Brrrrrr!

Glen Rose, Texas

Weather: low 42 degrees, high 45 degrees, clear and windy with gusts up to 40 mph

The weather has gotten cold again, with high winds and a wind chill down to about 34 degrees. It sure makes it tough to do anything outside, so we stayed inside most of the day. Another couple of cold days and it should warm up a little on Sunday and Monday.

Carolyn had another appointment with the physical therapist today. The therapist added some new exercises for Carolyn to do, and a couple of them made her nauseous. The physical therapist says that Carolyn is doing well with the therapy that she has done so far, but we don't have any idea how long she needs to keep seeing the therapist. Carolyn has been told that the vertigo is something that she will always have problems with from time to time, but that the therapy she is going through will give her some tools to help her contend with it when it does flare up.

Can you believe this is the last day of January?

Today, I am going to give you some information about Glen Rose, Texas, the little town just down the road from where we are staying. Glen Rose is located at the north end of the Texas hill country where the Paluxy River joins the Brazos River. This town began with the establishment of a trading post in 1849 by Charles Barnard. The area became an Indian reservation in 1855 and he had to move. When the reservation was abolished in 1859, Mr. Barnard moved back and started another store. In 1860, he built a flour and grist mill. Since Mr. Barnard had started the town, he named it Barnard's Mill. Catchy name, right?

This was the beginning of the present seat of Somervell County, the second smallest county in Texas. The mill became a central part of the community, serving as a dance hall, meetinghouse, and in later years as the town hospital. By the 1980s it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 1871, Mr. Barnard sold the mill to T. C. Jordan of Dallas for $65,000. Mr. Jordan's wife, a native of Scotland, decided to rename the town to reflect its natural surroundings. At a town meeting in 1872, residents agreed on the name Glen Rose rather than the alternative proposal, Rose Glen. A post office was opened there in 1874, and Glen Rose became county seat of the newly formed Somervell County in 1875.

There is a lot of natural beauty in the area, which draws tourists to see several attractions, including:

Dinosaur Valley State Park, which has 113 million year old dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy River bed.

The Promise, a musical drama of the life of Christ, every Friday and Saturday, September through November 11.

Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, a 9.5 mile scenic wildlife drive to see exotic and endangered animals

The historic downtown Glen Rose square featuring shops, restaurants, a museum, and the historic Somervell County Courthouse.

Barnard's Mill & Art Museum, built in the 1860s and registered with National & Texas Historic Places.

Comanche Peak Information Center, where visitors can learn about the generation of electricity using the atom.

Expo Conference Center, better known as the Rodeo Barn, which has events almost every weekend.

The Squaw Valley Golf Course, a 36 hole course owned by the county. This is one of the finest municipal courses I have seen.

Creation Evidence Museum, which gives a scientific look at Creation.

Glen Rose claims to be the Blue Grass Capital of Texas, and they have festivals each April and October.

As you can probably tell, we like the area a lot.

More later. Be careful.

Today's Town - Glen Rose, Texas: America's Dream Town, USA Winner, 2004

Happy Birthday, Denise

Glen Rose, Texas

Weather: low 30 degrees, high 54 degrees, windy, clear

Today is our friend Denise's birthday. Since we don't ask a lady how old she is, we won't tell, even though we know. To celebrate Denise's birthday, several of us from the park went to a German restaurant in southwest Fort Worth. The entertainment was good, as was the food. Best of all was the company. Happy Birthday, Denise.

Carolyn's exercises seem to be making a difference with the vertigo, at least for the time being. She is doing more than the physical therapist asked her to do, and each day I see more confidence from her in what she is doing. Our fingers are crossed that we may have found a treatment that will allow Carolyn to live a more normal life. And maybe we can get back on the road.

We took care of some housekeeping chores today that we have been putting off. It is still too cold to do much outside, such as wash the truck and RV. Maybe it will be warmer next week.

Most of north Texas is under a fire alert because of the dry conditions and wind. There have been several grass fires that have flared up over the past couple of days. Last year, we had the same conditions, and there was a lot of damage from fires. We need rain, but the forecast does not look good for the near future.

About 25 miles from Glen Rose is the little town of Hico. By itself, there is not much to distinguish Hico from 1000 other little towns in Texas. The town motto is "Where Everybody is Somebody” but a clever Hico native changed it to “Where Everybody is Some………Where is Everybody?”

What makes this little town stand out is the fact that they claim that William Bonney, also known as Billy The Kid, actually escaped Pat Garrett’s shootout in New Mexico and eventually settled in this small town using the alias of “Brushy” Bill Roberts. Of course, this claim probably doesn’t sit well with the folks over in New Mexico since they are making tourist dollars from people visiting the burial site of Billy The Kid. Brushy Bill was a colorful character in this small town during the early 1900s. With his cowboy hat, colorful bandana around his neck, rough leather vest, and cowboy boots, Brushy Bill looked as though he came straight out of the 1800s in a time of cowboys, saloons, and outlaws. Whether or not Brushy Bill was truly Billy the Kid, he left the town with enough details of his life to be convincing. The picture below is of a statue the town of Hico erected in Billy The Kid's memory

At one time, Brushy Bill made a trip to New Mexico to ask the governor for a pardon for his alleged crimes as Billy The Kid. As might be expected, the governor threw him out of his office, telling Brushy Bill that Billy The Kid was buried in New Mexico.

One thing is for sure - both places that claim Billy The Kid are making some tourist dollars from
people who visit.

More later - Be careful.

Today's Town - Anahuac, Texas – Alligator Capital of Texas

Windy and Cold

Glen Rose, Texas

Weather: The high was early this morning at 68 degrees. It cooled off quickly from 0900 hours, to a low at 2100 hours of 37 degrees. The wind was blowing hard all day at 25-40 mph.

Carolyn added to the exercises for the vertigo that she is doing at home. She does them twice a day, and they take about 30 minutes each time. Some of the exercises don't seem to cause her any problem, while others cause nausea. She continues to be hopeful that what she is doing will help her control the vertigo.

We have some housekeeping chores that we want to do, but the weather was too windy today. One thing about retirement is that if you don't want to do something today, put it off until you do want to. If you wait long enough, the urgency goes away. It is surprising how little urgent stuff there is.

My friend Bo Garrett will be glad to know we are keeping up the tradition of going to Dairy Queen for a hamburger. We went there for dinner, and it was the usual fine cuisine that we have grown accustomed to.

Our story today concerns something that happened about 165 years ago. As most people are aware, Davy Crockett was one of the heroes of the Alamo that was killed there in 1836. He left a wife and children behind in Tennessee when he came to Texas seeking his fortune. Unfortunately for him and his family, he got caught up in the battle for the Alamo. On Dec. 2, 1854, the state sent Mrs. Crockett a check for $24 for Davy's service to the republic.

Though Davy's paycheck came 17 years late, on Dec. 23, 1837 the Republic of Texas had given Mrs. Crockett 1,280 acres in North Texas near Acton in return for her husband’s government service, but the Comanches who roamed the area saw the land as theirs. Finally, eight years after Texas became a state, Mrs. Crockett left Tennessee in 1853 with her two children – a grown, married son named Robert Patton Crockett and a daughter, Matilda, to claim her land. A surveyor determined the boundaries of her land in exchange for half the property. What Elizabeth ended up with was 640 acres on Rucker’s Creek, about six miles from present day Granbury. Living in a log cabin built by her son, Elizabeth spent the last six years of her life in the place her husband had come to make his fortune. On the morning of Jan. 31, 1860, wearing the widow’s black she had worn since first learning of her husband’s death, Elizabeth left her cabin to take a walk and shortly fell dead at the age of 72.

Mrs. Crockett's gravesite is the smallest state park in Texas, and has a statue of her looking to the west with her eyes shaded, watching for Davy to come home.

This post is not quite as quirky as the last two, but the history in here just touches something in me. I hope everyone is enjoying the posts. Tomorrow, we'll get back to some real quirky stuff. Such as in Billy, The Kid.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Lott, Texas: There’s Lots to Like in Lott

John Wilkes Booth

Glen Rose, Texas


Weather: low 50 degrees, high 68 degrees, cloudy all day. Rain is in the forecast for tonight.

This morning we went to the library in Glen Rose to return some books and check out more. Both of us are avid readers, and the little library in Glen Rose is one of the best that we have used. They always seem to have books that we want to read. Before going to the library, we stopped at Burger King for a Croisanwich and tater tots. Tasty!! It doesn't take much to satisfy us.

Carolyn had her second session of physical therapy for the vertigo today. The physical therapist added a number of exercises for her to perform at the facility, and also more to perform at home. The next session will be this Thursday.

We are starting to get road fever, which can only be cured by taking a road trip. We may try to take a ride later on this week. I'm not sure where we will go, and probably won't decide until we are on the road.

Today, I'm going to tell everyone about another of the quirky stories that we heard about for Granbury. Everyone knows that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The official history of the following escape is that Booth fled from the scene of the shooting, and was cornered in a barn in Port Royal, Virginia 12 days later. During the ensuing shootout, he was wounded and died a short time later.

Now, the Granbury version of what happened: Booth changed his name to John St. Helen amd with the help of sympathizers, made his way to Granbury, where he tended bar in a local saloon. He is said to have confessed to the murder of Lincoln in the late 1870s. He is not buried here, because after his death, St. Helen was mummified and displayed in traveling shows until 1972, when the mummy vanished.

The building where Booth tended bar is still there on the courthouse square in Granbury, only now it is a bakery called The Nutshell. On its wall is a painted mural of Booth tending bar. Truth or fiction?

More to come. Be careful.

Today's Town - Granbury, Texas: Where Texas History Lives

Slow Day

Glen Rose, Texas

Weather: low 34 degrees, high 68 degrees, very foggy until 1000 hours, partly cloudy after that.

Today was one of those days where there was just not much going on. The high point of the day is that it actually got a little warmer. I watched Florida win a basketball game on the Internet, watched a little bit of Tiger Woods winning a golf tournament (what else is new), cleaned out the inside of the truck, took a walk, and just puttered around. Carolyn did much the same.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that this area has several quirky things that I found interesting. Today, I am going to tell you a story about Jesse James, and the fact that his grave, or at least a headstone with his name on it, is located in the Granbury City Cemetery. Wait a minute, you say. I thought Jesse James was killed in Missouri by a dastardly lowlife that shot him in the back. That is the way the history books relate it, anyway. The folks around here have it another way.

The belief in this area is that Jesse set up another unfortunate fellow to be shot in his place, then left Missouri for Texas and lived in the Glen Rose and Granbury area until he died in 1951. One thing that lends some weight to this belief is that Jesse's brother, Frank (another well-known outlaw that received a pardon) moved to the Fort Worth area and lived and worked there the rest of his life. Family tends to follow each other, especially during that time. Another piece of evidence that Jesse was here is the fact that when he died in 1951, the sheriff of the local county examined his body and identified several old wounds and scars, including an old rope burn around Jesse's neck. The rope burn was consistent with an attempted hanging of Jesse. The other scars and wounds were also consistent with injuries that Jesse suffered during his career as an outlaw.

When Jesse died, a headstone was erected with his pertinent information inscribed on it. Note the dates and the inscription on the bottom that says "Allegedly killed in 1882". This doesn't mean I automatically buy into the conspiracy thing, but it seems there is enough evidence to at least make me wonder whether the local version is true or not.

More tomorrow. Be Safe.

Today's Town - Rosebud, Texas: We Call It Home

Foggy and Warmer

Glen Rose, Texas
Weather: low 34 degrees, high 60 degrees, foggy early with visibility less than 300 feet, partly cloudy after 1100 hours.

As noted, the weather has warmed up, and it is none too soon for me. We noticed more people outside as a result.

Carolyn went to Benbrook with Denise for Denise to take care of some banking. On the way back, they went to El Chico's for lunch. The chain restaurants are not my idea of a good place to eat, especially for Mexican food. However, I do take Carolyn occasionally. I would much rather go a local restaurant. We have had many instances where the chain restaurants have disappointed us with the quality of the food or service, or both.

As I mentioned yesterday, Carolyn was given exercises for her vertigo to perform at home. I helped her by acting as the drill instructor, ensuring that she performed the exercises properly so she gets the most benefit out of them.

Since we have been in this area, we have visited several of the local landmarks. One of the things I like to do is check out the quirky things that an area has to offer. This area has several things that I want to share on the blog once I learn how to post pictures. The pictures will help explain what I am relating, such as the gravestone for Jesse James, who is reputed to be buried in the Granbury City Cemetery. More on this as I learn more about this new method of communciating. In the meantime, we plan to get out into the warm weather tomorrow.

Be safe.

Today's Town - El Campo, Texas: Pearl of the Prairie

Rain and Cold

Glen Rose, Texas

Weather: low 32 degrees, high 36 degrees, rain and drizzle

We woke this morning to a cold rain with temperatures that hovered bear the freezing point most of the day. Carolyn had an appointment at 0700 hours with the physical therapist that is going to assist her with the therapy for the vertigo. The first treatment was given today, and she was also given exercises to perform at home over the weekend. Carolyn is upbeat about the direction her treatment is going, and we are hopeful that it will be successful.

While I was waiting for Carolyn, an older gentleman came in to perform therapy for knee replacement surgery he had several months ago. He told me how the surgery went, and the fact that his doctor wanted him to have the other knee replaced in the near future. He said he told the doctor that he better have a fast horse and a long rope if the doctor though he was going to operate on one of his knees again. I thought that was a funny expression I have never heard before.

Since it was such a messy and cold day, we stayed inside most of the day. Late in the afternoon, it looked as though the rain might be over, so I tried to take a walk. About 20 minutes after I began walking, it started raining again. So much for a walk. The balance of the day was spent reading, watching TV, surfing the net,,,,,,,,,,.

Carolyn prepared quesadillas for dinner. Very good, but then there's not much that I don't like.

Be safe.

Today's Town - Virginia City, Nevada: A Step Back in Time

We Went to the RV Show

Glen Rose, Texas
Weather: low 32 degrees, high 43 degrees, partly cloudy all day. There is a winter storm watch for this area. Sleet just started falling at 1800 hours.

My brother-in-law, Roger, had surgery yesterday in Birmingham. We heard he came through the surgery well, and our thoughts and prayers are with him as he continues to fight cancer.

Today, we went to the annual RV show at the Fort Worth Convention Center. This makes the third time we have gone to the show, and as in the past, we drooled over the luxurious motor homes and fifth wheels. We have learned to not try to see everything because they have hundreds of RVs set up for viewing, ranging from tiny teardrop models to popups to tag alongs and on and on. The motor homes are nice to look at and fantasize, but the fifth wheels are more appropriate for what we are doing. We have been looking for another RV that would have a few more of the nicer things that we would want, but have not found something that we just had to have. The closest we have come was today, and even then the ones we liked the most would probably require us to buy a larger truck because of the weights of the RVs. We really don't like the idea of doing that. We brought home a stack of brochures, and will be reviewing the specs for the different brands and models to see if we can find something that we can't do without.

Even though we have really cut back on the number of RVs we look at when we go to the shows, there is still quite a lot of walking. I had to keep an eye on Carolyn because of her vertigo problems. We left the show after about three hours. Since we were going to pass by the area where Sam's Club is located, we stopped and picked up a few things that we use. More walking, and I had already walked five miles this morning before we left to go to the RV show. My legs and feet felt like they were going to fall off. Sure feels good to sit and rest. Ahhhh!

Today's Town - Shreveport, LA: The Next Great City of the South

A Set Back?

Glen Rose, Texas
Weather: cloudy, low temperature 32 degrees, high temperature 37 degrees. I will try to refrain from whining about the weather so much. However, I do reserve the right to whine if I feel like it.

Carolyn had a followup appointment with the doctor about the tube that was put in her left ear last week. The ear has healed up as it should. However, as I wrote a few days ago, she continues to have the problems with the vertigo and nausea. She is taking Mecklizine for the nausea, and it helps that symptom. The medicine and other treatments she has had have not done anything for the dizziness. She has been scheduled for ~two months of intense therapy that we hope will take care of the problem. The only other alternative is surgery on the affected ear that may or may not work, and we do not want to take that step if we can help it.

Since it looks like we will be here for at least another two months, and we don't know what the outcome will be, we are taking another look at our plans to go to Alaska. The last thing we need to do with Carolyn having these problems is to take off on a trip that may aggravate the condition. If we have to, we may put off that trip until next year.

In the meantime, we will be taking day trips as Carolyn's illness allows. When we take the trips, we will take pictures and notes so I can use the blog as a way to let everyone know what areas we are visiting. This is not quite what we expected we would be doing after being here four monhs, but as I said earlier, the most important thing is to make sure Carolyn is over this illness before we leave.

Today's Town - Micanopy, Florida: The Little Town That Time Forgot

Whine

Glen Rose, Texas

The day started out at 43 degrees and got worse from that point. By 1100 hours, it was 32 degrees with wind. Later in the afternoon, I saw a few snowflakes. Whine, sniffle, sniffle. I'm tired of this cold weather. The good news is that it should start warming up by the weekend, and should be up to near 70 degrees by the first of next week. Just in time for us to be able to start getting ready to leave this area. I have not cleaned up the outside of the RV or truck for at least a month because of the cold weather. I would like to be able to do those chores before we leave a week from this Saturday.

Carolyn has recovered enough from the effects of the relapse of vertigo that she was able to go to Waco with Denise, one of friends at the RV park. While in Waco, they made a side trip to our favorite hamburger restaurant, Backyard Burgers. She brought some burgers home for dinner, and they were umm, umm good.

I am continuing to try new ideas for the blog. My goal is to have it be an interesting account of our travels and experiences. At this point, we do not have any new pictures to add to the blog, but will insert them as we deem appropriate.

The rest of the day was spent reading, surfing the net, piddling on different things inside, and dreaming of warm places.

