We had a great time in Dallas visiting friends and battling road construction to get anyplace. Also rain which found its way into the coach in a couple of places dampened our pleasure. 

We had a lovely Shabbat with Deb Friedman and Scott Mackler going to Kabbalat Shabbat and then out to dinner. We mostly spent time catching up on 10 years and talking about our plans for the next 10 years. Given the rain and traffic I agreed that Uber was the way to get around Dallas with the least strain. It was great, I was even able to have a drink at dinner without worrying about driving. 

Saturday we got in the car and drove to Aubrey TX, just north of Dallas, to visit with Dora. For those who don’t remember Dora was the aide who took care of my Mom in the Jewish Home for five years as the primary daily caregiver. We had become quite close and have visited with her as travels and time permit for the ensuing 13 years. 

Fortunately the rains stopped and the interior of the coach dried out as we continued west with a stop in Clyde TX, just east of Abilene at a Boon Dockers  Welcome home where we managed to add another stripe on the Jeep getting out the gate. The next stop was Monahans Sand Hill State Park just west of Odessa where we arrived early with no reservation and got a great spot. The Ranger who spotted us after we setup told us we needed to stop at the office (4 miles back) to pay for our stay. We have usually arrived after the office closed and just took what we could find and paid the Iron Ranger (a lockbox with forms to complete). We needn’t have worried as the park remained almost empty – 3 other campers in the place. I had disconnected the car and driven back to the office to secure the site and pay. 

Since leaving Dallas we have been following the route of the Union Pacific RR and finally managed to camp within 250 yards of the track for a night in Van Horn TX.  This town is wedged between the railroad line and I 10. Great white noise for sleeping with the exception of the occasional train horn.  We actually sleep fairly well and find the silence of the desert a bit disconcerting.

The route from Monahans brought us through El Paso – OY. We lost an hour to an accident which forced all four lanes of traffic off onto the frontage road for one exit. Then as we got rolling into NM there was another significant slowdown costing another 20 minutes. We were very happy to pull into Hacienda RV by 3 PM and just setup and rest. 

Oh, the roof leak! We have spent enough time in Las Cruces over the years to know a really good mobile RV Tech, Richards RV Service. With the hope that he was still around, I called the number in my phone and got in touch with Richard. As I am writing he has just left after sealing all the penetrations in the roof. This is something I have done faithfully every 6 months until the last couple of years. I am no longer willing to climb a ladder up to the 12′ foot high roof. Falling would really hurt. While he was here he verified that the problem with the windshield washer is the pump has failed. If he can find one in town he will bring it back and install it.

We are here until Saturday morning. When we leave we will have three nights more to get to Jojoba Hills on Tuesday morning. I doubt I will make the 10 AM Board working meeting, but you never know.

Yes, that title is accurate. We stopped at Candy Cane Corral in New Boston,  for our second visit and after a tour of the miniature village and the outdoor kitchen, we rested. I rested, Carol cooked up a storm. We had decided to stay a second night, what’s the hurry, and then had to figure out what to do for the open day. As so many small towns we have visited this one also has a museum.

When we walked in we were stunned at the size of this museum and vast collection of memorabilia and stuff. Dwayne, the docent who took us through explained first that the original town of Boston, with the county seat, had settled 8 miles or so south of New Boston, then moved to the location of New Boston when the railroad came through and then after a brief stop in Texarkana had moved about 4 miles west of our current location so that became Boston, the original location is Old Boston and the current county seat is in New Boston – clear? I thought so.

So where did the museum get the money for a grand building and management to maintain the collection. Well a guy named Milledge “Mitch” Hart  went to school in New Boston and later he met a guy from Texarkana, Ross Perot! Mitch joined Perot in founding EDS and then went on to found Home Depot among other successful corporations. Hart donated most of the money to build the building and fund the museum and he was joined by Perot in that project. 

The land the museum sits on is on the right of way of the train that came through town.  There is more to New Boston, but not much, a Super Walmart, a Brookshire grocery store and two large flea markets. Just getting turned around we saw it all, plus some residential areas too.

Our Boondockers Welcome hosts, Ginny and Perry, were welcoming as ever and were busy with the help of a couple staying on their place putting up Christmas decorations with enough lights to take down the towns power output. The Candy Cane Corral is actually a corral for the reindeer surrounded by 7′ tall candy canes. 

The weather stayed fine and we made a leisurely departure for a 2 hour drive to Dallas which, other than crazy traffic and endless construction as we neared Dallas, was uneventful.

We are sitting on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Tom Sawyer RV Park as we have several times in the past. The drive from Columbus OH was just a drive and we easily found our way to Louisville North  just across the river in IN. We had the generator exhaust pipe strapped back in place and were good to go after 3 nights to Nashville. We did get to Louisville and Carol wrote that up nicely in her blog. 

The next stop was Nashville where we planned a two night stay. The  full day we were there we got some food shopping done and then went to Grand Ole Opry. Somehow I remembered going many years ago and vowing not to return. We really enjoyed the show and crowd and the delight at being in the place where so many great country artists took the leap to stardom. 

