Adventure 245: Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center/ Shawnee, OK

We navigated old school today.

The morning sun peeked through trees this morning at Caddo Lake State Park, but it was the squawking of the birds that brought me out of my slumber. I'm sure I saw a giant mosquito with black boots and silver spurs riding a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, but for sure birds were squawking like they were being ridden hard. Speaking of Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers, I won the morning cribbage game which gave me claim to all of the sapsuckers in the area. We pulled out of Caddo about eight-thirty and readied ourselves for another six hour drive. We left the Texas piney woods and before we knew it, we were on the plains of Oklahoma. Given the terrain, I turned to the radio dial to pass the time. My choices ranged from Jan and Dean singing the oldies to Christian Radio, to rabid right wing talk show hosts ranting about how "they" (The left) are out and out attacking everything right about America to a myriad of country music. It takes just about one minute of listening to Rushbo, who admits to tying half his brain behind his back to figure what he will "ditto" for the next three hours. I already consider myself saved, and the oldies are my contemporaries, so I like to listen to country when I'm there. Two favorite lines I can remember: "They call me crazy, but it keeps me from going insane." And "I didn't think it could get any hotter until I got home to the farmer's daughter." Mostly, we turn the radio off and jibber-jabber like newlyweds. It's nice to travel well with my bunny. Our drive was uneventful, and we arrived at the Heart of Oklahoma Conference Center's RV Park about three. The park has about three hundred sites. We're here with three of our newest friends (I'm sure it's different if an event is in town). After we set up, we took a walk around the expo grounds. Happily, we discovered a bike path, so we unloaded the tandem and rode for about an hour. On the way we passed Oklahoma Baptist University. I don't know much about the place, but the football team was working hard (Spring practice) and there was a tennis match going on. We caught a little of the last match between two young women. They were excellent players. It would have been nice to see more of the team match. We enjoyed a nice dinner (From the freezer) of tamales and Chile Verde (Left over from the batch we made at the Kral's). We've eaten some fine food on this trip, and some of it we've made ourselves. Right now it's partly cloudy and pretty hot (eighty-five), but there are severe thunder warnings for Central Oklahoma. As we speak, not very far South of here softball sized hail is pummeling the area and we're just beginning to hear the rumble of thunder. Stay tuned. At the very least, we're in for rain. Prayerfully, the severe weather will pass us by. If so, we'll head to Newton tomorrow for a visit with Judy's sister and her husband Wilbur. On the way, we'll stopover in Wichita to see Kel's sister Jan and her husband Tom. If we're granted traveling mercies, we'll be in Newton by supper time. Though we're sad to leave Texas, it's nice to turn the corner for home, and without doubt, life is good, especially today (Even in the face of scary thunder).

 Did you see that mosquito riding that Yellow Bellied Sapsucker?

 So long, Texas; Hello Okie Benokie.

 This is where the radio came in handy.

 Shawnee, Oklahoma.

 The RV park is mostly empty; no event is scheduled.

 Stumpy, ready to ride.

 This trail circumnavigated a local airport. We rode around in circles for an hour. It was good.

 The Campus of Oklahoma Baptist University.

 This rig was working, pumping the black gold.

 The thunderheads building in the South. The thunder is starting to rumble now.

 The view from our front window.

Fric and Frac hunkered down. According to the predictions, the tornado chance is low. Let's hope.

Home made Chile Verde, home made tamale, orange slices, and a lonely radiman. Yum!

Adventure 244: Caddo Lake State Park/Jefferson, TX

P.M. Drive

A.M. Drive

With just a few Texas turn arounds (Pilot error: reading is a useful tool, especially road signs), we were on our way back to the East Texas piney woods. Actually, other than a long haul in terms of driving hours (5.5 hrs), the drive was extremely pleasant. East Texas, which in this neck of the woods is virtually Louisiana, is lush shades of green. Here at Caddo Lake, the moss drips off the cypress tress, and If you listen carefully, you can hear the chants of the Indians who used to live here. Unfortunately, we're still about a week away from the major magnolia bloom. Nonetheless, there is a mystical wildness about this place that is appealing. Before we left, I did manage to win all of the Houston Astros from Stumpy, even though she moved my peg, changed her crib cards after the hand had started, and claimed (Weakly) the innocence of a newbie. We got to Caddo Lake State Park about two, set up the trailer and wandered around the park until the mosquito invasion proved to be too much. They're bigger than squirrels around here and as plentiful as the tears of an ardent Zag fan. We opted to head into Jefferson, Texas, a place that claims to be the best example of antebellum Texas. If the number of historically registered buildings is any indication, I think they're right. We gleefully wandered the town, gawking at the pillared homes, the myriad of churches, and the insides of quaint business establishments. We really love small towns. It's refreshing to see them alive and well, especially considering the fact that those in our area are boarded up and forgotten. The historical society of Jefferson has actively registered most of the buildings and many of the homes in town in an effort to preserve them as well as boost tourism. Maybe Jefferson will return to it heyday when Steamboats were transporting goods up and down the river. Who knows? All I know is life is good, especially today.

 If way leads on to way, we'll come back here with enough time to take a boat tour on the lake.

 Me and Stumpy on the dock.

 Art shot of the cypress trees.

 This guy could care less about mosquitoes; he has shovel fish fever.

 Frac settled safely into site #42.

