Patriot Missile

The Patriot Missile is the one that we heard so much about during the first Iraq war. This is the missile that was able to intercept the SCUD rockets that the Iraqis were using at that time.

White Sands Missile Park

The White Sands Missile Park includes examples of most of the rockets and missiles tested here since 1945. Below are just a few of the rockets and missiles on display.

White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico

At the end of World War II, the White Sands Proving Ground was established to test the emerging rocket technology. Known today as the White Sands Missile Range, more than 42,000 missile and rocket firings have been conducted. Missiles and rockets for the Army, Navy, Air Force and NASA are all tested here.

Another Day Draws to a Close

So another day comes to an end. But that day would not be complete without a glorious sun set. It must be the Lord's way of telling us "Good night and pleasant dreams!"

Ladder Ranch, New Mexico

Arthur Cox took us out to see the local sights which included the Ladder Ranch. The Ladder Ranch is owned by Ted Turner of Turner Broadcasting and it is where Turner maintains a herd of buffalo. The ranch is estimated to be more than 256,000 acres.

We reached the area just after the sun had set and so we were able to photograph the silhouette of the ranch sign.

Arthur and Fay Cox, New Mexico

It is hard to stay away from home even when you are traveling. We stopped in Cabello, NM to visit with Arthur and Fay Cox and received an invitation to stay for dinner. Arthur had been out prospecting on his gold claim all day and arrived at the same time we did. Everyone knows that Fay is an excellent cook and in no time she whipped up a good-ole' fashion homemade dinner of country ham, fresh baked biscuits, ham gravy, apple sauce and apple butter. This apple butter was something special. It had been canned by the Mt. Vale Church in Galax and the Coxes carried it with them to New Mexico. A taste of home away from home.

We had a pleasant visit learning about Arthur's gold mine claim that he works on a regular basis and Fay's painting lessons. They even showed us the local sights at Ladder Ranch, the sun set and we met some of their local friends.

Guadalupe Mountains, NM

This morning we departed the campground at Carlsbad, NM and headed for Las Cruces, NM. We traveled the southern route that took us back thru Texas towards El Paso and then north back into New Mexico. One of the first things we saw along the route were the Guadalupe Mountains. There was a light rain falling, just a drizzle, but the mountains were veiled with clouds.

Today's Sunset at Carlsbad, NM

As the day comes to a close we witness another marvelous painting across the evening sky. Such a scene could only be painted by the Master Himself. What a glorious end to the day.

Special formations in Carlsbad Caverns

Seeing the "big room" in the large underground space is one thing. Then there are all of the individual unusual formations.

Entering the Carlsbad Caverns

The natural entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns is the same place where the bats fly out of during the summer months. Being here in March we did not see the bats. They usually spend the winters in Mexico and return to Carlsbad during the summer months. They swarm in a mass exit from the cave each evening to feed. Sharon and Imogene had the opportunity to see the bats when they traveled here two years ago.

Sharon and I walked down into the cavern from the natural entrance. The descent was a sloping walkway that descended 750 feet into the caverns. The entire path was dimly lit. Visitors are no longer permitted to walk out of the cavern because of the steep grade. Elevators were installed some years ago and everyone exits that way.

After descending into the caverns and walking along the "main corridor" you eventually end up in the "big room". The "big room" covers more than 8.2 acres and the path around the room takes more than 1 and a half hours to walk the distance.

The "big room" is fantastic. Around each turn of the path there is a new and interesting rock formation to be seen. There is spot lighting throughout the cave and most of these pictures were taken with the available light. For some reason the photographs made with a flash are not as interesting and seem to lack the depth provided by the spot lighting throughout the cave.

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

Today we spent the day at the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. The entrance to the site is marked with a large state park sign. We are struck by the contrast of the tan landscape here as compared with the lush green of Virginia.

Carlsbad, TX

We arrived at the Carlsbad KOA campground about 4:30 p.m. A pleasent stop after a day's drive. After setting up camp we settled down for dinner and the sun began to set. What a glorious sight with which to end the day.

Mentone, Loving County, TX

North of Pecos we stopped at Mentone, Loving County, TX.

