Parrottrek Journal 2008

March 21st - Mobile Alabama - U.S.S. Alabama and U.S.S. Drum -

For the past three years we have driven past the enormous battleship U.S.S. Alabama as it sits in the Gulf of Mexico on the shores of, yep you guessed it, Alabama. Since we have lots of time to get to Houston, Texas we decided to spend the day touring it and the U.S.S. Drum, a submarine, which both were active in WWII. With so many decks and levels to explore inside and out it was hard to decide which tour to take. Lucky for us, all three tours that we read about were included in the purchase of a ticket. The U.S.S. Alabama was a city within itself. It had it's own post office, surgery center, medical level, church, brig and lots and lots of guns, varying from hand guns all the way up to enormous canons that shoot out shells that can travel 21 miles to hit the target it's aimed at.  We sat in the turret with all the different pedals and cranks to aim the barrel wherever you wanted in wartime. The only thing that it had more of than guns, was sailor bunks. There were sailor bunks everywhere to house the 2500 enlisted men and officers that it took to run the Alabama. They had dozens and dozens of rows of cots in the dinning areas that would raise up to the ceiling in the daytime and drop down at night.

The cots were four rows high and about 25 across. Don't expect to have much privacy on one of these things. The U.S.S. Drum only housed 65 men and 7 officers, but their bunks were just as close together with far less amenities. Above, Frank is sitting in one of the officer's quarters that was pretty much the size of our closet in the motorhome, very tiny, and where I stand steering the ship, also doubled as the officer's mess room. Both of these locations left very little elbow room.

After we toured the two vessels, we walked around the 155 acre park with Cody to look at all the different planes and tanks and weapons that they have collected for the museum over the years. In one section of the park, they offered helicopter rides around the city and ocean. The couple that ran the helicopter rides were very intrigued with Cody, and asked us to come over to show him to them. After they checked him out, they offered to let us take a picture of him in the helicopter. Cody was a little nervous of the propellers above him, but he stood still long enough for one shot. The funny thing of the day, is that he wasn't afraid of the enormous cargo planes in fact he wanted to fly next to them and even stood on one, but the little blades of a M*A*S*H unit helicopter scared him, go figure!

March 23rd - Happy Easter - Houston Texas -

To celebrate Easter Sunday, today we drove into Houston and attended Lakewood Church, pastored by Joel Osteen. With our schedule and the fact that Sunday morning church services aren't always an option, we have been listening to Joel via podcasts for months, and were delighted to actually be able to attend one of his sermons live. WOW!! What a church. We had heard it was large, in fact one of the largest growing churches in America. We had also heard that the church had recently moved to a building that was the old Compaq Center which at one time was the home of Houston's basketball team, but when we walked in we weren't quite prepared for the enormity of the sanctuary, which by the way seats over 22,000 people and was packed once the service began. Since we had no idea where to go and we had arrived early since we had no idea how long it would take to drive here and park, we went to the information desk to find out what to do first. They were very helpful and told us to follow the building around until we hit the front of the sanctuary. After we found our way down a couple flights of stairs and around the myriad of nursery school classrooms and fun kid's areas, we found the entrance to the lower level of the sanctuary and explained to the usher that this was our first time attending and we were curious as to what to do next. After graciously meeting us, he lead us to seats in the fifth row with a bird's eye view of the pulpit. The pulpit was surrounded on each side by rows of pews for the choir and had an entire orchestra in the middle of the stage that held  a slowly spinning globe that shows Lakewood's hope of reaching all corners of the earth through their ministries. Since they are currently being broadcast on the radio in all 50 states and dozens of other countries, it appears that they are well on their way of achieving that goal. With the very talented worship team and since it was previously a concert hall, the sound system was great. You felt like you were in the middle of a concert. Once the choir and orchestra were finished the stage lowered into the ground and a pulpit lifted up as Joel entered. Since we were so close to the front and the lights were dimmed during the service, which made it feel quite a bit smaller, we had forgotten the size of it all until we turned to exit the sanctuary, which is the last shot above. After the service we explored the building and all it's many levels a bit more, including the bookstore where I bought a perfectly sized new Bible so Frank and I no longer have to share his, which is what we have been doing for the last three or so years, since my old Bible went MIA after we moved into the motorhome. It was a great way to celebrate the day and we hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

