End of an Era - Or a New Cell Phone.

 So after 25+ years, I am changing cell phone providers.  I have always had AT&T and the service has always been good.  In fact, for the last dozen years or so I could see one of their towers from my house.

But around the first of the year, the signal just got bad.  Dropped calls, poor quality, dead spots particularly on the northern side of the house became the norm.  At one point I called them and they said all was well but perhaps the tower needed adjusting.  The recommendation was to use wi-fi calling.  That worked, sort of.

After no less than three dropped calls while I was sitting in one place today, I decided it was time to call.  My LG phone was having trouble anyway, and what I heard, I liked. The price was right (with direct-pay discounts) and more data to boot.  Josh, the Verizon rep, discussed the options and discussed why AT&T just doesn't cut it anymore.  It seems that of all their towers, there are only 3 towers that carry the network still in our county.  That not only explains it, but it also calls in to question what I was told on the call mid-summer.  

My first cellphone was with Cingular, which was later bought out by AT&T.  It was a bag phone that looked for all the world like I was ready to call in an airstrike - A brick of a battery, push-button dialer in the handset, and pig-tail cord connecting it all, and to top it off, a cigarette-charger plug and cord.  It worked fine except you always had to watch to make sure you were not "roaming" and that you did not go over your minutes.  Texts cost extra, but texting on that thing was next to impossible anyway.  And to add insult to injury, someone broke into my red 1992 Pontiac Grand Am during an out of town football game while it was parked beside the Band Hall.  Good luck and good riddance in hindsight, but at the time it, along with the broken glass and stolen CD player, was troubling.  

Back to now so much has changed.  We gave up our home phone years ago and the cellphone has replaced the landline in most places.  I suppose we shall see how, and if, Verizon has truly dethroned Alexander Graham Bell as king and stolen his kingdom. 

If nothing else I have heard that Verizon works better in the West, so that could work out on the next long-distance trip!

UPDATE:  The new phone is a Samsung A51.  We shall see how it measures up!

East Texas Arboretum's Fall Festival (and Birthday celebrations!)

 Sunday, October 11, 2020

We had another weekend outing to East Texas yesterday, but it was simply the busiest day out of a good weekend!

After 6 months of Covid-19 shutdowns, we have seen so many festivals canceled, and anyone that knows us knows that festivals make up a lot of Stephanie's business income;  And that hasn't happened.  For those new around here, Stephanie sells Lila Rose Hair Accessories and Color Street nail polish strips.  You can find the links to her stores HERE and HERE.

So when we heard that the East Texas Arboretum was doing a fall festival we signed up!

I was done at work around noon and set out Stephanie's birthday gifts.  Then I loaded the truck so that we could hit the road soon after she and Sadie got home from work/school.  

Friday was hot and humid since Hurricane Delta was coming ashore near Lake Charles, LA, and all of the tropical air was being pushed north and west.  I was soaked by the time the truck was finished.  Fergus enjoyed his run outside while I worked.  

The girls got home around 4:30, Stephanie opened her gifts, and we went out for supper with Michael and Valerie.  We visited, she opened more gifts, and we visited some more.  Then to bed to get some rest for a busy day!

Saturday was cool in the morning, and we were at the arboretum at 7:30 as required.  The line was long into the vendor village, so we had to wait a while to unload the truck.  We were still setting up when the festival opened at 9:00 am.  

Since we have not done this festival before we didn't know what to expect.  The crowds were good, which I predicted after so many weeks and months of shutdowns and restrictions.  Sales were pretty good!

The East Texas Arboretum is really pretty!  I did not get to tour it all, but I did find some neat little corners.  Fergus liked it too!

The festival ended at 3:00, and we were loaded and back in Athens by 4:00.  Burgers for supper, more visiting (with Kathleen this time), and another round of birthday gifts, then home by 9:00 pm.  

Today (Sunday) is more relaxing.  Church in the morning and then we unloaded the truck.  It was a good weekend!

