Into the Great Plains

We left the Ozarks this morning and drove to Leavenworth, KS. The drive was easy as the roads were in good repair and no windy, twisty roads. Missouri is generally flat - well, to us.

We're here to visit Kathleen's son Hans and his wife Andrea. We're parked in a beautiful spot along the river, but the train tracks are less than 100 feet from our front door. And, the trains go by all the time, day and night! We were "boon docking" which means we are using our own water supply and there are no sewer hook-ups. (But, we do have 30amp power.) That means we take short showers and no running the washer, dryer or dishwasher. Kind of like camping, but with a comfy bed!

Please note another fabulous parking job by Kathleen.

Eureka Springs, AR

Beautiful drive, but not for the RV. too much to see for a couple of hours. We will be back

John

Historic Washington, Arkansas

Home of the Bowie Knife

John

John is a man of few words - obviously!! He was interested in this site because of a biography about Jim Bowie he read when he was 12 and, compounded by his Texas upbringing, the blacksmith shop was a must see! We did learn that most of the "history" of Jim Bowie is non-factual. He was a "businessman" who was involved with maybe a few shady deals, but not the brawler he was portrayed to be. He was also a really big guy - over 6 feet - and, along with his really big knife, he cowed a lot of local toughs who thought about taking him on. Actually the Mexicans at the Alamo had a hard time putting him down although he was already on his death bed. They had to stand at a distance and use their bayonnets to kill him. He took out any who tried to get any closer. Anyway, the local blacksmith John Black is the person who made the first Bowie knife on commission by Jim Bowie per Bowie's design.

Actually, we lollygagged around until noon and then started out for Washington, AK! (Eat your hearts out, you 9 to 5 people!!) It is a town of 138 people and is a AK State Park - a museum village - 9 miles NW of Hope, AK!! (So I'm figuring Hope must be at least 200 people.) We ate lunch at Williams' Tavern established in 1832. My 2nd or 3rd time trying chicken fried steak and white gravy and probably my last. It tasted like it was cooked in 1832, but then it tasted that way the other times I've tried it! There is nothing to recommend this Southern speciality! Nor the turnip greens John had as a side.

First we toured the town in a surrey pulled by 2 white mules named Jane and Mattie. And, I will wisely leave that statement to stand on its own. (White, mules, women... do it yourself!) Then we toured the blacksmith shop and the Block-Catts House. It was built by a Jewish fellow (Abraham Block) in 1832 who hailed originally from Bohemia and came to AK via New Orleans. The father of 10 girls and 2 sons he built this Federal style home and it has 5 rooms!! The upstairs has a boys' room and a girls' with a large hall where Martha the house slave stayed and acted as referee! Downstairs had a large dining room and living/master bedroom, plus a small home office/bathing room. Actually the rooms are all good sized! The kitchen was a separate building that also housed the other 10+ slaves. It is really quite pretty.

Up the street from that is the largest magnolia tree in N. America. It is HUMUNGOUS!!! It was planted in 1839! This tree is just huge and grows out into the street. Needless to say, no one is clammering to trim it back. Although not in season, we did see one lone magnolia bloom on the tree. The town also boasts one of the oldest pecan trees in the US (200 years and in Abraham Block's back yard) and one of the oldest catawba trees (about 150 years). Southerners love the catawba tree. It gets attacked yearly by some worm that makes great fishing bait and Southerners are koo-koo about fishing!

Lovely Site

Beautiful place to park in the trees, and a great parking job by Kathleen

 

Diamond Mining

it was cold, even in the sun

John

Sunrise over the Mississippi

We're parked on the Mississippi River, and just across from the famous Garbage Truck Motorhome.

John

Washer and Dryer

The modern RV way to wash the dogs! We had our new washer & dryer installed today. No more laundromats!! No more hunting for quarters. Hurrah!! We had to take them out for a "test drive"! Tinkerbell tested the washer and Ginger, the dryer. Tiger, well, he hid under a chair! Oh, and it is raining!!! But, we've had a good spell of nice weather. So, no complaining!

Back on the Road

We drove from Columbus, GA to Red Bay, AL today. More interesting scenry, but no pictures. We're here to get our washer and dryer installed, fix a couple of minor warranty items, and get our 5000 mile service. Saturday, we will head west again, to end up in Kansas next Saturday.

Stone Mountain Park, Atlanta, GA

A terrific day with Lance and Branden! Stone Mountain is not an "amusement" park, kind of low-keyed with a historical aim. We rode the tram up Stone Mountain which is the largest exposed chunk of granite in the world and decorated with a carving of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson; we rode a train; we painted pumpkins; we ate. Lance is at the start of a growth spurt. I had forgotten how much a "growing" boy eats and does so endlessly. John and Branden went on the Sky Hike... which is climbing up 3 levels (top level being 40 feet up) on rope bridges secured by safety harnesses and cables. Since neither John nor I like heights, John was the logical one to accompany Branden. He is a graduate of Army Ranger School! Lance and I whiled away the hour plus of John and Branden's wait and hike by scouting out ice cream and scarfing down waffle cones. Lance and I thought it a fair trade!

It is hard to tell who is more tired from this visit. The boys, Oma and Opa or the pups! The dogs just love all the attention the boys lavish on them, but all that lovin' is tiring for a little 2 1/2 pounder. Neither Branden or Ginger usually sit still this long!

Yipee! Guess who is going

to be a Grandma!!!!!

Hans and Andrea are expecting and the baby is due in May!!! We are all absolutely thrilled!!! It will, of course, be the typical Dochtermann child - brilliant and beautiful!! May's flower is Lily of the Valley and the sentiment is Perfect Purity. That is all babies, I would think.