The white building on the right behind the town sign is the Bootstrap Cafe. Seems Michael used to stop there to eat when he was in college and worked on the oil rigs in the summer months. There is a better picture of the Bootstrap Cafe below.

Sometimes it is better to remember things the way that they were rather than the way they are now.

Loving County, Texas has a population of 67 in a county with 2,000 square miles. That means there is only 0.0335 persons per square mile. I have heard that this is the least populated county in the lower 48 states.

Oh, yes. Don't forget the Pecos River. Here it is 100 miles up stream from the earlier picture. We expected the river to be smaller near Mentone.

Pecos, TX: Saturday, March 10, 2007

Pecos, TX: As we approached the town, the Chamber of Commerce had a sign advertising a radio message about Pecos. Sixteen restrauants was mentioned.

It was late, about 2:30 and we had not had lunch because we were waiting to stop at Ben's Mexican Restrauant in Pecos. My brother-in-law recommended it as he remembered it from years ago. I stopped at the Flying J service station to fill up on diesel and I asked about Ben's. The two young ladies at the counter said "Ben's?" "Never heard of it." "That must have been a long time ago." Sorry Mike.

Those sixteen restrauants the Chamber of Commerce mentioned, they must have all been on siesta at 2:30 p.m. I didn't find a single one that looked like it was open. We stopped outside of town and made a sandwitch in our camper.

Pecos River near Sheffield, TX

On the recommendation of Michael B. we stopped to take a look at the Pecos River near Sheffield, TX. I was expecting something extraordinary. I'll let you be the judge. Here are the pictures.

The Pecos was about 15 feet across at this point. We are looking forward to seeing it near Mentone, TX which is almost 100 miles further west. Maybe it is larger there.

Herd Steakhouse & Sunshine Cafe, Junction, TX

We had a taste for steak for the evening meal so we went to the Herd Steakhouse. Pleasent setting and a wonderful meal. Good service and a pleasant wait staff.

An anonymous person left a comment on our blog recommending the Sunshine Cafe so we ate breakfast there this morning. We didn't want to pass up the recommendation. Thanks Mr. or Ms. Anonymous. The Sunshine Cafe is a great local mom and pop restrauant. We would recommend it.

San Antonio, TX: Friday, March 9, 2007

San Antonio skyline holds a lot of memories for Sharon. It was at Fort Sam Houston that Sharon received her basic training when she went on active duty with the Army Nurse Corps.

It was getting late in the afternoon when we passed thru San Antonio and we did not take time to stop. We had been to Fort Sam Houston just a couple of years ago so we did not seen a need to stop this trip.

We were headed to Junction, TX for our camp site for tonight.

NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

The Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX is the administrative, mission control and astronaut training center for the United States manned spaceflight program.

We spent most of today at the center touring the facilities and visitor center.

The original Mission Control Center handled all of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. The oringinal two IBM computers had only 400 KB of memory which is one reason all of the engineers during those early flights kept their sliderules handy. Most of the math calculations were done the old fashioned way with a sliderule, something that is hard to find today.

The Saturn Rocket was last used on the Apollo
17 flight. The next Saturn Rocket would have been used for Apollo 18 but that program ended once the Space Shuttle became available. The Saturn Rocket is now on display. It was originally out in the open but NASA has built a building around it to protect it.

The current program deals with the International Space Station and a mockup of each of the space station modules is housed in a special building used for training and mission problem solving. Sixteen nations are participating in the International Space Station Program.Tomorrow we travel approximately 300 miles to Junction, TX. We hope to stop in San Antonio for lunch at the River Walk (Sharon's old stomping grounds while she was in basic training at Fort Sam Houston). Type to you tomorrow.

Houston, TX

We arrived in Houston, TX on Wednesday, March 7th. After finding our camp site, we set up camp, fixed dinner and got a good night's rest. We plan to visit the NASA Johnson Space Center tomorrow.

Itinerary for the next few days!

Thanks to Michael B. for the suggestion. Here is our itinerary for the rest of our trip. If anyone has any recommendations for things to see we would appreciate hearing about it. Don't forget to look ahead a few days because I might not see your comment before we get to the destination.

