• Geezers in Paradise
  • Geezers in Paradise

Southern Crawl

Uma 100aventura de um dia na Geezers in Paradise Leia mais
  • The Alamo

    3 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    A moving shrine to those men who wanted a government independent of far away powers. Loaded with history and a Wilson Nicoll memorial FREE admission. No lines, beautiful sunny but mild weather. Situated right in the heart of downtown and surrounded by high rises.Leia mais

  • Along the River Walk.

    3 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    The River Walk began as a flood control outlet, but was so beloved by locals, was preserved and eventually taken on as a WPA project in the 30's. Truly a pleasure to walk, a peaceful oasis in the middle of the city. Well ... except at noon, and we imagine in the evening, when the crowds descend. But with the exception of a short portion with popular restaurants, our walk was tranquil, shady, and soul restoring.Leia mais

  • Hunting for the perfect photo

    4 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    We decided we hadn't had enough hill country yet, so headed north through another route, with Gordon driving the first shift. Characteristically, Heather spent the first part of the drive with her nose in her delicious banana nut muffin from Whole Foods, and the second part of the shift with her nose in the navigation app orienting herself for the rest of the day.

    Hence, it was up to Gordon to take some of his signature stunning photos of our second foray into Texas Hill Country. Unfortunately, Wilson L Nicoll was in the car with us, and every photo seemed to be of the WLN memorial *DAMN* sort. You know what we mean.
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  • Llano Texas

    4 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    First stop of the day, cute town named Llano ... Spanish for flat, featureless. The country was anything but ... hilly, green and gold scrub.

    The town was exceptionally cute. Cowboy boots on their street lamps. The deer in front of the jail was wearing prison stripes. We went into what appeared to be the only coffee shop ... someone was playing piano and some locals were sitting around on couches. The barista was very friendly with a Texas accent you had to cut with a knife. We had to explain that Earl Grey was not plain black tea, but after hunting around found some Darjeeling. We waved goodbye, friends.

    The picture with the deer in strips is of the old city jail.
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  • Practice makes perfect

    4 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    Take two. These are probably all taken by Gordon. Well, with the exception of the sand pile which Heather felt added a certain je ne sais quoi to the lineup. As you can see, we are back in moody skies and breezy weather. Thunderstorms expected briefly tonight.Leia mais

  • Our first roadrunner!

    5 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    But Heather is the only one who saw it. I was busy taking a picture of some bad lands that she thought needed taking. But she swears it looked JUST like the road runner in Wyle E Coyote cartoons. And it was running. On the road. I didn't see it.Leia mais

  • Cotton

    5 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    We've seen WAY more cotton in Texas, and now Oklahoma, than we ever saw in the Southeast. Big bales by the roadside ... like the size of containers on the back of Mac trucks. Also cotton fluff alongside the road wherever cotton is harvested or stored.Leia mais

  • Heading down old Route 66

    6 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 52 °F

    Oklahoma has the longest stretch of the old Route 66 still in use. Our campground is actually right on it. We were surprised how really narrow it was, but I guess in the 20's when it was first built, cars were small.

    The stretch we drove was truly lovely. Highlights were an old abandoned gas station ... we divined that from the giant broken up concrete slab that the tree was growing up from. Also a flock of wild turkeys running along the road.
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  • Oklahoma Route 66 Museum

    6 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

    What a smashing museum. The minute I walked in the door we were met with memorabilia that is still fresh in my mind from family trips across country, including an old Phillips 66 gas pump. I saluted it for dad.

    They had separate exhibits by decade. The station wagon all tricked out with family vacation paraphernalia (cooler, pillows, stuffed animals) almost brought tears to my eyes. They had a real example of the prefab diners that a franchisee could buy for $5000 that popped up all along the route in the '50s. They were about as big as a bathroom ... 5 stools. But they got the job done.

    They had a special exhibit honoring the Oklahoma Highway Patrol which was brought into existence to watch over Route 66. We especially enjoyed the vintage video of the officer telling tales, for example about when he tucked his gun into his waistband and gut shot himself (and lived to tell the tale).

    One old gent, barely getting around on a cane, passed by us in the museum. I got the impression he had pumped gas in his day as he looked lovingly at an old pump and said, "I used to have one of those."
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  • Cafe Downtown Clinton

    6 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Yep! More lunch pictures. Actually, we've decided we need to take MORE photos as the coconut cream pie reminded us of the magnificent meringue we had had earlier in the trip but couldn't remember where. We scoured the blog, but uncharacteristically had not recorded it!

