Travels with Seaglass and Merry Andrew

Have a lot of fun .... and some recreation as well :wink:

ENJOY, folks! Aloha - we'll miss ya.....schniff......

Sounds most excellent.
Checking in to follow on any travel tips.
More than a month on the road! Wowser!

Hi MA,
Checking in and have some suggestions (for AZ since you already know NM well)

S AZ:
Douglas, AZ=Quiet mining town and site of Gen Pershings trip into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa. Across the border from there is Agua Prieta - a pretty little town that is not (or wasn't) touristy. Right down the road is Bisbee, AZ where the Lavender Pit mine is located. http://jhavelina.smugmug.com/gallery/112903/1/4033363/Medium It's worth a look, it is the largest open pit mine I've ever seen. Up the road from the mine is Tombstone, AZ famous for the OK Corral gun fight with Wyatt Earp and friends. http://www.cityoftombstone.com/ It is just the same now as it was in the 1870's when the fight happened. If you have time, visit Nogales, MX. It's touristy but quite interesting. Up the road from there towards Tucson, AZ is San Xavier mission. http://www.sanxaviermission.org/ It is a photographers dream. And you will recognize it from photos you've seen in magazines.
(I don't mean to jump around but as I recall you served in the military - if you like you may after Tombstone go by Ft Huachuca, AZ - it is the HQ for Army Intelligence these days and has quite a history for cavalry operations in the late 1800's. http://huachuca-www.army.mil/
(Note the 'Cadet Command' patch at the lower right of this page - The patch was designed by my department at my last tour of duty in Fort Lewis, WA for the ROTC folks in the mid 80's - the artist who actually did it is still one of my best friends)
Also, this is the area where the famous Native Americans Geronimo and Cochise were located. Also, the Spanish explorer Coronado came through this valley in search of the Cities of Gold.)
At Tucson, AZ you can visit Old Tucson - it is the old western movie set you will recognize from all the John Wayne movies and many more. http://www.terragalleria.com/america/arizona/tucson/tucson.html Definitely worth the visit once. Between Tucson and Phoenix there is Casa Grande ruins http://www.desertusa.com/cas/ and I forgot the name but you will see signs for an Indian museum. It's not far off the road and well worth the visit.

This should get you through S AZ. I'll be back later with more from the N part.

I may be too late - but, if you depart the Dal/Ft area West - be sure and stop in Weatherford, TX and visit Chandor Gardens. http://www.dfwz3club.org/cgtns.htm
Chandor is the artist who painted the famous portraits of: Queen Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, Queen Marie of Romania, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor. Plus many, many more. His works hang in the White House, several capital buildings and the British Consulate.

In '47 at age 5, I visited the garden with my Mom. The Queen E. II portrait was being painted and I could see it through the window. Also, Mr Chandor himself was working in the garden on the Cox waterfall. It was a visit I'll remember always.

WELL worth the visit.

wooohooo! Have fun!

checking in!
G'day Seaglass & MA!

Hi, Danon. Thanx for the good tips. We are in Ft, Worth as I type this on a public computer at the hotel near Sundance Sq. where we are staying. Just got done with a leisurely stroll around the square. It ain't Greenwich Village but it's a great fun spot to wander around on a hot Friday night.

Seaglass says she knows Weatherford, it's not far from her home town, but she was never aware of the art gallery/museum there. It will definitely be a stopover. I've been to Tombstone a couple of times, love the town and am eager to show it to Seaglass. She has also never seen the San Xavier mission, another must. I have a dozen photos I took there about 10 or 12 years ago. I've been to Nogales, on the Sonora side as well as the Arizona side, and I agree with you -- it's touristy but pretty nice all the same. Not like Tijuana which isn't to my taste at all. Never been to Agua Prieta. Might get that in this trip.

Tomorrow night, dinner at the Cattleman Steak House in the Stockyards section of town and maybe a twirl around the dance floor at Billy Bob's. I've been to Billy Bob's once in my life. In fact, the one and only time I ever visited Ft. Worth before was for the specific purpose of taking a group of visting Latvians to Billy Bob's. We were staying in Dallas but a side trip after dark to Cowtown seemed in order.