April 2nd - San Antonio Texas - The Alamo -

Today's history lesson involved learning all about The Alamo. In the 1700's it was called Mission San Antonio de Valero and was home to missionaries and their Indian converts until the end of the 1700's. In the early 1800's the Spanish military stationed a cavalry unit at the former mission and the name was changed to the Alamo which is Spanish for cottonwood in honor of their hometown Alamo de Parras. During this time they also established a hospital on the site which was the first in Texas. In December of 1835, during the Texas Revolution, Ben Milam led the Texan and Tejano volunteers against the Mexican troops that were currently occupying the Alamo and forced them to surrender only to return to battle with Santa Anna's army two months later, when Anna and his men scaled the walls and overtook the Alamo after 13 days of gruesome battles. The grounds of the Alamo are kept up to preserve it's look from the 1800's, including the cannons that were added and the hospital used during the battles and thereafter. Once we finished touring the Alamo, we walked through the upper levels of the city and then the lower levels, which follow the banks of the San Antonio River with parklike walkways and all sorts of shops, restaurants and wildlife.

We stopped for lunch at one of the restaurants and then went for a boat ride that takes you through all the waterways as your pilot tells you how it all works including how during a storm they can lock up the river, or drain it completely if it begins to flood the city. He also told us all the different historical scenes of the San Antonio area and even a few Hollywood ones, including the Bell Stage where a part of Miss Congeniality was filmed and a few things unique to the river here that have made the Guineas Book of Word Records, including an island formed from the roots and trunk of a single tree and another tree growing straight out of the side of one of the restaurants. Since it is Spring, there were all sorts of ducklings swimming along the river and even a momma duck still sitting on her unhatched eggs. The boat ride was a little over 40 minutes long and finished up floating through the middle of the town mall. Since the Final Four of the NCAA will be playing here at the Alamodome this weekend, there were all sorts of basketball players walking through the mall. The were pretty easy to pick out since they were all about 4 feet taller than me. Luckily we will be out of town before the big crowds begin to storm the city. Weekdays really are the greatest times to play tourist.

April 4th - The Windsong Way Twins -

Recently, a darling set of twins was hatched to a beautiful set of sandhill crane parents at The Great Outdoors. These twins were hatched right on our street of Windsong Way, so our friends and neighbors have been keeping a close on them and keeping us updated on their development. Twins are very rare with sandhill cranes so the entire neighborhood has created a special bond with these beauties. They are a little over a month old now and doing great.

The picture on the left is of them at about two weeks old, check out their crazy wobbly legs. The picture on the right was about two days ago. I think the daddy was the one that walked up our driveway while we were home looking for food for his expectant bride since the neighbors say he has gotten very friendly.

Frank and Chris hang out outside

While George and Louie nap

The amazing bouncing Billy

Bradley plays as Abbey looks on

April 7th - Las Vegas, Nevada - A Night with the Nephews -

Our dear friends Chris and Karolyn have a passion for rescuing Basset Hounds. Dudley, who is about 15 years old, Louie who is 5 or so, and the newest addition to their family is George, who is not yet a year old. Not having met George until this visit, we were anxious to meet our newest nephew, so Chris and Karolyn's was the first stop on our list once we hit town. Frank and I brought them some puppy cookies to celebrate the new pup, and to our surprise the three nephews had a toy for the birds as well. It is a small blue ball that as soon as it rolls it begins to talk. It says things like "Come here puppy!" and "Hey, that tickles, don't do that" when you poke it and then it laughs. Bradley took to the new toy right away and staked claim quickly. In fact when Abbey went to play with it, Bradley ran at her as if to say "get away from my toy." Needless to say since it does talk and laugh and growl and bark it is only allowed to be played with for about an hour at a time to keep Mommy sane and all the birds alive. Chris' parents came over for dinner and brought their little dog Billy. Billy was very curious about Bradley and watched him very closely all night. She would get as close as she could without him biting her little nose and when Frank would stand up with Bradley on his shoulder Billy would leap into the air about a foot and a half to try her dragnets to get as close to him as she could. We adults were laughing so hard at her. The picture turned out great. She is farther off the ground than she is tall. We had a nice dinner outside with all three dogs sleeping in their puppy beds by the pool.

