Sunday, July 25, 2010

Changes in attitudes


Ok, I'll admit i've neglecting this. For a whole week!
I've been out doing some rides I haven't done in a while. Friday , I did Glendora Mountain road. At least part of it:

It was little different on the bent. I didn't have to stop and take panting breaks, but legs did get sore, plus I wanted to go home and do some errands
Sunday, I did another ride that I haven't done in a while:

It's good to to have the confidence to do these rides on my recumbent. but what about those crazy long distance rides of yore?
Well, as my friend Liesel (the 747 pilot) said, 'you've got a life outside the bike'. It's true,I've found fun learn about new computer stuff (not to mentioned continued employment). I've found fun and (and maybe a new career, Hah!) writing. and its hard to do those things with doing 12 hour bicycle rides every other weekends. so it's adios to Paris Brest Paris and hola to:
It was a dark and stormy night along the Father of Water. Lame Horse cursed his long knife , Ben, for forgetting to leave a canoe on this bank. Just then , Rabbi Lieberman rode by on his lay down horse. He knew then he had too much firewater...

Friday, July 16, 2010

Time trip


These are still from last week
The other town of my Childhood is Cape Girardeau, MO is river two, of course some times the river get a little close,like at the themis st. flood wall

The flood wall has murals on it:

let's walk up to Main:

and then to Spanish and the common pleas courthouse:

can I make it up the steps?

actually , I think that was the first time I ever walked up the steps
On the backside/Lormier st are the the two Civil War monuments. The Granite one is the Confederate, and the fountain is Union(Missouri was represented in both governments and had troops on both sides

Since I had flat Lion along, I walked another block:

I came back by the original murals, Those on the Southeast Missourian building:


and another Cape Landmark, the N'orleans. Rush Limbaugh III (aka "Radio Rush") once recommend this to some who wanted an "affordable" place to eat (I was forced to listen to his show). which is ok, if your idea of affordable is $20 a person. It's now out of business. The KFVS building (12 stories - "Tallest Building between Saint Louis and Memphis") is in the background

I finally walked down Broadway. This gate was open, I'm standing next to the Old Bucker- Ragsdale Store - where we went to get fancy duds.!

this old bailing was the headquarter of another of my Heroes, Louis Houck:


Google insisted on putting this last even thought it isn't. an omen?

Sunday, July 11, 2010

le nouveau francais

One of my reason for coming back was to do a little research for my fiction.
We stopped in the little town of Kaskaskia, Illinois. This town is odd in that it is now on the west bank of the Mississippi. The river changed course and went through the middle of town. it's most important because on July 4, 1778, George Rogers Clark and his troops to the town from the British and told the mainly French citizens of the Franco-American alliance(which had nothing to do with spaghetti) The bell was rung by Fr Pierre Gibualt (doesn't ring a bell? look him up)

the only thing left of the town is the Catholic Church. It was rebuilt after the flood of 1844 which wiped out the town, but subsequent floods have made it a ghost town:

a big street leaving the town:
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we then went on to Saint Genevieve, which was founded in the 1700. this is the Bolduc house from 1780:


Maybe I should move back:

we then went to the Gibourd house,which is from 1806:

The flags of New Spain, New France, and the US (what happened to the Osage?)

we then ended up the day at the Amoureux house, it's owned by the State of Missouri, and dates from 1760:

It was a great day , I had not been to Sainte gen (at least the historic houses, since high school, and this gave some new insights

Saturday, July 10, 2010

going home

Since the Lord has been good to me, I took another trip home.
one of the things we do at St. Marks is have a Flat lion photo contest. we take a paper lion and photograph it on our travels:
From 7-8-2010

I was at the Ontario airport, some neat stuff:

George Chaffey founder of ontario:

My first flight of the day was to Dallas:

we had a little rain, but then I flew into Saint Louis:

It was dark by the time I got to Cape,
Saturday Morning, I rented a Dodge Avenger. great car, unless you want to back up:

I went to old McKendree chapel:


and then went to the Mall with Mom. we ran into my Brother there:

Mom and I then went on to the Lorimer house museum, it's closed during the winter:



I bought a replica British Guniea coin as a keepsake, and then we took off to Illinois and the Thebes Courthouse. This is where Dred Scott won his freedom, but lost it on appeal. The river (Mississippi) is in the Background:

and from the Missouri side

The Emerson Bridge. The River is in flood stage: