Lucy Explores The Great West

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Wayne&Sam

Gene,you should have been at the Gros Ventre Campground in Grand Teton NP. We had a huge bull, a cow and two smaller ones in the campground. Walked right by our AS. That bull was a beauty.


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That's the story of my life. I guess that we will just have to go back next year.

Brian

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by moosetags

We continued south into Texas and on to Amarillo. We have stopped here in a campground for the night.


Brian

Hi, I guess we are sort-of crossing paths; We are headed West on Highway 10 past Houston. We are spending the night in Brookshire, Texas.

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, I guess we are sort-of crossing paths; We are headed West on Highway 10 past Houston. We are spending the night in Brookshire, Texas.

We'll make it down to Houston in a few days. We are up in Amarillo tonight up in the Texas Panhandle. We're about 500 miles from I-10 at this point.

Are you guys heading home?

Brian

[Goal15]

Are you coming through DFW or going down 281?


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[mimiandrews]

Boise City, OK looks like it hasn't changed much since I drove thru there in about 1975 or '76. I was pulling a sailplane on a long, light trailer behind a VW bus. I'd just passed thru an accident scene where an 18-wheeler had been upset by the wind.

I made it to Amarillo, put the trailer with the aircraft on it in a hangar at the airport and myself into a motel for two days. Continued home after the wind died down.

Towing the Airstream is much, much less exciting, and I like it that way.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by moosetags

We'll make it down to Houston in a few days. We are up in Amarillo tonight up in the Texas Panhandle. We're about 500 miles from I-10 at this point.

Are you guys heading home?

Brian

Hi, Brian; We made it to Junction, Texas today. We lost about an hour of travel time because we found a Ford dealer to service my truck. [oil change] Looks like one more day in Texas. We are headed to Southern California to get some things done, then we will head back to Salem. Dusty wants to go home.

[moosetags]

Lucy br Texas. We arrived early this afternoon and got Lucy set-up in a campground.

We stopped here in Lubbock to visit old friends from the Customs Service, Pat and C.W. We stopped by their house and then went out for dinner. We had a very nice visit.

We didn't get back to Lucy until after ten.

Pictures:

- Lucy at campsite in Amarillo.oke camp this morning in Amarillo. We traveled south down to Lubbock,
- Windmill blade in transit.
- US Post office, Plainview, Texas.
- Fair Theatre, Plainview, Texas.
- Brick Main Street, Plainview.
- Old Theatre, Hale Center, Texas.

Brian

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, going in the opposite direction, we saw three of those wind generator blades go by. I have seen these before, but these were the largest blades that we have ever seen.

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Goal15

Are you coming through DFW or going down 281?


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We plan to bypass DFW trying to stay off the Interstate. we plan to head out US 84 to I-20. then continue on Texas 70/153 over to US 83 to US 87/Texas 71. We are going to try to make Llanos tomorrow night.

Brian

[moosetags]

Lucy was still camped in Lubbock last night. We spent another enjoyable evening with our friends, Pat and C.W. We got back to Lucy pretty late, and neglected to send an email last night.

Lucy broke camp early this morning, and we headed out toward Houston. Houston is 600 miles from Lubbock. We wanted to make it a least half way today. We took mostly state highways all the way to Llano, Texas, which is a little over half way to Houston. The ride through the Texas countryside was mostly farm and ranch land dotted with small towns. We got Lucy a site in a really nice campground in Llano, and have settled in for the night.

Pictures:

- Cotton field near Lubbock.
- Downtown Slaton, Texas.
- Tower Teatre, Post, Texas.
- Downtown Post, Texas.
- Ritz Theatre, Snyder, Texas.
- Texas 208 between Snyder and Colorado City.
- Railroad Depot in Ballinger, Texas.
- 1886 Concho County Courthouse in Paint Rock, Texas.
- Bridge into Llano, Texas.
- Lantex Theatre, Llano, Texas.

Brian

[moosetags]

Lucy got going early this morning and we made the 300 mile run to Houston. Again, we ran the back roads as much as possible. We made it through Austin and down to Houston. The traffic was very heavy in both Austin and Houston. We continued through Houston and on to League City where we had a campground reservation for Lucy.

