SAN JACINTO VIDEO & THE NEXT BIG ADVENTURE

This is a short entry to  post the San Jacinto Monument Video. I wanted to get it posted yesterday but as you can tell that didn't happen. A few years back, Microsoft discontinued support of their Video and Photo Editors, which I really like. They are both easy to use but more and more they are crashing and becoming unstable. So I have a couple of trial programs that I am starting to use but like anything new, I am struggling with the learning curve. Plus the new programs don't have some of the features to splice and smooth video transitions.

I worked several hours this past week editing the San Jacinto Monument Video in the new program, and finally got it ready to publish, or so I thought. I formatted and saved the final project but when I played it back the sound was distorted and the video skipped in several spots.

So I scrapped that and started over using my old Microsoft Video Editor. It was a much better finished product. I am going to keep using it Microsoft until it either stops working or I find something better.

Moving on to a slightly different Subject. When I retired the first of this year my objective was to make traveling my new normal. The recent Texas trip was only the start and some new traveling adventures are beginning to take shape.

It looks like my next big adventure will be in October when I will be taking my first extended Amtrak trip.  I have made reservations for the first leg of what looks like a long and very interesting trip.

Last week I made my reservation to travel by Amtrak from Roanoke to the Phoenix area of Arizona.  I depart Roanoke in October on Train 176-Northeast Regional Service to Washington, D. C. I have about a four hour layover in D. C. Before boarding Train #20 for the overnight trip to Chicago. I booked a superliner sleeper for this leg of the trip with dinner and breakfast included. Most of this leg of the trip will be over night so scenery will be limited.

I am scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 8:45 a.m. the next morning. I have a 5 hour layover in the Windy City, which will give me a little time to explore the area of Chicago that is immediately around the station and spend some time in the Metropolitan Lounge.

I am scheduled to depart Chicago at 1:45 p.m. on the Texas Eagle - Train #421 and arrive in the Phoenix Area at 8:50.m. two days later. I have also have a superliner sleeper for this leg of my two night 57 hour trip.

Once arriving in Phoenix Chuck and Sharon Shinall will pick me up and I will spend a few days with them before continuing my Amtrak trip.

Right now the trip from Roanoke to Phoenix is the only reservations that have been made. My tentative plan is to take Amtrak from Phoenix to Los Angeles. Upon arriving in L. A. I'll rent a car and spend a few days exploring the Los Angeles area. I would really like to visit the Nixon and Reagan Presidential Libraries and visit a few of the more well known cemeteries.

From Los Angeles I will probably take the Amtrak Coast Starlight up the coast to San Francisco. The price of rail fare is drastically cheaper than keeping the rental car and driving up the coast.

Once in San Francisco, I want to rent a car and spend some time in the Bay area and may even drive down to Yosemite, depending on the weather. Once I finish my visit to San Francisco I hope to Board the California Zephyr for the return trip to Chicago and eventually back to Roanoke.

All total it going to be about a three and a half week rail adventure. This will be quiet different from anything that I have tried before. Not having my own transportation in Los Angeles and San Francisco will be a big adjustment for me. I have never had to rely on public transportation or rental cars before. But I have used Uber and Lyft a couple of time without any problems.

I am going to have to learn to pack light. Everyone I have talked to have all said the lighter the better when traveling by train.

If I enjoy this Adventure by Train I would like to eventually take Amtraks Empire Builder through the Northern Rockies with a stop in Glacier National Park on the way to Seattle.  Then take the Coast Starlight all the way from Seattle to Los Angeles. Once in L. A. I would then take the Southwest Chief back to Chicago and eventually back home.  But that is still a really far piece down the road.

Anyway, the latest Video from my Texas Trip has been posted on MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL and you can read My San Jacinto Blog Entry Here.

