tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363213762024-02-19T14:52:42.012-07:00TuzigootJournalReports on travels in our motorhome, Tuzigoot. We chose this name from the Tuzigoot National Monument we visited on one of our first trips.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger328125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-24621921196125708322017-08-10T16:59:00.001-06:002017-08-10T17:03:43.873-06:00Pictures: 1964 Ford Fairlane Sports Coupe<br />
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I found this car in Hemmings, 1996, and purchased it because it was the same model of the car that my parents bought me when I graduated from college in 1964 and because it had been professionally restored. The odometer read 29,730 miles when I registered it in New Mexico; it now reads 37, 361, which means it has been driven, on average, less than 400 miles per year. At a Vintage Motor Car Club or America Rally soon after I bought the car it received a Silver Award. <br />
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The last 15 years it has been driven primarily the proverbial Only on Sunday to and from church, weather permitting. It has been garaged and regularly maintained since I bought it. <br />
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In the last year I have replaced a fuel pump, water pump, and assorted gaskets.<br />
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This car has a 269 V-8 engine. In the last year I have replaced a fuel pump, water pump, and various engine gaskets. <br />
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<span id="goog_1641713676"></span><span id="goog_1641713677"></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-28486521158111697462016-05-27T10:18:00.001-06:002016-05-27T10:18:23.196-06:0089er Days, Guthrie, OK<br />
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As Susie's health has improved, we decided to to take another Tuzigoot trip. Our destination was Guthrie, OK, a town that was established on April 22, 1889, when settlers raced to claim land in central Oklahoma (known as Unassigned Lands; various Indian tribes had been assigned to much of the land in the Oklahoma Territory). Guthrie became the state capital until Oklahoma City stole it away. <br />
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Here's a display in Guthrie's Territorial Museum showing how the many tribes were assigned and gathered in Oklahoma.<br />
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Guthrie's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/89erDays" target="_blank">89er Days celebration</a> includes a carnival, rodeo, car show, street food, and a parade on Saturday, April 23. <br />
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We left home on April 20th, stopped in Santa Rosa, NM, for lunch at the Love's Travel Center that son Jeff Hinkle is now managing, and then drove on to an RV park on the east side of Amarillo for the night. One feature to note is that the I-40 corridor across the TX Panhandle is lined with wind turbines all the way. Quite a sight. <br />
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On Thursday we drove on to Guthrie, setting up camp at an RV park just west of town. <br />
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On Friday my sister, Connie, and her husband, Tom, came up from their home in Edmond and we rendezvoused with my sister, Verla, who is a Guthrie resident and promoter, then strolled through the car show spread out on city streets. Nephews Peter Collins and Sterling Raines joined us for dinner at a really good barbecue joint, Stables Cafe, in a building that was once stables in downtown Guthrie.<br />
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Saturday was the main event - the 89er Day parade. I never saw so many Shriners, zipping around on all sorts of motorized vehicles.<br />
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There were dance troupes.<br />
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tractors,<br />
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and, of course, Fire Engines<br />
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Lots of excitement and lots of noise. Lasted about two hours.<br />
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There are many fine old buildings in Guthrie. Some examples:<br />
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(I've probably posted some of these after previous trips to Guthrie. You can Google Guthrie for more city pictures.)<br />
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The historic marker outside this building, which had most recently been a Chinese restaurant, but now closed, said that this building was built to be a two-story toilet. I'll leave its interior design, early 1900s, to your imagination. Do you suppose that historic marker was bad for restaurant business?<br />
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Sunday we went to Cowboy Church with Verla in nearby Perkins, OK, then gathered at Connie's in the afternoon. Five of Connie and Tom's six sons with spouses and children came over too, and it was good to see all of them.<br />
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Going home, we again spent a night in Amarillo, different RV park, and had dinner with our friends, former Albuquerqueans, Sue and Roy Sooter. Routine trip home the next day. Tuzigoot took good care of us. <br />
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We'll be in touch.<br />
<br />
Rob and susie<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-48559211063330542222016-05-27T10:12:00.002-06:002016-05-27T10:15:54.384-06:00Guthrie, OK89er Days, Guthrie, OK<br />
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As Susie's health has improved, we decided to to take another Tuzigoot trip. Our destination was Guthrie, OK, a town that was established on April 22, 1889, when settlers raced to claim land in central Oklahoma (known as Unassigned Lands; various Indian tribes had been assigned to much of the land in the Oklahoma Territory). Guthrie became the state capital until Oklahoma City stole it away. <br />
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Here's a display in Guthrie's Territorial Museum showing how the many tribes were assigned and gathered in Oklahoma.<br />
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Guthrie's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/89erDays" target="_blank">89er Days celebration</a> includes a carnival, rodeo, car show, street food, and a parade on Saturday, April 23. <br />
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We left home on April 20th, stopped in Santa Rosa, NM, for lunch at the Love's Travel Center that son Jeff Hinkle is now managing, and then drove on to an RV park on the east side of Amarillo for the night. One feature to note is that the I-40 corridor across the TX Panhandle is lined with wind turbines all the way. Quite a sight. <br />
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On Thursday we drove on to Guthrie, setting up camp at an RV park just west of town. <br />
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On Friday my sister, Connie, and her husband, Tom, came up from their home in Edmond and we rendezvoused with my sister, Verla, who is a Guthrie resident and promoter, then strolled through the car show spread out on city streets. Nephews Peter Collins and Sterling Raines joined us for dinner at a really good barbecue joint, Stables Cafe, in a building that was once stables in downtown Guthrie.<br />
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Saturday was the main event - the 89er Day parade. I never saw so many Shriners, zipping around on all sorts of motorized vehicles.<br />
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There were dance troupes.<br />
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tractors,<br />
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and, of course, Fire Engines<br />
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Lots of excitement and lots of noise. Lasted about two hours.<br />
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There are many fine old buildings in Guthrie. Some examples:<br />
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(I've probably posted some of these after previous trips to Guthrie. You can Google Guthrie for more city pictures.)<br />
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The historic marker outside this building, which had most recently been a Chinese restaurant, but now closed, said that this building was built to be a two-story toilet. I'll leave its interior design, early 1900s, to your imagination. Do you suppose that historic marker was bad for restaurant business?<br />
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Sunday we went to Cowboy Church with Verla in nearby Perkins, OK, then gathered at Connie's in the afternoon. Five of Connie and Tom's six sons with spouses and children came over too, and it was good to see all of them.<br />
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Going home, we again spent a night in Amarillo, different RV park, and had dinner with our friends, former Albuquerqueans, Sue and Roy Sooter. Routine trip home the next day. Tuzigoot took good care of us. <br />
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We'll be in touch.<br />
<br />
Rob and susie<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-30661533783327631322016-04-07T13:30:00.000-06:002016-04-24T21:16:16.995-06:00Arizona<b>Arizona</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Our route home from Las Vegas was loosely planned (is that a surprise?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wanted to spend some time in Arizona, possibly
in the Phoenix area, for spring training baseball
games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, just east of Kingman, AZ, we
took US 93 SE toward Phoenix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d never
been on that highway, that I remember, and some of it was marked “scenic” on the map, so
that looked inviting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turned out that
scenic meant frequently two-laned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But,
there were rugged mountains to look at and some interesting areas of saguaro cacti and Joshua trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We had not made any reservations in Phoenix, but thought we might
first spend a few days in the Sedona area and plan subsequent AZ days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he shortest route from Kingman to
Sedona is to take I-40 from Kingman to Flagstaff, then south to Sedona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, that involves some pretty steep ascents
and descents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, lots of rough
pavement on I-40.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, the decision to
skirt around the Mogollon rim country and to stay in an RV park in Camp Verde, about
25 miles SE of Sedona. This meant we went SE on 93 to Wickenberg, then east to I-17, then back north to Camp Verde. Once we got there, we decided to stay through the
weekend – five nights total.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Quite a bit to see in the area, plus I was not looking forward to encountering Phoenix or the drive back up I-17 on the way home. Next year, spring training - maybe. Depends on how well the Lobos do.</span></span><br />
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[I have some Camp Verde history. Way back in 1987, friend Roger Eaton and I rode in the "Almost Across Arizona Bike Tour." Started at the south rim of the Grand Canyon (hence the "Almost") and bicycled to Nogales. This was an organized tour: a truck hauled our tents and sleeping bags and the tour company arranged camping at parks and football fields (I recall the water sprinklers coming on during the night we were camped on the Flagstaff HS field) and meals at schools or churches or country clubs, even. From Flagstaff we rode to Camp Verde, by way of Sedona. The next day's ride was to Payson. This required a long climb and finished with a decent descent. But it was a tragic day. One of our riders was killed when struck by logging truck when the truck's trailer sideswiped the rider. We got snippets of information as we rode to Payson. Roger and I were not riding together and didn't know who the victim was for sure until late in the day. We both worried it was the other until we found out. I shudder just thinking about it. The rider was from NY state and was on the tour with his wife. Several riders left the tour after that tragedy.]<br />
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<b>Sedona</b><br />
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Thursday, we drove to the hot-spot of <a href="http://visitsedona.com/" target="_blank">Sedona</a>, known for its fabulous red rock scenery, and new-age vortices and the like. There are lots of pictures at the linked VisitSedona website. Traffic was already heavy, as Easter weekend, also a time for many school spring breaks, approached. I found out the next day that this week was by far the most popular time for tourists to visit Sedona. Going into Sedona I pulled into a shop advertising tourist info. I decided to sign up for a jeep tour. Turned out this office was a front for a time-sharing resort. If I would listen to a 2-hour pitch I could get a jeep tour free and $50 cash, I believe. I've done a few of those, but not this time. I bought a ticket straight-up. The time-sharing agent called the Jeep office and made a reservation for me for Friday.<br />
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Friday morning when I showed up at the <a href="https://www.pinkjeeptours.com/" target="_blank">Pink Jeep</a> office, they didn't have my reservation. Let that be a lesson. Fortunately, I had a receipt and they had a spot available on the tour I wanted to take. Here's the staging area in downtown Sedona:<br />
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They sent out about 20 jeep-loads bound for different 10 o'clock tours . This is a big operation, and well-organized. Our guide said the company has something like 75 jeeps, all modified from stock jeeps in Pink Jeep's mechanical shop for their tour purposes. I was on the <a href="https://www.pinkjeeptourssedona.com/sedona-arizona-coyote-canyons-tour/" target="_blank">Coyote Canyons</a> <i>'rugged'</i> tour - the alternative was the easy or <i>sissy</i> tour. We didn't do any technical boulder-crawling like you may have seen; we just drove a moderately rough and rocky backroad that required a high-clearance vehicle. <br />
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Our guide and driver was Dan Swan. He was great - told us a lot about the geology of the area and the human history and the history of Sedona.
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(I usually take notes on tours for subsequent blogging, but
that wasn’t possible on the terrain we covered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, I’m going by (limited) memory. You could look it up - the history, I mean.)</span><br />
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The idea of pink jeeps came about this way. A man and his wife, whose names I don't know, started one of the first jeep-tour companies in Sedona. He had been thinking about how to better market his tours. He and his wife were on vacation in Hawaii, staying in the Royal Hawaiian hotel, which happens to be a pink stucco building. She noticed that the golf carts and other vehicles at the hotel were also pink. "There's your marketing angle," she told him. Paint your jeeps pink. People will remember pink and tell their friends about the pink jeeps at Sedona. If it was just Jackson's Jeeps, say, they wouldn't stand out. And thus a very successful business was created. Kind of like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.<br />
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As an artsy-new-age and wealthy-retiree community, Sedona is rather quirky. Dan said the latest development was that the town, after much debate, had decided to allow street musicians, but only on one side of Main Street. Sedona straddles two counties, so making decisions is not easy. He also noted, when talking about how the indigenous pueblo-dwellers, called the Sinagua people, had moved out around 1400 AD, just as they did in New Mexico, that if you took a poll of Sedonans, 65% would say the Sinagua people were abducted by aliens from another planet. Dan also told us quite a bit about the Sinagua's creation stories and how they related to the land.<br />
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Here are a couple shots from the jeep ride:<br />
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That's not a particularly daunting piece of road, but we were not moving and rocking so I was able to take a picture.<br />
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I was fortunate, because as a party of one I got to ride shotgun. The other passengers in the back of the jeep were a couple from Scottsdale, and a couple and their high-school son from Nashville. They mostly tried to top each other with stories of where they'd been and how important their jobs were. I didn't have to even act interested.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, it was a great tour. If you're ever in Sedona and want to take a Pink Jeep tour, be sure to ask for Dan Swan as your guide. You might want to go to their downtown office to sign up unless you enjoy time-share sales talks.</span></div>
Here are a couple of our snapshots of the area. Professional photos abound online.<br />
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Saturday we drove over to Cottonwood, which is adjacent to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuzigoot_National_Monument" target="_blank">Tuzigoot National Monument</a>, which I think I have mentioned was the site of one of the first trips we made in our first motor home which we subsequently named Tuzigoot. We didn't tour the monument this time, but we got the picture. We also found the nearby campground where we spent a night or two in Tuzigoot1 with Susie's cousin, Jane, and her husband, Dick. And, yes, they had dog named Spot!</div>
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There's an extensive set of ruins on that hilltop. I should photoshop a picture of Tuzigoot2, the motor home, into that picture.</div>
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In the "Old Cottonwood" part of Cottonwood, which still bears resemblance to the frontier town it was, we had spotted a BBQ joint on the drive in, so we decided to stop there for dinner on the way back to Camp Verde. It's the Hog Wild BBQ café and quite good. We had dinner and took home food for subsequent meals. Remember that place, so if .... </div>
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<b>Easter Sunday</b></div>
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In Sedona we saw a Methodist Church and made plans to go there for our Easter service. But, because of their early start time and the time required to drive there, and unknown traffic, we thought we should check for Camp Verde churches. On-line we found a listing for the<a href="http://cvcommunitychurch.org/" target="_blank"> Camp Verde Community Church</a>, a Methodist church, with a 10 am service. Google street-view showed us a picture of the back of a bunch of shops that didn't look very churchy. They turned out to be across the street from the church. We drove to the church address on Saturday and found the nice little church displayed at the above website. We returned Sunday for what turned out to be one of the most memorable Easter services either of us had attended.</div>
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It began with a drama - three women playing/miming roles of women who were present at Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, while a narrator read the corresponding scripture. It gave you the feeling of being there, not just hearing about it. </div>
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Pastor Rick preached a very moving, personable, and even dramatic sermon about why Easter is important and what belief in the resurrection had meant through history and means now. I wish I had taken notes.</div>
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After church we went back to Cottonwood to find a lunch place. I thought Old Cottonwood might have something, but it was pretty well shut down on a Sunday. Susie had spotted a hoppin' place in Cottonwood, so we drove back and found <a href="http://www.menupix.com/arizona/restaurants/825718/Georgies-Cafe-Cottonwood-AZ" target="_blank">Georgie's Cafe</a>. It looked like the go-to place for weekend breakfasts and lunches. (Yelp scores it as 4.5/5 stars.) It has something of a Greek emphasis, but much more. I had a beef gyro and Susie had meatloaf. Very good, so the next time you're in the Cottonwood, AZ area, check it out.</div>
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Sunday afternoon I went to the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/moca/index.htm" target="_blank">Montezuma Castle</a> and Montezuma Well National Monument, both just a few miles north of Camp Verde.</div>
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The Sinagua people built what was a five-story, 20-room dwelling, 100 ft. above the valley floor, between 1100 and 1300. When Teddy Roosevelt and Congress created the national monument program, this was one of the first four so designated. Montezuma was never here, presumably, but the first American settlers in the area thought the structure was Aztec-built; hence the name. </div>
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A year-round stream flows through the valley, so farming was good. But the people moved to Sedona and were never seen again.</div>
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Nearby Montezuma Well flowed into the stream. This "well" is a "limestone sink." Spring water flowing through a limestone hill hollowed it out and the ceiling eventually collapsed, creating a remarkable pool of water in the middle of a desert. Underground springs feed this pool at a rate of 1.6 million gallons per day and the outflow feeds the stream that flows by the Castle. The pool is about 400 ft. across. Divers have found leeches in the bottom of this pond like none ever seen elsewhere. Now, explain that (brought here by aliens from another planet?).</div>
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<b>Homeward Bound</b> </div>
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Earlier we had planned to spend a few days at a campground in Overgaard, in eastern AZ. We stayed there several years ago and even planned an RV rally for there that didn't happen for lack of interest and bad timing. But they don't open until April 1 and it was still March. Nevertheless we took a route home via Overgaard just to see the area and to minimize our time on I-40. </div>
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Our route, as we left Camp Verde on Monday, 3/28, was AZ 260 east to Show Low, then north to Holbrook and I-40, etc. Thus we followed the route to Payson that Roger and I had ridden in 1987. I saw a few memorial signs along the road, but didn't (couldn't) stop and see if one pertained to the death of our co-rider. In fact, the route is mountainous and the road narrow and the wind was blowing like crazy, so it was keep your eyes on the road and don't try to change the radio station or read the roadside signs. I try to watch for opportunities to pull over and let people by, when traffic collects behind me, but sometimes by the time you see the potential pullover there is not time to stop. So, you watch for the next opportunity. Rte. 260, though, has fairly frequent well-marked passing lanes that help prevent traffic backup.</div>
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East of Payson, much of the road is four-laned. It takes you up the Mogollon Rim. There's a nice viewing and picnicking area as you reach the top. A very cold wind of near-hurricane force meant that only I got out for a quick picture. </div>
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I was going to take a video so you could hear the wind, but conditions were miserable and I couldn't see my iPhone buttons.</div>
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Around lunchtime we drove through Overgaard, but didn't find much open or accessible there, so we pressed on another hour to Show Low. Weren't finding many lunch opportunities (though we could have stopped in a grocery store parking lot and eaten some of our remaining food supply - but that's not our style). Just as we were about to leave town, one more hour to Holbrook, we spotted the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/jalapeno-cafe-show-low" target="_blank">Jalapeno Café</a>, on the north side of town. It had a large dirt parking lot, which must mean it's frequented by truck drivers, so you know it has to be good, right? It features loaded tacos and quesadillas and much more. It's the Subway model and then some. You tell them what ingredients and - this is beyond Subway - how much of them to load on to your taco shells or quesadilla tortillas and they load and cook them. You can choose among various salsas, meats, beans (refried, pinto, or black, e.g.), rices, and vegetables. Of course, chile: red, green, or both. Awesome! Here's a picture from their website of a loaded quesadilla. I got a quesadilla, but not loaded to that extreme. Susie had tacos. Both dishes very tasty. You may want to go to Show Low some time just to dine at the Jalapeno Café. Stay a week.</div>
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We could have come all the way home, but decided not to push it, especially with the high winds. We stopped for the night at a large RV park on the west side of Gallup. Wind howled all night and continued the next morning as we drove to Albuquerque. We stopped for diesel fuel at a new Love's travel center west of Albuquerque, where son, Jeff Hinkle, is in training to become a Love's manager at a place TBD (This just in: it's Santa Rosa, NM). We changed our home-return routine in that we parked Tuzi in our storage lot in town, loaded most of our food, clothes, and stuff into the pick-up and drove that on home. Thus, we avoided the hassle of disconnecting, reconnecting and getting in and out of our driveway. Worked well. Live and learn.</div>
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In conclusion (at last, you may be saying if you've made it this far) it was a nice, mostly relaxing, entertaining, and interesting three-week trip. Glad to be home. We'll be in touch.</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-39596833919587725662016-03-22T14:32:00.001-06:002016-04-07T13:38:21.904-06:00Catching Up<b>Catching Up</b><br />
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As this post is started, March 20, we are in Las Vegas and have been here since March 9. Came to see Heidi, Joey, Landon, and Julian, and also the UNM Lobos in their conference basketball tournament. The Lobos were "one and done" the day after we arrived (which saved me from buying any more tickets), but we've had a grand time with the grand-twins. They will soon be on the move. Moving to Miami. To the twins (age four this May), Miami is Mommy's -ami. Get it. My ami vs. your ami. We're moving to Mommy's ami.<br />
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I'll briefly fill in the time since the last Tuzi-posting in November.<br />
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Susie and her good friend, Gay Blech, did their annual thing - matching pajamas for the annual PEO Christmas party.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLyxT9RFynokVDj2RRcravgXLP3RRldjElxZoK9ODQciZr_bmca3Rd78gzLwgpWcE-75Y8lvicxDs0UMCZK-4WWddQ7CW3sKDUVJ3xPI416jciB36x8FQyIsObLB_YswMjZiU-/s1600/IMG_0543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLyxT9RFynokVDj2RRcravgXLP3RRldjElxZoK9ODQciZr_bmca3Rd78gzLwgpWcE-75Y8lvicxDs0UMCZK-4WWddQ7CW3sKDUVJ3xPI416jciB36x8FQyIsObLB_YswMjZiU-/s400/IMG_0543.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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The twins came to Cedar Crest for Christmas.<br />
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We had even more snow after Christmas.</div>
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In mid-January Mike, Karen, and Jason came from North Carolina, and Jeff, Malia, and Macy came from Colorado to celebrate Jason's 16th birthday, see us, and to do some quality inner-tubing (like the boys and I did back when they/we were young-er.)<br />
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Jeff had some videos posted on Facebook that still may be accessible.<br />
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Here are the three Easterling cousins.<br />
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iPads everywhere.</div>
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One thing we did that was very special was to have an open house to which several of Mike and Jeff's boyhood friends and their parents came. Don't have any pictures, but a fine time was had by all. Lots of memories. Lots of laughs.<br />
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In February we went back to M.D. Anderson in Houston, where, as we reported via our email list, Susie had a CT scan that showed no sign of cancer. The surgery in July removed the source and nothing has shown up elsewhere. Hallelujah!<br />
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Then on March 3 we celebrated grandson Andrew's graduation from the Albuquerque Police Academy. <br />
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Now, he's out there - making Albuquerque a safer place. Also, recovering from an appendectomy and prepping for his wedding to the lovely Amy on April 15. There must be a tax joke in there, but I won't try.<br />
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Here's a picture of the couch on which I spend a lot of time. I've had the feeling that somebody was watching me. Doo-doo-doo-doo. Anybody you recognize?<br />
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All these good times led us to decide to get Tuzigoot out of storage and travel to Las Vegas. Hadn't been driven in a year and a half. So, here we are. All has gone fine - no Tuzigoot problems and we've had a good mix of leisure time and family time.<br />
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Waiting for Grami and Grandpa.<br />
