Tornado warning

March 29-18

Well, as you can see, I survived the Tornado. I will back up to where I so abruptly left off blogging.

I was finishing in Jennings and letting you know that I was unable to get any information on my Grandfather,except that the records were being held in another County (Parish) that was West of me, and I am not going backwards to get it, (maybe next time), he will keep. I stopped by to say Hi to the nail tech that I adopted last time I went through and he didn't remember me but he remembered my white hair. Oh, well, you can't win them all. (sad face). I went to the Dollar Store next door and adopted to ladies that were traveling. I heard one of them say, “Thank you Jesus!” so I commented that they were talking about my friend. We had a nice chat and they asked me to pray for Chris (you can pray too) who was 49 with stomach cancer, they were on their way to visit him.

I left Jennings and after finding out that my Nephew and Niece were out of the area, so I wouldn't be able to see them in Lafayette, LA, I traveled on to Mississippi. I stopped at a Walmart in Brookhaven, MS just in time to hear EP's message at Bible Study. Wow! Life changing!

March 28, 2018

I awakened to see a neighbor RVer next door, pulling a trailer. Jeff was preparing to leave, as I was, and we chatted and I gave him my card and offered myself up for adoption as his Grandma. (It is fun to see their expression when I do that). He was a boilermaker. I told him I had never met a boilermaker before, then he asked me if I knew what they did. Turns out, he doesn't really make boilers, he works at oil refineries, on their machinery, he said, long hard hours. He was on his way home to Alabama.

It was just starting to rain, but as I traveled, it soon stopped. I have had cloudy skies, which are perfect for me, for driving.

I arrived at my friends, the Grant's in Mississippi around 11 AM.. (They were the ones I spent a week with the last time I came through). They are in their 80's and still going strong in spite of the fact that he just got out of the hospital the day before and she had symptoms of the flu. When I arrived, he was mowing their large yard on a riding mower and they both helped me hook up. (They used to have an RV and they have the full hook-up for friends who need it. (like me! Woopee!)

My goal was to arrive here before the “heavy rains” that they were forecasting for the next day., and I made it! The weather was in the 80's, but cloudy and a little humid. We visited awhile, then Sis. Grant went out to chase some insistent geese away from the island in the middle of the pond (a “goose-ideal” place to nest). Sis. Grant's method was to use “Roman Candle” fireworks which sounds like gun shots and emittes star-like sparks and smoke. Each “Candle” does 5 loud shots. She had purchased a case of them when they were in season, so she had plenty. They had attempted to try to scare them away with a shot gun last year, firing in the air, but the geese ignored that, and didn't leave. They leave such a mess, they don't want this to be “Goose haven”. Maybe the geese were born here and their DNA is bringing them back, I don't know but the Grants hope this method works and the geese do go away with all the noise and ruckus, but they keep coming back.

I noticed their yard had, what looked to me like, Gopher mounds and holes. I asked if they were Gopher holes and they said, no they were Crayfish (We called them Crawdad) holes, known as “Chimneys”.. WHAT! In the dirt? A long way from the pond? I Googled it and sure enough, check it out, they live in the water in the tunnels and lay thei eggs. It is suspected that the lack of-ball “bricks” in a round pile sometimes 5 inches high. WOW! Look it up, it was hard to believe because I always knew “Crawdads” to be the river and streams, not on land! OK, enough of the oxygen in the water causes them to build a “Chimney” by carrying little dirt balls in their claws to the surface and layering little dirt Crayfish, on to bigger things.

I was able to wash clothes in the house. OK,I was going to tell you how the “washing clothes riding along” worked out. Well, the clothes got really clean, but their was a problem. I forgot about rinsing and how much water it would use doing that, so I was really glad to be able to wash in their washing machine. My Sister will be happy to know that they got really white too. (She likes real white clothes.)

At about 3:30 PM. I got a message on my phone that said there was a Tornado “watch” in the area until 11 PM and to “watch” for a warning, which would mean to take immediate cover. I finished washing and folding and putting away the clothes and was preparing for bed and writing my blog when it came! The “Warning...Tornado in the area, take immediate shelter!”. I had my “overnight” bag already prepared, I stopped blogging,I closed all the windows, vents etc..,called the Grant's, told them I was coming to the house (which was pre-arranged, they had my bed made up and everything). I unplugged everything, turned the lights off and lit out for the house. It hadn't started raining so I stayed dry. It was about 8:30 PM and the warning was in effect until 9:15 PM.