Here is the Video

VIDEOS AND OTHER STUFF

I have been working on the videos from my trip to Texas and will be uploading them over the next few weeks to my YouTube Channel. As I said before, getting Videos converted and edited and uploaded is a lot of work. But I am getting them done slowly but surely. Today I am posting the video from my visit to Huntsville, Texas. I enjoyed Huntsville and glad I was able to spend most of the day here. It a great little town and the people were the definition of Texas Hospitality.  You can read my Blog entry about my visit to Huntsville Here

The update on the data recovery from my old computer is, there really is none.  I checked in with the data recovery guy and he is extremely busy with commercial customers and haven't started the data transfer yet. The guy is doing this in his spare time and really not charging me anything for his time. He is a good guy and a good friend. He did tell me that they have recovered some of my data so that is a good thing.

Since I have been back home I have really started to reconsider a few thing. The trip to Texas was the longest trip both miles and time wise and it renewed my interest in traveling full time. I have often considered buying a motor home and hitting the road full time.

During the Texas Trip, I really enjoyed the fact that I had no time constraints and could just travel at my leisure. I also enjoyed the freedom to travel and see the sites that I just happened to stumble on, like the Waco Mammoth.

I have talked to a number of people who RV full time and everyone of them tell me that you have to be able to fix stuff that will break on your RV.  They point out that an RV is not only a vehicle but it is you home on wheels and things are going to break as you move up and down the road. This would be a major problem for me as I am not handy at repairing thing. In fact it if it involves anything more than changing a light bulb, I'm lost.

Also I really hated having to lug suitcases and camera bags in an out of hotels every day. Repacking the car was a chore that I really disliked. But another thing to consider when thinking about RV'ing Full time, is that instead of lugging suitcases and having to repack the car, you have to hook and unhook utilities, sewer and water connections every time you move. Plus, being a person that likes long hot showers, if I boondock I would really have to manage my water uses. Advantages and disadvantages.

The RV thing is just a thought right now but I did stop the other day and look a some of the small class A's and some Class C's. No I am not anywhere close to buying one, but I am considering maybe renting one and taking a short weekend trip to see how things go. We will see.

But since I have been back home, I have had the Itch to hit the road again. Nothing anywhere close to the Texas Trip but a weekend or 5 or 6 day trip to some where. I have a couple of ideas so don't be surprised if I hit the road again.

One thing that I want to do now that winter has finally left us is do more videos on local site. I have a couple of things in mind and may try and get a couple of them shot over the next few weeks. 

While traveling, I really like to get off of the interstate and travel the old roads. During the Texas Trip I spend an entire day of traveling the Mother Road, Old Route 66.  This got me thinking, while Route 66 is the best known of the old roads, there are others highway that are still in use and are worth exploring. One Right Here in my Virginia.

So I am really looking at beginning a major (at least major for me) project where I explore U.S. Route 11 through Virginia.  Route 11 extends more than 300 miles through Virginia from Bristol to Winchester. Along the way it passes through some small towns with character. I have always said that if you want to see the real character of America, get off the interstates and take your time traveling on the back roads and through the small towns.

The Route 11 project is in the early planning stages but it is on the agenda, so maybe that will satisfy my travel itch during the summer.

So it is beginning to look like a busy summer ahead of me. Anyway here is the video of my visit to Huntsville.

CATCHING UP

I have been back home for a couple of week from my month long Texas Vacation and I haven't posted anything. I have been getting caught up on a bunch of boring stuff, like laundry, getting the windshield replaced in the car and other little chores that I had put off but were still waiting on me when I returned.

Charlotte S. from Ohio who evidently followed my blog sent me a message wanting to know when I was going to post the final summary of the trip. I had good intentions, but a piece of bad luck and  a huge mistake on my part has delayed the post of the final trip summary.

To give you a little background, when I travel, I keep a small notebook in the car where I make notes and jot down my daily expenditures for the blog. Then in the evening when I get settled into my hotel room I write the daily blog and enter the information into the spread sheet on my computer.

Well toward the end of the trip, I sort of got lazy and didn't update the last couple of days of the trip on the computer, thinking that I would do it when I got home.  The last time I updated the spread sheet was in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

After a couple of days of getting settled back into not having to drag suitcases to the elevator and re-packing the car,  I sat down and fired up the computer and Nothing...Absolutely nothing. I thought that I had a dead battery so I plugged it in and tried again.