Today's Town - Russellville, Arkansas: The Natural Choice in the Natural State

Cold and Rainy

Glen Rose, Texas
I don't like cold weather. I also don't like rainy weather. My ideal weather is lows in the 60s, high in the 70s, and clear skies. Today's weather was a combination of both conditions, with a high for the day of about 42 degrees, and misty with sprinkles since about 1100 hours. It was foggy, with visibility of about half a mile. It was the sort of day that made you want to stay inside, which we did for most of the day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

I went to the movies this afternoon and saw Cloverfield, a new sci-fi thriller that is doing well at the box office. The movie was made as though it was being seen through the lens of a hand held home movie camera, with all the jerkiness and starts and stops that might be expected. If a person is made dizzy by this kind of movement on the screen, it is the wrong movie to see. The theatre had several signs posted that cautioned people about the dizziness issue, and that there would be no refunds for people who had problems. The best I can say about the movie is to not waste the money. I should have seen the new Jack Nicholson movie.

Carolyn continues to do better today with the vertigo issues that came back a few days ago.

Today's Town - Savannah, Georgia: America’s Most Haunted City

Carolyn Has A Better Day

Glen Rose, Texas
Carolyn had a better day with her vertigo. The dizziness was still present, but not to the degree that it has been for the last two days. That allowed us to get out in the afternoon and we ended up driving over to Cleburne for a late lunch/early dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The food was typical of what might be expected for a buffet, with plenty of choices at a reasonable price. We have had better, but have certainly had worse.

The weather continues to be clear and cold, with the temperature getting down to about 23 last night, and up to about 50 this afternoon. The wind started blowing about 1100 hours this morning, and blew the rest of the day. We are expecting some rain later on this next week, and it will be welcomed. The area is under a fire warning for outdoor activities due to the dry conditions, low humidity, and wind.

A few days ago, one of our electric heaters bit the dust after about five years of use. We found a larger one at WalMart that is doing a better job of helping keep us warm. Just in time for this cold weather we are going through at this time.

I have been tinkering with the layout of the new blog, trying to make it as interesting as possible. One of the things I want to do is show a map that highlights the states we have spent at least one night in the RV. The one I selected is too large, and only showed about one-third of the map. I'll keep searching and playing with it until I get it right.

Town of The Day - Clifton, Texas: Norwegian Capital of Texas

Carolyn's Vertigo Strikes Again

Glen Rose, Texas
In 2004, we took a six month trip through the western part of the US. While we were in New Mexico, Carolyn began suffering from a severe case of vertigo. The doctors could not come up with a cause for the problem, and eventually the condition got better on its own. Early last year, the vertigo struck again, and the doctors still had no success in finding the cause. It eventually got better, and we went to the southeastern US to take care of the final affairs of my mother and visit family. After the family obligations were completed, we made our way north into Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. While in North Carolina in August, the vertigo affected Carolyn again, and seemed to be connected to altitude changes while traveling in the mountains. By October, we had made our way to Glen Rose, Texas where our doctor and dentist are so we could have our physicals and dental checkups.

We thought we would be finished with the doctors and dentists in a month or less, and then resume our travels. Well, here it is almost four months later, and we are still in Glen Rose. Carolyn's doctors discovered what was causing her vertigo and she has been undergoing treatment and therapy that seemed to be helping. Yesterday, the vertigo struck again, causing dizziness and nausea. As can be imagined, Carolyn is disappointed.

At this time, we plan to leave this area in two weeks. Of course, that departure time is dependent on how Carolyn is doing. She is a strong lady, and is ready to see some new country. If there is any way possible, she will be ready to go. She is doing the exercises that have been prescribed for the vertigo, as well as taking her medicine.

On another note, the weather has been cold. The last several nights have seen the temperature get down into the mid 20s, and tonight, it is expected to go down to about 23 degrees. Yesterday, we had snow and sleet that fell off and on all day. Today was clear but cold, with the high only reaching about 40 degrees. Brrrr! Too cold for this southern boy. I'm ready for some warm weather.

Today's Town - Hico, Texas: Where Everyone is Someone

First Blog Post

Glen Rose, Texas
For several years, I have been keeping a daily journal of our adventures so I could share it with family and friends. The journal was sent out via e-mail about every two weeks. Everyone that read the journal seemed to enjoy it. I decided to use a blog in an attempt to keep everyone posted on a day to day basis. Today is the first post in the blog that I created. We will see where this takes us.

My hope is that I will be able to write interesting posts that readers will enjoy, and our family and friends will know what is happening with us almost in real time. As in the journal, I will pass on our daily activities and commentary on my view of things that I consider important. Humor is always important. My intent is to post almost every day, but if there is nothing to report, I may not.

Comments are welcomed, and I will try to use them to make the blog better. Bear with me as I become familiar with this new method of communicating.