Crawdads and the Western Gulf

Paula and I visited the Gruene (pronounced “Green”) United Methodist Church (UMC) on Sunday, October 21.  Gruene is a historic south central Texas town, started by German immigrants in the 1840’s between what are now Austin and San Antonio.  The Gruene UMC, begun in 2006 as a daughter congregation of the nearby New Braunfels UMC, is currently thriving with 3 pastors and a youth director.

New Gruene UMC

  During our short Sunday morning visit, they demonstrated a thriving outreach ministry with plans the following week to send out teams to:

1. clean a playground at St. Jude’s Ranch, a Christian-based center that focuses on abused and at-risk kids;
2.  deliver cookies and cards to local fire and police stations, and hospitals;
3.  paint interior walls and hold fellowship with youth at a family services shelter; and
4. frame a home for a new Habitat for Humanity project family.

Gruene Historic Music Hall

After the service, Paula and I attended the annual Gruene Music and Wine Festival a short distance away.  [Since we began the day with music and wine, we thought it only right to continue the afternoon in the same vein.  Forgive me Lord. :-) ]  For most of the afternoon, we listened to a variety of western, folk, and rock music groups perform at  both outside and inside venues (see photo of 1878 Historic Music Hall).  The wine and beer taste selections were primarily of Texas origin.

As planned, Paula flew out of Austin airport the morning of October 16th to spend a few months in Vermont with friends and family.

In Louisiana, I stumbled onto a barbecue cook-off competition sponsored by the Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce and held at their Memorial Park on a beautiful Saturday morning.  Believe me, these people took their cooking seriously and were all members of the BCA (Barbecue Competitors Alliance)!  I was disheartened to find out that the competitors prepared their meats solely for the judges, and the Chamber had hired a local restaurant to feed the public (that was me)!  I nearly lucked out though when I sat down at a park table next to the daughter of the couple who were the head judges.  It seems that only moments prior, her parents had been looking for another volunteer judge! 

Ponchatoula BBQ Broadcast

Somewhat dejected from this lost opportunity, I found a shady picnic table and began to assess my situation.  I introduced myself and chatted with a local radio station DJ about our shared strong Christian beliefs, and befriended Lily (granddaughter of the judges) who had a leopard face painted on her by some artistic high school Key Club members nearby.  

Lily the Leopard

A couple of them were even undefeated Ponchatoula High School Green Wave football players who had knocked off a respectable 3-3 Slidell High School on the previous evening! Later that afternoon, I walked the mile back to the motorhome on the outskirts of Ponchatoula, and headed east to Mississippi.

Biloxi is a gulf-front community that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  It has a beautiful white sandy beach,

Biloxi 2014 Beachfront

but many of the hotels, casinos and stately older homes that had stood here in the past were destroyed during that storm.  

While attending a yard sale at nearby J.T. Leggett UMC, I spoke with an elderly lady named Mae who told me that pre-Katrina she lived next door to the church in a very large United Methodist Retirement Home (apartment building complex), and many of the residents were members of the UMC congregation.  After the disaster, the Biloxi Housing Authority bought the building from the UMC and converted it into an assisted living facility for low income families. Mae and most of her friends did not qualify, and thus had to find another place to live. I could tell that Mae still held a lot of personal bitterness toward the United Methodist Church for ‘abandoning’ her and her friends who had lived in the area their entire lives.  Mae said that she still lives in another area in Biloxi where only 30 of the original 280 houses that were inhabited prior to Katrina have been restored to a living condition.  

New Leggett UMC Sanctuary

By the way, the J.T. Leggett UMC congregation just occupied their new sanctuary on Easter of this year, over 8 years (and 3 pastors) after the 1950's era church building was blown apart by Katrina's winds and flooding.  As with the Wesley UMC in Waterbury after the hurricane Irene floods along the Winooski, the property insurance that this church had did not cover the rebuilding costs.

Off to St Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, Florida tomorrow, Oct 26th, for some gulf coast camping and saltwater fishing with my brother, Terry!

The Southwest

Friends,

During the early fall, we have moved through the southwestern States of Arizona, New Mexico, and finally to Austin, Texas where Paula has two friends, Jose and Anne-Marie.    

Camp Verde UMC

Water and outdoor campfire restrictions were in place throughout the region. 

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Native American Cliff Dwellings

We stayed in a central AZ RV Park outside of a small town named Camp Verde, not far from Sedona. We visited their small UMC that was doing a great job picking up children and bringing them to church on Sunday morning.  The congregation was demonstrating some new audio-visual technical equipment in their Sunday morning worship service that had been donated by a young professional in their midst.  Most of our time in AZ was spent with Cheryl and Rob, friends of Paula's from Phoenix, and being inspired by the red rock formations and beautiful sunsets.