This time when I turned it on, things got worse.....I got the dreaded blue screen of death on my 12- year old Toshiba Lap Top.  No problem, I will just log into my One Drive account pull the information off using the small HP laptop that Wayne gave me before I started my trip.

Or so I thought.....Come to find out the One Drive that  I thought was uploading my documents automatically every night on WiFi at the Hotel, hadn't uploaded since San Antonio. I manually upload my photos and videos but documents and other data is set to upload (or so I thought) on WiFi every night at 9 p.m. Something happened and reset the download settings to manual.

I took the Old Toshiba to the computer Doctor and they think they can recover my files. They say they should be able to recover most of my data, pictures and videos and put them on either an external hard drive or a high capacity thumb drive. The problem is the computer doctor that I use is very, very, very good at such projects but they also have a very high number of commercial accounts which come first.

They called today and said that while the computer is basically toast, they will be able to recover most of my data and have it back to me in the next week or 10-days. So it will be a while before I will have all of the final numbers and the final summary posted.

But there is good news, the photos and videos were still on the memory card, and they were all backed up on One Drive and on an external hard drive. The one fear that I have is that I will lose my photos. I am really dedicated in backing up my photos and videos. In fact the very first thing that I do each day when I get into a hotel is back up the photos and videos. While they stay on the Memory card, I also download them to a computer which will send them to One Drive. They also get backed up to an external hard drive. Some say that is over kill, but I am not going to lose my photos  I have them saved in about three different locations.

The Photos from the trip are beginning to show up on my FLICKR account so click the link and slide on over there and take a look at them. Their should be new photo posting about every other day.  I included a few photos in the daily blog, but those were only a very, very, very, few of the more than 4,000 photos that I took on the trip.

Before you panic, there are not going to be 4,000 photos in the TEXAS VACATION Album.  By the time I cull and edit the photos maybe a little more than half will make it to the FLICKR site. In October of 2018 I will have been on FLICKR for 10-years. During that time I have post a little more than 32,000 photos.

And one other bit of good news, is that I have been editing videos and have a few that should start appearing on YOUTUBE in the next few days.  I had good intentions of including videos DURING the trip but videos are a lot of work. More work than I wanted to do during the trip. So I made the decision very early on to get video during the trip but I would convert and edit it when I have the time.

I did get a couple videos posted on this trip but dang it was a lot of time and work.  I think most of the videos that I posted while traveling were around 10-12 minutes long.  Those 10-12 minutes took about 5-6 hours to pull of the card, convert, edit, exports and finally upload.

So over the next few weeks, the photos will be appearing on Flickr, the videos will be showing up on Youtube. Keep checking back on those sites for all the new stuff.

Some of you have ask what's next. Well, I don't know for sure. I am going to spend April at home. May will probably be a few day trips, and maybe a weekend trip or two. I am looking at a Pittsburgh trip for baseball in June when the Dodgers come to town.

If all goes well October will be my next big trip. I am still planning on riding AMTRAK to Phoenix and Joining Chuck and Sharon Shinall for a week in the Valley of the Sun before venturing on to California for a week or so. Then  riding AMTRAK back home.

Finally I am looking at heading to Florida early next year and spending some of the cold months in warm sunshine.  What I am thinking about is heading to Florida in early February and then leaving from there for my 2019 March Madness Basketball Vacation. One of the sites for the first and Second rounds next year is in Jacksonville, Florida. So that may work out well, and allow me spend some of February and the first of March in Florida, attend the tournament in Jacksonville and then head back home to Virginia. But all that is still in the very early and no doubt will change as the day, weeks and month pass.

So until I get the data recovered from my old laptop, keep checking in of Flickr, YouTube and Instagram for all the new stuff. If you like what you see be sure to subscribe and follow.

TOMBSTONE TOURIST VISITS WESTERN MISSOURI

This is a short post as for the most Part I covered my visit to the cemeteries of Western Missouri in a couple of previous blog post from 2013. You can read them HERE and HERE. In 2013, my NCAA Tournament Vacation took me to Kansas City. That trip turned into one of my longer vacations as I was away from home for just a little over two weeks. Here is the video from my visit to the Cemeteries of Western Missouri.