Thu, Mar 8: All day in Houston, TX. Visit Johnson NASA Space Agency.
Fri, Mar 9: Travel to Junction, TX.
Sat, Mar 10: Travel to Carlsbad, NM.
Sun, Mar 11: Visit Carlsbad Caverns.
Mon, Mar 12: Travel to Las Cruces, NM. Visit Fay+Snookie Cox in Cabello (Alamogorda).
Tue, Mar 13: Travel to Benson, AZ. Visit Tombstone.
Wed, Mar 14: Visit Saguaro National Park.
Thu, Mar 15: Travel to Tucson, AZ. Visit James+Anna Baker.
Fri, Mar 16: Travel to San Diego, CA.
Sat, Mar 17: Visit San Diego all day.
Sun, Mar 18: Visit David Jeremiah's Church in El Cajon, CA.
Mon, Mar 19: Travel to LA, CA. Visit George P.
Tue, Mar 20: Visit with George P.
Wed, Mar 21: Visit "The Price is Right". Sharon has a Camouflage shirt that reads; "Vietnam Nurses Love Bob Barker."
Thu, Mar 22: Visit with George P.
Fri, Mar 23: Travel to Las Vegas, NV. Visit Hoover Dam.
Sat, Mar 24: Travel to Flagstaff, AZ. Visit Sedona, AZ.
Sun, Mar 25: Travel to Holbrook, AZ. Visit Meteor Crater.
Mon, Mar 26: Travel to Santa Fe, NM.
Tue, Mar 27: Travel to Amarillo, TX.
Wed, Mar 28: Travel to Oklahoma City, OK.
Thu, Mar 29: Travel to Little Rock, AR.
Fri, Mar 30: Travel to Nashville, TN.
Sat, Mar 30: Travel to Galax, VA.

Looking forward to receiving your recommendations for places to visit.

Pappadeaux in Beaumont, TX

We knew we would be traveling thru Beaumont, TX, so we asked our good friends Lamar and Margo Hebert where we should stop for lunch. Lamar recommended Pappadeaux on I-10 west of Beaumont.

We stopped for lunch and had our second Cajun meal in two days. The gumbo was excellent and the french bread was the most authentic that I remember having since I went to high school in Orleans, France in the late 50's.

We hit the restrauant about 1:30 p.m. after the main lunch crowd, and had most of the place to ourselves. Wonderful table next to the plate glass windows with all of the flowers in bloom. It was 71 degrees today in Beaumont.

After lunch we drove on to Houston, TX. We plan to visit the Johnson NASA Space Center on Thursday and perhaps see some more of Houston as well.

Thanks for that old Army Training!

When we got up this morning I had several items in the camper that were not working: Water Heater igniter, the stove hood light, the LP detector and the water tank level monitor.

Checked thru the camper book and could not find anything until I looked at the wiring diagram for the camper electrical system. Each of these items is on the same circuit. When I traced down the circuit on the fuse panel, I found a 5 amp fuse that was blown. Went to the campground store and purchased a pack of 5 each 5 amp fuses for $1.42. I only needed one so the total repair cost was just $0.28, tax included.

We are packing up and heading to Houston, TX today. Will write more this evening.

La Cuisine et la Musique Cajun!

We ended our day at Randol's, Salle de Danse. A typical Cajun restaurant with live music located in Lafayette, LA.

I tasted my first crawfish, gumbo and the crab and corn soup and it was outstanding. If I wasn't already full I would have ordered another serving. We finished the meal with a great bread pudding.

The music was there also. Great Cajun band!

The dancers did their version of the Cajun Square Dance. It looked like a slow waltz or two-step walk, at least until they stepped up the beat and the music played faster. Then they really started to swing.

Spring is in the air!

Among all of the debris and construction, someone still found time to plant some flowers. They are beautiful. A glimmer of hope that things will be made right again. At least in this small part of the world someone is still able to smell the flowers.

9th Ward, New Orleans, LA

The large national chains like Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and some of the chain restrauants are up and running and doing a booming business. Their parking lots are full. It looks like Christmas shopping except that all of the vehicles are pickup trucks buying building materials.

