Captain’s Log --- Star Date 07262009
Location – Detroit Greenfield RV Park, Ypsilanti, Michigan
Trip Miles -- 4500.9
Diesel Price -- $2.50 per gallon. 30.0 gallons loaded on board.
Weather – Sunny, with night showers; muddy but nice; day temperatures around 79F.

Greetings to you from the Ypsilanti Star Cluster! They don’t say “y’all” up here! Barbara has been getting her clothes-buying fix – at the University of Michigan gift store! She’s an alumna and was happy to find a cool yellow sweatshirt with MICHIGAN written in blue across the front. On a geocache hunt here, we walked the campus and saw a giant steel cube standing on one of its corners. You could easily spin the thing with one hand! The students look very, VERY young! I guess that means we are very … OLD!

We spent a good part of two days wandering in awe through the enormous Henry Ford Center in Dearborn, touring the museum and Greenfield Village, a collection of historic old homes that includes the cottages of poet Robert Frost and electrical pioneer Charles Steinmetz. The Menlo Park development lab of Thomas Edison has been reconstructed here…what a genius he was! The only vehicles allowed in the village are Ford Model T’s, horse-drawn carriages and a vintage steam train. Our village hike was utterly exhausting but fun! The Ford museum has all kinds of vintage mechanical wonders – like old steam-engine-driven power generators, an enormous 130-foot-long black Baldwin Allegheny steam locomotive, and a replica of the Wright Brothers aircraft used on that Kittyhawk sand dune in 1903.

Oh…by the way…at Greenfield Village, we had a GENUINE 1850’s lunch at a GENUINE 1850’s stage coach stop, served by a GENUINE 1850’s-style waitress. The lunch was pan-fried trout served with vegetables fresh from the garden outside!

Urgent Report from Engineering – Dude! Captain, we have a PROBLEM! Our Diesel truck lost its engine coolant at Milepost 79 on I-96, 40 miles east of Grand Rapids! Dang it! Thank God for AAA…we had ourselves towed to Fox Ford in Grand Rapids…spent the night in our trailer in Fox parking lot (not bad, actually)…now awaiting condition report from Fox! Chief Engineer is very fractious!

…And the Lord God said to me, “Chill, Dude! We’ve got you covered!”

With Fractious Affection,
Captain Baldy

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN - ANN ARBOR

HENRY FORD MUSEUM

SIGHTS IN GREENFIELD VILLAGE

LATE ENTRY FROM ILLINOIS!

Captain’s Log – Star Dates 07212009 through 07232009
Location – Prouty Residence, Indianapolis, Indiana
Trip Miles – 4167.4
Report from Engineering – Slant RV parking was necessary in Galaxy of Indiana; shutdown of dual-mode refrigerator was directed by Chief Engineer; some difficulty was encountered in restart on propane; Chief Engineer (me) left standing order to Operator (me) to leave refrigerator in continuous operation unless emergency shutdown is required. No big deal…everything is A-OK for transit to the Galaxy of Michigan!
Diesel Price -- $2.55 per gallon; 33.3 gallons was taken on board.
Weather – Sunshine followed by warm rain followed by sunshine…daytime temperature 78F. Sweet!

For us, Indianapolis previously had no face. She does now…and a very pleasing face it is! She has the face of a leisurely evening pontoon boat ride on the meandering White River. She has the face of a great blue heron’s slow flight at sunset. She has the face of enormous radiant-green lawns in front of lovely old homes. She has the face of a dramatic city center patterned after Washington, D.C.! We think Indianapolis has the face of urban life at its best. Our generous hosts for our visit to Indianapolis were Walt and Mary Prouty, friends we had met while on a Mediterranean cruise in 2000.

To say that Mary Prouty is an excellent tour guide is to utter a gross understatement! Of course, she does have several years of professional experience as an Indianapolis tour guide and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the city. She led us though neighborhoods of stately homes into an impressive downtown region adorned by the Indiana State Capitol Building, majestic war memorials and the great American Legion mall. Walt, her accommodating husband, did all the driving. All we had to do was enjoy the ride.

