Our RV Adventures

and it worked this time about as well as the first time.

The first unofficial battles of the Revolutionary War, The Battles of Lexington & Concord, took place on April 19, 1775 because the British Government wanted to seize our guns, gun powder and other military supplies.

But due to good intelligence on the British plans, the colonials were ready, dispersing the supplies among many towns. And the rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes alerted the countryside so that the colonial militias were ready and waiting. Ironically some of this excellent intelligence is speculated to have come from Margaret Gage, the New Jersey-born wife of General Gage, the military governor of Massachusetts, and commander-in-chief of the troops in the Boston area. I guess you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you can’t take New Jersey out of the girl.

The series of running skirmishes that made up the battles left the colonials the decisive victors with 49 killed and 39 wounded against British losses of 73 killed and 174 wounded. It also punctured the vaunted superiority of the British Army, and set up the perception that the colonials had a chance to win their independence.

But this time the gun-grabbers came in the form of a British company, Reed Exhibitions, who runs the Eastern Sports and Outdoors Show, one of the largest shows in the US, and held every February in Harrisburg, PA.

But this year, Reed Exhibitions, decreed a couple of weeks ago, that any sales, display, or even mention, of so-called “Assault Weapons” or high capacity magazines was forbidden. They even banned vendors from displaying the logos of companies that made these items.

The boycott started slowly with some vendors dropping out because they had contractual arrangements with some of these manufacturers to sell and display their products.

But this first few were just the small snowball that precedes the avalanche. And an avalanche it was. And it culminated with all the major sponsors, like Cabela’s, Gander Mt., the NRA, etc., dropping out, except for Progressive Ins., all the celebrity performers, and finally the major vendors, like Smith & Wesson, Mossberg, Ruger, and Thompson.

Finally throwing in the towel, a couple of days ago, Reed announced the cancellation of the show, costing them millions, and costing the Harrisburg area an estimated $80 – 100 million to community businesses from the 250,000 visitors that were expected to attend. Reed said when announcing the cancellation that only 170 of the over 1000 vendors had dropped out. If that were true, then why cancel. I’ve seen an online list of the dropouts, and it runs on for pages, a lot more than just a 170.

Sometimes it’s better if you just keep your mouth shut.

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Under the heading of yesterday’s Random Act of Kindness, a 93 year old WWII vet and former Marine Elbert Wood returned from a doctor’s appointment to find his home vandalized and sprayed with red paint by a couple of teenagers.

Houston KTRH talk radio host Michael Berry mentioned the incident on the air and said that someone should help this guy out. In just a few minutes his phone was ringing off the hook.

By 1:30 pm people had dropped off $50,000 in checks made out to Mr. Wood, and he had commitments from a number of companies to completely remodel his house.

Plus the last time I heard the amount of checks was approaching $75,000.

The two teens were caught later that day and a couple of days later, the father of the boys came by to apologize.

Just goes to show you what people can do when they join together.

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Thought for the Day:

Trusting government with power and money is like trusting teenaged boys with whiskey and car keys,

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or A Random Act of Kindness.

Today was our day to get some quality Landon time, so we planned to take him to the Bayou Wildlife Park between Dickinson and Alvin, and then spend the rest of the day together.

We left the rig about 8:30 (OMG), but had few stops first before we picked him up. First up was a Starbuck’s run to get some caffeine in us, since we didn’t make coffee before we left.

Then, after a quick trip through the bank next door, it was across the street to Jack Box’s place for a breakfast sandwich for Jan. Finally our last stop before getting Landon was to the house to get his car seat for the trip.

When we got to the daycare, he was in his Computer Class (he also has Spanish Classes there too) but was ready to leave with us.

I’ve always been impressed by the security at the daycare. First off, you don’t even get buzzed in unless they know you, or expect you. And if you’re not a parent, you can’t pick up a child unless a parent has told them you’re coming, and your name must be in their files ahead of time. Very nice.

Finally getting Landon buckled into his car seat, we headed out. While I was trying to get him situated, he kept looking at me like he was wondering what kind of idiot couldn’t do this.

Hey,  there’s a lot of buckles and straps, OK?

It was only about 20 minutes to the park, and we got there just as it opened. (I love it when a plan comes together.)

The last time we were here was in the early 80’s when Landon’s mother, Brandi, was only about 7 – 8 years old. So it’s been a while.

Paying our admission at the gate, and getting our food buckets,

and heading into the park, we were quickly greeted by a welcoming committee. They had figured out that they had the best shot at the food by getting there early.

