September 2007

Riverboat moved to site of planned Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Center in Vicksburg

If you weren't expecting it, you were in for a double or triple take if in the Vicksburg, Mississippi area yesterday. A huge riverboat, the MV Mississippi, was moved along a side street to it's new home at the future site of the Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Center.

Formerly a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' riverboat, rows of specialized minature wheels were used to manuever it to the new location.

Decked out in fresh paint, with flags and banners for the short trip, the 218-foot riverboat will be a main attraction at the Interpretive Center. The Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Center will highlight the history of the Corp of Engineer's efforts at controlling the mighty Mississippi.

The grand opening of the Interpretive Center is planned within 2-3 years as more federal funds become available for the project.
Here are two articles that detail the project: Center1 Center 2 that have appeared in the local Vicksburg newspaper.

Given the size of the riverboat, it will be a dramatic addition to the landscape of Vicksburg, in contrast to the citys' casinos, National Park, and rich Civil War history.

We always enjoy our trips to Vicksburg. For a step back in time, read about a visit to the Old Court House Museum.

The world's tallest building

In an architecural feat of engineering, the world's tallest building continues to rise. Constructed of glass, steel, and concrete, the final height of the building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is a closely guarded secret. What is known is the Dubai Tower now stands at 1,831.5 feet (and growing), making it the tallest building in the world. The lower 37 floors will house an upscale Georgio Armani hotel, and house 700 luxury condominiums (which sold out in less than a day). I wouldn't want to be on the top floors when it sways.

Football, Texas sized...

The UT students refer to it simply as Godzillatron.

The massive scoreboard/HC video display at Darrell Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin is the largest in the world, which suits the defending national champions just fine. Measuring 55 feet tall by 134 feet wide, Texas fans will be able to see replays of the action super sized. Hook 'em horns!
If in Austin, be sure to stop by the campus and take a look. Tickets for the games go fast.

For Texas football fans, our partner site at SouthpointBooks.com now has these books available online and through Amazon -
 
The Best of Dave Campbell's Texas Football
Signed by the Author 

Featured Travel Books on Colorado

We are looking forward to our return trip to Colorado. For this trip we will be traveling to Denver, Estes Park, and the Rocky Mountain National Park via our RV. There are an abundance of places to see. As this is our first trip to the state in October, we are expecting to see some snow, especially in the National Park, and are sure to see plenty of wildlife. The Estes Park area has exploded with growth since our last visit there. The elk are in their mating season so we should see plenty of males dueling it out with their antlers and hear their mating calls. With our upcoming focus on the state, here are some Colorado books we recommend.
Do you have a favorite Colorado vacation destination? Let us know.

Space, the final frontier

Space travel holds a fascination for many. I, like many others grew up reading the adventures of John Carter on Mars from the creative mind of Edgar Rice Burroughs and watching Captain Kirk and crew as they soared through the galaxies.
As we continue to make advances, we may see where the average person can make a routine trip up into space for their vacation.
The wait is not much longer...see here.
Until that time, here are a few images below of the Endeavour Space Shuttle STS-118. The images are a little grainy as they were captured from an email sent to me.
Also, visit this web site and click on the second link shown in the posting to see an actual video landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis from inside the cockpit after an orbit about the Earth and the International Space Station on September 21, 2006. Quite interesting.


For space fans, our partner site at SouthpointBooks.com now has available two signed books by noted Apollo astronauts (and Christians by the way) through Amazon -

To Rule the Night: The Discovery Voyage of Astronaut Jim Irwin. Signed by Jim Irwin.

Also available:

Guenter Wendt's autobiography is a ground shaking document of the glory days of manned spaceflight, told from the perspective of the launch pad.

September 11th - 6 years later

 
September 11th. It was all so surreal. It happened so fast.
I remember my wife and I were staying in a small campground in Redding, California in our fifth wheel.
It was a morning like any other morning during that time when we had time to travel more than we do now. I was busy writing the final chapters for my book on web hosting. I got a call from my Mom telling me about a plane that hit a building in New York. I turned the television on and watched with disbelief as the second plane hit the second tower.
As we commemmorate that day, the lives that were lost, the heroes, let us not ever forget the hatred of the terrorists that did this and why they hate us.
We must never forget the lessons we learned that day, and to always cherish our great Republic, and our freedoms that our veterans and troops have sacrificed so that we can enjoy.


On another note, here is a video that Budweiser aired after 9/11 to honor the fallen. It was only aired once so as not to receive profits from it. We saw the Clydesdales at Sea World in San Antonio recently. There is a reason that Budweiser is the king of beers...

New Accommodation - Bear Creek Retreat

As we add to our local Texas features to include more destinations, we have now posted a new Feature Accommodation in our Texas guide - Bear Creek Retreat. This spacious two-story house is a great B&B hideaway tucked away in the Hill Country. The roominess of the house makes it perfect for a romantic or family getaway, reunion, football weekender, or wedding.

This fall, we return to Colorado to the Estes Park area. More details to come.

Celebrity RVer of the Day - John Madden

 
In traveling over the years, we've traveled a good bit by vehicle, RV, or plane to destinations across the country.
Nothing matches what John Madden logs in his custom motorhome supplied through an advertising agreement with Outback Steakhouse.
The NBC football broadcaster is driven up to 100,000 miles a year to games in the $800,000+ luxury motorhome, complete with 3 high-definition plasma TVs, a mobile Internet system, satellite telephone, steam shower, and full kitchen.
Now that's the way to travel...

Looking forward - Mississippi Gulf Coast

Recently, my in-laws visited the Gulf Coast to see firsthand what it looks like. Most of the casinos are back in operation. The piles of damage along the beach are gone. Many slabs and stairs leading to nowhere could be seen along the beach of former stately homes and businesses.

Here is construction of Hwy 90 at Ocean Springs. Biloxi and especially Gulport have a long way to go to get back to the way it was before Katrina. Along Hwy 90, Edgewater Mall is in the latter stages of construction, with most stores open.

The historic last home of Jefferson Davis, Beauvoir, is needing funding to rebuild. See the way it was in our previous feature on the coast.

They also went to Ocean Springs, where much progress could be seen. Further west along the coast, the towns of Long Beach. Pass Christian, Waveland, and Bay St. Louis fared much worse and will take a long time to recover.

We wish the area well, and will keep an eye on improvements as they are made to return the area to a tourist mecca.
To volunteer to help with reconstruction along the coast, read here.