Airstream – Towing Silver: Kim Davison's Travels

Some Family Fun (April 2019)

I usually like to go places I haven’t been before, but when it comes to family, I’ll make an exception. It’s time for a visit with the Davison Family South in Alabama.

I always love seeing my brother Scott and his wife, Lesley. I think their front porch looks so homey! In all the places I’ve lived, I’ve never had a porch – and I still want one!

I get berthed next to their side porch and commence with the family fun.

Man! It’s no fair! They have a front porch, a side porch and a small porch on the back, too!

With all those porches, there’s bound to be a porch cat or two hanging around.

When you’re spending time with family, you just do ordinary stuff. It felt so good to watch Scott work on his truck, with Lesley at his side.

Lesley is an avid gardener.

She gets her grandchildren involved. Here is Gwennie getting ready to plant a potato. She’s showing me the eyes that have sprouted.

Now, Lesley is an excellent cook, as is Scott, but sometimes you just have to go out to eat. Scott took me across the river to Columbus, Georgia to Country’s Barbecue.

Does anyone recognize the building?

They converted an old Greyhound terminal!

It was kind of special to me to eat there, because my Grandmother used to take the bus from Crystal Beach, Ontario to visit us in Kenmore, New York. She’d arrive at the station in downtown Buffalo and then catch the NFTA bus out to us. She said that she’d take me to eat at the automat in the bus station, but we never got around to it. I wonder if they still have automats?

Anyway, I digress. Here we are, at Country’s Barbecue.

Sharp-eyed readers might recognize the trailer that the sign is on. Yep! It’s an Airstream!

We go inside and order. I love all the art deco details.

You can eat inside, but we opted to eat in the bus.

While we were waiting for our meals, we got to do a little pretend bus driving.

Get a load of the size of the steering wheel!

This is my lunch – according to my notes, it’s a chopped sandwich. I learned something about barbecue during this meal. You are supposed to add sauce to your food.

Duh! I could never figure out why people were so excited about barbecue. This northern girl is partial to her hamburgers, with ketchup, mustard and onions. To me, barbecue just seemed like a bunch on meat on a bun. But, put the sauce on it and it gets much tastier!

Scott opted for the ribs, fries and butter beans with iced tea.

Of course, we did some shopping during my visit.

I prefer things that are free, but “dirt cheap” is the next best thing.

Hey! We could have used these S’mores at the Historicorps campsite!

One day, I was out tooling around. I spied this large cow up on a hill looking down on the major thoroughfare. Of course I had to check it out.

I was curious as to why there would be a cow in front of a Best Buy.

It made “udderly” no sense to me.

When I got back, I asked and Lesley told me (if I remember correctly) that there used to be a dairy store at that location and the cow was a local landmark.

My visit coincided with Easter, so we all went to church. Scott and Lesley, their children and grandchildren and maybe some in-laws, too were all there. This wasn’t Scott and Lesley’s usual church. Someone else in the family picked it out.

You know how I usually gripe about organ music? There was nary an organ to be seen. It was the most unusual church I’d ever been to. I snapped this photo while we were waiting for everyone to arrive. The screens in the front kept scrolling messages. Judging by the darkness of the interior, it kind of looks like this might have been the Easter vigil.

No, it was at 9:30 in the morning.

Two-foot long light sticks that change colors when you shake them were distributed. A rock band played. There were dancers. There was a lot of energy. I never really considered myself terribly traditional, but the experience seemed more like what I imagine a rave would be than a church service.

But, hey, it was something different. When in Rome…

Wait a minute, I’m sure this was nothing like Easter in Rome.

After church, we headed back to one of the kid’s places for Easter dinner. There was food galore! I got a photo of me with Scott and Lesley while I had someone there to take it.

The next day, it was time to roll on.

Thanks to Scott and Lesley for the hospitality!

Kansas City, Here I Come!

My goal was Kansas City. I had to be there the next day for my orientation as a seed courier, but that still left plenty of time for drive-by tourism.

My first stop was Hannibal, Missouri. I mean, I had been on the road for a couple of hours. It was time for a break.

I got off the interstate and looked for a likely spot to park and then find a restroom. Wouldn’t you know it? I find an Airstream!

It’s tucked away behind some stores.

The old gal looks like she’s had many adventures behind her. She even has a plate on! However, the plate is from 1996, and there aren’t any brake lights.

