When it rains, it pours....

If I'm not traveling, then I can bump along from day to day with just routine stuff so there is nothing really to write about unless you want to know how many birds and squirrels came by the office window for lunch....  But, then things get busy and thank goodness it doesn't happen very often.  So here goes....

The light pole that wouldn't bend: Last Tuesday (a week ago yesterday) we had a snow storm that only left a couple of inches of snow - barely enough to matter.  However, the storm started with rain which immediately froze so there was ice under the snow. The ice was not forecast. The storm started earlier than forecast so I got caught out in it. After driving about 60 miles, I got about 1 mile from home and slid into a tall, fat, metal light pole. I was making a left turn, just creeping along on the snow and ice on the street when I felt the back end of the car start to slide. I was about half was through the turn. There was nothing I could do except watch the light pole coming at me and wondering where it was going to hit the car. Fortunately it hit on the front right fender. I sat there for a minute or so taking inventory of me and being thankful that my air-bag didn't go off and I was o.k. I backed up, got out and checked the car, drove on home and called the insurance company.

This is what $8,700 dollars in damage looks like. Besides the body work, there was some damage to the radiator support, etc. It even totally cracked the composite fender in two places. It will take about 3 weeks to get it repaired.  But, no one was hurt so it is just a major inconvenience.

Cataract surgery: I had my first eye done on Monday of this week.  Before the surgery, I talked to several people who have had cataract surgery to find out what to expect. Well, my experience was nothing like their experience!!!!! First of all, I was put out for the procedure using propofol which I didn't know would happen and no one I talked to had had it happen to them. At least I didn't have to lay there watching him come at my eye with a knife and needles...  Then, I take the patch off when I get home and I can't see a thing except for a bright light in that eye. None of  "I could see so much better" stuff for me. By the time I went to bed that night I could make out shapes with that eye but that was about it. Thank goodness it was much better the next morning so I could drive back to the doctor's for my check-up. I keep putting drops in and it is getting better but still - not like I expected. I asked the doctor yesterday and found out that they put about 20% of the patients out for the surgery. It is based on a number of things including how sensitive the eye is to light, droops eyelids (which mine are), size of the cataract, dimensions of the eye, etc. He said it was "very larger and very fat."It will have to be the same way when I get the other eye done. More inconvenience since my computer time is limited due to eyestrain for right now.

Larry's Birthday: Today is Larry's birthday and he would have been 71 - like me. I am exactly 2 weeks, to the day, older that he was. I still miss him but time does heal except for that hole that will always be there.  The hole just gets smaller.

Hopefully, life will go back to being routine....

Back to routine days

• Sept trip is over.
• Dec Trip is over. 
• Jan birthday is over. 
• Back to routine days - YEA!

The trips were wonderful and I made so many great memories but they take a lot of time to prepare for. I do weeks of research on where to go, what to see, where to stay, etc. Then when I get back I spend many, many hours doing my Trip Book. No more major trips until late April.

Yesterday was another birthday for me. I can remember the years when I looked forward to birthdays with excitement - probably up through the 21st one. Then came the neutral years when it was "Ho Hum, another birthday." After those came the years of dreading birthdays because it meant I was getting older. Now I look at them as a celebration for making it another year. After 71 birthdays, I realize that I am definitely on the way down the mountain - I just don't know what my elevation is on the mountain. Yes, I do feel a sense of  "Do it while I am able to do it." I don't want to reach the bottom of the mountain with a lot of regrets for things I haven't done that I wanted to do.

So now it is time to get back to routine days and I certainly have some busy ones coming up. Most are with the Genealogy Society where I am teaching 5 classes this year for them. I had big plans to work on my presentations while on my Dec trip but didn't do it so gotta get busy. I haven't had time to do much genealogy research the last 6 months. Plus I have a Quarterly publication to get out by March 1st. But that's my life and I would rather stay busy than have nothing to do....

Comments on my Winter Wandering....

