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Posts Tagged ‘Arkansas’

Turtles Popular as Travel Souvenirs

Posted in Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 21, 2011| 6 Comments »

 “Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.” — James Bryant Conant

These two turtles claimed a pond at Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas as home. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 Travels With Maggie

 My youngest daughter collects turtles. I gave her one made out of St. Helen’s ash for Christmas that I picked up last July when I visited the volcano. I’ve also given her carved wooden turtles bought during my Africa and Galapagos Island trips a few years back.

 Finding turtle replicas as I travel is not hard. You can find them in any souvenir store and being hawked by local, enterprising street venders. I guess my daughter isn’t the only turtle collector out there.

Having something to collect is part of the fun of traveling. In my earlier days, after realizing I didn’t want a lot of dust collectors around my home, I started a collection of Christmas ornaments. I reasoned I could get them out once a year, enjoy the memories they brought to mind, and then put them away.

 When my home became a 22-foot RV, I passed the collection down to my daughter. It was a good choice because I still get to recall my past travels when I spend Christmas with her. 

These two turtle made their home beside the Anhinga Trail in Florida's Everglades. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 Today I collect books and pictures as my souvenirs. The books I give away after I’ve read, and the pictures I keep stored on my computer. A recent perusal of these photos made me realize, in my own way, that I was a collector of turtles, too.

There’s something about the composition of light on water and turtles on a log or rock that prompts me to reach for my camera. I’ve got pictures of the sea turtle I swam with in the Caribbean, pictures of giant tortoises, the land version of the turtle, taken on Isabelle Island in the Pacific Ocean, and numerous pictures of turtles taken all across America.

So what’s your favorite souvenir to bring home from your travels?

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A Gray Rainy Day and Mount Pisgah

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 16, 2011| 6 Comments »

 

Mount Pisgah -- Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” __ Gilbert K. Chesterton.

 Travels With Maggie

 It’s raining, a steady pitter-patter on the metal roof of the RV carport that’s currently sheltering my RV. The world from. my window is tinted with dripping grayness, broadcasting a message for Maggie and I to enjoy the warm coziness inside our tiny home on wheels this morning.

 This travel writer actually enjoys such lazy days. They give me time to make traveling plans, which currently include sheltering from winter in Arkansas for a few more weeks, visiting Texas’ Gulf Coast, squeezing in some bird watching in the state’s Rio Grande Valley, and finally attending a grandson’s wedding in Dallas.

Mount Pisgah from Black Balsam Knob -- Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

 These activities should keep me busy until mid-March when Maggie and I begin our real travels for the year. First on our agenda map is to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway between Smokey Mountain and Shenandoah national parks. It’s been a trip long in the planning, and one of the scheduled stops is the Mount Pisgah Campground.

 I mention this because in response to a recent question (Jan. 13 blog) about special places, one reader said hers was North Carolina’s “ Mt. Pisgah, up high where the Rhododendrons grow.”

I did a bit more detailed research about the peak, and learned there’s a “moderately difficult,” 1.6-mile path to the summit from Milepost 407 of the parkway. I think these old broad legs can handle that, especially since reviews of the trail report that the view from the top “is spectacular.”

 Thinking about that landscape almost has me urging March to get here sooner. But I don’t. I know it’s better to continue putting my own color to the magical grayness outside – and to continue listening to the wondrous composition of pinging rain and Maggie’s contented snores as she slumbers on the couch.

Life is too precious to miss one present moment of it.

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A Small Arkansas Town

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 15, 2011| 8 Comments »

A Camden, Arkansas, sunrise -- Photo by Pat Bean

“To read the papers and to listen to the news … one would think the country is in terrible trouble. You do not get that impression when you travel the back roads and the small towns …” — Charles Kuralt

 Travels With Maggie

I flushed a northern cardinal and a brown thrasher and startled a flock of Brewer’s blackbirds this morning when I first opened my RV door. This trio, along with mockingbirds, sparrows and crows, are regular visitors to my youngest daughter’s five-acre home in Camden, Arkansas.

 This small friendly town, where strangers you meet act as if you had been a dear friend for years, has no traffic jams (which I love) but also no Starbucks (which I occasionally miss). It’s greatest claims to fame are Grapette and Camark.

Gypsy Lee snug in her Arkansas temporary winter home -- Photo by Pat Bean

The first is the dark purple soda introduced in Camden in 1940. Although not ranking up there on the popularity meter with Coke or Pepsi, one can still buy and drink Grapette today. Remembering how I used to love its sweet grape flavor, I drink half of one every few years or so before overdosing on the sugary taste. These days I don’t even put sugar in my coffee or tea.

Camark was the name of a pottery plant that opened its doors in Camden in 1926. It was a thriving industry in the town for many years, but sold its last piece of pottery here in 1982. The pottery is considered quite collectible today, at least according to those who supposedly know such things.

 What I know is that Camden is a nice place to recharge my batteries for a few weeks in winter in anticipation of getting back on the road in the spring. Bonus features include a perfect sunrise view out my RV window, a visiting armadillo, an occasional ride on one of my daughter’s horses, being lulled to sleep by coyotes howling in the adjacent woods, and sightings of a pileated woodpecker that likes to sit in a tall tree at the end the long driveway.

 Oh yes! Let’s not forget the bonus of visiting with my daughter and her husband, and three young grandsons.

 Life is good in Camden, Arkansas.

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