I wasn't scared, but excited, I didn't want to miss anything! I trust God and I prayed that His will be done, and I was OK with whatever that was. I am OK with dying, because this World is not my home anyway. God made me. He put me here on this Earth to be a Steward over what He has given me. When I go back to Him, I will be held accountable for how I did. I only want Him to say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” I guess I have more to do. Woopee, more time to get it right! (Matt 25)

There was a lot of wind and rain but I went to sleep and this Morning, we assessed everything and all was well. The only thing that was out of order was the sewer hose had blown off of it's rack to the ground, I just put it back and no damage. The best thing was that I got the RV washed, which it needed badly, lots of bugs and dust from Texas and beyond. It looks really good now! Thank God for protecting us all, He is so good! Today I plan to work on my taxes, ugh! I don't have a lot of time, all I did was write this blog and it is 3:15 PM already. It was raining this morning and now the sun is out. The storm has passed over, it always does! We need to remember that when storms come into our life.

Strange sounds...

March 28, 2018

Well, as I traveled East, there was a back-up on the interstate highway I-10, in fact, it had stopped, right after GPS took me off on an Exit. (GPS is my friend now). I had tried to dump the tanks at a truck stop but it wasn't functioning, another one was going to charge $4 for a shower and $10 for the dump, that was so close to what it would cost for a campsite, I called to arrange for that, then they said I could shower and dump for $5. That sounded like the best deal, and I was headed there until the traffic on I-10 had stopped. While taking the detour, which was through a neighborhood, it was nearing dark and I saw a State park sign for 6 miles away and they usually have good deals.

Then another something happened. Because there was stop and go driving, I started hearing a whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp. I checked all the gauges, they were fine. It sounded like a flat tire would sound while running along, but I was stopped and it was still going, it could have been a belt flapping but you couldn't hear it near the engine, or hood area. It sounded the loudest as I stood up and moved around and right over the drivers and passenger seat. That is where the TV, VCR & Printer are, but they were all off. The plot thickens and to this day I don't know what it is. It goes off when I turn the engine off, doesn't usually come on right away when I turn it back on. Later, when I stop at a traffic light, I can hear it again. I have driven over 300 miles and it is still happening sometimes. Ok, that is an ongoing issue that is a mystery. I videoed the sound and moved around to show my go-to RV mechanic guy in VA Beach and it has stumped him.

Back to the detour. After going through the neighborhood for quite awhile, that route started to back up and wallla! An RV park! I pulled into it and went into the office. Prices for the night was $42, too high. I asked to go to the bathroom (remember my tanks were full) and when I came back, I asked Larry how much he would charge for me to take a shower and dump the tanks. HE SAID IT WOULD BE FREE! Is God good or what?! So instead of sitting in traffic at all, I took a much appreciated shower and dumped my tanks. I found out that 5,000 refinery workers were getting off work, and on the road, in addition to the stoppage.

Larry was a Christian, and I gave him 2 CD's of FTHCM teachings. He showed me how to get back on the Highway, below where the back-up was, and it was only 20 minutes from Jennings, Louisiana, where I planned to spend the night at Walmart. Thank you Lord! (And Larry). I got there just in time to listen to the Zoom Shaklee call that came on at 8PM CDT.

March 27^th

I woke up at 7 AM and prepared to visit Jennings. Jennings, Louisiana, is where my Great, Great Grandfather came by train from Iowa in the 1880's (while all my other ancestors went west by wagon train to Oregon, he went South). He died here and in his will, he left two lots to my Great Grandmother, his only daughter. I was curious as to what I could find. I started to look last time I was through Jennings, but it was a Friday evening, near closing, and it was too late to search.

So this time I got an early start. I started to go to the Libraryand on the way I stopped at a Auto repair place to see what their price would be for an oil change (which is over due). Got into a great conversation with the owner and another guy about Jesus and I couldn't do the price so I left my card and my offer to be adopted and started out for the library. I wasn't sure I remembered how to get there, so an old gentleman was riding by on a bicycle, I asked his where the Library was, he tried to tell me, but that wasn't working, so I asked him if he was going that way. He said yes, and I proceeded to follow him at 5 mph to the Library.

