LeDuc

After dinner tonight I walked the 15 minute path to the LeDuc Mansion where they were having a solstice event. I went into the shed to get a glass of hot chocolate first.

Then I walked over to the fire pit where people were sitting around, talking, watching the fire, and making s'mores.

I felt fortunate to be able to visit. On the weekend after Labor Day they have a Civil War event. People camp in the grounds. Delicious bread is baked in the Dutch oven outside. Vegetables from the garden are harvested for food. Can you see the girl doll peeking out of the window on the left?

I spoke with 2 ladies who volunteer here and they were a wealth of knowledge. They told me the chickens are beautiful. Heritage breeds are used. One black chicken has iridescent feathers like a peacock. The upper two floors were for the servants. There are no fireplaces up there. In the winter it was too cold and in the summer it was too hot. I felt bad for the servants. Now those floors are used for storage. On the top floor, in the circular part, was a chapel.

I would estimate I saw 100 people. A man from the Hastings Register was interviewing a woman who works in the gardens. She has been volunteering here for 10 years.

Outside the men were talking about the original owner and his political views. One woman said her husband put LeDuc's essays on the computer, edited them, and published it.

Now my clothes smell like smoke so I need to wash them.

 

Local Park

Today I started packing my car because I need to be on the road by 9 tomorrow. I took all the clothes except what I need tomorrow. I took all the food except that which is in the freezer and the fridge. Then I drove 8 minutes away to a  local park. It was a nice park in a wealthy neighborhood. I finished  a chapter of my book and took off walking. I saw a sign that said 1 loop is a half mile. How convenient. As I walked by the playground 2 boys were playing on the equipment while their Mom or Grandmom waited in the car. The boy who looked to be 18 months old climbed up to the top level of the equipment and fell to the ground. He started to cry. I went to him and talked to him. His brother came to comfort him and finally the woman in the car picked him up. She said he was only scared. Poor little type. I made 2 laps when I noticed this park has no bathroom. We got picnic tables and basketball courts and trash receptacles but no bathroom? Why? I got back in my car and bought gas even though I only needed 3 gallons just so I could use the bathroom. I came back to the park and walked 5 loops. I read for a while and then walked 5 more. I organized my car and walked another loop before heading home to my RV. A woman greeted me and I asked her why this park has no bathrooms. She lives up the street 

 and she said it was because they only wanted locals to use the park. She said she would bring it up at the next meeting. I thanked her. 

Kansas City Museum

Today I spent most of my day in or around the Kansas City Museum. This was the home of Robert A. Long who earned his fortune milling yellow pine logs in Louisiana. He lived here with his wife and his two daughters. He was a church going, teetotaling family man. This mansion contains some of the family belongings but also art exhibits, music exhibits, Native American belongings and information, a billiard table, a place to play chess or checkers, and a cafe with food and drinks and alcohol. There is information about the neighborhoods in Kansas City, the railroads, the cattle processing, and the history of floods. Robert Lang had two daughters. His second daughter became a great equestrian winning races in the United States and overseas.

Robert Long was a generous philanthropist. He had millions and millions of dollars. Before he died he had given nearly all of it away to people in Kansas City. 

After the museum I walked around the neighborhoods for a couple of days. Kansas City is known for it's fountains.

 

Miccosokee

Next to Shark Valley National Park is the Miccosokee Museum. This is a Native American museum with an actual village inside. Native people work in the village; each in their own chickee (thatched roof on poles). They offered free fry bread and talks about the culture and the practices. The tour was very interesting.

After the tour was the gator show. We watched a woman handle a gator.

 

The trick to handling gators if to boss them around back and forth for a long time until they get tired and docile.

