Our Capitol and Our Library

It's another day in the D. C. neighborhood. Today we chose to take in the U. S. Capitol. It was a nice morning for a walk , but by the time we walked from our Union Station parking, we were glad to have directions from a friendly guard that saved us walking up the gargantuan front steps of the Capitol. So we descended underground to the Capitol Visitors Center, a new section of the complex that welcomes we citizens. Perhaps it wasn't part of the plan for the Capitol when President John Adams moved the seat of our federal government from Philadelphia in 1800, but it is a very nice addition. After clearing the metal detectors which we had prepared for before leaving home (no sharp objects and so on), we joined our tour group. To save a little time we prescheduled a tour over the Internet and found ourselves quickly moving along. Our guide was friendly and informative. He did a good job of describing the historical rooms, paintings, statues and architecture. And he had a few amusing stories to tell, too.

Among the historical spots we visited were the Old Senate Chamber (1810-1859) and the Old Supreme Court Chamber (1810-1860). The Supreme Court was especially surprising since it is so small and dinghy. But it suited its purposes for a while until a separate building was erected. Over 50% of the furnishings in the chamber are original, such as justices' desks and tables and chairs. The photo here is of the attorney tables facing the justices.


The old Senate location is where many famous eloquent speakers expounded on important issues to the country. The desks in the Old Senate Chamber are copies since the original desks are actually located in the present Senate chamber. The cabinetmaker who supplied them in 1819 made them for $34 each. Can you believe they are still being used???


(To enter the current Senate and House chambers you must contact your representatives and make an appointment well in advance. Which we didn't choose to do.)

It was nice having the guided tour since we could be sure not to miss the key pieces of history and interesting facts. For instance, it took 70 years of building before completion of the Capitol, with one of the last features being the replacement of the wooden dome by the current metal dome in 1865 during Lincoln's presidency. He felt it was important to continue the project during the Civil War to show confidence in the Union.

As we were enjoying the Capitol tour we noticed one of the directional signs that read: Tunnel to the Library of Congress. Neither one of us was aware there was an underground connection between these two locations. So that, of course, was our next destination. It is quite a tunnel, stretching about 1/4 mile, it seemed.

Well, as soon as we arrived in the lobby we could see this is one amazing place! The ceilings are covered with elaborate paintings honoring American painters, poets, engineers, scientists, musicians, etc. The grand staircases display symbolic marble sculptures and quotes of distinctive philosophers accentuate the porticoes. The inlayed floors and stained glass windows bring your eyes completely in circles. When you walk inside the Great Hall, it takes your breath away. This photo gives just a glimpse.


And then, of course, there's the reason for the Library. It began as a reference library for Congress in 1800 and became the great national library in 1815 when Congress accepted Thomas Jefferson's offer of his personal collection he had accumulated over 50 years. And the Library has grown ever since the copyright law of 1870 when all copyright applicants were required to send the Library two copies of their work. Add to that the vast collections of knowledge from around the world. You can make arrangements to use a reading room for reference work.

The exhibits sprinkled over the three floors are impressive. We visited the display of maps that includes the only copy of a 1507 map that is the first to include "America," after Columbus and Vespucci's early explorations. One of the most popular displays is of one of only three copies of the Gutenberg bible in existence, the first book printed with movable metal type in Western Europe in 1455, a piece of the history of human communication. It is sealed in glass but there is an interactive computerized display that takes you through all the features. Cool!

It's a place that sparks your curiosity and answers questions about the past.
So if you do have a chance, put it on your list to see. But if you can't go in person, you can visit via the Internet at myLOC.gov. There you can take a virtual tour. Or you can look inside some of the books from Jefferson's library and see close-up the items in the Early Americas exhibit. It all belongs to you.

This was another interesting day of history in our national capitol. There's much to see and contemplate, even as you walk and drive the streets. But that's for other conversations.



On our walk back to the parking garage at Union Station a friendly Washingtonian offered to take our photo in front of the Supreme Court.

"Why not," we said. So here we are, at the new Supreme Court.

Memorials and Portraits in D. C

We planned a day in downtown D. C. having chosen to visit the World War II Memorial and the National Portrait Gallery. We chose to drive rather than take the Metro this time, taking the challenge of maneuvering in the snarl of traffic and finding a parking space on the street. So prepared with our GPS, we headed east from Fairfax, over the Potomac River on US 50.
Aha, we got lucky! There was a spot right on Constitution Avenue across from The Federal Reserve (with armed guards patrolling) and just a short walk from the memorials.


As we walked the winding sidewalks past the Vietnam Wall and the impressive sculpture honoring the battlefield nurses, the clouds and rain gave a certain peace.



Our first thought was that
anyone should be impressed by the WWII memorial. As you step through the massive columns, one for each state, all adorned with wreaths, you read quotes describing the impact of these events of 1941 through 1945.





A remarkable display of bronze plaques telling the story from Pearl Harbor to the celebration of the end of the war give a clear picture of this episode in history.



This memorial is situated so that standing in the array of fountains in the middle, facing west, you look directly over the Reflecting Pond at the Lincoln Memorial. And then, doing an about face, directly in your site is the Washington Memorial and the Capitol. What more appropriate than that the sacrifices of many during this time would be honored in this spot. Well done.

After taking as much time as we needed at the memorials we worked our way about a mile northwest to 9th and G St NW to our museum site for the day. As I mentioned, driving through the city can be frustrating, but if you get advance directions, maneuver carefully and take your time, it is possible. The attendant at the subterranean parking garage assured us that for a nominal fee of $12.00 we would get back to our vehicle, as long as we were there by 9:00 pm. So we found a spot four floors underground and left the Jeep for our six to eight hours of exploring. It turned out that we had a nice lunch, an interesting museum experience and topped it off with a libation at a local watering hole.

But what about the museum? Why this one? Of course, there are numerous choices in our nation's capitol, but we chose to start with one that neither one of us had visited before, the National Portrait Gallery. We knew little about it except that the portraits of the presidents are there. As we learned , there is much more to know. Actually the building itself is spectacular. Begun in 1836 and completed in 1868, it includes porticoes modeled after the Parthenon in Athens. One of the displays inside commemorates Abraham Lincoln's inaugural ball held in the building in 1865 in the stupendous third floor hall that was also a Civil War hospital. The building was originally the U. S. Patent Building holding displays of many American inventions. In addition to the Portrait Gallery it houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The art, of course, is the reason for the museum. But the complete attraction is the way that the story of America is told using the art. Each piece includes a snippet of history taking place at the time, how the subject of the piece fits into the history and the relationship of the artist to the events of that time. Just one small example...... there's a photograph of President Eisenhower in the reviewing stand of his inaugural parade in 1953 being lassoed by Cowboy Monte Montana on horseback. The short historical vignette tells about how Dwight Eisenhower won 36 of 48 states in his presidential race against Adlai Stevenson. It talks about how he was very congenial about this wild west stunt. It also noted that the secret service on duty were not too pleased. The photograph and the information conjured up thoughts about how it might play out today. Can you imagine? In fact, we ended up in a discussion there in the hallway with another couple looking at the photo at the same time. There's something about having a visual image along with a story that stimulates the mind, right?

Everybody would find something of interest in this museum. There are works spanning more than three centuries and every medium, sculpture, oil, photography --- contemporary, folk art, murals, impressionism, etc, etc. I mentioned that we thought we would have more than enough time to see the museum. Well it wasn't. We had to leave a portion for another visit.

However, we took the opportunity to take in a program called “Face to Face.” The head curator of the National Portrait Gallery, Sidney Hart, gave a 30-minute presentation in the gallery about Thomas Jefferson and the artist who painted two of his portraits, Charles Willson Peale.
He took us to each piece, giving us background on why this artist and why at this specific time in history....and why he as the head curator thought of the work. Of course being the historian that this man is, there was a lot more to the story he gave us. Hanging next to Jefferson's portrait in the gallery of vice presidents, is John Adams. Mr Hart told the tale of the relationship of these two men, and others to them, such as George Washington. He was easily coaxed into details of his knowledge of Adams and Jefferson, their up and down friendship, and much more.

All in all, our minds, our feet and our legs had a workout, but it was worth a few aches. Of course, there are benches to rest occasionally and a pleasant courtyard for refreshments. And, oh by the way, have you ever experienced a waste container that speaks to you? Well these do. They say “thank you” when you deposit your trash? We even heard one clever user respond, “your welcome,” with a wry smile.

Both of us give a thumbs up to anyone who is curious about visiting your National Portrait Gallery. I haven't touched on the magnitude or variety of artwork that you can see and stories behind them.

By the time they closed the doors on us at 7:00 pm we were ready to relax for a few minutes before heading home. So we stopped at the little bar we found above our parking garage. This turned out to be a nice close for the day as we were surrounded by people flowing in to what was an after-work spot, sharing their lives and whatever it is that all of them do in D. C. It was a jolt back to today after stepping outside for a few hours. Another a slice of life!

Getting out of the city at 8:00 pm was smoother than entering in the morning. All was well.

Pausing for Painful Repairs

We spent the last four days taking care of some unpleasant, but necessary, repairs on Ferd. After a scenic, but hilly, drive through the Cumberland Pass area of West Virginia, we arrived in Fairfax, Va, to try out the local Elks Lodge where we heard they have nice accommodations for rvs. That is so true, but then there was the bad news.


Immediately, Jerry noticed the signs of the transmission oil leek on the back of Ferd and the front of Ole Yeller. Well, we had just had this problem about 1500 miles ago when heading east through Oklahoma. It didn't take long to conclude that the gasket we had replaced at the Allison transmission shop in Tulsa must not have been the entire problem.
Fast forward after conversations with the Foretravel factory in Texas and mechanic shops here.....we have a new bearing in our transmission installed at the Western Branch Diesel repair facility in Manassas, Va. So far the $2700 fix has put Ferd back on the right path.
Our experience with this shop was super. We had a very impressive mechanic, Seth. Here he is pointing out the problems and solutions to Jerry on our transmission. Everyone at Western Branch Diesel was accommodating and seemed professional. They pushed us out of the shop so we could stay in Ferd the first night. So we only had to go to a hotel one night when the transmission was completely removed and we couldn't move outside.
It's not fun to have these problems, but it could have been much worse.
Now we're ready to get on with our plans.

Getting Around in Virginia

Our plan to spend a few months in historic places in the Eastern U. S. begins now. We arrived in Fairfax, Virginia, a few days ago and settled into a comfortable spot at the Elks Lodge. The Arlington/Fairfax lodge has electrical hookups and water for $14.00 per day, a real steal for this area of the country. It's convenient for getting around and near the Metro as well. But, unfortunately, as soon as we unhooked the Jeep, we discovered a mechanical problem on the coach. So we took a day to analyze the issue and investigate a repair facility. We made an appointment for next Tuesday. With that plan in place, it wouldn't help to worry. So it was time to start our exploration of the area.

First on the agenda was a little help for our travels. One thing we've been considering to help get around in big cities is a GPS. We found a Best Buy with a good salesman and here's our new friend, “Tillie,” the Garmin GPS. (We thought the name just suited her.) We've had fun on our test runs since she joined us. Tillie told us how to navigate the highways and side streets in Fairfax and D. C., to locate, buildings, restaurants and parks. And she is so patient, “recalculating” any time we miss a turn. We were amazed that it was so easy to catch on to all the functions. Why didn't we have this sooner???

Yesterday we took a short trip, about 20 miles southwest, to the Manassas National Battlefield. This is the site of the first land battle of the Civil War in 1861 - “First Manassas.” Many call it “Bull Run”. About a year later, Union and Confederate soldiers bloodied these hills and woods again in the “Second Manassas.” In all, almost 30,000 soldiers fell to their deaths on this battlefield.

