Boomer Sooner! I'm afraid I'm going to run out of adjectives to describe my old college, The University of Oklahoma in Norman. President (Senator) Boren has done an unbelievable job of raising money for the University and it is awash in huge new buildings with alums' names on the doors. There is a high rise Energy School, an enormous new Engineering School, arts are big with a new Music School and Fine Arts School, fantastic Journalism School including not only print but television, and two huge buildings rising of unknown subject. All I can say is BIG. One can't help but reflect upon OU's traditional competition with the outsized Univ of Texas.
When I was in school the Navy had a WWII base south of the university and the only property used by OU was the golf course. All the land is now owned and built upon, mostly by the sports venues. Adjacent to the basketball building is a parking lot for all the cars and RVs coming to the football games. We shared the RV parking with one other visitor, which included power hookups among the 270 RV spaces, and thousands for cars. It was Sam's favorite stop with acres of running space for a lively doggie. We parked alongside the tennis building, near the rugby games going on with a Big 12 competition, the softball fields, etc. All on a large scale.
But the draw for the visit was a Gamma Phi Beta reunion for Gene Nora, celebrating Gamma Phi's 90th year on the OU campus. You'd laugh going down sorority/fraternity row immediately south of the campus. The houses match the University's grand size. There was a generous crowd of Gamma Phi's and I particularly enjoyed being with those from my class who pledged in 1955. It was especially moving visiting with Lorree White, 96 years old, who was a childhood friend of my mother (who would have been 99 now). When I introduced myself she knew exactly who I was and it was thrilling for both of us. We all toured, visited, met the very young girls and renewed our sisterhood.
The only disappointment of the stop was discovering, upon arrival, that the Oklahoma Historical Museum was closed on Sunday, contrary to their information on line prior to our leaving home. My grandfather is included in their Oklahoma oilman display which we had looked forward to for some time to see. Drat.
We extended our trip swinging on up to Tulsa to give a program at a retirement center where John Elliott, the design engineer for the Musketeer airplane, lives. Unfortunately, John made a trip to the hospital shortly prior to our arrival but he wanted very much for us to carry on for his friends, which we did. They were an appreciative audience and we visited John in the hospital where he appeared to be strong and on the mend.
We're now on the way home, at the moment in Ogallala, NE where it is gray, windy and there is talk of snow. The color display we've enjoyed cross country on this trip is finished. We're now seeing a steady show of brown and are starting to see leaves on the ground. Westward ho!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Destination #4-Dolly Parton country
We've been in Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, Tn for nearly a week which has been a welcome respite from too much driving. However, as we're preparing to leave this morning the sun is out, the first time we've seen it after rain, rain, rain. The RV park has nearly 300 spaces and two dozen cabins and appears to be full. We are greeted here with a huge white cross, just like those we see on so many Baptist churches and a neon Jesus sign on the roof of the RV park office. We are definitely in the Bible Belt. It's surprising to see restrictions on alcohol in a huge tourist area and reminds me of my college days in then-dry Oklahoma, kept that way, many said, by a coalition of the Baptists and the bootleggers.
One immediately draws a comparison between Branson and Gatlinburg, but they're not at all alike. Branson is spread out across the hills and they call their main drag a "slow moving parking lot". Not here. The three towns are one long line of mostly shops, actually few shows, and hordes of cars in mostly stopped, not even slow moving, traffic. We spent over an hour last evening (I know, it was Saturday night) traversing the four miles to the hotel where the convention event was held.
But the Beech Aero Club, BACFest event, was worth the effort. They're a wonderful, especially friendly group. Of course, I was impressed that they included my book in their goodie bag and our Sierra made the cover of the current magazine. They spend most of their time in seminars about our favorite group of airplanes and then in their spare time sit around jawing on the same subject. They're very welcoming and warm.
We're off today to Norman, Oklahoma for the Gamma Phi Beta reunion.
One immediately draws a comparison between Branson and Gatlinburg, but they're not at all alike. Branson is spread out across the hills and they call their main drag a "slow moving parking lot". Not here. The three towns are one long line of mostly shops, actually few shows, and hordes of cars in mostly stopped, not even slow moving, traffic. We spent over an hour last evening (I know, it was Saturday night) traversing the four miles to the hotel where the convention event was held.
But the Beech Aero Club, BACFest event, was worth the effort. They're a wonderful, especially friendly group. Of course, I was impressed that they included my book in their goodie bag and our Sierra made the cover of the current magazine. They spend most of their time in seminars about our favorite group of airplanes and then in their spare time sit around jawing on the same subject. They're very welcoming and warm.
We're off today to Norman, Oklahoma for the Gamma Phi Beta reunion.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Southbound - October 11, 2009
Concern for increased traffic from Boston down past NYC and DC was misplaced. Indeed, there was plenty of traffic, but no more than everywhere on the trip so far.
Usually we can consult the RV Park book en route and find a nice place for the night, however, as we approached Wilkes Barre, PA, ready to stop, no appropriate RV park was to be found. The most likely candidate had a covered bridge to navigate into the park, with a 13' clearance. We're 11'7" plus the television dish on top so prudently decided not to try it. So where does one park in the absence of a place offering electric, water and dump hookups? At WalMart, of course. WalMart has made it known that RVs are welcome to overnight in their parking lots, for what we call "dry camping", depending upon our own generator and stored water. Of course WalMart "guests" reciprocate by leaving some dollars in the store's til. We joined four large trucks (who didn't stay all night) and two other RVs. In checking for a stray WiFi signal, we found a nearby hotel that asked for a name and room number for entry to the internet, so we checked in as Mr. Jones in room #123. Voila!