I forgot to post this before I went on my Texas Vacation, so here it is.

THE END....OF AN AMAZING JOURNEY

(APRIL 5, 2018) Well the last day of this amazing trip was the most non-eventful day of the journey.  I spent the last night on the road in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which is just south of Nashville. The were some pretty substantial storms that went through during the night, Lots of Thunder, lightening and wind for a bout two and a half hours. 

I intended to visit the Stones River Battlefield National Park just a couple of miles up the road, but when I got to the visitor center I was informed that it may be a couple of hours before I could do the driving tour. Last Nights storm had cause some minor damage and some debris was blocking some of the roads.

I decided rather than waiting that I would head toward home.  With only a few rest area stops and 30-minute delay for traffic in Knoxville, I crossed back into Virginia on Interstate 81 at about 4:45 p.m. Then it was one last meal at Cracker Barrel in Abingdon, before clicking off the last 90-miles

At 7:50 p.m. I hit the remote on my garage door, pulled into my garage and just like that it was over.

It was a great trip, but it was good to kick back in my recliner. I am still working on the final numbers and will have them finished in the next day or two. The preliminary number are: I spent 31 days and 30-nights on the road. This trip took me through 12-states and covered a grand total of 6,250-mile. It looks like I was pretty close to my expense goal of $5,000 or $150 per day.

I will have the final number in the coming days and will post them along with a final trip summary and review.

And before you ask, yes I have a couple ideas of where I will be going next, but I will save that for down the road.

Thanks for following along.

TOTAL MILES: 6,250

ONE MORE NIGHT

(APRIL 3, 2018) It was again cloudy and chilly as I left Little Rock. I had thought about stopping at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library on the way out of town but decided against it.  A lot of museums have special temporary exhibits that they cycle out from time to time. After looking on line it appeared the temporary exhibit was dealing with Hillary, who I have absolutely no interest in.

So, without delay I headed east on Interstate 40 toward Memphis. With a couple of coffee a stops along the way I passed the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid crossed the Mississippi River on Hernando de Soto Bridge and entered the State if Tennessee some three and a half hours after leaving Little Rock.

I had thought about visiting the Lorraine Motel but with tomorrow being the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination I figured it would be a mad house of activity. So I continued on through Memphis without stopping.

Some 70-miles later I stopped at Jackson Tennessee and made a brief visit to the Casey Jones Village. It's a tourist trap that is centered around the home of the legendary railroad engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones who was killed when his train crashed into another train near Vaughan, Mississippi. The legend of Casey Jones was immortalized in a song by Wallace Sanders, and here is the great Johnny Cash singing the Ballad of Casey Jones.

After a quick stop at the Casey Jones Village I hit the road and worked my way east on Interstate 40 toward Music City.

By mid-afternoon I was just west of Nashville and decided to stop at the Harpeth Hill Memory Gardens and visit the graves of a couple Country Music Stars.

Probably the biggest star resting here is perhaps the greatest guitar players of all time; Mr. Chet Atkins. In addition to being a star on the Grand Ole Opry and a legendary country music performer he was also a top record executive, producing records for such stars as Waylon Jenning, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Jerry Reed. Chet Atkins was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973.

Also rest here are Charlie and Ira Louvin. The Louvin Brothers were regular members of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1950's and early 1960's. Ira died in a car crash in 1965. Charlie continued to perform on the Grand Ole Opry until shortly before his death in 2011. The Louvin Brothers were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

My final stop was at the grave of Doug Dillard.  Most folks won't know who Doug Dillard is but they will recognize him as one of the Darling Boys from the Andy Griffith Show. Take a listen to Briscoe Darling and his boys from the "Mountain Wedding" episode of the Andy Griffith Show. Doug is the one playing the guitar and singing.

After leaving Harpeth Hills it took me about 50-minutes to make the 30-mile drive to my Hotel in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This will be my last night on the road, as tomorrow I plan on touring the nearby Stones River National Battlefield before I hit the road and click off the final 400 miles of what has been a magnificent journey.  Tomorrow Night I will be sleeping in my own bed for the first time in exactly one month.