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Quality Time</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTBzITf7iZE0QbcudMpzjWyCKxDjvhYhB1755V6sIDzEUxz-JovMmJx0haUbRQva7pskJYk1w4NJf0Vw4AMJiPHG3BNXmE8QXT1NykMv07cqF3ES71B1I5KohIlz82mLXsOuSM/s1600/IMG_0695%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTBzITf7iZE0QbcudMpzjWyCKxDjvhYhB1755V6sIDzEUxz-JovMmJx0haUbRQva7pskJYk1w4NJf0Vw4AMJiPHG3BNXmE8QXT1NykMv07cqF3ES71B1I5KohIlz82mLXsOuSM/s400/IMG_0695%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I had one activity on my Vegas Bucket List and, since the Vargas family is moving to Miami, decided now was the time for it -- ride the <a href="http://www.viator.com/Las-Vegas-attractions/High-Roller-tours-tickets/d684-a14073?pref=204" target="_blank">High Roller</a> really big Ferris wheel. </div>
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The High Roller is 550 ft. high and makes one circuit in 30 minutes, a sedate pace that translates to a speed of .65 mph. So, you don't have much sense of motion. But, lots of great views.</div>
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The capsule we rode in.</div>
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Selfie, anyone?</div>
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Yesterday's Bucket List activity for Julian and Landon was a visit with the Easter Bunny. I told Heidi and Susie that that brings up bitter memories for me. When I was a kid, starting at about the age of the twins, neighborhood bullies called ME "Easterbunny." Easterling - Easterbunny. Get it? But, I choked back the tears and went along.<br />
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The boys were summoned for their interrogation and picture with the lurking Easterbunny.<br />
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I snuck a photo of the encounter. All went well.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One morning in Vegas I made a trip to the <a href="http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/parks/Pages/clark-county-museum.aspx" target="_blank">Clark County Museum</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The museum has a nice
collection of old machinery and buildings along with photos and descriptions of
the county’s history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, the museum has a
residential street with period houses that have been transported to or recreated on the
museum property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Early attempts to
settle the area, including by Mormons sent by Brigham Young, and to develop
mining or farming mostly failed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
In 1902 an area ranch was subdivided into town lots and sold. Thus, Las Vegas was born. In 1931 gambling was legalized. </span>Gambling and the quickie wedding and divorce business led
to the boom that grew into present-day Las Vegas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wedding chapel in the background of this picture is the Candlelight Wedding Chapel which was moved to the museum from its downtown site.</span></div>
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Here's an interior shot:<br />
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Among the celebrity weddings, Michael Caine, Bette Midler, and Whoopi Goldberg were married in this building.<br />
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Was anybody reading this blog married in Las Vegas? In the Candlelight Chapel? A museum display said that at one time, maybe continuing to the present, 5.5% of the weddings in all of America were in Las Vegas!<br />
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Sample antiquities:<br />
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The block of houses representing various decades is called Heritage Street.<br />
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Here's a predecessor of the Oasis RV Resort, where we stayed.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A touch of home: The museum had a temporary display of pueblo pottery, most of it, as in this picture, from New Mexico.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The museum is in the far SE corner of Henderson, half-way, it seems, to
Boulder City (which is another interesting piece of Nevada to spend some time), should you some day be in the area and want to do something other than a losing activity, such as playing the poker machines or watching Lobo basketball.</span><br />
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One evening in Vegas I saw this double cloud. Maybe something from Area 51 in those clouds.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Our last night in Vegas we went to the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/donny-and-marie-live-las-vegas" target="_blank">Donny and Marie</a>
(Osmond, just in case you’re not up on your celebrities) show at the
Flamingo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They put on a great show,
blending material from their days as child stars to the present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The neon billboard on the Strip says their
show has been voted #1 since forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
enjoyed it a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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Before the show we went over to the Bellagio to see their atrium decorated for Easter.<br />
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We had hoped to see the water show out in front of the Bellagio, but it was canceled because of wind conditions. We would have high winds for much of our trip home.</div>
From here, we're going Wednesday, March 23, to Camp Verde, AZ, which is in the Sedona area, also near the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/tuzi/index.htm" target="_blank">Tuzigoot</a> National Monument. After that, maybe the Phoenix area, maybe elsewhere. We'll be in touch.<br />
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Susie and Rob<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-66175790479073097692015-11-17T18:44:00.002-07:002015-11-17T18:44:53.544-07:00Oklahoma Road Trip Nov 2015<b><u>Road Trip</u></b><br />
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Since our last Tuziblog posting from Houston in July, we have been at home in Cedar Crest in recovery mode. In November Susie started post-surgery bi-weekly chemo treatments here in Albuquerque. It happened that daughter-in-law Suzy Hinkle, who helped us so much in Houston, was coming here to visit her two sons -- helping to plan another wedding, too, just after the NY wedding of her daughter, Kaci, that we attended in September. Suzy could stay with Susie, provide aid and comfort, and accompany her to an infusion session (fluids, not chemo). This relief provided me an opportunity to take a weeklong trip to Oklahoma (Nov 6-13) to see family and friends and Susie said, "Go for it." With an opportunity also to see the OSU-TCU battle of unbeaten football teams, I went.<br />
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<u>Friday, Nov. 6</u><br />
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I loaded our little red pick-up with snacks, soft drinks, CDs, recorded books, and a suitcase and left at 5 am. Right away, Willie's Roadhouse, channel 59 on SiriusXM, hit the right notes with Making Believe, by Emmylou Harris, He Stopped Loving Her Today, George Jones, and Faded Love, Willie Nelson and Ray Price. What a start! So much sadness in just three songs! That's what country music is all about. <br />
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I stopped for breakfast at a Love's in Santa Rosa, NM (son Jeff Hinkle is now in training in Albuquerque to become a manager of a TBD Love's, so that will be our preferred travel stop from now on), and then picked right up with Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Hank Williams. Tried a recorded book, but soon switched back to satellite radio and CDs, played loudly. Any time I didn't particularly like Willie's selection, I switched to channel 61, Bluegrass: Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Seldom Scene, etc.<br />
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I made a stop west of Amarillo to inspect the Cadillac Ranch <a href="http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220" target="_blank">work of art</a>. Have driven by here often in the 48 years I've lived in Albuquerque, but only stopped once or twice. Initially the cars were handsome tail-finned Cadillacs, but they evolved, via vandalism, as planned (according to the link), to spray-painted, mostly de-finned hulks. Cool, huh. <br />
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I texted this picture with the caption, Amarillo!!, to family members and got back "by morning" from Jeff Easterling. Gave me new respect for his music tastes.<br />
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Had lunch in Erick, OK, home of Roger Miller AND Sheb Wooley. (Don't worry. I'm not going to give a mile by mile, meal by meal report. My early start gave me a chance for some side trips on this day.) <br />
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At Clinton, OK, I branched off of I-40 to the north in order to take some state highways to Guthrie, my destination. Decided to stop at the Route 66 Museum in Clinton. Some pictures:<br />
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Several nice exhibits and movies here, so if you're ever through Clinton, OK, stop at the Route 66 Museum.<br />
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The plan in Guthrie was to meet my sister, Verla, in downtown where we would take a guided ghost walk. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthrie_Historic_District_(Guthrie,_Oklahoma)" target="_blank">Guthrie</a> was the first state capital of OK and is loaded with historic buildings - see the link to Guthrie for some examples. Here's one and strange things still happen over there.<br />
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The tales of our ghost walk guide were interesting, so I won't reveal any of what I heard. But, if you're ever in Guthrie on a Friday evening, ... . <br />
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<u>Saturday, Nov. 7</u><br />
<br />
Game Day. OSU. Verla and I walked around the campus some, checked out the Student Union, then went to <a href="http://eskimojoes.com/" target="_blank">Eskimo Joe's,</a> the renowned campus hangout, for lunch. It was standing room only, noise at uproar level. We never did snag a table, but did manage to place an order with a waitress. When it came, we took it out front to eat it. Was a perfect day - clear and just a little cool. Then we followed ritual - watched and listened to the drum corps, then the band, then paraded to the stadium, that's T. Boone Pickens Stadium, thank you very much Mr. Pickens. <br />
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The school color of orange is called "a brighter orange." Several years ago OSU had a display in the Love Field airport in Dallas. The invitation was to attend school at OSU, <i>for a brighter orange</i>. That's as opposed to the burnt orange of a certain Texas university. I always got a chuckle about that, wondered if many Texans got the point.<br />
<br />
But, I digress. All this was topped off by a big (yuge) win, 49-29, over TCU (a purple horned frog, of all things). AWESOME! Almost made up for the last game I saw there - two years ago when we lost to OU on a last-minute score, on a day when the temperature was in single digits, Fahrenheit. My toes are still numb. <br />
<br />
After the game we drove home by way of the small town of Perkins, where we stopped at a pizza place. Via the magic of iPhones, Verla found that some friends were nearby and they stopped in to visit. (Verla is very involved in the country and bluegrass music scene in and around Guthrie - she jams with Byron Berline, who is a nationally-known fiddle player. Here's a <a href="https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=byron+berline+guthrie+oklahoma" target="_blank">sample</a> of him and his band. ) The couple who stopped in (Jim and Doris Garling; cowboyjimgarling.com) are part of that community. At any rate, Jim invited us to come to a Cowboy Church in Perkins Sunday morning, so we did. <br />
<br />
<u>Sunday, Nov 8</u><br />
<br />
As we entered the Rockin' M Cowboy Church (M for Mission) Jim asked Verla if she'd sing a song. She said she would, borrowed his guitar, and did: the song being <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkQGJjGmOVE" target="_blank">Where I'm Going </a>by Marijohn Wilkin. Click on the link to hear a great song with lots of meaning. Click on Show More to read the lyrics. A feature of Cowboy Churches: lots of good ole' gospel singing, led at the Rockin' M by Cowboy Jim.<br />
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Sunday afternoon we drove down to Edmond to my sister, Connie's, house. Here are we three siblings:<br />
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Still wearin' my brighter orange. Sibling # 4 is our brother, Lael, about whom more below.<br />
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Connie and husband, Tom, raised and home-schooled six boys. The youngest is a sophomore in college and the only one still living at home - nothing wrong with that. The other five are married and busy generating grandchildren. Here's Peter and Aunt Verla.<br />
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<br />
<u>Monday, Nov 9</u><br />
<br />
I stayed Sunday and Monday nights at Connie's. Monday noon I had arranged to meet four classmates, that's Tonkawa HS, class of 1960, for lunch: Tana, Marilyn, Karen, and Mary Lynn. They've lived most of their post-Tonkawa lives in Edmond and, even though I've been in Edmond many times in the intervening 55 years, I had only seen them at occasional class reunions in Tonkawa. We had a nice lunch and visit and resolved to do this again some time. Oops, no pictures. None of us has changed a bit.<br />
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<br />
<u>Tuesday, Nov 10</u><br />
<br />
Back to Stillwater. I dedicated my recently published book, <i>Fundamentals of Statistical Experimental Design and Analysis</i> (you may have heard about it -- available at Wiley.com and Amazon.com) to two of my OSU professors and to my boss for most of my Sandia career. One professor has died and I knew from my visit a year ago that the other was sliding into dementia, but I wanted to take him a copy of my book so that he and his family could know how much I valued his teaching. Just a few days before I left home I learned that he was now in an assisted living facility in another town, but I still planned to visit his wife, Shirley, and leave the book for her and their family. Then, I learned that over the weekend Dave had had some complications so Shirley would be with him on Tuesday. She said, Just leave the book inside the back door, which I did. Here's my note.<br />
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<br />
<i>To: Dave Weeks and Family</i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>As my thesis advisor, teacher, and friend, you taught me to
think about data and how statistics can help us understand and learn about life
– and to have fun along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think
this book reflects that approach – e.g., pp. 92-94, 104-105.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>One small thing that stuck with me: One day in class you
told us how you knew that you had “made it,” financially, when you could buy a
pair of binoculars and not have to think about how much it cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, after starting work at Sandia, and having
a few paychecks in the bank, I bought a pair of binoculars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks for your
teaching and the example you set for so many students,<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<i>Bob Easterling<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
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A second reason for going to Stillwater was to meet with the Statistics Dept. Chairman. We had a good visit and lunch with a couple of other department members. Several years ago I had told the previous chairman that I would be interested in teaching a semester at OSU. The present chairman asked if I was interested in doing that now. I said maybe, but not likely. <br />
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From Stillwater I drove north to Tonkawa. I had an appointment on Wednesday at Northern Oklahoma College. Spent the night with classmate, Joe Brining, at his combination house and insurance agency. Went to dinner with Joe and two other classmates (Lloyd and Deana) at an Italian restaurant in nearby Ponca City. Next morning went with Joe, his brother, Bill, and another classmate (Lee) to nearby Blackwell for breakfast. Good visits all around - sort of a slow motion, low turnout 55th reunion.<br />
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<u>Wednesday, Nov 11</u> <br />
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NOC is a two-year college. Back in the 50s and 60s my Dad was its president. A few years ago I set up a scholarship in honor of my parents. It's given to a sophomore majoring in social studies who has shown a strong interest and ability in this area as a freshman. Its model is my Dad, from rural Oklahoma, who majored in history, taught and coached in small-town high schools (which is how he met my Mom, but that's another story - he coached the girls' basketball team in Selman, OK), served in the Navy in WWII, then returned to earn graduate degrees, was on the History Dept. faculty at Kansas State U, then back to Oklahoma -- Tonkawa to be specific.<br />
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Anyhow, each year I try to go to Tonkawa to meet the scholarship recipient (selected by the social studies department). This year the recipient was a nice young lady from Ponca City - a 26-year-old single mother with two children. She had been in an abusive relationship. When she managed to get out of that she decided she needed to go to college and pursue a career - to support her family and to help people avoid what she had been through. So, she's taking psychology and behavioral science courses and planning to continue her studies in a four-year college and maybe beyond. She hopes to become a marriage and family counselor. She talked movingly about how she identifies with what she's now learning about dysfunctional relationships in her present classes because she experienced it first-hand. I'm glad to be able to help her pursue her goals and wish her all the best.<br />
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After visiting with the recipient and Social Studies chairman, the NOC Foundation Director, Sheri Snyder, and another member of that staff gave me a tour of the campus and took me to lunch. The college has just built a new dorm and is in the process of renovating various buildings, including Easterling Hall, a girl's dorm - it looks to be doing well. In addition to Tonkawa, NOC now has campuses in Enid and Stillwater. <br />
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The subject of Tonkawa HS came up. Sheri said, Have you seen the high school's new special events center? We'll show you that. It's a large metal building suitable for basketball, music programs, graduation ceremonies, ... . Very nice.<br />
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In the lobby of the building I saw a display of THS graduates who had served in Vietnam. I knew that at last fall's Homecoming (2014) they had honored this group, including my brother, Lael, Class of 1964, who served in the Navy over there. I saw his caption, name and Class, but then realized that it wasn't his picture; it was my senior picture! The Principal, who had let us in the building, said he'd get that fixed right away. Don't know how that happened. I emailed Lael, who is in Australia now, and he replied that the mixup was pretty "hilarious." We Easterlings don't really all look alike. I'll check the display next year and let you know if it's been fixed.<br />
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A<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">fter Tonkawa, I headed back to Edmond (about 80 miles). This was a change of plans because I had just found out Tuesday that there would be a joint concert featuring two of Oklahoma's finest musicians, Kyle Dillingham, fiddle player, and Edgar Cruz, guitarist. Kyle leads a folk/ country/bluegrass group called Horseshoe Road. Verla has been a big fan for several years. Here's his bio from the Oklahoma Arts Council:</span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Kyle Dillingham, of Oklahoma City, started playing the violin when he was nine and received his bachelor's degree in instrumental music performance from Oklahoma City University. He is an Oklahoma Creativity Ambassador and was a 2009 recipient of the OK Governor's Art's Award. Kyle also works as the "Ambassador in Residence" at the University of Central Oklahoma, using his "musical diplomacy" to help develop and strengthen new overseas relationships for the university.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">While still in high school, Kyle was featured twice on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. He has performed for the King of Malaysia, the Princess of Thailand, Singapore's National Day Celebration, and his performance at the Beijing Central Conservatory was broadcast on Chinese national television. A frequent visitor to Washington D.C, he has performed for the Japanese, Thai and Saudi Arabian Ambassadors, to name a few. He has also performed several times with Roy Clarke and Hank Thompson. He has been soloist with the Amici New York Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Enid Symphony Orchestra, the UCO Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra and the Oklahoma Community Orchestra. Kyle has taken his music to over 30 countries earning him the title of "Oklahoma's Musical Ambassador."</span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's Kyle's rendition of The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV8kk2fYh1E" target="_blank">Orange Blossom Special</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Edgar Cruz is also an OCU graduate in music. The two didn't overlap, but had some of the same instructors. I think an instructor is the person who suggested they do a joint concert. Cruz, it happened, had just played three sold-out performances in Albuquerque, so he's obviously a big-time musician, too. Here he plays the </span><a href="https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=edgar+cruz+youtube" target="_blank">William Tell Overture</a>.</span><br />
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This <a href="http://www.wherevent.com/detail/Edgar-Cruz-Guitar-Edgar-Cruz-Kyle-Dillingham-at-UCO-Jazz-Lab" target="_blank">promo</a> for their Veteran's Day concert says that OK music fans have been requesting a joint concert for years, so this promised to be a special night. And it was. Two hours of incredible duets and solos. They both have lots of music on youtube, if you're inclined to check it out.<br />
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<u>Thursday, Nov 12</u><br />
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Next day I headed west, to see my cousin, Ross, and wife, Marsha, in Laverne, OK, which is in the last county before you get to the panhandle. Some scenes along the way:<br />
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Got to Laverne (home of Miss America 1967, <a href="http://janejayroe.com/about.html" target="_blank">Jane Ann Jayroe</a>) in time for lunch at the local soda shop. The special of the day by the Japanese-American cook was "peppered" beef, rice, and an egg roll! Only in America! After nearly a week in OK I had maxed out on the state meal, chicken-fried steak with french fries and cream gravy, so I went for the special, we all did - a very good choice.<br />
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Just over a year ago, October, 2014, Ross and Marsha had come to NM to see us. We did the Balloon Fiesta and a day in Santa Fe and had a great time. You can see more pictures and stories by going back to Tuzigoot postings of that period. <br />
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Ross hates to leave his cattle, so I had asked him, as I planned this trip, to see his cattle. I got the full tour. As I told Marsha afterwards, I saw every piece of land settled by every member of the Pile clan. Also saw what's left of the little nearby town of May. E.g., saw the vacant lot where the post office once stood. Or, was it the general store? Saw the home place where Ross grew up and where I loved to visit. Ross's dad was a pilot, so I may have gotten a plane ride there back in the day, or at least got to see him take off.<br />
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The cattle were generally off in distant corners, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture when I could have. </div>
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Finished the day with a slice of Marsha's freshly home-made coconut cream pie. Yum yum.</div>
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<u>Friday, Nov. 13.</u></div>
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Homeward bound. Friday the 13th, but all went well.</div>
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Down the road, in Shattuck, OK, is a nice collection of windmills I've visited before. </div>
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Got to Amarillo and stopped to visit our long-time friends, Roy and Sue Sooter, and had lunch with them.<br />
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Just to get a break from I-40, I got off and drove through Santa Rosa, NM on Historic Route 66. I've done this many times, but this time I caught a glimpse, a block away, of this historic county courthouse that I had never seen. Live and learn. Or, drive and learn<br />
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Made one more pit stop at the new and expanded Clines Corners emporium. Got home to Susie and Suzy about 4 pm. They had had a good week, too.</div>
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Rob</div>
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As this report is finished, Tuesday morning, we have 4-6 inches of snow on the ground and a howling wind. We had been scheduled to have some of our old, drafty windows replaced this morning, but that obviously got postponed. Our next travel planned is to Highlands Ranch, CO, for Thanksgiving with Jeff, Valerie, Malia, Macy, and Buddy. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-1124608272297251932015-07-30T19:23:00.001-06:002015-07-30T19:35:37.758-06:00Houston - 6<br />
We have been fully focused on Susie's July 6 surgery and then her recovery since we returned to Houston at the first of July, so there has not been much tourist activity. The surgery was quite successful and she is recovering nicely and we have had visitors the last week. That provided an opportunity for some extracurricular activity.<br />
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Mike, his wife, Karen, and son, Jason, came to see us last weekend and daughter-in-law, Suzy Hinkle, came to help do Susie-care and to provide me some time off to be with Mike and family.<br />
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Friday morning (7/24) 'the kids' came to the apartment. We had a good visit, then they and I spent most of at the rest of the day at the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/index.html" target="_blank">Johnson Space Center</a>, NASA. Here is an exhibit that is in development: one of the retired space shuttles atop its carrier plane. When the exhibit is completed, visitors will be able to enter both aircraft.<br />
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We took two tram tours. One stop was the rocket park including the rocket used to launch shuttles into space. It's HUGE, as I'm sure you know. <br />
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Even though the US has turned over Space Station flights to private enterprise and other countries, space research and exploration is still very much a part of the Center. Main focus now is the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html" target="_blank">Orion Project</a>, for flights to Deep Space, including Mars. Sign up your so-inclined grandchildren now. Another stop we made was the building in which the Orion and other space vehicles are being developed and where Space Station modules are developed and used for training.<br />
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Here's one shuttle crew photo I came across on our tour. The lower right astronaut is friend, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Helms" target="_blank">Susan Helms</a>, daughter of friends, Dori and Pat Helms, formerly from Albuquerque, now living in Colorado. Susan's Wikipedia page says she spent 211 days in space, over five missions, including a lengthy stay at the International Space Station. More details about her NASA and AF careers at the Wikipedia link. <br />
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Here's a model of a shuttle and launch vehicle.<br />
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In case you were wondering, it was a very hot day -- 'feels like' 100+ degrees, they say, every day. The Center's headquarters had some nice exhibits and videos plus food, water, and air conditioning.<br />
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Saturday we toured the <a href="http://www.hmns.org/" target="_blank">Houston Museum of Natural Science</a>. Lots of interesting things there, from dinosaurs to Egyptian mummies -- and much more. If you're ever in Houston, ...<br />
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Here's the family and the museum.<br />
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Speaking of museums, earlier in the month I visited the <a href="http://www.houstonfiremuseum.org/" target="_blank">Houston Fire Museum</a>. It's a small, sort of funky museum, located in an old fire station, and has some vintage fire engines on display. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvHVU3fwkMdENj-AjsS8PedTYlfKcvwpWagS2ptOgOgMrCESAiHfQrRtXJzOtfpk4xb9wsF-3KsHmAKL6jmYRCU1EZTa2DyTJlrB-gYd8rSerWjfah2gfAV8tmX9DBbr2PGpSJ/s1600/IMG_0149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvHVU3fwkMdENj-AjsS8PedTYlfKcvwpWagS2ptOgOgMrCESAiHfQrRtXJzOtfpk4xb9wsF-3KsHmAKL6jmYRCU1EZTa2DyTJlrB-gYd8rSerWjfah2gfAV8tmX9DBbr2PGpSJ/s400/IMG_0149.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's a poster honoring firemen who died in the line of duty - a sobering reminder of what first responders do for us.<br />
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Mike and family flew home early Sunday. Later Sunday morning, my sister, Connie, and husband, Tom, from Edmond, OK, used their annual anniversary trip to come by for a visit. Coming to Houston had two purposes - to visit Tom's sister who lives here, and to visit us. <br />