Pittsburgh

 

Roughing It

A couple days ago we had a discussion about camping. I was volunteering at an ESL class with a local teacher, a geologist from Poland, a young man from Mexico and a woman from Thailand. We walked about the definitions of motorhomes, camper vans, camping trailers, and sports utility vehicles. We also talked about tents. All of us had been camping and saw the value of being immersed in nature. The lady from Thailand enjoys camping at Devil Track Lake campground north of Grand Marais. She does not like tents but would use a camping trailer. The man from Poland enjoys camping in Poland along rivers but he is married to a woman who would not appreciate roughing it. She even told him that if they were stranded in the desert with only a liter of water, she would use the water to clean herself. The man from Mexico used to work on a ranch with cattle and he had to camp as part of his job. Now he would use a tent for 2 or 3 days but any more than that  he would prefer a camping trailer. The man from Poland was totally unfamiliar with marshmallows and might go to the grocery store to try them out. He knew much information about the storks that live in Poland atop the chimneys in the parts of the country that have the least pollution. The man from Mexico was telling us about scorpions that live in the desert. He said they prefer that shade so being a construction worker on a home in the desert is a very dangerous business. I was asked why I prefer roughing it to luxury. Spending more time fixing food or cleaning outside takes my mind off my troubles if I am outside listening to the birds sing and watching the clouds go by in the sky. Even the sound of rain is pleasant from inside a tent. Getting wet by the rain inside a tent has happened to me and that was not fun but the discomfort was temporary. The five of us were all from very different backgrounds and I really enjoyed hearing their opinions.

Brown Versus The Board Of Education

This morning I hit the highway in Tulsa at 7:15 a.m. Traffic was heading south into town so I was lucky. Rain fell steadily until almost 11. I stopped to buy gas in Altoona when I saw this big rooster. Today I didn't count the skunks on the road but I did count 13 hawks, 3 Northern Harrier and 10 red-tailed hawks.

I arrived at Brown Versus The Board of Education National Park at 11:15. Two school buses full of children were here with their teachers. Having students of color see the exhibits at the same time I did made for a better experience.

We were watching a movie of a lynching. The teacher said one person hanging in the rope was a doll and one was an actual person. One black young man, taller than me, said "I can't watch this anymore." I silently agreed and left with him.

This artwork was located in the Colored Kindergarten room.

After I checked into my hotel I went to a local park for a walk. Mallards floated in the water.

This was also in the Colored Kindergarten room.

I went to the store to buy two postcards. The ranger asked if I was a teacher. I admitted I used to be a teacher. He gave me the teacher's discount.

This prairie was burned recently. I could still smell the smoke. I heard fox sparrows and tufted titmouse and red bellied woodpeckers and robins singing in here.

This kitchen was in the Colored Kindergarten room. When I got to my hotel it was sketchy. I saw my room and went back to the desk to ask for a lamp, the ice machine and the WIFI code. The man gave me the Wi-Fi code and said he thought I would cancel the booking as soon as I saw the room. He said the ice machine hasn't worked for 7 years. He carried a nice lamp to my room. I went to turn on the television and the batteries had been removed from the remote. Wow. Then I read the reviews on my next place, cancelled that stay, and rebooked another nicer hotel. Live and learn! I definitely need to get back in here tomorrow before sunset or my Honda Fit will turn into a pumpkin and my four new tires will turn into mice.

 

Forsythia

 This morning I was up before dawn. I puttered around the hotel room and then I thought I should get fresh air before the rains began. I drove to the dam on Riverside Drive here in Tulsa. Forsythia is in bloom. I walked toward the dam and watched the machinery pick up boulders and set them down. Dump trucks were unloading rocks. Even though this was a noisy place I could hear the Carolina warbler and the Northern Cardinals singing. A blue jay went by. I saw 2 great blue herons, a tern, a gull, and dozens of Mallard ducks. I talked to two guys and asked what is happening. I figured they were installing a path for migrating fish to get over the dam. Turns out that is on the other side of the drought stricken river. This side is for kayaks and white water rafters. The Arkansas River is very low. That should change tonight. We have flood warnings this evening. I spent a couple of hours exploring the river bank. I was going to go to the library but decided against it. Once the rain started I drove over to Trader Joe's for my favorite half salted roasted almonds. Once my date was confirmed for tonight I drove back to the sketchy hotel to get packed up for tomorrow's ride to Topeka. I cannot wait to see my dates tonight at the Flame Broiler-Korean Inspired, Charbroiled to Perfection. I haven't had kim-chi for several months now.

