All posts by paula

53-Picayune MS to see family, Places we Visit-Year 1

It’s so pretty here in Picayune in November!

We’re currently in Picayune MS with grandkids.  It’s a real pretty area, and a very pretty property where they live.  Jeff took some pictures of the pond area while running Laddy one day.   Below are pictures of the pond area with the fall colors showing, along with several of our beautiful Laddy having a great time running free!

In addition, there’s one picture of my daughter’s house with our trailer right next to it…so convenient!!  The large posts in the front of the house are for a front porch that they’re about to built – it’s not stonehenge!

31-Yosemite Natl Park, CA, Places we Visit-Year 1

Yosemite is so Beautiful!!

For some reason I neglected to post our pictures from Yosemite in a timely manner.  So, these will be out of sequence from all the other pictures of places we have been.  But, here they are now!

Yosemite is truly a unique and wonderful place.  The national park itself is mostly wilderness, with lots of hiking trails, meadows, rivers, lakes, and ways to get out into nature and away from civilization.

Yosemite Valley is accessible by vehicle, and it has a village with stores, galleries, a great museum, and even a medical clinic.  There are lodges and several campgrounds.  This small valley is also where Half-Dome, El Capitan and several of the waterfalls are located.  So you don’t need to be able to hike great distances to see many of the beautiful sites at Yosemite.

We visited Yosemite in April, which is probably the best time to visit.  It was still pretty cold and there was snow in the higher areas.  But, the waterfalls were spectacular because there was plenty of water!

El Capitan is the largest single block of granite on earth.  It has vertical walls that face the valley although the back side is more accessible to hikers.  While in Yosemite we were able to see rock climbers on the sheer rock face.

Half Dome is accessible to hikers and they can get to the very top and look down the sheer rock face into the valley.  No way was I going to do that!

The valley along with Half Dome and El Capitan were formed many millions of years ago by glaciers as they moved through the area, carving out the valley and sheering off the granite to form the sheer rock faces.

Here are pictures we took at Yosemite Valley:

 

45-Mojave, CA, Places we Visit-Year 1

Mojave in September!?! Why did we do that?

We were planning on heading south along the coast of California, but we forgot that we had a holiday weekend coming up.  By the time we started calling RV parks to get reservations for the holiday weekend, we couldn’t find anything available.  We kept going inland further and further, and the only place we could find over the holiday weekend was in Mojave!

It was REALLY hot there, I got up early and took a walk before 6am each morning before it got too hot.  We just holed up in the trailer with the A/C on during the afternoons and evenings.  I was glad when it was time to head out.

46-San Diego County, CA to see family, Places we Visit-Year 1

Visiting family in San Diego

We were able to spend a little time with our grandkids who live in San Diego while there.  Here are pictures of them:

 

 

47-Southern Arizona to see family, Places we Visit-Year 1

Visiting family in Casa Grande AZ

We stopped in Casa Grande AZ again to see Lee, Steven and family.  Cody was working a lot so we didn’t get any pictures of him although we were able to spend a little time with him.  Here are pictures of the rest of the family:

52-Livingston, TX (our home base), Places we Visit-Year 1

Livingston, TX – beautiful weather the first few days, then rain, rain, and more rain!

We spent a week in Livingston, TX before heading to my daughter’s house in Picayune, MS.  Livingston is where our home base is.  The first few days were beautiful, weather in the 80s, sunny days, fairly low humidity.  Then a storm moved through the area and we got about 6 inches of rain over 2 days.  I don’t think it ever stopped raining during those 2 days.  By the time we packed up and headed out, everything was soggy.  We’re glad the weather is nicer in Picayune so things will dry out!

51-Dallas, TX - Kennedy memorial, Places we Visit-Year 1

Dallas TX – we visited the spot and museum where JFK was assasinated

We stopped in Dallas on our way east to visit an old friend of Jeff’s and while there we went into the city to see the spot where JFK was assassinated.  The building where the Book Depository was at has become a museum with a lot of information about the event, the photographers, the conspiracy theories, the trial etc.  It was very interesting.

They had glassed around the window where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots, but from the next window over we could see the line of sight that he used to fire down onto the motorcade.

We also walked around on the ‘grassy knoll’ and the street, which is marked with “X”s to show where the president’s car was at for the shots.

Jeff and I are both convinced that Lee Harvey Oswald could not have fired three shots in such rapid succession with the precision that would have been necessary to account for all the hits to JFK and Connelly.  The single-shot, bolt action, rather clunky rifle that he used…the different angles of the three shots…just doesn’t work!

Here are some pictures we took of the area:

 

50-Oklahoma City, OK, Places we Visit-Year 1

We went to a hockey game in Oklahoma City

Several years ago when San Diego had a hockey team we enjoyed going to see the Gulls play hockey.  What’s that old joke…”I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out”?  There are lots of fights at hockey games!!

While in Oklahoma City we saw that they also have a minor league hockey team and they played Saturday night.  So we went to the game!

We had a lot of fun!  Here’s a picture, and here’s a short video I took of the action that I posted on Youtube: http://youtu.be/lYxyOYRBavU.

50-Oklahoma City, OK, Places we Visit-Year 1

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

While in Oklahoma City we visited the memorial built on the site of the Alfred Murrah building that Timothy McVeigh bombed in 1995.  They demolished most of the building and constructed a memorial on the site.

There’s a small portion of the original outer wall remaining and it shows damage from the bomb.  In the space that used to be the building, empty chairs were erected naming the victims of the bomb.  Smaller chairs signify the children that were in the day care.

An elm tree that was in the parking lot across the original street from the building still stands and is called the Survivors Tree.  After the bombing it was surrounded by burning cars.

The original building faced NW 5th Ave.  That street was closed down in the block where the bomb went off and is now part of the memorial.  There are two entrances to the memorial, one at each end of the block.  One is inscribed with the time 9:01 – one second prior to the bomb going on.  The other is inscribed with the time 9:03 – one second after the bomb.

49-Alburqueque, NM - the Balloon Fiesta!, Places we Visit-Year 1

We were in Alburqueue during the Balloon Fiesta!

We didn’t plan on it, but we got to Alburqueque while the annual Balloon Fiesta was going on.  We didn’t plan it that way, but it was great to be able to see the world-class event!

We didn’t pay to go into the field where the balloons take off – wait in line to get to the parking area, pay to park, walk a lot, pay to get into the field, walk some more, ugh!  So, we just drove around the city and got some great shots!  Here they are: