September 24 - It's all "relative"!

     One of the absolute best things about RVing without a fixed schedule is the flexibility it gives you.   When not in a rush, one can do the unexpected, and take advantage of new opportunities as they arise.  This day was one of them.  Our plan had been to leave Jeff's house early, and drive to Hope and Little Rock in Arkansas to see the Clinton Presidential library and museum.
     Ilse Dennis, who had been married to one of Jim's cousins years ago, lives with her present husband Jim in Nacogdoches. She and Jim (Singer) still consider each other "cousins".  Her daughter Susan Singer, Jim Singer's first cousin once removed, lives a few miles from her.  When Ilse found out we were on this trip, she invited us to drive down.  So that's what we did today, and we had a GREAT time!  This was our first visit ever to Nacogdoches, and to that part of the state.
     Dallas morning traffic, particularly inbound, can be and usually is a disaster with all the construction going on.  We were going outbound, and couldn't believe our good fortune driving the speed limit the whole trip out to US 175!  As we headed south, the scenery was much as we had remembered rural Texas - lots of open land, mostly brown, with too many mesquite trees and scrub bushes.  Cattle country to be sure, and not particularly attractive. The little towns along the way have some unusual names, such as "Gun Barrel City."  Additionally, nearly every town and hamlet has a football stadium with stands holding a minimum of 1000 people!  As an example, we went through a little town called Paynor, and it had a fairly large high school, large grandstands, and there was nice city park about 1/2 mile away.  Then Jim saw a sign - "Paynor, population 305."
     Jacksonville was a fairly large city along US 175, and the scenery changed fairly dramatically after that.  The grass was significantly greener, the fences and homes more stately, and the cattle ranches just looked more prosperous.  Not just a few ranches, but mile after mile of beautiful pastureland.  There were even a few estates that had herds of Longhorn Cattle. 

     Nacogdoches is a beautiful college town, home of Stephen F. Austin University.  Jim Dennis retired on September 1st, having been a Professor there for 30+ years.  He and Ilse live in a gorgeous home they had built many years ago on a wooded hillside, and one of his hobbies is making home improvements.  Ilse also worked at the University, and retired from there 3 or 4 years ago. They love living in the city, and are very proud of it and the University.  Additionally, they love Texas barbecue, and we started the visit with a trip to one of their favorite local barbecue establishments and had a terrific lunch.  Afterward, it was "tour time", and we started on the campus by walking through the enormous and modern Student Union Building.  We continued around the campus, which was much busier than usual because it was parents week.

     Nacogdoches is the oldest city in Texas, and has one of if not the oldest church in the state, the "Old North Church".  It is still active, and currently has an African-American congregation.  The reason it is being talked about here is because they insisted we visit the church and its historic graveyard!  It's quite the fascinating place, particularly to a "Cemetery Lady" like Becky!  The graveyard goes back to the 19th century, and it particularly sad because of all the infants that are interned there.  It's also the final resting place for a few dozen Rebel graves for Confederate Civil War veterans, and there were numerous Stars and Bars flags throughout.  There are also about 25 graves for Union soldiers, most of whom died after the war from dysentery.
     After some more touring, we went back to the house where Ilse had made Linzertorte, an especially delicious cake that is generally prepared for weddings and other special occasions.  In spite of being stuffed from the lunch barbecue, we were able to eat every last crumb.  In fact, Jim had a second piece!  Ilse was born and grew up in Germany, and came to the U.S. after meeting my cousin Bob Singer in the 60's.
     Susan arrived around 4pm after work - she is a substitute teacher in the local school system.  She is also an expert genealogist, and has traced the family "Singer" line back to Germany in the 1700's and, it appears, perhaps to Switzerland after some DNA mapping that has been done.  We had quite an interesting discussion about that! 



     We left Nacogdoches around 5pm, and headed up US Route 59 for the 3-hour drive to Texarkana, TX.  Driving in Texas is quite different from driving in the northeast.  Most of the roads we were on today, primarily US 175 and US 59, have 75mph speed limits on many sections.  These are not divided highways, but 4 lane roads with only double painted yellow lines separating traffic.   Noteworthy about this section of the drive is the scenery.  We were no longer in cattle country, but lumber country.  In fact, the Stephen F Austin nickname is "the Lumberjacks", because of the wood industry here in East Texas.  This was apparent the entire drive, as forests and trees lined almost the whole 150 mile highway.  Texarkana is as close a city to Arkansas as one can be.  It is half in Texas and half in Arkansas separated by State Line Ave. Where we are camped is about 100 yards from that road. 

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