Longhorns, and Windmills and Buttes... Oh, My!

I awoke this morning in Mt. Pleasant, showered, unhooked, and headed out. Soon I stopped for fuel and stopped again soon after that to adjust my passenger's side mirror. I need to tighten the thing, but I don't have the necessary allen wrench yet. So I have to adjust the mirror every time I stop, or after I have gone over some bumpy roads.

I set the GPS so that I'd go via Denton, TX, which took me north of Dallas. I did wave as I went by, Lynell! Just west of Denton, I saw my first prickly pear cactus since last spring! Soon after that, I started seeing long horns on some of the cattle, and then, near Breckenridge, a roadrunner ran across the road in front of me!
North of Abilene, I went through an enormous wind farm, with probably hundreds of huge windmills. Here is a photo that someone else took of this wind farm. It amused me that there were cattle grazing throughout this wind farm, and they seemed completely unaffected by these huge turbines.

I had a Kashi TLC bar (cherry & chocolate) for breakfast, along with a cranberry juice that I got at the gas station. Lunch... um... cashews. I didn't stop for lunch. I did stop in the afternoon, though, at a little grocery, and picked up a few convenience non-perishable meals that I could enjoy along the rest of my trip.

On the "little road" through Denton, I went through several county seats, passing by some really cute and cool courthouses. Texas has 275 county seats. Now.. wouldn't THAT be a neat photography project? Andrew, one of my favorite readers, reminded me of my Indiana Courthouse photography project. Michael and I did this a few years ago, taking 3 years to travel all over the state of Indiana, photographing every county seat's courthouse, along with some street scenes.

At about 3:30, I arrived at KOA of Abilene. After hooking up, I went for my walk, one of those round-and-rounds in the campground. Then I fixed my dinner, one of my convenience things -- a chicken, pesto, cheese wrap, that I assembled and microwaved right in the box. It was sort of salty, but it was pretty good.

Tonight I'm watching HGTV (yes, on cable!) and catching up with email. Next I'll do the USA Today Sudoku, and then hit the rack. I'm about 12 hours from Tucson, which means that I'll be there on Thursday or Friday. :)

Doves on the Wing

This day started out with the weather calm but cloudy in West Memphis. I had a shower, about 5 minutes of which was warm. I unhooked and drove off. I had a fuel stop, a couple of Rest Area stops, and then it was time for lunch. One HOUR is how long it took me to get my food and to get it eaten... at Wendy's in Arkadelphia. At least it was good. I got chili, a Caesar salad, and a root beer. I saved the salad.

Sometime this morning, just before I crossed the White River in Arkansas, I saw an amazing sight -- probably 100,000 white and gray doves both swirling through the air, and noshing on corn in a field. What a wonderful thing to see!

After I left Arkadelphia, the wind picked up, and I fought it all the rest of my drive, making my shoulders sore from the effort. I didn't go much further, stopping at Mt. Pleasant, TX, just a third of the way from the eastern border of TX to Dallas, on I-30. My APRS shows me ... not there yet. Remember, it will show my position only if it "talks to" a station with an internet gateway, and these gateways are usually rarer in the west than in the east.

After I got here, I went for my walk just around the KOA campground. Then I set out to connect the cable TV. Connecting it was not a problem, but getting it to actually work? I couldn't figure it out, even after consulting the owner's manual! Instead, I needed to call my TV expert -- Jack! Setting up the cable in this TV is a 4-step process:

1. Connect the cable outside.
2. Put the switches by the radio to Radio and On.
3. Turn the green light in the cabinet by the TV OFF.
4. Turn the TV on with the remote. Then click the Menu button and go to TV > Cable.

I know. It seems like a lot to me, too, but tonight, I'm enjoying HGTV while I do email and blog! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

What a lot we had to be thankful for this year! Last year had Michelle feeling weak and beaten from her recurrence of cancer, and Becky feeling weak and beaten from her cancer, and me feeling weak and beaten from having just lost Michael. But this year, Michelle was strong, working non-stop on preparations for the feasting. Becky is exuberant, as she has been told that her tumor is gone.

I was feeling a little maudlin about being not only without Michael, but without Jack. And then we were talking on the phone and he said that he wished that he could meet all the family -- people I've talked about often. And we decided that he would come down, and so he did.

Wednesday night, Angie made the best lasagna ever, seriously -- homemade sauce.. just plain yummy.

Thanksgiving day was the feast with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberries, green beans, and then desserts. Pies this year were my cherry pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and a bought caramel apple pie.

Friday Jack was still with me, and we went to the Frazier Museum, seeing lots of weapons, armor, guns, spears, and other interesting things. Then we went to KT's and had a delicious dinner, went to Graeter's for ice cream, and returned to the house at about 9. Another great day!

Jack was with me on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Then, this morning, we shared breakfast before he went north and I went south and west. And now we're 850 miles apart.

Tonight I'm in West Memphis, Arkansas. The Where is Janee Now link over there --> shows me in my actual campground, near to the actual space where I'm camped! The APRS is working very well, and I'm getting lots of position reports throughout the day. I wonder if this will continue as I head on westward. Here's a screenshot of the Where is Janee Now in Satellite view. You can see a barge in this picture, and this is like the 2 barges that I saw going by here earlier, when I was doing my walk. Click it to see it full-size!

With Family for Thanksgiving

What is she saying? I thought that Janee was going to be traveling across the country on Thanksgiving! :)

Well, here's what happened. I awoke on Sunday in Effingham, IL, and got onto I-57 south. Then I got a phone call from Angie and George (Michael's brother). They were both on the phone and they strongly urged me to turn left onto I-64 East, when I got there, which, as they could see by my APRS, was going to be very soon!

So that's what I did, and I'm going to spend Thanksgiving here in Louisville with them and Michael's whole end of the family. I'll be making a cherry pie tomorrow, and helping to greet all of the guests as they begin arriving from around the country today.

I've been staying for the last two nights in their guestroom, but I'll be staying in the RV from now on, because the house is already "booked" with visitors! :)

Weather has been mostly fine. I did my walk in Cherokee Park, and did not get lost, on Sunday. Ydy I went to the St. Matthews Mall with Becky and I did my walk there, because it was raining. Today's supposed to be 50 ° and the sun's shining brightly, so I'll likely walk outdoors again.

The APRS, to which Ray referred in his comment on my last post, and to which I referred at the beginning of this post, is the system that I use to fuel the "Where is Janee Now?" link, over to the right. It stands for Automatic Packet Reporting System, and is an amateur-radio-GPS-based system for showing the world my location.

In short, I have installed in my RV an antenna, which connects to a power booster. This connects to my amateur radio (2 meter), which is attached to a small Garmin GPS unit -- not my new one. This one is decicated to APRS. The position on my GPS is fed into my radio, and the position is reported to the amateur radio community. The magic comes in, when a station acting as an Internet Gateway receives my signal. This signal is then reported to the internet, and you can go to that site in my link and see where I was and what I was doing (sort of -- if I'm driving, you see how fast I'm going) at the time that the signal was reported.

Be sure to click the Satellite View button in the upper left corner of the map! And then zoom in! Right now, I'm shown close to arrival again at George and Angie's house. That's because Becky and I were out doing errands ydy in the RV.

I'm having a great time, and I hope that all of you have a very happy Thanksgiving!

On the Road Again

This gray was the color of the sky for most of my drive today. That's right: I'm on the road again, heading out to Arizona. It's just me and my little cat Eddie, because Jack has some business to get ironed out before he can travel. I just reached a point where I chose not to deal with the cold, ice, and snow, so I'm on my way to warmer climes!

I'm not there yet. The furnace and my little space heater are working overtime to keep things comfy inside. And to make things worse, because the RV is winterized, I have to use the bathhouse! I'll be going there for my nightly toilette soon, and I'm not looking forward to that! While it's 27 here, though, it's 18 right now in Big Rapids!

Today I left at 10:10, and I traveled 411 miles, before arriving at Effingham, Illinois to Lakewood Camp. I lunched at KFC, just nibbling at some chicken strips and baked beans. And I filled with fuel in the same town, Michigan City, Indiana. It was cold and windy. I stopped a couple of times at rest stops to.. rest... and to check my location and destination with the gps.

