Allan wrote...

Time to catch up and wrap up on the latest travels. A drive from Atlanta to San Antonio to house sit for about two weeks was fun. Then, with 70-degree weather throughout Texas and Oklahoma, I drove to Omaha to visit my daughter, her husband and 9-month old son.  What fun!

Superman Watching Over Metropolis

The trip back to Atlanta took me along I-70 through Kansas City to St. Louis and, after about 600 miles, to the small town of Metropolis, IL, just at the Southern tip of the state on the Ohio River. Anyone who remembers the old George Reeves Superman TV show knows that Metropolis was Superman's home. True to form, Metropolis, IL has a huge bronze statue of the super hero himself. Just down the street is a statue of Lois Lane.

Rolling into St. Louis

Harrah has a casino in Metropolis, so I ambled in to see whether I could find a good meal there. Sure enough: it was easy to make a big veggie plate from the all you can eat buffet line.  The food was nicely done. So many buffet restaurants over-do the salt. Not this time.

I'll have to admit: back in the days when the annual COMDEX computer show in Las Vegas drew 100,000+ people, I always enjoyed spending a week in Vegas, working the trade show booth, pitching the latest computer...then hitting the casinos after hours. Now though, walking through a casino is not "depressing" but it does leave me with a feeling that something is "not quite right" about tossing money into a slot machine or onto a blackjack or roulette table, hoping to somehow come out ahead when it's time to go home. I noticed that almost everyone in the casino was a "senior citizen." Perhaps many seniors are attracted to the casino because it's something different to do. I don't know.

As I waked through the place I thought, "Well, just for old time's sake, I'll toss a couple quarters into the slots and see what happens."  Hahaha. Am I ever out of date. There wasn't a single slot machine in the place that takes coins.  Each machine proudly announces that it "Accepts $1, $5, $10, $20 and $100 bills."  Oh my. Stuffing greenbacks into a slot just doesn't seem right, so I passed the machines and made my way back outside.

Yep, just stuff your folding money in here!

A healthy meal at Harrah's

Seniors with nothing much to do

Oh yes, before I forget, I found a curiosity all through the state of Missouri: Road signs at freeway exits sometimes had only a large letter or two, often with no city names at all.

What's this about "A" and "Z?" It suggests that, just maybe,
one can go almost anywhere by taking this exit. You know,
like "from A to Z."  Strange.

 I didn't realize that my route to Atlanta would take me through Clarkesville, TN, the home of Ft. Campbell and the 101st Airborn -- the "Screaming Eagles."  Ft. Campbell was where the Army sent me for Basic Training when I was drafted back in 1969. Those were eight tough weeks. I dropped into the base, got a visitor's pass, learned that they no longer do Basic Training at the base, and drove around looking for my old barracks. They were built to house troops during World War II, and in the 1960's were used to get raw recruits ready to go carry a rifle in Viet Nam. I didn't find my old wooden barracks, but here is an example of what they looked like 40+ years ago.

World War II vintage barracks, still in use today

Ft. Campbell, home to the Screaming Eagles,
the 101st Airborn.

A memorial to Desert Storm soldiers
who didn't come home.

That wraps up the trip for now. A total of 2904 miles, according to Google. My G6 Pontiac gave me over 32 MPG in some legs of the trip, but never below 29MPG.  Nice!

 Another house sit in Florida beckons in April. More fun ahead!

Allan wrote...

And so it goes. Will is my 6th grand child and yet I've spent more time with him in the last week than any other. Jennifer and Eric are stationed at Offut Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska. The USAF has given them a fantastic four bedroom house with a garage, garage door opener, brand new carpet throughout, tons of closet space, a peaceful, safe and quiet neighborhood and lots of young people in the same age range to get to know and befriend. Offut AFB has a great Base Exchange that's a lot like any shopping mall, as well as a commissary that is, for the most part, the best place to shop for groceries and eats. Omaha is a big city too. It has everything one could hope for: Targets, Wal-Marts, upscale shopping malls, (a wonderful Course in Miracles study group that meets on Sunday morning at the Unity Church), endless restaurants and perhaps the very best zoo in the entire USA (according to many comments on Tripadvisor.com and elsewhere.)  Once the weather warms up I know Jenn and Eric will find many things to do in Omaha.  The roads there are clear of potholes that plague the Northeastern part of the country. Traffic is moderate. Rolling hills seem to be the rule and the landscape is attractive, even in winter.  This week we had lots of warm weather. Jenn and Will and I had a nice walk around the neighborhood with Will in his stroller the other day.

