Vermont - Days 7 & 8 & 9

Greenwood Lodge and Campsites
Thursday, 7 June - Saturday, 9 June, 2018

I'm back where I was a week ago.  It's a nice campground and I need somewhere to try to shake off whatever it is that ails me.

I find I haven't said anything since I came to Vermont about the signs saying "[silhouette of moose] Crossing."  All the other states have signs saying "[silhouette of deer] Crossing."  All around Bennington, businesses have statues of moose in front, all decorated differently.  There's one at the Bennington Battle Monument and the woman who worked there told me not long ago a moose actually showed up and spent quite a bit of time checking out the statue.  Dexter growled at it, not sure what to make of it.

I also find I forgot to say something about a junco I saw when we were here last time.  I saw

Junco

it each morning we were here - the last morning on our vehicle.  It was fascinated with the image it saw in RV mirrors and windshields and kept trying to get behind them to the meet the bird.  I'm not sure why it was doing it because there was at least one other junco around - I saw it.

I remember juncos from when Pete and I lived in Juneau and they came to our feeders.  Actually, they didn't seem to be feeder sorts of birds and preferred to eat seeds we scattered on our back deck.  Nice birds.

Red-winged Blackbird

Before we came back here, we went to a grocery store in Bennington that has a wetland area in its parking lot with lots of cattails.  As with all other stands of cattails I've been finding, this one had red-winged blackbirds.  Well, at least one of them, and I'm pretty sure he was protecting a nest because he followed the dogs and me all the way around the area.  I feel sure he'd have dive-bombed us if we'd gotten too close.

I don't suppose it's even necessary for me to say these aren't my photos, but I sure appreciate whoever took them.

While in Bennington I stopped to do laundry and talked to a man who saw my license plate.  He said he'd been in Houston and Galveston and liked Vermont much better because, he said, it's not segregated up here.  He's African-American.  I thought it was an interesting comment.

The nice thing about this campground is that there're a lot of trails and various areas where the dogs and I can walk without getting bored by seeing the same things all the time.  It's built on Mount Prospect, right next to the Prospect Ski Area.  At this time of year it's really hard to imagine what the ski slopes would look like with winter snow on them.  Anyway, here at the campground there's lots of ups and downs, woods and open areas, lots of water - several ponds and creeks.  It's just a nice place for the dogs, which makes it a nice place for me.

I'm just planning to take it fairly easy for a few days and see if I can get rid of this headache.

New York - Days 6 & 7

Lakeside Beach State Park, near Rochester
Monday, 7 May 2018

Sunday's route

Sunday, I drove from the west side of Seneca Lake, past the other, smaller Finger Lakes to Letchworth State Park.  More on that park later.

Geneva City Park at the north end of Seneca Lake

numerous farms in this photo

Too bad the morning was mostly overcast because this area is really pretty.  All along the way was farmland, as in this photo below, and many of the houses I passed had huge weeping willows in the yard, like this one (above) at the Geneva park.

Upper and Middle Falls

Letchworth State Park is known for the gorge running through it, carved centuries ago by the Genesee River.  The 550' gorge is known is the Grand Canyon of the East; certainly not as jaw-dropping as the real one but stunning nonetheless.  And the waterfalls are beautiful.  The Upper Falls are 70' high and 300' wide, though they don't look so impressive in this photo - the Upper Falls are the ones under the bridge in the distance.  The Middle Falls are 107' high and 285' wide.  You can see how that much water could carve a canyon.

In the park I saw several black squirrels and was lucky enough to find one that would sit still long enough for me to take a picture to prove he really is black.

Apparently, Heaven on earth for squirrels is here: there must be a million of them in this park, and Dexter was on the edge of his seat.  There are several "Wildlife Crossing" signs in the park and I promise at one of them I saw 2 squirrels crossing the road.

The whole way through the park I kept thinking it must have been built by the CCC and, sure enough, near the falls is a statue and plaques commemorating the work they did: 3000 of them staying in 4 camps from 1933 to 1941.

