Tag Archives: Travel

Our Trip Across America-Part 3

24 Oct

Last week Bill and his family were getting all packed up to begin their trip across America. This week they begin their journey. Bill’s wife, DiVoran will be sharing  memories of her first trip to  the South.-ONISHA

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill

We headed North on I-95 to Jacksonville and then I-10 West through Tallahassee, Pensacola, Mobile and Biloxi to New Orleans.  We didn’t stop there on this trip, but told our kids all about our visit there when they were just 3 years and 18 months old.  How we cruised Bourbon Street and how we enjoyed the party atmosphere during our quick stop there.

DiVoran

Bill and I remember different things, so he asked me to put some things I recall into his stories.  He’s speaking of my first trip down south.  Being from the Southwest, where we had mountains and deserts, it was like a wonderland, especially all the trees, rivers, and lakes.  I’d never seen Spanish moss or Pathos vines with leaves bigger than a man’s head covering the trunks of many of the big trees.

Of course, this was the mid 60’s, in the south, which was a time of race riots, sit-ins, and bathrooms and drinking fountains that said, “Whites Only.” Even though it didn’t affect me personally, it was a bit unsettling.

We had been living in LA at the time of the Watts riots, but I was unaware of the way the everyday African-American was treated in public and in the homes of their employers.

One other thing that was so different, I hardly knew what to think, was when we asked about going down to the French Quarter to hear some music that night.  Our hostess, in the very large house where we were staying, told us if we’d put our eighteen month old and three-year old to bed before we went she’d see that they were taken care of. Then she asked kindly if it would scare them if they woke up and saw a black face leaning over them to tend them.

Of course, that would be one of her maids, who had probably tended her children when they were small. “Oh, no, I’m sure not”, I said.  I believed then, and I know now, that our kids are “color blind.”   However, it didn’t come to a trial so all was well, and we absolutely loved the Dixieland band we were privileged to hear that night.

To be continued……..

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Speak Up Saturday-Paint Mine Park

20 Oct

Speak Up Saturday

Patricia Franklin

A few years back we took a ride to northeast Colorado near the small town of Calhan. Someone had told us that there was a beautiful area there called the “Paint Mines.” We were out in the middle of nowhere, when we saw a sign ahead that said “Paint Mine Park,” so we turned off and followed that road. We drove further out into the prairie land which was flat and barren. As we drove along, we saw indications of some ridges and gullies in the landscape.

Our road led to a parking lot, where we parked our car in an almost vacant lot, and started walking along the trail that was indicated there, although we saw nothing and did not know what we were looking for. As we got further along, we saw a couple of crater-like holes in the ground. When we looked into them, there were indications of beautiful rock/dirt formations in different colors. As the trail went on, we came to a curve, where the trail doubled back and went downhill from there, then snaked to the right and further downhill.

When we got to the bottom and looked ahead, we were flabbergasted to see we were in a rock canyon with beautiful spires and rock walls in breathtakingly  different formations and colors. As we walked into the area, we were soon surrounded by these amazingly beautiful formations in bright purples, pinks, mauve, yellows, and stark white. It was absolutely unbelievable to walk into this alien land in the middle of the Colorado prairie. To make it even more eerie and exciting, the area was deathly quiet and no one was around. We almost felt like we had walked into the past. We eventually did run into a few people during our walk. It was strange how you could be alone in the quiet one minute, round a corner and meet up with someone without hearing a sound or seeing anyone until they were right there with you. At other times, you could hear voices, and never find out where they came from.

These rock walls, tunnels and spires were cut in here thousands of years ago by Mother Nature, and the Native Americans used these natural clay deposits for painting and pottery. The trails go along for a few miles of different kinds of formations. They are amazingly alike and amazingly different from each other. At one point, there are rows of large towering ghost-like formations called “hoo doos.”

This is one of the best kept secrets in Colorado. We took pictures, but you will get a better view of the Paint Mines if you just want to Google “Paint Mines, Colorado.”

A NATIVE AMERICAN QUOTE:

“WE DID NOT INHERIT THIS LAND FROM OUR ANCESTORS, BUT BORROWED IT FROM OUR CHILDREN.”

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Speak Up Saturday- Grizzly Encounter

13 Oct

Speak Up Saturday

 Patricia Franklin

 

A couple of years ago our grown family members reminded us we never got to take family vacations when they were little, as we had a business and were always working. So we decided it was time. We coordinated our vacation time and decided to make it a trip to Yellowstone where most of us had never been. We took two cars and off we went.