Chandler Upper Neches Paddling Trail

 After six weeks of "normalcy" with schools back in session, etc, things still have not seemed normal.  There have been no living history events and no festivals.  It has become impossible to get RV spots in state parks, although we have managed to spend at least one weekend at Oak Park last month.

This weekend, however, was one filled with "firsts," more or less.

After time spent working around the yard and on Sadie's lamb shelter, we went to town to see a movie.  The local movie theater, Schulmann's, still has not been able to open a full run of films, so they put a large screen on the side of the building creating a "Drive-In."  

Saturday's show?  Hocus Pocus.  Even Fergus got to go!

It was a ton of fun, with various shows scheduled for weekends throughout the month.  While Hollywood is suffering through the COVID madness, it is the small theaters that I feel sorry for. At least ours seems to have a Plan B.

Today, Sunday, was a bit different too.  Sadie and Stephanie's school has a holiday, and Sadie wanted to spend some time with her grandparents.  So, we lit out for East Texas with our kayaks in tow for a little river exploring.

We dropped Sadie off and launched the kayaks at the Chandler Upper Neches Paddling Trail.  It is a headwaters of Lake Palestine.

Here is the link

The weather was perfect today.  High in the middle 70s, with an overcast sky and light wind.  It was just right.

This river is very different than the Limestone Bluffs trail.  It is marshy and labyrinthine, and the fish were active (although we didn't fish).  We paddled beyond the rail trestle and into the greater lake.  The wind picked up on open water so we did not paddle to the end at the RV park.  We had lunch on the water and returned to the ramp.  In the end, we were on the water for about 3 hours.  

I have talked about trying this water for a while, and I am glad we did.  Next time I try the Chandler Upper Neches Paddle Trail it will be with a fishing license, rod, and reel!

South Fork, Colorado

 I love to travel.  COVID sidelined this blog, but we still were able to travel a bit earlier in the summer to Tennessee and a camping trip to the lake a time or two.  For the most part, I thought our summer travel was done with those.  However, one afternoon in the pool Dad mentioned Fun Valley in Colorado had some cabins available.  So we planned a last-minute mountain trip!

Brandon and Jennifer could not go because she is back to work, even though Corsicana ISD isn't planning to start until September 8.  Stephanie starts back on the 10th, so it was an available option for us.

August 2 (Sunday)

We woke up before the alarm and got the last few things into our Subaru Forester (which we have named Tennessee Traveller).  We were on the road by 6 am.

By late morning we were in Childress, and I wanted to find the final resting place of my great-great grandparents.  Stephanie found their gravesite in the Childress City Cemetery.

Tennessee Traveller at a West Texas rest stop

I'll do that!

John Alexander Ford was born in 1856 in Alabama.  His father was a Civil War soldier.  There is a blog on the family on here several years back.

The trip across New Mexico to Santa Fe was uneventful.  It is a barren land, but starkly beautiful.  New Mexico is locked down due to COVID, so it was straight to the hotel with supper takeout from Taco Bell.  Stephanie commented that we went all the way to an area with great Mexican food, and due to COVID we have Taco Bell.

August 3 (Monday)

I love Santa Fe!  Hopefully, we can go back when the world returns to normal.

Driving North we passed through some of the prettiest country.  Stephanie was upset that we could not stop at the Georgia O'Keefe home and museum (due to closure from COVID) but did see where she painted her Red Rocks painting.

Storms over the mountains

We stopped for a roadside picnic just over the Colorado state line, just short of Pagosa Springs.  Then on to Fun Valley Resort in South Fork. 

The cabin was old, built in 1959, and was in desperate need of renovation.  Dad was most disappointed, however, that there was no television.  There was also no cell service and limited wifi.  Stephanie and I felt it was nice to unplug.

August 4 (Tuesday)

We got up early and drove over an hour to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  It was an interesting, and very fun, outing.