This is a pretty campground -- a place where Michael and I had stayed 2x before. It was pitch dark when I arrived here, though it was only 5:10pm local time (CST). The guy who checked me in took me to my site, and helped me to see where to hook up the electricity, which was helpful. Then I went for my walk, doing 25 minutes of round-and-round, in the freezing cold.

Ok... shutting down now and I'm off to the bathhouse!

My last posting about Tracking Snow ... LOL I discovered that I'd mistakenly posted that in the FHTV Computer Club blog! Duhhhh! And no one even mentioned it. How embarrassing. I think I wrote it on the 16th of November.

Tracking Snow

"Tracking Snow" is something that I'd not even heard of just a couple of months ago. But up here in northern Michigan, it's an important thing. In Tucson, AZ, they let school out for the first day of Rodeo. But here, they let school out for the first day of firearm deer hunting season. Camouflage clothing, deer stands, conservation officers, blaze orange hats.. they are everywhere here. Tracking snow, for those who don't know, is a freshly fallen snow layer that enables hunters to follow their shot deer to where it has fallen.

The interesting thing is that most of the people I actually have talked to don't hunt, but perhaps go along to deer camp, in order to do the driving, cooking, take photos, or just to have some beer-induced camaraderie.

Firearm season starts here on the 15th of November, and yes, we do have tracking snow. It's pretty on the trees, and the ground, but it's still too warm for the snow to have stuck on the roads here in Big Rapids. They are talking about lake effect snow around the leeward side of the Great Lakes. And up in Traverse City, where we were last Tuesday, they are predicting 4-6" of the stuff.

I don't like to talk about plans in here, but I will say that, when we do leave here, I'll let you know. I don't yet know when that will be.

Traverse City

We went on a small road trip up to Traverse City on Tuesday and Wednesday. We stayed at the Cherry Tree Inn right on the bay, and, while the weather was anything but relaxing, it was great to just get away and be us. Tuesday was my day to drive, so I drove us up there. We went to the mall, did our walk, and prowled around in the stores. Then we drove down to the bay, drove along the main road that goes past all the hotels, and found a lovely one with a bay view, a balcony, lots of TV channels (instead of the ONE channel that we get here at Gary's), and free breakfast!

We then took off for the outlet mall, where we roamed about, collecting a few things. We bought Gary a set of nice non-stick cooking pans, a couple of long-sleeved shirts (which will also be good for Tucson) for me, and a meat pounding hammer for Jack! Then we supped at Red Lobster, sharing a meal of scallops, shrimp, and chicken over wild rice.

Wednesday morning, we dined on the free breakfast, then Jack drove us up to the Grand Traverse Lodge, where we had a look around. It's a more lavish hotel than the one where we stayed, with restaurants and fancy shops on the lower floor. We took the clear glass elevator up to the top, where we enjoyed a quick glance at the bay, before heading off for downtown Traverse City.

I enjoyed the walk along the little main street of this quaint tourist town. Shops of all descriptions lined the way, each trying to lure us in, with attractive window presentations. A few managed to do this, and we bought a few things.

Lunch was at the Green House Cafe, where Jack got a hamburger and I had cherry chicken salad on a croissant. Traverse City, by the way, is the cherry capital of the world, with cherry stuff to be found everywhere!

Just as it began to mist rain, we left downtown, and went to the site of the Traverse City State Hospital, a former mental institution, built back in 1885. What a place! It's not just a building on a hill, but a huge complex of buildings. Many are still standing and are being restored as home for an inn, restaurants, and shops. The grounds are now open to the public to stroll or just drive around.

We stopped at an outfitter and at Best Buy on the way out of town. I'm looking for an upgrade for my Garmin -- one that will offer me multi-destination routing. I'm enchanted by the idea of 3D buildings, too! I didn't buy anything yet, as I'm still in the researching phase. I can buy an RV on impulse, but something like a GPS unit requires weeks of careful study!

