Almost Home

The San Felipe de Neri Parish Church in Albuquerque

Snow falling hard near Flagstaff

Today I was up and out of the hotel by about 8:30. Drove to old town Albuquerque and looked around. Seems like it would be a very interesting place, when the stores are open and the weather is nice.
Left and headed west along old Route 66. Drove for quite a while, stopped at several “trading posts” once I got near the Indian reservations.
I have noticed that if the billboard for an “Indian” shop advertises cheep tobacco, it is most likely run by actual Native Americans. If the store does not advertise tobacco, it is run by non-natives. The big deal here is at the non-native store, you are just a likely to find products made in China as made by real Native Americans. There are some exceptions, but they usually loudly proclaim their tribal affiliation on the signs. I, for one, like to buy my trinkets from the real deal.
As I approached Flagstaff, AZ, it started to snow, and it kept snowing. I got onto the highway and headed out of the area as fast as I safely could. They are expecting about 10 inches of snow today, 10-16 inches tomorrow and about 5 feet more by the end of the week.
Staying tonight on old 66 in Kingman, AZ. Tomorrow I head home. I can’t wait.

Birthday Tacos

Another old rusty car

The mission at the pueblo of Pecos

An old Neon Sign on Route 66

Sunrise in Texas

Not a bad day today. I got up early and had breakfast at the hotel. Departed before the sun came up and headed out along Route 66. The weather was nice, a little cold, but bearable.
Route 66 follows Interstate 40 thru most of New Mexico, but when you hit the Pecos River, it turns north and heads into Santa Fe. From there, it turns south and goes into Albuquerque.
All in all, a pretty decent drive, however, many of the owners of the vintage buildings on old 66 don’t want you to take pictures or get out and look at the buildings (in fact I think you’re supposed to close your eyes as you pass). Lots of fences around interesting items, but what can you do.
I got into Albuquerque about 4 pm and checked into the hotel. Walked down the street to a little Mexican restaurant and had carne asada tacos and Dos XX for dinner. It was pretty good.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I left Arkansas about 9:30 am and headed toward Tulsa Oklahoma. The idea was to find Route 66 and photograph the sections of the Mother Road from Tulsa to Kingman Arizona. I have already spent quite a bit of time shooting from Kingman to Santa Monica, California, and was hoping to be able to complete the highway from the Dust-bowl to the sea. That would only leave from Chicago to Tulsa that I have not been able to travel. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. Most of the day was drizzle and rain. Oh well, maybe next time.
Tonight I had dinner at the Big Texan, home of the 72oz steak. Didn’t even think about ordering it. I had a nice meal. It’s been just over 25 years since I ate at the Big Texan; it’s as good as the memory.

In Search of Hiram

The Sunken Road along the Hornets Nest

Marker to the 61st Illinois Infantry, Hiram's unit

Today was truly interesting.

As I was driving yesterday I saw a sign for the Shiloh National Battlefield Park. Once I got to the hotel, I looked on the map and realized it was only about one hour away.

Now I would guess that the battle of Pittsburg Landing means little to nothing to most people. I however have been fascinated with the battle ever since learning that I am a direct descendent of a man who may have been the oldest participant in the battle.

Hiram Holiday was 78 years old when he volunteered to take the place of his son, John Roger Holiday, in the Union Army. It was a common practice at the time, they really didn’t care who showed up, as long as someone did.

Hiram ended up with the 61st Illinois Volunteers, Who were a part of the Army of Tennessee under General Ulysses Grant. The 61st was assigned to General Prentiss’ 6th division. The 6th took a beating on the first day of the battle, eventually defending a piece of ground known as the “Hornets Nest.” When the Confederates couldn’t take the ground by infantry assault, they formed an artillery barrage that was the largest in American history, and lay siege to the area. Over 60 canon concentrated fire on the defenders of the Hornets’ Nest who held out long enough for Grant to establish a defensive position.

In a letter to his wife, Lester B. Fillay, writes of the battle:
“Doubtless you will have read this account of the terrible Battle before this comes to you. I will not relate particulars til I come home I will mention a few items David Culver is mortally wounded Capt Haggard was wounded and can’t be found. Also Capt Mann there were 18 killed 30 missing and 43 wounded in our regiment. Old Man Holliday is among the missing.”

Hiram was captured, along with General Prentiss; he was taken to Camp Oglethorpe in Georgia, where he died from disease.

I walked around the battlefield, trooped the line along the sunken road, searching for a placard to the 61st. Finally about 1pm I came across one. It was on the far right flank of Prentiss’ line at a place called the Peach Grove.

It was almost surreal to walk the fields, knowing Hiram took his last breath as a free man in those very fields. I am so glad I took the detour.