There are a museum, movie and hands-on artifacts in the visitors' center that provide a good deal of information about this sobering piece of history. But the 45-minute tour over the battlefield with the park ranger, Hank, brought us the vivid imagery. He walked us through the circumstances of the First Manassas, describing the types of soldiers involved and bringing to life in our minds the horror of the events played out on the ground where we were standing. The cannons are positioned on the hill and at the edge of the woods just as they were 148 years ago. You stand at the top of Henry Hill and look north to where the boys in blue fought over Bull Run and up the hill to where the boys in gray fiercely defended out of the woods. Around 5,000 men lost their lives on that summer day in 1861. He explained the tactics of the Union and Confederate officers in command, two men who were former classmates at West Point. He emphasized that the majority of the volunteers fighting on both sides were barely trained and very naive about the glory of war. It was also widely believed that this would be a short conflict, perhaps ending after this battle. The soldiers who survived learned that there is no romance in war and that this was only the beginning of many months of sorrow. And, of course, friends and families from Massachusetts to Texas became aware of these realities, too.

Later we took the ride that leads through the countryside , over the grounds of the battle to several key sites of the Second Manassas in 1862. As you drive the tour you can see the denseness of the woods that the men marched through and the hills and valleys where they positioned their cannons and stood to fire their rifles....in the open... point blank. The one year of fighting had seasoned those who hadn't been taken by a bullet or a disease. The Stone House that was a Union field hospital still stands, with initials carved by soldiers recovering and dying there. The troops casualties in this battle numbered 24,000. Some of the dead were buried on the site and a few were carried home by family. God bless them all.

The visit to Manassas was somewhat sad, but also very informative. The park has impressive presentations that are designed for all ages.

It reminded us that there are good reasons to preserve this place in time and discuss these tragic moments in history. We had a good day.

Researching in Brown County, Indiana

Over the past few days we've been in a favorite Indiana spot, Brown County. It's a place that thousands enjoy each year and for good reason. Nature abounds in them thar hills! The scenes in the hills turn bright in the spring with blossoms and warm oranges in the fall. It's also a lot of fun to to experience the shops in Nashville, the county seat that began as an artists' colony. We can now find a myriad of handmade jewelry, leather goods, fudge and furniture, in addition to the art. There's always the popular stop in the Nashville House for some famous fried biscuits or a quaint cafe for fresh selection of coffees or ice cream.

Our location for these few days was the Brown County State Park. It's a beautiful park with winding scenic views. The winter browns are just starting to disappear. Spring rains are bringing out the buds on the trees and the robins are nesting. This is a park that draws loads of hikers, bikers, campers and picnickers for many weeks of the year. We were early enough that it was pretty quiet during the past week. I took long walks in the evening through our sparsely occupied campground. It was a little wet for me to get out on the trails, but there are sure some super ones here.
We did take note of a certain type of connoisseur appearing this time of year in the woods of Brown County. As we leisurely enjoyed the few miles of road leading us out of the park each day, we would see a few cars parked along the road without occupants. But then quickly we noticed two or three people walking very slowly staring intently at the brown leaves on the ground. This deliberate glare looks a lot different than the usual hiker's pose. Ah, hah, the spring time brings out the Morel mushroom hunters! Later, I had a strong confirmation of the value of this activity when I visited the local IGA -- $29.99 per lb for these treasures. Maybe this hobby is one to consider.

However, no time for that now, our main motivation for this particular trip was one of our favorite passtimes, family research. Jerry's Hurley ancestors were among the early settlers of the area in the 1830s. In fact, one historical account states that the first election in the county was held in the home of Cornelius Hurley. Although many family facts have already been discovered, there are a few pieces to find. What are all the circumstances of Elisha Hurley's family after he was killed in 1847 in the Mexican American War?