Monday's route

I had a route all planned out but got short-circuited when I learned the south entrance to the park was closed - probably till Memorial Day, like everything else I've wanted to see.  So I had to go out a different entrance and got turned around, making a substantial sidetrip into the New York countryside.  At least I can add Bliss to the places I've been, and not everybody can say that.

In one town I saw a store named "Junk and Disorderly."

Out in what seemed to me like the middle of nowhere - but was actually near the village of Darien Center - was a giant amusement park named Darien Lake Theme Park.  Giant, with a roller coaster that must have let the riders see two counties away.

Elba, NY, proclaims itself the Onion Capital of the World.  (They may want to have a little discussion with Walla Walla, WA, or Vidalia, GA.)

I guess in every road trip there comes a time when you come close to a fatal traffic accident, and today was mine (I hope it's the only one).  I was on a 2 lane road with no shoulder, coming up a hill, and saw a semi stopped at the top of the hill on the other side of the road.  Just as I got to the crest of the hill I saw another semi coming the other way, and he had pulled into my lane to go around the parked semi.  I had almost nowhere to go and he was going pretty fast, and I'm still not sure how I was able to pull over enough to avoid him.  What I am sure of was that it was only by inches, because I saw him right there.  I'm guessing he was as spooked by it as I was.  A little farther down the road I pulled over at someone's mailbox to regroup.  I wasn't really scared because it had happened too fast and was already over, but I may have been in shock, or in denial, or stunned, or something else numb.

For some reason I can't put my finger on, I wanted to go to Batavia, which is why there's another jog in the route I took.  It seems a nice enough town but has a very expensive grocery store that I stumbled on.  Why do I keep finding weird grocery stores?  Everything I bought cost a lot more money than I've seen it anywhere else.  Oh well.  I have supplies.

It was in Batavia that I encountered my first instance of road rage.  I'd pulled out of the grocery store parking lot into the center turn lane and sat there waiting till I could pull into traffic.  I heard somebody lean on their horn and they gave me the finger very decidedly, then pulled in ahead of me at a turn lane, at which point I could see it was a woman (I normally think of men in this context, apparently a sexist thought).  There were 2 odd things about that: one is that I hadn't done anything at all that should have been a problem for that driver, and the other is that the license plate frame read "Massage Therapist."  If she is one, I'm glad I'm not going to her, and if she isn't, I hope she was hot-footing it over to a session.  But you know, I've come a long distance to have this be my first time.  Not bad.

I'm scheduled to spend a couple of nights at this state park and consider myself luckier than I expected because my campsite is right on Lake Ontario, which has gorgeous sunsets.

Lake Ontario makes a nice background

the sunset out my bedroom windows

Pennsylvania - Day 30

Lackawanna State Park
Monday, 30 April 2018

There was, in fact, a little flurry of snow today, but I could tell nothing was going to stick, and sure enough it didn't.  But I'd already decided I needed to spend the day catching up before I moved to another state.

Mostly I made some changes to previous entries, since I'm making this up as I go along.  In another state or two I'll have come up with a formula I'm comfortable with.

I also wrote a summary of my impressions of my month here, to be posted separately.

I got a great email today from a woman I met several weeks ago at Laurel Hill State Park.  She and her husband are from New Jersey, and they were bravely driving a Mini and camping in a tent.  It was way too cold for me to want to consider that, but they seemed to be pretty well set up.  Anyway, she took a photo of my RV that night and has sent it to me.  Isn't it great?

This is one of those "taken with an i-phone" moments.  You can even see the stars.  I love this picture and am very grateful that she thought to take it and to send it to me.

I've also taken a look at a New York map and my list of things I might want to see there, and I've got reservations for the 1st 3 nights.  I think the tourist season may be delayed because of the weather, but pretty soon it's going to be hard to get reservations anywhere.  But I'm set for now, and that's what I want.

