STROMBOLI'S ON THE ROAD AGAIN

STROMBOLI’S  LOG IS BACK!

Bill Clinton's Birthplace in Hope Arkansas

                                            1933 Studebaker with rear wooden luggage rack
                                                          at the SAS store in San Antonio

The Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock Arkansas

Ruth and Jim are on the road again. Actually they have been for 4 days now and finally stopping “rolling” the trailer in San Antonio Texas, where the daily temperature has been in the 70’s  with sunny skies. Very Nice.  Thanks to the Almighty

weatherman in the sky!

But let’s not get to Texas just yet, but review the first four days so that you can follow along and enjoy the scenery. One thing we can say for sure is that we left Grand Rapids Michigan on March 1st, the day before the heavy weather socked into Michigan with those heavy snows that cut power to some 250,000 folks. Our trip down to I-80 on I-196 was wet with snow flakes as the temperature stayed around 34 F. But, after reaching the Illinois border and keeping an eye out for many trucks then heading south on I-55 the clouds lightened and the sun came out the rest of the day. We stayed the first night at

Whittington, IL while Jim kept watching the weather reports. That line of thunderstorms through the south and mid southeast, was suppose to hit Mississippi and Alabama the next night. We were due to stay one night in Canton MIssissippi. After some prayer and research, we decided to avoid that route, and although it would have gotten us into the warmer weather sooner, it would also be in the middle of those severe weather warnings. (As it turned out that was exactly the area that was hit with tornadoes where many were killed and there was terrible damage. Very early in the season for tornado effects.

(Many truckers were courteous and blinked their lights when I would blink mine to help them “in” again.)

So, we changed the route and headed west at the Arkansas border and aimed for Little Rock,AR on the second day with a fantastic headwind of 30 -45 mph all the way. That certainly made for greater focus on the road and reduced the mileage on the Tundra by 2.5 mpg. 

It was of interest to see the vacant corn and soy bean fields in Illinois and in Arkansas the rice fields that were dormant, and as we neared Little Rock it was evident that spring was coming soon, The redbud trees were in bloom along with flowering crab and service berry. Daffodils had been seen in S.Illinois and into Arkansas. ( DYK? Arkansas got its’ name when two senators argued over “Ar-kansas” and “ Arkan-saw”. A compromise resulted in the present pronunciation, Ar-kan-’saw”. The diamond mine and Hot Springs went by in the wind, and we camped that second night across the Arkansas River from the very large (20,000 s.f.) Clinton Presidential Library . A simple brick building  that has a penthouse on the third floor where Bill Clinton comes to stay some nights. It has glass walls on the first floor and  the old RR bridge is now a “Presidential Bridge” allowing no motorized vehicles as it is for walkers and riders (bikes) to access the 21st century and the Library.

By morning the wind had settled down and the sun was out as we moved west toward Tyler, TX with the sun shining  clear. Two spots along the way were Arkadelphia just past Hot Springs and the many roads leading to that famous spot.  Then it was Hope , Arkansas the birth place of BillClinton. We attempted to get a picture of the sign outside town but it came out blurry so we substituted the home picture from the web.

The first cactus in Northern Texas (Prickly Pear) It is very edible.

The Rehabilitation Project on the San Antonio River 

A 1953 Studebaker stake truck. 4 Cylinder (SAS store)

  

                                                                                The first redbud tree in Arkansas

Now the Ouachita Mountains take their effect on the land with many pines trees and rivers. t was here that we began to see lots of fishermen and their ubiquitous pickup trucks on Saturday getting some fish from the many rivers in SW AR and NE TX. Texarkana was the pace where e first saw the Redbud in Bloom and many  trees in bloom. It was truly spring here as farmers had begun to plow and prepare fields. Oh yes, during the blowing wind of the day before, much soil was seen moving from west to east across the land. I cannot begin to imagine what the “Dust Bowl” of the 30’s was like if it blew for years.

As our original itinerary was to enter Longview TX from the east, this route was further north and we needed to change the route again, so after Tyler,Texas, we directed our sights on Waco where we would turn south again and head directly for San Antonio. Tyler ( 96,000 pop.) was named after President John Tyler who assisted Texas in getting admitted to the Union. Waco (124,000 pop.) was a hub of traffic for the Chisholm Trail and a center for cattle drives.The little town of Athens (12,700 pop.) wanted to be the cultural center of Texas, and after a few years realized they were standing on seven hills. Athens, Greece has 7 hills. !!  It is not the cultural center it wanted to be.

Now after Waco , the roadsides are completely commercial all the way to San Antonio  and the Gulf Coast. Going south on I-35 an electronic sign said “ Accident ahead , expect delays.” Oh My, a travelers dilemma. A few minutes later we did get into a back up that lasted about 45 minutes . Getting off would be an option but we were not that familiar with the roads (I don’t do GPS), so we sat it out and finally made the last few changes on the road to arrive at the campground without a snafu. It was almost 5:00 PM and the 300 miles was a long one that day.

Ruth was tired, it was near 80 degrees , and when she wanted to “go out” to eat, she had her eye on “Texas Roadhouse” and steaks (We had passed it by on the way to the campground). So after unhitching, we did just that. After 1400 miles in those 4 days I was ready to drive without the trailer for a couple of days. We did have sirloin steak and ribs and watched the 14 waitresses do the “Texas two step” between servings. We are indeed  in Texas!

Next to our campground is a section of the new “rehabilitation” of the San Antonio River Improvement Project or SARIP. It includes Aquatic, Recreational and Riparian improvements. and is a $245 million dollar project coordinated by many local agencies. The section out our “backyard” is the 4th phase and an 8 mile section at the south end of the city.

We did some shopping today here, visiting the SAS shoe store and it’s great antique car exhibit, although they sold the Duesenberg!  Ruth bought some shoes and I tried a new pair as well. It is a very welcoming place where the employees converse easily with the customers, offer fresh free peanut butter cookies and coffee , and there is a large candy section as well as an old “shoe making machinery” to watch at times. A very pleasant stop. We were there at 10:00 Am so avoided any rush.

A few stops for shopping necessities (the new TV wouldn’t work and Best Buy said there was a ‘flaw’ in the set, so will do without it and concentrate on important things!) as well as some  hooks, a battery for a drill, and lunch at Sonic.

These are pictures of the San Jose mission one of five on the San Antonio River . This was established two years after the "Alamo" (de Valero) in 1797

In the evening we did visit the San Jose MIssion founded in 1797 and #14 of the 21 California missions, located just a block away from the campsite. (FIve are located on the San Antonio River including “The Alamo” or de Valero.)  Some pictures included. The Ohione Indians were here before that.

Well I did manage to get started on the blog. Hope you check in once in a while, especially you friends over there in India and Eastern Europe. I wonder if you still will follow along?  The blog data will tell me all the hits  and other interesting but sometimes useless information.

See you next time. I don’t think we will have internet until Big Bend three days hence. 

As they say here in Texas ...”Happy Trails to You ...”