The Circus in Shreveport, La

It was the first weekend in October and time for my third trip to Louisiana in my quest to meet and learn about members of my father's family. I was headed to Shreveport to meet first cousin, Jo Beverly Eddins.


I chose to spend the night at one of my favorite overnight resorts, Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Dallas.  I followed their signs to the back of the parking lot where the restaurant has designated RV overnight parking.


The view out the front window wasn't the greatest, but the back window was lovely....  

....and quiet.

Several years back, when I started this Odyssey, one of my primary goals was to learn more about my father's family.
The early search for my roots was summed up under the posting called "My Lambert Quest" Part 1 (11/4/12) and Part 2" (11/5/12).



Sometime after that second visit to Robeline and the Lambert Town Cemetery I received a surprise phone call from a first cousin by the name of JoBeverly Eddins. Her father and my father were brothers, her parents had cared for me as an infant while my mother worked, and JoBeverly had often acted as my babysitter. She was a mere 17 years old at the time--and now is a very youthful 89.
When I talked to her on the phone one year ago I promised that I would come to see her this October.  The visit was very rewarding though the time I chose to come was also very sad.
From her I have learned much about my father, much more history of the Lamberts,  and that she is a very special lady.  For example, she is still working--at the Caddo Council on Aging. There is a fun interview with her on Youtube

Sadly, JoBeverly's son, Steven Eddins, died quite tragically only a month before I arrived.  He was 62 years old-- far too young and very much a critical part of JoB's life.


I had the pleasure of meeting Steven Eddins' wife, Brenda (right) and Brenda's mother, Lilly (left) while in Shreveport....


...and Kim Reeves, JoB's niece from Houston.  Kim and I have made a pact--to caravan to Alaska sometime in the next few years.  You can tell by that smile that she will be a fun one to travel with.  Anyone else out there care to join the caravan?

Me, a clown friend, JoB, another clown friend, Brenda, and Lilly.
JoB arranged for tickets for us to go to the Shrine Circus and it was then we learned a secret--Lilly had never seen a circus before--in her entire life!  Lilly's home is up in the Smokey Mountains where, I guess, the circus never ventures.

A clown friend, Kim, Another clown friend.


I insisted on sitting next to Lilly and, I must say...

 ....watching her was better than what was going on in the ring.

I heard her gasps....

...then sighs


...her laughs....


....then a WOW!


and any number of times I glanced over to see her covering her eyes.  Unfortunately, I missed that picture.


But a few times I think I was covering my own eyes.

I don't think I have ever seen trained camels before.

There were 5 motorcycles in that ball--and all were going at full speed!  Good Grief!

The best lighting came from the souvenirs sold to the kids in the audience, and the music was loud, annoying, very harsh punk rock.  What happened to the old-fashioned calliope music?  Am I too out of sync?  But still it was fun, and perhaps a respite for Brenda and JoBeverly 

Just another Restaurant--Glen Rose, Tx

One of my sisters tells me I spend far too much time writing about food.  I don't understand why she thinks that.

Now, let me tell you about this lovely restaurant in Glen Rose....


Aunt Louise wanted to know what I would like to eat on this visit and instantly, I declared,  'chicken fried steak.'


Whereupon, she announced that this restaurant, a mere 45 minute drive away, was the best for chicken fried steak.  And, without a doubt, I agree.  Boy, is it good.


The restaurant  is in one of those lovely old homes. right in the heart of the small town of Glen Rose where you can dine on the porch on a lazy Sunday afternoon and watch the neighbors pass by.


As usual, the staff recognized Aunt Louise and each one stopped at our table to see how she was doing.


It is always fun to go somewhere with Aunt Louise--she knows so many people, but even better, she knows the history of the area, and all the scandals, too.


Someone should follow us around...it's another "Driving Miss Daisy" in the making.


This guy was on the window next to our table. I think he's a pet.
See, I don't just write about food.

Dave's Stove Shop, Glen Rose, the back yard

Returning to Aledo, Texas meant another visit to Dave's Stove shop--

Where you can find just about anything you really don't need...


Plus the best sandwich shop that no one has ever heard of.


I cannot describe how good that roast beef sandwich is...


And when I asked the ladies that work there why there isn't a sign out front screaming in giant neon letters, "The best little cafe in all of Texas" they replied...


"We don't have enough chairs."


Aunt Louise (Center) and her neighbors, David (left) and his mom, Betty Kay (right),
 joined us one night for dinner.  David has just published his second science fiction novel and was quite proud--so was his mom, naturally.  I'm hoping to read one of the books soon.
BTW, I have no idea who that guy in the funny hat is.


I parked in Aunt Louise's driveway out in the country--it's a nice place for sleeping and a great view out my back window...

and I woke to some surprise visitors the next morning.