Pennsylvania - Day 25 - Altoona

Prince Gallitzen State Park, near Altoona

Wednesday, 25 April 2018

I’ve been puzzling about why the state would name a park after royalty, so I finally looked him up. Prince Gallitzen was actually a Russian prince who came to the US in the 1790s and never left. To the horror of his family he became a priest, was assigned to the area south of where Harrisburg is now, and never left there either. He became known as the Apostle of the Alleghenies, and lately there’s work being done on making him a saint. So he does belong here.

This park is really big, one of the biggest in the state. It’s got 400 camping sites, and I think I’m the only one here besides the campground host in the next loop. Very cozy.

At the turning into the state park is a village named Frugality, and the name is descriptive. A low-income sort of place, as far as I could tell. I’m a little surprised they don’t change the name - maybe they could change their prosperity level along with it.

This morning, I really think I saw skunk cabbage growing by a stream. I haven’t seen that since I left Washington. It wasn’t blooming yet, which is why I wasn’t sure that’s what it was.

And I’m pretty sure what I’ve been seeing lately are ravens. I’m sure some crows and grackles, too, but ravens are substantially bigger and the bird book says that’s might be what I’ve seen soaring, rather than the vultures I thought they were, at least some of the time. I didn’t know they soared.

In Altoona, I went first to the Railroaders Memorial Museum. Because I can’t get a wi-fi signal in the campground, I was a little concerned it might not be open but figured no problem, it’s not a Monday or Tuesday so it should be open. Turns out it’s only open on weekends. Figures.

Railroaders Memorial Museum

But it being about trains, there was quite a bit outside with informative signs describing the history of the site and the use of the various railroad cars they had parked around the area.

The Altoona Works was established in 1850, along with the town itself, and by 1925 had the largest concentration of railroad services in the country. Between 1866 and 1946, they built 6,873 locomotives here and many thousands of freight and passenger cars. In the 20 years between 1921 and 1940 alone they built 16,415 freight cars – and that was before WWII when they really started cranking.

The dining cars baked bread and rolls and pies from scratch on the cars each day. Just in 1941 they served 3.9 million meals, and 5 times that many during the war. I guess the comparatively small population back then balances with far more people using the railroads than they do now. I know my mom took the train from Rhode Island to Jacksonville to join my dad when he was stationed there during the war, and then she took the train to Texas after the war was over.

I saw a private car that was built in 1917 for Charles Schwab who, sad to say, died penniless in 1939. Fancy car, though.

I wanted to see a little of Altoona in memory of George Burns. One of his books is subtitled “They Still Love Me In Altoona,” and I wanted to see where that is. I drove around the old section a bit and saw a theater where he might have appeared, back in his vaudeville days. I think that because the theater was built in the 1920s, which seems about the right time for him to have appeared in it.

Altoona has a Greek Orthodox church. Trying to keep up with the big cities, I guess.

Later I drove out to Horseshoe Curve - “World Famous” according to their sign. The day was getting on and I decided not to take the tour, but the nice woman at the counter explained to me that the line I could see in the mountainside above us is where the train tracks are. They’re still in use. This section is in the exact shape of a horseshoe because it’s going around a mountainside that shape. Its significance is that it was built between 1850 and 1854 and was part of the first train tracks that allowed people to cross the mountains by train. They can’t just build train tracks like they do roads (with harrowing grades up and down) because the trains can’t handle it. Instead, they built a very gradual ascent that followed the curve of the mountains as it went up, I guess like s-curves do for cars.

I cribbed this photo, not being able to get this angle of Horseshoe Curve

I saw a sign outside a small town that said, "We have many children but none to spare so please drive carefully."  So I did.

I took a shortcut on the way back to the campground - got lost but a jogger helped me get found again - and generally got a good view of this area. Full of very small villages and very small towns built on the side of whatever mountain is here. I know the ranger said we’re in hills in a plateau, but just south of here is a mountain that has a 5% grade down the other side that runs for 6 miles – meaning it’s no little hill. My ears popped going down.

I can’t believe it. The whole 400 camping spots in this park and somebody is pulling into the site 4 away from mine. One of the behemoths that looks like a rock band would be traveling in it, towing a car besides. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to drive that outfit on the roads I’ve been on getting here.