The next drive was across I 40 to Memphis. They do say that into every fine day a little rain must fall. That’s a LITTLE rain. About an hour 50 minutes down the road we came to a rest area and the next one was 89 miles. Carol agreed to let me drive even though she still had 10 minutes left in her shift. As I got the coach up to speed there were some rain drops on the windshield. Within 10 minutes we were dropping our speed to be driving within what we could see. Traffic was crazy. Eventually the rain subsided to “just rain.” by the time we reached Memphis.

We crossed the Mississippi River on I40 and  went a bit south (8 miles) to Tom Sawyer RV park. Our front row site – 105 – is as close to the river as you would want to be. River traffic seemed lighter than usual and it is clear there is less water than one would expect to see. There has not been much recovery from what we saw last Spring.  We have pretty much stayed on our site and enjoyed being on the river, so much so that we have extended our stay until the 5th. The river traffic as picked up today.

On the 5th we will try to ignore the election day hoopla as we drive to New Boston TX where Candy Cane Corral is located. That is the Harvest Host site we had the tornado warning last Spring. As we sort of promised ourselves we are returning for 2 nights to take advantage of what there is to see and do in the vicinity. After that we will go on to Plantation Place RV Park in Dallas area so we can visit with Deb and Scott and drive up to Aubry to visit Dora (she was my mother’s primary aide and has become a friend over the years).  

Today is Carol’s Birthday – she caught up to me at 82. We have dinner reservations in Memphis. 

We had a great visit with Lee. We had no problem with the campground having been there most recently last Spring. We finally got to see his home and his incredible collection of guitars, banjos and mandolins

There are many more in a large closet behind Lee

 After dinner we returned to the coach and prepared for a 4 hour drive the next day with some reading time and a reasonable night’s sleep.

We have 5 days to get to our reservations on the Mississippi River and decided to stop for 2 nights in Louisville KY because we had not been there yet. The campground, Louisville North, is in Clarksville IN just across the river from the city. One approach goes through an underpass with a 10 foot clearance. Their instructions took us in another way. As I applied the brakes on the off ramp I heard an ominous  scraping noise from the front of the coach. Last Spring we had clipped a diverter barrel and broken the connection to the generator exhaust pipe that extends just clear of the  body under the driver. I had it repaired at Colton RV in Buffalo NY (North Tonawanda to be precise). Apparently they used a leather strap for part of the connection. It broke. The people at Louisville North have a mechanic available and he is supposed to come by today to repair it again. 

We have extended our stay another night so we can get in to Louisville on  Monday and get on to Nashville for two nights then on to Memphis. 

Waiting for yet another shoe to fall, this 2012 coach is getting old, the odometer reads 99899.9.

This trip to Cleveland started off with a reminder of what RVing is all about. In storage we set out to open the slides so we could store the stuff we had brought on board. Naturally, after making sure the power was on, the ignition switch was on – with the engine running – the hydraulic motor refused to start. After considering my alternatives I remembered a suggestion I had read someplace before. I had a small wrench next to the hydraulic compartment for other tasks and I picked it up and gave the offending solenoid a light tap and called out for Carol try the slide. It worked and has continued to work.

We got to the KOA Thompson/Grand River eventually, it took some doing since the GPS took us to another campground with a similar name – my bad – and I couldn’t unlock the lock on one of the tow bar arms. I attributed that to dirt getting in the mechanism, but eventually I released the tension on the system by unlatching the arms which freed the lock. I’m still not sure how those are related, but it worked.

At about that time Carol informed me that there was a leak under the bathroom sink.  I solved that by turning off the water supply and resorting to using our pump which provides a slightly lower pressure. Problem temporarily solved, but in topping off the freshwater tank I got carried away and flooded part of the site under the coach. 

Had some dinner watched some TV and then read and slept well so we could visit June and her daughter Beth, recovering from double lung transplant, and her husband Jim. After that we had a delightful dinner at Heck’s with Bert and Laury. An hour drive back to the coach – don’t ask – and we are ready for some rest so we can drive to Columbus OH in the morning to visit Lee. 

All in a day’s RVing, but don’t tell newbies about it.

I know, I haven’t even written it and I know it won’t be the last, I think.

Today, Thursday April 25, had one planned activity. That was to finally see Fallingwater, the country house designed for the Kaufman family by FLWright.  It is a mere 3 miles from where we are staying. It is 90 years from where we are today. The Kaufman’s were a couple who founded and owned Kaufman Department Store. Those of us from Rochester may remember when they bought Sibley, Lindsey and Curr, know to most of us as “Sibley’s” They had one son who never married and had they had no descendants. 

As older people ourselves we wonder what will become of our “stuff” and how to downsize to relieve the burden from our children. The Kaufman’s had a great idea. They had built a marvelous house and a great art collection and they left the entire estate to a not-for profit to manage as a museum, they also left $5 million in the 40’s to maintain it and its 5000 acres. We get the benefit of that largesse. A house built in the 30’s that looks in many regards like it was built yesterday (without conforming to current code). Railings on a deck too low for any standard, so Mrs Kaufman could see over them without getting out of bed. Stairways with no hand rails. Passage ways too narrow for easy passage and so many more. 