River Walk

Yesterday I made an appointment to take a sight seeing bus tour which I had to meet at 1 o'clock tomorrow at the Emily Morgan hotel. I wanted to find the hotel which is next to the Alamo. I wanted free parking so I thought I would park at this place which is the John Wood Federal Court House. I took this picture which would later turn out to be important. I went in to use the facilities. My purse got x-rayed and my metal hips got wanded. The officer told me to get in one of those 3 lines. He said due to the recession that would be four dollars. I totally fell, hook, line, and sinker, into his baloney. When he said he was kidding I swatted him with my sun hat. I hit a guy in uniform? Yikes. When I came out he asked if I left my quarters in there. You are a funny man.

Then I just wandered toward the Alamo with no plan in hand.

Despite what my phone said, this is actually the start of the Riverwalk. I could have walked down there.

I went into City Hall and asked if I could take a picture. I was told I could not so I turned to leave. A man came out and said I could take a picture of this hall which has the most of the original tile and woodwork anyway.

I had a nice walk. I thought I would walk until 3, eat my lunch, and head back to the longhorn ranch.

I ate my sandwich and half of my banana and plugged the address of the courthouse into my phone. Things did not work out well. By 6pm I figured this was the wrong courthouse. I arrived closer to the courthouse when my phone lost all charge. The sun is going down. By 8 p.m. I go into a hotel and ask them to call me a cab. I get to the courthouse by 8:30. I cannot find my car. I ask a park police. He walks with me and we push the panic button on the key fob. No car. He calls the San Antonio police. Now the time is 10 p.m. The officer charges my phone and lets me call Offspring #2 on his phone. I know they won't pick up an unknown number. I am right. He calls again. They pick up. I explain why I am riding in the back seat of a police car which is surprisingly comfortable.

I basically get a private tour of the night life in San Antonio which is quite beautiful. The white carriages pulled by horses have pink and blue and purple lights around them which make me think of Cinderella's carriage. By midnight he drops me off at the Days Inn. He gives me a phone card and I borrow the plug in part from the guy at the desk. I charge my phone. I stretch. I have been walking since 11 a.m. and I am beat. Plus my shoulder is sore from carrying my purse on it. Somebody stole my car at the court house which has security cameras all over the place. I ask if I should make a police report now. He tells me to wait. He wants me to go back to the park and see if it is there. If it's not there by 3, file a police report. I am too tired to understand that what he is telling me is that he hoped the thief will bring it back. I text my brother. He says the report should be filed immediately before the car gets to Mexico or Oklahoma but I should do what the officer said. I drink two big glasses of water. I am going to walk .2 miles to buy a toothbrush.

I get the toothbrush and get lost again. I go to another hotel to get a ride. I have to get money from the ATM. I am so flustered and tired I forget my 4 digit code. Highly embarrassed I call Offspring #2 and ask her to order my a Lyft. They stay with me on the phone until Antonio arrives. Unlike the cab driver, Antonio is funny and charming. I get back at 1 in the morning. I take a shower, complete my 5 minute guided gratitude meditation on YouTube, turn on the TV, and sleep until 8.

At 8 I get up to get some coffee and the free breakfast. The coffee is good but the breakfast is pop tarts. I am paying big money and all I get is pop tarts? Pop tarts are not real food. I call my insurance agent. We speak with Progressive. I have an appointment with Enterprise which is a 21 minute walk away. The officers come at 10 a.m. They ask why I didn't file a police report last night. I know, right? They are very funny. They take my key fob and go riding around looking for it. I show them the picture of the court house so they know where to look. They come back in 30 minutes. The car is gone. They said if it was a pickup truck, it would head towards Mexico. They don't know where a Honda Fit would go. By now it is 11 and time to check out. I walk the .2 miles to Denny's and have a Planet Burger with seasoned fries. I can only eat half of it. I take my left overs and walk to Enterprise. The guy there puts more charge on my phone.

I have only 40 dollars a day from insurance but all they have left are Dodge Challengers or an Audi.

An Audi! I have always wanted to drive an Audi.