   We only spent 3 days in New Mexico, but all three of them ended with wildlife suprises!  On the first evening, we ended up driving the motorhome into a remote high-elevation Apache National Forest area, where we were the only campers 

Apache National Forest

present.  As we munched on smores and snuggled under our blankets (first night below 40 degrees!), we listened to bull elk bugle the night away in the surrounding forest.  That experience was matched by one the following evening near Cloudcroft, NM where a small herd of elk occupied a grassy pasture across the highway from our rv park.

On our third afternoon in New Mexico, we visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  
Besides the truly amazing underground sights, we also returned at nightfall to view an amazing daily bat emigration from one of the major caves in the park.

Driving through hot and dry west Texas was not an exciting adventure.  A great deal of oil and gas drilling and extraction were taking place, and very large tractor-trailers hauling all kinds of liquids and heavy equipment filled the otherwise remote highways.  When we entered the Austin-San Antonio area, however, car (and pickup) traffic began to increase, and we looked forward to visiting with Jose and Anne-Marie, Paula's friends, who used to live in Vermont.
  
For the first few days, we stayed in McKinney Falls State Park, southeast of Austin, and became familiar with the prickly pear cactus and chiggers. 

McKinney Falls State Park

Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit

Both would cause you to itch if you weren't careful!  During the following days, we did learn how to use the prickly pear fruit ('tunas') in smoothies and in a pie.  During our last weekend in Texas, we attended the Gruene (pronounced "Green") Music and Wine Festival and the Gruene UMC Sunday morning worship service on Oct 12.  I will tell you about those more in my next post.

Later this week, I am headed east to Biloxi, Mississippi and St Andrews State Park near Panama City, Florida.  Talk to you soon!

Love,
Tim

Crisscrossing California

Since leaving Redding on September 6th, we have wondered south along the northern California coast through some majestic redwood forests, picturesque beaches, and sunny vineyards.  After  


Tim on "Xena" in Redwood Forest

 motorhoming through the southwestern corner of Oregon, we camped in Jedidiah Smith State Park along a beautiful stretch of the freeflowing Eel River, and among 10-15 ft diameter redwood trees.  Most redwood forests that yet remain are now preserved within state and federal lands, and lie very near the cool and wet coastline.  
As we traveled south along U.S. Highway 101 through this sparsely populated part of California, we visited some coastal communities such as Trinidad, Arcata (home of Humboldt State University), and Eureka (the largest).

Arcata, CA Area Coastal Preserve

There are remote sandy beaches with dune communities, and rocky coastlines, typically harboring small fishing boats.  Also, many small native American communities can be found in this part of California, now with small "casinos".  We enjoyed are short stays in these areas, as the coast was 20 degrees cooler than inland areas only 30-40 miles to the east.

We re-entered the dry heat of central California on September 11th, as we arrived at an RV park on the shores of Clear Lake in Lake County.  Lake County is one of 3 or 4 premier grape vineyard areas in CA, and lies directly north of Napa County.  Daytime temperatures were again in the upper 90's, but night-time temperatures would often fall into the lower 60's.  Unfortunately, 

Lake County Vineyard

with the continuing drought situation in California, Clear Lake docks were de-watered, and the lake level was a good 20 feet below 'normal' September levels.  Filamentous plants and algae filled most shallow bays, and made swimming and most water sports impossible in this normally large lake.  Nonetheless, we made the most of it and visited vineyard tasting rooms during the day and attended a local bluegrass festival during the evening.

On September 14th, we headed east back through the central valley and into the high Sierra's near Lake Tahoe.  California continues to be plagued by large wildfires.  Smoke from that area has darkened the sun and sky during midday here in Squaw Valley for several days, even though that particular fire is over 50 miles away.


Wildfire Smoke Over Lake Tahoe

This morning Paula and I stuffed some bears with a small group of people here in Squaw Valley.  It was enjoyable.  The bears are intended for children in Africa with AIDS.  Talk to you soon!

 

Heading for the Northern California Coast - Early September!

We're driving north into southern Oregon along Interstate 5, to Grants Pass for an overnight. Our pleasant 2-week visit with Doug and Della came to a close.


Motorhome Parked at Doug's House

 Doug and I worked together in Anchorage, Alaska for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 2004 to 2007. They live in Redding, California now, close to Della's parents. Our stay with them was punctuated by local fun recreational trips in the area, in addition to a 3-day trip Paula and I took (with the assistance of their Jeep) to a Blackberry Music Festival, the Lava Beds National Monument, and to Burney Falls State Park. The trip to higher elevations provided a brief respite to the otherwise hot 95-105 degree weather. It has been a long time since they have received any rain here, and drought conditions seem to have permanently set in. Wildfires are common and longlasting in northern California, and water supply reservoirs are at all time lows.  Despite this, it is a region of striking natural beauty, and extremes.

Rafting on the Sacramento River

 

Exploring a Cave at 
Lava Beds National Monument



All Time Low Water Level in Shasta Lake




Utah Heat

'Tis Hot in the West!

After several days of over 100 degrees, we finally had one day in Provo, Utah in the 90's!  Paula and I tubed the Provo River (canyon) in the mountains and took a dip in a mountain lake as an afternoon thunderstorm loomed.  At this time of year, the very highest mountain ranges are the only places you can find refreshing air in the Great Basin of the West.