Keep those cards and letters coming, folks, we are enjoying them immensly. Walter, dlowan, ehBeth, Margo, Dannon -- thank you all for your good wishes.

Hasta luego, amigos.

Hi MA & Seaglass,

You know, I've never been to Billy Bob's....... Will have to go someday, maybe.

If you are still in Ft Worth when you read this - the biggies (for me at least) are the FW Zoo (world class), the Vintage Flying Museum at Meacham Airport, all the museums at the Cultural Center - Kimbell, Amon Carter and the new Modern Art and the Stockyards.

Other than the above, I'm sure you've heard of Tandy Leather Co. The original store was down in Old Town very close to the Texas & Pacific RR Depot (It's not advertised)

Quick story about the T&P depot - When a very young and learning child, my parents and I came to the station - I begged a nickel for a drink - got the nickel and went directly to the drink stand where a man about 12 feet tall (so it seemed to me) asked what I wanted. I asked what kind of cokes he had - he looked down at me and said "Kid, I only have one kind of coke!" I quickly realized the importance of brand names.

I don't know which way you're going from FW - but Carlsbad Caverns on the NM/TX border is worth a stop. If you travel I-20 from FW to Pecos, TX that is a good place to snap a photo as you pass - it's the site of the world's first rodeo. http://www.lone-star.net/mall/txtrails/pecos.htm (a bit of trivia for ya) Also a good point to turn to Carlsbad Caverns.

By the way, tell Seaglass I've lived in: Aledo, Weatherford, Gordon, Ranger, Eastland, Cisco, Baird, Clyde, Abilene, Merkel, Trent, Sweetwater, Roscoe, Westbrook, Big Spring, Stanton, Midland, Odessa, Monahans, Pyote, Barstow, Pecos, Toyah, Kent, Van Horn. My Dad worked for the Texas & Pacific RR and we (the whole family) lived in an "outfit car" that rolled on the rails with the other cars - boxcars, gondolas, flatcars, etc. It was really fun for me as a kid - but I bet my Mom was watchful. All my school buddies wanted to come to my house to play. This was back in the days of Steam Engines - those big babys were alive with steam coursing through their veins. It was exciting.

Well, Danon, then you must be familiar with Seaglass's home town -- Stanford. One of the reasons we're here is because she is attending her Stanford High School reunion (it's a significant round number anniversary but I'mnot sure she'd approve of my tellng you the number).

We just came back from dinner with her whole graduating class at the Cattleman Restuarant. Didn't make it to Billy Bob's this time. We're staying in the West Texas area through the 4th of July. Have box seats at the Texas Cowboys Reunion Rodeo in Stanford on the weekend of the 4th. That ought to be a hoot and a holler. Did you know, trivia fans, that it is at this event that barrel racing was first featured as a rodeo sport?

Hi MA & Seaglass,

Yeah, I know the feeling about the round number reunions - just went to my 43d. I was really wondering who all those old people were and why they were talking to me. LOL Honestly, it was a lot of fun and brought back many fond memories.

It has occurred to me that I may be sounding a little "pushy" giving you all the directions to things. Please don't think so. I am just so excited about your trip and wish I could be there. I am really the most laid back and normally quiet person you can imagine who happens to really enjoy travel.

Thanks for the trivia bit re the barrel racing. It has been noted for future reference. You may not think it but barrel racing is a really big deal in the rodeo world.

Seaglass and I actually lived very close to each other at one time. In Abilene there is a mock old western town that was built to attract tourist - I don't know if you are interested in that type of thing. When I lived there I was very young and we lived "on" the tracks in the outfit car (Looked like a boxcar with windows and doors - along with another car which held our water and another boxcar which my dad used as a tool storage car. My Dad ran one of the Cranes that laid the tracks on the line) We moved a lot - I never went to the same school more than a few months at a time. It was very hard to remember the names of the kids I met - but I became very adept at making new friends quickly.

Anxiously awaiting your next adventure report.

I'm confused. Isn't Seaglass a racehorse?

Why would Merry want to traipse around the hemisphere with a horse?

Especially a horse that died over a half a century ago.

This whole things seems a little fishy.