 

Longview Neighborhood Park

This park is nearby. I thought I would hike here. They had a great playground area and wide cement paths through the forest. Lots of trees down here too. I was going to walk in the grass but I saw large dogs off leash and decided against it. I was only going to walk until 4. I do not need to get knocked over by a clumsy German Shepherd. I finally got a new battery for my watch today. The young man at Batteries Plus also has sciatica. Golly, he was funny. He said his Grandpa told him that he would regret jumping out of pick up trucks some day. He is only 32 and he does have regrets. He is in worse shape than I was at his age. I asked him, "Why did I carry a full keg of beer down the basement steps on the morning of my wedding day when I don't even drink beer?" He responds, "Because you were drunk?"  I am still laughing when I think of it. I decided to walk on the street across from the park. Homeowners had piles and piles of tree branches and tree trunks on the sidewalks.

Ooh, that smells good. Crabapple!

I first thought this was a Studebaker. My friend from Saint Cloud thought it was a Thunderbird. A friend from high school, Linda, had a Studebaker. But then I thought I read Thunderbird on the front. My brother-in-law confirmed that this is indeed an old Studebaker. Tonight for dinner I used up the last of the Romaine lettuce. I strained the herbs out of the jar I put together at the Houston Botanical Garden. With the 12 herbs, the apple cider vinegar, and the honey I can tell you it was delicious. I have a burn on my lower lip from hot coffee and ouchy momma, that hurts when the vinegar hits it. No doubt the burn will heal faster now!

 

Private Guided Tour

 I was signed up for a Zoom class about introducing new people to nature but the link failed. That turned out to be okay though. I also signed up for a free pass at Planet Fitness in Dickenson. Planet Fitness is very nice. Walls are purple. Uniforms are purple. All the machines are purple. The floor is grey and some walls are grey. They had about 40 televisions going in front of the cardio section. I did about a dozen weight machines and then got on the elliptical for 30 minutes of interval training while watching "Friends." Getting my heart rate over 155 felt so good. The locker room and showers were nice but I forgot my soap. I used my bathing cap to carry hand soap from the sinks into the shower. I got dressed and headed over to the Dickenson Historical Museum and Depot which is only open on Friday afternoons. I found the place and walked up some stairs to read the signs. A bearded young man saw me and asked if he should unlock that building over there. I said that would be great and for the next sixty minutes this guy gave me a private guided tour of the facility. Originally he is from Louisiana but he knew quite a bit about this area. This building was from Texas City. The railroad offered it to the Dickenson Garden Club so they moved it over here. This side of the waiting room with the fire place was for white people. Black people had the other side with the pot bellied stove. The stove was warmer than the fire place so basically everybody stayed on this side. He complained about the cold weather and asked if I wasn't freezing with my bare legs. I said I just came from Planet Fitness and no I wasn't cold. The antiques were from the mid 1800's. Dickenson was a farming community with strawberries and figs. In the old days people from Galveston came to Dickenson for weekend getaways. Now the opposite happens. He told me about the history of city water and sewers. He told me about the Italian immigrants who built casinos. He asked where I was staying and I said San Leon so he told me about the history over here. He said there is an organic vegetable farm just six miles from my place. I looked it up and he's right! I got to go there and get some kale or cabbage. He walked me through all the other buildings too. He was very nice. He asked me what I have seen so far and so I told him. He was amazed that I went to so many places since January 7th. That was nice to hear. Then he saw his boss and introduced me to her. She is a Master Naturalist too. She gave me a post-it note with more natural areas to visit. I took at least ten pictures but none of them are going through. I might be able to upload them at the library on Saturday or Sunday.

Feels Good To Be Lost

 Today was the first day I have driven in a week. One week off of driving was a welcome break. I drove alone to the co-op market for a few items. While there I got a message asking if I could go to the Newport public library and pick up some books that were already checked out. My saucy Aussie did fine in the car getting me to the market. She failed miserably getting me to the library which was 3 blocks away. I walked from the market to the library and back. Getting to the library took me a mile out of the way. But it was a nice day and I saw interesting people, interesting dogs, interesting buildings, interesting alleys, and interesting stuff for sale in store windows. Now my car is parked in it's parking space again in the Fort Adams state park for I don't know how long. Actually, it felt good to get a little bit lost again.