Road Trip

Yesterday, while Jack was taking care of personal business, I went with Kay, Chuck, Gary, and Doug to Grand Rapids to have lunch and see a movie! Doug drove. The day was wonderful, with warm air, blue skies, and the last of the autumn leaves quivering on their branches.

The movie wasn't so great, though. We saw Rock 'n Rolla. It was about drugs and violence, but the plot was confusing, with many flash-backs. None of us liked it enough to want to see the sequel, which the end of the movie promised. I was happy to see it end. To make things worse, because we'd eaten a hearty lunch (Chinese buffet), we didn't get popcorn!

On Tuesday, Jack and I went over and raked leaves at the house that will soon be his again. It's amazing how many leaves and pine needles one little yard can hold! And now I am feeling muscles that I didn't even realize that I'd had! The day, again, was beautiful. With temperatures into the 70's, we didn't even consider jackets.

We've been eating well. After church on Harvest Dinner weekend, they sell the leftovers from the meal, and we scored enough stuff to make some fantastic turkey soup as well as lots of trimmings. The dressing was fabulous on Tuesday evening, rolled up into pounded chicken breasts and baked, with mashed potatoes, which he'd fried up. Mmmmm! And this morning, Jack made omelets, bacon, and hash browns. :) I have been cooking some too, but mostly acting as Jack's sous-chef. ;)

What am I doing here?

The question came up in one of the comments from my last posting, so I'll answer it. Jack and I are friends -- good friends. I am living with Eddie in my little RV which is parked outside of the house where Jack lives. We have it plugged into electricity, so we stay warm. Since it's getting to be winter here, I had the RV winterized -- water drained and RV antifreeze installed into the lines -- so I don't have bathroom facilities in the RV, and I don't cook or eat in there either. My address is a PO box for now.

Jack's been involved in theater for many years, in set construction, mainly, though he did direct the Far Horizons play last winter. I've done plays, singing and acting, since I was a teenager, so it's not much of a stretch that I would become involved in community theater here.

And it's also natural for both of us to be involved in large-scale food operations! Yesterday we did just that, working to prepare and serve the Harvest Dinner for the church. I folded napkins, set tables, filled salt shakers, cut pies, and scooped out green beans. Jack did.. LOL just about everything else. There were probably dozens of people helping altogether, so it was light work, and fun!

A beautiful Autumn day

There is no blue in the font choices for this blog that matches the wonderful blue of this Michigan sky! Today it is 66° here in Big Rapids, and the leaves that are left are gorgeous against the blue.

I had a fine and fun birthday. Jack and I traveled south to Annette and Steve's. We left on my birthday and returned on his, just 3 days later! High points were many, but included fantastic food (chicken, chicken/noodles, and pot roast -- YUM!), a trip to DQ, shopping with Jack at Circle Center and Keystone at the Crossing, getting a tour of Dow/Agro and having lunch with Annette during her workday.

At Keystone at the Crossing, I found some neat clothes at Coldwater Creek, and dropped a bit of money there. It was time. I needed a shopping spree -- and new clothes, too. You may recall that I had given away nearly all my wintery things before I left Bloomington, thinking that I'd be wintering from now on in Tucson!

Other things: On the 24th, we went to see the plays the high school kids put on at Morley Stanwood High School. They had done Midsummer Night's Dream and Shut and Bar the Door. While MSND was well done, we both laughed our heads off at Shut and Bar the Door. These plays were ones for which Jack and I had helped with set construction, and we had our names in the program!

We have been helping with set construction for the Stage M production of A Male Animal. While Jack was helping the guys with nail-pounding, I painted flats. Aside from the room we were working in being freezing cold, it was fun working with the folks.

Then ydy, Jack and I were both up on ladders installing siding on the new Stage M building. I've discovered that, while I rather like the siding installation process, I am not enthusiastic about ladder-climbing!

Today I'm home while Jack's off moving the sets for the play. My tummy hurts and I didn't feel like putting my back in harm's way, either, so I'll let him do that.
And tonight's Halloween! Being way out here in the countryside, we will not likely get many trick-or-treaters, but.. we may, too, and we're ready!