The recent expansion of the Indianapolis City Library was a subject of rather intense local controversy. A stately 19th-century stone building was given an ultra-ultra-modern glass-and-steel extension. You might think this unnerving mixture of styles would be an architectural disaster – but --- NO!! The result is a sun-lit heaven where a person can lose himself or herself for days during the frigid winters here. Many Indianans do exactly that! The children’s section is especially appealing…Walt and I strode onto a brightly-lit stage here and watched ourselves performing on TV! Uh…I think I’ll keep my “day job”… which is retirement.

Back in the early 1800’s, when the city was founded, a canal was built here for commercial transportation, in the style of the Erie Canal in New York State. The canal was never used as railroads took over the freight-hauling business. Today, the downtown section of this canal has been transformed into a most attractive water park and walkway. We all enjoyed our afternoon walk along the canal after a spicy lunch at Zing’s, a trendy new downtown eatery.

Even if you HATE automobile racing, you MUST visit the Indianapolis Speedway and Museum! This piece of Americana is truly amazing! Our tour bus drove around the two-and-one-half-mile oval at 30 miles per hour. The Formula One machines at the Indy 500 reach speeds of 240 mph on this track! This equates to making a full lap in 38 seconds or covering the length of a football field in an eye-blink of 0.9 seconds! These small, light cars are driven by 600 to 800-horsepower engines. At the Indy 500, two hundred laps are required to complete the race. Walt and I mused that race drivers must really crave “living on the edge”!

A highlight of our visit to Indianapolis was a lush evening concert by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in Ellenberger Park. Good, enjoyable stuff was played that evening…melodic works by John Williams, Georges Bizet and Beethoven. The orchestra played with an exceptionally rich, warm sound and was energetically directed by 29-year-old conductor Sean Newhouse. Absolutely delicious…as was the hot, strong coffee and oatmeal cookies Mary passed over to us as we listened to the music!

Life is GOOD here in Indiana!

The Galaxy of Michigan awaits our arrival…so…we now set forth on the next leg of our journey!

With Warmest Regards to All,
Captain Baldy

FACES OF INDIANAPOLIS

LIBRARY - FLOORS 1 AND 6

INDY SPEEDWAY

HOME ON WHITE RIVER

AN ADMIRAL'S THOUGHT

Captain’s Log – Star Date 07192009
Location – Springfield KOA, Springfield, Illinois
Trip Miles – 3911.4
Report from Engineering – everything is cool!
Weather – Sunny, warm, with scattered puffy clouds; daytime temperature is 77F
Diesel Price -- $2.46 per gallon

The Commodore is being severe with me … she is telling me to start WRITING! Here I sit, enjoying my morning coffee which is at its PEAK of flavor…and…she is brutally telling me to GET TO WORK!

Lincoln…that IS what Springfield is all about…at least as we see it! We toured the two-story house where a prospering Lincoln raised his sons before going to Washington to be President. Not bad for a kid with only eight MONTHS of formal education! We visited the impressive tomb where Abraham Lincoln and the members of his family are buried. We visited a gift shop where Lincoln souvenirs are on display, including tiny replicas of Civil War cannon. We even rubbed Lincoln’s nose – that is, the nose on the large bronze statue in front of his tomb. This ritual is commonly performed for good luck.

Barbara is playing up her Lincoln heritage! Her mom’s maiden name was Lincoln. We are heading toward a family gathering of Lincolns in Michigan. Barbara is so obsessed with her Lincoln heritage that she had me photograph her nose next to Abe’s nose, avowing that she HAS to be a descendant of Abe’s! She insists that her maternal grandfather, Edward Lincoln, looked “just like Abe”! At this point, we don’t know if Barbara’s Lincolns are connected to Abe’s Lincolns. I suspect this connection will be a subject of intense discussion at the Lincoln family reunion. Stay tuned for further information!

Do y’all remember the Rodgers and Hammerstein lyric, “the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye”? Well…as you can see from our picture below…it is TRUE! I ask myself…how does this adept farmer get every plant to be of exactly the same height?




It’s a wonder!

Affectionately,

Captain Baldy

LINCOLN HOME VIEWS

PORTRAITS IN GREATNESS

GOOD LUCK RITUAL

Captain’s Log – Star Dates 07162009 through 07182009
Location --- Sutherland Home, Waterloo, Iowa
Trip Miles – 3551.4
Report from Engineering – Brake controller is OK. Big Rig Trailer Company checked it and it didn’t cost a dime! Star Ship Wolverine is cleared for transit to the Galaxies of Illinois and Indiana.
Diesel Price -- $2.46 per gallon
Weather – Strange! Daytime temperatures have dropped to 64F and night temperatures are down to 48F! We had to break out our storm jackets! It’s JULY in IOWA and it’s supposed to be HOT!

“You could sleep in the cave”, said Carla, somewhat apologetically. Carla is Carla Everett Sutherland, a high school friend of Barb and the salutatorian of Barb’s high school class. Carla’s beautiful eyes blaze with an intelligence that is positively scary. Her husband, John, is a family-practice physician and avid golfer. Together, these wondrous people made sure we lived WELL while we were in Waterloo!

We absolutely LOVED the cave! As a note of explanation – “the cave” is the transformed basement of the Sutherland’s home. It is a warmly decorated spacious apartment, full of contemporary art and family photographs. This place was indeed our hallowed sanctuary! Angie was transferred from the trailer to the cave and made our sanctuary her personal domain for two days! John’s and Carla’s home is truly gorgeous, filled with choice contemporary art pieces and possessing an 80-foot driveway on which our rig rested easily!

My impression of Iowa is that of a place where one is confronted with the mind-boggling immensity of American agriculture! The state appears to be one enormous well-tended farm, studded here and there by outstanding institutions of higher learning. It is also home to some truly outstanding eateries, one of which is Galleria de Paco in Waterloo. Carla and John took us to this gracious place, established by industrious Bosnian refugees with a flair for the artistic. The chef decorated the ceiling like the Sistine Chapel --- using spray paint! This dude is a genius! The food is outstanding, too!

Waterloo’s Grout Museum District is home to the moving Sullivan Brothers Veterans’ Museum which documents the costs of war. It is an intimate museum that focuses on Iowans involved in our nation’s conflicts. The Sullivans were five young brothers who joined the Navy together and died together with the sinking of the USS Juneau in World War II.

Our son, Dan, was a champion wrestler in high school and attended wrestling camp at Iowa State University in Ames. We visited the campus en route to Waterloo. John and Carla took us to the Dan Gable Wrestling Museum in Waterloo. Wrestling is a true passion in Iowa. The Gable Museum traces the history of this intense sport from Biblical times. Abe Lincoln was very proud of the wrestling match he won over Jack Armstrong in 1831.

The College Hill Art Festival is a world-class festival of contemporary art held each summer on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Nice stuff here … creative works in wood, clay, metal, paper and photography. We came! We saw! We BOUGHT! The day was chilly and we wore our jackets. Carla told us the weather at the festival is usually impossibly hot.

The local production of Disney’s “A High School Musical” at the Waterloo Community Playhouse disappointed us. John fell asleep during the first act. I need not mince words here since Carla, a Playhouse benefactor, was far stronger in expressing disapproval than Barb and I! The male lead was awful! A teeny-little guy portraying a big basketball star, he sang a quarter-tone FLAT – enough to make us all cringe! The script is numbingly trite and would have made this much-hyped show a bust for us, even with stellar Broadway performers! Barbara and Carla are both veterans of excellent high-school musical productions. We all had a good laugh! At the performance, John treated me to a world-class oatmeal raisin cookie. Luscious!

