THE GOOSE ISLAND BIG OAK TREE

Goose Island Oak Tree.. Aransas County.. Lamar, Texas

On the Texas gulf coast, protected from man but not from the elements of nature, is one of the largest live oak trees in Texas. In the 1960s, it was recognized by the organization American Forests as the largest live oak in the United States.

Legend has it that the Goose Island Oak was once a place where the cannibalistic Karankawas held councils and pagan ceremonies in which they devoured their enemies and even members of their own tribe. It is also referred to as a hanging tree and as a rendezvous of the fierce Comanche Indians.

Earlier visitors may have included the Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca in 1528 and Sieur de LaSalle in 1684. Governor Alonso de Leon, who came in 1689 to find LaSalle, found instead the ruins of St. Louis and rescued, from the Karankawas, the only three survivors of LaSalle's colony. Later visitors of the big tree have included famous people such as, Larry and Ginnie Burt and their trusty dog Sparky in December of 2009!!

The mammoth live oak is sometimes referred to as the “Bishop's Tree,” because a Catholic Bishop's home or chapel stood nearby in the abandoned town site of Lamar. The name “Lamar Oak” was probably derived from this town, which flourished in the 1830s.

In 2002 this former national champion live oak measured 340 inches in circumference, was 43 feet high and had a crown spread of 96 feet. Its age has never been accurately determined, but it is believed to be as much as 1,000 years old.

Ginnie, Sparky and I enjoy touring and exploring the many areas we travel in this great country of ours. The big oak tree we featured here, is one of many historic things we have been privileged to visit and observe. We enjoying sharing our experiences with you, as much has we do seeing them.

RANSOM ROAD RV PARK - ARANSAS PASS, TX

Each Fall we leave our log cabin in the woods of Northern Michigan on Oct. 15th. We hook up to our Cedar Creek 5th Wheeler and head south. On Nov. 1st we arrive in Aransas Pass, Texas and Ransom Road RV Park. We are here until April 1st. We travel for about 6 weeks and arrive back at our cabin sometime in mid May.

We love our winter quarters and the many, many friends we have made over the years. Ginnie, Sparky and I would like to share some pictures of the park with you all.

MY WORLD FAMOUS SECRET STUFFING RECIPE

I have had several request for my recipe for my "World Famous Secret Stuffing" which I have been making for over 50 years now.... I would love to tell you my recipe for it, but there really isn't one. I make my stuffing, kind of like Ginnie's mom used to make homemade bread.... a little of this and a little of that... throw it all together until it looks, feels and smells right. I can tell you what I put in it, but not how much of each thing.. I just wing it. Here is what I put in it:

White bread broken up, chopped onion, chopped celery, chopped apple, chopped turkey or chicken giblets, canned mushrooms bits and pieces liquid and all, canned cream of mushroom soup, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, a touch of garlic powder, a little of Emeril's "Bam". The real secret to good dressing is a moist dressing... the liquid in the mushrooms and the mushroom soup makes it moist. When you mix everything up, it should be moist enough you can make a ball of it in your hands and it won't fall apart... it should tend to stick to your hands and fingers.

Another compliment to good dressing is the gravy you put on it. (Boy... this is making me hungry.. I am drooling on my keyboard!) Here is how I make my gravy:

I of course use the brownings from the roaster... I add mushroom bits and pieces and for the thickening I used canned condensed chicken soup.. several cans of it, depending on how much gravy you want to make. If it is still not thick enough after adding the soup you can mix up a little flour and water thickening.
GOOD LUCK AND GOOD EATING!

A LITTLE EXTRA TIP: The next morning after Thanksgiving or Christmas, some of that gravy with the mushrooms floating in it, goes really good on toast for breakfast! :-) (More drool on the keyboard) :-)!!

IS ANYBODY GOIN' TO SAN ANTONE....

Like the song says.. Is Anybody Goin' To San Antone? If you are ever near San Antonio, Texas.. you just have to go there. There is so much to do and see.. so much history, like The Alamo. As you walk it's halls and gardens, let your mind and imagination wander and you soon will realize what it must have been like when it was made famous so long ago.

The Alamo is just the start. From there the River Walk is a MUST see! It is one of the most beautiful setting you will probably ever see. The pictures I posted that Ginnie and I took while visiting there are beautiful... But, they do not do it justice! You have to see it first hand and for yourselves.