I remembered the clerks there, and we tried to get some information but came up with nothing. I then went to the Court House to see if I could get land records or the will. It was difficult maneuvering the small streets and parking was tricky so I parked on the street next to a car dealership. The Salesman at the dealership came right out and introduced himself, gave me his card and he was adopted! I gave him my card and he started telling me about how we was juicing and was on no medication.

I then went to the Court House and met some more town folks, by this time several people knew I was Grandma Swann, looking for my Great Great Grandfather. I only found (this blog was interrupted by a tornado warning, to take cover immediately....to be continued.)

Just so you won't be in suspense, I ran for the house (of the friends in Mississippi where I am parked at present), I will continue on the next blog.

Done but not finished with Texas

March 26, 2018- Beaumont, Texas

Woohoo, nearly across Texas it only took 7 days, but it was so interesting, I think I will come back to spend a week...or a year, there is so much to see.

It is kind of sad leaving Texas as I just discovered it again for the first time. I think I left you at Lake Medina. Anyway I left the RV park late, having stuff to do (like blogging)(smile). I wanted to go to Church in Houston on Sunday (this was Saturday). I also wanted to visit my Nephew in San Antonio, didn't know how it would all work but it did! God's such an awesome God! At that point, I had texted my Nephew and had not received an answer. Thought they might be out of the country traveling. (They are the ones I visited on my way West, November 2016, the day after they got back from Hong Kong.)  I called when I got to San Antonio, they were home and I went by to see them and their pictures of their Mexico vacation of Zip-lining over the Amazon jungle.(My kind of folks) Also they had been to London, Paris, Austria, Germany, Greece since I saw them last. He works in IT and travels a lot on the job and gets frequent flyer miles and Hotel credits that give he and his family virtually free vacations, so the four/five of them go once or twice year to some wonderful place. The Children are truly World Citizens.

After finishing our visit and getting caught up on each others lives, it was still daylight,(about 7 PM) so I left San Antonio for Houston. At about 9 PM, I stopped to get a Subway veggieburger sandwich and then I stayed the night at a Shell truck stop.. I was about an hour and 30 minutes out of Houston.

I wasn't sure whether I could make it to Church by 10:30AM. I woke up at about 7 and prepared to hit the road, hooked up the streaming live FTHCM.org , listened on my hands free device, and without rushing, I made it 10 minutes early! I changed my clothes in the parking lot and went to Church.

What a blessing! I had not been to “my”Church since Las Vegas and it was good to get Godly hugs from family I hadn't met yet.

After church, the Pastor's father-in-law was taking a young lady, Member of the church, out for a belated Birthday lunch and asked me to go. Of course, I couldn't refuse, so I left the RV in the parking lot of the Church and drove with her to the restaurant. I went to put my Bible in the RV and noticed I had left the head lights on while I was in Church (because it was foggy that morning). I tried to start the RV and not even a click. OK, first things first, I'll go to lunch, then call AAA when I return.

Lunch was amazing at Pappasitos Cantina, a Tex-Mex place near by. They made (especially for me) a Vegan Fajita (grilled bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and onions, sauteed in olive oil with soft corn tortillas, guacamole, chopped onions/tomatoes on the side, with a side order of black beans and a side order of rice pilaf). Is your mouth watering? Wow, it was enough for a whole meal and for the next day. Since I wanted to spread out the taste, I froze it in small baggies and will have it for many days. It was so much fun and great fellowship! I enjoyed it immensely! Of course, I requested to be adopted by two young people at Church. and we will see whether they respond by sending me their information.

The Pastor's Father-in Law brought me back to the RV and when I told him about the battery dying, he had a charger. He tried to hook it up but it wasn't charged, so we called AAA and they were their in about 10 minutes, charged it, now it starts better than ever before.After being escorted, to the route I was taking for my journey, I traveled here to Beaumont and spent the night at Cracker Barrel Restaurant parking lot.

