Alabama State Capitol

Yesterday I visited the Alamaba State Capitol in Montgomery. The building has been recently renovated and is a beautiful Greek Revival style structure which dates back to 1850-51. Among other significant events, the capitol witnessed the formation of the Confederacy in 1861 and in 1965 the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March, led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., ended here.
The principal building material is brick, covered with stucco scored to imitate a marble or stone finish. The rotunda's stained glass skylight dates back to 1906. Off the south wing is an outdoor display of the flags of the 50 states.
Warmest regards, Gus

Monaco Rally at Prattville, AL

This past week I attended a Monaco Motor Coach Rally in conjunction with the LPGA tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Trails Capitol Golf Complex in Prattville (Montgomery) Alabama. I had some good food, met some wonderful new people and saw some new Monaco and Holiday Ramber motor coaches.
The LPGA tournament was fun and I saw some great golf.
There were about 100 coaches at the rally. Thanks to Monaco and Navistar for a great event.
Warmest regards, Gus

NC Transportation Museum

Yesterday and I had the opportunity to visit the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC. The museum is located on the preserved site of the Southern Railway's steam locomotive repair facility. The exhibits trace the history of transportation in North Carolina and include trains, automobiles and planes. In addition to the exhibits, there are train rides and even rides on the turntable in front of the round house.
In the picture here, I am with Owney, a dog adopted by the mail carriers in Albany, NY; Owney was allowed to rides the trains with the mail bags and even traveled around the world on steamers. Owney was credited with bringing good luck to trains carrying the mail; I hope he brings good luck to me in my travels.
Warmest regards, Gus
P.S. Thanks to the staff at the museum for the movie on the history of the facility and for showing me such a good time!

Appomattox Court House, VA

Here I am in the parlor of the McLean's house in Appomattox Court House, VA. It was on this site on April 9, 1865, that General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant. For all practical purposes, this ended the Civil War (War Between the States), and allowed the healing to begin. This site is so different from the battlefields, where many fallen solddiers were buried and/or monumnets were built in the years following the war.
Warmest regards, Gus

Labor Day Party

Here I am with Betty and my very good friends Christine (left) and Christy. We were invited to Christy's house for a Labor Day party with her family and friends. Even Sami got to go and she managed to get into the swimming pool. We all had a great time catching up, since we had not seen Christy in over six years. She and her husband have two wonderful boys and enjoy life in northern Maryland. Christine and her husband and daughter had come from CA for the weekend. With these two young families as an example, I am not worried about the future of America.
Warmest regards, Gus

Hershey, PA

Wow! I sure like all this chocolate. When we left Cape Cod, Cousin Jim drove us down to the Thousand Trails Preserve near Hershey, PA. We took a tour of the factory and stocked up on some of our favorite treats. I learned that had I not been adopted by Jim & Pat, I might have been able to attend the Milton Hershey School. The Hersheys had no children, so they established a school for orpahn boys. The school now is co-ed and enrolls students in need. The students live in homes on a beautiful campus and receive a great education.
Warmest regards, Gus

Cape Cod, MA & Newport, RI

I sure have gotten behind in my postings. Since I left Bar Harbor, Maine, I traveled to Rochester, MA. Rochester is near the Bourne Bridge and Cape Cod. We all met Kevin and Kelly Cooke and Kevin's parents for dinner in Mashpee. I just listened as Kevin and Jim talked about the "good old days" teaching together at Los Alamos High School.
While in the area, I took a trip to Newport, Rhode Island. Besides checking out Fort Adams, we took in some of the ambiance of the city. On a beautiful day in late August, the city was crowded with tourists attending the many events planned for the area.