Pennsylvania - Day 11 - across PA

Laurel Hill State Park, PA

Wednesday, 11 April 2018

This campground has almost no amenities: no wi-fi and my hot spot can’t get a signal, no TV signal, no heat in most of the bathrooms (which matters when it’s 37° and you want a shower), no alcoholic beverages allowed.  On the plus side, I seem to be the only guest here, besides the resident campground hosts and deer.  And there are many deer – I’ve already seen several just getting to my space – and when we went for a walk, Dexter was absolutely beside himself with the desire to catch them.  He didn’t see them but he could sure smell them.  And I don’t have to worry about any loud parties going on till late.

We were on the road for 8 hours today. Almost all of it was on interstates, much of it was the PA Turnpike, both of which I’ve been working hard to avoid.  But they were built to take people quickly over long distances which, today, is what I needed.  When I left Philadelphia, I had to go back to Allentown first to see if my mail had come after I left the KOA.  On the highway, that should have been a little more than an hour trip, but adding in morning rush hour traffic in Philly, it took me 2 hours to make the trip.  From Allentown to the campground took more than 5 hours driving plus I stopped several times, for gas and for stretch breaks and for lunch.

At one point, I saw construction on the other side of the highway bring traffic to a crawl by narrowing the road from 2 lanes to 1, which squeezed all the truckers into one lane.  I counted 32 semis piled up there, with more coming down the highway and counted myself lucky not to have been stuck like that.

I figured if I had to drive across the state I might as well see what I could see from my window.   And what I saw was that PA is primarily a rural state, and a farming state.  Everywhere I saw family farms with farmhouse, barn, silo, and outbuildings.  Many of them were color-coordinated – all the buildings were the same color – red and green being the usual, but there were also quite a few with the traditional white farmhouses, red barns, and whatever color silos.

There are real hills in this part of the state – some actual mountains, in the east coast sense.  I went through 2 tunnels at Kitatinny Mountain – one .8 miles and the other .9 miles long, a tunnel at Tuscarora Mountain .9 miles long, and one at Allegheny Mountain 1.2 miles long.  Those tunnels were a little weird.  They were completely lighted but the 2 lanes were very narrow and there were no shoulders, and were so long that after a bit I had trouble staying focused.  I don’t know how to explain it, it was disorienting – maybe almost like being hypnotized.  I was just glad to get out of them.

I saw a billboard that said "Discover why Jesus created you," with a phone number to call.  I wondered where in the Bible they’d found that piece of information.

In the area around Allentown I could see a strong Dutch influence in the names of the towns: Tolenhacken, Rehrersburg.  Further along I could see the Amish and German influence: Lebanon, Fredericksburg.

I had to deal with a strong cross wind almost the whole way.  When trucks passed me they created a backwash that magnified the effect of the winds, and I had some trouble hanging on sometimes.

I wonder why the exit for Grimes insisted “no tractor trailers.” If I’d had more time, I’d have gone to check.  Of course, I could have ended up caught in low-hanging branches or narrow streets, but you don’t ask, you don’t learn.  Maybe another day.

Pennsylvania - Day 1 - Chambersburg

Pennsylvania

Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA

Sunday, 1 April 2018

After picking up a state map at the Welcome Center, I went first to Chambersburg.  I’d read that it had a little trouble during the Civil War and I wanted to see what it looks like now.

It’s an old town, settled in the 1700s and grew because it was a stop on early roads, and later a stop on the railroad.  It was one of the few northern towns to be occupied during the War and, in 1864, it was torched by Confederate General McCausland.  The townspeople rebuilt right away, this time with brick.  Some of the buildings that were already brick-built survived and I got photos of a few.  I thought Chambersburg had a lot of charm.

Jail, built 1818

Stores rebuilt in 1864 after the fire

Queen Anne apt. building + yoga studio

Information about the Underground Railroad

I asked a man who was directing the traffic near a large downtown church (it was Easter, after all) what he liked best about living here.  He said, “Because it’s rural; the people who grow up here don’t leave.”  He said he’d been happy there for 51 years.  It didn’t seem all that rural to me, until I realized it took less than 5 minutes from the middle of town to be out in the country.

The surrounding country is farming country – fields and barns and silos everywhere.  Really pretty.  Rolling hills.

I read the road sign wrong and went west instead of east, which turned out to be a good thing because a couple of towns over I found an Exxon station with the cheapest gas I’d seen in 2 days - $2.73/gallon.  I asked the guy who minded the store what he liked best about living here and he said, “It’s not California,” which I thought was a little odd.  But then he looked out the window at the rain and chilly wind and said, “The weather’s a little squirrely but it’s better than constant summer.”  You never know what you’re going to get when you ask a question.

I passed a church sign that read FCF Church.  Turns out to be a church based in Frederick that's supposed to be inclusive.  I'd just never heard of this church.

There are Dollar General stores everywhere.  I’ve never seen so many in such a small area.

The Appalachian Trail comes through this area.  I saw it first as it crossed the state highway (2 lanes with a turn lane) that I was on, then I found it again here at the campground – it goes right past it and there’s an Appalachian Trail Museum next to the campground office.

That office was closed when I came in (closed all weekend, actually), so I went to the space I’d reserved, only to find somebody still in it.  The woman said they wanted to have Easter dinner with the family in the next-door space and didn’t want to rush off.  I went to the campground host and said I’d take another space if he wanted, but he pointed out that I’m planning to stay 2 nights and, with this (stupid) ReserveAmerica system, any space he let me have could be getting reserved out from under me while he was doing it and we wouldn’t know until someone showed up.  Or something.  Anyway, he went to tell the people they needed to get out, and then he told me to give them an extra hour.

So I was feeling a little peeved about me being inconvenienced so someone else wouldn’t be, and then it all turned out really well because I went to wait out the time at the day use area and found the answer to a question I’d been wondering about.

I’d seen “Furnace” stuck in lots of names here and there around the state (including this campground) and wondered what on earth that was about.  And at the day use area I found out.  Back in the pre-railroad days, people had to make iron where they could find the raw materials: the ore, the water, and the wood.  The “furnace” is literally a furnace for making iron.  And they had one at the day use area.

A furnace for making iron

They also had an entry to the Appalachian Trail, so I can now say I’ve walked a very tiny bit of it.  This part of it is paved, probably because it runs through a state park and a state forest, but hey, so what.

I’d wanted to go to Gettysburg today too, but it was nearly 10:00 when I started this morning, and I spent time in Chambersburg, and the speed limit on that state “highway” was 45 mph for much of the distance, and all in all, I decided to wait until tomorrow to make that trip.  Gettysburg deserves to not be rushed anyway.

I remember when PA's plates said "You've got a friend in Pennsylvania" - because of the Quakers.  And even further back when they said "The Keystone State."  Silly them for losing the character on their plates.

today's route

Trap Pond State Park, DE II

Trap Pond State Park, DE
Tuesday, 27 March 2018

On the weather report this morning, I swear the guy said that a front coming through Atlanta "breaks through like Sherman."

Every place I've stayed has had some kind of alcohol policy, usually of the don't stick it in anybody's face and we won't bother you variety.  But there was one park, I think it was in North Carolina, that said alcohol was absolutely prohibited, including the possession of it.  I kept wondering if one of the rangers routinely went around to RVs insisting on being allowed to inspect the contents for alcohol possession.  Anyway, nobody did while I was there.

Canada geese on Trap Pond

There's a flock of Canada geese hanging out at the pond and making a lot of noise  I don't know if you can see them in this photo - they're on the opposite side of the pond - but I thought I'd try.  The small colorful objects in the trees are fishing lures.

The geese seemed huge to me, and the bird book says I'm right - the eastern species is the largest and the western (that I'm used to seeing) is often the smallest.

This campground has what most of them do: a lot of spaces for RVs, about 18 for tents, and cabins that can be rented.  What surprised me is that they also have 2 yurts for rent, and I've never seen anything quite like these.  I hope this one shows up in the photo.  They're perched beside Trap Pond.

cabin and yurt for rent

Can you see the dogs?