Did your Mama ever give you a “spit bath”? Well, my Mama would, occasionally, when I was little, whenever I needed it, would take out her handkerchief (now replaced by tissues), spit on a corner of it and wipe off whatever residue was on my face from the meal before. It was truly tough love, and misunderstood at the time. It was not gently done, and I can remember being totally appalled and embarrassed by the scene. I now know it to be an act of kindness, that she was protecting me from further embarrassment. by having breakfast (or whatever) on my face for the rest of the day. But It will forever be an awful, disgusting memory. (Even though I have, on occasion, done it to my Children and Grandchildren when water was not available). THIS IS NOT A WARNING GRANDCHILDREN. I KNOW BETTER NOW.(smile) I think germs are different now? Anyway, I brought it up because I need a shower, and since spit baths are not an option and I am running low on water, need to dump the tanks and wash clothes, I think I will try the truck stop for all three.

Oh, I did find out how to wash clothes as I drive. I used two tall kitchen trash bags, put in my essential white clothes, (double bagged it just in case), placed the bagged clothes in an empty Styrofoam cooler on the shower floor. Filled the bag with water, Shaklee biodegradable Basic L, and Nature Bright (bleach replacement), double knotted the bag, and as I drive along, the sloshing with agitate my clothes, I hope.  Anyway, that is my theory and I will let you know how it works/

It is hot here in Texas, and a little humid, I may consider Wintering here. Hum,

In the Houston area, I saw no evidence of the Harvey storm. Maybe I wasn.t in the place to see it or it is all cleaned up from the flood. Spring is truly sprung here.  On to Louisiana.  Eastward Ho!

Deer Corn?

 March 23, 2018
What an adventure!, and it is just beginning, as I explore Texas Big Country! I spent about an hour writing about my adventures and this first sentance is all I could find that I saved.  Too much to redo, maybe tonight.  First I must get to a signal.
Now I have a signal, and had a wonderful day beginning with a guided hiking tour of the Seminole (black) Indian cave paintings and ending with a beautifu; sunset on Lake Medina, Texas, where I am staying at a Thousand Trails RV park (free).  I have a site within a half block of the lake and I can see it from my RV.  WoW! Will begin catch-up in the morning, I need a day or two of reorganization and rest, to keep my head straight, so much is happening.
I will try to reconstrct the last 3 days.
I left you with thoughts of going to Ft. Davis, to tour the Fort.  I did just that.  They let me drive a golf cart and follow the Tour guide around and after I heard  about the Buffalo Soildiers, and heard the stories from the well informed, volunteer guide, Richard.  I asked him how he got so well imformed.  He said he goes to bed with a book on the information every night.  Turns out Fort Davis was one of the first Forts to house the newly formed black troups from 1867-1885.   After the tour, we chatted and he told me he was a retired professor of  Choral music and orchestra, volunteers at National Parks, and is full-time RVing.  I also met and adopted Chelsea, a wonderful, beautiful Grandaughter.  She has her Master's Degree in History, is single and perfectly content in the state she is in, and will wait for the right man to meet God's high standards for her.  Wow so refreshing!   She is such a humble witness!

She took me to a wonderful small Tex-Mex resturarant,  It was way off on a side street, with hardly a sign, but it was packed!  A Christian family she knew, made room for us and I was able to stay sort of Vegan, (except for cheese).  Excellent food, lots of it (I brought home enough for the next day) and very inexpensive.  She took me back to the RV and on the way, we saw 2 policemen.  We pulled ourselves over and I introduced myself as "Grandma Swann."  He was very nice shook out hands and said it would be fine for me to stay on the street accross from the baseball field, and he would watch out for me during the night.  That was very comforting, I had a great nights sleep and started out the next day for Langtry, TX.
(This is the 4th time I have written this, each time part of it goes away, I must love you, I have been at this blog since 10 AM this morning and now it is 4:42, I haven't gotten dressed, been outside or done anything else, except a small lunch break.  It's love!)