We got Lucy set up and went to meet our old friends, Charlie and Barbara for dinner. We had a very nice visit and plan to see them again tomorrow.

We got back to Lucy at about nine and got settled in for the night.

Pictures:

- Lucy's campsite in Llano.
- 1893 Llano County Courthouse, Llano, Texas.
- Austin Skyline.
- Exotic car carrier; tail lights and tag on Sting Ray are the real ones for the trailer.
- Texas Stars decorate overpasses in Houston.
- Downtown Houston.


Brian

[dbj216]

You successfully made yet another trip across the great plains. This time both north south and then east west. That is a drive that I do not look forward to. I've been in heavy winds, hail, and wind driven snow too many times. And the landscape isn't my favorite, but good wheat and cattle country. You will soon be in the lush Gulf coast area for the rest of the ride home. No mooses, but lush terrain.

I must learn to stay off the interstates. Slower, a bit more dangerous, but so much more interesting.

David

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by dbj216

You successfully made yet another trip across the great plains. This time both north south and then east west. That is a drive that I do not look forward to. I've been in heavy winds, hail, and wind driven snow too many times. And the landscape isn't my favorite, but good wheat and cattle country. You will soon be in the lush Gulf coast area for the rest of the ride home. No mooses, but lush terrain.

I must learn to stay off the interstates. Slower, a bit more dangerous, but so much more interesting.

David

Hi David,

We find the trek across the Great Plains on the back roads somewhat tedious, but very enlightening. We have gotten to see how the real people live and work. This is where one can observe the real fabric of our country.

We have also observed the plight and blight of small town America. Many of these towns appear to be on their last leg. This saddens us greatly as it seems like a way of life is passing into history before our eyes.

We just can't see any of this from the Interstate. Traveling the Interstate Highway System makes all of this disappear. It's like you are traveling, but seeing nothing along the way.

Brian

[dbj216]

You are correct on all the fine points you bring up. We are from small town Iowa. They are farm to market towns with grain elevators. We used to guess at the size of the town by how many grain elevators cyclos the town had. The towns were situated along the rivers, and then railroad tracks, and state highways. And "family farms" were generally 160 acres. That hard but rewarding way of life is changing. Young folks like us moved to the city for better jobs. But I prefer small town living by a long way. Interstates do not go through small towns, only crowded big cities.

Your travel thread has brought back memories of my small town upbringing, including the movie theater where we went many Friday or Saturday nights. Thank you kindly for taking the time to create this thread. It is very enjoyable for me. Truly the definition of Airstream traveling. Maybe it's like being a gypsy, or hobo. Traveling to see what's on the other side of the hill. Who knows, maybe a moose.

Hey, you didn't give many sewer solution demonstrations during this trip.

David

[Gene]

For all the romanticism of small town America, it has been disappearing for a long time. Most people live in cities or suburbs. Mechanized agriculture has hollowed out small towns. Having lived in a small town, it seems the most ambitious and well educated leave and there are not the skills nor capable people left to save the towns. Everything you need seems far away, docs avoid rural areas, so medical care is not good, incomes are very low for those who stay. And many of those left do not like newcomers—there's a cultural and sometimes political gulf that is hard to cross. If Norman Rockwell was alive today, he'd be doing magazine covers of life in Brooklyn.

It has occurred to me that Brian and SuEllyn are going home. It took me a few days to figure that out. Too bad Bob Sunrus and B and S's paths did not cross, but we did get to meet B and S in person a couple of months ago for an enjoyable evening. They are real people and not some made up story written by a computer (or a dog at a computer) about moose watching and tags for wires.

The summer travel season is ending. We have been home for a month, the trip to Newfoundland is over, Bob is probably back in Cal. by now and it will be only a few more days after that up I-5 to get to Salem. I'm sure there are other travel threads I missed.

I think I'll get do more planning on that hoped for trip to Newfoundland next year—see how to make it work in two months. The planning can be better than the trip.