So tomorrow the journey will end, but we still have 400 miles to got so we will just have to see what's around the bend.

TODAY'S MILES:  387
TOTAL MILES:     5,818

FUN FILLED AFTERNOON

(APRIL 2, 2018) Today started just as yesterday ended. Cold and rainy.  I checked the weather for Fort Smith and for a couple of places east and it was supposed to be cloudy all day but the rain was forecast to stop about mid-morning.

I checked my Gas Buddy App and found that gas was a few cents per gallon cheaper over around Russellville, so I hit the road and headed east.

In Russellville, I filled up with gas at the Pilot Station and then made the Hour long drive to Little Rock with is my overnight destination.  Yes it is a short day mileage wise because I want to spend so time with my dear friend Lindsey Scribner.

I met Lindsey when she was 12-years old and was playing softball with my niece Jenna.  Jenna and Lindsey were inseparable. Through out High School Lindsey became my 4th Niece and we have stayed in touch all these years.

Now 26, Lindsey is living here in Little Rock near her family. And this afternoon I was able to have lunch and spend the afternoon with her.We talked and laughed and yes it was a great afternoon.

Tomorrow will probably be my last night on the road as I am going to push on to the Nashville area, then make one final push and be home some time Wednesday Night.

TODAY'S MILES:  159
TOTAL MILS:        5431

APRIL FOOLS WEATHER

(APRIL 1, 2018) Today was April Fools day and the weather in Oklahoma City was not fooling around.  Last night when I checked into my hotel it was 68 degrees and I was in t-shirts, shorts and flip flops. This morning when I was loading the car, it was 34 degrees, and sleet or freezing rain was falling.

The other day while traveling through New Mexico something hit my my windshield and put a little nick in it, no problem or so I though. This morning while packing the car, I noticed that the little nick had began to sprout arms and two long cracks had developed. I don't know what it was that struck the windshield as I was traveling on a rural road between Roswell and Fort Sumner. The was another vehicle about 100 yards in front of me, but I don't know if they kicked up a rock or not.

Before leaving the hotel I filed an online claim with my insurance to have the windshield replaced.  I took all of 5-minutes to file the claim and get an approval, and set an appointment with SafeLite to have the windshield replaced.  I looked at staying over and having it replace here in Oklahoma City but the earliest appointment they had at any of their sites was April 16.  So I opted to have it replaced when I get home.  My appointment is set for Monday, April 9,2018 and the will come to me so I don't have to drive to Roanoke. My insurance is going to cover 100% of the cost, no deductible

I must say that this was the easiest and most hassle free procedure that I have ever had dealing with an insurance company.  My hats off to Nationwide.

Anyway, today was the worst weather day that I have had on this entire trip. Cold, Rain, Sleet. Just a totally miserable day. Many of the museums in the OKC area were opening in the afternoon so I looked at driving up toward Tulsa but the weather up there was worse than here. So I head east toward Fort Smith where I had hoped the weather would be a little better. 

East of Oklahoma City a few of the bridges were a little slick so I decided to pull into the Grand Hotel and Casino and kill a little time and to see if it would warm up a little. I put a $20 bill in to the machine and over the next hour hit a couple of small jackpots. After about an hour I decided to cash out. My original $20 was now $64. So before leaving I paid $15 for the Easter Lunch buffet, so not counting my original $20, and paying for the buffet I was about $29 to the good. The buffet was pretty good, better and slightly cheaper than Golden Corral.

I spent about two and a half hours at the Grand Casino and when I left the car showed the temperature was 44. So it was on to Fort Smith.

When I arrived at the Fort Smith National Historical Site it was still cold and raining. I had some time to kill before I could check into my hotel so I watched the 20-minute film on the history of Fort Smith and toured the old courthouse and jail.

This was the site where Judge Isaac Parker held court for the Western District of Arkansas, hiving criminal jurisdiction over the Indians Nation. The original courtroom and jail have been preserved and are part of the Visitor Center Museum.

