Amazon started releasing employees as of the 17th rather than the expected 23rd, and Roy was one of the lucky ones to get the early release. The company made the Workkamper experience pleasant, but the physical intensity of the job was tremendous. Roy is happy to be retired again. The first thing he commented on was the joy of not having to live life on a schedule. I agree.
This week I have been researching the San Antonio and Austin area of Texas. The area looks fascinating. There are lots of state and national parks near each other. The landscape is a mix of conifer covered mountains, high desert with Prickly Pear cacti, wildflower meadows, lush fields, sandstone rocks, and lots of water. The picture above is from Blanco State Park. It is my present destination preference. I doubt that it is warm enough there to swim this time of year, but swimming is allowed along this water spillway. There are canoe, tube, and kayak rentals. The park appears to be central to all there is to see in the area. We will be visiting family in Vicksburg, Mississippi for Christmas.
Part of my research into the Texas Hill Country was the possibility of earning our campsite by volunteering with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. I learned that if you go to their website and fill out an application, the volunteer coordinator will send the application to parks you indicate an interest in. Here is a link to the website: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/involved/volunteer/spdest/
I'm assuming each state has a similar process.
One of the parks I researched is Pedernales Falls State Park. Isn't this serene. I read on the park's website that if you see the water start to rise you should leave the area immediately. Flash floods are common in Texas!!!
Here is a picture taken less than
5 minutes after the serene photo above!!! I decided we don't need to stay here and be playing in the water with the dogs! I found this photo very disturbing in regards to our lack of knowledge about things unfamiliar to us. It got me thinking about other scary things in the western states that we don't know anything about such as tarantulas, scorpions, and a variety of poisonous snakes. I found a great website that gave me some reassurance as to how to handle bites by any of these creatures. The link is:
http://www.surviveoutdoors.com/reference/spiders/tarantula.asp Armed with our new information, we are headin' south Sunday the 18th.
Yee Hah!!!!!!
The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
When two major assaults (May 19 and May 22, 1863) against the Confederate fortifications were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. With no re-enforcement, supplies nearly gone, and after holding out for more than forty days, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4. This action (combined with the capitulation of Port Hudson on July 9) yielded command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces, who would hold it for the rest of the conflict. The Vicksburg Military Park has 1,340 cemetary monuments for primarily Union soldiers.
The Confederate surrender following the siege at Vicksburg is sometimes considered, when combined with Gen. Robert E. Lee's defeat at Gettysburg the previous day, the turning point of the war. It also cut off communication with Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department for the remainder of the war. The city of Vicksburg would not celebrate Independence Day for about eighty years as a result of the siege and surrender. (That’s no celebration of Independence Day until 1943!!!) This hill overlooking the Mississippi River has memorials to Military Units of Confederate soldiers. The previous paragraphs of historical information are from Wikipedia.
Driving around town there are many reminders of the Civil War. Cannons seem to be popular at motel entrances.
These momuments commemorating Union military units are at the entrance of a mall. There are streets with momuments of military leaders along them. It makes Roy and me think it would be hard to put the war to rest and move on with so many reminders of the conflict.
This is the current flag of Mississippi. It was approved in 2001. It incorporates the confederate battle flag. The design seems to me to represent north and south as being together yet still separate. Interesting!
