Saturday, December 7, 2013

Paul B. Johnson State Park - Hattiesburg MS 2013

Paul B. Johnson was a Governor of Mississippi during World War II and the State Park named for him sits on the shores of Geiger Lake.  Once known as Lake Shelby for the nearby US Army Base, the lake was built by German Prisoners of War during the time of Johnson's governorship.  Camp Shelby was one of several POW Camps in Mississippi during the War. There is a very interesting article online describing in detail the POW Camps in the state and the utilization of the prisoners for local labor projects.

The link below may not be live so if you want to read about the POWs you will need to copy the link and paste into your browser's address bar.

http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/index.php?id=233


This is our second stay here and we stayed 6 days, the longest stop of our southern trek this year.  We like it because we can park right at the water's edge as you can see from the first photo.





The park is located about 20 miles south of Hattiesburg on Route US 49. As you enter the park from the highway, you are faced with this low water crossing to proceed to the campground.






But we made it without incident!  Below here is our view from our dining table where we see ducks, the occasional fisherman (or woman) or just the pleasant rippling of the water.

This scene is more or less out our windshield and it reminds me of a Bob Ross painting with all those "happy little trees here and there and there and here" as the late Mr. Ross often said while creating his images on PBS.


and below pulled out a little farther to include some happy little clouds, too.


A chain saw artiste has been busy since we were here last in 2008 adding some friendly bear sculptures around the campground.




Wildlife has been a little scarce this time but we did manage to see some of the local critters as we moved around.  The lake covers 225 acres and is stocked with popular southern species including largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, shellcracker and channel catfish.  So it attracts lots of boat fishing enthusiasts.

Below is pictured a bunch of turtles sunning on a log. Notice 2 tiny babies at the right end of the log. 


And in this we see the lonely Blue Heron on stakeout for lunch in one of the backwater pools.


Some resident Muscovy Ducks seem to be everywhere you look, but in reality there are probably fewer than a dozen cruising the shallows and occasionally getting a handout from campers. Muscovys are a Central American import which seem to be able to adapt to a variety of climates.



That will do it for this post.  We will be in Beaumont TX for 3 days before heading to the Escapees Rainbow's End Park in Livingston for about 2 weeks.




Saturday, October 26, 2013

Summer Fun - 2013

As we pause near Knoxville TN for the weekend I am puzzled with the concept of the farther South we have come, the colder it has gotten! It was 28 degrees this morning with a lot of frost on everything. But the entire southeast is in the throes of a cold spell and temperatures are to return to normals early next week.

I will take this time to update this blog with some photos from our summer in Hershey and whatever else comes to mind. We had to have some work done on the RV this summer and there are still some things unfinished. We need a compressor for the dashboard air conditioner and the tech we had used could not locate the correct item before we left, so we are not unhappy with the cool weather so far. We have needed the heater rather than the AC!

Our travels will be a little different with our new residential style refrigerator we used to replace the RV model capable of operating on either propane or electricity. That style is made primarily by a company called Norcold and the wags have suggested the units are not so cold. We could not keep ice cream, frost buildup was constant and annoying and when the old one quit working it was almost good news.  The household refrigerator only runs on alternating current and at that only the flavor that comes from a real electrical source. The ac output from the power inverter onboard is not compatible with the cooling syatem of the regrigerator. So while we drive we are not making cold, but preserving the cold in the box until we get to a place to plug into shore power again. The insulation in today's refrigerators is excellent and we do not anticipate any problems, since we do not boondock or dry camp any more.

Before and after Kendalyn went to be with her father in Illinois she and her Mom were frequent weekend visitors. As I chronicled Kendalyn mastered riding the bicycle this summer and it was always the first thing she wanted to do when she got here. What an amazing transformation from her fear and trepidation that she would "fall and smash her face" at the earliest times to the unbridled joy of racing around the campground at the end!  Alas the bike was not too durable and developed a problem of slipping the chain off the sprocket.  Repeated attempts to adjust the chain tension resulted in stripping the threads on the rear axle and the bike was deposited at the dumpster. Maybe Santa will have a new one he can spare.


Not too many bird pictures this summer but we did see this blue heron frequenting the shallows of the lake.  We also saw, less often the Green Heron below. It was more wily and flew off if we showed too much interest.


Fall was trying to impress but rather slowly as the usual bright specimens around the lake were unspectacular this year.  This one in near the Family Center was the best we saw.  Neither have we been fortunate with seeing fall color on our jaunt through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia this year.  Only the very distant and highest moutain tops seem to have substantial coloration.


Laura and Kendalyn went to a local corn maze and managed to escape without getting lost.  The first photo shows the maze as a drawing. It is in the shape of a farm tractor if seen from the air.