The cold rain was still falling so I took a short walk around the site before driving over to the Fort

Smith National Cemetery where Judge Parker is resting.

It was still too early to check into my hotel so I drove back into Oklahoma and killed some time at the Cherokee Casino.  I again had decent luck, playing for over an hour on $20.  The evening buffet opened up at 4 p.m so about 4:45 I cashed out and decided to hit the buffet for supper. Just as I was cashing out a lady playing a few machines over from me hit a large jackpot. The attendant and a security officer soon showed up and and escorted her to the cashier. As I walked by it looked like she hit for $9,600.

After having supper at the Casino, it was a 20 mile drive to my Hotel in downtown Fort Smith.

Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be better so I am heading over to Little Rock to visit the Clinton Presidential Library and to catch up with Lindsey Scribner.

I am getting closer to home, and this trip will probably come to an end in the next couple of day. But we will see.

TODAY'S MILES:  232
TOTAL MILES:     5,272

GETTING MY KICKS ON ROUTE 66

(MARCH 31, 2018) Today was all about the Mother Road as I made my way from Amarillo to Oklahoma City on Old Route 66.  If you want to get from point A to Point B as quickly as possible then by all means take the interstate. If you want to get from Point A to Point B and see the pure the character of this country, travel the old roads.  No road has more character than America's Main Street, Route 66.

Route 66 was established in 1926 and was one of the original highways roads in the U. S. Highway System. It originally covered 2,448 miles from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. It was decommissioned and officially removed from the federal system in 1985. Since then stretches of the road has disappeared or been swallowed up by Interstate 40.  But the lure of the Mother Road remains and every year people from all over the world come to travel what is left of one of our classic highways.  The road is still so popular that several states have have adopted the road and identified it as State Route 66.

Some of the small towns along Route 66 have all but disappeared, while others have embraced their place on the iconic highway and welcome tourist and travelers with museums, throwback motels and diners.

Today, I traveled only a small portion of the old road from Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and I relished the true character of the small towns and communities along the road.

As I left Amarillo, I headed east on Interstate 40 for a few miles and saw a huge cross, that stood between the Interstate and the Old Road. This is one of the largest crosses in America, rising almost 200-feet above Texas landscape. But if you think the cross is all that's here you are sadly mistaken. Visitors will not only see the cross up close but you  will also be treated to a series of sculptures depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is truly an amazing scent and an awesome work or art.  It was appropriate that I found this amazing place on Easter Weekend.

Just a mile or so down the road on Route 66 is an icon of the mother road, The Leaning Water Tower

of Groom, Texas.  This cockeyed water tower was the brain child of a man named Ralph Britten who operated a truck stop and diner on Route 66.  Like so many other place along the highway, Britten though he need a gimmick to entice motorist to stop at his restaurant and truck stop. So he bought the water tower form the town of Lefors and towed it here to a spot near Groom, Texas.  He then set the tower at a precarious angle.

The gimmick worked and his truck stop and restaurant was a huge success but disaster struck years later when his business was destroyed by fire. He never rebuilt and all that remains today is the Leaning Water Tower.

A few more miles up the road is the town of Shamrock, Texas, which is the hometown of Bill Mack. Now I know very few of you will know who I am talking about but Bill Mack kept me company many a night as I drove up and down the highway.  Bill Mack was an overnight disc jockey on the 50,000 watt radio station WBAP in Dallas Texas.  Known as the Midnight Cowboy, Bill Mack, joined other such overnight radio voice as Charlie Douglas and Dave Nemo from WWL, way down yonder in New Orleans and the Truckin Bozo form WLW in Cincinnati.

Bill Mack was born here in Shamrock, Texas which is also home to the Route 66 Icon the "U Drop Inn and the Conoco Tower Gas Station.  The Conoco Tower and U-Drop Inn was built in 1936 by James Tindall and R. C. Lewis. The service stations and Inn operated until 1995 and was on the verge of being demolished when a local bank bought the property and donated it to the City.  Today the City of Shamrock has restored the diner and station to its original appearance and operates it as a museum.