The sound of the creek wherever you are on the property permeates everywhere. As soon as you open one of the many windows it fills the space. Here is Carol leaning over one of the many patio walls above Bear Run.  This is just 8 seconds.

We concluded by walking to a viewpoint to get this classic picture: Well maybe it will upload by the time I post.  Try this link for excellent pictures

A cup of fancy coffee drink set us up for the brief ride back to the coach to begin prepartions for a less than 4 hour travel day and another day arriving in Rochester and moving out of the coach for the summer. We need our luggage, already in the car and the perishables and the electronics for the first trip. 

I’ll fill in the details in a later post.

We left Lee in Columbus and were only two easy days to Rochester, but we had no desire to arrive before the end of April. There were a couple of places on our bucket list that had always been out of the way, out of reach because of lack of time. We have had an affinity for Frank Lloyd Wright homes and I mentioned earlier we decided to tour Falling Water and Kentuck Knob. The easiest place to camp for these turns out to be a Yogi Bear Jellystone Park. We have often stayed at one called Shangri La by the Creek between Rochester and Charlottesville and know how busy they can be in season. Late April in PA is not in season. 

This place is huge, with half mile between entrance and exit on the main road. We are located next to the Ranger Station (!). When I was exploring I found the golf cart rental center, there must be 100 golf carts waiting to be rented. There are 3 swimming pools. The closest large city is Pittsburgh which is an hour and a quarter away. 

The one sight we hadn’t planned on is Flight 93 National Memorial, about an hour away over mountain roads. We went there this morning. The field in Shanksville is just that an open field. If Flight 93 had not crashed there, it would still be just another open field. 

The Visitor Center was crowded with 3 school buses of children for whom this is ancient history and older people remembering what they were doing when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. There are memorabilia, and there are voices, the recordings of the phone calls made from the plane in the 34 minutes after it was taken left me in tears, again. We did not walk out to the memorial itself we did make a final stop at the Tower of Voices. It is 93 feet tall and has 40 large wind chimes, all different voices.

In the afternoon we went to Kentuck Knob a wonderful Unsonian home by FLW. The original owner lived in it for over 30 years and the current owner converted it into a museum with many of his own collected items in the house and. It was delightful visit with ice cream made by the dairy the orginal owner owned in the gift shop. The road is not suitable for any RV. The house is built into the top of the Knob.  For better pictures than I could take go here.

More tomorrow,

The Kansas City Gangster Tour was a lot of fun. Lots of mostly factual history of the period from 1920 to the mid 30’s. The bus ride never pauses between the dialogue from the lead gangster and the driver who is party to the action along with the interactive video. The only time anyone left the bus was when the “guide” got off to reenact a murder scene with multiple participants all by himself. We were all hysterical by the time he got back on the bus. It was 90 minutes of fun and history mixed together. 

We took a day to clean the coach and for me to attend a hybrid Board Meeting at Jojoba Hills. We took off down the road this morning in the face of storm warning, wind and under 5 hours later with fuel and lunch we settled in to a lovely Boondockers Welcome site with a lovely gravel pad and electricity. They are friendly people, as we would expect, The pad is alongside a barn. Since there is a threat of rain we disconnected the car and backed it into the site and then backed the coach up to it so I could reconnect it to be ready in the morning to roll without going out in the rain to set it up.

This travel style is limiting our time to follow the news. While we are rolling we mostly are listening to audio books or other favorite shows. Of course once we stop we do catchup and morning is usually NPR and NYTimes with breakfast. 

Several days have passed. We moved on to Lake Haven Retreat, outside Indianapolis where we met Terry Lovenheim and went out to dinner. We had a long pleasant talk over dinner and and returned to the coach to prepare for another travel day.

This day found us at Alton RV outside Columbus OH. We have stayed at this park in the past to visit with Lee Cherney. Just a reminder, Lee was at TBK Sunday School with Carol and me going back to 1st or 2nd grade. Later we ended up at Brown together where we were roomates for 2 years, one year in the dorms and senior year in an apartment with Jon Kerner of blessed Memory. We have stayed in touch all these years. 

Although we were within 8 hours of Rochester we decided not to rush back yet. We are spending two nights in Erie PA KOA before completing our exporations with the aforementioned trip to tour Fallingwater and Kentucky Knob, two Frank Lloyd Wright homes. After those tours we expect to take two days to get back to Rochester. This should land us in the apartment on Saturday April 27. 

That will terminate our immediate travels in the motorhome and leave us two trips in the car to Boston and to Providence two weeks apart with a graduation in Rochester in the middle of the sandwich. 

The coach has been running fine so far and Carol has been taking her two hour shifts with aplomb. The audio books and other entertainments help the miles fly by.

Watch for posts from family travels coming soon.