They Call Me Fulton

 

Muh fool name iz Fulton Missouri because that's where the hoomans captured me.

I be captive now 455 days.  Puhleez send help!

U cant c me because I am using muh invisible powers.

Of course I am adorable.  I am a kitteh.

Look, stupid dog, I iz dead. HAHA!  U iz bonehead!

Now u must die!!

Trees r gude to hide frum hooman captors.

Where iz limbs?

Hooman!  Why u sit there watching me?  Muh food bole is almost emptee!

The Last Peek at Summer

These are the best of the pictures from our summer at Roan Creek as yet unpublished.  

They are just too good not to share.

Hiking at Laurel Falls.

Hiking at Gentry Creek.  

This was at the beginning of the hike when K was not quite sure what to make of the boys.

Notice how she's hiding behind the tree?

The falls at the end of the Gentry Creek hike.

A photo op in Boone, NC.

Bunker Hill covered bridge.

The House of Mugs in Collettsville, NC.

This was lunch one day in Mountain City, TN.

I'm not sure of the restaurant's name.

The Blue Hole, swimming after a short hike.

The flood.

4th of July.

K & Bella at home.

Beautiful Bluff

Mist rising from the Verdigris River early this morning as we were loading up and heading out.

The bright red sunset as we ended our 10-hour day in Taylor, Texas.

We're dry-docked at the local Walmart, of course.  Where else??

Every Picture Tells A Story, Don't It?

Beautiful Oklahoma sunset at the entrance to daughter's home our first night in Broken Arrow.

We left Tennessee (and the Walmart parking lot with the yummy White Castle burgers) behind on a Friday morning and continued our road trip south and west.  We drove across portions of Kentucky and Illinois and landed in Fulton, Missouri.  Fulton is consort's hometown and where we picked up Fulton the cat about a year ago.  We met up with longtime friends and were treated to a wonderful Italian dinner.  The husband in this dynamic duo was consort's best man at our wedding 40+ years ago.  The wife owns and operates Backer's Potato Chips, a local potato chip manufacturing company established by her great-grandfather in 1931.  The potato chips are delicious!  She also maintains the Auto World Museum in Fulton, a fantastic collection of vintage automobiles.  If you're ever in the area, it is definitely worth stopping to see.  We spent one night in Fulton dry-docked in a remote, auxiliary parking lot of Backer's.  It was heavily treed and quiet, a welcome respite from the Walmart lot north of Nashville!

From Fulton, we continued west driving through St. Louis.  The above pictures are of the iconic St. Louis arch and an IKEA.  We did not stop at IKEA, but only because I couldn't think of anything I wanted to buy that made the pull off of I-70 and the time spent browsing worthwhile.

As we headed west on I-70 toward Kansas City, we began seeing signage for The Cheese Store in Sweet Springs, Missouri.  We had been on the road for a couple of hours and decided to make a quick stop in Sweet Springs to check out the merchandise.  This is a really great store offering over 100 varieties of cheese all made locally.  They also sell locally produced jams, jellies, sauces, and salsa mixes.  They offer an abundance of wines from regional vineyards.  We left with two different flavors of cheese curds, Morel mushroom cheddar and bruschetta cheddar cheeses, buffalo summer sausage, and Amish butter.  I could probably have spent more time (and money) in the store, but consort came looking for me once he finished walking D.O.G.  

We passed right by Arrowhead Stadium, home to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Win or lose, WE LOVE THE CHIEFS!!

From Kansas City, we headed south down to the small town of Osawatomie, Kansas, where we saw some beautiful leaves.  The most colorful leaves we encountered in our drive were in St. Louis.  It seemed the entire city was covered in bright red Maples.  Kansas City was a close second with lots of yellow and orange foliage.

Our purpose in stopping in Osawatomie was to visit a dear little lady who is now 95 years old.  She was my Sunday school teacher when I was ten years old, the wife of the pastor who married consort and I 40 years back, and the mother of our friend D out at Roan Creek, Tennessee.  

D has a brother in Osawatomie who also owns a campground.  We had talked to both brothers about dropping our trailer at the local campground and then driving over to the assisted living center to visit Miss T.  Consort and I decided that to save time unhitching/hitching the fifth wheel, we'd just drive over to the assisted living center and see if we might fit in their parking lot.

Big mistake.  Huge.

We pulled into the lot.  I thought I saw an exit drive on the opposite side of the lot which would allow us to simply pull through the lot and then exit.  Consort did not see any exit drive, but thought we could pull under the awning in front of the center, then make a turn to drive back out when we were ready to leave.  

We were delusional.

