Saturday, November 29, 2014

Cheap Gas in a Time of Touring

by Pa Rock
Road Warrior

Today has been beautiful, a perfect fall day with the temperature reaching into the sixties and a pleasant breeze gently carrying fall leaves to the ground.  Valerie and I (and little Rosie) went on a drive-about which took us to some clear Ozark streams and two historic old mills:  Hodgson and Dawt. Rosie does really well on these little excursions. She likes to run along beside the streams and make us think that she is preparing to jump in.  I could give a rip, but it concerns Valerie.

Hodgson Mill is still operational, though it wasn't operating either time that I have been there.  I can remember Hodgson's Mill Flour on the grocery shelves in Noel when I was growing up.  Dawt Mill on the White River is now a tourist camp with a hotel, small cabins, and a couple of restaurants.  None of it was open today, but Valerie did talk a maintenance worker into opening the gift shop so we could look around.   (I bought a jar of Concord grape jam - you just can't beat Ozark Concord grapes!)

The other interesting thing that we did today was to tour the West Plains Civic Center.  A couple of very nice people showed us most of the facility and told us lots about upcoming events.  I was looking for an exercise facility and believe that theirs - which is manned by Missouri State University - will do nicely.  (A couple of weeks ago I had a snit fit and quit the cardiac rehab program at the hospital - and my blood sugar has been climbing ever since.  At the time I left, I was walking 3.15 miles three times a week.  Got to get back into it!)

(Why I quit cardiac rehab is a blog post in its own right.  Look for it here soon!)

We saw gas advertised several places today for less than two-and-a-half dollars a gallon.  I credit the President for the falling prices.  I don't really know if he had anything to do with it or not, but if gas were five dollars a gallon, the conservative bobble-heads would be going into full-steam-scream mode in blaming him!  So thanks, Big O.  The cheap gas is much appreciated!

Tomorrow we are talking about going to Branson - another beautiful drive.

1 comment:

Min said...

I hope Valerie will enjoy your area and will safely be stationed in Okinawa again. There, as you probably know it, we now have a governer who is opposed to moving the troubled base to a newly picked area with beautiful ecology. You may have mixed feeligs about it, but I supported the people of Okinawa to bring about a new governor who is determined to fight well with the state government and the US government by writing articles, sending petitions to the government, and so on. We celebrated the victory of the new governor and are now planning how to continue to support him in the new scheme to dig up the past treatment with the US government to move this particular base, and nullify it. People of Okinawa said this past summer that they no longer reagard themselves as Japanese, and I think that is so sad that we have made them feel that way. We have exploited them too much and, if they want to become independent, I will support their choice, but before that, there is so much for us to bring them back together with us. I happen to know a Valerie from Holland, so I wrote this. Best wishes to her while she stays with you and after she leaves for Okinawa.