The local "mom and pop" business don't seem to be doing as well. Many of them are still in need of much help.

9th Ward, New Orleans, LA

Some of the home situations would make you want to cry. Here it is, two years later and folks are still digging out.

Some of the buildings still need to be torn down because many of them look as if they are beyond repair.

On other blocks you can still see folks cleaning up and rebuilding. There were several locations were there were Church vans parked and a half-dozen folks were working on a single house.

9th Ward, New Orleans, LA

Here it is two years after Katrina and things are moving ahead.

As we drove thru the 9th Ward, there was a great deal of construction activity on both private homes as well as commercial property. Trucks with building materials and constructions crews coming and going in every direction.

New Orleans, LA via Ferry

We stopped at the Louisiana's Welcome Center to ask if the roads were open enough to drive thru the 9th Ward. They gave me directions and a map. Since I usually navigate better than Sharon, Sharon drove the truck and I gave her directions.

I missed the turn on Paris Street and we ended up on a very narrow entrance ramp to a ferry.

That's right; we still had the camper in tow.

There was nowhere to go except to get on the ferry and ride across the river.

I wasn't sure if they would let us on the ferry. But there was no alternative. There was no way that I was going to be able to back up the camper the 800+ yards around several sharp hairpin turns, on the very narrow road, to go back where we came from.

I never saw a sign saying that there was a ferry ahead.

After we crossed the river, we drove around a block and got back on the ferry to get back to the side of the river where the 9th Ward was located. They didn't charge us to go across but we had to pay $1.00 to get back were we started.

When we go site seeing, we see all the sites.

To Lafayette, LA via New Orleans

We changed our route this morning to swing by New Orleans. Since we were this close, we decided to see what the city looked like after two years since Katrina.

On the way, Max had to be right up front checking out everything on the road. He doesn't miss a thing and if it is alive, then he wants to go play. You have not seen anyone or anything concentrate so much on the road ahead of him.

John Schneider of "Dukes of Hazzard"

We spent last night in Meridan, MS. Our drive was uneventfull. After arriving at the campground and settling in for the night we went to bed. At about 3:30 a.m. we were awakened by someone pulling in to the camp site next to us. When I looked out the window all I saw was a monster of an RV that must have been 50 feet long pulling a 20 foot trailer.

The next morning at 7:00 a.m. our new neighbor was up and about getting ready to pull out. He didn't get much sleep but I guess if you are John Schneider of the "Dukes of Hazzard" and are used to running around in the General Lee, jumping over creeks and whatever, then you don't need much sleep. Here are two pictures.

Although we didn't get to talk with him since he was on the road before we were up and dressed, he was right outside our window. Sharon had her fill of looking "up close and personal" at a movie star. She thinks he is even better looking now than on the old TV show. Sharon mentioned that she thought he was cute with his blond currly hair.

I guess I'll have to get a perm and bleach my hair blond to keep up.

Go West "Young" Man, Woman and Dog

Here we go again!

Frank and Sharon departed Sunday afternoon for the start of our westward adventure. Of course we couldn't forget Max. He loves to ride in the truck. All you have to say is "Let's go for a ride in the truck", and he is at the door ready to go. He doesn't know it yet, but this trip is going to take 28 days.

That is Sharon with Max sticking his head out of the back window of our new Dodge 2500. Thanks to Robert Worrell for closing the deal at Jeff Johnson Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge. The truck did great on our first towing trip of 262 miles today. Didn't even know that the 27 foot camper was behind us. Thanks Robert.

Max kept watching out the window for something to chase. He didn't spot any deer but a dead groundhog on the side of the road got his attention.

He likes getting up between us and laying down on the arm rest between the front seats. Just like a child he has to be in the middle of the action.

At days end we arrived at our KOA campground

in Anderson, SC. I think Max was tired after all the excitement.

Sharon is busy writing in her journal. As you can see the camper is quite cozy and comfortable. We need "cozy" tonight, since it is 30 degrees here in South Carolina!

Tomorrow we should find warmer weather on our trek south.