Here are some thoughts and comments on the trip:

• The trip was 31 days long and I drove 4,270 miles. 
• I drove through Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Kansas. 
• I stayed in 10 different hotels/motels while on the trip. The Holiday Inn Marina in Corpus Christi was probably my favorite.  My time in a particular location ranged from 1 night to 2 weeks. 
• I took 3,318 pictures. This time I edited more each day so won't have as many to do before I do the Trip Book. 
• I also worked on the Trip Book while on the trip instead of having to do ALL of it when I get home. The pictures are mostly in the book until I got to San Antonio. 
• I can't imagine doing a road trip anymore without my cell phone, satellite radio and Samantha (GPS). Using one of the apps I have on the phone, I found everything from the nearest McDonald's to the nearest Walgreen's. I checked restaurant menus before I went there and verified that Samantha knew where she was going. 
• For this trip, I synced  the music on my cell phone with the car so could listen to my music through the car speakers. Also listened to my favorite KC talk radio station when I was in a place to get a good signal. I could only take so much CNN and then went to music. I listened to more political stuff than I ever wanted to. 
• My new laptop was a wonderful improvement over the old one. I could quickly download the pictures in the evening and do the blog in a lot less time that I could on the Sept trip. 
• My most memorable experience was the Christmas Eve service in the 350 year old San Fernando Cathedral in Corpus Christi. The sanctuary was beautifully decorated for Christmas and it was awesome to listen to Christmas Carols being played on the huge pipe organ - even if I couldn't understand about 1/2 what they were saying. 
• I haven't decided what my favorite tourist place was yet - I'll decide that when I do the Trip Book. 
• It was a wonderful trip but my warm bed sure felt good last night.... 8-)

Here is a final picture for you from the Best Western in Denton, Texas where I spent my last night of the trip.

When I first walked in the door at the hotel, I saw the large fountain ahead of me on a wall. One of these above is the whole fountain. It is columns of water, each column full of bubbles and flows from the bottom to the top. It slowly changes color every few seconds - moving from green to dark green to dark blue to light blue, etc. It was really pretty and I'm not sure I have ever seen anything quite like it.

Back to putting stuff away and doing laundry...  Plus getting organized on what I need to get done in the next week or so to catch up.

Home Sweet Home

Samantha is letting me know today that we were 500 feet from home (checkered flag to the right of her) at 3:11 this afternoon - 8 hours after we left the Dallas area this morning. Other than being long, it was a good drive in the sunshine. Today is the 2nd day I have seen the sun since Christmas Eve.....  We argued in Oklahoma City since she wanted to come home via Tulsa and I wanted to come through Wichita since we went through Tulsa when we left here 31 days and 4,270 miles ago. I won! 8-)  I'll so a recap on the blog tomorrow but for now I'm just enjoying being in my recliner and thinking about how wonderful my electric blanket will feel in a few hours. It was a wonderful trip but I'm glad to be home....

Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum

I left Corpus Christi at 7:30 this morning when it was 41 degrees and raining. Three hours later, when I got to Austin it was still raining!  Not a fun drive..... At least it quit while I was at the Library and was dry from there on. But then, there was road construction most of the other 4 hours including through Dallas. Not sure which was worse...

The LBJ Presidential Library is on the grounds of the University of Texas Austin. There are 13 Presidential Libraries/Museums and this is the 4th one for me. I have been to the  Kennedy, Truman, Clinton and now LBJ Presidential Libraries.  I plan to go to the Eisenhower Library this summer.

The Library is housed in this building which is not what I expected in Texas.I didn't expect the architecture to be this modern. Everything else on the campus is brick and "old" looking.  This library was opened in 1971 and I couldn't help but compare it to the Clinton library that opened in 2004. I think the exhibits in the Clinton Library are better done, easier to follow and definitely not as crowded as the ones at the Johnson Library. There just seems to much stuff for the size of the building in this one. 

This is the stairs leading up to the Great Hall and is really beautiful. The hall is 5 stories tall and open. The stairs, railings, floors and walls are all a beige travertine marble that came from Texas. 

The red on the wall in the picture of the Great Hall is these individual books containing over 45 million documents from Johnson's presidency. Each book is bout 6" wide and there are around 4,300 of the books in the cases on the wall. 

Johnson's desk in the 7/8 scale of his oval office. The furniture is the original furniture. He lived for several years after the library was built and got a kick out of coming to the Library and setting at this desk when visitors came by. 

This is the actual paper from the teleprompter that Johnson read from, while sitting at his desk, on March 31, 1968 when he announced that he would not run for a 2nd term. 

Lady Bird's office as it was in the White House. I was surprised by the red desk and red sofa.....

Back to Corpus Christi.... Today was their annual half-marathon run.  I could not believe how many crazy people were out there in the rain, while it was 41 degrees, getting ready to run 13 miles.  O.K., I can understand the young people but there were many, many people who have had enough birthdays to know better... At least one lady had a light poncho on and had it taped so the hood, etc would stay close to her while she was running.

Weather is looking good for the last day of driving tomorrow!  I keep thinking about crawling into my nice warm bed tomorrow night instead of cold sheets....

Happy 2016

I'm not sure I totally understand it but New Year's Day is a favorite holiday for me - maybe it stands for a time of renewal and looking to the future with a new book of blank pages. Due to a lot of circumstances over the years, Christmas is not on my favorites list and it's not something you can just push a button and fix. It was never big in my family when I was a kid, it wasn't a bid thing with my ex nor with Larry. So over the years it just took on a ho hum holiday spirit.  Now New Years is another story. For years and years I have spent New Years day updating my Bucket List  and setting some goals for the new year. Back in the days before I did digital books, I would do a scrapbook of the previous year. Larry and I spent a lot of time on New Years Day working on our Bucket List. So, today my list is updated and after this, I will be going through my 2016 calendar and write in dates that I already know will be happening in 2016 like known trips I know about, birthdays, etc.

The Holiday Lights are a big thing here in Corpus Christi. They even have a weekend festival where all the lights are turned on with ceremonies, etc. Many of the boats in the marina are decorated with lights. The highlight is the Harbor Bridge lights.

 The Harbor Bridge spans the bay from North Shore to South Shore in Corpus Christi. The bridge is 1.1 miles long and 235 feet tall so ships can pass under it. The original plain lights were turned off in 1989 after corrosion and age had darkened over a quarter of them. Last year they did a $2.2 million dollar project to add 950 LED lights as part of a state-of-the-art LED Light System. The lights can change color and are sometimes coordinated to music when the symphony pays at a stadium that is close to the bridge. This picture is from the Internet since I didn't have a tripod to take my own pictures. Well I did take them but they are blurry....

The city's Christmas Tree is along the marina near my hotel. It is probably 30 ft tall and is really pretty at night. 

Port of Corpus Christi is the eighth-largest port in the United States in total tonnage. Port Corpus Christi is located on Corpus Christi Bay in the western Gulf of Mexico, with a straight 45-foot-deep channel.  The top products last year was crude oil and gasoline although they also wheat, containers, etc. A crude oil pipeline comes into here and there are numerous refineries in the area.

Here are two ships in port. While here, I have seen numerous ships coming into the harbor and going out.  Some of the ships are like this and some are more like barges. 

I forgot to post about the local Botanical Gardens that I went to on Wednesday. They are small but had a nice orchid display although I have seen better arrangements. They have about 35 different orchid species but they are just in pots along rows instead of being artistically displayed.

This was one of my favorites.  The orchids ranged in size from this one being one of the largest down to some that were about the size of my thumb. 

Tomorrow I start the journey home!  I leave Corpus Christi, drive to Austin where I will take in the LBJ Presidential Library and then drive onto Denton, TX (north edge of Dallas) for the night. I decided to skip the Bush (senior) Library which would have added another night to the trip. I looked at the Bush exhibits on-line and I remember them when they happened so it wasn't as interesting. If I ever get to the point that Bush Sr and Bush Jr Presidential Libraries are the only ones I haven't visited then I will come down to Texas again and see them. I'm interested in the LBJ because I remember some stuff that happened during his Presidency but not a lot of it. On Sunday I will drive on home - my 31st day of being on the road. 8-)

So my quote for the day is one by Georgia O'Keeffe that I saw the other day while viewing her exhibit at the Art Museum. She said  "Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant; it is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."  I like that and keep thinking about it.