Where are the cherry blossoms ???

We're here in the Washington DC area, camping at Greenbelt Park - run by the National Forest Service. Amazing to have a 144 site campground right near a Metro stop, so we could zip into town!



OK, but where are the cherry blossoms?  We visited Arlington Cemetery, interesting, but no blossoms.  We walked to the Tidal Basin area, saw the Jefferson Monument, and then the Washington Monument; but no blossoms.  We walked the National Mall,  yep....still no blossoms!  Guess the cold and long winter hasn't released its grip.  Maybe next time we come, we'll see the cherry blossoms.

A stop in Aberdeen, NC

Heading home for the summer at the shore, but first a MUST stop in Aberdeen to see Michael, Jess, and Jordan.  We parked BIW next to their house and "moved-in" for a few days.  Celebrated with an early Seder, enjoyed Jordan, did some home projects; and mostly just loved seeing our NC family.

Traveling up the Trace

The Trace

Windsor Ruins

Originally we planned to bike a major portion of the Natchez Trace with stops at B&Bs, but weather (high winds and low temps down to the low 20s), and timing changed our plans.  So, we drove most of the Trace, with many stops at historical points of interest.


Included in our stops was a visit to Vicksburg where the Union's victory ensured control of the Mississippi River and cut off supply lines to the Confederacy.  Over 10,000 casualties along with the siege of Vicksburg were depicted in memorials and park service displays.  Also on display was the Cairo, an iron sided battle ship that was discovered under 100 years of mud.  This ship was one of the Union ships that snuck past the Confederate gun placements during the night, to get south of Vicksburg to block the Mississippi River from reinforcements.

Union battleship, Cairo

Meriweather Lewis Memorial

Other stops included the birthplace and home of Helen Keller, a Frank Lloyd Wright home, and the Inn and memorial where Meriweather Lewis died (only a few years after his famous expedition with Clark).

Dining Room of the FLW home

Helen Keller's birthplace and home

Natchez....on the Mississippi River

Longwood

We crossed the Mississippi and arrived in Natchez, one of our nation's centers of wealth in the 1850s.  Almost a quarter of the population back then, were actually Yankees who had come to make their fortune.  And they did! Growing cotton and using the plantation system of the enslaved, mansion building become the showplace for these new rich.  This society came crashing down, with the Union win at Vicksburg.  With confederate money being worthless, most of these homes went into foreclosures and were purchased at "fire sale" prices.

Stanton Hall

The town of Natchez with the DAR, the garden clubs, and other civic organizations, began restoring these mansions and rebuilding the historical past as a showplace.  Today over 30 mansions are available on tour, including a number that still retain over 90% of their original furnishings.  Longwood, the largest at 30,000 square feet was never completed, as the Civil War started, but the exterior was finished, while the family lived in the "basement" (10,000 sq ft) waiting for the war to end.  We also toured Rosalie, Stanton Hall, Magnolia Hall, Dunleith, and Melrose; plus William Johnson's house, a freed slave who became the barber of Natchez.

Our base of operation for these days was Natchez State Park, 11 miles north of the town along the Natchez Parkway.  Our driving into town in BIW proved Morey's driving skills as he drove through narrow tree lined streets, and gravel & dirt roads visiting the homes.  A special birthday dinner for Ruthie was celebrated at Dunleith Castle, with BIW parked on the grass just short of a drainage ditch.

Ruthie biking the Trace...Spring is here!

We've now started our drive up the 444 mile long Natchez Parkway.  Took a break today with a bike ride and a stop at Mt. Locust, where Mr. Fergeson established an Inn along the Trace to service the 10,000 annual tired and hungry walkers.  This included the Mississippi boatmen who piloted barges down the river, but then had to walk back North for the next trip.

Morey and the Mississippi Riverman

Our Dallas Family

Birthday dinner for Ruthie and Jill

After driving over 500 miles across Texas, we arrived in Garland for a terrific family reunion.  Parked BIW out front of their home, and spent the next few days getting caught up with Ruthie's cousins.  A special thank you to Betty and Steve, for having us stay at their house, and giving us the "kings" tour of the Dallas area.

Tour stops included, Dallas Botanical Garden & Arboretum, the infamous Dallas book depository where President Kennedy was assassinated (excellent historical museum of the Kennedy years and the event), the Dallas Museum of Modern Art which had a special exhibit on Alexander Hogue, and all of the fun, conversations,  and great tasting food stops.

Thanks again!!

Oswald's view of the road and the grassy knoll 

Dallas Book Depository

We've left the West.....or is Texas the West?

Drove out of New Mexico, but first a stop at almost 9,000 ft elevation Cloudcroft, where we had a huge breakfast at Big Daddy's Diner.  Then 400 miles across the plains into Texas; only the Welcome to Texas sign let us know we were in a new state.  Passed fields of oil derricks both in NM and TX, otherwise not much along US380.

 

 

A night spent at Aspermont, a RV park in process......
"leave $20 & spend the night".  and we did.

 

The next day we arrived at Ft. Richardson Historic Park, [Jacksboro, TX] where there was nice camping and the main attraction, the fort.  Built in 1867 to help manage the federal reconstruction of Texas, it quickly switched purposes.  The fort (quoting), "provided protection for settlers from raiding Indians (Comanches) on the North Texas frontier."  Still standing is the hospital, the fort commander's house, and a number of reconstructed buildings including, the barracks, the bakery, and the morgue.  Fort Richardson was decomissioned in 1878, after only 11 years of use.

The government spent $150,000 to build the hospital; a good use of taxpayers money?

Out of this World ??

We spent a day in the Alamogordo, NM, area; first with a stop at the Space Museum.  This part of the country was a major participant in missle and rocket development, and even had the third space shuttle land at White Sands when the Kennedy Space Center was socked in and Edward AFB (primary backup site) was down for runway construction.  We toured the museum which had some great models and writeups of the space programs and the astronauts.

Morey even got to stand next to an actual Honest John rocket (tested the emergency systems for the Apollo moon program).  He had flown his Estes model of this famous rocket with the grandkids; and now there the "real one" was there on display.  {Please don't tell the grandkids, but we discovered that the rocket is actually called the Little Joe; Morey memory failed.}
Oh, and almost forgot to mention that Ruthie got to get into the spacecraft cockpit of the elevator!

 

Then we drove 30 miles north to Three Rivers Petroglyph Park (BLM).  An incredible 21,500 petroglyphs, created 600 years ago, are all over the ridgeline on the exposed rocks.  We walked the mile trail and spotted at least 500 petroglyphs.  Out of this world?  Pretty COOL!  PS - A nice BLM campground with this park where we had a pull thru RV site with water and electric for $9!