Consort pulled up past the small parking lot to the awning in front of the facility.  He put the truck in park and suggested I go out and check to make sure we had enough height clearance to pull under.  I am terrible at judging things like that.  I told him I thought we could probably make it.  About that time, a FedEx delivery van pulled up.  I asked the driver his opinion.  The driver said, You'll be fine until you get to the rear of your trailer, then you're going to rip all your vents off your roof and probably take out the center's awning.

So began the first slow back up.

We were about 20 hours into our road trip when we reached Osawatomie, and we were both more than a little tired, causing us not to communicate as well as we normally do.  That proved to be unfortunate.  Without going into a lot of conversation and hand gestures that still make no since, we found ourselves pulled into the very small, onsite parking lot, sideways, where there were a handful of randomly parked cars.  Realizing we would not fit even sideways in the lot, I told consort to just give it up and pull on through to the exit drive.  That's when consort pointed out there was not an exit drive.

So began the second back up.  Forward and backward, then forward and backward again jockeying the trailer at severe angles to maneuver us out of the lot without hitting the already parked cars.

Being the masterful driver that consort is, he did manage to get us out of the lot.  We were both able to get through the trying ordeal without losing our tempers or causing a scene.  In fact, after getting ourselves out of the lot and onto an actual road, I hopped into the truck laughing about our stupid mistake.  Consort, however, was white knuckled and didn't immediately see the humor.  When we were able to go forward without obstructions, we decided to drive a couple of blocks down the road and park in a wide open high school parking lot and hoof it to the assisted living center.

After a short walk, we arrived at the assisted living facility.  We checked in and then I approached one of the staff to inquire as to Miss T's room number.  She gave me the information then said, By the way, thanks for the entertainment.  I asked if she had been watching us in the parking lot.  She motioned to the open living room area and said that the whole room was packed with people watching us.  I wonder if bets were placed...

Despite the craziness in the parking lot, we had a lovely visit with Miss T.  It was time well spent and made us smile.  

From Osawatomie, we continued south to my hometown of Neodesha, Kansas.  Mom and D had not yet left for Brownsville, so we caught up with them for dinner.  We dropped the trailer, then the four of us drove about ten miles to Altoona, Kansas, for a delicious dinner at the Prairie Nut Hut.  This was my first time visiting the Nut Hut.  You may be able to guess, based on the picture of the bull on the menu, what their specialty is.  I thought the nuts were quite tasty; consort had a burger.

This is where we dry-docked in Neodesha, Kansas.  Those of you from Neodesha will recognize the buildings in the background.  I called the high school and got permission from the principal to park overnight in their lot.  Luckily for me, this was not the same principal who was well-acquainted with me from my senior year and our frequent visits in his office.  

After a short two-hour drive this past Sunday, we are once again ensconced in our first-love campground, Bluff Landing.  (Notice I did not add a link to Bluff.  We want to keep it obscure and off the beaten path.)  We're backed up to the Verdigris River.  The pictures above are the view from the bedroom windows.  It is dark and quiet and very restful.  

No trip to Broken Arrow is complete until Mammaw, that's me, makes deep-fried chicken tenders and mashed potatoes for the grandsons.  It was an all-day affair!

So there you have it.  We're anchored in Broken Arrow for another week before we start our two-day trip down to Brownsville.  Our days are spent catching up on business, checkups with our local vet, and the few odds-and-ends maintenance/repairs that come with owning and living in an RV.  Our evenings are filled with the joy of being with family.  Broken Arrow, we love ya!

Quote of the day:  I just can't get past Let's go Brandon!!!

Drivers Start Your Engines

After four-and-a-half months in the veritable paradise of Roan Creek Campground nestled in a valley of the Smoky Mountains, we have finally convinced ourselves it was time to move on. 

Leaves are just beginning to change color and overnight temps are dipping down into the 30s.

That means it's time to make our way to the warm, sandy beaches of South Texas.

We took a last outing with our friends this past Sunday to celebrate D's birthday and were treated to some truly magnificent scenery.  I wish I had pictures of all that I saw, but we were out for a Sunday afternoon drive, and I have no skill with drive-by photography.

Tonight we're dry-docked about an hour north of Nashville in a Walmart parking lot.  It is a far cry from the splash of the creek against the rocky creek bed, the quacking ducks, and the laughter and joy which engulfed us as we sat by the creek with our friends.  The only thing this particular dry-dock has going for it is the fact that White Castle is located right in the parking lot!

On the stereo:  Three Dog Night, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Cake, and White Stripes

Counting:  Some people count license plates and annotate their state of origin as they drive down the highway.  Me?  I counted four dead deer and one dead coyote.

Things that make you say, What??  "Three former French beauty queen hopefuls who failed to make the Miss France pageant didn't take the loss well and are now suing the pageant for discriminating based on appearance."

Current mood:  Completely exhausted -- and it's only day one on the road. Ohhh, it could be a long week of traveling...