Often going directly to the locale to investigate the records proves more successful. So we spent a few of our afternoons searching through the genealogical section of the Brown County Public Library. We did get a few leads to follow.

Our research also took us out and about, to the Mt. Zion Cemetery at the top of a hill on highway 135 between Stone Head and Story, Indiana. Jerry was able to get photos and plot GPS locations of Ephraim, Cornelius and a few other Hurley tombstones for his records. Stone Head was the home of the Hurleys in the 1800s and the resting place of several of them today. Roaming an old cemetery on a sunny day amidst the forests and fields of southern Indiana can be somewhat good for the soul. Who knows! Maybe a few still roam the hills and cornfields.

One thing you can depend on in the spring time in Indiana is that there's no telling what weather there may be. Typically, we had three days of sun and two days of clouds and rain. Soon the greens will be everywhere. It was nice to be here. Now we're moving on east.....looking towards our next destination in the D. C. area.

Making History

Did you ever stop to think what history you are making every day? If your descendants were to research your life, what would they find and what would they think? Celebrating grandson Ben's birthday yesterday, along with some recent family research, made me wonder how our every day lives might play out in their minds. Would our ways of celebrating birthdays be strange? Or our traditions for Easter?

I hope they would find our lives somewhat interesting, and hopefully, worthy of retelling to their own contemporaries. Can you just hear it?? "These people had to use wires to connect their telephones and lights. They even pumped gasoline into their vehicles!!"

Lately history's been popping up as we plan our stops in the eastern part of the country for the next six months or so. We've been choosing sites that we will take some time to explore more in depth than our short vacations in the past have allowed. (Historical item here, at left: My mom's high school basketball team. Click to read.)



But this past weekend current events took center stage. Between Indiana's spring showers we had lots of fun celebrating Easter and our grandson's birthday.


My sister, Marti, has an annual Easter Egg Hunt
that she puts on for the children of family and friends on the Saturday preceding Easter. In addition to assembling a tremendous number of eggs to hide, she cooked some delicious food. We all filled our bellies with meatballs, her fabulous potato salad, great vegetables, and of course, deviled eggs and cupcakes with jelly bean decorations.



Jerry and Krissy and I were appointed to be Easter Bunnies. I'll tell you this, it was a challenge to find enough hiding places for the volume of eggs she had stuffed with candy, money and prize-winning tickets. But the kids were determined to find every one. They enjoyed blowing bubbles and playing with all the gifts that were rewards of their efforts. Thanks, Marti, it was a nice day!



The following day, Easter Sunday, was a day for celebrating grandson Ben's 14th birthday. And we were blessed with another sunny day...... we could enjoy the outdoors. Ben's Uncle Tim once again opened his home to us all. The food was great, the company was great and the story-telling was outstanding.

The youngsters in the group ran Tim's atv's mercilously on the tracks next door. Even Rio, the always-ready-to-play-ball Border Collie had a workout and was exhausted by the end of the afternoon....... Just the usual Hurley gathering.
Celebrating Ben's birthday made me think back (Here goes history again.) to when he visited us on the road at Green River Lakes in Wyoming a few summers ago. It was such a treasure to be able to share that spot with him.



Here's a photo of Jerry and Ben during that visit. As is always said, how can they grow up so fast? Ben is turning into a young man. He has a great personality, brains, an inquisitive nature and a super smile. (No prejudice here!)








What will his history be down the road?
We made one day of it, his 14th birthday.
May you have many more fabulous ones, Ben!!

Celebrating My 60th - Family and History

How to spend a 60th birthday? Crying? Laughing? Well I guess the best idea is to just enjoy with family and friends. We arrived in Indianapolis a few days ago. So I did just that. We ate and laughed and celebrated. Krissy made a wonderful trifle of white chocolate and lemon mousse with strawberries. It was scrumptious and we all pigged out!!



Just a few days ago, as we were on our way across country, Jerry asked where I'd like to have a "birthday stop." I remembered that an old favorite place of mine recently received a new and exciting face. So we took a few red highways and had a pleasant two day stopover in French Lick, a small community on highway 56 in the rolling hills of southwestern Indiana.