On the Road Again

Rusting Cars and Trucks Along the Stonewall Jackson Highway.
The Mill at Willow Grove


After a couple of days in Washington, DC, I find myself once again on the road, this time without Kenny as a co-pilot. Even though he spent most of the drive to Washington texting and updating his facebook, I really miss having him in the passenger seat.
This morning I departed Alexandria, and headed west. I stopped in Manassas and had the car checked and the oil changed for the long trip. From there I headed into the Shenandoah Valley. I tried to go to the Shenandoah National Park, but unfortunately it’s closed for the winter. After speaking with some real friendly folks at the Front Royal Visitors Center, I decided to take the scenic route and drive along the Stonewall Jackson Highway (Yankees take note, even though they are really friendly, they did mention that in their view the war ain’t over just yet, wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
It added about two hours to the trip, but it was well worth it. Driving through the farm land, past streams and rivers, and small towns, was a great reminder of how diverse this country is. And amazingly enough, if you get off the freeway and talk to some of the nice folks who inhabit the land between the coasts, you learn how some people and places are still friendly, even if you do have California license plates (of course I’m still leery of anyone with a banjo, ya just can’t be too safe). Tomorrow its off to Tennessee.

Welcome to Washington, Now Go Home

We arrived in Alexandria, VA last night. Got settled into the hotel and went to check email. There was a message from the person I was supposed to start work for on Monday. She said she had gotten a call from the Deputy Garrison Commander of Fort Irwin and he would not support my assignment. The bottom line is I drop Kenny off at the airport tomorrow, and I’ll be heading back early next week.
Today we went to Washington DC. We spent some time in the newly remodeled Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum. Tomorrow we will go to the Dulles annex of the Air and Space before I drop Kenny off for his flight home.

Of Ice and Men

We slept in a little today, did not get up until almost 9am. We woke to a drizzling New Orleans morning. We went to the French Quarter in search of breakfast. At one point, I said something to Kenny about not seeing any real eating establishments on Bourbon St. Kenny pointed out that there were several strip clubs, a brothel or two and bars galore. He also pointed out the gentleman losing his breakfast in the street. As he put it, Dad, we’re in the middle of the freaking red light district at 11 in the morning, what do you expect to see?
We left the Big Easy and headed North East. On the radio the disc jockey kept going on and on about the horrible weather. They announced all kinds of businesses and schools that would be closed today and tomorrow. It started to rain a little bit, but was nothing to get real concerned about. As we moved out of range of that station, we switched to another station that kept talking about Snowpocalypse 2010. Kenny and I both were thinking “ you must be kidding.”
Later, once the sun went down, we realized that the roads were turning into a sheet of pure ice. We ended up driving at about 20 mph for several hours. When we approached one of the several accidents sites and realized that a police car had run off the road, I told Kenny it might be time to stop. We looked for a place to stay, but there were no hotels along that stretch of highway. I have to say, it was one of the more scary drives I have had.
We made it to Georgia and the roads instantly got much better. We made it to the hotel at a little after 12 pm. Tomorrow we should complete the last leg of our journey and arrive in Alexandria.

Texas Legends, Flat Tires and the Big Easy

Kenny remembering the Alamo, the Mud Walk and the view from the Hotel in the Big Easy

We got up at a decent hour, considering the time we arrived in San Antonio. When I took the first bag to the car, I noticed the driver’s side front tire was low. I asked at the desk and they directed me to the nearest gas station. For some reason I had a tough time getting air into the tire, but we got it filled and went to the Alamo.
I had been warned repeatedly not to get too excited about the Alamo. All of my friends who have been there let me know how small the site is. Even with the warnings, I was amazed at the scale of the site. Now, you have to realize, most of the fortifications have been destroyed, and the Ripley’s Believe It or Not “museum” and all the other businesses around the current site all used to be part of the Alamo. That said, I still was in awe at the thought of what transpired on that piece of land and the effect on the American experiment.
We left the Alamo in a slight drizzle. I had looked closer at the tire, and decided to take the car to the nearest Sears and have the tire replaced (I had noticed some cracks in the side wall). We checked the GPS and headed off to the nearest Sears store. Unfortunately, it must have closed. We checked again and headed to the second choice the magical GPS provided. We found this one pretty easily. I told the clerk I wanted to replace the two front tires on the car, and we headed over to the adjacent mall to buy a couple of CD’s to listen to when the radio stations failed.
We looked around the mall for about 40 minutes and headed back over to the auto center. As we approached the auto center, we noticed the car had not moved (the clerk told us it would take about one hour to change the tires). We went inside and heard the clerk tell the mechanic that he had 35 minutes to finish up our car. Without a word, we walked out and went next store to “Freddies” for some chili fries (which by the way I highly recommend).
After about 30 minutes we went back to the auto center. We went inside to the waiting area, which has a view of the service bays, and I immediately noticed they had removed the back tires from my car. I went out to the clerk and asked him what they were doing. He told me, they had decided my rear tires were worse than the front tires and were replacing them instead. Needless to say, I expressed my dismay at the total lack of common sense they displayed. In the most polite way, I can assure you.
I asked the dumb shit what they could do to make up for the fact they had completely ignored what I asked them to do. He told me that he could do nothing except charge me full price for all four tires. After they finished, and I had paid, I asked DS if the manager was in. He told me the manager would be in the store in about eight days. He said the assistant manager was unavailable (which was funny, because there is a picture of the Asst. Manager in the waiting room and we saw him several times, he was working with a person from their alarm company on the alarm system). So I asked for contact information on the regional manager. Amazingly DS was suddenly able to refund part of the cost of my tires and he gave me credit for the remaining wear on the tires they removed.
After the great tire ordeal, we left San Antonio, and headed to New Orleans. Because of the delay leaving, we landed in Houston during rush hour, which added a little time to our trip. Amazingly it was the first heavy traffic we had seen in four days. We did not arrive in the Big Easy until about 11 pm. We tried to check into the Marriott, unfortunately, there are about four Marriott’s in a few blocks. We were in the JW Marriott, across the street from the one we tried to check into. Turns out to be a very nice place.
After checking in, we asked at the front desk where we should eat, they suggested Daisy Dukes across the street. Great choice, first because it’s open 24 hours, second, because deep fried breaded shrimp rule. Now its time to get some sleep. Tomorrow we are expecting to hit some bad weather for the first time since leaving home.