Down-the-road-a piece from Waterloo…which means a 140 mile drive through Cedar Rapids and Iowa City…sits IOWA 80…the largest truck stop in the
WORLD! It was a daunting task to thread our way though a giant random-motion mass of big rigs, RV’s,cars and tourists at this place. We did not HIT nor GET HIT, Thank You God! Hey, we accomplished our mission here…climbing behind the wheel of an enormous Kenworth truck parked inside the Largest Chrome Shop in the World. Over at Ma’s Kitchen, an overweight trucker could really bust his gut at the lunch buffet. We were content with soup and salad.

Across the Mississippi River lies Illinois! Enough of my words for now…except to note that John has really taken to geocaching. He hunted and found an ultra-ultra-tiny cache in a Waterloo fountain…exhibiting the tenacity of a good physician! Hoo-rah!

Enjoy Barbara’s photo displays, kids…I sure do!

Affectionately,

Captain Baldy

"CAMP SUTHERLAND"

GALLERIA DE PACO

WATERLOO MUSEUMS

IOWA 80 TRUCK STOP

Captain’s Log --- Star Date 07142009
Location – West Omaha KOA Park, Gretna, Nebraska
Trip Miles – 3111.0
Diesel Price -- $2.41 per gallon; loaded 31.1 gallons
Report from Engineering – Trailer brake controller giving 5.H signal … don’t have the remotest clue what that means! Better have it checked, Captain!
Weather – Sunny; hot and humid! Daytime high of 95F! Sweat weather!


Things are getting strange here! I keep calling Edna (our navigation unit) “Sweetie” or “Darlin’” after she helps guide me through unfamiliar territory! The Commodore keeps looking at me with grave concern! I am afraid I’m morphing into a Borg – half-man, half-machine!

Butch Murray is a close friend I have known since I was five years old. He lives in Omaha and has worked at Father Flanagan’s Boys Town for 47 years…he knows every blade of grass in this beautiful place and has worked for every director except Father Flanagan himself! In a neat 900-square-foot house with one bathroom, Butch and his wife Marie raised five daughters and two sons. I was best man at Butch’s and Marie’s wedding here in ’63. Sadly, Marie passed away in 2003. Barbara and I had a memorable two-day visit with Butch and his brother Tim, who was visiting from San Jose, California. Fine dudes, these, and very congenial company indeed!

We all toured the immense Strategic Air & Space Museum over in Ashland, a few miles west of here. This wondrous facility displays an eerie SR-71 spy plane in the lobby and a vast collection of U.S. Air Force strategic aircraft, including a B-52 and the gigantic B-36 intercontinental bomber of the 1950’s. I reflected, with Butch and Tim, that these awesome machines were not designed with computers. Computers didn’t exist in anywhere near the form they do today! They were designed by teams of smart, creative engineers using slide rules. The Commodore walked ahead of us, taking lots of pictures.

Barbara and I had another cherished illusion SHATTERED! Any map will show that Council Bluffs, Iowa, lies just across the Missouri River from Omaha. You can even walk there by way of a sassy new suspension foot bridge. Now ain’t that COOL? Regarding Iowa as an utterly unsullied bastion of American righteousness, we were SHOCKED to see enormous CASINOS in the DOWNTOWN area! Holy KA-TOOTS! Sin has come to I-O-Way! We joined Butch and five of his descendants at the Horseshoe for dinner. It was a big, warm, generous family gathering! The slot machines ate us alive with no mercy. Tim fared much better… he won 172 bucks in Council-tucky, as he refers to this city!

Father Edward Flanagan, an immigrant from Ireland, founded Boy’s Town in 1917 as home for homeless boys who were literally sleeping in packing crates on the streets of Omaha. This very humble beginning started an inspiring facility that today serves boys and girls, some homeless and many who have suffered severe abuse. The art work by the students is awe-inspiring! Boy’s Town is in fact a separate city, containing world-class medical facilities and gorgeous buildings. Father Flanagan passed away in 1948; his tomb lies in the Catholic Chapel in Boy’s Town. Butch, a master tour guide here, gave us the Grand Tour!

Downtown Omaha is a neat place. Yes, Californians, there IS life east of the Colorado River! There is the lovely Heartland Park here and a lively Old Town full of shops and art galleries. On a park bench in Heartland Park, Barbara cell-chatted with our daughter Susan in Los Angeles. I gazed at the water and the bright summer sky. How glorious it all is!

