewish people practice the coming of age ceremony with Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and their children don't seem as lost as the rest of us.

Perhaps if we had a ceremony as a child reaches "coming of age" where we celebrated the child and had elders/grandparents/Aunts/Uncle etc.(not parents-because we all know kids don't listen to parents much). teach the child about the responsibilities of sex and the responsibilities of the family. If we could teach the children that their are choices, some better than others and the consequences of those choices. If young people had a clue of what to expect in life rather than spending a life time trying to figure it out or worst yet trying to correct stupid mistakes.

How to do a ceremony: Add your own flair but here is a suggestion. A weekend is picked for the ceremony. On Friday dinner, the family gathers and have a simple meal explaining how proud they are of the child, etc. stories from mom and dad and family. The young person is sent to a special room by self no tv's etc. for the weekend. This begins the time of silence., a time of thinking and dreaming.

Saturday parents and siblings can not talk to the child. This is a time when the women for girls and the men for boys one by one talk to the young person. Usually the Grandparents are the ones that talk about sex and the Aunts and Uncles talk about family, life, jobs, country responsibilities etc. The child stays in the room. Food is brought, only bathroom breaks.

On Sunday, the young person takes a shower, puts on new clothes and with much pomp and drumming and or music or cheering etc. presents themselves as no longer a child, but a full member of the family. The Elders speak, the young person speaks and then gifts are given and they have a great feast, with happy music.

Anyway you get the idea. A coming of Age ceremony is very important part of life and we need to recreate this ceremony so our children understand the preciousness and responsibilities of life.

Our Favorite Friends - our pets

When a person goes on an RV adventure, they leave their family and friends at home. Luckily our little furry friends come with us. Almost every camper we have met has a dog, or two. One Rv houses a cat the size of a dog who gets to walk around the campground on a leash. One RV houses 3 or 4 birds which we hear "singing" every evening, if you can call what parrots do as singing.

The majority of the campers have dogs. Most are small like bichons or terriers or dachshund. Generally, if the Full time RVers have small dogs, there is usually two of them. Like our friends Tom and Donna have Millie and Hank, who are bichons. Then there is a cute Cocker spaniel puppie named Maggie. Another friend we met, Donna, who is now in CA. has four dogs and a cat. One is a Great Dane, Hermes, and three medium sized dogs, all rescued. That's alot of dogs and we know if it is a cold three dog night, she's got it covered.

The dogs comfort us when we are feeling blue. The dogs sit with us when we are sick. They are friends and family, and a way to meet other people. We would all be lost with out our furry friends.

DOG STORIES: Dakota loves to play with all the dogs, especially Millie and Maggie. Maggie used to live in the site behind us. We would let Dakota and Maggie run and play with eachother, until they tired. It was so funny seeing little Maggie try to jump up on Dakotas face to give her a kiss. They would run around the RV, tails wagging happily. Everytime Maggie got out, she would run over to see if Dakota was out to play. Then Maggie and group moved to another site up near the front gate. I would walk Dakota over so she could see her little buddy.

Hank and Millie also were in a site behind us, but Dakota met them in NM first when we all worked at Desert Haven Animal Rescue. Hank is older and all he wanted was people attention, but Millie loves to play with Dakota. Tom and Donna moved to the other side of the campground. One night they decided to see where Millie would go if they just let her lead the way. Yep she took them right to my RV...to see Dakota and maybe me.

We love our four legged family and sometimes it is sad if we have to say goodbye. Maggie's older brother went to Doggie heaven, and yesterday our friend Jesse and his family had to say goodbye to their basset hound, Phil.

Living on the road is hard on the dogs. They get hot in the RV's, they are always in a new locations, with new smells and strange dogs. The water changes, food changes, but they hang in loving us and keeping us sane.