2/18/12:  Left Hill AFB yesterday and made it to Glenns Ferry, ID - tomorrow it will be on to Burns, OR and then home on Monday or Tuesday.

Got the old wind up phonograph out today and did a little more research on it (and played it a little).   Looks like it is an Edison Chalet model B19 made around 1918-20 period.  It plays and sounds good (at least for my tin ear).  Here is a photo and a short video of the sound it makes (click for a largert view or to play the video):

2/15/12:  From Haskell we continued north to a small county park along US 83 just north of Wellington, TX.  The campground is on the bank of the Salt Fork of the Red River.  This is the place Bonnie and Clyde encountered a washed out bridge back in 1933.  They plunged into the river and then "borrowed" the local sheriff's car (and the sheriff) and made their getaway (read more here if interested: http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2011-09-29/span-above-site-1933-crashby-bonnie-clyde-faces-demolition).  From their it was westward into New Mexico with stops at Tucumcari, Tijeras and Farmington.  Then it was into (briefly) Colorado and Utah stopping in Green River and currently Hill AFB near Ogden.  Weather has been cold - low 20s at night and only into the 40s during the day (on a good day).  We had planned to go through Page but could not find a reasonably priced campground and it is too cold for dry camping so decided to make a run for home.

2/2/12:  From Kinder we headed on west into Texas hitting a MAJOR rain storm near Beaumont the lasted for close to 100 miles.  That was the day they had over six inches near Dallas.  Sure gave the truck and camper a good rinse!  We made it to Somerville Lake northwest of Houston.  This is one of about half a dozen fresh water lakes in Texas that are stocked with redfish.  Unfortunately, the water level was so low it was not worth even trying.   Nearly all of the lakes in east Texas are way down this year.  

From Somerville we continued on to Hondo.  We had decided to sell the lot so had to either upgrade our storage shed or dispose of it.  Elected to haul it to the dump instead of spending money on it.  Enjoyed seeing all of our friends there once again.   We departed Hondo Sunday the 29th headed north.

Our first stop was in the little town of Brady where Len's cousin from Sisters, OR now lives.  Had a great visit with them.  First time we had seen them in nearly 25 years!  The town of Brady has a nice RV park within their city park that charges a nominal fee of only $10 per night - can't beat that!  From Brady it was on north through Abilene and on to Haskell, TX.  Again a small city park for nominal fee of free for one night and then $12 per night.  Again, hard to beat.

During our stay in Brady and Haskell we have toured around the area and found it quite interesting.  Primary business around Brady is sand mining.  They have unique type of sand that is used in the oil exploration and extraction all over the Midwest and into Canada - something about it's crystalline structure that makes in special.  

Today we made a big loop (square actually) down to Anson then east to Albany, north to Throckmorton and then back to Haskell.  In total about 140 miles.  Hit a few antique shops and then stopped at the historic Fort Griffin north of Albany.  The remains of several rock structures are still standing that date back to the 1860's.  Adjacent to the fort is an old ranch located on what was once the frontier village of Fort Griffin.  The owners of the ranch have reconstructed some of the original town site structures based on old maps.  Very interesting project.

Interesting stories include the local sheriff Larn who was actually the leader of the local vigilantes.  He was considered a killer and a cattle thief but the locals were all afraid of him.  He hired some Irish stone masons to build a wall for his pasture and when it was time for payment the stone masons disappeared - it was reported they had been shot and thrown in the river!  Larn was arrested as a cattle thief in 1878 and later died at the hands of the very vigilantes he had led - they figured he would name them and they would be arrested too!

The Butterfield Stage ran through this town on it's way from St. Louis, MO to San Francisco.  It took 25 days to make the journey!  Guess that is about what it takes us in our travels today as well!  Maybe things haven't changed as much as we thought!

One of the interesting things about the Midwest is the placement of the county courthouses right in the heart of town with all the local merchants around the square.  Unfortunately, many of the small towns are falling on hard times and the town square has many vacant storefronts.

Here are a few photos taken between Mason, TX and Haskell, TX:

1/8/12:  We departed Grand Isle yesterday and traveled to the Coushatta Casino near Kinder, LA.  Made our annual donations to the casino last night so we are good to go now.  Will head on to Texas tomorrow.