On our first day into the park, I realized that wherever there was a group of cars stopped there was usually wildlife to see nearby. After a couple of stops behind umpteen cars, we barely got to see anything. Then we were driving along, rounded a curve and saw a group of cars and people standing by the side of the road. We were able to pull off the side of the road and stop.

So we all got out of our cars. I followed my son and said, “Let’s go up to the front of the crowd, as I am too short to ever see anything.” So there we were at the front of a crowd, close to a steep ravine and about 50 feet from the edge. Suddenly a park ranger, who was in the middle of the road to our left, and on the curve of the road directing traffic, started yelling, “Get back in your cars! Everyone back in your cars now!” Well, I did not see anything, but knew something was coming, and I was bound and determined I was not going to miss it this time. So I stayed where I was and actually took a couple of steps forward. Suddenly I saw directly in front of me a grizzly head pop up over the ravine. At that point, I quickly turned around and…. I was the only one there! Everyone had already made it back to their cars. I hightailed it as fast as I could, dodging between cars to get back inside our vehicle before I ever looked back.

In the meantime, my daughter was out on the road near the park ranger and could see what was coming up the ravine. She was in a safe place and close to their car, so she focused in on the bear family. As she brought the image in closer, she saw Mama Grizzly followed by her two small cubs, and at the top of the ravine there I was waiting for them to come over the top. She screamed at me, nearly losing the camera, but did manage to get the two babies and part of the mama bear in the picture (enclosed). After we were all safe and the bears had crossed the road she snapped two more pictures you see here. Mama bear was not concerned about the cars and people all around her that day, but only finding food for her family. I am glad I was not part of that.

It turned out to be a wonderfully exciting trip for all of us, with many adventures, and we were rewarded with the beauty of nature in all its wonders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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He Will Order His Angels

26 Sep

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

Do you remember where you were when terror struck the United States on 9/11/2001?  I’m sure you do.  I was having breakfast with my family at the DeLeon Springs State Park in Florida when the terrible news came across the airwaves. I remember how deathly quiet it was as all airplanes in this country were grounded.   You might remember how, everything seemed to be on hold, as if the world held its breath to see what would happen next.  It wasn’t until we got home later that day that we were able to see the news reports and only then begin to understand the impact of what had happened and how it was going to change the lives of all Americans.

  

As it happened, six months earlier, my wife and I had signed up for a trip to Spain, to begin on 9/18/2001.  We had been looking forward to that trip with anticipation for the past six months.  Now what were we going to do?  All the airlines were shut down, and who knew for how long!  Would our trip be cancelled?  Would we be able to go?  Should we go?  We decided that If the airlines started flying again, and If we were allowed to go, and If we could get seats, we wouldn’t let this event ruin our plans.

By some miracle, things began to calm down, the airlines started flying again, and since many people were “Never going to fly again!” we had no problem confirming our itinerary on the scheduled date.  The atmosphere in the airports in New York, Paris, Malaga, and on the planes was very tense, but most everyone forced a smile and was very courteous to us.  When we arrived in Malaga, Spain our luggage went on to Istanbul, Turkey and it was two days before it got back to us.  Hey, No surprise there, right.

At our base hotel in Torremolinos, and on the bus tours to the Alhambra and a Spanish olive factory, everything was conducted pretty much as if nothing had happened.  It was on our ferry trip from Gibraltar to Morocco that we got our first glimpse of how 9/11/2001 had affected many of the peoples of the world.  A Muslim family came up to us and said, “We are very sorry about what happened in America.”

Then again in Tangier, as we were shopping at one of the shops in the Kasbah, the owner said, “Please come back, we need you.”  That evening at the hotel, after our dinner, a professor from the local collage came and talked to us about his modernized family, and how most of the Muslim world are not extremists and only want to live a trouble free life, as we do

Overall, we had a very wonderful vacation trip.  We were able to visit with the people first hand, in and around the beautiful Costa del Sol region of southern Spain, as well as in Tangier, Morocco and see how differently they lived just across the water from one another.

If it hadn’t been for DiVoran getting sick and missing some of the tours, we could have called it a perfect trip.  Now who would ever have guessed after 9/11/2001 that we would have been able to say that on 9/28/2001?

Scripture: Luke 4:10b (New Living Translation) …”He will order His angels to protect and guard you.”

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