April 14th - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Get Your Kicks on Route 66 -

As we head East, it's always amazing to see the scenery change. Las Vegas is rather flat with not much to see with it's lack of greenery. Once you hit New Mexico there still isn't much green but there are all sorts of shades of brown and reds, and the hills look as though they are etched out of clay. As you leave New Mexico and enter Texas it goes back to the flat desert look of Nevada, but a little more green begins to appear. Last night we stopped off at a great spot just off Route 66 where they have an enormous lot, just for RVs to park for the night at no charge. I took a walk this morning to see what else was around, but quickly headed  back home since the temperature was 37 degrees and no amount of arm pumping or speed walking seemed to warm me up. As we drove today both Bradley and Abbey sat out with me playing with the blocks and enjoying the pretty mountain views. It's so nice when everyone gets along in the bird world.

April 17th - The Motorhome Hits 200,000 Miles - Dickson, Tennessee -

Our faithful bus has hit a milestone. Well actually not quite, since everyone who has ever been around these motorhomes has told us that at 200,000 miles the motorhome has just been broken in and should give us many more hundreds of thousands of miles. All I have to say is I hope those words go straight from their mouths to God's ears! When we bought our house it had 125,000 miles, so we haven't actually put too many miles on it compared to the previous owner, but hopefully someday we will have put more miles on it then it came with. By then there may not be too much left of this great country that we won't have seen. As we scan the horizon in front of us, which happens to be the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee, we realize to our amazement and happiness, that we are becoming quite familiar with this part of the country.

The eastern side of Tennessee is one of the most beautiful drives we encounter. In just a few miles we will head down I-24 towards Chattanooga, where the views get even more beautiful due to all the trees with their multitudes of colors and flowers everywhere and the numerous waterfalls that line the side of the highways in the rocks.

April 17th - Chattanooga, Tennessee - A Walk in the Park -

We are settled here in beautiful Chattanooga and since our sweet birds have been cooped up for three days while we drove, we promised them lots of fresh air once we got here, so we all, minus Bradley who hates being outside, let alone walking through unknown territory, set out for a walk around the park and the lakes nearby. As we approached one of the lakes, we noticed a momma duck in the tall grass with what appeared to be two or three babies from a distance. As we approached, more and more little heads began to pop up out of the grass and quickly jump into the water. They were darling how they all lined up right  behind their mother in a perfect line and scooted across the lake. Every so often the trail of babies would get a ways away from their momma and they would all start to run across the water to catch up, which would in turn cause the first run to ram into Momma's fanny. It was quite sweet to watch. On the other side of the lake was a pair of Canadian Geese. One looked as though he was pointing at the flock of baby ducks and talking about them since his wing was outstretched and he was hollering about something. Tonight we will meet up with our friends Kate and Joel who moved here almost a year ago with their little girl Lily, can't wait to see them.

April 18th - The Tennessee Aquarium - Chattanooga

Lily met up with Frank and I at the ever fun Tennessee Aquarium today and played tour guide along with her mother Kate. The four of us had a great time. Lily and Frank especially enjoyed playing in the petting tank. Frank liked to pet the stingrays and fish, while Lily just liked to splash in the water and laugh. Next after the petting tank, and a little drying off, we headed into the butterfly area. They have hundreds of the most amazing butterflies. So may different colors and so many sizes. They were a bit tricky to photograph since they didn't sit still for too long, but they were awesome to watch. Next came the penguin encounter. It appeared that second to the petting tank the penguins were quite intriguing to sweet Miss Lily. She loved running around from one area to the next looking at all the fun swimming friends. One of the penguins floated right above us watching her for a good 5 minutes. As our underwater adventure continued, our fearless tour guides led us into the deep waters of the oceans where there were all sorts of sharks, beautiful tropical fish, sea-horses in every size along with every other inhabitant of the great blue seas that one could imagine and even a few that we never even knew existed.

Lily was mesmerized by the butterflies

AACCK! A scary sea monster!