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We had a very nice visit, plus lunch, and that capped our busy weekend. For some reason, I thought it might be interesting to take their picture in our parking garage. The garage's speed bumps, like the one behind Tom, are horrors for Susie - even though I creep over them. Not good for one healing from major abdominal surgery. You can't creep on Houston streets, so they are a real pain.<br />
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Suzy (Hinkle, not to be confused with Susie Easterling) was a real blessing. She fixed meals, prepared food for future meals, organized and recorded Susie's pill-taking, wrote up menus for me (Ha, how about Panera Bread? Schlotzky's? Subway? ...), took Susie on walks, entertained her, did the laundry, and in general filled all the gaps. And she did things that I didn't even know were gaps while I was running around with Mike, Karen, and Jason. Here's a picture of Suzy taken at the family dinner we had down here before Susie's surgery:<br />
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I'll close with this picture that Suzy took of us awaiting the return of our car by the MDA valet service.<br />
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One more thing. A copy of my book was delivered here last week. Here's the <a href="http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118954637.html" target="_blank">publisher's link</a>. Available there or at Amazon. Tell all your friends.<br />
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I came across an online article today concerning the claim, "Studies show ...." that are used to justify various programs and actions. Problem is, some of those studies are poorly designed and the data misleadingly analyzed and not very supportive of the claims made. My book will fix that, humbly I claim. Send one to your congressperson.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
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Susie and Rob<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-1374780348224560322015-07-01T18:16:00.002-06:002015-07-01T18:16:58.229-06:00What We Did On Our VacationDear Family and Friends:<br />
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We're Ba-a-ck!<br />
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After Susie finished her series of 10 radiation/chemo treatments the second week of May, she was given a "vacation" of about seven weeks to get prepared for Whipple surgery on her pancreas and other nearby organs, the surgery scheduled for July 6. That break got a rough start just after we got back to Cedar Crest when the continued treatment side effects of nausea and general discomfort prevented us from driving to Alamosa, CO, for grandson Andrew's college graduation the first weekend home. The next several weekends, though, we got in a lot of time with family and friends.<br />
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Andrew is engaged to Amy, who, coincidentally, went to the same HS and graduated from the same college as Andrew. Her parents threw a combination graduation/engagement party for the happy couple the weekend after graduation. His parents, Matt and Suzy Hinkle, and siblings, Tony and Kaci, were all there for the festivities. Some scenes:<br />
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Susie and the three grandchildren.</div>
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Uncle Jeff and Aunt Valerie, left, came from Clovis, NM for the party.<br />
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The next weekend we made a quick trip to Las Vegas to see the grand-twins and their parents. Flew over Friday, home Sunday. Thank you Southwest Airlines (bags and parents still fly free). Thank you, Mandi Sue!<br />
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It's hard to get the twins' pictures - they are always in motion - but here are a couple. Landon and Julian, not necessarily in that order.<br />
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Julian has a thing for me. For weeks after our visit, whenever someone rang the doorbell, the boys would run to the door, but Julian would be heartbroken when I wasn't there. "Where's Grandpa?" he would cry. Aaaaaahh!.<br />
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The next weekend son Jeff Easterling, drove down from Highlands Ranch, CO, with daughters Malia and Macy. Some scenes:<br />
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We took the tramway to Sandia Crest, hiked in our subdivision, went to Cliff's Amusement Park where we rode one of the roller coasters over and over and over and ...., and ate in one of Jeff's favorite Mexican restaurants.<br />
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We also visited <a href="http://tinkertown.com/" target="_blank">Tinkertown</a>, on our side of the mountain. Tinkertown features an amazing, eclectic collection of animated circus scenes, a boat that the Tinkertown creator sailed around the world, and lots of other stuff, including walls built of bottles and cement. A sign says, "This is what Ross was doing while you watched TV." Guilty, as charged. For the young'uns they have a treasure hunt to find various items and the girls enjoyed that.<br />
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In the midst of all this, Susie spent some quality time with Gay Blech, one of her school-teaching best buddies.<br />
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Gay, and husband Dusty, have been spending their retirement years tandem and solo bicycling all over North America - in Canada, I believe, as this is written.<br />
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I should also add that on our second Sunday at home we attended both of our "home" churches - very important foundations of our support team - to thank them for all their support.<br />
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It was certainly good to be home in the mountains. As part of Susie's fitness program we often did the one-mile round-trip walk to the mail and newspaper boxes. <br />
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It's been a good spring in Cedar Crest for flowers and grass, too.<br />
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Returning to Houston, we traveled via the Oklahoma City area where my sisters, Connie and Verla, and assorted nephews and nieces and their offspring reside. Got to the area about noon on Saturday, June 27. I drove to Verla's, to help her clean her swimming pool, but she had a better idea. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Berline" target="_blank">Byron Berline</a>, world-renowned fiddle player, was having a jam session in his music store in Guthrie. Verla has been and is a volunteer worker on Berline's annual bluegrass festival, and has become a good friend of his. Here's the scene, from Verla's facebook page.<br />
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That's Byron, in the blue shirt, facing me. They wrapped up the session with my request, <a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=patsy+cline+faded+love+youtube&qpvt=Patsy+Cline+Faded+Love+YouTube&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=0CE44F2DE3AB9CC3C4420CE44F2DE3AB9CC3C442" target="_blank">Faded Love</a>. <br />
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Sunday afternoon Connie and Tom had a family gathering at their house. Five of their six sons were there, with spouses and grandchildren. One of Verla's two sons was there. A fine time was had by all.<br />
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In case you're wondering, I haven't done any cropping or editing of these pictures. It's all I can do to get most of them from iPhone to PC laptop.<br />
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I'll single out one couple: nephew Marcus and his wife, LeeAnn. They were in NM a couple of weeks before and spent a pleasant day with us.<br />
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We left OKC on Monday and timed it so that we could have lunch with Kay and Jim Collins, Albuquerque friends now living in Frisco, TX. Got to Houston late Tuesday morning and have been busily settling in since then. <br />
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We'll be in touch.<br />
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Susie and Rob<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-14562484619270341812015-05-02T14:50:00.000-06:002015-05-02T14:50:00.510-06:00Houston - 5I think several of our postings have started with a Sunday experience. This one does, too. <br />
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Last Sunday (4-26-15), we attended the <a href="http://www.bellaireumc.org/" target="_blank">Bellaire United Methodist Church</a>. Our first time there, and it turned out to be a serendipitous choice. As we entered the sanctuary we saw a large group of nicely dressed young people milling around in the choir loft. It was the Texas A <em>and</em> M (Blogger doesn't like an ampersand) Century Singers, a choral group of about 80 students, on tour. Great voices, great harmony, great selection of songs: <em>Deep River, Down to the River to Pray, Amazing Grace</em> (with congregation participation), and an <em>Old Irish Blessing</em>. This link is to a previous choir edition's rendition of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-4erT3qY9U" target="_blank">Amazing Grace</a>. The closing congregational hymn was <em>Because He Lives, I Can Face Tomorrow</em>. One tomorrow at a time, with faith, is the way Susie and I face tomorrow's treatments and upcoming surgery.<br />
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Friendly church members, too. We were early and a lady came over and visited with us. She had NM connections -- a ranch, I believe, near Silver City, in SW NM, and family in Lovington (SE NM). She pointed out that the next evening there would be a clogging group at church putting on a show and she invited us - this event is done at the church periodically and is very popular. That got my attention; I went and I believe it was the highlight, so far, of my extra-curricular activity (Susie, many of you know, is a dedicated FAN of Dancing With The Stars, so that's #1 on her Monday evening agenda.) (Actually, upon further reflection, the cloggers are my number 2 so far; number 1 is still the Nolan Ryan Center in Alvin.) <br />
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At the meet and greet part of the service Susie talked to a lady two rows in front of us and soon learned that she had a son who lives in Albuquerque. Mentioning Albuquerque is always a good conversation starter.<br />
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Before I get into the clogging, one comment on the sermon. The preacher mentioned that <a href="https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/5609" target="_blank">Thomas Edison</a> tried more than 6000 filaments before he found the one he ultimately used in his patented light bulb. This was 1880. My takeaway from that fact was that it was too bad Edison didn't have the benefit of having a statistician on his staff who understood statistical design of experiments (which got its boost in the 1920s and 1930s from the research of <a href="http://search.comcast.net/?con=betac&cat=web&q=ronald+fisher+experimental+design" target="_blank">Sir Ronald Fisher</a>.)<br />
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(The Wikipedia author on experimental design cites a controlled experiment in 1747 by James Lind that found that scurvy could be cured by citrus fruit. Sad to say, but I was not aware of that important fact, and here I am the author of a soon to be published book on Statistical Experimental Design - more on this later, so you can see why my mind wondered in this direction during the sermon.)<br />
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Back to clogging. The group that performed is the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Texas-Lovin-Cloggers/426087190824221" target="_blank">Texas Lovin' Cloggers</a>. They've been a group for 28 years, have won many competitions, and traveled internationally. Here's a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIKHY9-GJVE" target="_blank">youtube </a>link. <br />
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One of the best things about clogging is the music. This group danced to a variety of recorded music, including bluegrass, country, Dixieland, pop, ... . The you tube link is to their performance to the bluegrass song, <em>Shady Grove</em>. They did that number at this show and also a dance to The Foggy Mountain Breakdown. One interesting number was all percussion - stomping and clapping, no music. They said that at competitions the judges sit with their backs to the dancers so they're judging the precision of the choreography by what they hear, not what the stompers looked like.<br />
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Here's one picture I got.<br />
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It's the music, I tell you. And the choreography. Not the leg show. This is a family blog.<br />
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I'd guess there were 250 or so in attendance. Before I cropped this photo there was a much larger sea of white between me and the stage.<br />
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The group took a couple of breaks to change costumes and had a local vocalist perform in those periods. She was good - did a little bit of Patsy Cline and other music - a very good rendition of Harper Valley PTA. Ditto for Unchained Melody.<br />
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After the second break the cloggers, men and women, came out for their final number all dressed as seasoned women, with gray bun hairdos and walkers. I think the song was If You Could See Me Now, ... . Hilarious, really brought the house down. As I said, a very fun evening. And I got home in time to see some undeserving couple get booted off of Dancing With The Stars. Now, if someone would only create Clogging With The Stars.<br />
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Sunday, after church, we made our near-weekly pilgrimage to Cracker Barrel. Susie had been having phone trouble the previous few days - the people she was talking to couldn't hear her. ("I hear you. Do you hear me? Huh? I'll try again. ... ") That's not good, so after lunch we found a Verizon store to have the phone checked out. They found out that the only solution was to upgrade to a newer model, which we did. Think we should have gotten a second opinion? Actually, the lady seemed sincere and helpful and we were due for an upgrade. <br />
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Our most adventurous meal out was to a Vietnamese restaurant. Susie once lived in Bellaire, a suburb on the SW side of Houston, and we had previously driven west on Bellaire Ave. until we ran out of town. This is now a heavily Asian area, Chinatown in effect. Also a big area for jewelry. We went out there shopping for a couple of rings that would hold Susie's wedding ring on (perilously loose now because of her weight-loss). There were too many Chinese restaurants to choose from, so we picked a Vietnamese one because it had a lot of cars around it. The spices are different, but we had a good lunch...(Susie says, "Well, an interesting lunch!")<br />
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One other adventure. For several days I had been getting a lot of feedback from my left hearing aid - feedback as in a screech, not feedback as in, "That's a nice looking hearing aid, sir. Do you like it?" I called my audiologist and the suggested source of the problem was wax buildup. I tried some drops to try to break up the blockage, but no help there. Simultaneously, I was having trouble keeping the thing in my ear - the little rubber dome that's supposed to hold it in my ear canal, wasn't. My ear was getting sore from my efforts to jam the dome in there. So, at Susie's insistence, I googled up an audiologist who handles my brand and we went to his shop (disguised as a house tightly surrounded by trees and apartment buildings, with a sign out front that wasn't very noticeable; after two fruitless drive-bys I had to call for directions and the receptionist stood out in front and waved us in). <br />
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What the audiologist found was that I had a rubber dome stuck in my ear canal! How I managed not to notice that at some point when I removed my hearing aid there was no dome on it, I don't know. Probably happened when I was doing my monthly dome and filter replacement. My guess is that while doing this I must have thought the old dome had fallen on the floor, so I put a new one on, not realizing that the missing dome was in my ear! Efforts to get the new dome to seat properly were just jamming the wayward dome deeper. Sorry, it's taking me so long to tell this story, but at least I left out the ear hair part. All is well now. The Houston audiologist easily extracted the misplaced dome.<br />
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Back to Statistics. Many of you know that I've been working on a statistical textbook for quite a while, particularly the last year. I sent the completed manuscript to my publisher late last year and the copy editor(s) went to work transferring it to book format. Soon after we got here they sent me a list of Author Queries: questions to me about references and various textual issues. Mostly cosmetic issues, not content. I had been worried that the copy editors might try to convert my intentionally conversational prose to standard, dry textbookese, but they didn't. So, it reads like this blog. At any rate, there were no major issues and I sent my responses back in mid-March. Then, a couple of weeks ago I got page proofs to review. I did a fair amount of wordsmithing (every time I read something I've written, like this blog, I tend to make changes) and corrections, and also found a couple of places where a figure or a table needed to be moved. I sent the amended proofs back the week before last (incidentally, I'm working with copy editors in Singapore, which is 13 hours ahead of us, so we don't have instantaneous correspondence back and forth). I also created an Index, much aided by being able to use the Find function to find all uses of selected terms in a document. Some time soon I will get the final page proofs and a final chance to make minor changes - can't disturb the pagination. <br />
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You can now go to Amazon and search on Easterling and find the publisher's blurb - and pre-order a copy. The blurb says the book will be published in August. (Added: I'll make it easier: you can click<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Statistical-Experimental-Design-Analysis/dp/1118954637/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1430497903&sr=1-1&keywords=Fundamentals+of+statistical+experimental+design" target="_blank"> here</a>.) Funny thing: first time I went to the Amazon site, the cost of the book was $76. Now it's $91. Sorry about that. Shop soon before the price goes up again.<br />
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The cover cartoon, shown below, is my depiction of statistical analysis. Its meaning, explained on the back cover, is that indistinct, disorganized INFORMATION is dripping from a data cloud. The purpose of statistical analysis is to capture and distill that precipitation and pour out clear, crisp, <strong>INFORMATION</strong>. The process works best with some cloud-seeding aforehand, as indicated. The distillation requires statistical methods and subject-matter smarts to get the most out the INFORMATION. Whaddayathink? Now, do you like statistics?<br />
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<br />
The background text is selected quotes that I think are pertinent - and entertaining.<br />
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<br />
Here's an excerpt from my Preface that tries to describe my goal. For your bedtime reading:<br />
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<div class="Body" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<em><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">I have a
dream: that professionals in all areas – business; government; the physical,
life, and social sciences; engineering; medicine, and others – will
increasingly use statistical experimental design to better understand their
worlds and to use that understanding to improve the products, processes, and
programs they are responsible for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
this end these professionals need to be inspired and taught, early, to conduct
well-conceived and well-executed experiments and then properly extract,</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: FR;">
communicate</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, and act on
information generated by the experiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This learning can and should happen at the undergraduate level – in a
way that carries over into a student’s eventual career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This text is aimed at fulfilling that goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="Body" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"><em>………………………………………………………………………............................................................<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="Body" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<em><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Successful
experiments require subject-matter knowledge and passion, and the statistical
tools to translate that knowledge and passion into useful information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Archie Bunker, in the TV series, All in
the Family, once told his son-in-law (approximately, and with typical
inadvertent profundity), “Don</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: FR;">’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">t give me no stastistics (sic), Meathead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want facts!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Statistical texts naturally focus on “stastistics:”
here</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: FR;">’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">s
how to calculate a regression line, a confidence interval, an analysis of
variance table, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the
professional in fields other than statistics, those methods are only a means to
an end: revealing and understanding new facts pertinent to his or her
area of interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This text strives to
make the connection between facts and statistics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students should see from the beginning the
connection between the statistics and the wider business or scientific context
served by those statistics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="Body" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"><em>To achieve
this goal I tell stories, about experiments, and bring in appropriate analyses,
graphical and mathematical, as needed to move the stories along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to describe the situation that led to
the experiment, what was learned, and what might happen after the experiment:
“Fire the Quality Manager!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give the
worthy statistician a bonus!” Experimental results need to be communicated in
clear and convincing ways so I emphasize graphical displays more than is often
done in experimental design texts.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="Body" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<em><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">…………………………………………………………………………….................................................................</span></em></div>
<div class="Body" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<em><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">I am convinced
that personal and organizational progress, and even national and global
progress, depend on how well we the people, individually and collectively, deal
with data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The statistical design of
experiments and analysis of the resulting data can greatly enhance our ability
to learn from data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In George Box</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: FR;">’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">s engagingly-illustrated formulation
(Box and Friends 2006), scientific progress occurs when intelligent, interested
people intervene, experimentally, in processes to bring about potentially
interesting events and then use their intelligence and the experimental results
to better understand and improve those processes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My sincere hope is that this text will
advance that cause.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<em></em><br />
So, I've been thinking more than usual about how we the people, and our representatives, deal with data. Here are some ruminations.<br />
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<strong>"Correlation is not Causation."</strong><br />
<em></em><br />
This is a common Stat101 lesson, sometimes illustrated by data on stork sightings and human birth rates.<br />
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Here's a government example.<br />
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Statistics show, in various respects, that homeowners, overall, have a better quality of life than those who aren't. E.g., income, health, crime, education, unemployment, marriage and divorce rates, .... . There are various quality-of-life 'markers' that show this correlation, or association, of life-quality with home-ownership.<br />
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Politicians of both parties interpreted that <em>correlation</em> as <em>causation</em> and decided that they could improve the population's overall quality of life by creating more homeowners. Thus, began sub-prime lending. Requirements were relaxed and lots of people got loans to buy houses and then couldn't make the payments, and more problems ensued. The housing bubble burst. I think we're approaching our seventh Recovery Summer from that fiasco. <br />
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Lots of government and private actions have unintended consequences, many, I suspect, due to treating correlation as causation. Glenn Reynolds, a U Tennessee law faculty member and blogger (his blog is called <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/" target="_blank">Instapundit</a> and I often check it during the course of a day) has a Reynolds' Law that expresses this situation as:<br />
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<em>“Subsidizing the markers of status doesn’t produce the character traits that result in that status; it undermines them.”</em> <br />
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I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to name other examples.<br />
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<strong>"Abolish numerical goals."</strong><br />
<em></em><br />
This statement is one of 14 rules for management, promulgated by the late W. E. Deming, a statistician and quality guru who became famous by helping Japan greatly improve the quality of their commercial products, after WWII. <br />
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You might think this dictum is anti-statistical, since statisticians like to measure things, to collect data. And if you measure something, surely you need a goal against which to measure your progress. ("Don't call me Shirley," <em>Airplane </em>1980.) But Deming's point is more about management methods. He wants data to be used to better understand and improve processes. Management may not take time for that and may even think that by setting numerical goals they are empowering employees to bring their knowledge to bear on how the process works and thus meet the goal. Moreover, some may think, setting "stretch goals" will really get the workers' attention and enthusiastic efforts and miracles of ingenuity will happen.<br />
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Deming's point was that, in the absence of what he called "profound knowledge" of how a system or process works, the connection between process inputs and their outputs, numerical goals tend to lead to either distorting the system or distorting the data. Which can make things worse.<br />
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Case in point: VA hospitals. Long waiting times for veterans to get appointments has been long recognized as a serious problem. A new Secretary for Veterans' Affairs came in and said to his hospital administrators: Your goal is to reduce the average waiting time to 20 days, say. Oh, and your year-end bonuses depend on how well you do. Upper management, in its own view, had taken bold steps. Hope and Change, to borrow a phrase. Now, it was up to the administrators and workers to make the dream come true.<br />
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Well, the result was distortions of systems and data. Phony numbers were created; the actual data were hidden. Bonuses were paid. Veterans were not better served.<br />
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Another case: Educational testing. When schools and teachers are scored based on student test scores, distortions happen. Some Atlanta teachers and administrators recently received jail sentences for falsifying test scores. A few years ago I read the book, <em>Freakonomics</em>. One of the authors is an economist/statistician very proficient in analyzing large amounts of data and finding interesting patterns (thereby embodying my book cover). One chapter was on Sumo wrestlers and Chicago teachers. Noodling through the data he found evidence of cheating in both situations.<br />
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To lay the blame for cheating as "numerical goals" is not to condone cheating. It should be a lesson for higher-ups that their methods can have unintended consequences (a la the Reynolds' Law) and they need to understand how systems and processes work before they even think about desired outcomes (or can recognize the difference between correlation and causation). You may need a lot of (good) data to gain that understanding. For example, what are the personal traits and practices that enable a person or family to buy a house. Is it just privilege - e.g., inherited money - or is it something, or many things, else? And can those characteristics, once identified, be more widely attained? I don't think free college tuition will do it.<br />
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To tie both of these semi-statistical topics together, I'll note that government regulators told mortgage lenders that if you don't make enough of these high-risk loans (meet numerical goals), we'll punish you.<br />
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<br />
Enough on statistics and government. Time for some family pictures: <br />
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Macy dressed to celebrate Chinese New Year.<br />
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Malia ready to compete.</div>
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Susie's Striders, NYC<br />
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<em></em><br />
The grand-twins on the train.<br />
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<br />
What I need here is a picture of grandson, Jason, in NC, age 15+, behind the wheel of a car. Use your imagination.<br />
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<br />
Continuing my trek through Houston sports, I went to a soccer game last night (Friday): Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas. The home team got waxed, 4-1. <br />
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Given the Houston-Dallas rivalry in many contexts (the Houston Rockets had just beaten the Dallas Mavericks in a first-round NBA series) I expected a larger and rowdier crowd and a more emotional game than what transpired, but it was still fun. A columnist in the paper a few days ago wrote about how Houston is better than Dallas in many ways, which I've mostly forgotten. The stinging rebuke, though, was that Dallas can't stand on its own; it needs its hyphenated little buddy to help it be a real city, as in Dallas-Fort Worth. Or, DFW airport, etc. Hope my Texas readers see this.<br />
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I did the whole trip by Metrorail and walking. Glad I did. Noticed that close-in parking was $40. I had about 15 min. walks on each end. <br />
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One more item about the Astrodome. A couple of weeks ago I ran across this nostalgic article:<br />
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<a a11yfocused="true" aria-haspopup="true" class="Object" href="http://m.mlb.com/news/article/119126222/richard-justice-astrodome-remembered-as-baseball-innovation" id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT7702_com_zimbra_url" tabindex="0" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">http://m.mlb.com/news/article/119126222/richard-justice-astrodome-remembered-as-baseball-innovation</span></a><br />
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It's a good one.<br />
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Susie will finish her combined chemo and radiation treatments a week from Monday (May 11). Then we drive home for some R&R. We spent quite a bit of time this week checking out various furnished apartments to rent when we return in about two months. Found one that's as nice as the one we're in and not as pricey. Now, we're busy deciding what to take home and what to store here (at a storage locker in the area) that we'll need when we get back. On Friday we'll meet with surgeon to find out the schedule for surgery. <br />
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We'll be in touch.<br />
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Susie and Rob<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-80335450191362074242015-04-13T17:33:00.000-06:002015-04-13T17:33:32.151-06:00Houston - 4Greetings, All.<br />
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I want to update you on our Houston non-medical activities by starting with today, Sunday, April 12, then working backward. <br />
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<strong>Windsor Village United Methodist Church.</strong><br />
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A couple of weeks back I had lunch with a statistician friend, Eric Ziegel. I mentioned that we had been sampling Houston's oldest downtown Methodist churches. He said, You might want to visit <a href="http://www.kingdombuilders.com/" target="_blank">Windsor Village Methodist</a>, the largest Methodist church in town, maybe in Texas. I checked the church's website and learned this about the pastor and the church:<br />
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<strong>Kirbyjon H. Caldwell</strong> <em>is Senior Pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church. Under the leadership of Caldwell since 1982, Windsor Village Church membership has increased from 25 members to more than 16,000, making it one of the largest Protestant Churches in the country. </em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>As a result of Caldwell’s effective social entrepreneurship, both Caldwell and the Windsor Village Church Family have been featured extensively in national and international print and broadcast media, including U.S. News & World Report, the British Broadcasting Corporation, The Wall Street Journal and the CBS Evening News. Caldwell was included in Newsweek’s “Century Club”, the publication’s list of 100 people to watch as America moved into the 21st century. </em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>In partnership with the Windsor Village Church Family, Caldwell has spearheaded several independently operated nonprofits and community development projects that have impacted the social and economic landscape of central Southwest Houston, including The Power Center and Pointe 2.3.4. </em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>The Power Center is a 21<sup>st</sup> century service delivery model of private and public partnership that serves 11,000-plus families a month. </em><br />
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<em>Pointe 2.3.4. is a 234-acre, mini-master-planned community that encompasses a commercial park which includes a: CVS Pharmacy, Walgreen’s, Advance Auto Parts, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, ABC Dental and TSO; Corinthian Pointe, a residential subdivision consisting of 462 homes; a YMCA; an HISD elementary school; a senior high charter school; Texas Children’s Pediatrics Center; Corinthian Village independent living facility for seniors; and the 183,000-square-foot Kingdom Builders’ Community Center. Collectively, the nonprofit projects have produced 700 permanent jobs and make a $65.5 million cash flow impact on the community annually. Additionally, Caldwell is the founder of three schools that provide education to students from elementary to senior high school.</em><br />
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<em>Caldwell currently serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards, including NRG Energy where he serves as Chair of the Governance Nominating Committee, Inc., Bridgeway Capital Management, The Greater Houston Partnership Executive Committee, Southern Methodist University and M.D. Anderson-The University Cancer Foundation. He is also a limited partner with the Houston Texans NFL Franchise. </em><br />
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<em>A native Houstonian, Caldwell was educated in the Houston public schools; received a B.A. Degree in Economics from Carleton College; an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Business; a Master’s Degree in Theology from Southern Methodist University-Perkins School of Theology; and two honorary Doctor of Law degrees, one from Huston-Tillotson College and another from Carleton College. </em><br />
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<em>Caldwell is a husband, father and author of the best seller <b>The Gospel of Good Success </b>and co-author of <b>Entrepreneurial Faith.</b></em><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfvkB-RdjVDw7ggAgYZV9W6-CkdJ6Z_fwvu8nVmie31wRQF-Kb_qrrRo4cQuVhVhyphenhyphen9umbtTqt3ZFTj54b6kb9zcBB6jPOq1NsQbXUw6U0vST2tgokztwvWjQcQQqubViu8orA/s1600/pastor-kirbyjon-profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfvkB-RdjVDw7ggAgYZV9W6-CkdJ6Z_fwvu8nVmie31wRQF-Kb_qrrRo4cQuVhVhyphenhyphen9umbtTqt3ZFTj54b6kb9zcBB6jPOq1NsQbXUw6U0vST2tgokztwvWjQcQQqubViu8orA/s1600/pastor-kirbyjon-profile.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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I knew from the website that Rev. Caldwell was black, but I thought the scope of the church's involvements and a church that large in racially and ethnically mixed Houston would probably be similarly mixed. Turned out that was wrong, at least at the service we attended this afternoon (the church has services on Saturday evening and at 8:00, 10:00, and 12:00 on Sunday; we went to the noon service). Everybody was warm and welcoming; nobody did a double take - just what colorblindness should be like. <br />
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I was expecting an auditorium full of 1-2,000 people, but though the auditorium would hold that, attendance was just a few hundred. The preacher said that's to be expected the Sunday after Easter. (I found later online that weekend worship service attendance can total 6500.) But, we got a full hour and a half of worship, no question. Started off with lots of singing - loud, exuberant. The choir at this service was the women's chorus, led by a very charismatic lady. <br />
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Then came Rev. Caldwell, dressed casually. He first talked about all the activities going on at Windsor Village. The church has an ELC (Entrepreneur Learning Center - how many churches have one of those?). At this time they were offering training classes on contracting skills, as I recall. As you can see above, the church has a mission for job creation and economic development. There was also a Men's Health Fair right after church. And more. <br />
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Then he brought up the shooting in South Carolina - black, unarmed man shot by a white policeman. Uh, oh, we thought. But, he quickly made this point: I don't know what motivated the policeman (the preacher had talked about how motivation leads to methodology), but if he confesses his sins, accepts Christ, and then lives in the light, not the darkness, he will be as welcome in Heaven as others are. Sins are forgiven, not graded on the curve. <br />
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The sermon was based on the first few verses of John1. John1 was written to people who had known Jesus on Earth - who had seen him, heard him, touched him. The letter is an instruction manual on how they were to live after he was gone: in the light, not darkness. Which led to a story.<br />
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Rev. Caldwell had recently gone to downtown Houston for a recognition service for <a href="http://www.memorialhermann.org/" target="_blank">Memorial Hermann</a> Healthcare. This is a group of Houston hospitals and clinics that is a leader in charity care - providing care for people who can't pay. (Way back when, daughter Mandi was born in a Memorial Hermann hospital, but having a baby then probably only cost $50). He couldn't find a parking place. There was a concurrent event at a downtown auditorium. He finally found a lot where he could park for $20 - outrageous, he thought. (We concur. Parking is steep in Houston. I was on the campus of Rice U. yesterday, Saturday, for about an hour, parking in a nearly empty stadium parking lot, and the charge was $4.) <br />
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In leaving the parking lot he fell in step with a couple of women, one of whom seemed to recognize him. He asked where they and all these other people were going. They said they were on the way to a comedy show by one of today's comics who use a lot of obscenity. He could tell she was a little uncomfortable admitting their destination. As they parted, she said to him, "Keep me lifted up." <br />
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He fell down laughing as he told this story. He had earlier made the point that to judge whether an action is in the light or not, you have to have a measurement method, a frame of reference. That got my statistical attention. The point of the story was that she knew how what she was doing measured up, but she was going anyhow. Now, maybe the pastor was being Puritanical, and he didn't chastise her, but it was a good point. She recognized darkness because she knew the light. "Can I have an Amen."<br />
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There was lots more. Entertaining and serious. Lots of smiles and laughs by us. His delivery brought back memories of Flip Wilson. I quit taking notes. More than once he said, "I'll get you out of here in 10 minutes." He had some things to say about dealing with adversity that hit home to Susie and me.<br />
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We're very glad we went to Windsor Village Church. The services are streamed via the website above in case you want to listen in some time. <br />
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We topped the afternoon off with a very late lunch at a Cracker Barrel about 15 minutes away. We love their Sunday special of country-fried chicken breasts. (It just hit me, that some may find something racial in this, but it was purely coincidental - I had planned lunch before we left home.)<br />
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<strong>Pancreatic Cancer Walk.</strong><br />
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Saturday was the NYC money-raising walk for funds for research on pancreatic cancer that granddaughter Kaci created a Strides for Susie team. Many of you contributed and we're very grateful. Her team raised $4,420, vs. a goal of $2,000. The event overall raised an amazing $560,242. Hope some of that research money goes to MD Anderson. It will be well-spent.<br />
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A women's group in Albuquerque told us that they were going to have a walk at the same time, 10 am EDT, to express their support for Susie. So, we decided we'd do the same. <br />
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Susie Striding</div>
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Rob Striding</div>
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Arm motion is an important part of striding.<br />
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<strong>Art Car Parade</strong>.<br />
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Saturday afternoon I went to the 28th annual <a href="http://www.thehoustonartcarparade.com/" target="_blank">Houston Art Car Parade</a>. This is a big deal here, I read in the paper. Wildly and often artfully decorated cars and other vehicles, from Houston and well beyond, parade along one of the city's parkways. So, I went. Here are several samples, presented mostly chronologically, not artistically. After 150 entries went by, there was a break in the action so I left, thinking it was over. Also, sprinkles had started. I read in the Sunday paper, though, that there were 259 entries. I really didn't regret missing the last 109.<br />
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This one is covered with sea shells.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5NhFLKJzf-tzue8S2tDPm5kBEtBwsm6ZzlZ37RUzkC3UfOeLzNfnyCisBpSCeZ3I9VRhvbWIX0X6wx3367tvRXGHVBROk_8cSfxaxYuGJWDLKZnox8aP-m30t1UHmimKUAgt/s1600/artcar6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5NhFLKJzf-tzue8S2tDPm5kBEtBwsm6ZzlZ37RUzkC3UfOeLzNfnyCisBpSCeZ3I9VRhvbWIX0X6wx3367tvRXGHVBROk_8cSfxaxYuGJWDLKZnox8aP-m30t1UHmimKUAgt/s1600/artcar6.jpg" height="333" width="400" /></a></div>
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This seafood-themed car was animated to music. The lobsters on the hood would raise up and fall back down at appropriate times.</div>
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Sponsored by a dentist?</div>
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This car is covered with CDs.</div>
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That's all, Folks.</div>
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<strong>Miscellaneous</strong><br />
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Because last week was a week without appointments or treatments, we had several outings together, often to get something to eat. One day was a drive through the Rice University campus - I plan to get some pictures before we leave. Friend, Eric Ziegel, said it is one of his favorite places to walk, and we can see why - lots of trees, shaded walkways, and attractive buildings (You thought I was going to say coeds?) Afterwards we had lunch in the adjoining Rice Village collection of shops and restaurants - we chose LePeep's. <br />
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Saturday, after the Art Car Parade, I was back on campus to make a copy of a figure in a book that was in the Rice library. This figure is needed for the book (on statistics, everybody groan) that I've written and that is now in pre-production and I had neglected to bring the book, or a copy of the figure with me. Modern technology is wonderful: I scanned the page in, cropped the image to what I wanted (with some help from a student), and e-mailed it to myself. For free. Then, I forwarded it to my copy editor in Singapore. I should soon be getting page proofs to review. Next big task is to create an index. At any rate, between parking lot and library, I came across the school mascot, the Rice Owl.<br />
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Earlier in the week Susie said, "I need some better shoes for walking and Striding. So, using more technology, we googled and mapped athletic shoe stores in Houston. Keyed a couple of addresses into the car's GPS and away we went. Turned out one of the stores we chose to visit was in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Galleria_(Houston)" target="_blank">the Galleria</a>, Houston's swankiest shopping mall. Susie found shoes there. I'm really sorry I cut off Susie's feet in the picture above. Nearby was a New Balance store where I updated my Striding Shoes, too. I think it was on this outing that we stopped at a Chick-fil-a for lunch. It was well after noon, but cars were lined up, a long line circling the building and beyond, and there was a crowd inside ordering eat-in or take-away, as they say in New Zealand. But, we got a table and food in short order. Don't know how they do it. (As you can see, we're pretty adventurous in our dining choices. We did Boston Market for lunch Saturday before I left for the parade.) <br />
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Week before last we got this awesome bouquet delivered to us:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61JfOSB3QlETQmwkt7AlwH0NbtzaCmO4BWYOor5fIXly1O1fmVxWW9RTqxB7c84wKI6Lu6gxpkuIMFPSgoATCoaGkC8VXm8Digc6GNQhVi7WshvCvIIzfZu4KyRtVS9rsWoCs/s1600/SW+bouquet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61JfOSB3QlETQmwkt7AlwH0NbtzaCmO4BWYOor5fIXly1O1fmVxWW9RTqxB7c84wKI6Lu6gxpkuIMFPSgoATCoaGkC8VXm8Digc6GNQhVi7WshvCvIIzfZu4KyRtVS9rsWoCs/s1600/SW+bouquet.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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This came from Mandi and the SWA employees at LaGuardia. Then a few days later, Susie got a SWA blanket and signed card from the company President and CEO, Gary Kelly, and Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus. Thank you very much, Southwest Airlines.<br />
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I'll spare you the highlights of our trips to Kroger's and WalGreen's.<br />
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<strong>Baseball</strong><br />
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Thursday was baseball day for me. The Astros had an afternoon game, then the city had a 50th birthday party for the Astrodome that evening.<br />
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I decided to take Metrorail downtown to the Minute Maid Stadium, where the Astros play. There's a stop not far from us and not far from the stadium. It was a nice way to go, even if I did have to park in a parking garage a couple of blocks away from our station. A large lot adjacent to the train stop turned out to be restricted to Medical Center employees. Next time I'll walk. <br />
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I was approaching a ticket window when a young man came up to me and asked: "Are you here by yourself?" I said I was and he said he had an unused ticket that I could use. He and his brother generally come together, but the brother was out of town. He said they were good seats, as if that were more important than being free. I agreed quickly. Turned out the seats were right behind the visitors' dugout, even with third base. Here's the view:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT4xuWoLVyN4rOT7iuFIAMRwiAv6ln85SrhNjaLNykkHG-ilg42m3hhEL83vFvfuBKHbzGIWgusUxr6WklhT8iZkorGE_u4i_uJ-5kY-pWNhYSlIdd9q6a9mNVsykIuncfUJW/s1600/Astros1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT4xuWoLVyN4rOT7iuFIAMRwiAv6ln85SrhNjaLNykkHG-ilg42m3hhEL83vFvfuBKHbzGIWgusUxr6WklhT8iZkorGE_u4i_uJ-5kY-pWNhYSlIdd9q6a9mNVsykIuncfUJW/s1600/Astros1.JPG" height="297" width="400" /></a></div>
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As you can see, and would expect for a weekday, early season, afternoon game, there were lots of seats available. I stayed put and enjoyed chatting with my benefactor. After I told him what brought us to Houston, he said he was particularly glad to have given his brother's ticket to me.<br />
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Oh, here's the view a few degrees to the left, looking toward right field:<br />
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Actually, the cameraman was not a problem, particularly when the Astros were batting. Four Cleveland pitchers kept them hitless until one out in the ninth, at which point the home team got a home run. (The starter had thrown 111 pitches through the sixth inning, so, particularly this early in the season, there was no reason to risk injury by going for a complete-game no-hitter. Only the possibility of a rare multi-pitcher no-hitter kept most of the fans in the park.) The Astros' hitting woes continued through a weekend series at the Texas Rangers. </div>
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This stadium has a retractable dome, but it was closed today on the chance of rain. My friend, Billy, said they rarely open it. The same for the NRG Stadium, where the Texans play. </div>
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I caught the train back to my part of town. Look, here it comes now.</div>
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Back at the parking garage, upon exiting I got caught up in the traffic leading to the Astrodome. It's been unused for several years and there is an ongoing Houston debate about whether to tear it down or keep it and re-purpose it, as they say. There is a lot of sentiment for keeping it, but not much for paying for its re-do with taxpayer dollars. Suggestions for a convention center or a water park have come and gone. I saw one or two games here years ago, so I particularly was glad to participate in paying homage to what was once called "The Eighth Wonder of the World." </div>
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The Astrodome was scheduled to open at 6:00 pm. I got to the parking lot (FREE!) about 5:00, found my way to the free food line (hot dogs, popcorn, soft drinks and bottled water), then found my way to the end of the queue for entry. The line wrapped about 2/3s of the way around the dome and its tail doubled back on itself, too. This is a pretty poor selfie, but it's about the only exterior shot of the Dome and its queue that I took.</div>
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I thought there might be multiple entrances and you could wander in and look around. I thought seats and field (either baseball or football) might be intact, but they weren't. Turned out there was one entry and exit, down and out a truck access ramp, cordoned off to the width of two people at a time. And people at the bottom of the ramp telling us to keep moving. I got into the Dome about 8:00. The paper said about 25,000 people came to the party and the line ran until after 10:00 pm. </div>
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The seats have been removed and the turf rolled up and both piled on the floor. Lighting inside was difficult, but here are three interior shots.</div>
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Just like Windsor Village Methodist Church, I'm glad I went.</div>
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I'm finishing this posting on Monday, the start of a big week in which Susie has various tests and we learn about what the next stage of treatment is to be.</div>
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We'll be in touch.</div>
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Susie and Rob</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-27913637867430161172015-04-02T22:06:00.001-06:002015-04-02T22:06:37.549-06:00Houston-3Greetings, Friends and Family<br />
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As this is written (April Fools Day), Susie's next chemo treatment is tomorrow. We've stuck pretty close to the apartment these last two weeks, but with some extracurricular activity.<br />
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<strong>Sweet 16.</strong> Last Friday night I went to the Sweet 16 March Madness basketball games (the South Regional) held in the NRG Stadium where I had attended RodeoHouston the week before. The maintenance team did manage to clear the dirt and droppings out of the arena, then install a basketball court and bleachers, as seen here.<br />
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This picture was taken from the seat for which I had a ticket. When you put a basketball court in a humongous football stadium, the permanent seats, as you can see, are a long way from the court. The temporary seats on the floor slant upward from the floor at a fairly low angle, so even at that level you can be far from the action and your view obstructed by the fans in front of you. But, you can sell a lot of tickets. (YEARS AGO, the Easterling family went to New Orleans for a Final Four played in the Superdome. Same situation there.)<br />
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This stadium is the site of next year's Final Four. There has been some grumbling online that lighting and layout are difficult for the players. Statistically, this regional had the lowest shooting percentage of the four regionals. Albuquerque's own Bryce Alford, playing for UCLA, who had hit either 8 or 9 three-pointers in 11 shots (depending on what your definition of goal-tending is) the previous weekend in a basketball arena, was roughly 1 for 10 here. Gonzaga's defense, though, probably had something to do with it, though. Analyzing data is difficult.<br />
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This section didn't fill up, so I moved closer to its bottom rows when the games started. Didn't have to move until the second game when a late-arriving Duke fan showed up, and then it was just across the aisle. Here's my enhanced view.<br />
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Oh, the games. Gonzaga beat UCLA in the first; Duke beat Utah in the second. I was rooting for the two underdogs, UCLA and Utah, but it was not to be. Both the favorites built a solid lead in the first half and maintained it for the rest of the game, though Utah made a late run, by which time I was home in the apartment. Glad I went to the games, though. The way I looked it, I had zero travel and parking expenses, since I was already in town and could walk to the stadium, so if you subtract what those costs might have been from the ticket cost, it was a good deal. The authorities seem to keep the stadium property cleared of scalpers, so I didn't have a chance to test the market (the games were far from a sellout). Also, by buying my ticket at the stadium, rather than online, I avoided all those convenience fees the brokers like to charge. This weekend I'm pulling for Wisconsin.<br />
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<strong>Tire Replacement</strong>.<br />
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When I was home, the tire sensor in the Lexus indicated a problem. I found that the left rear tire was soft. Took the car to my tire guys in Cedar Crest. They could find no problem, so I drove to Houston, with no indication of a problem en route. (The tire pressure sensor in our pick-up goes off on almost every trip to town, due to the change in elevation, so I'm inclined to ignore the sensor alerts as "false positives." Also, from my years of experience in an engineering lab, I know <em>instrumentation error</em> can be blamed for a lot of things.) <br />
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A few days after I got here, though, the sensor lit up again. I checked and the LR tire was down to about 20 psi, vs. 36 or so on the other three tires. I used my air compressor to air the softy up and then monitored it daily. It lost about 1 psi per day for several days. Definitely a problem. I called AAA. They would take the bad tire off and put the spare on, which I could do, but was hoping to avoid, but they didn't fix tires. They did have a couple of authorized tire shops, though, that they recommended to me. <br />
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I went to the closer one, Montrose Automotive, and they found and fixed the problem. There was a nail embedded in the inside side of the tire. Not easily findable. Not fixable, either. I first thought of a cheap solution. Put the spare on and keep the punctured, very slow-leaker as a spare and monitor it closely. That doesn't work for a modern spare. It's skinnier than a regular tire and you can't put a wheel cover on it, so it's uglier. Also, the regular tire doesn't fit in the trunk spare tire compartment. So, I bought a new tire. The folks at Montrose were very helpful and prompt, so if you ever need car service when you're in Houston, look 'em up.<br />
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<strong>Palm Sunday. First United Methodist Church.</strong><br />
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We picked another downtown church to visit on this special day: First UMC. Short history and description from the church's website:<br />
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<em>First Methodist ... is in the heart of the city at 1320 Main St. ... . This historic facility, built in 1910 on the “outskirts” of Houston, contains a beautiful Sanctuary with ornate stained glass windows that are complemented by an Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, built in Boston, which contains over 7,000 pipes.</em> <br />