August 5 (Wednesday)

We had planned today to be a simple, quiet, uneventful day, but instead, we rode with Mom and Dad to Creede.  It was only 45 minutes or so from South Fork.  It is a cute, historic town.  We started to drive the Bachelor Loop to see the old mines, but there were warnings against 2-wheel drive cars.  Dad's pilot started to slide so we did not drive the road.  We did tour the underground mining museum.  It was a very good museum.

Downtown Creede

Feeding the critters outside the museum

August 6 (Thursday)

Since yesterday we have been thinking about that road in Creede, so today we took the Subaru, which is all-wheel drive, to drive the Bachelor Loop.  About halfway through we hiked the Hobbit Trail to the top of Campbell Mountain.  It was a tough hike, but probably the most unusual trail I have ever hiked.

Mom and Dad went to Lake City.  It was a nice town, but at a high elevation.  We just happened to meet them in Creede as they passed through.

August  7 (Friday)

Last Day.  I visited with several fly shops yesterday, and the consensus is that fishing is slow due to warm water.  Fish can be caught, but it takes work.  I bought a license, and Stephanie and I went to the Rio Grande.  I fished while Stephanie read.  I caught a small Brown Trout.  It was nice and quiet.  A nice way to end the trip.

Sadie went fishing in the ponds at Fun Valley while we were at the river.  She caught a small Rainbow but lost it from the stringer.  She was disappointed that she did not get to show us.  We went fishing later in the day and ended the day with s'mores around the campfire.  

August 8 (Saturday)

It was a long journey home today; Thirteen hours.  As the temperature rose we wished we could go back to Colorado.  We are already planning to take the RV there next summer.  I know for a fact that I plan to do a lot more fishing.

Experiment: Starting KETO Wine (July 5, 2020)

***Sorry!  Thought I posted this a month ago.

It has been a few busy days around the house.  We celebrated Independence Day with a few family members over and hot dogs cooked on the Blackstone.  And we started rewatching John Adams.

Today was more in line with preparedness.  With the news in the headlines, several freshly butchered roosters, and the garden producing veggies faster than we can eat them, we started canning.  The result today was canned chicken broth and canned chicken meat for future meals.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be salsa and squash chow-chow.

While in the homesteading vein, we also cleaned out the freezer to make room for beef from a cow we sent to the butcher.  That meant about 11 lbs of dewberries that needed something done.  So, wine!

11 lbs of frozen dewberries

8 lbs of sugar

The hope is to ferment the wine to as close to zero sugar as possible, then sweeten it with KETO friendly sugars since Stephanie is on that diet.  We shall see how it goes.

With about a month left until we are back to work - barring a cancelation of schools starting up, etc. - I have begun looking at camping possibilities.  We shall see if that comes to fruition.  Things are uncertain as of now.  

Another Day

A few months ago the world shut down.  Then it opened up.  And now it could be closing down again.  Gov. Abbot issued mandatory mask orders foe a number of counties in spite of the fact that he has no power to do so by the Texas Constitution.

COVID cases may be up but the death rates are declining.  While the governor initially saw a lit of support in March, the reaction on social media seems to be visceral.  The orders are confusing, imprecise, and contradictory.  And ADA allows exemptions, so how does that work?

Aside from that, it was an eventful day.  We worked for a bit of time this morning on Sadie's lamb pen and several other fences on the farm.   Lunch, then an oil change in town.  Pizza at my parents and time in the pool.  Some front porch sitting, and Mr. Rogers biopic with Tom Hanks.  Both Steph and I got too much sun and it tired us out.  Life in the country is great, but life in THE country is troubled.  Just my humble opinion.

Thoughts.

2020 needs a reset.  From the presidential impeachment debacle to Covid lockdown, cities burning and murder hornets, this year sucks!  There have been some positive parts such as having time at home with family and time to work on the farm, but at the end of the day it feels like the nation is poised on the edge of a knife.