Quote of the day:  Let's go Brandon!

Shout out to: Drew, have fun at NASCAR!  Angie & Rod; Sharon & Ron; Leanne & Karen; Nancy, Linda & Sally; Mom & Dan; and dear, sweet Lee!  I'll be seeing y'all SOONER rather than LATER...  (warning, or threat?  You decide :) 

A Good Day for Trade

 

A couple of weekends ago, consort and I headed over to Trade, Tennessee, for the second annual Trade Mill and Native Heritage festival.  The event is held on the grounds of the Trade community center where the old trade mill is located.  The grounds are the original location of a trading post established in the early 1700s by Daniel Boone.  The Trade Gap trading post was established for Native Americans, pioneers, and fur traders to come together to buy and sell their wares.  This natural mountain gap, an old buffalo trail between Snake and Rich mountain, was the easiest route through the mountains to the west  and connected the Great Warrior Path through the Shenandoah Valley and Tennessee Valley to Piedmont, North Carolina.  Trade is known as the oldest community in Tennessee with English-speakers arriving as early as 1673.  

Trade's claim to fame is the story of Tom Dula who was made famous by the song Tom Dooley (Dula is pronounced Dooley in the local dialect).  The song is a North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina.  After allegedly committing the nefarious act, Tom Dula took off from North Carolina and eventually arrived in Trade, Tennessee, where he went into hiding.  It was in Trade that the posse finally caught up to Dula and arrested him.  He was taken back to North Carolina where he was tried, convicted, and ultimately hanged for the murder of Laura Foster.  

The story of Tom Dula and Laura Foster is intriguing.  The two knew each other as children and grew up playing together.  His true love was Anne Foster, Laura's cousin.  As the story goes, Tom and Anne were intimate at a very young age, but the affair was ended when Anne's mother found the two in bed together.  A couple of years passed and then Tom enlisted and served in the Confederate Army.

I'll skip over Tom's military career, although it is fairly interesting.

After the war, Tom returned home and renewed his relationship with Anne while at the same time beginning a relationship with Laura, Anne's cousin.  Folklore has it that when Laura became pregnant, she and Tom decided to elope.  The morning she and Tom were to take off together, Laura left her home early in the morning on horseback and was never seen again.

No one really knows what happened that day, but local speculation is that Anne killed Laura in a fit of jealousy when she found out Laura was pregnant.  Anne was the one who led authorities to where Laura was buried.  At the trial, another cousin of Anne's, Pauline, testified that Anne had previously taken her to Laura's gravesite to ensure it was still well hidden.

Witnesses at the trial testified they heard Tom Dula make the incriminating statement that he was going to "do in" the one who gave him the "pock" (syphilis).   The testimony suggested that Dula believed Laura had given him syphilis which he then passed on to Anne.  However, the local doctor testified he had treated both Dula and Anne for syphilis, as well as Pauline Foster who, in fact, was the first to be treated.  Many believe that Dula caught the disease from Pauline then passed it on to both Anne and Laura ~Wikipedia.

This is a 1927 Ingraham Viceroy pocket watch.  The vendor has fashioned it into a necklace.

I couldn't resist.  It now belongs to me.  I'm not sure I'll ever wear it as a necklace; it seems a bit too large.

In my stays-in-one-place home I had four wind-up, chiming clocks.

When we took off in the fifth wheel, all of the clocks found a new home with my daughter.

This little pocket watch fills the void with its very loud ticking and need for winding.

When Tom arrived in Trade, he introduced himself as Tom Hall and took a job working a farm belonging to Colonel James Grayson.  Grayson is also mentioned in the song, Tom Dooley, which started the myth that Grayson was Tom's rival for the affections of Laura Foster.  The truth is that Grayson had no previous connection with either Dula or Foster.  Once Dula's true identity became known, Grayson was instrumental in his capture and arrest by the posse from Wilkes County, North Carolina.

Maybe it's just me, but I thought this was a great story!

It was a beautiful sunny day when we arrived at the Trade Days festival, but after only an hour or so, it began to rain.  Consort and I took shelter, with D.O.G., under a large tree.  While waiting out the rain, the above pictured little girl happened along and asked if she could pet our dog.  She was very friendly and outgoing.  Her name is Jada and she is ten years old.  She is a member of the Cherokee Tribe.  The boots she is wearing were originally made by her great-great grandmother for her great-grandmother.

I asked her if she had been dancing that morning.  She said that, in fact, she had just finished participating in the rain dance.  I said, Well, it certainly seems to have worked!  Do you know how to do any "make the sun shine" dances?  She said, Yeah, I believe I do.  She then began to do her sunshine dance.  Believe it or not, within ten minutes of her finishing her dance, the sun came out and we were once again blessed with a beautiful sunny day!