Tomorrow, we venture deep into the Galaxy of Iowa.


Affectionately,
Captain Baldy

ON THE ROAD TO NEBRASKA

AIR & SPACE MUSEUM VIEWS

BOYS TOWN

VIEWS OF DOWNTOWN OMAHA

Captain’s Log – Star Date 07112009
Location – Lawrence KOA Campground, Lawrence, Kansas
Trip Miles – 2839.2
Report from Engineering – Right Front trailer tire badly worn; strong caution on blowout possibility given to us by a retired trucker at Stagecoach RV Park in Branson; change with spare immediately accomplished for $10.54 by Branson Big O Tires; road ready by 1000 hours. Three Cheers for Big O! Cleared for transit to Galaxy of Kansas!
Diesel Price - $2.56 per gallon raid
Weather – severe thunderstorms at night in Lawrence KS; hot and extremely humid during day; daytime temperature 92F, relative humidity 65 percent, heat index up around 110F… in short, WE WERE HOT AND SWEATING BUCKETS!

“Holy KA-TOOTS”, says the Commodore, using that expression she employs when particularly aghast, “this place is weirder than Berkeley!” Here we are, suddenly looking at young people with nose rings and tee shirts that say “Sarcasm – One of My Many Talents” ! The Java Break Coffee House has faux-leopard chairs and TV sets showing old Pink Panther movies! There is a hookah shop (!) and shirts that say LOVE on them! It looks like we’ve stumbled into a festering cesspool of LIBERALISM! The people around here even walk like liberals! This is too much! Barbara is now buying sunflowers and I must call my therapist!

Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas. The sprawling campus is very large and is home to the Robert Dole Institute of Politics, which boasts the world’s largest stained-glass flag and traces seventy years of Kansas and American history. This center is well worth the visit we made to it. Bob Dole has an interesting personal history. In World War II, he was so severely wounded he couldn’t feed himself for a year!

Lawrence has a bloody and turbulent history. This place was a violent battleground between anti-slavery and pro-slavery guerilla groups before and during the Civil War. This train of savagery culminated in the August 21, 1863 raid by William Quantrill and 400 pro-slavery raiders. In that atrocity, 200 men were killed and 185 homes were destroyed.

Our RV park is a very pleasant KOA park set in the middle of large produce fields – on one side there’s corn and on the other side there are soybeans! Lots of very GREEN grass around here!

We head up to Nebraska tomorrow. I think we’ll go by way of Highway 75 which runs north out of Topeka. Of course, I’ll have to run that by Edna, our navigation system. I don’t want to disturb Edna. When disturbed, she can be a real pain in the ass.

Yours in Air-Conditioned Comfort,
Captain Baldy

ANGIE'S MANAGEMENT STYLE

LAWRENCE REFLECTIONS

ROBERT DOLE INSTITUTE

LAWRENCE TOURIST CENTER -- WE SCORED A CACHE HERE

Captain’s Log – Star Date 07092009
Location – Stagecoach RV Park, Branson, Missouri
Trip Miles – 2112.9 miles
Engineer’s Report – Everything’s Cool! Cleared for transit to Galaxy of Kansas!
Weather Report – Warm and sunny.
Diesel Price - $2.45 per U.S. gallon; loaded 40.8 gallons while giving advice to two enthusiastic RV-ing newbies from Branson.

Branson is a Christian Las Vegas! That was our first impression, as we roller-coastered south on U.S. Highway 65 into the Ozarks. Billboard after billboard after billboard showed brilliant-smiling entertainers offering family-friendly shows. Are we Vegas Veterans virtuous enough to be here? There is much more to the Branson story than this limited initial impression will yield!

It is true that Branson, a city of 6.050 inhabitants, contains 52 theaters and 213 hotels. Many of these establishments, vivid and gaudy, crowd Main Street like the great gambling palaces line the Vegas Strip. It is also fact that 8 ½ MILLION people visited Branson last year! It’s also true that Branson is placed in absolutely GORGEOUS Ozark Hill country and is home to seriously gracious and friendly people. In a word --- we are glad we came here!