They also took some "selfies" and some from the wagon ride through the pumpkin patch.  Kendalyn is tall, but not as tall as the corn was this year. Conditions were good all summer and it looks like there was a bumper crop. So much was still standing when we left I think there must have been a major price drop so the farmers are waiting hoping for better returns.


Mother and daughter amidst the corn.


And finally, it would not be the end of summer at the Shicks unless there were family "portraits" taken. So on a blustery fall afterneoon we all posed. New this year was the inclusion of the dogs, Hydro (the big dog) and Dixie our companion.


So we have the Geezers

The Children and Kendie                                        Laura and Kendie....






Randy and Hydro      


The Shick Gang - 2013












Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Summer Recap and Future Travel Plans


I haven't posted to this blog for quite some time and lest you think I have forgotten about doing it, I have not.  We have had a rather busy summer, although most was taken up with medical crap we both endured.  Cathy had successful cataract surgery on my birthday, June 3, and got new glasses in August. We are not sure why the surgeon took so long to approve having a new prescription made.  Now she sees 20-20.

As many of you know I had 4 laminectomies and lumbar spinal fusion on July 17.  Thanks to all who  sent get well cards and letters; I enjoyed them especially those cards referencing mechanical breakdowns and repairs.  My recovery has been easier than I imagined and I have lately been wondering why I waited so long to have it done! I have not used any narcotic pain medications for at least 3 weeks  and I long ago tossed the cane. I have one more followup with the surgeon on October 14 at which time, according to his assistant at my last visit, he will pronounce me "free to do whatever I want"!

It is a great relief to me that I will be able to keep my flexibility and be able to crawl around underneath the motor home setting up and taking down for travel.  If the surgery had been as extensive as originally proposed (4 to 6 fusions with rods and screws oh my!) I had figured I would be as rigid as a tin soldier. Dr. Knaub was very understanding and accommodating and agreed to fix the worst, most dangerous, of my various problems in order to allow us a few more years of travel.

And so we have begun plotting out our travel for this winter and next spring. We must appear in person in South Dakota before June 2014 to renew our drivers licenses. If we were to be later than our birthdates we would have to take the entire driver test, both written and practical so we are planning to be there in late May.

We will head to Texas on October 21 traveling through Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana before hitting TX.  Tuscaloosa Alabama presents a scheduling problem this time of year as the Alabama football crazies book up every available campground site when the team is at home, so if we get there during a home game we may have to go elsewhere!  We will revisit a State Park we stayed at  and liked near Hattiesburg MS.  Once in Texas we are planning to go along the Gulf Coast below Galveston to Port Lavaca and Corpus Christi.  We may stay there for a few weeks before heading toward San Antonio and points north.  Our Thousand Trails membership will be very useful as there are at least five campgrounds in their system along our proposed route.  

When the weather turns warm enough to begin the northward trek we will head straight for Sioux Falls to take care of the licenses.  We will have an opportunity to check out some areas of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa as we follow Interstates 35 and 29 north.  After taking care of business in South Dakota we will head to International Falls Minnesota and take our time getting there to enjoy some of the lakes and wilds of northern MN.

From there it will be a rather straight shot to Milwaukee and hope to be there by July 4th. My High School Graduating Class is having a 55th reunion over the Labor Day weekend and we are planning to be there for that as well as to see some family in Western Pennsylvania.  Afterward it will be back to the Hershey area for the annual physicals and checkups with our drug suppliers to ensure an adequate supply for the next upcoming seasons.  But that is just too far off to be thinking about now.

As normal, Kendalyn spent the summer with her father in Illinois and came back a week before school started again, 8 pounds heavier and about a foot taller!!! Or so it seemed. She always has been a lanky lass and is now nearly as tall as her Mom.  Keeping her in clothes is a challenge to say the least, but they went shopping on Labor Day and came back with 5 bags of basics and cute outfits that should last the school year.

Her Uncle Randy had gotten her a two-wheeler with training wheels for Christmas and it found its way to our campsite this spring. Before she went to IL, she was pretty shaky even with the training wheels.  The bike waited for her return in August and when she visited she seemed a lot more confident. So much so that she asked to have the training wheels, first raised, then removed.  And she took off and did not look back.  I have a couple of pictures of her success posted with this.  Also posted are pictures of her heading out for the first day of 5th Grade.  She already loves her teachers, especially Mr. Drago, her math and science teacher.  He is somewhat of a musician and has posted several videos on Youtube which, of course, the students love.  She is eager for swimming since she is in the school building with the pool this year and it is a 5th Grade rite.


Above is the first trial  at home at Christmas.  Looks a little tentative.


Above and Below - No training wheels and supreme confidence.



Laura takes a picture on the steps of their home every year on the first day of school.  Above is the First Day - 5th Grade.