I'm much better at parking than at first.  I've learned there's no shame in getting out and looking at my progress - even several times - and that makes a huge difference in my parking success.

I am currently receiving yet another lesson in planning ahead.  Despite using the heater far more often than I had been, due to really cold temps (it got down to 27° last night), I didn't think to check the propane level until this afternoon.  Which is when I discovered that the tank was nearly empty.  Not so great with another cold night (only 37° but still) and needing my propane stove to make coffee in the morning.  One of the rangers told me a gas station about 4 miles away sold propane, and I decided it was worth the hassle of unplugging and driving down the road just to be sure we'd stay warm tonight.  Not so simple.

The place 4 miles away does sell propane but couldn't get a good seal on the propane hose.  They directed me to a station 7 miles away so off I went.  That guy tried hard but his hose just couldn't get a good enough attachment.  He directed me to another station a mile back the way I'd come.  This third place said they only sold it in bottles, so sorry, but suggested I go back to a truck stop back down toward the park.  At the truck stop, they said they didn't sell propane but they got on the internet and on the phone and found a Trucking Supply store b-a-c-k down the road I'd already been down several times.  I went to the TS store and that guy tried several times but just couldn't make a good seal.  By then it was after 5:00 and most places were closing up.  I decided to tough it out for one night and deal with the coffee situation in the morning.

I drove nearly 50 miles doing all this and wound up with a still almost empty propane tank.

During the last drive, I decided what I need is an RV dealer.  They're in the business of taking care of RVs, including their propane tanks.  The RV place that did my repair in Jacksonville is the last place I got my tank filled, which is why I thought of it.

So since this very nice state park allows me to get wi-fi, I looked up RV dealers in Delaware.  And this being a very small state, they're all pretty easy to get to.  In fact, there's one back down the road I drove up and down and up and down this afternoon.  This time I think I'll call first.

But I'm bound to find somebody in the state of Delaware who can fill up my propane tank.  If I had a separate removable tank, lots of people could have filled it up, but since mine's part of my RV, the nozzle has to be configured differently.  The last guy explained this to me.

Every single person I came in contact with was as nice and helpful as anyone could wish to meet.  I now have a very high opinion of the people of Delaware.

Addendum Wednesday morning

We are indeed cold.  I had an easier time than the critters because I could - and did - add extra clothes and a sleeping bag and a heating pad to keep warm during the night.  I tried to cover up my kids but found they'd all tossed off the covers by morning.  My previous batch of pets used to love covers but none of this crew does.  I tried.

Because I have electric power, I have use of the frig and microwave.  So for coffee this morning I used the microwave to heat up leftover coffee I'd stored in the frig, and ditto for water to make instant miso soup to go with a PBJ sandwich.  Maybe not a standard breakfast but covers several of the major food groups and is filling.  I'd peel a couple of mandarins if I were warmer.  Maybe for lunch.

My next campground is only about an hour away, so I have plenty of time to find propane and a grocery store.

Little Pee Dee State Park, SC II

Monday, 19 March 2018

Little Pee Dee State Park, SC

The park ranger told me the park doesn’t have a wi-fi signal and it only gets AT&T and Verizon reliably. My little hot spot uses T-Mobile, which he says is spotty at best here and which I’m not, in fact, receiving. That means no high-tech during this visit.

But let’s hear it for low-tech! I’m vindicated for my preference for paper maps and paper notes! Instead of having to leave the park and go into a town to find a signal, I sat outside at my campsite’s picnic table enjoying the sunshine and working on my route in Pennsylvania. For a little while, a mockingbird serenaded us. It was great.

My campsite sits right next to what I thought was a large meadow area of natural grasses. Just below my site at the edge of the meadow is a park bench. The surprise is that it’s not a meadow – it’s a lake. It just doesn’t happen to have any water in it at the moment, one of the zillion casualties of Hurricane Maria. The storm caused the dam that created the lake to breach and now there’s nothing but a little tiny pond next to a couple of boat ramps that are totally unneeded at the moment. The ranger told me the dam’s just about reconstructed and, in the meantime, the lake bed has reverted to its natural state. I like it the way it is, but you can’t do much fishing or boating on a meadow. When I come back through in 4 years, I doubt if I’ll even recognize the place. Glad I took photos to remember it by.

bench for looking at the lake

my non-lakeside campsite

I go to my next campground on Wednesday and it’s only a couple of hours away. I’ll plan to leave here with enough time to stop in whatever largish town is between here and there to use a wi-fi signal and buy groceries. And for now, I’m just enjoying the peace and quiet.

Lake Bruin State Park, LA

Saturday, 3 March 2018

Lake Bruin State Park, Louisiana

When I walked the dogs this morning, the frogs were singing loudly, and in surround-sound. It was great. It was the first clear night we’ve had in a while and I could see there were lots of stars. But first the tall tall trees blocked my view of almost all of them, and then when the trees thinned out the brightness of the full moon blocked them out. Ah, the drawbacks of scenic beauty. Fortunately, this won’t be my last chance to see them.

Martin Dies, Jr. State Park (TX)

As you can see from the trees in this photo, the dogs were bringing in 6" pine needles instead of oak leaves as at other parks.  It made a nice change.

This park is on one small piece of B. A. Steinhagen Reservoir, which I found this morning when the dogs and I were out.  It's huge.

So I got another lesson as I was leaving.  I stopped to dump the tanks, and as I was getting ready to attach my new hose, another guy pulled up on the other side of the dump station.  He told me not to rush, but I told him to go first because I was new and slow at this.  So instead of going first, he offered to help.  And he walked me through everything step by step.  Very nice young guy named Andrew with 2 young boys ("Can I have a lollipop?"  "No, we haven't had breakfast yet.")  So thanks to his tutorial, I feel much more confident about doing it on my own next time.  I needed some success after that last disastrous time.  Of course, Andrew must be a good country boy because he said yes, ma'am every other sentence.  I kept reminding myself that I'm now old in the eyes of most of the population.

We drove past the town of Jasper, "Jewel of the Forest" according to their sign.  We drove past a home with a large sign in the front yard that said, "You are here."  We drove over the Sabine River, which is the border between Texas and Louisiana in this area.  The river was obviously full.  In fact, I saw standing water everywhere we went today.  It was in all kinds of pockets in the campground and in fields we passed and in drainage ditches - everywhere.  They clearly got the same storm that drove through Texas earlier.

I saw many trees beginning to leaf out, with that lovely spring green color.  I saw white flowering trees and forsythia climbing up other trees to spread lots of yellow.  I saw fields and fields of yellow - it looked like some kind of grass that has yellow flowers.  I saw increasing numbers of magnolias, not yet in bloom of course.  I saw one home that had in its front yard a magnolia that was twice as tall as the house, next to a pine tree that was nearly twice as tall as the magnolia.

I saw an insurance company in Alexandria, LA, with a sign in front saying, "This business proudly owned and operated by God-fearing Americans."  

I've now been to Waterproof, LA.

I'm glad I enjoy most country music, because that's about all I can get on the radio in this part of the world.

I had to stop three different times to ask for directions and talked to some very nice, accommodating people here in Louisiana.

Because of that experience, and the extra hour or more of driving time my lack of directions added on, the first thing I did, after we stopped and I took care of my top 6 priorities, was get on the computer and get detailed directions to my next stop.  Turns out it'll take about double the amount of time we drove today.  I'm definitely staying more than one night there, if they'll let me.

This is a very helpful period.  I'm learning what I can and can't do - physically and mentally.  If what I want to do is see things and talk to people in each state, I obviously can't be doing a lot of driving.  This is good information to have.  I only went about 230 miles or so today, but it was more than enough to make all 5 of us tired.

Lake Bruin State Park is really out of the way but is obviously very popular.  I know this is a Saturday night, but I wouldn't have expected as many people in early March as they have.

My view at Lake Bruin (LA) State Park