Lunchtime in the stingray tank

April 19th - Dinner with the Treicks - Lookout Mountain, Georgia -

At the top of Lookout Mountain we found the quaint little neighborhood of Kate, Joel and Lilly along with her up and coming baby brother, Jack. All the homes up here have such character and are all unique to each other versus the cookie cutter tract homes most of the country is accustomed too. We had fun playing with little Lily before she headed for bed and then once tucked away for the night, Kate prepared a delicious dinner that we all enjoyed along with their friends Mary and Steve as we caught up each others happenings since we last were together. It's always wonderful to be able to meet up with good friends across the country. To see more photos of our fun weekend and all the adventures of the Treick family, visit their blog at www.treick2008.blogspot.com.

First Presbyterian Church

Beautiful Rock City

Kate, Jack and Lily

Make a wish Lily

April 20th - First Presbyterian Church -

We went to church this morning with Kate and Joel and what a gorgeous church it is. Poor Frank got lost inside of it after he dropped me off to find a parking views as we made our way up. Kate, Lily, Frank and I took a nice long walk around the neighborhood and stopped off at Lily's grandparents house just a few doors down. After our walk we ordered pizza and after dinner Lily and I read a few books while we all watched the Lakers beat Denver in the playoffs. Joel was so festive, he even wore a Lakers uniform shirt. Thanks guys for being such fun hosts and tour guides.

Frank, Ellie, Len, Vicki, Philly and Kurt

Vicki, Philly, Kurt, Ellie and our waiter Jose

Carol Lynn, Carolyn, Richard and Helen

Carol, Diana, Betty, Dave, Ken and Steve

April 22nd - La Hacienda Restaurant - Commerce, Georgia -

What started out as Frank and I going to dinner with friends Len and Ellie to celebrate both of our wedding anniversaries at a great Mexican restaurant across from the dragstrip, ended up being quite the celebration with 25 of our friends from the NHRA circuit that we travel with throughout the year, with a couple birthdays added to the celebratory evening. We had such a fabulous time with grande margaritas and the best homemade salsa and freshly baked chips anywhere East of the Mississippi. This weekend's race in Atlanta is historically one of the wettest races of the year, which translates to lots of rain delays, so cross you fingers and hope that not only do both of our teams get in the race, but we get all the necessary rounds in and not have to be here after Sunday night.

April 27th - Atlanta Dragway -

This race is very often nicknamed Hotlanta since the temperatures here in Atlanta can be very high and very humid. I vote that we change that nickname to Rainlanta since all it seems to do is rain! Race cars can still race in the heat, but the rain stops everything. We won't talk about our teams and their lack of much participation in the rounds of Sunday other than the fact that the Monster car pretty much turned into a ball of fire each time it tried to go down the track and the guys are beside themselves about this and how to fix it from happening at the next race. Seeing the team so down in the dumps is very hard for their road mother to watch. But on the upside, we were able to tear down our hospitality fairly early and get off of work with enough time to walk to the starting line and watch the final round. A couple of our teammates from last year transferred over to the Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster team this year, which is driven by Antron Brown, which was in the final round against the Army team. Since Tony Schumacher, the driver of the Army team, and Frank have hit it off quite well and hung out a few evenings this year with their cigars and guitars, we had no favorites going into it. However, since Army is such an amazing team, and virtually impossible to beat, unless something goes wrong with their car, watching Antron beat Tony in a hole shot, which means Antron left the starting line first and was never passed by the perfectly working Army car to get the win, was a thing of beauty to witness live from the starting line standing by the victorious team. Thank God the rain stopped.

Before the city is built

After the race teams arrive

A view of St. Louis from the track

One of my many gyms around the country

May 2- 4th - Madison, Illinois -

To watch an entirely empty parking lot turn into a city of race cars literally overnight is always an amazing thing to see and yet hard to describe to those who have never been to a drag race, so I thought I would snap a few aerial shots while on my morning run from the top of the stadiums on the circle track to give you an idea. By the way, I must say that the stadiums here are much steeper and taller than anywhere else we go and my very short legs are feeling it still today, two days after my last run. Circle tracks always do make for a great workout. This weekend was another not so exciting weekend for the Bernstein cars, but the weather was awesome. This race has always had the reputation of being one of the hottest ones of the year, and one of the least loved tracks on the circuit because of the heat. This weekend the warmest it got was around 75. The other great thing about cool weather at the races, is that it makes for some very fast cars and often some record breaking runs. There were a couple track records set this weekend and lots of personal bests by different teams.

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