New Pics

Photos from day three. Notice the bullet holes in the Welcome to Texas sign. The Kodak film sign just goes to prove a good thing never goes out of style.

Aliens, Big Caverns and Long Drives

Note: no pics today, left the USB device in the car and its after midnight, will post photos tomorrow.

Woke up this morning in Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell looks like just about every other small to medium town in the mid-West. In fact, we noticed that most of the towns we drove thru are laid out the same. Main Street, city hall in the center with a park in front and business’ all around. The big difference in Roswell is the businesses around city hall all have an Alien theme. Also, as Kenny pointed out, the whole town smelled slightly of Methane. We shot a few pictures and went in search of breakfast.
We finally found a restaurant (not fast food) the next town south. Not bad, a little family run place. As we started to drive again, we discovered the source of the gas smell. There are hundreds of cattle ranches and dairies just South of Roswell. That solved one mystery, but still unresolved was how the can of gravy got into our luggage; I suspect extraterrestrial pranksters provided us with that sample of the finest of liquid refreshments.
We drove for several hours on a two-lane highway nothing but cows and oil wells on either side of the road. Finally we came to Carlsbad. We decided to take a side tour to the Carlsbad Caverns. Turned out to be a good idea, the caverns were really interesting.
The thing that impressed me the most about Carlsbad Caverns was the US Forest Service employees. Every one of them said hi to us and asked if we needed anything, or if we had any questions. The real star was the woman who helped us at the ticket window. She asked if we had any kind of discount cards, we didn’t. I mentioned to her that I should have one, because of my VA disability. She asked why I didn’t have the card, and when I explained that I haven’t been able to find out how to get one she gave me the paper work and we filled it out on the spot (Every time I asked the Forest Service they said I had to go to the VA, the VA said the Forest Service had to help me). I now have a lifetime pass to all of our National Parks, Yea!
From Carlsbad, we drove to San Antonio, Texas. We knew this would be the longest leg of the trip, but I thought it would never end. We finally arrived at the hotel at 11:30 PM. Now to get some sleep and tomorrow head over to the Alamo.

Gunfighters and Ghosts

Kenny in front of the haunted Copper Queen Hotel

The Tombstone Epitaph office

This morning we were up early and on the road around 7am. We started down the 10 freeway and made a detour to Tombstone. Now, anyone who has ever met me should know my fascination with the “Town to Tough to Die.” When we got there it was still early and very few of the shops were open. Turns out there is only one gunfight each day at the OK Corral, and it’s not until 2pm. So we shot a few pictures and headed over to Bisbee.
I had driven past Bisbee 20 years ago when I was stationed at Fort Huachuca. Didn’t stop, but I really liked the way the town was built into a ravine. Today I wanted to go into the town and see the Copper Queen Hotel. The Copper Queen was featured on a episode of “Ghost Hunters” one of my favorite shows. Only got to see the lobby, the folks working didn’t seem too friendly, so we left.
Spent the rest of the day driving to Roswell, New Mexico. Got here about 9pm, hope to spend a little time looking around before heading to San Antonio tomorrow.

And So It Begins (again)

Kenny in AZ.

Today we reached Tucson Arizona. Not much of a story. We left home at the crack of noon, after Pauline fixed us breakfast. The first attempt to leave the house was a trip to the end of the driveway. As soon as we reached the first turn we realized we did not have the gps Kenny bought me for Christmas. We still have not found that one, so we took Pauline’s. Kenny and I drove pretty much straight to Tucson. Re-examining the next few days plan, we have come to the conclusion we needed to make some changes. So tomorrow night we will stay in historic Roswell New Mexico. As Mao said, “No Plan Survives Contact with the Enemy.” And so is goes.

Almost Time to Go

Tomorrow Kenny and I depart for a cross country trip to my temporary assignment in Ft. Belvoir, VA. I have spent a large part of the day packing. It’s amazing how much stuff you need to pack for a six month trip. Kenny might start packing soon, right now (10:05 pm) he is doing laundry. Tomorrow we head off for the first day, we plan to stay the night in Tucson, AZ.

Prep

It's a new year, and I'm ready to take off on a temporary assignment to Ft. Belvoir, VA. My son Kenny and I will leave Sunday for a five, maybe six day trip across the United States. The weather channel is telling us there may be some real trouble ahead, but we plan on pushing on despite the dire warnings.

More to follow.