It was a doe and her baby, calmly dining on the field of wild grasses and completely unafraid by my presence.
But that night about 10 pm I was startled by nearby gunshots and the next morning I asked Aunt Louise who might be shooting--and at what? She informed me that someone has been picking off the deer and she is sure they have been shooting into her yard!  

She puts water out for the deer and we now we have noticed that the water has not been touched at all since the night of the shooting.  I am wondering if I might hide in the bushes and shoot back at these poachers.  Would that qualify as 'Stand your Ground"?
It makes me so angry but I don't really know what to do about it.  However, I do know that if someone is hunting in my 93 year old aunt's yard at night, killing nearly pet deer, and possibly injuring Aunt Louise,--well, I am enraged.  But, short of a 'Shoot out at the OK Corral' what do I do?

On a Sunday morning we invited a friend of Aunt Louise's named Lisa to go for a drive to Glen Rose so I could indulge--just once more--in a Texas-style chicken fried steak.

Lisa has been helping out Aunt Louise for some time now and will be helping me out as well (baby-sitting Sigh Me when Aunt Louise and I go to Hawaii on October 16th).


At one time Glen Rose had a large resort business with tourists coming to this small town to indulge in the natural hot springs that abound here.

  
However, the hot springs and the business has died away and many of the pleasant little cabins along the river that were the getaways for people from Dallas and Ft Worth are falling into disrepair.

  
But some effort has been made to save a few of the oldest of the houses 

and buildings.  

Santa Fe to Ft Worth

It rained all the way from Albuquerque to Wichita Falls.  

I spent one very stormy night in Amarillo in a Walmart parking lot and this was the view out my window as the rain, pelting the roof, lulled me to sleep.

The city of Amarillo has a thing for '60s automobiles....

The Cadillac Ranch was created in 1974 by a group of Texans with way too much money....

And a questionable taste for art.


Visitors to this cow pasture bring along cans of spray paint and fulfill some inner primitive desire to mark their territory.


I guess we have evolved beyond the stage of peeing along our boundaries...


But just barely.


Yes, sister, Mary and I stopped here two years ago when my journey was just beginning and I posted about it then.


We were sad about the paint cans left behind throughout the field...  

Maybe it might be better if we went back to peeing.

I drove through the town of Quanah, named for the great Comanche chief, Quanah Parker.

Many of the small towns I drove through in the panhandle were very nearly ghost towns.  It is so very sad to see windows boarded up and block after block of dead and dying businesses.

  

In Mineral Wells I not only found lots of closed up businesses I also spied this old hotel, completely vacant and vandalized.  From Aunt Louise I learned that this was once an elegant resort built on the natural hot springs of the area.  Why can't we do another land grant of some kind to rejuvenate these towns?  "One boarded up building on Main Street in Podunk, Tx can be yours--Free--if you just agree to stay for a while."

In memory of Gretchen Larson

Yesterday I received a call from Harve and Gretchen's daughter, Tammy, who informed me that Gretchen had died.



She suffered from a rare form of lung cancer known as Mesothelioma, thought to be caused by exposure to asbestos.  She was a school teacher and often taught in old school buildings.  While we visited that day last month in Greeley, Co. she talked about how the maintenance people were always coming into the classroom with a ladder to climb into the attic to fix something.  After they left she would have to dust everything off because of the debris that filtered down onto all the desks. She could not think of any other place she might have been exposed. And, of course, I wondered about the others that were also exposed--children that are grown now, the other teachers, and the workers.

I will always remember Gretchen.  I met her the first time when Roger and I had been married barely a year.  She and Harve would often come to Vail to stay with us and ski.  She was one of those people that you love immediately--friendly and cheerful with the most sparkly blue eyes.
She is survived by her husband, Harve, and two daughters, Tammy and Margot.

Trip to Nowhere

Well, Typhoon Toni was still wielding her dirty work during her visit with Alexandra.


I have made two stops in Santa Fe with an added desire to make a trip to Chaco Canyon and each time I have been thwarted.

Alexandra and I started out to spend the night at the canyon and return the next day. but the rains came...

  
ALL DAY!  We drove all the way to the entrance road to the canyon and were told by a gas station attendant, "You will surely get stuck in the mud on that unpaved road."

So we drove all afternoon--back the way we had come.  However,  along the way we passed the country that so inspired Georgia O'Keefe.

And even though the day was gray and dismal, much of the incredible color could be seen in the cliffs that surrounded the area.

I will be back to see this--on a sunny day.  Maybe next year.

It was still fun to spend the day chatting with Alexandra...

And I wanted to show that the color of her hair exactly matched the color of the cliffs--but alas, the cliffs paled in comparison.

The next morning I said my goodbyes and headed to Ft Worth to visit again with Aunt Louise.