We crossed Virginia between the Blue Ridge and Appalacian mountains at the peak of their fall color display - an especially beautiful drive. Visiting Blacksburg, VA included a tour of the Virginia Tech University. Their 28,000 students inhabit just about the most beautimous campus I've seen.
Our trip's third destination was the Beach Heritage Museum at Tullahoma, Tennessee for their annual "Beech Party". Pilot or not, this museum is strongly recommended for a visit. It originated as the Staggerwing Museum, one of Beech Aircraft's most famous and beloved airplanes, and now has evolved to include many of the Beech models. In recent years, Beech lost its highly-respected name to Raytheon, but now is Hawker Beech and it's wonderful to see that historic name Beechcraft on the buildings. The museum pays great tribute to Louise Thaden, the winner of the 1929 Powder Puff Derby, and the loyal members there consider Amelia Earhart a much lesser light. We saw old friends, sold some books and soaked up the pride of Beechcrafters. We also soaked up some record-breaking rainfall.
As long as we were close by, we made a side trip to the Unclaimed Baggage Store in Scottsboro, Alabama where an entepreneur purchases then sells all the airlines' luggage that they've managed to lose for their customers. The place is enormous including the expected - clothes, books and luggage - plus a huge inventory of digital cameras, other electronics and fine jewelry. It is truly a phenomenon, but having visited there before, I have to say that they're been discovered and their "bargains" aren't quite the great deals previously found.
After three weeks on the road, with too much driving and not enough relaxing, we're spending a couple of days at a gem of a park in Sweetwater, Tennessee, near Knoxville. Of course, women pilots all know that the real Sweetwater is in Texas where the WASP trained during WWII. But this Sweetwater is a lovely place where the leaves have shown their color and are starting to fall. We're seeing reports of snow in the west, but figure it's some sort of a plot because it's too early for snow. Next is Gatlinburg, TN for the Beech Aero Club BACFest where their brilliant directors are giving each attendee a copy of my Three Musketeers book!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
From the Midwest to the East
The Midwestern RV parks are quite different from the wide open spaces of the west. The trees are thick and marvelous, often with a handy fishing spot nearby. In Effingham, IL the squirrels invited all their cousins to target practice droping nuts on our metal roof. The big bus next door sported a television in the basement (in the storage area below) pointed outside for liesurely viewing. They were pulling a large trailer carrying an SUV, then on a lift above the SUV a Corvette. So much for the recession.
We've been surprised at the number of travelers carrying dogs, often in pairs, usually about half the size of our Springer Spaniel Sam. However, one fellow had a couple of German Shepherds in his coach, and we even once saw a couple of Great Danes - and in a small trailer, at that. Some of the RV Parks now even have fenced dog parks where our little friends can romp.
As we've gained in altitude and calendar, we're seeing the fall colors of subdued browns and oranges with splashes of red. The northern New York mountains look exactly as they did during the 2008 Air Race Classic, the mountain tops obscured by clouds, low visibility and towers on the ridge lines reaching into the murk. Along with rain, of course.
We've at last reached our second destination, Babson College in Wellesley Hills, MA for Bob's 60th college reunion. The "49ers" are for the most part GIs who were just back from WWII and not your regular just graduated from high school boys. They were largely from New England where most stayed. Bob came to Babson on scholarship and the GI Bill, carried his trunk out to the highway in Norfolk, NE and thumbed a ride to Boston. Babson is still placed at the top of the business schools, and they regard their 49ers quite highly. A cynic might suspect that has something to do with their stage in life and generous support of their college.
I'm rather dreading the increased traffic we'll have as we head down through New York to Washington, DC tomorrow. The truck traffic has been huge all across the country, however, the truckers are professional and for the most part helpful. Bob bought a new whip antenna for the CB radio and we've learned that the truckers have their own language, as do the pilots. We were told that we had a "blind eye", a headlamp out. And of course they alert each other to the "bears". We've had only two mechanical failures on the trip, the headlight and we bent the whip antenna on some of the old bridge underpasses. In fact, I don't know how some of the tall trucks make it. There's lots of road construction, but that's to be expected as they squeeze in what they can before the snow flies.
Southward ho!
We've been surprised at the number of travelers carrying dogs, often in pairs, usually about half the size of our Springer Spaniel Sam. However, one fellow had a couple of German Shepherds in his coach, and we even once saw a couple of Great Danes - and in a small trailer, at that. Some of the RV Parks now even have fenced dog parks where our little friends can romp.
As we've gained in altitude and calendar, we're seeing the fall colors of subdued browns and oranges with splashes of red. The northern New York mountains look exactly as they did during the 2008 Air Race Classic, the mountain tops obscured by clouds, low visibility and towers on the ridge lines reaching into the murk. Along with rain, of course.
We've at last reached our second destination, Babson College in Wellesley Hills, MA for Bob's 60th college reunion. The "49ers" are for the most part GIs who were just back from WWII and not your regular just graduated from high school boys. They were largely from New England where most stayed. Bob came to Babson on scholarship and the GI Bill, carried his trunk out to the highway in Norfolk, NE and thumbed a ride to Boston. Babson is still placed at the top of the business schools, and they regard their 49ers quite highly. A cynic might suspect that has something to do with their stage in life and generous support of their college.
I'm rather dreading the increased traffic we'll have as we head down through New York to Washington, DC tomorrow. The truck traffic has been huge all across the country, however, the truckers are professional and for the most part helpful. Bob bought a new whip antenna for the CB radio and we've learned that the truckers have their own language, as do the pilots. We were told that we had a "blind eye", a headlamp out. And of course they alert each other to the "bears". We've had only two mechanical failures on the trip, the headlight and we bent the whip antenna on some of the old bridge underpasses. In fact, I don't know how some of the tall trucks make it. There's lots of road construction, but that's to be expected as they squeeze in what they can before the snow flies.
Southward ho!
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