Don't' let the second part of the name "Walk" scare you off. It is big and you can walk it all, but there are river boat taxi's that will pick you up and drop you off all along the way. And they do this for a nominal fee. The many business, shoppes etc. are built on and in the water... many have streams running through them. It is beauty at it's best.

Yes.. do yourself a favor and check it out.. you won't regret it!! As a matter of fact, we intend to go back again this winter while we are in Texas.

CAMPFIRE BEEF ROAST AND FRESH GRILLED SWEET CORN

In an earlier post I explained how to cook a beef roast over an open fire on wet paper towels and a salt bed. We did another one a couple of days ago. This time I have some pictures of the roast cut up and ready to serve.. pink and juicy in the middle... you can't tell it from prime rib! Some fresh picked sweetcorn on the grill and a couple of Bud Lights... you can't beat it with a stick! Here are some pictures of us and our friends Bob and Sue showing you what the meaning of "ENJOY" means!

GRANDMA GINNIE AND HER FLOWER GARDENS

Some of the simple pleasures in life we take for granted, as they surround us everyday. Every time we walk up and down our wooden sidewalk, we enjoy the pleasures of Ginnie's labor in her flower gardens. She loves her gardens and spends countless hours in them.. weeding, thinning, transplanting etc.

Today, her neighbor, good friend and fellow gardener Joanne Kukla... brought some plants over, as she was thinning her gardens. When I seen Ginnie out there working to get her new plants in... I just had to take a couple of pictures. Ginnie knows her plants and how to take care of them. I think that is pretty oblivious by the beauty of these pictures.

As many of you know.. or may not know, we live up here in Northern Michigan and are as they say... back in the sticks! Woods surrounds us and the nearest little town and store is a twenty mile round trip. If you need something like a Walmart, that is a 100 mile round trip. So, you try to plan ahead on your supplies. Also, you learn to depend on your neighbors when you get caught short. I mention this, as when Joanne came over this morning she brought a dozen eggs to trade for some of Ginnie's Crisco. Is this the good old days or what!!

One of our Blessings is the joy and solitude of living in the woods and the beauty surrounding us... some being Grandma Ginnie's flowers.. these we want to share with you.

What a wonderful place to enjoy our retirement!

OPEN FIRE COOKING ON PAPER TOWEL!!

How many of you have heard of cooking a beef roast over a wood campfire using wet paper towel and a bed of rock salt to cook on?

Our friends Bob and Sue Underwood from Ohio/Florida have been up visiting us for a few days. We have both been fixing roasts this way for several years now and decided last night would be a good time to fix one for our supper.

A couple of hours prior to cooking you need to get a good hard wood campfire going and let it burn down to a good hot bed of coals with just a few flickering flames of fire showing.

I am including a few photos of Bob preparing the roast and doing the cooking. You take 8 or 10 layers of soaking wet paper towel ... place them on the cold grill. On top of the towel pat on a solid covering of rock salt about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle the roast with granulated garlic and a little black pepper. You then lay the roast on the bed of rock salt. Place another bed of the salt on top of the roast and 8 to 10 layers of soaking wet paper towel on it. Tuck the paper in around the sides so none of the meat is showing.

I might note the roast we did was a chuck roast, cut 3 inches thick and weighed a little over 3-1/3 pounds. Anyway, you swing the roast out over the bed of coals. This size of roast, we cook on the first side for about one hour. Then, swing it off the fire and flip it over... cooking another 15 to 20 minutes. This will produce some of the finest eating roast beef you have ever tasted!

I should note, it will not be salty like you think it would. The salt makes a solid crust and does not stick to the meat. The cooking times we used, produced well done meat on the outside and pink medium rare on the inside. Once you have done one or two roast you will get a feel for the cooking time in relation to the size of the roast. It is also important to note a cheap cut of meat, such as the chuck will produce better results than the more expensive cuts.

Good Luck and enjoy!!!

SUCH A SAD FATHER'S DAY FOR ME...

This day (Father's Day) the day that is a happy day for most men, is a very sad and trying day for me. I am sure by now you are wondering why I would make a statement such as this.

The day started off just wonderful... emails, cards, chats and phone calls from my two wonderful daughters. Ginnie gave me a card with two candy bars.. told me how much she loved me and asked which of my favorite dishes she could fix for me. Sounds like a perfect day doesn't it... It was, until Ginnie got the camera out and took my picture.. with my trusty dog Sparky in one hand and my remote control in the other. Then, as I was looking at the picture I suddenly realized this would be my last Father's Day in my trusty old chair after decades of being together.