We had llamas,

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American Elk,

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goats,

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and even this evil-looking Emu. It’s easy to see why scientists think birds evolved from dinosaurs.

And they all just came right up and stuck their heads in the car window.

Landon wasn’t too thrilled about this part. He didn’t cry, but he did keep saying “Close window, close window. Go way, go way.”

Next we crossed over a cattle gate and drove out into a wide-open area just filled with animals. Everything from deer, antelope, llamas, alpacas, elk, ostriches, and emus, to kangaroos, swans, and ducks. Oh, my.

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Parking at the main building we checked out the Petting Zoo,

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and the giraffes in their pen right next door.

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After seeing this sign, I told Jan I was going to search her before we headed home. We have two cats. We don’t need a goat.

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By now it was time for our tram ride through the rest of the park. They’re completely open so you can get up close and personal with the animals. Sometimes closer than you really want to be, especially for Jan and Landon, as you’ll see a little bit later.

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As we headed out there were animals every where we looked. And what was really amazing was how many of them Landon could name.

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This guy would have emptied the whole bucket if Jan had let him.

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These are ring tailed lemurs. They have two different compounds of them, surrounded by water to keep them in.

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You don’t realize how big swans are until you see them up close. This guy’s about 4 feet tall. That’s a lot of bird.

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When the herd of American Bison surrounds the tram, you began to wonder just how sturdy the tram was.

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And this Watusi Cow didn’t help things any.

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I thought this Bactrian Camel (two humps) was going to climb into the tram with Jan.

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He took a liking to Landon’s brightly-colored backpack and decided he wanted it.

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And came after it.

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She kept trying to push him away, but a 1500 pound camel doesn’t push very easily.

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I’m not sure if Jan was trying to protect Landon here, or trying to get Landon to save her.

But luckily he finally gave up as the tram pulled away.

They even have gators. But luckily they don’t come up to the tram to be fed.

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This is Cleo, their Southern While Rhino. She weighs almost two tons, and is 5 feet high and 9 feet long.

Now that’s a big girl.

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A Red Kangaroo.

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Getting back to the barn, Landon picked out a new friend at the gift shop. Jan asked him if he also wanted a T-shirt.

He said, “No shirt. Just Monkey.”

He named him Eek Eek.

I think he now has 3 monkeys named Eek Eek.

I saw this sign of the side of the barn, and it is correct.

Alvin, TX holds the record for the most rain in the continental US in a 24 hour period. Tropical Storm Claudette came in from the Gulf and just hunkered down and stayed.

We were very lucky our house didn’t get flooded, and we’re built pretty high.

And it looks like you can start your own zoo here.

Need a breeding pair of zebras? They’ve got them.

How about a half dozen Scimitar Horned Oryx . . . Oryxes . . .Oryxi?  Whatever.  You’ve come to the right place.

Or maybe you’ve always wanted a pet Water Buffalo?  You can git’em here.

About 12:30 we headed back to the house. We had a great time, and Landon said he did too. Maybe we’ll bring him back next year, so he can enjoy it even more.

On the way home, we stopped at Wendy’s for lunch. For Landon that was Chicken Nuggets and Apple Slices.

While Jan and Landon rested and played, I visited some clients and took care of some problems. And by the time I got back to the house, it was after 4pm, so we all headed out to Barcenas Mexican Restaurant, right outside the subdivision, a place Landon always enjoys.

He really likes their Queso.

As far as the Random Act of Kindness, I kept waiting for the waiter to bring our check after we were finished. Finally, I asked him for it, and he said the guy in the booth behind us had paid our check for us.

Huh?

I remember glancing at him when I sat down, and Jan said when he left she had looked at him and didn’t recognize him.

Maybe he was just messing with us. A couple of times over the years, I’ve paid the toll for the car behind me, just for the hell of it. But I never bought anyone’s dinner.

I did ask our waiter if the guy had also paid our tip. He smiled and said “No.” So I asked him how much our bill was, $35 as it turns out, and I tipped him on it.

Leaving Barcenas, we drove over to the nearby Wal-Mart for some groceries and a few other things, and then it was back to the house.

By the time we got back, Landon had finally zonked out, after a very busy day.

Brandi and Lowell had used this Landon respite to have dinner at Cheesecake Factory, so when they got home little after 7pm, Jan and I headed out. We did make a quick stop at the Monterey’s Little Mexico in Dickinson for a call-ahead order of chips and salsa to go with our meal tomorrow.

Hopefully the day won’t start so early tomorrow.

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Thought for the Day:

I’m tired. I got nothing.

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