Gene

[Jarrod White]

Brian
You should have some good car sightings the rest of the way home. It is Cruising the Coast week on the Mississippi coast with approximately 5000 classic and exotic cars registered. I saw several on my drive back from New Orleans the morning. Get off I-10 and in highway 90 to see a lot more. Btw, there is about 5 miles of construction on I-10 just east of Slidell and will be rough going. Jarrod

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by dbj216

You are correct on all the fine points you bring up. We are from small town Iowa. They are farm to market towns with grain elevators. We used to guess at the size of the town by how many grain elevators cyclos the town had. The towns were situated along the rivers, and then railroad tracks, and state highways. And "family farms" were generally 160 acres. That hard but rewarding way of life is changing. Young folks like us moved to the city for better jobs. But I prefer small town living by a long way. Interstates do not go through small towns, only crowded big cities.

Your travel thread has brought back memories of my small town upbringing, including the movie theater where we went many Friday or Saturday nights. Thank you kindly for taking the time to create this thread. It is very enjoyable for me. Truly the definition of Airstream traveling. Maybe it's like being a gypsy, or hobo. Traveling to see what's on the other side of the hill. Who knows, maybe a moose.

Hey, you didn't give many sewer solution demonstrations during this trip.

David

Hi David,

Both SuEllyn and I were raised in big cities (Jacksonville and Miami) and don't have any youthful small town memories. Maybe this is why we enjoy seeing America's small towns so much. As we visit these towns, we try to imagine what they may have been like in their heyday.

Actually, we did give a couple of Sewer Solution demonstrations to other campers during our trip. When people notice Lucy's small sewer hose, they can't help but ask about it.

Brian

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Gene

For all the romanticism of small town America, it has been disappearing for a long time. Most people live in cities or suburbs. Mechanized agriculture has hollowed out small towns. Having lived in a small town, it seems the most ambitious and well educated leave and there are not the skills nor capable people left to save the towns. Everything you need seems far away, docs avoid rural areas, so medical care is not good, incomes are very low for those who stay. And many of those left do not like newcomers—there's a cultural and sometimes political gulf that is hard to cross. If Norman Rockwell was alive today, he'd be doing magazine covers of life in Brooklyn.

It has occurred to me that Brian and SuEllyn are going home. It took me a few days to figure that out. Too bad Bob Sunrus and B and S's paths did not cross, but we did get to meet B and S in person a couple of months ago for an enjoyable evening. They are real people and not some made up story written by a computer (or a dog at a computer) about moose watching and tags for wires.

The summer travel season is ending. We have been home for a month, the trip to Newfoundland is over, Bob is probably back in Cal. by now and it will be only a few more days after that up I-5 to get to Salem. I'm sure there are other travel threads I missed.

I think I'll get do more planning on that hoped for trip to Newfoundland next year—see how to make it work in two months. The planning can be better than the trip.

Gene

Hi Gene,

You are correct, we are making our way back to Santa Rosa Beach. We will probably arrive home later this week.

Brian

[moosetags]

We have been in the Houston area for the last couple of days visiting friends. We spent some more time with our friends, Charlie and Barbara in League City, on Sunday.

Yesterday morning, we packed up Lucy and towed her to Katy, Texas, a sixty mile run across Houston. We got Lucy a nice campsite in Katy. We went to visit our friends, Marilyn and Hal, and had dinner with them. We plan to visit with them again today.

Tomorrow we will start heading east toward Santa Rosa Beach.

Pictures:

- Entrance to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
- League City campsite.
- Farmland in Houston between League City and Katy.
- Lucy's campsite in Katy.

Brian

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Jarrod White

Brian
You should have some good car sightings the rest of the way home. It is Cruising the Coast week on the Mississippi coast with approximately 5000 classic and exotic cars registered. I saw several on my drive back from New Orleans the morning. Get off I-10 and in highway 90 to see a lot more. Btw, there is about 5 miles of construction on I-10 just east of Slidell and will be rough going. Jarrod

Hi Jarrod,

Thank you for the info. We will be sure to avoid I-10 in Slidell.

Brian