You Take The Fast Road, I'll Take The Slow Road

 This morning I left my swanky mansion. My host thanked me for coming. I thanked him back and left quietly. This couple seem so nice and appear to have so much but I don't think they are any happier than I am. I headed north. I could have taken the route Google maps suggested which is at high speed on the interstate. Instead I chose the most fuel efficient route which took me through small towns such as this one in the photo. The hills and valleys of Pennsylvania and New York are absolutely stunning. I went through mining towns and oil towns. I went through Oil City which is on the Allegheny River at the mouth of Oil Creek. I have to keep stopping to look at my maps and make sure I don't get turned around again. I did  much better today than previous days. I also ask myself questions out loud. Are you hungry? Are you angry? Are you lonely? Are you tired? If I answer any of those four questions with a yes, I stop and do something about it. I stopped for lunch. I stopped to buy gas and use the restroom.  I stopped  here (see picture) to look at my map again only to see Lucy and Ricky and Ethel and Fred. I was in Jamestown, New York. I kept going because I wanted to get to my next place before dark and before it rained. If I had stopped there for an hour I would have had to drive in the rain and approaching darkness. When I got to my current residence in Hamburg, New York, I walked to buy something at a convenience store. The man there told me about the Lucy Arnez museum in Jamestown, New York. For crying out loud, I would have gone to see that if I knew it was there. I love Lucy. Everybody loves Lucy! He said her daughter and ex-husband had her remains moved here from Hollywood so people could pay their respects to her. Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do! Oh, well, I am not going back because I am here by a great lake again. I am actually really close to Niagara Falls. I am moving forward, not back. I got my room, threw a load of laundry into the washing machine, and swam laps while my clothes got cleaner. After the swanky room in a private home, the hotel feels great. Tomorrow I am going to do something else. The man at the store recommended visiting the house where President McKinley was shot. He also suggested visiting the Zippo lighter factory tour. A Zippo tour would be interesting. I use matches or a cheap plastic Bic. I would rather have a Zippo because that would be a greener choice. Zippos are classy too. I am not sure what I will do tomorrow but at the end of the day I plan on swimming laps again because this pool is awesome!

Lake Moraine

Yesterday I got some extremely sad news about the demise of a young, strong relative. I needed a bath in nature for grief relief. I spoke with a cousin about the sad news. By the end we were both laughing so that was cathartic. My kind host at the swanky castle agreed when I suggested a stop at the Moraine State Park. I arrived 15 minutes before a boat tour was about to leave. Someone cancelled so there were two seats left. I took one. The naturalist on board was hilarious and I told him so. I thought he was 16 years old and I wondered why he wasn't in school today. My naturalist, Amanda, is not a young man. She helped me stage the photo. We set sail on Lake Moraine.

Amanda says the warm temperatures make for an especially late fall. Amanda says the comedy movie Kingpin was filmed on the highway we just floated under. Amanda has a boatload of fun facts.  Until this week the weather here in Pennsylvania felt like August. This juvenile osprey is dead in the eyes. I can see no soul. (It's stuffed).

Amanda saw an eagle on a snag near shore. Everyone onboard saw the eagle fly up into the tree. The boat approached slowly. For five full minutes we watched the majestic symbol of our nation make sushi out of that blue gill. Amanda has never seen anything this incredible before in her life and she grew up on this lake. Wow! I let the other passengers take the pictures of the eagle. We also saw cormorants and herring gulls. Amanda said there must be a big school of fish in this one bay because there had to be at least 50 cormorants harvesting together. On one side of the lake there was a road leading into the water. On the other side, although overgrown, there was another road. Before this glacial lake was dammed, there was a town there. Under the lake are the remnants of a town. A blue gill could take the road from one side of the lake to the other. The old foundations of the houses under the lake make it a popular place for fish to hang out.

A young family had their photo shoot here today. State parks are free in Pennsylvania and Ohio. I think parks and beaches should be free because young families don't have much money, usually, and children have to get outside.

After the boat ride I fired up the camp stove and ate a can of soup and a mug of tea before I went for a walk. The park has a little bridge over that pond. Northern Mockingbirds are difficult to identify! I think the mocking bird was mocking me by sounding like a chimney swift. Tomorrow I am heading north again.