OK,  Langtry, Texas with a population of 14, a Post Office, a Museum with a nice intrepretive cactus garden behind it.  That's it! Two livable houses that I saw, lots of abandonded houses, falling down, with goats in the yard, like a ghost town with  no stores, no gas stations, and 60 miles from anywhere or anything else.  It was in a beautiful location on the banks of the Rio Grande river (I think). Judge Roy Bean was a legend in his own time, 1883-"In Judge Beans court, when an accused was brought in, Judge Bean removed his toweling apron, hauled out his law book and notary seal, called a jury from among his customers. Occasionally, he based his ruling on his single law book, the 1879 Revised Statutes of Texas.  More often, he applied his own sense of frontier justice, backed up by the six-shooter on the table beside him."
While I was there, I met a Country Singer/Songwriter/Construction worker/biker , (can't find his card or I would tell you his name) who was with two other bikers, he didn't need a Grandma.  The lady at the desk in the visitor center gave me a wonderful packet of tourist material, called ahead to the Seminole Canyon State Park to see if they had spaces for RV parking overnight.  They did, then I found out that they had Indian Cave Paintings! What? Wow! I had always wanted to see them.  Well I got my wish!  I stayed in the campground in the park which was at the rim of a gorge that had the paintings. There was a tour at 10 AM the next morning, perfect time before it got hot.  When we gathered for the guided tour, I saw a couple that I had seen at Ft. Davis.  We started down into the gorge by steep steps, lots of climbing and manovering over rock formations to an overhang/cave that had been carved out by century's of errosion and there on the back wall and the ceiling, were the paintings, awesome!  The total hike was over a mile of up and down steep climbing.  After not having walked, hiked or swam for a long time, I think I did pretty good.  Yvonne and her husband were very helpful, giving me a hand up, when necessary.  They were adopted. 

There was another couple on the tour that were traveling by bycycle and tent camping that had cycled from San Diego, Calif.  Poppy and Peter were from England and usually went abot 50 miles a day.  They had saddle bags and a back pak that carried all their stuff.  I gave them 2 Shaklee meal bars and 2 Basic H samples to use for washing.  They were talking about the wind and in addition the RV's and Tracter Trailer Trucks going by them at high speeds, that effected their travels.  I asked them what was the proper conduct for an RV, they said to "toot, toot" as an alert that the RV was behind them, then move over at much as possible and wave a friendly wave. (they liked that).  I asked them their age, Poppy was 63 and Peter 71, and they didn't like Doctors.  The Lord sure knows how to humble me.  Every time I think I'm doing something, He shows me someone else who is doing better.  It is encouraging to see others Flourishing to the Finish too!

I drove the 3 hour drive to  to Lake Medina (7 hours via GPS).  I should have known better than to trust GPS without knowing where I am going on the map.  GPS took me on some county roads that were real "iffy".  It pays to trust God and to know He will come through.  First of all I stopped for a break in a little town and pulled up beside an automatic "Deer Corn Dispenser"  WHAT?!  You heard me right!It was about 25 feet high, as big around as the width of my RV and had a spout that dispensed the corn into bags.  The bags were free.  WHY?  I asked when I got to the RV Park, was it used for hunting?  No, just for feeding deer.  They even had gallon bags of it on sale for $4 at the welcome center.  Yes they have deer in the park, I saw 3 fawns as I drove in.  I came in definitely the "back way" but it was interesting.  More cattle crossings and poorly maintained roads, slow going and roads not wide enough for a line in the middle.  OK, maybe it was a "short cut" in GPS talk, but it took me a lot longer to get here.  The Ranger at the welcome center said, Oh, you could have stayed on hyway 90 and come right here.  "Ya right, now you tell me".  Well, I would have not had that 40 mile back road experience, thank God it was not dark!

 Should be a beautiful sunset again after a grey-warm-good-day-to-be-indoors-writing-a-blog-day.  The sun just came out, just before it sets. my next door neighbor is traveling by himself, his wife is Chilean and in Chile.  I met him last night and today we visited through the window.  He said it was good that I parked next to another RV to be safe.  He let me know he had a sawed off shotgun and he would protect me too.  He doesn't know how big my Jesus is!  Well it is  6:46 PM Central time, here in Texas, I will stay until tomorrow, couldn't reach my Nephew, he may be in another counrty.  May stay here longer, it is nice.  Thank you for hanging in there and reading this, it was truly a labor of love,(it crashed 6 times). " Patience is God's plan to get you everything."  I truly love you and appreciate you.  Thanks for being there, to tell all my troubles to. (HaHa).