Busy Lady in a rush to catch the bus!


Without a look back, she boards the bus.


Monday, April 8, 2013

Disney Trip for Kendalyn's 10th Birthday 2013

Five years ago we brought our granddaughter, Kendalyn, her mother, Laura and our son, Uncle Randy to Florida to visit Disney World in Orlando for Kendalyn's 5th birthday.  At 5, she was awed by the spectacle and totally surprised to realized where we were headed as we drove toward the park entrance from the airport.  At the conclusion of that visit, her Nanny promised we would bring her back when she was ten.  Last week was the realization of that promise and all three returned for 5 days at Disney World where we parked the RV in the Fort Wilderness Campground within the Disney complex.

Over 660 photos as well as several short video sequences were taken on three different cameras during the stay!  Rest assured I have selected only a small sample representative of the many activities we enjoyed including meal time.  We were a little smarter this time and opted for a meal plan for the 5 of us which really worked out well.  Each of us was able to enjoy more food than necessary for sustenance with a sit down meal, as well as lunches, snacks and soft drinks daily.

Laura did a great job making reservations for the sit down meals having arranged them as long ago as last August!  It is unthinkable that dinner reservations must be made that far in advance but Disney is so popular that is reality. 

So, sit back and enjoy a sample of our trip.


At Epcot, there was a flower and garden show ongoing and there were topiaries of, what else, Disney characters!  Above is the Lion King and you can just see Laura behind and to the right.


Part of the beautiful flower displays throughout Epcot can be seen here.


And a topiary of Cinderella and Prince Charming.  I believe these figures are all grown on wire forms pre-shaped to the desired shape.


Of course you cannot see a blog post of mine without at least one bird picture, so here is a White ibis just settling into a roost position while a gull looks on in wonder.


One of the benefits of making dinner reservations and announcing the birthday girl's presence during the planning stages of the trip ensures frequent visits to the table by various Disney characters making the rounds!  Above Chip (of Chip & Dale) gives the birthday girl a hug after signing an autograph.  Below is, of course, Pluto having completed the same.  These were taken at dinner at the Garden Grill in an exhibit called "The Land".  

After dinner we "toured" a facility demonstrating sustainable farming techniques including hydroponics for fruits and vegetables and aquaculture for seafood.  In fact waste from the fish tanks is recycled into fertilizer for some hydroponic farms.  It was quite interesting and much of the produce grown in the facility is used in the various restaurants in the complex.  Only Disney could do it!


Laura took the picture below of the two of them at Epcot with the famous Spaceship Earth Sphere in the background.





We now switch to the Magic Kingdom and Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.  Laura, Kendalyn and Randy waited in line for their ride while the photog was assigned the task of catching them in flight.  Below is the best attempt.


We had a special breakfast at Ohana, a restaurant at the Polynesian Resort.  The meal was served family style and consisted of mini waffles shaped like Mickey Mouse, some sticky bread with pineapple chunks, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, biscuits, fried potatoes and a wonderful juice called POG a combination of Passion Fruit, Orange and Guava juices.

Mickey Mouse himself visited our table (and all the others, too) and Kendalyn posed with him and also collected an autograph.





Below Grandpa got tricked by Stitch who is a known trickster while Kendie collected another autograph for her book.



And here is the gang waiting to be called into the Ohana Restaurant.


Below we have just stuffed ourselves again at the Coral Reef Restaurant in the Living Seas attraction at Epcot during our second day there. Kendalyn tried the Seared Rainbow Trout.  It was her first time to eat trout and she cleared her plate.  A couple of us had Coral Reef Lobster Orecchiette Pasta, a dish our waiter described as "mac & cheese with lobster meat" and it did not disappoint with lots of chunks of lobster. And a couple of us enjoyed Orange Ginger Glazed Scottish Salmon which also resulted in clean plates.  Desserts of Creme Brulee and Orange Cheesecake completed the meal and caused the stuffed look on our faces!




Another autograph from Daisy Duck in front of the Iconic Epcot sphere and a souvenir photo of Laura and Kendalyn together with Goofy complete the character photos.

Oops! There is one other character who was along with the group.  Here is Nanny sampling various soft drinks from around the world at an exhibit sponsored by Coca-Cola.  She decided her favorite was ginger ale from Mozambique!


Randy got a flight back to Harrisburg on Wednesday, April 3rd and we moved the rig 17 miles to Thousand Trails Orlando. At no cost per night with our Thousand Trails membership, there is quite a difference in nightly rates compared to Fort Wilderness where we enjoyed the proximity to the parks for only $117 per night.  Only Disney can do it!!  