Hey! This is my fun so if this is boring, I'm sorry.  Here is yet another great little video of Willem having fun.

Allan wrote...

San Antonio remained cool and rainy for most of my house sit with Ria, the Australian Cattle dog. On 2/15 I set out to visit my daughter and her family near Omaha, NE. The drive took me to Wichita, KS the first night, about 600 miles. I finished the balance of the trip the following day. My drive was filled with A Course in Miracles "study" which consisted, essentially, of meditating (while driving) on topics I had read about the day or night prior.

Yes, one can drive and meditate. We normally drive with our ego minds blathering on about a million disjointed ideas, worries and countless topics for hours on end. Instead, focusing on the car ahead and consciously quieting my mind, watching extraneous thoughts flit through for a moment, then returning to the quiet and solitude...that's a great way to drive. It's almost "outside of time" because I don't get tired, worry about how many miles away something is or when I'll get there. Instead, those 10 hours behind the wheel became very productive, fascinating and (let's say,) educational.

My sweetie, Jennifer, and her husband Eric have a gorgeous little boy, Willem. Without further ado, I'm going to post several pictures and videos I've grabbed with my iPod in the last few days.

Jennifer and Willem - Big smiles all around

Will & Mommy at the  Base Commissary, Offut AFB

Eric, Will & Jenn snacking after a hard day's shopping

Allan wrote...

After a few days of rain, today is sunny and warm, perfect for visiting the San Antonio River Walk area. According to one of the non-profits that support it, the River Walk is the number one tourist attraction in Texas. The River Walk is actually one story below the streets of the city.  It began as a flood control program when a flood killed 50 people in 1921. Today, one can walk the 2-1/2 miles end to end and find countless restaurants, retailers and other attractions one story up on the surface street area.

We had a gigantic thunderstorm last night that dropped buckets of water on San Antonio. It woke me up with lightning, the sound of rain and thunder about 3AM.  I tossed and turned for a while with Ria sleeping next to me, but finally got up around 3:30 to cook breakfast: an omelet replete with curry and garlic baked ground turkey, cheese, tomatoes and hot sauce. And coffee.  A tasty but very early start to the day.

I checked my A Course in Miracles daily lesson. In recent days I have discovered that the entire Course -- text, workbook for students and manual for teachers -- is online. It is amazing how the Internet has extended the distribution and awareness of the Course so far beyond what the printed book could ever have hoped to accomplish. I have also discovered several excellent teachers and mentors who help all of us studying the Course penetrate its often dense and difficult content. At some point I'll  post my favorite links to those resources. After all, this blog is called "Adventures in the Dream" because of influence from the Course.

One can only watch so much Fox News, so around 4AM I decided to go for a ride to see what of interest is in the neighborhood.  The answer: everything one could ever want. It's a shopping mecca. There's an HEB Super grocery store (similar to Winco in the Northwest, but even more upscale), Lowes, Target, every kind of restaurant imaginable and retailers to satisfy anyone's need for virtually anything. It was nice to be the only car on the road at that early hour so I could amble around to check things out. No doubt: people in this area have all the "shopping infrastructure" one could hope for.

Normally Ria does not go to the dog park on weekends. It tends to be crowded, I was told, and there is always a concern about less socialized dogs, aggressive dogs, etc. But we took a chance and left about 7:15. As we arrived Ria's two dog pals were just leaving, so we had the entire park to ourselves for about 30 minutes.

Later a woman showed up with a small dog, which she kept in the "Small Dog Area" of the park. A fence separates the small and large dog areas, but that didn't stop her dog and Ria running the length of the fence, back and forth again and again, for about 10 minutes at top speed as if they were having a foot race to see who could get to the end faster. So after all, Ria got some good exercise. She also seemed intrigued by the standing water left from all the rain.

Allan wrote...

I woke up around 5AM for some reason. By 7:15 Ria and I were in the car heading for the dog park. As usual her two friends arrived at about the same time. The dog park has plenty of trees and the dogs never fail to find squirrels to harass. Today was no different. They spent most of their time barking and jumping as if they could snatch the squirrel from the treetops.

The park also has what appears to be a tree house built just a few feet off the ground with a ramp leading to what looks like a dog house. Jim, the owner of Ria's dog friends, interrupted the three dogs barking with the call, "Dog House!"  All three came racing to the dog house, ran up the ramp and got ready for the treats Jim had for them.

That's Ria on the right with her pals.