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I didn't take and couldn't find online any interior pictures, but it all has a nice last-century feel to it. The windows and the organ are beautiful. <br />
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Friendly lady sitting next to me said that this is the oldest (Methodist?) church in Houston and the pipe organ is the original. The organ, plus orchestra and choir, got a good workout. Today's program was an oratorio by Dubois, titled, <em>The Seven Last Words of Christ</em>. Dramatic music and text; three outstanding soloists, and a powerful choir. I'd go so far as to say, "breathtaking!" Susie reminded me that the St. John's choir in Albuquerque has done this oratorio before. Oh, I said. Thought I recognized it. I haven't selected any links, but you can go to youtube.com to hear various portions of this oratorio.<br />
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What are those seven words? I asked myself (before I read the program). They're actually seven statements of Jesus when he was crucified, as recorded in various scriptures. These statements are (in no particular order, according to the <a href="http://www.gotquestions.org/seven-sayings-Christ.html" target="_blank">website</a> on which I found them):<br />
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“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” <br />
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“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do”<br />
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“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise"<br />
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“Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit”<br />
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“Dear Woman, here is your son!” <br />
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“I am thirsty”<br />
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"It is finished"<br />
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I once heard a memorable sermon built on the theme, Today's Friday, but Sunday's Coming! Can I hear an Amen. That's the Easter message. That's the way we're trying to view this pancreatic situation. The future is brighter than the present unpleasantness.<br />
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On a lighter note, Charlie Price, the late and always entertaining, assistant pastor at St. John's in Albq, had a way of explaining the difference between a hymn, an anthem, and an oratorio. I don't recall the details, but the main idea was that an oratorio was a hymn with lots of repetition. For example (mine), Jesus Loves Me, oratorio style would be: Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, ... This I know, This I know, .... . The "Seven Words" got some of that treatment, but it wasn't distracting. <br />
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<strong>Nolan Ryan Center.</strong><br />
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Nolan Ryan has long been one of my heroes. He pitched in the major leagues for 27 years and threw his 7th no-hitter at age 44(!). He was raised in Alvin, TX, about 40 miles south of here. He attended Alvin Community College, briefly, and the college has honored him by building a Nolan Ryan Center (museum) on campus. So, on Tuesday I drove to Alvin (not the way Susie wanted to spend a half day). She had a pain in her neck, but that's not why I left the building.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqJ9NhVWpN57lJZhkl6IVho7iaManuvWMKF4QuZHPUnLXQa3RpYeS5tYhBCai88DlnsAmY7zKb213zP9I6RTs2L5FT1z9eokdhrGQwVIiBkrJCQjlRlq4wihdM4ulSn5tIr7g/s1600/Nolan+Ryan+Center.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqJ9NhVWpN57lJZhkl6IVho7iaManuvWMKF4QuZHPUnLXQa3RpYeS5tYhBCai88DlnsAmY7zKb213zP9I6RTs2L5FT1z9eokdhrGQwVIiBkrJCQjlRlq4wihdM4ulSn5tIr7g/s1600/Nolan+Ryan+Center.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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(source. Alvin Community College website)</div>
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The Center has several videos and displays and lots of pictures describing Nolan's life and career. It started with his family who instilled hard work, honesty, education, and other virtues into his character. Here's a HS teacher getting and giving some credit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hLAP6_d9982tpFU9HDv9Dg_vFlGYBevmSFH6sN5GSomxoENz8GCGR-_d25yp1HhIJj93kwodyyY2cBFh6o7TZW42IplAlL-LOyOm8P5GOgepDUVRcoIMS1WRe1GIH53Vme13/s1600/NolanRyan3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hLAP6_d9982tpFU9HDv9Dg_vFlGYBevmSFH6sN5GSomxoENz8GCGR-_d25yp1HhIJj93kwodyyY2cBFh6o7TZW42IplAlL-LOyOm8P5GOgepDUVRcoIMS1WRe1GIH53Vme13/s1600/NolanRyan3.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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Then there were videos pertaining to his years with each of the four teams for which he played. <br />
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Because of injuries and wildness (throwing the ball, not extracurricular) he was very nearly out of baseball a couple of times in his early years. At one point he enrolled in Alvin CC with plans to pursue a veterinarian degree. According to the videos, his trade from the Mets to the Angels was an important turning point. With the Angels, he got coaching that he hadn't gotten from the Mets. He improved his control and his conditioning. Throughout his career he put a lot of effort and science into his conditioning (once science got interested in baseball mechanics). The trademark high kick shown here had a purpose.<br />
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Alvin, his family, and ranching, led to him winding down his career first with the Houston Astros, then with the Texas Rangers, where he could be close to his ranch and family. His two sons became college pitchers. The ranching continues. He now lives in Georgetown, TX, near Austin. Down here you can buy Nolan Ryan beef and hamburger in the grocery store, straight from the ranch, I reckon. <br />
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I greatly enjoyed my time in the Nolan Ryan Center. Had the place to myself - the lady in charge had to unlock the exhibit hall and turn on the lights when I got there. <br />
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For more Nolan Ryan details, here's the Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Ryan" target="_blank">link</a>. Ryan was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, his first year of eligibility, nearly unanimously (some baseball writers - grouches - think he lost too many games, but he played for teams that lost a lot of games no matter who was pitching). I went to Cooperstown the summer of 1999 for the induction ceremony. I probably have this souvenir somewhere, but I bought one here: it's the imprint on an envelope that real enthusiasts mailed to themselves from the Cooperstown post office on July 25, 1999, to establish their presence.<br />
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The other three inductees that special year were George Brett, Robin Yount, and Orlando Cepeda. It was a very good year.<br />
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As I left the Center, I asked the lady in charge for a recommended place for lunch in Alvin. Joe's Barbecue, she immediately replied and gave me directions. I went and had a fine barbecue meal. A banner in Joe's proclaimed that it had been selected the best barbecue joint in the greater Houston area. I haven't found one better, yet.<br />
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<strong>Bridge May Ice in Cold Weather</strong></div>
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Regular readers may recall that in our previous travels in Texas I've been captivated by these signs on the approach to every bridge. The signs are hinged, so that after cold weather is over, someone , I conjectured, comes along and flips the bottom half up so that it reads something inspirational like, Don't Mess With Texas. I speculated that a DOT employee starts in Brownsville, Texas each spring or late winter and zig-sags his way back and forth across the state, up to the top of the panhandle, following the last-freeze line, flipping the signs up as he or she goes. Then, in a few months, as Fall threatens to bring frost and icy bridges up North, he zig zags his way back to Brownsville, flipping the signs down. Sounded like a good job to me. <br />
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On my drive to Alvin I saw that the bridge warning was still showing, which meant the guy he hadn't gotten this far north by now, so I thought I'd pick a sign and stake it out and watch for him to come a-flippin.' Then, I realized the signs I've seen here, so far, are not hinged. Poor guy must have got laid off. <br />
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So, that pretty well covers the last couple of weeks.<br />
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We'll be in touch.<br />
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Rob and Susie<br />
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p.s. We were blown away today when this bouquet arrived from daughter Mandi and the Southwest Airlines employees at LaGuardia airport. Thanks much to them and to all of Susie's support team. Sunday's coming!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-78084482748976347002015-03-20T09:25:00.001-06:002015-03-20T09:25:15.636-06:00Houston - 2Catching Up.<br />
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I went home for about 10 days in March, primarily for some dr. appointments, to work on our tax return, and to respond to letter from State Farm that unless we removed or seriously trimmed some trees near our house, they would cancel our home insurance. Trip didn't go as planned, however, because on my intended departure day the Albq airport was closed because of snow so I had to go a couple of days later, too late to make it to my five-year colonoscopy check. Darn.<br />
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I had a chance to visit our two New Mexico "church homes." St. John's UMC puts on Friday Fish Dinners during Lent. It draws a very large crowd from the community. I went and in addition to a fine dinner got the chance to visit many friends and update them on Susie's situation. Then, on Sunday, I went to Sunday School and the service at Mountainside UMC, near our Cedar Crest home. Again, lots of encouragement and support for Susie. <br />
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Oh, both churches have quilting groups and both have provided Susie a prayer quilt. Here's a picture.<br />
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Interesting how the colors match.</div>
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Speaking of fine dinners, the second night home our neighbors, Kathy and Britt Wilson, had me over for a steak dinner. Even sent some leftovers home with me for another meal. Kathy's mother, who lives in Albq, has also been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, it's at a more advanced stage than Susie's. We've been comparing notes and were seeing many of the same doctors before we came to Houston.</div>
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Another purpose of the trip was to get our car and drive it back to Houston. I left last Tuesday and drove as far as Abilene, where friends, Elsie and Key Ray, live. En route I surprised son Jeff Hinkle when I stopped at his Albertson's store in Clovis to say Hi. <br />
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Ten years ago this month we were with the Rays on a Mediterranean cruise. I taught a semester at McMurry University in Abilene in 2005 and we had just been in town a couple of weeks when we met them at a church lunch, had a pleasant visit, learned about this cruise, and in a few days decided to join them on the cruise, which fortunately was happening during McMurry's spring break. A year later we took an Alaskan cruise with them and other Abilene friends. Tuesday, we had a very good visit (they continue to do a lot of international traveling - off to Poland next month) and another fine meal. <br />
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I got an early start Wednesday morning to drive to Houston. Needed to get there before daughter Mandi's late afternoon departure. Daughter Heidi stayed with Susie the first week I was gone and Mandi took her place when she left. I had checked a map - an old-fashioned one on paper that folds up, as opposed to an electronic GPS map - and saw that TX highway 36 angles almost on a straight line from Abilene to Houston - just short of 400 miles. I thought that if any road deserves the title, Heart of Texas, this is it. It doesn't have that title, but it is distinctive enough to have its own Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_State_Highway_36" target="_blank">entry</a>. Here's a map copied from Wikipedia. Note how Hwy 36 cuts right through the Dallas-San Antonio-Houston triangle which gave rise to SW Airlines. <br />
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The highway goes through nice ranch land and friendly-looking towns. I didn't stop for much but gas and junk food, but I did brake for one County Courthouse.<br />
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Also, caught a glimpse of this building with several guys working at replacing the roof and turned around and went back for a picture. A sign said this was a <a href="http://www.preserveamerica.gov/index.html" target="_blank">Preserve America</a> project.<br />
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Later, as I drove by a prison I saw this group of prisoners vigorously hoeing the ground -- getting ready for spring gardening? I couldn't tell if they were chained together, but it looked like it. Note the prison guards on horseback. The old west lives in the heart of Texas.<br />
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Got to Houston in early afternoon and when Susie and Mandi got home from an IHOP breakfast, </div>
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we unloaded the car and Mandi soon left for the airport. Which brings us to another rental car saga.</div>
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Heidi had made a reservation with Dollar and when we met her at the airport we picked up the car and she and I were listed as drivers. At the same time we dropped off our Enterprise rental car. It was all well-choreographed. Then, a week later, when Heidi left and Mandi arrived, Mandi signed on as a driver for the same car. All this was properly done according to Dollar's instructions. </div>
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Well, the phone rang. Mandi was still at Dollar. The Dollar personnel were all upset and claimed the windshield would have to be replaced. In fact, they were rude about it -- You're gonna pay, lady (because we had not signed up for the overpriced extra insurance they always offer). We hadn't noticed any such damage. (I'll add here that when we picked up the car, Dollar was extremely slow getting a car out for us to take, so our inspection might have been rushed.) At any rate, through Mandi I provided Dollar with my car insurance info. She filled out a report saying Houston is full of major potholes (that's a fact) that could have caused the damage, through no fault of our own. One Dollar rep told her that if you pay us $250, we won't send the claim to your insurance company. We didn't bite. All in all, a pretty sleazy operation. </div>
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A couple of days later I reviewed our bill (Mandi emailed us a copy) and saw that we had been charged for being five days late in returning the car. That wasn't true because I had our statement showing the period of our rental. I tried two or three times to call the Dollar Office at Houston Hobby airport to get an explanation, but never got out of voice mail purgatory ("your call is very important to us, blah blah blah ..." ). A few hours after the last attempt I got email from Dollar with a customer satisfaction survey. I unloaded, but have not received any response from Dollar. I called our insurance agent and she assured me that I was not likely to be sent a bill and that State Farm would not jack up our premium over this.</div>
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So, bad experiences with Advantage and Dollar; good experience with Enterprise. Lessons learned.</div>
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I brought a laptop computer when we first came to Houston. It has sufficed, but when I needed to print something I had to go to the apartment's business office, about a block away and two stories up. So, while in Albq I bought a very basic printer at Costco and brought it to Houston (Goin' back to Houston, Houston, ...). Tried to set it up on Thursday and it wouldn't work - the menu screen didn't show the options it should and the print cartridge tray wouldn't move into position so you could install the cartridges. So, on Friday we found a Houston Costco and went there to see if the printer was returnable here. It was. (I didn't bring it with me at the time because I wanted to go to Best Buy and look at a functioning printer like ours - which we did.) That confirmed that ours was defective; it wasn't just my ineptness that kept it from working. Saturday I took printer no. 1 back to Costco for a refund, then went to Best Buy where I bought a smaller and cheaper printer no.2. Got it hooked up, including a wireless link to the computer, and it's working. Now, wasn't that interesting. Life as a displaced person, Houston style.</div>
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Sunday, we attended service at <a href="http://www.stpaulshouston.org/worship/" target="_blank">St. Paul's United Methodist Church</a> - an old, large, cathedral sort of downtown church. </div>
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Here are out- and inside pictures.</div>
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Pretty dramatic choir loft and organ pipes.<br />
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We went to the third of three morning services. (The church website characterizes all their services as "traditional worship for contemporary people.") Attendance was good and the choir and organ were spectacular. Good Lenten sermon, too. But, it was a more formal service than we're inclined toward. E.g., anthem was in German - music by Bach. Susie said it felt Episcopalian. Also, nobody asked if we were visiting, etc. Not complaining, just reporting. </div>
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Monday was <a href="http://www.rodeohouston.com/" target="_blank">RodeoHouston</a>. Along with a livestock show and a midway full of rides and food booths -- you want something deep fried, we got it -- this is a State Fair sized endeavor. With lots of walking and steps to climb in the stadium, just to see a rodeo, this wouldn't be Susie's thing in the best of situations. I will note, though, that we've both been doing some walking and strength and flexibility exercises together for the sake of fitness. </div>
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I chose Monday because the rodeo entertainer was Dierks Bentley. Susie said, and Mandi confirmed, that we saw him in a small bluegrass club in Nashville several years ago and that he was regarded then as a rising star - and now he is one. I listened to a couple of his youtube recordings and liked his easy style - just him and his guitar. <br />
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I went early hoping (it's an easy walk from our apartment to the arena) to see some cutting horse competitions, but was too late for that, so I ate. Started with a funnel-cake- hot-fudge sundae:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZF2G0hxFy7m_5akGinAxYw5yepELbYZwuPB9Gqys9Q_v2NWXaVfwODW6AlLWglTuGYGflH6s-dUuU3DrXTbnJKTLnRYRnVfEqM9SG7LNEmk-k2HcDoUmH4yrQy6m_LuBITgV7/s1600/IMG_1257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZF2G0hxFy7m_5akGinAxYw5yepELbYZwuPB9Gqys9Q_v2NWXaVfwODW6AlLWglTuGYGflH6s-dUuU3DrXTbnJKTLnRYRnVfEqM9SG7LNEmk-k2HcDoUmH4yrQy6m_LuBITgV7/s1600/IMG_1257.jpg" height="282" width="400" /></a></div>
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And topped that off with a New Braunfels bratwurst. Ready to Rodeo, now.<br />
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Here's the opening parade - riders, wagons, and fire engines.<br />
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The competition in all events is run like a Jeopardy tournament. Leading scorers in each round move on to another round. This means that on any given night there is only a small number of contestants in each event, so things move pretty quickly. There was one NM cowboy in one of the riding events who did well. <br />
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I watched the rodeo from a lower tier of seats, but for the entertainment, and the view (and because the rightful owners of the seats I was sitting in kept showing up), I went up to the sixth level. Here's what it looks like from way up there. <br />
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Next week the South Regional of the NCAA basketball tournament (March Madness) will be played here. Hope they can sweep enough of that dirt out of the way to put up a couple of goals.<br />
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Next came the entertainment, starting with fireworks.<br />
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In this sort of a venue a guy and his guitar are just not enough. Bentley was accompanied by a piercingly loud electrified band. I left after a couple of numbers.<br />
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This report is getting a little long, but I want to mention one more stop on our sampling of what Houston has to offer. <br />
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In an article about Houston's mayor that I chanced across, I read that Houston (from a Washington Post article) ranked high on lists of best places to live. In 2012, it was named the nation's" coolest city" by Forbes -- stylish housing developments, theater scene, world-class museums. Also, Food and Wine magazine said it is: "America's newest capital of great food." So, we've got a lot to sample from.<br />
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Tuesday we went to the movies to see "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" We'd seen the first "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and enjoyed it a lot, so now the sequel. The hotel of interest is in India, owned an operated by an energetic young entrepreneur, and occupied by a bunch of British senior citizens, such as Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. (Side note. At least four times we've been approached while eating out by people who asked Susie, Excuse me, are you Judi Dench?)<br />
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Where we went turned out to be part of the entertainment - the classic, old <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RiverOaksTheatre" target="_blank">River Oaks Theatre</a>, built in 1940. We climbed the stairs to a second-floor small theatre to see the show. Maybe a dozen people were there for the 4:40 showing. At first we were a bit distracted by a couple of people seeming to compete with each other on how loudly they enjoyed the movie. I swear one of them cackled at a couple of Maggie Smith lines before she said them. She must have seen the show before, or else thought she was watching Downton Abbey. <br />
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River Oaks is the ritziest of Houston residential areas (I would not call it a "housing development". We think the Bushes live there.) We drove through it and the estates and houses are pretty awesome. <br />
Susie, though, is outraged that people spend their money this way. My feeble explanations of trickledown economics and how those people pay big taxes for the common good don't sway her. I remember this line from one long-ago oil-bust period: "The only thing in Houston that can put a deposit on a Mercedes now is a pigeon." Which reminds me of Gary Johnson's line in 2012, I think:) "My neighbor's dog has provided more shovel-ready jobs than Obama's stimulus funding."<br />
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Enough potty-jokes!<br />
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We drove around looking for somewhere to eat, unsuccessfully, until I remembered that in our Costco/Best Buy travels we had driven by a "Ragin' Cajun" restaurant, right by the railroad track. Looked like a fine "Food and Wine" sort of place to me. So, that's where we went. Buckets of crawfish seemed to be the entrée of choice--Lots of shuckin, lickin' and smackin'. I went for shrimp and catfish. Susie opted for grilled chicken breasts. Outstanding, I'd say.<br />
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Wednesday we went shopping.<br />
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Thursday was Susie's third chemo treatment. </div>
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Today, Friday, is another day of March Madness.</div>
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We'll be in touch.</div>
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Susie and Rob</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-23238850367681057662015-03-17T13:25:00.000-06:002015-03-17T13:25:02.037-06:00Houston-2015Most of you readers of this blog have been receiving email from us about Susie's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and our trip to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for an extended stay for her treatment and eventually surgery. We will continue those reports, but we'll use this blog to report on the non-medical aspects of this trip. We considered bringing Tuzigoot down here to live in, so this would be a true Tuzigoot Journal, but have decided against it. <br />
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Our first week we stayed in a Residence Inn. We thought at first that surgery might be done fairly soon, so had not made long-term plans. After Susie's medical team recommended and we agreed to multi-month chemotherapy and radiation stages to control and diminish the amount of malignancy, followed by surgery, we decided we needed an apartment. MDA has an attached extended-stay facility that people had recommended to us, but it had no vacancies right away. The MDA Travel office put us in touch with an apartment management firm they work with and we picked an apartment that turned out to be just across the street from the Residence Inn, and just over a mile from MDA. Here's a <a href="http://corplodge.com/apartment/domain-at-kirby/" target="_blank">link</a>. So far we've been driving to MDA, but there is a free shuttle service as back-up. <br />
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The <em>Domain</em> is four stories of apartments, wrapped around a parking garage and two patio areas, one with a swimming pool. Our apt is about as far from our parking spot as possible, so moving day we made numerous long trips hauling our belongings from garage to apt. One good move we had made was to exchange our compact rental car for a mini-van: more space, less money, it turns out. (I didn't check prices on larger cars when we made a reservation. On-line rentals for mini-vans, at least for Enterprise cars, rent at substantially lesser rates than compacts. Too much to think of in a short time is my excuse.) Here are a couple of apartment photos.<br />
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GO LOBOS! oops.<br />
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The apartment is right next to a Walgreen's and a short block from a Krogers and another block from a Super Target, plus a wide variety of chain restaurants, so it's all very handy. The Walgreen's clerks and pharmacists are getting to know us quite well. One clerk and I tell each other, "See you tomorrow," as I check out with another bag of essentials.<br />
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Texas Medical Center is HUGE. Here is the picture you find on-line when you google it. When we first saw this skyline, I thought it was downtown Houston. Found out later that downtown is behind this scene. Nearly all of the buildings in this photo are hospitals, clinics, research labs, medical schools, and more.<br />
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Here's a short summary from the Medical Center website:<br />
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<em>Texas Medical Center is the largest life sciences destination in the world. With 106,000 employees, 50,000 life science students, and thousands of volunteers and patient visits, over 160,000 people visit Texas Medical Center each day. Over the course of the year, we welcome over 7.2 million visitors.</em><br />
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Here are some building close-ups.<br />
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This is the building we've spent most of our time in.<br />
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Son, Jeff Hinkle, was here for Susie's first chemo treatment last week. On Friday we drove to Galveston. Some scenes:<br />
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That's Pleasure Pier</div>
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Cargo ships waiting in the Houston Ship Channel.<br />
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I've already described in our e-mail reports our search in Channelview, TX, for the house that Susie, Jeff, Manny, and Mandi lived in, and rental car problems, so I'm not going to cover that here. Will skip ahead to the a fresher second installment.<br />
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Susie and Rob<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-40837543692041511842015-01-20T20:53:00.000-07:002015-01-20T20:54:05.089-07:00Catching Up - Fall Help! I'm blogging and I can't stop. <br />
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<b>September: Alamosa, CO and environs</b><br />
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Last September we made a weekend trip to Alamosa, CO, for two Adams State U soccer games and some sightseeing, too. I got up early one morning and went out to the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm" target="_blank">Great Sand Dunes National Park,</a> located NE of Alamosa. Years ago I had camped there one night and gotten up early to take pictures of the rising sun on the rippled sand. Due to a camera/photographer mishap I lost a whole roll of film (remember rolls of film?) Now was a chance to redo the shots<br />