    The special for $6.00 was a delicious chicken cheese enchilada casserole with tortilla soup. We ASKED that the coconut cream pie be boxed to go, but they forgot and brought it out. Gordon couldn't wait. Friends don't let friends eat coconut cream pie alone. Neither of us was sorry. Except now that it's evening and we don't have any pie.
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  • Mohawk Lodge Indian Store & Museum

    6 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    Well this one was a real surprise. It was mentioned online as having genuine Indian crafts as well as a few counters of exhibits not for sale. First off, Google has the location wrong and we had to hunt around and make 3 U-turns to find it. Second, the sign on the door said it was open, but to knock and please be patient, they were old and took a while to get to the door. It DID take a while, and we almost left as it seemed a little off.

    Finally this kindly old gentleman (82 years old we later found out) shuffled to the door to let us in, greeting us with a handshake. The small single-room store was an absolute JUMBLE of antique and new Indian art from the area. Two shelves of antique beaded moccasins. A number of beaded buckskin dresses. A bear-claw necklace that had to be seen to be believed. His wife is Choctaw and Cherokee (I think) and is quite a collector.

    They had a wide assortment of Pendleton blankets with the traditional Indian designs. Apparently the Indians in the area give blankets away on a variety of occasions and are always buried in them, so the shop does a land office in sales. Pendleton told our host that the shop, which has been around since 1882, was their oldest customer.

    We would have loved to buy a lot of things there, but had to remind ourselves we were at a stage of life when we are trying to pare down, not collect. I did pick up a braid of sweetgrass which I intend to put up (or smudge) when I get home.
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  • Washita Battlefield Nat'l Historic Site

    7 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    This site memorializes a very sad part of American History. General Custer of Little Bighorn fame massacred an entire village, men, women and children. There were a lot of evocative photos of the Indians of the time, and the story of the destruction of their way of life. Almost too sad to write about.

    They did have an interesting walk showing elements of the white settlers' life in the grassy plains of the day. Gordon spent a good while waiting at the windmill because he wanted to make sure it was not just a Disney-style fake-o exhibit, but actually pumped water. He was relieved to see it was genuine.
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  • Jack Sisemore RV Museum

    7 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    This was a fun place. The old RVs were fun to look at and wander through. Yep, you could climb right into the old RVs. There were lots of motorcycles also, though we were not very interested in those.

    Towards the end of our wander around, the lights in the building went off. We just thought it was not big deal, the lights are on a motion sensor or a timer or something. But it turned out, much to our surprise, we were LOCKED IN! Gordon thought that surely someone would check to see if anyone was in the building when they went home and at the worse we would get to spend the night trying out the beds in the RVs. But Heather, being older and wiser, got on the phone and called the office, letting them know that we were locked in.
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  • Cadillac Ranch

    7 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    When they planted the Caddies here in a field back in 1974 showing the development and demise of the fin, it raised a stink. The idea someone would call this artwork was unbelievable. But now it seems that the site is almost a shrine. It seems from day one, visitors couldn't resist spray painting the cars in every color known to man, a tradition that continues. Well into November there were still lots of people there late in the afternoon visiting, spray painting, worshipping, perhaps even hoping that some aliens might drop in. There were quite a few young hoodlums-in-waiting trying out their trade-to-be under parental supervision. We had to admit, though, they were pretty cute.

    Over the years, all the spray painting on the cars has built up a layer of paint inches thick in places. One of our pictures shows a chunk that fell off. That's paint, not the car.

    Speaking of aliens, tomorrow we are headed to Roswell!
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  • Big Texan Steak House

    7 de novembro de 2015, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 52 °F

    The Big Texan Steak House is right on Route 66, and has been there since 1960 when the road was still fully in use. It gives substance to the saying that everything is bigger in Texas. The challenge here is to eat a 72 ounce steak in one hour. If you can, it's free! Will Gordon rise to the occassion? Can he do it?

    Oh... he chickens out and gets a quesadilla. Heather gets the chicken fried steak sandwich. Gordon also braved a very nice and very stout whiskey barrel stout. Heather quaffed a pecan porter. Both of the beers were brewed right here.

    We THOUGHT we saved room for the four layer chocolate cake, but when it arrived, it was actually the size of a full cake. Good thing we were sharing. We couldn't finish. Don't fall out of your seat, now.

    At the gift shop, Heather picked up a souvenir since we are heading out of Texas tomorrow: a blingy tooled red white and blue faux leather purselet sporting a prominently shiny lone star.
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