 Our picnic table, fire pit, and BBQ (I hope the skeeters enjoy the facilities).

 Hot rod of the day.

 Luxury train car (Now a tourist exhibit).

The classic Texas mansion has both plantation style pillars and a rod iron fence.

Fabulous buildingl, artfully maintained. Inside oozes with Southern charm.

 These two chandeliers (Purchased from the White House) hang in the sitting room of the Excelsior House, which has been in service continually since 1850.

 Downtown Jefferson (Taken from the beginning of the residential section).

 The Schüler House, built by one of the first six settlers in Jefferson.

 This house is called the Seasonal House because the cupola has stained glass windows representing the four seasons. (It wasn't open, but I'll wager the light from inside is marvelous. In addition, the ground floor windows are nearly eight feet tall.

 This little gasolineria (Now a coffee shop) is much like the one Judy lived in right after she was born. Her father Abe ran the gas station, and the family shared the bathroom with the customers.

 Abe may have gassed this baby up.

 With very little prodding, I guided us into the local Antique and fudge shop.

 This place is awesome! Much like the hardware store in Halstead, Kansas, this place is a throw back complete with a soda fountain, nostalgic memorabilia, and an upscale selection of trinkets, Tees, and sundries.

 One inside view of the Jefferson General Store.

 Our supper, Southern fried, was a bit uncertain.

 Uncertain, Texas. We didn't go. It was too iffy.

 Caddo Lake State Park, like most in East Texas, was built by CCC workers during the depression. I'm glad they did. In fact, I'm impressed in general with the Texas State Parks we've visited.

Adventure 243 Lake View RV Resort/Houston, TX/Post D

Elite eight selfie.

From Zion to Zydeco and a trip to Zag misery in between. What a day! In the morning, we took the back (Non Freeway) roads to Memorial Presbyterian Church for the middle service (Contemporary) of three. The members were fashionably late (A Presbyterian trait), but the big church was pleasantly full by the end of the service. Our former pastor, David Peterson, left First Presbyterian and just retired from this Houston church in 2013 after eighteen years of service. Peterson is easily the best preacher I've ever heard. He's a fabulous writer, a solid theologian, and a fine example of righteous Christianity (And he's humble.approachable, and genuine) . Today's service felt much like he was still here. The young pastor who spoke today used a sermon structure much like Peterson's. It was full of imagery, anecdotes, allusions, citations, and the message challenged the faithful to live a better Christian life. It was a good service, although at the Peace sharing, the exuberant Texans (They're incredibly bubbly and unceasingly polite) almost scared me with their social natures. "Welcome, I'm Dennis. It's nice to see ya'll." "Welcome, I'm Heather." And so forth. After church, we had our traditional egg surprise, and I soundly beat Stumpy twice to set up the final game for all of the Houston Astros tomorrow morning. We watched much of the Michigan State/Louisville game on TV before heading to the stadium to cheer wildly for our Zags. The game wasn't what we hoped for. The Zags played up hill all game against maybe not a better, but certainly a stronger team. The Duke guards dominated ours, our big men got early fouls, and a Duke reserve (Matt Jones) had a career night. Beyond that, Duke's defense was spectacular. The Zags average over eighty points. They scored fifty-two tonight. It was tough, but It's hard to be disappointed in a season of thirty-five wins.  Nonetheless, I'm sure our Zags are feeling a bit empty right now. As for us, the excitement was palpable, We screamed until our voices were hoarse, and we almost got on TV (The hand held stopped panning an inch before we would have shown). Since the game was early (4 P.M.), it was still light afterward so we drove down to the University district looking for dinner. We found a place called Local Foods which was almost like a cleanse after all the BBQ, Mexican, and Burgers we've been eating. Judy had a Vietnamese Bahn Mi pork sandwich, and I had an Asian chicken salad. The food was excellent, the joint was packed, and the atmosphere was casual friendly. Very good spot. It was about 8 P.M. after we finished dinner, so we went to a dive bar called the Big Easy to listen to zydeco music (Every Sunday). The band was called the Zydeco Spots. Typically, the music was high energy (The dancer's feet were smoking'). I especially liked the guys playing the washboard. It was a full day: from heaven to hades and somewhere surreal in between. Tomorrow, we're off to the wilderness again to a place near the Texas/Louisiana border called Caddo Lake State Park. It's a swampy place at the north end of the piney woods that has cypress trees dripping with moss, alligator eyes peeking from the slime green water, and all sorts of other surprises. It's a brief overnight stay, but hopefully we'll once again be granted traveling mercies. If so, we'll have most of the afternoon to explore the park. Although not on the original agenda, Houston has been a great experience for here life is good, especially today.

 A long view of the high Memorial Presbyterian (10.6 million operating budget).

 Courtyards.

 Fountains.

 A three thousand seat sanctuary.

 

 The winds weren't favoring the Zags today.

 Regardless, we all cheered bravely (The Duke faithful outnumbered us 7-1).

 The irony of competition: disappointing end to a 35-3 season.

 If you're ever in Houston, come down to the Rice University area (Kirby Street). It's worth it.

 Broccoli flower tops for table decorations.

 Clusters of old timey light fixtures..

 Asian salad and house made chips.

 I drank one beer at the Big Easy (It's a sin not to drink in a dive bar, especially on Sunday).

The Zydeco Dots ripping it up.