There you will find the renovated French Lick Springs Resort and West Baden Springs Hotel. My personal history in French Lick dates to planning conventions from the 1970s to the 1990s. But the history of the resorts dates to 1901. French Lick Springs Resort and its neighboring West Baden Hotel were world-class hotels that were very popular destinations in the early 1900s for celebrities and wealthy. Al Capone, Joe Louis, Clark Gable,senators, mayors and many others came on the train to drink the legendary mineral water that cured all ailments or to frequent the casinos that were operating in the valley. The story of these unique hotels is interesting in many ways.
Here's a replica of a 1901 postcard that explains the attraction of the Pluto Spring Water at the French Lick Hotel. (Click on the picture if you'd like to read more.) And the next photo gives an example of
the gold leaf and paintings restored in the hotel's lobby.

The West Baden Hotel has a six-story, 3,000 sq. ft, dome atrium that was the largest in the world until the Houston Astrodome was built in the 60s. Suffice it to say, that as happens in many cases, times changed and these grand old ladies both suffered ups and downs. West Baden's resort went through several owners and in the 80s was shut down completely. We have a shot here of the photo in the hotel's lobby in ruins a few years ago. About three years ago a wealthy Indiana family decided to invest in these historic landmarks. After $500,000,000 in sprucing up they are beautiful once again. And a casino was a part of the additions.


The Spas are welcoming guests for massages, soothing baths, pedicures and wraps. The casino games are flashing and clanking. The restaurants, pools and rooms are all sporting upgrades. But, also, the rocking chairs that were always a popular feature are still gracing the front porch at the French Lick Resort. The 3,000 square foot atrium of the West Baden Hotel that was literally crumbling and in danger of collapsing is once again awesome!






We were welcomed by a manager to park our motorhome in the parking lot just next to the golf course. A perfect spot, quiet and nice view.
The grounds of the hotels are about one mile apart and offer great scenery for a walk. The tours of the facilities are an interesting way to spend about 90 minutes. It was nice to see an oldie looking so fresh as I take this step into my next , and even better, phase of my life.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We wanted to send along one of our favorite Irish thoughts for today:

May those that love us, love us.
And those that don't love us,
may God turn their hearts.
And if he doesn't turn their hearts,
may He turn their ankles.
So we'll know them by
their limping.

As we've traveled the byways in the past few days, we've passed through Shamrock, Texas, Murphy, Oklahoma and today into Sullivan, Missouri. So what's more appropriate than we wish all of you the luck of the Irish and many blessings!

You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover

Today was a travel day that took us through quite a variety of changing landscapes and weather in Arizona, from the desert in the south, through the beautiful orange cliffs of the Mogollon Rim, to the pine forests near Flagstaff, where it turned a little nasty. -- from sunny 80s to snowy 40s in a few hours.


Another significance of today was that the despicable crook, Bernie Madoff, had his day in court. We often listen to news broadcasts on Sirius as we travel. And today as we heard stories of the victims of this evil man, I began to compare a recent encounter of ours.

While we were spending a few days in Quartzsite having a new amp meter installed, we were situated at the High Jolly BLM campground just north of town. We were watching people one evening when, out of the distance we both caught sight of a large elderly man with a full beard approaching us wearing only shorts, tennis shoes and a Lonesome Dove cowboy hat. And wait. That's not the whole picture. He was missing teeth and had a swarthy tan except for in the white areas where his skin lapped over. He also was wearing a big smile. Oh yeah.....did I mention he was riding an ancient bicycle much too small for his large frame.