Thata been Seabiscuit, ya ole Guster you.

Happy trip MA and Seaglass!

Danon, thanks for all the great travel information!

< especially for those of us who've not visited the state >

Hi Stradee,
You are in a wonderful state to travel and see things too. On one trip through the S region, I had to go by the Salton Sea. It was due to a book I had read entitled 'Fig Tree John' - about a Native American growing up there. Most people probably don't realize it but the Salton Sea is only 47 feet higher than the lowest point in the entire USA at Death Valley. It's 235 ft below sea level.

MA,
I forgot to mention that just W of Weatherford is a really small town named Gordon, TX. There is a really good place to find Paleozoic Era fossils of plant and shell life lying on the ground. Just S of Gordon along the road are some small hills - which were tiny islands when the area was covered by sea. The plant and shell life lived around the islands. Now one can walk up the hills and see the fossils everywhere. Quite interesting.

Danon,

California's a beautiful state, although I've not explored the desert areas. Driven through Nevada though, and have seen as much of remote flatlands, cacti, and mirages to last a lifetime. Not to say those places arn't interesting and beautiful, its just I prefer the Northern portion of the State for its diversity in colors, ranges, and of course all the neat ghost towns and out-of-the way communities.

When you're in Oahu, visit the Dole plant tour. Take the bus that circles the island and/or the Waikiki Trolley, and go to Haunama Bay for snorkeling. Go see the free Hawiian hula show on the eastern side of Honolulu, and eat some snow cone with sweet beans. Visit the state capitol building, and visit Chinatown. Visit the Aloha Tower market place. ** Gotta run, my wife is treating me to see The Terminal today.

Hi, all. Thank you for all your wonderful suggestions, Danon. Unfortunately, we won't be able to follow up on all of them as it would mean backtracking. We're in Abilene as of this writing and have been here for nearly a week now. Two days is all you need to see all that's to be seen in Abilene. I keep telling Seaglass one week in Abiline is like one month in, say, Philadelphia.

She's sitting right here by my side at a Kinko's near Buffalo Gap, and can't sign in on her own because the password seems to have slipped her mind. She sends everyone her very best though.

No, Gus, I know you're confused but Seaglass is not a racehorse (or any other kind of horse, come to that). She says for me to tell you that she's a West Texas ****-kicker and would be happy to demonstarte to you just why they are called '**** kickers,' if you'd but bend over a tad.

Last night we went to a marvelous outdoor pageant called the Fort Griffith Fandangle, a recreation in the open air of some of the history of that part of West Texas. It's staged annually (six nights only) in Albany, TX, which is just about where the old Fort Griffith (closed in 1881 as a military post) used to set. It was great, especially when they herded a small herd of genuine Texas longhorns into the arena and scared some of the more impressionable tenderfoots in attendance.

One sour note: as of this morning, we're on our second rental car. The one I picked up at DFW Airport got us stuck right in the middle of nowhere of W. Texas. Danon, you know what that country looks like. Car suddenly refused to function at any speed above 2 mph. Got it off the highway onto the grassy shoulder and tried to find a spot where my cell-phone could actually get a signal so I could call Avis. Thank the stars we had a good friend with us whose car was located only seven or eight miles away. To make a long story short, we made it to the Fandangle, got a ride back to Abilene where we are staying at this same friend's house and had a brand new Alero delivered to us this a.m. I hope to heaven it holds out all the way to LA.

And, now, a word from Seaglass:

I think that Merry Andrew pretty much said it all, however I just got to meet my beautiful great-great niece Carly who is four and Ian who is five and we went crawdad fishing. I'll send Gus all the tales.

love seahorse

Hi, you two. Yikes, it must be hot there to be stuck in a dead car. I am surely nearly as glad as you (er, y'all) that you're fine.

I am an LA person, and would be glad to pipe up about the elements of it that I know if you give a hint on your interests... You are probably already sort of organized on it. What I might be most useful on is a point of view on what to skip, but even then, some things can be enjoyed without my schniffing viewpoint.

Anyway, am listening in and hoping you have a fine time. Oh, and I would love to meet you at the Rose Cafe for coffee or lunch, but I am about 900 miles north now...