The Commodore and I plan to have lunch today at the impressive College of the Ozarks. The college has a School of Restaurant Management which includes a restaurant run by students. Students at the College of the Ozarks MUST have (1) financial need, (2) top grades, (3) good moral character as certified by five letters of recommendation, and (4) must work 15 hours a week in addition to attending classes. Interestingly, if a student does get admitted to the College, he or she gets a first-class college education COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE…including books, meals and lodging! Word has it that the college restaurant is a good one. We shall see!

Now…PLEASE…Brothers and Sisters, don’t get MAD at what I am about to tell y’all! The Commodore and I are both church-going Christians…but Christianity hereabouts is OVER THE TOP! Christian Radio is HUGE here, with announcers continuously and meticulously stipulating that the stations’ supporters are all Christian owned-and-operated concerns! We like gospel music…particularly men’s groups with stellar harmonies and great bass singers! However—as with ANY musical genre, including classical and jazz---there is great stuff and stuff that is marginal, to put things mildly. After a couple of syrupy numbers poured on us over the “Hankerin’ Fer Him Radio Program”(I’m serious! That’s the title!), we were glad to make it over to our secular Starbucks and sip a strong brew!

Over in Arkansas, you have a 67-foot statue of Jesus overlooking the city of Eureka Springs. You can get your Christian tee shirts at a big store nearby! They are loudly advertised on billboards on Highway 62, many miles before you arrive! So DOMINANT is the Christian culture here that we are SURE the ice cream sold next to Our Lord’s statue is pure-Christian ice cream!

When we arrived in Branson, we immediately connected with Bob and Peggy Bednar, San Diego friends who are Branson enthusiasts. They helped us get good show seats, joined us for dinner at a great fish restaurant and gave us recommendations on what to see and do! At Bob’s and Peggy’s suggestion, we “Rode The Duck”. The “Duck”, a World War II amphibious vehicle, was the unique platform for an informative presentation on Branson and the surrounded area. Our captain affected a Good Ole Boy accent…but he was, in fact, a razor-sharp retired science teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge of this historic area. It was he who gave us the Branson facts with which I started this writing. He also reminded us that Missouri suffered mightily in the Civil War with the deaths of 27,000 of its citizens. Missouri stayed in the Union. Arkansas, which lies 10 miles down Highway 65, seceded and joined the Confederacy. Sadly, recorded history shows this war to be brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor.

Entertainment here is presented with energy and heart --- and incredible talent! We saw three shows here …Shoji Tabuchi, Acrobats of China and SIX (a vocal group of six brothers). These fast-paced variety shows were fresh and delivered with passion! You can drop a lot of cash when seeing shows here – however, from what we saw, the entertainers really give you your money’s worth!

We got our exercise here as well! The Commodore and I made a geocache hike along the peaceful Big Cedar Wilderness Trail south of Branson. We walked up and down the ultra-steep streets of Eureka Springs, an engaging arty Arkansas town situated above natural springs long-regarded as sources of healing by both Indians and white people. During the Civil War, this sanctuary treated wounded soldiers from both sides. The Ozark country in Arkansas is lovely and reminds me of Vermont!

Not all our ventures were successful, of course. We rode the Branson Scenic Railroad, which ran north into the woods. For forty long and slow miles, we stared at an impenetrable wall of forest! B-O-R-I-N-G! After this unfortunate experience, The Commodore authoritatively directed her train-nut husband that there would be no more “scenic vintage rail journeys” on this trip! No MAS, muchacho!

Lambert’s is an experience not to be missed! I wouldn’t have dared to miss this eating establishment or I would have incurred the wrath of Art Morris! Art is a feisty retired U. of Missouri engineering professor and Branson buff who got in my face and said we had to eat there! Billed as the “Home of Throwed Rolls”, it’s a huge comfort-food restaurant where hot fresh rolls are literally thrown at you! Eat’em slathered with sorghum along with fried okra! M-M-M,G-O-O-D! My cardiologist will LOVE to hear about this!