I suppose the lack of brake lights is fine, since I can’t imagine that she still has working brakes.

I’m including the identification tags, just in case you are into those sorts of things.

My goal, in my whirlwind visit to Hannibal, was to see what I would see of Samuel Langhorne Clemens’ childhood home.

You know, Mark Twain – the writer who gave us Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Mark Twain lived in Hannibal from 1844 to 1853, from about the age of nine to age eighteen. He lived house he lived in is now a museum. Of course, I was moving far too quickly to invest in a museum ticket. Maybe I’ll put that on my “Next Time” list.

He lived in that little white house.

Right next to a recreation of Tom Sawyer’s fence.

It is complete with a bucket of whitewash and some brushes.

His father’s law office was right across the street from the house. According to the sign in front – in case you can’t make it out – here young Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) saw a dead man on the floor one night. Sam went out a window, taking the sash along with him. “I didn’t need the sash,” he recalled. “But it was handier to take it that it was to leave it, so I took it. I wasn’t exactly scared, but I was – ah -considerably agitated.”

“Becky Thatcher’s” house is on Hill Street, too. Actually, it was the home of Mark Twain’s childhood sweetheart, Laura Hawkins.

Hill Street, where the Clemenses and Hawkinses lived, was paved with Missouri Block, made in Moberly, MO.

I decided that I should head down to the Mississippi River, a couple blocks away, to check it out.

I didn’t see any barge traffic, but there was a stern wheeler there, and I imagine they had some tourist excursions scheduled. What a beautiful day to be out enjoying the river!

I came across a sundial.

Incidentally, this is the easiest-to-read sundial I have ever seen! For one thing, it’s in a spot that isn’t shaded by trees.

Seeing the sundial reminded me that I did need to be on my way. Bladder empty and tank full, I pulled back on the interstate.

My next goal was Kansas City and the American Motel. If I had known ahead of time, that they were paying for my expenses in getting to the job, I might have chosen an establishment that was a little more…upscale. But, it was only for one night and it would do.

I dropped my overnight bag and went out to see what I could see. HISTORY Here sent me to Clark’s Point, overlooking the Missouri River.

Fun Fact: The Missouri River is the longest river in the United States, according to the United States Geological Survey. It starts flowing in the Rockies in Western Montana and empties into the Mississippi 2,341 miles later. The Mississippi is a close second, at 2,202 miles. It starts in Lake Itasca in Minnesota and empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

After that comes the Yukon River at 1,979 miles and the Rio Grande at 1,759 miles.

Near this site, the Lewis and Clark expedition stopped to camp in 1804. At that time, this was a good vantage point for the merging of the Osage and Missouri Rivers. Another source I saw said that they stopped there in 1806. Maybe they stopped on the way out and the way back.

Apparently, Lewis and Clark were not the only visitors to the river. Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont came through, too.

And since he was French, the sign was in English with a French translation on the other side.

It was an arduous journey, to say the least. The men of the Corps of Discovery had to tow the keelboat and the two pirogues that made up the flotilla against the river’s powerful current. If that wasn’t bad enough, they had to cut trees down along the way to be able to tow the boats. AND it was a hot day!

Just in case, you are curious, this is a replica of Lewis and Clark’s 55 foot keelboat.

To clear up any confusion, these are pirogies…

and these are pirogues.

It was a hard bit of travel, but they got to rest for two days. At this point, they had been on the river for a month and a half and they were about 367 miles from the mouth of the Missouri.

While they were camped at this spot, then crew got to gather paw paws, otherwise know as custard apples.

I know you just want to sing the song now…Pickin’ up paw paws, put ’em in your pocket…

According to the signage at the park, Clark recorded seeing “an immense flock of Carolina parakeets.”

This was the first documented sighting of the birds. Unfortunately, they are now extinct.

It was getting close to sunset. I strolled around the park, to see what I could see.

Gee…spending our country’s wealth on building infrastructure that is still in use more than 65 years later, and providing the dignity of work to the citizens. What a novel idea!

As the shadows deepen, I came across this statue of James Pendergast.

The statue of Pendergast was flanked by two smaller statues. This one of a young girl.

On the left is a statue of a young boy.

Of course I had to look for more information. I couldn’t locate as specific links to feeding hungry children or, perhaps, arts programs. I mean, who wouldn’t like to make a nice ceramic bowl?