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You can go to the Park website to learn about the interaction of weather and terrain that created these dunes. Here are some pictures:<br />
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self-portrait</div>
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Love those wind ripples!</div>
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Same weekend we drove over to Creede, CO, an old mining town on the upper Rio Grande that we've been to several times. Trees were just beginning to show their colors.</div>
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More pictures:</div>
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Some mine scenes</div>
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Just west of Alamosa a farmer displays a nice set of old tractors.</div>
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Oh, yes. We watched two soccer games over the weekend.</div>
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<b>October: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta</b><br />
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For several years we've been encouraging my cousin, Ross, and his wife, Marsha, to come out for the balloon fiesta. They live in Laverne, which is in NW OK, in the county just before you get to the Panhandle. You should know that Laverne is the hometown of Miss America 1967, Jane Ann Jayroe.<br />
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Ross ranches and Marsha has a hard time getting him to leave his cattle for very long. We peppered them with email and fiesta pictures all summer and convinced them to come. Here's the evidence.<br />
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We made a drive to Sandia Crest.</div>
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Marsha had Santa Fe on her bucket list, so we spent a day up there.</div>
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Here's the miraculous staircase in the Loretto Chapel</div>
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The Santa Fe Plaza</div>
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We stopped in Madrid for some more pictures.</div>
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Have a good trip home! Thanks for coming.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-83401620396519437892015-01-20T14:37:00.002-07:002015-01-20T15:03:59.165-07:00Philadelphia and NYCMonday of Thanksgiving week we flew from TCI to Miami and on to Philadelphia. Son Matt and wife Suzy moved there last summer when Matt got promoted to President of a Supply One plant in a larger market than Albuquerque. (Supply One does packaging - boxes, for example.) His plant is in NJ and their home in Yardley, PA is not far away. Here's a picture of their house, rear view, which for some reason is the only shot I've got.<br />
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This house was a real project. I can't begin to do justice in describing all the fixing and painting and more they had to do, but the result is charming.<br />
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Oh, just found a front view in my vast, not well-organized archives. Plus, I really haven't found a quick way to extract photos to insert into Blogger.<br />
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We had a very nice traditional Thanksgiving feast that lasted for days. Grandsons Andrew and Tony had come from Alamos, CO and Albq, NM for the holiday and granddaughter Kaci and finance Nick came down from NYC. The lighting on this picture is not good, but this is all I managed between courses. I need to photoshop Susie and moi into that gap between Kaci and Suzy. Note also the bonus reflection of a side view of Matt in the mirror behind Nick. Of course, I should claim that I planned the effect of radiant beams beaming on Kaci and Nick, the happy couple, but that's a nice touch, don't you think? Their wedding will be in September, so we'll be BAA-ACK.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZKihwjwfX5Vcs1jPi_YLAlxecUJObBfsEmJLwJvOT3m1e_hiVlHm9_BoH4LLs22Zb0CfHaaooPg29165hA2G5ZfbjfQsUtuFfJtr8jIzkNZWB15NcQyZe3fwbmEtSmw7WpxG/s1600/IMG_3373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZKihwjwfX5Vcs1jPi_YLAlxecUJObBfsEmJLwJvOT3m1e_hiVlHm9_BoH4LLs22Zb0CfHaaooPg29165hA2G5ZfbjfQsUtuFfJtr8jIzkNZWB15NcQyZe3fwbmEtSmw7WpxG/s1600/IMG_3373.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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The day before Thanksgiving I took a short drive north along the Delaware River to <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/washcros.html" target="_blank">Washington's Crossing State Park. </a> From the Park's website:</div>
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<strong style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">On December 25, 1776, the icy waters of the Delaware River provided the setting for one of the pivotal events of the American Revolution. The Continental Army had little to celebrate that Christmas and seemed beat by hunger and cold. After crossing the rough winter river at night, General George Washington and the Continental Army landed at Johnson’s Ferry, at the site now known as Washington Crossing State Park. At 4 am, they began their march to Trenton where they defeated the Hessian troops in an unexpected attack. This battle was quickly followed by the Second Battle of Trenton on January 2, 1777, and the <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/princeton.html" style="color: #003300;">Battle of Princeton</a> on January 3, 1777.</strong></div>
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I'm puzzled. This paragraph sounds like the State Park is on the east side of the river, but it's on the west. I didn't see a NJ State Park (and I did drive across the river on a VERY narrow bridge). </div>
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Here's the famous painting of the crossing. Of course, history-purists say this is not accurate -- too many people in the boat and it would not be easy to stand up - but, hey, this is George Washington we're talking about. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vfGx2gv1sw9p-YCTUEDqVUYtwdeiCSxMpFwHgDqmMtISJst_Z9vfZwhA1BmKKuOnsWGKBa5LScOzFlMDmRJNnWYkFHkQ04On-p-4kcAEvvkhEDq1D4_y_IRkKhprdQWj24Mt/s1600/IMG_3341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vfGx2gv1sw9p-YCTUEDqVUYtwdeiCSxMpFwHgDqmMtISJst_Z9vfZwhA1BmKKuOnsWGKBa5LScOzFlMDmRJNnWYkFHkQ04On-p-4kcAEvvkhEDq1D4_y_IRkKhprdQWj24Mt/s1600/IMG_3341.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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Some more park pictures.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuZxfvS-IYMsuUG6LmfjOR8pPljQg2f-JuAq1PR5IjpiBcYgNZrMdac21R8yRGk9Zc5DY3ctJEQOuS7twrfTSkv1stQfLZpfFZFFhg6ra-kW_NihYQn6G61rzx0KRBX3-ggDV/s1600/IMG_3348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuZxfvS-IYMsuUG6LmfjOR8pPljQg2f-JuAq1PR5IjpiBcYgNZrMdac21R8yRGk9Zc5DY3ctJEQOuS7twrfTSkv1stQfLZpfFZFFhg6ra-kW_NihYQn6G61rzx0KRBX3-ggDV/s1600/IMG_3348.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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A replica of the boat.<br />
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This carving of The Crossing, from Indiana limestone, was a gift to the park in 1976. Come on, George. Sit down.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbAjehVuPfdm_8dGWMbgaM6iG3HOw5pLkcmFkxLunVucZGbegj8PbwOrbbddQ2Uloa968jhOGcIZwbf_YNc8BV1NFR7JN5-_-mw-xkUsV0nvDkEnC2NAc02Py2utWDlqemL4w/s1600/IMG_3358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbAjehVuPfdm_8dGWMbgaM6iG3HOw5pLkcmFkxLunVucZGbegj8PbwOrbbddQ2Uloa968jhOGcIZwbf_YNc8BV1NFR7JN5-_-mw-xkUsV0nvDkEnC2NAc02Py2utWDlqemL4w/s1600/IMG_3358.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is the McConky Ferry Inn which was at the crossing in 1776. Don't know if George Washington slept there.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTsI2wfIdwCJc26BYdobYkgXk67hHkcM_Bz-z-71855Ws7Z2OKUYPjxke-qjoGh1Nt9esenL676iIToWf2g8PFY2Nov6uqS36Od_daT70_dOLmFUVGObRiM3GbncmzsiqC1VSN/s1600/IMG_3354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTsI2wfIdwCJc26BYdobYkgXk67hHkcM_Bz-z-71855Ws7Z2OKUYPjxke-qjoGh1Nt9esenL676iIToWf2g8PFY2Nov6uqS36Od_daT70_dOLmFUVGObRiM3GbncmzsiqC1VSN/s1600/IMG_3354.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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The river that was crossed:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDHOkpco_tkl0ilAkTaWGa4jeeEHVnbgyfiMmZ4Fr58sR0kjT2sF13jtIOl5wz5WWFBOB2tRpa9F3nJY274JK5htgfoOcLVyqKJU6i-3g7wJk3lVFV0Ep4ZXNiP3H51Wjp9ZPV/s1600/IMG_3336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDHOkpco_tkl0ilAkTaWGa4jeeEHVnbgyfiMmZ4Fr58sR0kjT2sF13jtIOl5wz5WWFBOB2tRpa9F3nJY274JK5htgfoOcLVyqKJU6i-3g7wJk3lVFV0Ep4ZXNiP3H51Wjp9ZPV/s1600/IMG_3336.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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Some logistics. Back in October Mandi and Paul visited us in Cedar Crest. Talking about our travel plans, Mandi said, How are you going to pack for both hot and cold temperatures? The solution was that we sent two suitcases with cold weather gear to NYC with them, then we flew to the islands with two suitcases of warm weather gear. Back in NYC, Mandi transferred our bags to Kaci and she and Nick brought them to Philly on Thanksgiving Wednesday. (I should note that both Mandi and Kaci live in Astoria, Queens, so that made these transfers fairly handy.)</div>
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On Friday Susie and Suzy went to NYC with Nick and Kaci. Kaci had appointments with wedding dress shops and took momma, grandma, and Aunt Mandi with her for sage advice. They found the perfect dress almost immediately and canceled Saturday appointments. They finished Friday by dining in the elegant Tao restaurant that Nick manages. (The plural of Tao is Taos and we've eaten there many times.) </div>
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On Saturday, the guys (Matt, Tony, Andrew, and me) drove to West Point. Matt is a proud graduate of the US Military Academy, class of 86, and was eager to show the campus to his sons and me. We got a real insider's tour. Several years ago, Susie and I were there, but it was a very rainy day, post 9/11 security restrictions were still in force, so about all we saw then was some buildings through rain-covered bus windows.</div>
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Here's a picture of a picture in the Visitor's Center. The cadets were gone for the Thanksgiving holiday, so this is the only picture I have of them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRYhbNknNBnaqGOS71VBkm3GChjTfOZHWwORTxJYWiCT3CHsb-3kIsFB6vE99-3j6EoWrRfQfFzGvmQElFxrhBNXjIwVAAZfRuaCTqIs3RtmfMA3okd4xmZ5Oi3sZ64Gfbo8E/s1600/IMG_3374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRYhbNknNBnaqGOS71VBkm3GChjTfOZHWwORTxJYWiCT3CHsb-3kIsFB6vE99-3j6EoWrRfQfFzGvmQElFxrhBNXjIwVAAZfRuaCTqIs3RtmfMA3okd4xmZ5Oi3sZ64Gfbo8E/s1600/IMG_3374.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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The parade ground.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeELNLxPdLkJbWPZVT7PtAf-BH8DFPC2VIha7s18JnoTi7kX2cl4xbnNdaiA-w73sJQ6ZvDJGCztMVrQYo4MsJG-Cc7kcqU6-mZHCeMd14yQPHR0HmThyDe__TTnx2AieesCDR/s1600/IMG_3376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeELNLxPdLkJbWPZVT7PtAf-BH8DFPC2VIha7s18JnoTi7kX2cl4xbnNdaiA-w73sJQ6ZvDJGCztMVrQYo4MsJG-Cc7kcqU6-mZHCeMd14yQPHR0HmThyDe__TTnx2AieesCDR/s1600/IMG_3376.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJY7aHYYWsH6Ct2nHU9L1PjNAXUOS7yzLY8IKYeMJUhaRZTvErAecitJA6A_ucTNg8JeCIRR9wQ6BwS2eAC96hPoDWsqpGa3kKu2SwX3Szp-dFkNMi4Khc_rhOXJov4tjlbXvw/s1600/IMG_3378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJY7aHYYWsH6Ct2nHU9L1PjNAXUOS7yzLY8IKYeMJUhaRZTvErAecitJA6A_ucTNg8JeCIRR9wQ6BwS2eAC96hPoDWsqpGa3kKu2SwX3Szp-dFkNMi4Khc_rhOXJov4tjlbXvw/s1600/IMG_3378.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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Dwight Eisenhower's statue</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nzu50Mg3aIi341ske_HiCbBS-0b-4SuGV2kMEqw3Nk6_UWYOJISih1k6bfYJ1BNvVc71KY2p3Tp8PwgtxsL7LROuu7FaH3fpn7E_IBNMDB2pePBufGr_5KoENOXFb_69sGcf/s1600/IMG_3380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nzu50Mg3aIi341ske_HiCbBS-0b-4SuGV2kMEqw3Nk6_UWYOJISih1k6bfYJ1BNvVc71KY2p3Tp8PwgtxsL7LROuu7FaH3fpn7E_IBNMDB2pePBufGr_5KoENOXFb_69sGcf/s1600/IMG_3380.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dining Hall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Rhgyg-X8Rxw-KLrzrCtWtaDzq7G6-5aOG37ZStqENL1Gy8qgqjmCy6-SNaqf4VLaA2tXJZYcos_LTIsWlhwn1asJ0MxxTPkjDSTbwZ9gpKfDfDWNoo7cRhvRisiGEJhxdno8/s1600/IMG_3381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Rhgyg-X8Rxw-KLrzrCtWtaDzq7G6-5aOG37ZStqENL1Gy8qgqjmCy6-SNaqf4VLaA2tXJZYcos_LTIsWlhwn1asJ0MxxTPkjDSTbwZ9gpKfDfDWNoo7cRhvRisiGEJhxdno8/s1600/IMG_3381.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Three Hinkle Men</td></tr>
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Matt had lots of stories for us about marching, working out, competing, and being a cadet. Lifetime friendships from that time are an important part of his life.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvRJXDRPTOGv49Qxpty00AtKEfffZHb7475QNLm43ZeFkls-IHyKNL9pqY1mT5t8TU0ZrebKZ5VoIAsU1FNuBC1tzeMrFWL573Ayq9Pp35zGMaTCa0St70uDfSE4N0I08xkm-/s1600/IMG_3383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvRJXDRPTOGv49Qxpty00AtKEfffZHb7475QNLm43ZeFkls-IHyKNL9pqY1mT5t8TU0ZrebKZ5VoIAsU1FNuBC1tzeMrFWL573Ayq9Pp35zGMaTCa0St70uDfSE4N0I08xkm-/s1600/IMG_3383.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hudson River Overlook</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyeiFhC0DnL6KfcOXBMC4QvoH7bALok3P0xP4weM0oiELGoOuCOlg2UnRq8N0ufdY4peWI_oDxiTkEYXnOcYzYB4cdxGCvrCfi0ZkYuFdp-RHxIC9vAfsIZ-_yjia7m1EOprK/s1600/IMG_3384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyeiFhC0DnL6KfcOXBMC4QvoH7bALok3P0xP4weM0oiELGoOuCOlg2UnRq8N0ufdY4peWI_oDxiTkEYXnOcYzYB4cdxGCvrCfi0ZkYuFdp-RHxIC9vAfsIZ-_yjia7m1EOprK/s1600/IMG_3384.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chapel</td></tr>
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After West Point, we drove in to the City and the Hinkle guys dropped me off to rendezvous with Susie at Mandi and Paul's apartment in Queens, for several days of playing tourist in NYC.<br />
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The RFK Bridge, also known as the Triborough Bridge, is near where Mandi and Paul live and I've taken several walks on the bridge on previous trips (see archives). Here are pictures from this trip.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_yMoIL2Cm3F6JfbOl1DxBtXzE7JiRvwr3cfroaRK28980OWgKvhp0I0UZwoLm9WKwimJN9A9SLDnjqHblx0l25N7fhC6vr21w-2GlU5h6X2eEoC8WiQCikFkU38HfdOLrH8Iy/s1600/IMG_3424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_yMoIL2Cm3F6JfbOl1DxBtXzE7JiRvwr3cfroaRK28980OWgKvhp0I0UZwoLm9WKwimJN9A9SLDnjqHblx0l25N7fhC6vr21w-2GlU5h6X2eEoC8WiQCikFkU38HfdOLrH8Iy/s1600/IMG_3424.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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That tall skinny building is to be the U.S.'s, or maybe the world's, tallest apartment building - nearly as tall as the new World Trade Center.<br />
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This is a view from the bridge of Mandi and Paul's apartment building, the large, blockish, converted warehouse in the distance.<br />
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I enjoy walking around Astoria, a predominantly Greek settlement in Queens. I've got a favorite deli where I get a bagel and newspaper and listen to commentary on the news of the day. <br />
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Here are a few neighborhood shots. There are block after block of these mostly two-story houses, most of which, I think, are now divided into apartments.<br />
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Some were decorated for Christmas. There may be a casualty in the foreground of this picture.<br />
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Then, there's street art, as here in a underpass below an overhead train track.</div>
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Actually, these were created by students at a nearby art school.<br />
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Here are two of several Greek Orthodox churches in the area.<br />
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One day we went to the Natural History Museum and spent quite a bit of time there. The dinosaur exhibits were particularly outstanding. Some pics:<br />
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Cave art proof that space aliens have been here: do-do-do-do.<br />
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African regalia</div>
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There was an interesting video about how art and taxidermy go together to create these very realistic displays of wildlife in their native environment.</div>
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We topped off our day by going to the Rockette's Christmas show at the Radio City Music Hall.<br />
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They gave us Santa hats!</div>
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Lobby decorations</div>
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You can see an excerpt from the show <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cPzRD3AB3E" target="_blank">here</a>. It was really a spectacular show, as advertised. We saw a Rockettes Christmas show in Detroit, in 2001 when we were at U Michigan for a semester. It's amazing how the dancers maneuver simultaneously in the Toy Soldiers March. And, they're still doing it! And they don't look a day older!</div>
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More street scenes:</div>
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A typical store window.</div>
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More City lights.</div>
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Subway travelers. Note the reflected tourists behind them.</div>
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Since M and P moved to NYC I've wanted to do the climb to the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/stli/planyourvisit/visit-the-crown.htm" target="_blank">Statue of Liberty's Crown</a>. The statue climb was closed after 9/11, but reopened in 2009. You need advance reservations for this tour and on previous visits I hadn't been able to snag one. This time, once we decided we would follow up our TCI trip in NY and PA, I immediately got online and managed to get a ticket.<br />
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'Twas a cold and drizzly day. The climb is up a spiral staircase of 377 steps, about 10 stories, as I recall. Susie and Mandi were very impressed about how quickly I was up and down the climb.<br />
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Spiral staircase. A double helix, I think they said, so up and down staircases are separate.</div>
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The outside view from inside the Crown.</div>
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The view of NYC from the top of the base.</div>
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A stop at Ellis Island is optional and I don't believe we've done that on a couple of previous Statue visits. This time we did. The building and the stories of the immigrants that were processed through it are fascinating. I'd recommend a visit if you have not been there and have the chance.<br />
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Susie and Lovely Tour Guide<br />
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Time to go home after our NYC adventures. We decided to rent a car to drive back to Philadelphia (cheaper and more convenient than the train) for a night with Matt and Suzy, then drop the car at the PHL airport the next day as we started home. </div>
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Getting to the Enterprise Car pick-up near LaGuardia airport was a bit of an adventure. Queens has an interesting street numbering system. Both E-W and N-S streets are numbered, not named, streets. For example, M and P's address is 19-19 24th Avenue. The first 19 means they are near the corner of 19th street and 24th avenue. The second 19 pertains to a particular lot on 24th ave, counting from 19th street, I believe. </div>
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Well, the Enterprise address is 83-34 23rd ave. Our Uber driver (How could he not know where the LaGuardia rental car terminals were located?) put that into his GPS, which tried to take us to the intersection of 833rd Street and 23rd Ave. That would, by straightforward mathematical extrapolation, be somewhere out on Long Island. I was watching the map and our location on my cell phone so, by convincing the driver to make a couple of u-turns, was able to help him find Enterprise. </div>
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I rented a GPS with the car and tried to follow its instructions to get us back to Yardley, PA. Well, I missed the ramp I was supposed to take to the Verazanno Narrows bridge to Staten Island and on to Jersey and ended up driving across lower Manhattan and taking the Holland Tunnel to Jersey. That was an interesting drive and the traffic wasn't bad. Main highlight of the drive on to Yardley was taking a route through Princeton and a drive by the Princeton U campus. Online campus pictures <a href="http://www.bing.com/search?q=princeton+university+pictures+of+campus&qs=AS&sk=SS1&pq=princeton+university+pictures&sc=4-29&sp=2&cvid=7932c883027e4096a9dea29d3817060c&FORM=QBRE" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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Back in Yardley, we spent a night with Matt and Suzy, then reunited and packed all our suitcases (bags fly free on SW!), drove to the PHL airport, and flew to Raleigh for a weekend with Mike, Karen, and Jason in Cary. We often go there for Mike's and Jason's January birthdays, but this year we made it a month early. Jason now trounces me in ping-pong, but it's fun to play him. </div>
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Our educational endeavor was a trip to the North Carolina state museum in downtown Raleigh. They had a new, special, extensive exhibit on NC in film and TV. Very interesting and entertaining to watch videos and trailers. This is not much of a picture, but that's the museum on the left, the state capitol and dome in the distance.</div>
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Here's a picture of almost 15-year-old Jason ROBERT with his grandfathers, BOB Nauman and ROB Easterling.</div>
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Back home we got ready for Christmas. Heidi, Joey, Landon, and Julian came from Las Vegas; Jeff and Valerie Hinkle came from Clovis. Here are some Christmas pictures.</div>
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The twins reminded us of scenes in The Christmas Story; if they opened a package that had socks or pajamas, they'd toss the contents disgustedly over their shoulders and grab the next box, hoping for something more fun.<br />
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A couple of outdoor scenes.<br />
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See Susie's Facebook page for more grandkid pictures.<br />
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The day after Christmas it snowed.<br />
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Front yard, Jeff's pick-up</div>
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Back yard</div>
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Good day for sitting by the fireplace and listening to Christmas music from Pandora</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: center;">Summary: It </span><span style="text-align: center;">was a great anniversary trip topped off by lots of family time.</span><br />
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Cheers from Ellis Island,</div>
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Susie and Rob</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-87154813967363253022015-01-20T14:19:00.001-07:002015-01-20T14:41:30.971-07:00Turks and Caicos IslandsGreetings to Family and Friends. <br />
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It's been quite a while since we filed a travel report. Last posting was August 1. It's been a busy fall. As this report was started we were at Matt and Suzy's near Philadelphia for Thanksgiving after a week in the Caribbean (place-dropping shamelessly). Finished the report back home the second week of January.<br />
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Our 15th wedding anniversary was Nov. 20 and the preceding Christmas we decided to mark the occasion with a trip to the Turks and Caicos Islands (to be abbreviated TCI). One of Susie's favorite TV personalities is Kelly Ripa and she and her family vacation in TCI, so that's the motivation. There are several islands to choose from - we chose Providenciales, site of the <a href="http://www.beaches.com/main/tc/tc-home.cfm?WT.mc_id=PPC&infinity=gaw~Beaches%2BBrand%2BTurks%20and%20Caicos%2BUS%2BPA%2BENG%2BSPART%2BDESKT~Beaches%2BBrand%2BTurks%20and%20Caicos%2BResort%2BUS%2BPA%2BENG%2BSPART%2BDESKT%2BEXACT~38973378407~beaches%20resort%20turks%20and%20caicos~e&gclid=Cj0KEQiAkdajBRCJ_7_j6sCck7wBEiQAppb2i0nM_Hyo_-9KJD61oKslauyRNtgTRSCohSzfObaNUBEaAtEM8P8HAQ" target="_blank">Beaches Resort,</a> where Mike and Karen had anniversaried, so we decided to follow their example - to some extent. Beaches is a large, all-inclusive, family-friendly resort. Lots of beachfront, pools, and restaurants to enjoy. Here are a few scenes:<br />
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Beach View 1</div>
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One of many pools</div>
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Our room was on the ground floor of this building - center of picture.</div>
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Lovely Island Lady</div>
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Beach view 2 (looks a lot like Beach view 1)</div>
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Beach view 3</div>
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For big chess players</div>
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Because this is a travel blog, I should report how we got to TCI. On Sunday, 11/16, we flew SW Airlines to Fort Lauderdale and spent the night at a motel there. Next morning we took an airport shuttle to Miami International airport (heavy traffic, fortunately we had allotted ample margin), from where we took about a two-hour, 600 mile flight, to "Provo," as the locals abbreviate it. A Beaches shuttle picked us and our luggage up and drove us to the resort. As soon as possible, we donned swimming suits and asked the friendly staff, Where's the beach? (They must have thought we were real rubes. But, not every room has a beach view or is within earshot of the ocean.) <br />
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There are a variety of excursions you can take while at Beaches. We did a sunset cruise and I took a snorkeling trip. <br />
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Selfie from Sunset Cruise</div>
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Sunset - as promised, actually horizontal</div>
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Mike and Karen were enthusiastic about the snorkeling, and I've enjoyed it in the past, so I went out on a trip our first day there. Didn't do very well, sorry to say. Couldn't keep water out of my breathing tube, couldn't control my fins, and didn't see clouds of colorful fish, as I'd hoped for, so I spent most of my time on the boat. I did better a couple of days later at a location down the beach that Mike had told me about. I wasn't very adventurous, though, so that didn't last long either. Planned one more snorkeling try the last day we were there, but wind and waves had roiled the water, so snorkeling boats were not going out.<br />
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One special option we opted for from Beaches was a private, beachfront, candlelight anniversary dinner for two. <br />
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You know it's a special meal when there are three knives as well as three forks.</div>
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Dinner site by daylight</div>
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We also spent time every day at the beach, just looking and listening and reading, and occasionally getting wet, and usually spent time at one of the pools. One area included a water park, which I enjoyed - a long, twisting slide through the dark, followed by a crash landing in the pool. Then, of course, there were different restaurants to sample three times a day. (At least three. Mike told me that he and Karen had a turf and surf progressive dinner one night: steak at one restaurant, seafood at another.) One of our memorable meals was in a Japanese restaurant with a singing, joking cook, cooking in front of us. One vocal highlight: he sang My Grill, to the tune of My Girl. Since the resort was all-inclusive, in terms of cost, you kind of feel obligated to eat much and often, just to get a fair return on your investment. Converting dollars to pounds.<br />
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A few more Beach Views:<br />
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Even with all that Beaches offers, I still got a little antsy, cabin-feverish, wanting to find out more about the island and its people. In one of the Welcome to TCI magazines I came across the <a href="http://conchawonchatours.com/" target="_blank">Concha Woncha Bus Tour</a>. That turned out to be quite interesting and fun. The guide was very knowledgeable and personable and kept his dozen or so passengers entertained.<br />
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First stop was the only <a href="http://www.caicosconchfarm.net/" target="_blank">conch farm</a> in the world. Conch, pronounced konk, is an island staple and much in demand in fine U.S. restaurants. Conch shells are also popular - pretty to display and some people can blow into them and get sound. Hmm, wish I'd got one for playing in our church jug band.<br />
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It takes about four years for a fertilized egg to grow into a mature conch. Conchs are marine snails - slimy creatures that grow and drag around a protective, and attractive in this case, shell. We got a very detailed lecture from a marine biologist at the farm. Here she exhibits a mature conch. It's that slimy, light-colored body hanging from the shell.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Next stop was a Turks and Caicos Island</span><span style="text-align: center;"> Culture and Art Center and a talk from the Center's Director about island culture - along with a musical demonstration. The rip saw is a characteristic instrument in island music. Here's a </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjwUSoPy_XU" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">sample</a><span style="text-align: center;">.</span><br />