Shortly after leaving Shamrock, I crossed over into Oklahoma.  Shortly after entering the Sooner State I lost Route 66 and ended up back on Interstate 40 for a few miles.  While on Interstate 40 I saw a Brown Sign, which drew my attention to Washita Battle Field National Historic Site. 

Since I like Brown Signs I decided to make the 25 mile drive north to the small town of Cheyenne, Oklahoma.

Arriving at the small visitors center the really nice ranger explained what took place here 150 years ago. After watching a short film about the battle and the events leading up to it I drove the Half-mile out to the site to the battle. On November 27, 1868,  the 7th U. S. Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer attacked the village of Cheyenne who were in winter camp along the banks of the Washita River.

The leader of this band of Cheyenne was Chief Black Kettle.  Custer's cavalry attacked at day break, leaving the Cheyenne with little chance of survival. Custer claimed he killed 103 warriors, but the Cheyenne put the number was closer to 40 and consisted of men, women and children.

Chief Black Kettle, and his wife were among those killed. Following the massacre which lasted about 20-minutes,Custer rounded up the Cheyenne that were left and they were relocated to a reservation.  Some Cheyenne women pulled Black Kettle and his wife's body from the river and carried them to another location for burial. To this day, the location of the graves are unknown.

The next time someone tell you to "trust the Govenment," you might want to remember what transpired here and earlier at Sand Creek.

It was very late afternoon when I returned to Route 66. I made my final stop at the Route 66 Museum in Elk City, Oklahoma. This is actually several museums in one, including a museum dedicated to Route 66 along with transportation and a pioneer Village.  For the $4.00 admission it is well worth a stop.  I could have spent longer here but at 5 o'clock they closed and I had to be on my way.

Some tow hours later I was I pulled into Oklahoma which I will be spending the Night.  With today 311 miles I broke through the 5,000 mile barrier. It will be close to 6,000 miles total when I roll into home sometime next week. Tomorrow I will visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and then move on east. Not sure how far east but I am inching myself closer to Home.

TODAY'S MILES:     311
TOTAL MILES:       5040

A GREAT DAY WITH AN OLD AND DEAR FRIEND

(MARCH 29, 2018) Today was probably the best day that I have had while on this little trip. I have crossed a lot of thing off of my bucket list but today I got to visit with an old and dear friend. More about that later.

I was up early this morning and made the 45-mile trip across St. Augustine Pass through the Organ Mountain to the White Sand National Monument. On the way to the monument on Highway 70, I passed through the White Sand Missile Range. There were notices on some of the signs that this highway can be closed from time to time due to Missile Test.

My National Park Senior Pass once again came in handy as it save me the $5.00 entrance fee to the park.  I did stop at visitors center and pick up a small sled that I could use to slid down the dunes. Yea, I am still a kid at heart.

The drive through the park was amazing. The white sand is like a really fine powder and with the almost constant wind, it covers the road.  In fact there was a motor grader plowing the road just like snow.

I went to the back of the park where some of the larger dunes are located and tried out my sled. It was really so much fun sliding down the dunes on a cheap piece of plastic. Yea but the walk back up was a chore. I spent the better part of an hour sliding down and climbing back up.

Then it was time to continue my drive through this amazing park.  All total I spent the better part of 4-hours here and enjoyed every minute of it.

After a quick stop at the gift shop it was time to head back across the pass to Las Cruces and a visit with a man that I worked with for more than 20-year.  He is not only a great co-workers but a great Friend.

My friend Dave Edmondson has been retired for 22 years and I am only into my 3rd month of Retirement.  After spending a few years as a full time RV'er Dave and Flo have settled in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  I made a point to get in contact with them and today spent the afternoon swapping stories and sharing laughs.

Yes anytime you can reconnect with good friend it's a good day and today turned out to be a great day.

Well, this is about as far west as I am going to make it on this trip. Tomorrow I will start easing my way back east.  It looks like tomorrow may be a 400 plus mile day as I will be heading to Amarillo.

TODAY'S MILES:    151
TOTAL MILES:     4,260