Prude Dude in Texas

March 19,2018
I am stopped for the night, nestled in a valley with actual trees! Unusual for the Southwest. I am at the Historic Prude Ranch & RV Park. When I checked in the building said office, I walked in and no one was around.  It was a large building with a Hotel-like desk, rustic Ranch-style lounge area and a huge dinngroom. No-one was there. I walked over to the registration desk and a sign said if the office was closed, to park in the RV space and check-in in the Morning.  Very trusting. There were only two RV's here and one was not occupied. I met the other RV'er who gave me the internet password so that is what I am using.
At my last blog, I was in Arizona in a Christian owned RV park, I stayed 2 nights because of the wind. I was planning to stay another night but I got good advice from the owner, that if I left early I could beat the wind. He was right.  I was able to dump my tanks, fill up with water (40gals), a good idea in the desert, and wash clothes while I was there. I left Sunday morning after attempting to get the live stream of our church service and couldn't. I drove to Las Cruses, New Mexico and stayed the night in a Pilot truck stop. I slept a good 8 hours, even after taking a nap from 3-6 PM (Very unusual for me). The wind was getting stronger about 2:30 PM, it was hard to even walk, so I got gas and parked and took a nap. Once you understand that desiel trucks make deliel smells and all sorts of interesting sounds,( beep,beep,beep when backing up, pshsst sounds of the brakes,etc. I just allowed the wind to rock me to sleep and ignored the sounds and smells and slept good.
Today, I started out and stopped for a break at Sam's Club In El Paso, TX.  I had received a text from my full-time RVing Hippy friend (that came to my Christmas Eve party and played the Recorder).(Oh, I forgot, I wasn't blogging then so you didn't know.)  He suggested since I was going that way to take a side trip to Langtry, TX, where Judge Roy Bean's museum and opera house is. (the "hangin'judge" in Western History). Sounded like fun, so I headed that way but stopped for the night here at the Prude Ranch.(prude-ranch.com).  I saw the weather forcast for the East and am understanding why I have been slowed down a lot.  So while I am poking along, why not enjoy the sights. Tomorrow, I think I will stop by Ft. Davis National Park, where the Fort has been preserved or reconstructed, it is only abour 8 miles away. Lots of Western History in this area.  All my years of watching Western movies,is coming to life. Weather is perfect (except for a little wind) in the 60's and the scenery is so interesting. I came to the Ranch on a back road with cattle crossings ( 2x4 boards laid about 2 inches apart accross the road). Cows are afraid to cross it, I guess because they think they would get their hoofs caught in it.  Anyway, it seems to work.

Nearly 4 months of not Bloging! WOW!

March 17, 2018
Happy St Patrick's Day
Well, I am not even going to try to catch up, well maybe a brief one.
Since my computer screen was broken on the flight from Maryland to Oregon, on my way back to pick up my RV, I have not been able to get my new computer up to speed.  So yo had to suffer. (smile). 
I drove from my Sister & Brother-in-law's place in Myrtle Point, Oregon to LasVegas.  Rosemary, a good friend in Shaklee with me went with me to visit her Children in LasVegas. I stayed there for two weeks, then on to Palm Desert, to Menifee, Calif. back and forth between the two, until I left there on March 8th. I was on my way back to Virginia via LasVegas.  I left LasVegas March 14 to head East.  The last four months have been very eventful, maybe I can catch you up one day. I decided to begin here. where I am and go forward, you will just have to go without the hole in the blog until.....

Last night I stayed at a campground in Bowie, Arizona, near the New Mexico border, I had been driving (on and off) for 8 hours coming from Wickenburg, AZ.  It was a beautiful drive!  I didn't know that mountains of just rocks, no trees, could be so wonderous!  Beautiful sunset, with dark purple mountains with a magenta sky behind as the sun was setting. I got some great pix as I was rolling down the road.  Well, I am out of practice blogging and I am late getting on the road.  I just heard from a lady in the store that they graft pecans onto oak, or whatever trees they have here, which have long roots to get water since there is not much of that in Arizona.  Thus they have Pecan trees! Wow!
I am in Cochise country (The Indian in the Western History).
Hopr it won't be so long next time.