Enough of my words, folks! Commodore Barbara is an inspired photographer and photo-editor. Her displays tell a story of their own! So….please enjoy them! Click on each of them to enlarge them.

Oh, one last thing! That College of the Ozarks student-operated restaurant I mentioned previously? OUTSTANDING!

Affectionately,

Captain Baldy

AT BRANSON LANDING

SHOJI TABUCHI SHOW

SHOJI NEEDED SOME BACKUP!

BRANSON SUPERMODEL

CHURCHES IN EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS

ALONG THE BIG CEDAR TRAIL

PIGGING OUT AT LAMBERT'S

Captain’s Log – 07042009
Location --- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Trip Miles – 1734.1
Diesel Price -- $2.55 per gallon
Report from Engineering – threw a breaker trying to operate microwave, air conditioning (AC) and TV at the same time; suggested appropriate revision in operator procedures to the Captain. AC operated well all day yesterday as outside temperature climbed to 104F. Star Ship Wolverine cleared for transit to Galaxy of Missouri.
Weather – Hot and Humid! Commodore and Captain are somewhat bedraggled.

Oklahoma afternoon thunder is LOUD --- especially after daytime temperatures have climbed to 104 degrees F! When we arrived in Oklahoma City, we thought the only attractive thing here was the State Flag. That view changed as numerous treasures of this place came our way. This city has real gold in it!

At 9:30 am, we were the only passengers aboard the Bricktown water taxi which plowed along a mile-long canal lined with shops, eateries, gardens and sculptures. About ten years ago, this old-warehouse district was a place to avoid! Today, it is a fun, energetic entertainment district. We went there twice! From a one-percent sales tax increase over a six year period, the folks in Oklahoma City built Bricktown, a 20,000-seat outdoor sports arena and the Ford Center indoor arena. All of these establishments are now debt free!

The attractions along the Bricktown range from the large to the small…the large end being celebrated in the impressive 1 ½-times-lifesize bronze sculptures commemorating the Great Oklahoma Land Rush back in 1889. Literally overnight, Oklahoma City became a city of 10,000 people. The small end of the local attractions is celebrated in the reigning royalty on the canal – a mother duck and nine tiny yellow ducklings!

Providentially driven indoors by the ferocious heat and humidity, we spent yesterday afternoon at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. This huge venue is home to elegantly-displayed works of Western art, including pieces by Charles Russell and Frederick Remington. Other talented artists, including Native Americans, were represented as well. At a recent auction here, paintings were sold for as much as $75,000. A large collection of saddles and U.S. Army weaponry is also on display here, as is an eerily realistic replica of a frontier village.

Collage at the Cowboy Museum...

Today is Barbara’s birthday, as well as the birthday of our Nation. We opened the day with joyous refreshment, swimming in the RV park indoor pool with Marv and Florence Kopf, our square-dance friends from San Diego. They are headed to Arkansas while we will be heading up to Missouri. We hope we cross paths with them again on our travels! Here we are with Uncle Sam...


Uncle Sam and Friends ...

No description is adequate for the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. This moving place is a tribute to those who died or were affected by the horrific bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. We spent two hours here in absolute silence. The Memorial Museum is extremely well and reverently done and moved us to tears…not only because of the horror of this moment but also by the acts of selfless generosity and courage this moment produced. Outside the building site stands the Survivor Tree, an old elm that somehow survived the blast and was nursed back to health. Seedlings from this tree have been sent to locations around the world, including the White House and New York City on the occasion of the 9-11-2001 destruction of the World Trade Center.

A Memorial Collage ...

Field of Empty Chairs For The Victims...

The Survivor Tree...

The rain is now quiet and it is cooler, thank God! We celebrated Barbara’s birthday with an excellent lunch at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill in Bricktown.

Hang in with us, travelers! We like having you with us! We head up to Branson tomorrow!