And, Hans & Andrea, Happy 4th Anniversary! What a great present to each other!!

Back in Columbus, GA

Arrived back in Columbus, GA yesterday. Another great drive down from KY, including a stop in Chattanooga, TN to visit Hedi Buell, a friend of Kathleen's from Buffalo.

It has been interesting to see the "character" of the geography change from mile to mile. I can't tell the specifics, but Kathleen and I can see the differences as we drive from one area to another. Our favorite, so far, are the rolling hills of Tennessee. It is a beautiful state and nice people. It is on our return schedule...

Sunday we take the grandsons (Lance and Branden) to Stone Mountain in Atlanta for the day. We wanted to spend Monday there with them too, but their parents are spoilsports and won't let them skip school. The trip will give them a ride in the coach and us some quality time with them - away from the parents. Spending time with them is such a "trip". Yesterday Lance reminded us his birthday is in 2 weeks (11th) and informed us he wants to be an actor. Of course, that is on top of about 7 other careers. We told him to finish school and go to college or he'd wind up a waiter like the rest of the "actors" in the world! Got to see their reports cards, too! Brilliant, of course! What would you expect?

Then Tuesday, we're to Red Bay, AL to get that washer and dryer installed. Then some more sightseeing on our way to Hans and Andrea's at Ft. Leavenworth.

Perfect Kentucky Day

We had a terrific day! A visit and pretty drive to see a covered bridge to start! It took us awhile to find the bridge. (Some parts of the drive we saw twice! No markers; you just should know where it is!) The bridge was built privately and is no longer used. Unfortunately, it is a mess of grafitti! Why? What is the point of carving or spray painting names and nasty things on this simple and graceful structure? As the photos show, the drought in Kentucky is really awful. The Elk Fork Creek is barely a trickle in some areas. And, the same is true of rivers, lakes, etc.

Then onto a restored Shaker Village. The Shakers were a really interesting group. (There are 3 left in New England, aged 85 - 90+.) It died out largely because celibacy being a big part of their religious beliefs. (Go figure!) Everyone has heard of Shaker furniture - simple and functional. Lots of innovations came from the Shakers. The site is just gorgeous and still has a quiet, spiritual feel to it. Put it on your list to visit.

The Shakers were a self-contained enclave. They wore nothing, ate nothing, used nothing, lived in nothing that the community did not produce, build or make. We also spent time looking at and listening about the Meeting House. It is a large, rectangular 3 story building. The actual meeting room has no pillars or posts. It is built and held up by "inverted trusses". All handhewn and using wood pegs and wedges - no nails. Pretty amazing! In the picture to the left, please note the stone wall in back of John. We've seen this type of stone wall all around Kentucky. The top row of stones is vertical. Very pretty!

Sunday evening at the Elkhorn CG

I spent the day learning to be an assistant moderator for one of the mailing lists I'm on and, inspired by our genealogy workshops yesterday, Kathleen worked on family history.

Actually, we moved today to a better site at Elkhorn. This one has full hook up... please note the perfectly positioned RV, perfectly centered on the pad! And please note the tree to the right. We missed it entirely! (God, I'm good at directing John.) We even have a wooden deck at this site. John says we're "in high cotton"!

Drive to Frankfort, KY

No pictures to post today, but it was a fantastic drive. We took a road through some of the back country of Tennessee, including going over Clinch Mountain (Clinch Mountain Sackettes by Louis L’Amour) and along the Cumberland Gap Parkway. Tennessee was more mountainous and more colorful than KY. Nice campground on the east side of Frankfort. Tomorrow, we go to a Family History Workshop and then some sightseeing for a couple of days before continuing south.

Andrew Johnson & Davy Crockett

We finally got a little bit of sun and went sightseeing. Today, it was the birthplace of Davy Crockett and the home of Andrew Johnson, the 17th President.

We shared the Crockett Park and Museum with 4 buses of school children. Not surprisingly, the 3 pooches upstaged the docents explaining the Crockett artifacts and conservation. A side trip to the nearby stream was a hit with Kathleen, but not the dogs! Tiger especially hates water!

Johnson is the president that succeeded Lincoln after Lincoln was shot and who escaped impeachment conviction by one vote. It was interesting to see the museum's take on that... seems he was very much "states' rights" and against Congress' vengeful reconstruction policies toward the South. The final blow was when he fired Secretary of War Stanton who had been appointed by Lincoln. Congress said he couldn't do that; he said he could. Ergo, the impeachment. Years later the Supreme Court upheld his position.

And, this display was especially interesting to Kathleen who is a distant relative of Hannibal Hamlin who was replaced by Johnson as Vice President when Lincoln ran the 2nd time. It is also the only known campaign poster to show Lincoln without a beard.

Bristol, TN

Today, we drove up to State St., Bristol, TN, where the state border with VA runs down the center of the street. Lots of antique shops and a very good lunch.

Back at Rocky Top

Four days to enjoy life

John Boyd

On the Road

We were in Windsor, NY this morning. Another beautiful campground that you don't want to drive to. After our drive into & out of the camp, our red Prius is beige.

We drove through beautiful country (NY, PA, MD, WV and VA) and are set for the night, nestled in the trees. Tomorrow on to TN and a stop for 4 days back at Rocky Top RV Camp. And, we are finally warming up and seeing some sun!

John Boyd

Oquaga Lake, NY

An idyllic setting with beautiful Fall hued trees and serene lake enjoyed while sitting and visiting with old friends. We spent the afternoon visiting Kathleen's friends from high school (Sandy, Carol & Ron) at Carol and Ron's cottage at Oquaga Lake. Views of the lake and the "girls" and Sandy's husband, Bob.

John Boyd