NELSON'S NOTES #75, Fun N Sun, San Benito, Texas, Aug. 18, 2008

 

A WEDDING

On June 14, Fun N Sun residents Lila McRae and Art Nowakowski were married in the Rio Hondo Baptist Church. They invited everyone from the park to the ceremony and reception. Both Lila and Art had lost their spouses a few years ago, and it is heartwarming to see them happily joined together in marriage.

 

SAN BENITO'S "TUNES BY THE TRAIL" (photos courtesy of Patricia Cantu-Barrios)

 

Music at the newly built amphitheater along the Heavin Resaca Trail was performed by Carlos Cantu (pictured), Patricia Cantu-Barrios, and others, who started Tunes By the Trail on Thursday evenings. In the background, you can see the resaca, a former channel of the Rio Grande. As we listened to the music, we could see families walking the trail, a 2.6-mile paved pathway that winds along both sides of the resaca. A few years ago, the Heavin family generously contributed $350,000 to San Benito to build the trail and the amphitheater.

 

Fun N Sun residents, Sid and Virginia Hendershott, Millie and Joe Wooton, and Laverne Kirkpatrick, relax and enjoy the music with Bruce and me and other residents of San Benito.

OKLAHOMA CITY

The Oklahoma state capitol is the only capitol with an oil well on its grounds.

When the building was finished in 1917, the only thing missing was a dome. Blueprints showed one, but over the years budget shortfalls, politics, and shortages of materials prevented it from being erected until 2002.

Art work displayed in the capitol shows a strong Indian influence. In 1838 Cherokee Indians were removed from Georgia and forced to walk a thousand miles to reservations in the Oklahoma territory. Their journey was called the Trail of Tears. About four thousand Indians died as a result.

 

 

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Memorial

This symbolic, outdoor memorial on the site of the Murrah building honors the victims, survivors, and rescuers of the 1995 bombing.

The Field of Empty Chairs. Bruce gazes at the 168 chairs representing the 19 children and 149 adults killed on April 19, 1995. Their names are etched on glass bases that are illuminated at night

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The Reflecting Pool is a long expanse of shiny black marble covered with about two inches of water. In the background, the first of two gates represents 9:01 a.m., the time when the explosion hit. The gate contains an actual section from the Murrah Building. The second gate (not shown) represents 9:03 a.m., the time after which things would never be the same.

 

EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS

Every morning Bruce and I walked to this scenic fishing spot in our campground, which is 12 miles from the town of Eureka Springs.

 

From their motel in town, Craig, Sandy, and Sarah met us at Basin Park Springs in the historic district (Sandy was in a shop at the time).

 

Another meeting place was a viewing point for the Christ of the Ozarks statue.

 

Unfortunately, 16-year-old Sarah was bitten by a copperhead snake on the first day of her vacation. It entailed two trips to the emergency room at the little Eureka Springs hospital and much discomfort and swelling from the poison. She could not bear weight on her foot and leg and had to walk with crutches. This proved to be quite a challenge on Eureka Springs' many steps, hills, and uneven sidewalks.

 

 

The Crescent Hotel, a prominent Eureka Springs landmark, is known for its ghost sightings. Built in 1886, and recently restored, it features nightly ghost tours, which we would like to take in the future. This time, though, we were there in the daytime. Frisco, a calico cat, was sleeping in the parlor by a special door made in one of the window panes (it had an EXIT sign above it). Cats are important at the hotel. Morrison, the cat who preceded Calico, was appointed general manager.

 

The Creel Winery, the only winery in Eureka Springs, features a tree made of wine bottles and topped with corks.

 

TRIP SUMMARY

This was our shortest motorhome trip ever, but to Bruce it seemed awfully long. He called it "the trip from hell." Sarah's snake bite was by far the worst thing that happened, but here's a list of the other things (most are signs of an aging motorhome):

The car had a flat tire two days after getting four new tires. The good news is that W&W Tire Company in Boerne, Texas, discovered that the valve stem was faulty and installed a new one at no charge.

The motorhome roof got scraped from a tree limb we weren't looking out for when backing into our site at Cedar Breaks. Bruce patched it with duct tape and will fiberglass it later.

A few minutes after the tree incident, Bruce was stung by a wasp building a nest in the park's electric box. His hand was swollen and red for a week.

Bruce noticed a puffiness in the sealant on the motorhome roof. He covered it with duct tape and will have someone fix it later.

The water pump doesn't work consistently, and Bruce may need to replace it (for the third time).

There's a sporadic leak under the kitchen sink.

The binder handle on the awning brace broke. Bruce will try to replace it.

 

 

 

DOLLY

While we were traveling in our motorhome, hurricane Dolly was a major worry. When neighbors told us our place was okay, we decided to continue on our trip. Other buildings and structures at Fun N Sun were damaged, however.

Despite Dolly's 100-mile-per-hour winds, not one of the 39 Styrofoam cups Bruce had stuffed into our patio roof (to prevent birds from building nests) was dislodged.

 

Although Dolly took the roof off the Kirkpatrick's carport and adjoining room, she spared their shed and the thermometer mounted on it.

 

(click here to see hurricane photos).

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Marianna Nelson