Well, we were both thinking something like.."There's another interesting local character. Wonder who he is and where he's going?" Just about that time he turned his bike straight for our rig and promptly knocked at the door. "Oh no, what's he want." We soon heard the story of how his van was stuck in the gully at the back of the campground and could we help with our winch on the Jeep. Oh well, not much else is going on. So why not help out?
Jerry put his derby on and jumped in the Jeep to go look over the situation. There was a small group of campers that seem to have setup long term housekeeping at the very furthest edge of this two-week BLM camping area. I remember seeing them in past years, too. The neighborhood included two old vans, a tiny rickety trailer, a tent, a couple of overstuffed chairs and a teepee made of tree limbs and blue plastic. Well, that's where he found our new friend.

First there was hand shaking and introductions. Really, I couldn't make this up: This man introduced himself as "Grateful Ted." As usually happens, Jerry's derby brought comments and broke the ice. It was an unusual social gathering but a very congenial group.
It turns out that Ted's 30plus-year-old van was in the gully because he was helping a friend setup a lowboy as a musical stage. The lowboy was also in need of rescue, but Ted just wanted help with his van. As they went about coming up with the best method to winch his van out of the gully, they shared other personal information.

Jerry tells him: "We're fulltime rvers, just passing through. We travel the road in our motorhome and spend time in many different spots." Ted responds, "Oh, I'm a gypsy, too!" He also shared that he is a musical performer. "In fact, I'm recording a song next Wednesday in town. Why don't you come on over?" (We won't be in town, but we'll be listening for him on the radio.) By this time Jerry had pulled the van out and Ted was very "grateful." He offered to pay Jerry for his services, but there was no need. We all went back to our lives.

The next morning when I got in the Jeep I noticed a piece of paper stuck under the wiper. Grateful Ted's message follows:

To Whom It May Concern:
This is a note of gratuity
concerning J. R. Hurley...
Namely, that any assistance he may require,
be it $$ or just an ear to listen,
that he be granted that assistance
as promptly as he assisted me,
namely, G. T., a bone headed red neck
who admires the way he wears his hat.
Gratefully,
GR8FL TD
aka Theodore Alvin Slack
(Then he leaves his address and phone number in Oregon)
Call me sometime, J.R. and thanx again, G.T.

As I was saying earlier, isn't it ironic how we many times judge someone such as Sleezeball Madoff to be worthy of our respect because he wears a pinstriped suit and someone like Grateful Ted is unworthy because he wears no suit. So, maybe Ted has made us pause in the future to think "You can't always judge a book by its cover."

Regrouping and Relaxing

After leaving Las Vegas we turned our eyes toward an old favorite spot where we could relax and regroup. It sounded like the thing to do since we had several options in mind for our next destination and hadn't made a final decision. We made our way south about 200 miles.

Here we are at the Midland Road BLM outside Blythe, California, a sparsely visited parking area. This little town has any of the necessary amenities, such as restaurants, groceries, laundry and even free water and dump. But mostly the reason for our stopping here is the peaceful scenery five miles out of town.

But what could we be doing there???? Well, let's see:
-staring at the mountain scenery and enjoying the desert flowers
-gazing at the sunsets
-soaking up the sun
-surfing the Internet
-catching up on cleaning
-solving amp meter issues
-reading
-watching movies
-trying recipes
-taking walks
-practicing jewelry-making (Nancy, that is)
-discussing our travel plans
-talking more about travel plans
- and, just drinking in the deafening silence of this place.


This was time we needed and enjoyed. We even practiced some of the recipes we gathered from friends during our volunteer episode in New Mexico. I cooked up a pot of Borracio Beans. And Jerry made some scrumptious Pico de Gallo. (Thanks George!! ) It was fantastic on our steaks and also on tacos the next day.


Now, after enough regrouping, we're ready to roll again. For a few days we are in Quartzsite, just 25 miles east. Since our amp meter went defunct, we decided to inquire at a local well-respected rv repair service, Discount Solar, about a new meter. Hopefully, that will be a quick fix here in Q.

As soon as we can after that repair, we'll begin moving eastward. We'll be traveling to Indiana first for some medical checkups. Then we begin what we are calling our "Historical Journey." The rest of 2009 we'll be visiting historical sites in the eastern part of the country. See you along the road.