Tonight it was announced that Richmond's beautiful Monument Avenue has been taken down by the public officials who were its guardians, who were entrusted 130 years ago to preserve it.  I had wanted to see it one day, but there is very little reason to visit it now.  How have we forgotten our history?  Ignorance - purposefully fostered ignorance - is how.  

I noticed this swing in 2011 when I attended the Gettysburg reenactment and visited the NPS visitor center.  The interpretive displays were misleading, one sided and in many cases wrong.  They would have you believe that there was only one cause of the war - slavery.  The honest historian knows it is more complex than that, but it matches the narrative set forth by McPherson, Foner, Zinn, and others.  About that time I was told that Shelby Foote was no longer a respected source. Huh?  Many of the seminal works by thoses names above (sans Foote) were published in the late 80s and early 90s.  To use a term thrown about quite a bit by the modern Left, they "reimagined" the Civil War.  Soldiers on both sides were once honored; it was part of the reconciliation.  Now they are reviled and defiled. 

Of course, the plague is spreading to Washington, Jefferson, and even Lincoln.  Today Mt. Rushmore was called a monument to white supremacy and colonization.  This is the kind of stuff that happens whan garbage like the 1619 Project is praised and even wins a Pulitzer.  If you are unfamiliar with it, look it up.  The basic premise is every action and reaction of the nation's story centers on slavery and nothing more.

What is right is seen as wrong and wrong, right.  Will the pendulum swing back?  Not sure.  Hopefully.  It sure is a brave new world though.

The Mountains are Calling: June 21 - June 27, 2020

Day 1&2

After months of lock downs, social upheavals, and historical reinterpretations, we left Texas for a week.  As the nation - parts of it - began opening up we made reservations to return to the Great Smoky Mountains.  Fully aware that things might be limited, we set out on June 21 - Father's Day - for Tennessee.

We made good time, stopping only for gas and bathrooms, and arrived in Hoover, Alabama, around 5 pm.  Supper was takeout from Arby's who had their dining room closed.  It was next to the LaQuinta.  

And it was a nice hotel!

The next morning we loaded up and was on the way.  We filled up at Sam's Club and bought a few supplies in Chattanooga.  Traffic in Knoxville got heavy and remained so all the way to Pigeon Forge.  Aldi was out of some items we needed but we bought what we could and set out for our rented cabin.  This time we were in Saddle Ridge.  

Almost immediately I get the last of my grades turned in and started fixing Poor Man's Dinner.  It was a long two days, and we all settled in early.

Day 3 -

There were thunderstorms predicted today so hiking was not on the agenda.  After a quick breakfast of toast and jam, Steph, Sadie and I went to the Sugarlands Visitor Center.  There were a lot of people there, as well as on the streets of Gatlinburg, and in the VC we were asked to wait as other guests exited.  We asked advice on trails in Cataloochee, bought a few items, and set out for the Christmas Place.  Mom and Dad met us there.  Then, we planned a late lunch at the Old Mill again, but the wait was all the way down the ramps.  It was a 45-minute wait at the Applewood Restaurant, but it was worth it.  Sadie has a new favorite - fresh apple fritters.  

We returned to the cabin, walked Wee Fergus, and settled in.  Sadie and I played Pac Man while Dad watched the news.  Steph retreated to the porch to write and later began to read up on the recommended trails.  We are going to Cataloochee tomorrow.

Day 4 - 

We got up early, made sandwiches, and set out for the Cataloochee section of the park.  It is 2 hours across the mountains, in North Carolina, and is one of the sides of the parks.  It has many old buildings and some trails that are of interest.  We traveled down I-40, stopped at the NC welcome center, then headed over the mountains into Cataloochee.  The road was narrow and gravel, and certainly an adventure.  It was one-lane in places.

We visited the Palmer Methodist Church, which was built in 1903.  It was the only historic building we got to see because the road to the rest of the Cataloochee Valley was out.  We easily found Caldwell Fork Trail, though.