Yours Truly,

Captain Baldy

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL - JULY 4TH,2009

BARB'S HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCTION OF "OKLAHOMA"

Captain’s Log --- Star Date 07012009
Location – Amarillo Ranch RV Resort, Amarillo, Texas
Trip Miles – 1384.2
Report from Engineering – All systems operational; Star Ship Wolverine cleared for transit to Galaxy of Oklahoma
Diesel Fuel Price -- $2.50 per gallon, 29.0 gallons loaded
Weather conditions – Violent (Scary!) thunderstorm in evening of Star Date 06302009; Clear and Hot on 07012009; Maximum outside temperature – 95F

I was barely out of bed when The Commodore snarled in my ear, “I want YOU to be a MAN! I want you to start to talk like a TEXAN!!” So…Ah gritted mah tayth (teeth) and Ah SAYED (said), “Ah’m a TEXAN and Ah eat NAILS fer BREAKFAST!” The Commodore grunted her approval and we’ve had a fine (fahn, in Texan) day here in Ammarillah! O’course , Amarillo means “yellow” in Spanish and is actually pronounced AH-MAH-REE-OH. But, no matter … we do what we DO here and we SAY what we SAY here! Actually, the town was founded back in the 1800’s by Mexicans who named the town after the yellow dirt they found around here.

Amarillo has been a real surprise to us! We expected it to be a miserable layover spot that we couldn’t wait to leave. We were DEAD WRONG! One of my great joys is to shed my prejudices about a place when confronted by the truth about it. Amarillo is a gracious city, with interesting things to do and an abundance of good restaurants and civic attractions.

Today has been gorgeous, weatherwise…sunny and clear all day! In the early morning, we did some geocaching along Julian Street, a beautiful district of lovely homes and green parks. I emphasize the word GREEN since, having lived in a desert climate for many years, Barbara and I had not expected the intensity of the green in the parks, lawns, shrubs and trees. LUSCIOUS was the word for it!

To an eclectic mishmash of music over High Plains Public Radio, Barbara and I drove 25 miles south to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Palo Duro Canyon came upon us as an utter surprise, suddenly yawning forth from a seemingly endless plain. It’s the second largest canyon in the U.S., exceeded in size only by the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The park entrance is patrolled by two ancient and enormous Texas Longhorn steers named Biscuit and Gravy. We drove the winding road to the canyon floor, red rock walls standing in sharp contrast to the green of the trees by the stream beds on the canyon floor.

We were HONGRY and nuthin’ but BBQ would do fer lunch! As if directed by Divine Guidance, Ol’ Edna…our Garmin navigation system…led us over to Doug Henk’s Pit BBQ! This is the eating place to go to when in Amarillo! Succulent pulled pork and turkey, served with true Texas hospitality! Nuthin’ but GOOD!

We spent the hot afternoon at Splash Amarillo Water Park, acting like two kids on a summer day! We rented ourselves an inner tube, rode the Lazy River twice, then the Wave Pool twice, and then climbed and rode the three Slides! What FUN this romp was…it was also the “official” kickoff to Barbara’s birthday celebration! Her actual birthday is July 4th. Oh, by the way, them young lifeguard ladies were shore purty…a true Texan man must voice his appropriate word of appreciation here!

A REAL TEXAS MAN, of course, will take ten Cadillacs , bury their noses in the dirt of his immense farm, and then paint the exposed portions as works of modern art! Fantasy! NO! Welcome to Cadillac Ranch, about 10 miles west of Amarillo! It’s weird here! It’s also a top attraction in Amarillo.

We have had visitors at our trailer….Marvin and Florence Kopf, fellow square dancers from San Diego, who are “On the Road” like us and who happened to pull into the RV site next to ours! These are friendly folks we hadn’t seen in ten years!

What a GREAT DAY this has been, I tell you WHAT!

Well, Friends and Neighbors, we got bidness (business) to do in Oklahoma…better git movin’! Y’all have an excellent day!


Yours Truly,
Captain Bobby Jim

PALO DURO CANYON, TEXAS