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I don't have much of a grasp on TCI history, but it includes some interesting events. Back in the slave trade days a slave ship bound for America sank near TCI. The survivors stayed and helped populate the islands. Earlier, natives from Haiti and the Bahamas migrated to TCI (which is roughly 350 miles east of the Bahamas. After the US War for Independence, British nationalists/sympathizers, from the American South, were given large island land grants by the British government and moved there with their slaves. Thus, we learned, grits is the national food of TCI, as well as conch. The island was never amenable for crop-growing, like grits, cotton and tobacco, so the loyalists didn't stay long and left, abandoning their slaves. <br />
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Presently, TCI is an autonomous British Overseas Territory, with its own governor and parliament. There is an interesting mix of conventions. For example, they operate on US currency and most of the cars and trucks are American, with the steering wheel on the left, but, following British practice, they drive on the left side of the road. That can lead to double-takes from US tourists. Look both ways before stepping off a curb. We didn't drive. Tourism got its start here with a Club Med establishment in the 1970s. The secret was out. One more note, to be geographically correct, TCI is in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean.<br />
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We finished our bus tour at the Conch Cafe, featuring conch fritters and other seafood. Also saw a demonstration of how the conch is separated from his shell - a hammer and chisel to make a hole in the shell, then a sharp knife for the extraction. Here's a seaside picture from the Cafe taken by our guide.<br />
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So, the tour was time well spent. If you are ever in Provo, check out the Concha Woncha Bus Tour. I gave them a very positive review in TripAdvisor.<br />
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One disappointment. We wanted to attend a Provo Methodist church on Sunday (we found a web listing). We asked a Beaches receptionist, who happened to be a member of that church, about it on Saturday afternoon, and she said she would arrange for us to be picked up Sunday morning. Would call and leave a message. Well, it didn't happen and Sunday's lobby receptionist didn't have any information. Calls to the church were not answered. We debated getting a taxi, but were unsure how that would work, so we'll leave that to next trip. Really wanted to see how island and Methodist music would have come together.<br />
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On Monday we got up early, were driven to the airport, flew to Miami, then to Philadelphia. Today, as this is written, the day before Thanksgiving, it's snowing in Yardley, PA, where Matt and Suzi now live. Happy Thanksgiving to all, very belatedly. Next installment from PA and NY.<br />
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Rob and SusieUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-36301423115840695772014-08-01T09:08:00.000-06:002014-08-01T09:08:14.634-06:00Colorado IEarlier in the summer we volunteered to Jeff and Valerie (Easterling - we do have two J and Vs to keep track of) that we would come to Denver if there was any time this summer when Malia's and Macy's day care arrangements had a gap - and that turned out to be last week. So, after a week of turn-around activities after our Arizona-Las Vegas trip, we headed to Denver Saturday, 7/19. We made a two-day Tuzigoot trip out of it, spending Saturday night at an RV park at the top of Raton Pass. We got to our campground at Chatfield State Park, near the SW corner of the Denver metropolitan area, and just 10 minutes from Jeff's house, in early afternoon, set up, then went to the Easterling house for some play, bike-riding, and grilled hamburgers. <br />
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Monday it was just us and the girls. We played games and did puzzles, then went to a movie (Planes: Fire Rescue - pretty cool bunch of airplanes fight forest fires) and lunch at McDonald's. A fine time was had by all.<br />
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Tuesday the girls had activities lined up, so we were free to go do our own thing. Thought about driving to Estes Park to scout out the area where we'll be next week for an Easterling family reunion. Decided we didn't need to do that - all the info about rooms and facilities are available online. Instead we took a shorter drive to Boulder and Longmont.<br />
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I went to first grade in Boulder, while my Dad was in school at CU, and we spent several summers there at around the same time. I got online and found a list of Boulder Elementary Schools and the one that rang a bell was Whittier. Was located in the right part of town, as I recalled. And it looks like a school from that era - however, no bell in the tower, I don't think. Anyhow, I'll claim that this hallowed, ivied monument of education is my first-grade school. <br />
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A couple of memories from that time: In first grade, I couldn't say 'animal.' I said 'am-in-al.' Took me years to overcome the shame of that. So, don't bring it up to me. You can tell that I'm still sensitive on that issue. Bullying is not new.<br />
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I also remember learning to ride a bike that year - Dad running down the street holding me and the bike up then releasing us. <br />
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Another story: We lived in a small house that was the only house on a short block. (I didn't look for it - am sure it's gone and has been replaced by student apartments.) The house backed up on an irrigation ditch. Lots of trees around, a little spooky. Well, there was an attack, maybe even a murder in Boulder. Dad was away on Navy duty. He called Mom and said, Get out of there. So, Mom loaded my brother, Lael, and me into the car, in the middle of the night, I fantasize, and we drove to Oklahoma and stayed with her parents until it was safe to go back. <br />
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We got to Boulder, this day, by driving the foothills road from Golden to Boulder. Very scenic. I pointed out some mountains just outside of Boulder to Susie, saying those are the Flatirons, you'll see why they're called that as we get closer. Eventually, she believed me. This is an online picture.<br />
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Go <a href="http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=flatirons+pictures+colorado&qpvt=flatirons+pictures+colorado&FORM=IGRE" target="_blank">here</a> to see more Flatiron pictures.<br />
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When we got to Chatfield on Sunday, I called a friend and former Albuquerquean, Larry McConahy. He and wife, Linda, now live in Longmont, CO, just a ways north and east of Boulder. Larry and I go back to the days when his two sons and my two sons, and we dads, were in Indian Guides - lots of memories of slot car races, rocket launches, and hot-air balloon flights (the heat source generally burned up the balloon, rather than levitating it), and other character- and skill-building activities. The McC's were also members of St. John's Methodist Church, so we saw them regularly over the years. Their two sons and eight grandchildren are located in Longmont and nearby Fort Collins, so about four years ago, quite understandably, Larry and Linda moved to Longmont. At any rate, I called Larry and said, We'd like to come visit and go to lunch with you. So, after Boulder we drove a bit further north and east to Longmont. Here are Larry and Linda in front of their house.<br />
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We had a nice lunch in the nearby town of Niwot and a good visit as we caught up on life since Indian Guides, and since St. John's, too. I had forgotten, but last September there was serious flooding in Longmont and upstream on the St. Vrain River. Here are some <a href="http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=st.+vrain+river+flood&qpvt=st.+vrain+river+flood&FORM=IGRE" target="_blank">pictures</a>. It was categorized as a 500-year flood. Maybe even more rare than that - September is not usually a time for floods.<br />
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Which reminds me of a true statistical story. Years ago, probably in the 1970s, there was a major flood in the Country Club area of Kansas City. We happened to be in Kansas City a year later. It was raining heavily as an intrepid TV reporter on remote location in the Country Club area earnestly said: 'Some merchants in this area are worried about another flood like last year's, except those who know that a flood like that will not occur for another 99 years.' It's hard to get statistical predictions any more apparently precise than that.<br />
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Wednesday we took M and M to Wings Over Colorado - the state's air and space museum. I discovered this museum a few years ago when Mandi and Paul lived nearby on what was Lowry AFB. Jeff took the girls there a while back and they were eager to go back. <br />
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One of the neatest things at the museum is a Harrison Ford film on Wings Over Colorado - lots of great flying scenes over the Colorado landscape. Lots of planes to see in what was an AFB hangar. There are planes being restored on site and I was intrigued on an earlier visit to see veterans of various vintages exchanging stories about the 'birds' they had flown. Here are some pix:<br />
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Sky-diving<br />
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The museum has a simulator by which you can fly the Wright Brothers plane at Kitty Hawk. Malia had a smooth flight and landing.<br />
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Wednesday afternoon we brought the girls out to spend the night in "the bus." Some scenes:<br />
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It was Malia's choice to sleep in the recliner.<br />
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As you can see, Macy will pose any time she sees a camera. I had my bicycle and we took theirs to the campground, so we did a couple of bike rides around the area. Break time for Macy after completing a tough climb.<br />
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Playground fun.<br />
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Next morning: everybody on their iPad.<br />
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Later in the morning we drove around to a swimming area on the lake and had a good time in the water and building sand castles on the beach.<br />
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I did some bike riding early one morning along what I think is called the hi-line canal. Here are a couple of shots from that ride. Pardon the intrusion of my finger over the lens in this first picture.<br />
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And here's a sunset over the lake shot.<br />
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Friday morning we departed early. Traveled home via Alamosa, CO where we had lunch with grandson Andrew.<br />
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He's a senior at Adams State University. Since his parents have just moved to the Philadelphia area, he's sort of our semi-responsibility. Primarily, we'll be traveling up there for soccer games when school starts.</div>
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So, another good week with and for grandkids. More to come as the Estes Park family reunion gets under way next week. Watch for the Colorado II posting.</div>
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Susie and Rob</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-52989785423387251862014-07-18T16:00:00.002-06:002014-07-18T16:00:42.566-06:00Las VegasFriday morning we left for Las Vegas to visit daughter Heidi, husband Joseph, and twin sons Landon and Julian. From Williams, AZ to the Vargas house in NW Vegas it is about 185 miles and four hours of driving. Trip was uneventful. Twins, of course, were thrilled to see their grandparents!<br />
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I never succeeded in uploading a video into blogger, but in separate e-mail I will send an excerpt - the twins dancing to the World Cup video.<br />
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Here are a few photos. It is really hard to get a good picture - they're (almost) always on the move.<br />
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Watching a video in the castle.<br />
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New educational developmental puzzles from grandparents: when you fit the object into its cut-out position, you get the sound of the appropriate animal or vehicle, as the case may be: Mooo!<br />
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Landon is Susie's main buddy. Julian latches on to me. He's the one with curly hair and the yellow shirt.<br />
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I took my bike to Vegas and did a couple of early morning rides in the neighborhood. This area was once rural, now it is becoming surrounded by new homes and businesses. The old properties sort of remind me of the North Valley of Albuquerque. There are large estates, horse stables and pastures, even an arena. <br />
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I did a double-take as I rode by one fence and tree line and thought I saw a buffalo the other side of the trees. I did! Two of them.<br />
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And here's a horse picture.<br />
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We stayed for the World Cup Final, Sunday afternoon, then drove back to Williams. Timing worked out so that we could stop in Kingman, AZ in late afternoon for Cracker Barrel's Sunday fried chicken special. Very good. Mountain showers as we returned to the high country en route to Williams. Uneventful trip home the next day. The dashboard A/C worked just fine.<br />
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W.r.t. road trips, I came across this <a href="http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/travel/road-trip-rules" target="_blank">article</a> on how to eliminate boring road trips. Number one: Leave the interstate. We do this some of the time, but obviously not on this trip. On earlier trips across this same terrain, we have traveled and enjoyed some stretches of historic Route 66. Which reminds me: Williams advertizes itself as "the last Route 66 town bypassed by I-40." Just taking Business 40 (old 66) through Williams and Seligman are worth your time occasionally. For a longer diversion, take old 66 from Seligman to Kingman. Did that once.<br />
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All told a very nice two weeks with friends and family. We've got this week to do laundry, then it's off to Colorado for most of the next week with our granddaughters there. Stay tuned.<br />
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Susie and Rob<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-22816804847861170132014-07-16T08:24:00.000-06:002014-07-16T08:24:11.757-06:00Flalgstaff and SedonaWhen I was in graduate school at Oklahoma State University, Judy and I met and became friends with Wayne and Cynthia Sjoberg at our Sunday School class at the Methodist Church in Stillwater. We both graduated in 1967 and Wayne became a professor in the Psychology Dept. at Northern Arizona U in Flagstaff. For several years, he had the additional duties of being the Faculty Rep for athletics. We've exchanged Christmas cards and gotten together (all too) occasionally over the 47 years since. While in Williams, I contacted Wayne and we arranged to get together on Thursday.<br />
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We drove over to Flagstaff, about 25 miles from Williams, and found our way to the Sjobergs' house. They took us on a drive through Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona for lunch. Had a very nice lunch and a great time catching up during lunch. <br />
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Oak Creek Canyon had a serious forest fire recently and all of the recreational areas in the canyon are closed. With the "monsoon" season upon us (we had rain every day in Williams, I believe), there is great concern about mudslides and the road has been closed recently on very short notice. But, we got through both ways. Here are a couple of Sedona pictures.<br />
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Can't you just feel the harmonic vibes in those scenes.<br />
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Driving back to Flagstaff we stopped at the Oak Creek overlook and a very friendly Dutch man touring the States took our picture.<br />
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Had a great day with Wayne and Cynthia and look forward to seeing them again some time.<br />
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I should mention that the rest of our Allegro group left on Wednesday, so we were on our own Wednesday and Thursday. As I mentioned, we decided Williams was close enough to Las Vegas that a side trip was justified. So, Friday we drove the Explorer to Las Vegas to see Heidi, Joey, and the grand-twins, Julian and Landon. We had considered driving Tuzigoot to Vegas but high temps and uncertainty about whether we could maneuver Tuzi into their driveway led us to leave Tuzi in Williams and drive the Explorer. Anyhow, Vegas next. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-32286315913988512642014-07-16T07:32:00.000-06:002014-07-16T07:32:24.604-06:00Grand Canyon<br />
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On Wednesday we rode the Grand Canyon Railway train to and from the Grand Canyon. It's just over a two-hour trip, traveling at 40 mph, arriving just about noon. We opted to ride up in a dome car, back in a coach. Here's an uninteresting shot of the view from the dome. We did have a cowboy singer come up and serenade us on the way. And survived a hold-up from some desperadoes on the way home.<br />
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At the Canyon we had lunch in the El Tovar dining room, overlooking the canyon. Our plan was to ride the park shuttle along a portion of the south rim to three or four vantage points during the three hours or so we had available before our return train. The crowds and the wait for a shuttle, plus threatening weather, in which case the Ranger in charge told us that the buses would be shut down, made us decide to stay within walking distance of the train station. Didn't want to get stranded and have to spend the night on a park bench. For future reference, the better way to do this trip is to stay overnight at a Canyon lodge, rather than make a one-day trip. Here are some shots of the Canyon. You can see that it was a cloudy day.<br />
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The sun came out briefly and illuminated one promontory nicely, though. Anybody know the name of that?<br />
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Awesome!<br />
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Next: Flagstaff and Sedona<br />
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<br />
Susie and Rob<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-58572193263751042182014-07-10T09:00:00.001-06:002014-07-10T09:00:50.516-06:00Train StuffI've been taking early morning bike rides since we got here. Today, Tuesday, I rode around the train yard, the other side of the tracks from Railside RV Park, and got a few pictures that might be of interest.<br />
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Wheels - would make some nice yard art - or the base for a picnic table.<br />
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Bus wheels, too.<br />
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Here's a restoration candidate.<br />
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Interior.<br />
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Toilet.<br />
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Could make it into guest quarters.<br />
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More wheels.<br />
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A couple more cars.<br />
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That's it.<br />
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Next blogpost: Grand Canyon.<br />
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Rob and Susie<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-68682685769870367362014-07-09T09:34:00.001-06:002014-07-09T09:34:44.176-06:00July TravelsGreetings, All. And a belated Happy Independence Day to you. To celebrate the Fourth, and more, we traveled to Williams, AZ, for a rally with our motorhome club, the Zia Allegros. Allegro is the model name of some motor homes made by the Tiffin Company in Red Bay, AL. Tuzigoot is an Allegro Bus - 2004 vintage.<br />
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Five motor homes (three Tiffin coaches and two others (known as SOBs - some other brand; we are not exclusionary) and their owners gathered at the Railside RV Park in Williams, gateway to the Grand Canyon, the first week of July. We were the last to arrive, Wed., the 2nd. <br />
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Our trip over from Cedar Crest, about 370 miles, was fairly miserable; the dashboard A/C was not putting out cool air. Unfortunately, I did not come up with Plan B: run the generator and power the rooftop A/C from that, as the other Zias reminded me upon arrival. Live and sometimes Learn.<br />
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This group has pretty clear priorities - most of our group activities centered around meals, starting with dinner catered the first night by our RV park owners and staff. Breakfast the next morning was at a downtown restaurant. Pat and Tamara, the RV park owners, are great hosts and managers. They catered a breakfast and another dinner for us during the week we were there. Thursday morning Pat found a mechanic who came over and topped off the freon in our front A/C. Problem solved. Memo to self: check the A/C before the next hot-weather trip.<br />
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Just before we left home, daughter Heidi sent us a video of our twin grandsons running and dancing - they are especially turned on by the World Cup music.<br />
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[Technical Difficulties: Can't upload the video or find a way to link to it. Stay tuned.]<br />
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Susie said, "That does it. Williams is close enough to Las Vegas; Gotta see those boys. We'll go there after Williams." I agree, of course, so that's the plan.<br />
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Meanwhile, Friday evening, Susie and I went to Williams' Fourth of July parade, billed as the longest parade in Northern Arizona. Not sure how much competition there is for that title. Note, no fireworks in Williams that night because of fire concerns. Here's a selfie: it was a cool evening.</div>
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There were fire trucks and flags and horses and many organizations with floats and members marching or riding. <br />
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This young man directed traffic.<br />
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There was also a collection of old tractors on a side-street.<br />
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Saturday morning the highlight was this steam engine pulling the Grand Canyon train. Nice sky, huh. The steam engine is just used on selected Saturdays through the summer. We made reservations to do the regular Canyon trip on Wednesday.<br />
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The track runs right by our RV Park, appropriately named Railside, so morning and evening some of our group as well as Park management would run out and wave at the tourists. That's about as exciting as it gets.<br />
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The cable system in the RV Park doesn't carry ESPN (!) and I canceled satellite some time ago because we usually stay at parks that have cable TV. To follow the World Cup soccer games on Saturday, I had my choice between streaming the games on our computer and watching the cable-provided Spanish language channel that carried the games. Can't miss that Go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-al!! call. The pictures came and went on both media, but I caught most of the games. <br />
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Sunday we drove the back way from Williams to the mining town of Jerome - 25 miles of paved highway through very scenic forests and meadows, with awesome views of the deserts below and distant mountain ranges, followed by 25 miles of somewhat primitive road winding, ascending, and descending the rest of the way to Jerome. This was a real scenic treat with some sense of adventure. Some scenes:<br />
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Great day for clouds.<br />
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On the last picture you can see the very narrow road carved into the side of the hill from whence we just came. Luckily, we didn't meet any 4-wheelers or other vehicles on the narrowest stretches with the greatest unprotected drop-offs or on the sharpest switchbacks.<br />
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We had planned on lunch in Jerome, but it was very crowded (Tourists!) and we couldn't find a decent place to park. Jerome is stacked on the side of a very steep hill, not an easy place to drive or walk. You can google it for some pictures and history. We drove the highway over the mountain from Jerome and down into the Prescott Valley to have lunch, then back to Williams via highways. We drove in rain much of the way after lunch and were glad to have driven the Jerome backroad before the afternoon rains began. We've had p.m. rains every day - very pleasant. However, today, Monday, it rained and hailed, small hailstones, very hard - put a hole in the plastic cover over our bathroom ceiling vent.<br />
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We've been a bit snakebite on this trip. First the A/C, then I realized that I had lost a wheel cover somewhere on the way over (probably related to the fact that I bought new tires the day before we left), then our toilet began squirting (clean) water every time we flushed it. We put off the last problem until we get home by packing some towels around and under the leak source and by making less frequent and quicker flushes. So far, so good.<br />
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We debated the last few days whether we would drive Tuzigoot to Vegas or leave it here and drive the Explorer. We thought about parking Tuzi at Joey and Heidi's, but not sleeping in it in the high temperatures there (oh, I should mention that the bedroom A/C is not working either). Also, I worried about the engine over-heating, particularly on the return climb from blazing desert to mountain heights. We decided to leave Tuzi here and drive to Vegas Friday morning - about 200 miles. Two days of RV park rental costs less than 400 miles of diesel fuel, and there would be less strain on us, so it was an easy decision.<br />
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Meanwhile, I contacted college friends, Wayne and Cindy Sjoberg, who live in nearby Flagstaff. We'll be getting together with them on Thursday.<br />
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Here are a few Williams scenes. It's very much a Route 66 town - Williams advertises itself as "the last town bypassed by I-40" -- October, 1984, as the sign below proclaims.<br />
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Elvis has left the building.<br />
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The world's largest Route 66 shield.<br />
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Downtown.<br />
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That's enough for now. Stay tuned for more reports.<br />
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Susie and Rob<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-19177590978726832872014-05-05T10:32:00.004-06:002014-05-05T11:13:54.018-06:00O-o-o-o-o-o-o-klahomaCue - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TD_pSeNelU" target="_blank">Willie</a>.<br />
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We're b-a-a-a-ck. Tuzigoot spent the winter in storage, but we fired her up last week for a trip to Oklahoma. My sister, Connie, and her husband, Tom, who live in Edmond, OK, have six sons. Two big family happenings over the weekend. Number 4 son, Chris, married Cari (sons 1-3 are already married), and Number 6 son, Peter, who is a HS senior, gave a piano recital. No. 5 son, Caleb, is getting married in June, so we'll go back for that. <br />
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In between events, I took in a couple of historical sites: the OK History Center and the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (formerly the Cowboy Hall of Fame). Susie said she'd rely on me to report the highlights and bring back pictures, so she relaxed at the RV park while I did my Oklahoma heritage thing.<br />
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We left Cedar Crest on Tuesday, 4/22, spent the night in Amarillo, then got to Twin Fountains RV Park in OKC the next day - two fairly easy 250 mile days. Very windy but something of a tailwind. <br />
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My sister, Verla, came to the RV park after work and the three of us went to downtown OKC for their annual art show. Pretty big deal, with lots of things to see, and that was just the food tents. We stopped to talk to a New Mexico artist, <a href="http://davidvegachavez.com/" target="_blank">David Vega Chavez</a>, and as we talked and looked at his work, it slowly dawned on us that we have one of his paintings - in our bedroom, we walk past it every day on the way to the bathroom or closet! It's a painting of the California ghost town of Bode, located east of Yosemite, which we had visited on one of our early Tuzigoot I trips. Doh! If you go to his website you can see many of his NM scenes, and others. Also, he describes his interesting and unique water color technique. <br />