We parked near the trail head, but there wasn't much room.  Immediately we crossed a foot log and went about .8 miles to the juncture of Boogerman Trail.  This was a way that we could have gone, except that it would add 3.8 miles to the walk.  It was a 10-mile trek round trip as is was, so we stayed on Caldwell.  We soon found an unbridged crossing, so we took off our socks and shoes, and waded across.  The water was swift and Sadie fell in with her camera.  I quickly took the batteries and card out and decided to wait a few days to power it up and check on it.  We did this at two more crossings.  At the fourth crossing, we decided to turn back because of the steepness of the banks.  We will have to wait until another time to see the big poplar trees. If the road were not out farther past Palmer Church we could have hiked from the other end. At one point, someone had put wooden step stones to cross a deep mud hole.  Steph and I both fell victim to this and wound up in the mud.  Just one more reason we decided to turn back.

View from Cataloochee Overlook

Palmer Methodist Church, built in 1903 and restored in 1929.  The National Park was created a few years later.

I can just imagine the congregation worshipping here!

Trailhead

One of several crossings

Fording the creek.

We took a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway back to the Onacaluftee Visitor Center (on the North Carolina side) and decided it was one of the prettiest drives we have been on. Wild azaleas and mountain laurel were everywhere.  

Sadie spent her vacation money on a sherpa wool blanket printed with black bears as a souvenir of the trip.  Then we crossed the mountains via Newfound Gap and fixed supper.  We turned in early after a day such as this.

Day 5 -

We got up early today and had breakfast at Flapjack's Pancake House.  I think it was better than the place we ate at in March.  It was more recognizable food, for sure.  After breakfast, we went to the Sugarlands Riding Stables to see about horseback riding for Sadie.  There was a 2-hour wait, so we paid our fare, went back to the cabin to change and check on the dog, and then returned for our 1-hour ride.  Sadie's horse was a paint mare named Cookie.  Steph rode a bay mare named Cha-ching.  I had a bay gelding called Coupon.  The trail was very muddy after so much rain.  Before long we saw a young black bear in the woods.  We all enjoyed it very much!

Cue the Western music!

Sadie on Cookie.

Stephanie and Cha-Ching

Myself on Coupon (as in discount).

Heading back, we stopped at the Gatlinburg/National Park Visitor Center to get a few things and talk to a park volunteer about hikes for tomorrow.  She suggested Hen Wallow Falls, so maybe that is what we will do. We got back and soaked our sore muscles in the hot tub, then lounged around until supper time.  Tonight's entertainment - Ticket to Ride.

Day 6 -

Today was our last full day here.  The weather was forecast to be clear and cool, so we decided to drive to Cosby picnic area to hike Gabe's Mountain to Hen Wallow Falls.  It was a steep, root-strewn path with a round trip of 4.6 miles.  It was a busy trail but nothing like Abram's Falls was in March.  

At rest on the trail

Footlog.  These were much better than the crossings the other day!

Mountain Laurel blooming.

Crying Creek, I believe.

Hen Wallow Falls

We got back to the picnic area and had our sandwiches.  Mom and Dad arrived a few minutes later.  The gnats were bad, so we didn't stay long.  We tried to find House of Douglas Bakery in Cosby, but they were closed due to Covid.

We came back to change and Stephanie stayed at the house while the rest of us went to town for a bit of shopping.  Supper was hot dogs and whatever leftovers were in the fridge.  A small thunderstorm came over the mountains that made for a beautiful panorama.  

View from Saddle Ridge

Walking Fergus

We started packing for an early start home.  What we find at home might be like what we found back in March -  more shutdowns?  Possibly.

Day 7 -

Traveling home.  We left Gatlinburg a little before 6 am Eastern and got home at 9 pm Central.  We made really good time.  Our Forester, which we bought in Tennessee last March, did well.  We have decided to name her Tennessee Rambler.  I am ready to hit the road in her again!