San Antonio gets its water from the Edwards Aquifer. I had heard people talk about the aquifer water level as if it was as common a topic as the weather.  "I haven't checked the aquifer level today..." for example.

A quick search reveals the Edwards Aquifer is 3,600 square miles of carbonate limestone underground that captures water as it runs over an 8,000 square mile area. It has the capacity to feed San Antonio some 13.6 million gallons of water daily, making it one of the most productive artesian aquifers in the world, according to www.edwardsaquifer.net.  Apparently there are about 92 wells that tap into the aquifer to provide water to the San Antonio area. The water level in Bexar county is known as "J-17."  Its depth is measured daily. I noticed yesterday it was at about 658 feet. The measured levels correspond to how drought conditions and watering restrictions are managed in the area. It is supposed to rain today and Saturday. In fact, there is a flash flood watch in effect from 8 PM through Saturday morning for Bexar County. Texas has had much drought, so this rain is welcomed.

In fact, Jim told me today that San Antonio had several weeks of temperatures last summer when the high temp for the days did not fall below 105-degrees. Doesn't sound like Becky and I will be settling permanently in Texas!  Just a bit too warm for us.

Allan wrote...


Tuesday...I'm on the way to San Antonio via Interstate 10. There is a an 18-mile stretch of elevated highway between Lafayette and Baton Rouge known as the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway. It goes over the Atchafalaya River, across the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge and the adjacent swamps. It crosses the Mississippi River at the Horace Wilkinson Bridge. 

Interstate 10 from Hammond/New Orleans area to Baton Rouge

Just a few hundred feet of an 18-mile long
"elevated highway" (aka bridge).  Note the
swampy bayou between the two bridges.

It's quite an amazing piece of engineering. There are actually two, 2-lane bridges: one Eastbound, the other Westbound. Each is held up by thousands of huge concrete and steel pylons. There is very little berm, so any traffic incident could result in hours of delay while the wreck is cleared. On the map you'll see Interstate 10 running just south of Lake Pontchartrain, through Metairie and over to Baton Rouge. 

A bit further along, in Baton Rouge, the Wilkinson Bridge spans the Mississippi River. It too is quite a piece of work.  Here's a snapshot courtesy of Wikipedia.

Horace Wilkinson Bridge, built in 1968.

After leaving Georgia, traveling through Alabama, a snippet of Mississippi and, now, Louisiana, I was happy to see the Welcome to Texas - Drive Nice, Texas Style sign.  I had been driving for several hours with an outside temperature around 72 degrees. There was no need for air conditioning, so I just drove with the fresh air filling the car. After a while, though, I did start to feel like it would be a good idea to find a place to stop and freshen up, change clothes and be presentable when I arrived at the final destination and met the folks for whom I'd be house sitting.

It turned out that Sealy, TX has America's Best Value Inn - Garden Lounge. I got some fresh clothes from the suitcase, my toothbrush, toothpaste and headed for the front desk.  A polite young man agreed that I could use their restroom to freshen up.  Hmmm. Did you ever try to wash your hair with that lavatory soap that comes out like a foam...in a tiny sink...to rinse it with hands-full of water...then only to discover that the "touchless" paper towel dispenser is also "paperless" and out of paper?  Hmmm. Well, the shirt I had just taken off worked well as a towel, and I left feeling refreshed and at least somewhat presentable.

America's Best Value Inn. Actually a very nice, rather upscale
but reasonable ($60/night) hotel. The paper towel issue
wasn't a reflection on the hotel. In fact, it kind of made
me laugh at the way unexpected details surface.

The trip through Houston was rain-filled. I got off the Interstate for about 30 minutes to let the worst of the storm subside, then continued on toward San Antonio. A multi-car wreck in San Antonio added another 30-minute delay as hundreds of cars in each direction waited while emergency personnel cleared the crash scene. I counted 11 emergency vehicles on the scene and saw three vehicles being towed away. None appeared to be devastatingly smashed, so hopefully everyone survived.




Arriving at the destination I met Ryan, the homeowner and Ria, his Australian Cattle Dog mix. She's extremely well-trained and became an instant friend.  Today, Wednesday, Ryan took Ria and me to the local dog park -- a daily routine.  Ria ran like the wind and found two of her best dog friends there to play with, squirrels to bark at and generally had plain old dog fun.

Ryan said DNA tests on Ria showed signs of wild Aussie dingo,
hound and Cattle Dog.  Her disposition is excellent and she does many
"tricks" that I'm eager to see up close later today.