October 19, 2012 - Dallas/Ft. Worth Area
I just finished spending a month at a nice, albeit, expensive RV park in Arlington, Texas. For those who are not familiar, Arlington is a city close to Fort Worth but still within the great Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. This is one big, congested concrete jungle! I only stayed here because my sister, Hazel and Cousin Edna live close by. Cousin Edna is a very special lady who is 85 and one of my favorite relatives.
I will say I enjoyed being here because I was able to spend some time with my three older sisters and older brother, my favorite Aunt Sally and some great cousins and nephews. I had not seen them in awhile so it was a good thing to do. Other than good family feelings, not much to comment on except my 50th High School reunion so bear with me.
I was raised in a little town in East Texas called Forney. When I graduated from high school in 1962 the population was around 1250. It has grown to about 10,000 now. We had around 32 kids in our graduating class and around 22 attended this 50th reunion. Of course we lost some along the way but everyone was amazed at the great turnout we had. I was given the Weary Traveler Award for coming from the featheriest place (Oregon). I also received the same award in 1982 at our 20th reunion, however they gave me a neat little trophy then and this time they only gave me a piece of paper. Only 3 of us lived out of state. Most had stayed pretty close to home all these years, which is typical of most people born in Texas. I am not sure why that is but this state is big enough to handle all of them for sure!
I won't bore you with pictures of a bunch of old folks acting like young folks. I will just say that I enjoyed seeing and hugging everyone very much and some folks never change, except in looks, and after awhile I didn't even notice that. They are a great bunch of people and I was lucky to have shared at least 12 years of my life with them.
Nacogdoches, Texas - The oldest town in Texas
When I left the Dallas area, I headed south and east for the town of Nacogdoches. I picked this area because it is in deep East Texas and the Fall foliage season is usually spectacular down this way. In addition, I had never been to this town but read about it many times. A couple of my classmates graduated from the college here. It has roots going back to 1250 A.D. when the Caddo Group of Nacogdoches Indians were here. The Spaniards built several missions here in the 1600 - 1700's before the Anglos arrived prior to around 1820 to settle. The beginning of the Texas Revolution was in Nacogdoches August 2, 1832 with the Battle of Nacogdoches. Over the years this town has had nine flags fly over it, more than any other city in the country. It was incorporated in 1837.
Today it is a beautiful town of about 33,000 with one of the best colleges in Texas, Stephen F. Austin State University, right in the middle. It is one of the prettiest campuses I have seen. I only stayed a few days this time because I did not like the RV parks in the area but I will come back again next Spring when they have the annual Azalea gardens in full bloom. This spot is a possible for my Winter home base so I need to spend some more time here and check the area for lots or acreage.
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| My RV spot on Paradise Lake in Nachodoches |
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| All downtown streets are made of bricks....lots of bricks! |
I have been staying in a beautiful RV park called Mission Dolores in the tiny town of San Augustine for the past week. It is across the street, and part of, the Mission Dolores, a historic mission established by the Spanish in the late 16th Century. This park is priced reasonably and well maintained but does not have any Verizon cell phone service. Fact is I have not had phone service since leaving Nacogdoches. I do have excellent Wi-Fi so all of my communication is by internet email.
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| Pretty country roads in East Texas |
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| My home on wheels! |
I went to Thanksgiving dinner at the local Senior Center and had a very nice time with some really nice folks. This morning, Monday the 26th, I went out to breakfast for the first time in awhile. I went to little place called Imogene's Cafe on the town square and had biscuits and gravy and it was very good. Cost me a whole $3.25 and that included coffee!
Today I am working on this blog trying to learn how to do it right. I hope it is working for others that want to follow my travels. I am sure fighting my way through the fog on this one!
I intend to leave here no later than next Monday or Tuesday and I am thinking of going down into deep Louisiana below New Orleans. There is a neat Navy Air Station RV park about 30 minutes south of the city in Belle Chase that may be a good place to hang out for a month or so. I want to explore the many plantations in that area and I also want to go back to the city and explore it too. I will take pictures and gather information and share it with you down the road in a few weeks or more.
By the way....I just learned that if you click on a picture it will make it larger and you can view them all at once. Now I will add more pictures and less words to this blog so you won't have to listen to me ramble so much. I may even go back and add some to the past postings because I have some great ones of my travels from Oregon to Texas. So if you have an interest, check back and see if there is something new occasionally. It all depends on my internet access at the time I want to post.
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