It turns out that James Pendergast was part of the “Pendergast Machine” run by him and his brother, Thomas. At the turn of the century, political bosses and their machines that operated in large American cities enjoyed strong support among the poor and immigrants, who returned the favor by voting for the bosses’ preferred candidates. I think the best known “big boss” – at least to those of us east of the Mississippi – is Boss Tweed of New York City.

According to an article in the Social Welfare History Project, Many immigrants saw bosses and political machines as a means to greater enfranchisement. For immigrants and the poor in many large U.S. cities, the political boss represented a source of patronage jobs.

In 1887, James Pendergast became the Democratic committeeman from the first ward, and he was elected alderman in 1892. During the peak of his power, he not only hand picked this own mayor, James A Reed, but every other key office at City Hall. One of those occupants of the key offices in city hall was his brother, Thomas. He became Superintendent of Streets, which allowed him to hire 200 workers and buy material and equipment for the street paving program.

After James’ death in 1911, his brother Thomas took over running the Kansas City political machine, but that shall be covered in a later post.

I decided it was time to find a good vantage point for viewing the sunset.

Along the way, I came across this paver for the Riverfront Heritage Trail. But there was no time for that now.

The sun was setting!

I love that peachy glow off toward the northeast.

It’s going.

And it slides behind the horizon.

And tomorrow I go to work!

Cross Another One Off the Bucket List: Hartwick Pines State Park, Michigan

Hartwick Pines has been on my list of things to do since I heard about it at a meeting of the Michigan Geographic Alliance back in the ’90s. Imagine a stand of virgin forest that somehow escaped the logging industry that put Michigan on the map.

Hartwick Pines was named after Edward E. Hartwick, who died of illness in France in 1918. His wife, Karen, donated a section of unlogged forest to preserve his memory.

The forest is in good shape and it is doing what forests do. As the trees reach the ends of their lifespans, they die.

They serve as homes for birds, bugs and small mammals. Eventually, they fall.

The nutrients return to the earth. New trees start to grow. Sometimes new species of trees take root. The forest continues.

Along the trail, there is a museum dedicated to logging. One thing I learned that never occurred to me was that much of the logging took place in the winter. The snow made it easier to move the logs. I suppose the lack of mosquitoes didn’t hurt, either.

When they would need to move the heavy logs about and they didn’t have snow to assist them, they used an implement called a Big Wheel to help them.

There is also a chapel along the trail. oddly enough, it was so overcast that day that I could barely see inside it, in spite of the windows.

I had a lovely campsite at the park. I got it backed in on the first pass!

The morning I was getting hitched up to head to the Upper Peninsula, the sun finally broke out.

It was a green and glorious day!

Introducing Ms Cora!

One of the first things I did upon arrival in Kalamazoo was make arrangements to welcome my new Travel Cat. Her previous owner was moving into an apartment that didn’t allow animals. She was happy that her kitty was going to someone who would love her and give her a good home.

I decided to rename her to reflect her new role. I had hoped she would be my co-pilot, so I named her Co. A Facebook Friend suggested adding the “ra” for Rescued Animal. So, Cora, it is!

I am not so sure about the co-pilot idea. The first trip – about 50 miles – didn’t go so well. I couldn’t get her into her carrier, so I put her in the harness and clipped her leash onto the headrest in the cab of the truck. She wedged herself deep under a seat. It took several hours to get her out. I finally slid the seat all the way forward and pulled her out. She was not happy and neither was I.

When it was time to move to the next spot, I tried once again to get her into the carrier. Again, I couldn’t get her in. This time, I decided to let her ride in the trailer. It was a cool day and overcast, so I figured that she wouldn’t overheat.

75 miles later, I got to the evening’s destination. I opened the door, went in, set out her food and looked for her in her favorite spot in my bedroom. She wasn’t there! I looked all over. I opened cabinets, pulled all the blankets off the bed, and I even did all that twice. There just aren’t that many places to hide in an Airstream.

I finally figured that she must have sneaked out while I was preparing to leave Woodland Travel Center, where I had a little maintenance done. I called them, and they sent all the workers out to look.

It was a sad night. I slept fitfully and got up at dawn to go back to the RV center and look for my kitty. Imagine my surprise when she crawled out of a space I didn’t even know was there!

I was so glad to see her! I let her eat and drink and then I brushed and petted her and asked her not to do that again. I also called the good folks at Woodland Travel Center to let them know she was found, and to thank them for their concern.

And then, I took care of the entrance to her hidey hole.