How Did We Get Here?

No this isn't trick photography. We are in Paris, Texas, and this is their own version of the Eiffel Tower, standing 65 ft tall with the cowboy hat "Texanizing" it. Paris is about 100 miles northeast of Dallas, just south of the Oklahoma line. How and why are we here? This particular stop sure wasn't on our radar. As you all know, Hurricane Gustav is threatening to annihilate certain areas of the gulf coast. Perfect timing for us to be in Livingston, TX, (near Houston) getting our residency requirements handled. Let's see, 75 MPH winds, flooding, trees falling. Not our brand of fun. So, we made an evaluation and decided that we would go north for a few days and let the high winds and torrential rains do their work without us.


So here we are in Paris. As fate would have it, we went what we thought was the wrong way on the loop around the city. As we were turning around in the parking lot of the civic center we saw RVs parked at hookups.


Long story short, we parked overnight with a convention of square dancers. Had fun watching them reel last night and have a view of the Eiffel Tower. What more could we want?!





But, you say, what's been going on before the hurricane detour?? Prior to this little adventure we were in Nacogdoches, Texas, for a week or so having motorhome maintenance done. In fact, while talking with the service reps at Motorhomes of Texas, we mentioned the trouble we were having finding a replacement for our threadbare couch. Just the labor to deconstruct ours seemed to befuddle most motorhome renovators. Well, it turns out the MOT folks had both the know-how and a nice piece of furniture that fit exactly into the space. Voila!! Here's our new couch. It took the service people a lot longer than they thought to get it installed, but luckily we had negotiated a flat price.

Now, our revised plans are to continue to monitor the Gustav activity as we explore some more in northern Texas.

Time will tell if we make it back down to Livingston to get drivers' licenses. We'll be checking out a new Corp of Engineers park near Dallas in the next couple of days. For now, Paris is nice.

A Few Days with Abe and Family

Our first stop upon leaving Indiana to head southwest for the winter was Springfield, Illinois. It was a good day’s ride for us, about 250 miles. What reason to go to Springfield? We both enjoy a great museum. And we had excellent recommendations on the new Lincoln Museum. They were right! This one was exceptional. The varied types of exhibits and presentations keep your interest and give you lots to think about. Among our favorites were the 3D audio/video presentation depicting people’s views and opinions of the Emancipation Proclamation. We also enjoyed seeing the display of Lincoln family artifacts. For instance, within this display are an axe used by Abe and a few pieces of Mary’s favorite jewelry. For museum and/or Lincoln enthusiasts, this is definitely a place to spend a day or two.

During our first day in town we also learned about other sites relating to the Lincoln family. The family home is preserved along with the neighborhood as it was when the Lincolns lived there, just a few blocks south of downtown. We decided to go there, but didn’t really expect too much beyond a well preserved 1800s home. Again, there was more. The presentations and tour by the national park rangers kept us captivated. We heard stories of the actual experiences of the residents of Springfield during the 1840s through early 1900s.

This photo is the Lincoln’s kitchen. Their stove was recovered from a house in Chicago where it was taken after a renter moved out. Listening to the documented history and walking through the homes and streets of the time, gave a clear picture of not only Abe’s life, but Mary Todd Lincoln’s and their children and extended family, friends and colleagues.

The final stop on our historical foray was our visit to the Lincoln Tomb. Abe and Mary and three of their four sons are buried there. We were partially motivated to visit Oak Ridge Cemetery when we learned that it is the second most visited cemetery in the U. S. behind Arlington.

What other surprises about the tomb? The magnitude of the 117 foot tall monument, surrounded by bronze statues. The Gutzon Borglum bust touched by many for luck. The burial chamber’s beauty. And, again, our host’s presentation included several fascinating stories about the tomb and the members of the family. In the early 1900s, after a grave robbery attempt, Lincoln’s body was exhumed, identified by opening the coffin and reburied. But this time they put him ten feet deep and surrounded by cement. I’ll leave the details of that story and others for you to hear on your own when you visit the Lincoln resting place.

It was an interesting glimpse into the lives of this 19^th century family, which most decidedly had an effect on all of our lives.

Some Fun in the Mud

The other day Jerry took his grandson Ben to the “Badlands.” This is a fourwheeling park in Attica, Indiana.

The recent rain provided the perfect setting of mud for them to enjoy themselves. The combination of two guys, a Jeep and the muddy trails made for quite a day. You can see from the photos how much fun they had.