SERMON ON THE ROCK?!

Whenever we have a chance, Paula takes her Harley off the trailer and we head for a high mountain stream or lake.  Most of the streams come to an abrupt halt further down the valleys, as the valuable water is used for drinking, and watering cattle and lawns (and golf courses!)

UTAH  MEN'S ROOM

While we see many different races of people wherever we go (and perhaps surprisingly a fairly large number of foreign tourists), the American cowboy still reigns in the smaller communities.  Paula and I had an excellent meatloaf at the "Cowboy Cafe".

We have enjoyed our Sunday morning visits to a number of United Methodist Churches along the way.  At a small UMC Fellowship in Elko, Nevada, we were pleasantly surprised by a visiting Tongan pastor and a potluck immediately after the service (in a former mortuary).  They were hoping their newly appointed minister (from the Philippines) would be granted a visa soon so that he and his family could join them.

Recently, we cruised into Reno, Nevada to visit a high school friend of mine for a few weeks, and to experience the local Hot August Nights! (lots of old beautiful cars and rock & roll music).  Paula and I listened to Bill Medley/The Righteous Brothers at a free outdoors venue on Saturday night. {Remember "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"?  I must have danced/steered at least a dozen girls around the junior high school gymnasium floor to that wonderful slow song!}

At 8:30 AM this past Sunday morning (yes, we do crawl out of the motorhome early on some days :-) ), we visited the First United Methodist Church in downtown Reno and heard their pastor discussing the book of Revelations and shared communion with 12-15 members at their early service. During the service, a couple of street people wandered through the sanctuary to look for coffee and snacks, which did not appear to surprise anyone.  I think the church's ministry was focused primarily on the homeless and the needs of the inner-city.  This UMC has a grant which helps them conduct a "Drop in the Bucket" Food Program.  Hopefully,  a visit next Sunday morning at their later traditional service will help me learn more about this church and perhaps about the opportunities or difficulties of living in a "gaming/casino" city.

More soon!  Stay tuned...

From The Cowboy State




Companion Paula, Stepson Kyle, wife Vicky (on bench)
Grandsons Alex (4), John (2), and James (7) (on curb)
Watching the Lander 4th of July Parade

 

July 11th

Friends,
Hello from the Cowboy State.  July brought us to the Sleeping Bear RV Campground in Lander, Wyoming.  The 4th of July celebration here was huge, with a pancake breakfast, a morning parade, a buffalo barbeque at the city park, and a totally uncontrolled evening fireworks that issued from nearly every other lawn and street in the city, in addition to Main Street and the Rodeo grounds.  If there was any small city that could be magically transmitted to Vermont, it would this one.  The people here are very outdoor-oriented, and sidewalks line nearly all of the streets in town making it very walkable.  The core of Main Street is about 8 blocks long and very vital.



Lander, Wyoming Senior Center

 There is also a very nice Senior Center here, which Paula (my companion) and I have visited on two occasions thus far.  Besides eating a pancake breakfast here on the 4th of July, we also helped prepare and deliver the local Meals-on-Wheels lunches earlier today.  They served about 120 meals today...half delivered and half at the Center (picture of their dining area at the right).

We plan on taking a 2-day motorcycle ride through the Grand Tetons and the southern edge of Yellowstone Nat'l Park next week, before packing up on July 20 and slowly heading to Reno, Nevada, our next destination.  While the normal weather pattern here in central Wyoming has been sunny and hot during the day (low 90's), and cool at night (high 50's), it has been cloudy with light showers for most of today (July 11th).  Hope you are all well!  I'll leave another message from Reno in August! 
Tim
 

First Stop - Minnesota

Hello friends,

It has been nearly a week since I arrived at a KOA campground on the outskirts of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Paula, my companion and navigator, has been great to date.  Despite her greater reliance upon GPS, cell phones, and i-pads, I have persevered and actually found most of our destination points!  :-)

Visiting my friends, Michael and Mary, here in Minneapolis has been a whirlwind to date, both actually and figuratively.  We have bicycled a good deal of a residential lake-filled district, as well as attended an evening mystery play performance entitled "The Red Box", at a theatre in St. Paul.  On Sunday morning we attended services at the Lyndale United Church of Christ, whose congregation meets in a large building which holds 2 other area congregations (Lutherans, and another Christian church).

Both occasions over this past weekend, when I have been a passenger on Paula's Harley, the prairie winds were very oppressive.  Feeling sorry for us (me), my friend Michael loaned us an old fan (with a "For Sale" sign in the back) to use for our short trips between our campground and his house, which is actually about 20 miles.  During this next week, we are planning on staying with Michael and Mary, and parking the motorhome at a neighbor's house a few blocks away. 

I don't have time or space to tell you about 1) the mermaid we've seen and to whom we've spoken; 2) the Smores' Song we've written; or 3) what Minnehaha really means.  You just have to have an adventure of your own.