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Thursday morning: the Oklahoma History Center<br />
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Way back in the 1970s my dad was Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society and the OK State Museum in OKC was part of his responsibility. That has been replaced with a spectacular new facility, the <a href="http://www.okhistory.org/historycenter/" target="_blank">OK History Center</a>.<br />
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(I'm composing this on my recently acquired iMac computer and have not learned much about editing and arranging pictures, so I have not edited these.)<br />
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Here's the view looking across to the capital.<br />
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That's a replica of Wiley Post's airplane, the one he and Will Rogers perished in.</div>
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One exhibit area featured OK on stage and screen. </div>
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There are a lot of exhibits pertaining to Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory which were combined to make the state of Oklahoma - you can google up all you might want to know about that. I did find out that the Tonkawa tribe, from which my OK hometown got its name, has a creation story that says they emerged from a mountain in Texas. I don't know how soon or by what route they made the move to OK (though as a callow youth I was told that the Tonkawas were cannibals, so maybe they were asked to leave Texas). <br />
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(Here's a joke about OK, told to me by a Texas Aggie: Oklahoma license plates say, "Oklahoma is OK." Do you know why? Because they can't spell mediocre! Pretty funny, huh. You can see why the tribe left.) <br />
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One other interesting collection of exhibits came from a Century Chest, buried in one of the OKC churches in April, 1913, and opened in April, 2013. The chest was a large metal box, eight feet long - bigger than your average cornerstone. It had quilts, pictures, letters that church members had written to "the children of my children," recordings, dishes, and other memorabilia. The museum had cards on which a person could write a message that would be read 100 years from now. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I won't be passing along a card to my distant descendants, such as grandson Jason's grandchildren, not to be opened until 2114. What would you say? And to whom? What would you put in today's Century Chest?<br />
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Thursday night was rehearsal dinner. A couple of pix:<br />
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Tom and Connie:<br />
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Cari and Chris, with a Navy buddy (Chris is in the Navy, stationed now at Norfolk):<br />
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Incidentally, I started a Words With Friends game with Cari the week preceding all this. Haven't heard from her for several days - must be busy. The wedding was Friday night and they left Saturday for Norfolk. I can't help mentioning, though, that I fell into the word SEQUINS for lots of points, early in the game. Welcome to the family, Cari!<br />
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Friday morning, time for more history and the updated <a href="http://nationalcowboymuseum.org/" target="_blank">Cowboy Hall of Fame</a>.<br />
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Verla said, "Be sure and see Dad in the drawer." She was referring to a drawer in a cabinet holding laminated note cards for the many founders of the Hall - back in 1955. Here's Dad:<br />
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I couldn't take the card out of the drawer for a full picture. The card describes his background and even lists his children, so I'm immortalized in the drawer, too!<br />
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The Hall houses a large, dramatic, heart-rending sculpture, End of the Trail. (Found this picture online.)<br />
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The Hall is also home to five gigantic triptychs of Western scenes by artist, Wilson Hurley. Here are two, shot from the doorway to the meeting room where these are displayed. I think I read that they are 15 ft. high.<br />
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Hurley was born in Tulsa, then lived in New Mexico, went to and graduated from West Point, flew in the Army Air Corps, settled in Albuquerque, worked as a lawyer, and even as an engineer at Sandia Labs, before going full-time as an artist, at age 40. He died in 2008 Here's his obituary.<br />
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -Wilson Hurley, a noted American landscape painter, died Friday. He was 84.</div>
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Hurley's wife, Rosalyn said he died before dawn. Hurley had been diagnosed last year with Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS damages the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, eventually leading to death.</div>
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She said Hurley had painted until January when the disease began to take its toll on him.</div>
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Hurley was born in Tulsa, Okla., and graduated from West Point. He worked as an attorney, engineer, fighter pilot and bank founder. But through it all, he painted, devoting himself to his art full-time at age 40.</div>
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He received numerous awards for his landscapes and more than 800 of his paintings have gone into private and corporate collections. Most notably, his paintings hang in the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma State Capitol and the Albuquerque Museum.</div>
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Hurley was inducted in to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1996 and was declared a cultural treasure in that state in 2002. That same year, he became the Albuquerque Museum Foundation's second notable New Mexican.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I dwell a bit on Hurley because of the Albuquerque connection and also because he was the speaker at son Jeff's HS graduation in 1988. I recall that it was a thoughtful, informative, entertaining talk - not the stereotypical graduation snooze. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a lot of art in the Hall - Remington and Russell and other noted Western artists down through the years. </span><br />
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I wish someone would straighten those pictures!</div>
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How 'bout this cat!</div>
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Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty are there, too.</div>
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Ronald Reagan and John Wayne.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hil8xLBb6-fWvlahYvVtP2Pg7fy0DmzxBwllOMI959fEYvV997U5LPPfI26rvxjx15cm-sYz46GUeFZ4eY1gUQAQZ9uDULVqjrNWc4dXsH-FDIsIhee-aFyysD2em7hGDCxi/s1600/IMG_2379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hil8xLBb6-fWvlahYvVtP2Pg7fy0DmzxBwllOMI959fEYvV997U5LPPfI26rvxjx15cm-sYz46GUeFZ4eY1gUQAQZ9uDULVqjrNWc4dXsH-FDIsIhee-aFyysD2em7hGDCxi/s1600/IMG_2379.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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The rodeo section was interesting, featuring videos of the various events and biographies of rodeo pioneers and superstars. </div>
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So, if you're ever passing through Oklahoma City, check out the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. It's just off I-44, at the Martin Luther King Ave. exit.</div>
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Actually, OKC has a very positive feel to it. They've got a new skyscraper:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_HwIXvH-FO4bjJ1OGHYgZ0UfhdIoWkuV1RyGeXfYxFlTlwH_GowiIB6UIPpb-bS5R7aNFDgbRyzL3pUdZneoxz7aWVYCpUWH_ScmYjLS_IDb3utwNLDMbzWxesWnNEgugCe_/s1600/1205311425391devon_tower_okc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_HwIXvH-FO4bjJ1OGHYgZ0UfhdIoWkuV1RyGeXfYxFlTlwH_GowiIB6UIPpb-bS5R7aNFDgbRyzL3pUdZneoxz7aWVYCpUWH_ScmYjLS_IDb3utwNLDMbzWxesWnNEgugCe_/s1600/1205311425391devon_tower_okc.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></div>
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They've got the OKC Thunder NBA team. They've redeveloped a lot of downtown - the Bricktown area, with shops, restaurants, a minor league baseball stadium, and a river walk is an example. More is planned. 'Everything's up to date in OK City, ...'</div>
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Friday night: Chris and Cari's wedding. I didn't get many good pictures. To see better photos go to Verla Raines's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/verla.raines" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's Susie with the newest family member, great-nephew Pascal, call me Paz, Collins.</span><br />
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Saturday - Free day. Mid-morning we drove Historic Route 66 from Edmond east to Stroud, where we met friends Connie and Jim Davis from Tulsa (Connie and Susie taught together for years) for a late breakfast. (For mood music click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sVBVOmx6Rk&list=RD9sVBVOmx6Rk" target="_blank">here</a>.) We picked Stroud because it is midway between Tulsa and OKC and because it is the home of the historic, Route 66 icon, <a href="http://www.rockcafert66.com/" target="_blank">Rock Cafe</a>, featured, cartoon-style, in the movie, <a href="http://cars.disney.com/" target="_blank">Cars</a>. Had a fine breakfast and visit. And a pleasant drive through the Oklahoma countryside. Here's another Historic Route 66 building:</div>
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Sunday afternoon was Peter's recital. He was introduced by his teacher and older brother, Stephen, who said Peter was the student every teacher dreams of. He not only plays classical and other music, he composes. He's all over that keyboard. It's awesome. Brings a tear to Susie's and my eyes just to hear what he creates and expresses through music. Here's a jazz duet that Peter and Stephen did at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNbZguwe1w&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_blank">recital</a>. If some of Peter's classical is posted later, I'll send out a link.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We left for home on Monday - another windy day, head wind going west. Spent the night in Amarillo again and rendezvoused with our friends, Roy and Sue Sooter at Dyer's Barbecue for dinner (just north of the Georgia Ave. exit on I-40, in case you're ever in the area at mealtime). Had a good time visiting and catching up with kids and grandkids.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Tuesday morning we angled off to the SW to visit son, Jeff Hinkle, in Clovis, NM, where he has recently become the store director of the Albertson's grocery store there. Strong wind and blowing dust as we crossed the Panhandle. The store is larger than the one he left in Gallup. Activities on the nearby Cannon AFB provide a varied clientele. Jeff and Valerie have bought a house in Clovis and Valerie and the moving van have completed their move from Gallup, NM, as this is written. We had lunch with Jeff, he drove us by their house, and then we headed home. Got there in late afternoon. Great extended weekend with family and friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Susie and Rob</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Postscript:</span>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As many of you know, we've traveled extensively the last 14 years on SW Airlines, thanks to the benefits bestowed on daughter Mandi Venable, now manager for SW at LaGuardia airport. If you've flown SW, you know that some of the cabin crews like to entertain - comedy, music, ... Susie and I just watched this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07LFBydGjaM" target="_blank">video</a>, from the Ellen show. Thought it was worth sharing. Enjoy.</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-13575623817201228752013-08-20T15:57:00.001-06:002013-08-20T15:57:10.594-06:00USA -2<br />
Loose Ends:<br />
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<u>Traffic Signs</u>. In Quebec, probably because of the French/English mix of their population and visitors, many road signs are graphical - no words. E.g., No right turn on red was graphical. (A Grey Line guide said the Quebec population is 70% French heritage, 20% English, 10% other.) I learned, on trying to enter a parking garage and encountering a barrier, but no ticket booth, that Sortie means Exit. Luckily, I did this early in the morning and was able to back up, then jump a curb to get in the Entry lane. If they had had an overhead drawing of an oncoming car, I might not have made that wrong turn.<br />
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In case you're wondering about bridge warnings of ice or snow plows: Ontario has no bridge warnings. They assume if you're driving here, you oughta know. Nevertheless, I was comforted to cross into Michigan and see the year-round Bridge May Be Icy signs.<br />
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<u>Mileposts</u>. I Googled up some information about the one-tenth mile markers on some interstate highways. A Wikipedia article about NY signs said: <br />
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<i>This (1/10th mile-marker project) was initiated in response to the </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Traffic_and_Motor_Vehicle_Safety_Act" title="National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act"><i>Highway Safety Act of 1966</i></a><i> enacted by Congress, in an effort to monitor traffic and identify high-accident locations.</i> <br />
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It didn't say when NY installed the signs. Or what considerations determined which highways got them. I haven't yet found any later, or national guidance on the topic. I still suspect political shenanigans.<br />
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<u>Eisenhower</u>. One of my favorite highway signs is this small blue sign. <br />
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I think it's a nice tribute, though some people think it's not warranted. To me the fact that one man (once a boy from Kansas) achieved two ultimate positions of leadership - five-star General and President of the USA - is astounding and worthy of recognition and remembrance. I appreciate the interstate highways and I appreciate Eisenhower. <br />
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I found an article that explained that the Eisenhower signs are optional, state by state. (Maybe tenth-mile markers are, too). I'm going to suggest that the NM Transportation Department install the signs because we don't have them. <br />
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Back on the road: Here is a picture of the yard at the shop where the pickup's water pump was replaced. I found out, though, that they're about to move into a new modern shop on the highway (I-90/I-94). The shop office manager was really excited. There would be an actual bathroom. Next to the trailer, just out of the picture, is the outhouse they use now and she hates it.<br />
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Here's one car in the lot.<br />
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Sweet little BMW. The shop owner told me a sad tale. It's his car and it can't be driven because he can't get tires for it. Said his wife is really mad!<br />
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I had planned on a barn expedition in the area, but I didn't have wheels for that. On the way from shop to town, though, I got these pix.<br />
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We left about noon for a fairly short drive to Albert Lea, MN. Along the way we crossed the Mississippi.<br />
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We've been through Albert Lea (memorably, on the trip when we also visited the Spam factory in nearby Austin) a couple of times and Susie remembers a trip through there long ago that made her say, I want to live here. The main feature is a large lake in town, ringed by houses, boat docks, and estates. We found the road that circles the lake - mostly a one-way lane -- and did a circumnavigation. Very nice. A couple of pictures:<br />
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We stayed at a KOA in the country between Albert Lea and Austin. Here's the rural view out our front window -- Field of Beans.<br />
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One thing we discovered when we explored Albert Lea: Now the A/C doesn't work on the pickup. (Update. Had it checked when we got home; compressor needs to be replaced.) <br />
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Which brings us to Iowa. Our next day's trip was across Iowa to a destination KOA south of Omaha, NE. Lots of cornfields in SE MN and all of IA. Heard an ag report on the radio saying that MN was expecting their second largest corn crop ever this year. Prospects look good in Iowa, too. When I look at those dense rows of corn stalks in those fields, I think of the scenes in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHTsQ9qePrQ" target="_blank">"Field of Dreams"</a> where the ghosts of old-time baseball players fade into the rows between the cornstalks. <br />
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We drove S on I-35 from Albert Lea. Then, rather than continue to Des Moines and catch I-80 going west to Omaha, as Miss GPS wanted, we exited I-35 at Ames and followed US-30 west, for the sake of variety and actually to save a few miles, if not time. That made for a nice and relaxed drive. I didn't reset the GPS, just waited until Miss GPS understood my objective. I turned off her voice, so I wouldn't hear her pleading. Before every N-S road we crossed, she flashed the screen with a big left turn arrow -- all the way to the banks of the Missouri River!. Even after we turned south on I-29, she wanted us to go SE several miles to I-80, then make a V to the SW toward Omaha. As mentioned earlier, I need to update the GPS. Maybe Miss GPS will be a little more understanding after that.<br />
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Some people find mid-west farm country monotonous. That's why so many Kansans live in Albuquerque. But I like it a lot, especially compared to the tree tunnels you drive through in wooded areas. Talk about bo-o-oring. At least in wide-open farm country you can see the horizon and signs of life. And, satellite radio reception is a lot better.<br />
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Time to go home. I'm getting grumpy.<br />
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Speaking of satellite radio. Was listening to Willie's Roadhouse, channel 56 on SiriusXM. After a short while I recognized the tune playing as Somewhere My Love, set to a Texas Swing beat. I thought, isn't that a tune from Doctor Zhivago? Susie confirmed that it was. After the song ended the DJ said, "That's a song from Doctor Zhivago, arranged for Texas two-step. Maybe if they'd used that version in the movie, Lara and Yuri would have had a happier ending."<br />
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Drove cross-state on I-80 from Gretna (near Omaha) to Ogallala. Made this drive several tmies when Jeff and Valerie Hinkle lived in SD, then IA. The Platte River valley is pleasant country.<br />
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Next day, on to Denver and a half-weekend with Jeff, Valerie, Malia, and Macy Easterling. Jeff did a <a href="http://www.warriordash.com/" target="_blank">Warrior Dash</a> at the Copper Mountain ski resort on Saturday and I went along as a spectator. The dash is a 5K run with several obstacles, notably a mud pit to crawl through along with rope and board challenges to get across or over. <br />
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There is barbed wire over the first several feet of the mud pit to make sure you stay low and to keep runners from diving into the pit. Here, Jeff emerges from the goo. <br />
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Runners approaching the fire jump. <br />
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Finish line.<br />
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Shower line.<br />
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Back in town, Susie took Macy to Target to spend her birthday gift card. Later some play time in the park.<br />
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When we left Cedar Crest, lo, these many weeks ago, we had planned a leisurely trip home from Montreal. Target date for home was the last week of August. But, once we point toward home, that tends to become the focus for us. Plus, we had a couple of good reasons to get home a week sooner: Jeff's Warrior Dash and son Matt Hinkle's 50th birthday. <br />
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So, on Sunday, August 18, we left Highlands Ranch at 5:00 am and got home mid-afternoon. Drove over to Rio Rancho s little later and surprised Matt. Enjoyed a dinner prepared by son, Tony, and general family-news catch-up. <br />
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It was a great eight weeks. Our longest trip ever. Somewhere on our return trip I was checking the odometer and trip mileage and accidentally zeroed out the trip odometer. Data-gathering can be difficult. But, I estimate that we drove Tuzigoot about 5500 miles, maybe 6000. Another 2600 miles in the pick-up! <br />
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Thanks for your company. Always great to hear from you. Even if it's only spelling or grammar corrections. <br />
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Happy September,<br />
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Susie and Rob </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36321376.post-49795489006777588662013-08-13T09:45:00.000-06:002013-08-13T10:51:15.830-06:00USA-1Saturday, August 10. In Michigan, our goal was a campground on Lake Michigamme in the west end of the upper peninsula of Michigan. We had stayed there several years ago in Tuzigoot 1. As we were waiting to cross the border, I asked Susie, Do you know what I'm looking forward to? No. A pasty, I said. It's the defining food of the U.P. Susie said she'd thought about that, too.<br />
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Wikipedia describes a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty" target="_blank">pasty</a> as "a raised semicircular comestible." It's meat and potatoes and seasoning in a pastry. The origin is apparently Cornwall, England. It's a miner's meal. <br />
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Most importantly, it is pronounced PASS - TEE, not PACE-TEE. We've been in the UP a couple of times, so got to know pasties and the UP sense of humor. On one of our trips I took a picture of Susie standing in front of a sign advertising Grandma's Pasties!<br />
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Folks up here refer to themselves as Yoopers ( U-P-ers), who are north woods rednecks. Or, north woods <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Commander" target="_blank">Duck Commanders</a>, if you know about them. You can buy books and post cards, etc. featuring Yoopers and their activities. Lots of fun.<br />
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Here's Lake Michigamme at dusk.<br />
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A train track runs through it (the campground).<br />
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Oh, look! Here comes a train.<br />
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I was on my way to the shower house when I heard the train a-comin.' It was a long train, mostly carrying timber.<br />
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We and Miss GPS had done the math and decided that we would stay two nights here. So, Sunday morning we went to find the local Methodist church. Found it, but, except for one pick-up in the process of leaving, the parking lot was empty. Then, we saw the sign: services today were being held jointly with the Lutheran church in the Michigamme city park. The exiting driver said, follow us to the park.<br />
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Here's a glimpse of the scene.<br />
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Both preachers spoke, and the theme was water. We enjoyed the service and the setting.<br />
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We could have stayed for lunch, but we were on the trail of pasties. Earlier I had asked the campground manager about where to get pasties and he had referred us to a café about 10 miles east of the campground.<br />
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On the way there, the check-engine light came on in the pickup. I checked the oil, which was OK, and we continued down the way and got our pasty fix. Several young guys and one gal, stereotypical Yoopers, it seemed to us, ran the café and were doing a good business, mostly take-outs. We had come to the right place.<br />
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Going back to camp, the high-temperature light came on. I stopped and checked the radiator reservoir. Empty. I was at a gas station, so I bought coolant and put it in. A little further down the road, the high-temp light came on again. The reservoir was still full, though. We were close to camp, so continued on. No more driving today.<br />
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Monday morning we set off for a KOA in Oakdale, in southwest Wisconsin. Just before we exited Michigan, we stopped at a beautiful rest stop.<br />
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It had this strange contraption.<br />
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It was, the sign said, a stand for cleaning bicycles, in order to prevent invasive, non-native plants from being spread! Thus, there were hooks to put your bicycle on, brushes to brush off tires, chains, pedals, whatever. Also, an air pump for blowing minute seeds off of your bike. <br />
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But, but, but ... by doing this you're scattering non-native, invasive seeds all over this lovely park, we thought. The device looks new and/or little used - all a little strange. If anyone has info on this subject, please let us know.<br />
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After setting our GPS for Oakdale, I put in the waypoint of Rhinelander, WI. The map showed that the road through there was a scenic route, so I wanted to go through there. But, Miss GPS had originally picked a different route, so I put in the "via point" of Rhinelander to overrule her.<br />
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When we got to Rhinelander, the GPS had me turn off on a major city street, but not one designated as a highway or business route. The reason, I quickly realized, was that I had selected a meaningless street address in Rhinelander as the via-point. I stopped and checked the GPS map and could see, though, that the road we were on eventually connected with the highway we wanted, so we continued. Miss GPS told us when to turn right, but, that road was closed because of a bridge repair project. For several blocks, Miss GPS told us to turn, but they were all streets closed for repair. I could see us dead-ending in an awkward place, but I kept my cool (Susie later said she was proud of me.) I consulted the GPS map and found our way to the highway we wanted and we continued on.<br />
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Susie had said, shall we have lunch here in Rhinelander. I said, No, we'll find a roadside park down the way. Well, we kept driving and driving for two hours: no roadside tables or rest stops. Also, we were on four0-lane highways, limited access, so it was hard to pick an exit. Finally, in the GPS map I espied a cross highway. I took the exit. Turned out to be a new four-lane highway, not yet in my GPS memory bank. But, it was nice, trafficwise. We came on to the campground and had late lunch.<br />
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In Oakdale, I drove the pick-up to the nearby post office to mail a couple of letters. There and back, no indication of an engine temperature problem. But, when I checked the radiator reservoir, it was empty. The KOA manager referred me to a local mechanic and I called him. He said, meet me over at the truck stop adjacent to KOA and follow me out to my shop, which I did. It was quite a scene - a collection of several vehicles in various stages of decay, dogs and cats lazing about the yard, and a couple of Yooper-style mechanics working on a car and a pick-up. One of his guys diagnosed the problem as a leaking water pump. This was late in the afternoon. He had his office manager, I'll call her, drive me back to KOA. Said we'll come get you in the morning when we get the water pump installed. As this is written, it is Tuesday morning and I am waiting for the call.<br />
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The office manager had quite a story. She had been a Wisconsin Highway Patrolman for 20 years, had assorted jobs subsequently, and now was working part-time for my mechanic.. When I mentioned New Mexico, she told a border story. Friends of her daughter, I believe, two guys and a girl, had gone to Tijuana to party. They got separated and when the guys couldn't find her, they left. Approaching the border, they saw her in a car behind them, sitting between two guys. They told the border agents. When they stopped the following car they found that the girl was dead, but had been cut open and her body stuffed with drugs. Unbelievable, but maybe it happened. My driver said this episode served as a warning to her daughter about being careful who you associate with.<br />
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Late Tuesday morning, our pickup was repaired, so we loaded up and continued west and south.<br />
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Susie and Rob<br />
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