Laura and Kendalyn came with us and stayed until Sunday, April 7, when I drove them to the airport for an 8:00 am flight to Harrisburg.  On Friday she and Kendie went back to Downtown Disney, roughly that same 17 miles, to do some shopping and on the way back they encountered some traffic delays caused by a large truck hitting an overpass that scattered debris on the road she would be taking.  Two and a half hours later they got back to the RV. 

We will be here until the 17th when we will begin our travels back to PA generally via I-95 and will arrive at the Thousand Trails Hershey Preserve on May 2 for the summer.  Several doctor visits are planned for regular checkups and to see if Larry's back pains can be better managed with improved chemistry to delay surgery.  Cathy will have cataract surgery in one eye soon after we get settled and some dental work is needed by us both.

That's all for this time.  Hope to hear from you.




Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A few Birds from Florida

We stayed at the Escapees Sumter Oaks RV Park where we have camped many times.  It was from here we traveled to Leesburg FL for Cathy's Oncology treatments 6-years ago.  This year we are simply biding our time until the Spring Break for schools in PA when our granddaughter, Kendalyn, will join us with her mother, Laura, and her Uncle Randy to celebrate Kendalyn's upcoming tenth birthday with a 5-day stay at Disney World in Orlando.  More about that in a future post that will have many pictures.

While here this year we were entertained by some of the local birds, some old friends and one first-timer for us.  Below is the Red-headed Woodpecker which  is a new addition to our life list of bird sightings.  A pair were nesting in this lamp pole and apparently tending to some offspring.  Here in flight leaving for a new batch of food for the brood.



And below here, working on the nest opening.


Old acquaintances, the Bluebirds seemed to be quite numerous this year and this one was checking out one of the many nesting boxes around the outer perimeter of the park.  This one happened to be directly behind our space so we saw lots of activity,


And a visit to Sumter Oaks in winter would not be complete without seeing the local Sand Hill Crane which was frequently seen first thing in the morning on my walks with Dixie.


The treat of the stay was numerous sightings of the Swallow-tailed Kite and this year the bird seemed to be much closer to the treetops and I was able to get some great action pictures.  This bird's range in North America is limited to the Southeastern states including Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.  It is seen in Texas where it is considered to be a "threatened" species as it is also in SC.  In Georgia they are "rare".  So we were fortunate to enjoy this wonderful bird. The photo below shows the characteristic tail shape that gives its name as well as the distinctive coloring.


Swallow-tailed kites eat and drink on the fly and apparently only roost in tree tops at night.  I was taking continuous exposure shots as I tried to follow its sweeping path across the open area in front of our rig.  In the picture below the kite had just taken a baby bird from a nest in the oak behind it.  I have annotated the picture with two red arrows to locate the catch.


And below it has the bird in its talons as it flies away.


Here turning to make another pass at the tree.


And my favorite as it turns to get close to the trees for still another pass.  We have seen them in past years but usually much higher in the sky so photography was not as good.


At the rear of the RV Park is a wet, swampy area with a stand of Bald Cypress trees between the camp road and the swamp. 


Cathy is fascinated by cypress knees, the short shoots the tree sends up from its root system.  You can see them in the shot below.  The function of the knees is not known but it is suggested by some biologists they may help with oxygenation of the roots of trees growing in water.  Others think they may aid in anchoring the tree in soft muddy soils under the swamps.


It seems to us we are seeing more beef cattle in the fields and ranches around the central part of Florida.  Perhaps the high price of beef  has gotten the attention of the local ranchers who recognize potential profits.  The property adjacent to us has about a dozen or so cattle that appear around sundown every day.  Sorry about the butt shot, but they wouldn't listen to me to pose!


We also had a great experience while driving near Center Hill FL which is just about 10 miles from our park.    As we were driving along a secondary road we saw a large bird swoop down across the highway and land on the shoulder.  To our surprise it was a mature Bald Eagle and looked magnificent.  Alas, no camera, no photo.  Our friend, Lynell, who volunteers at a Maryland Natural Environmental Area near her home tells us injured raptors are often victims of collisions with automobiles.  Careless drivers toss trash and leftovers from fast food lunches which attract small rodents which in turn attract the raptors who are not traffic wary.  It is likely this eagle was after prey attracted in the same manner. 

Other regular visitors to Sumter Oaks are Barred Owls and Red-tail Hawks.  We heard the owls during the first few evenings after we got here, but not since.  Maybe the cool weather has chased them farther south.  Cathy has seen the hawk in her tricycle excursions with Dixie leading the way.

The following morning as I was walking Dixie in the frosty chill I saw this wildlife in the field adjacent to our parking spot.  Below are some local deer out for breakfast.  I can see 5 in the photo.




And here are at least 9 wild turkeys browsing for their morning meals ...



Now we really do have top get busy packing!