Both Ginnie and the kids have been trying to talk me into a new chair and getting rid of the old one for several weeks now. I started having back problems and when I when to my Chiropractor Doctor Cherie I had a suspicion there was a conspiracy going on between her and Ginnie. Out of no where, she asked... are you setting in and old chair that is broken down and worn out??? How would she have known about my chair, had Ginnie not blabbed to her???

Well anyway, against my better judgment I got dragged two different days to three different furniture stores to pick out a new chair. When I signed the order for the new chair I felt like I just sentenced and old friend to certain death! You see, in about three or for weeks that new chair will be delivered and the old one has to go.

Yes... I am sad... that old chair... my Throne and I will never spend another Father's Day together......

ONE PROUD DAY FOR GRANDMA AND ME!!

MICHAEL, EMILY AND ELLIE
Today is a very proud day for Ginnie and I. After all these years of study and hard work.. today our granddaughter is, Doctor Emily Ann D.O.

We are very proud of her.. to say the very least!!

LASTING FRIENDSHIPS

Friendships come in many variations... some take years to develop... some are instantaneous... some are over with almost as fast as they are formed and some last a life time.

Today I am writing about a friendship Ginnie and I have with a wonderful couple from Bracebridge, Canada.... Jack and Audrey McFadden. This is a friendship that was formed over 10 years ago. It was both instantaneous and will most likely last a life time.

Ginnie, Mandy (our little Yorkie) and I were staying at the State Park and Campground in Gulf Shores, Alabama for the winter. At the time we had not gotten into 5th Wheeler RV's, but had a Jayco travel trailer. Ginnie and Mandy met a lady (Audrey) walking her dog. They started a conversation about the dogs... it lead to what each had for an RV. We found Jack and Audrey had a Jayco too, but it was a 5th Wheeler.

Audrey brought Jack to our RV to meet me and it all kind of started out from there. I asked if they were into computers and if so, could we have their email address. When we both got home we started occasionally sending each other an email.

While we did email, we had not seen each other for almost 8 years. One day Audrey emailed us saying a trip they were taking in their RV would bring them to Michigan. We asked them to stop and visit and told them we had a place for them to park their RV. We had electric, water etc. for them to hook up to, just like in a campground. They came by in July of 2007 and stayed a few days. I should mention, we had not seen each other for so long, we email pictures, so we would recognize each other!

We kept busy while they were here, making the most of their stay. Sweet Corn was in season, so one afternoon we did a BBQ with grilled, in the husk corn being one of the main courses. As you can see.. it went over pretty darn good!!

Well, this is June 2009 and we have not seen each other since their visit in July 2007... almost 2 years ago. We stay in touch with email letters and pictures almost weekly and now with Facebook, sometimes daily. Yes... this is a friendship that will last our lifetimes. We were so Blessed back in 1998 to have made their acquaintance.

YOURS TRULY.. HARD AT WORK

Here I set.. in front of our computer at our Cabin In The Woods of Northern Michigan. The PC is setting on a walnut computer desk I built from lumber logged out of my Grandpa Burt's woods down in Ohio. Grandpa pass away March 22, 1970... he was 86 years old. The logs were cut, rough sawn and the lumber dried several years prior to 1970, while he was still in good health and able to work in the woods.

You will notice on my right is a photo of two favorite people of mine.. President George Bush and his lovely wife Laura. I look at their photo several times a day and mentally give "Thanks" to them both for their good morals and to President Bush for keeping us safe here at home, following the disaster of 9-11. The Liberal Media never liked him.. but, he was and still is a Great President!!

Ginnie and I both love our computers... the desktop here at home and the laptop we carry with us in our RV. Our life, our family and our friends revolve around them. Family and friends scatted all over the world are seconds away. I have to chuckle to myself how our oldest daughter Laurie talked us into getting our first computer back in 1996 when I retired. We were so green to computers, we had to ask how to turn our first one on! Now here I set.. composing my blog!

We are both approaching 75 years of age and have to marvel at the changes we have seen so far in our lifetimes. What more can possibly be invented??? I guess time will tell and we will be standing in line waiting to try it out.

Yes... we have been BLESSED!

OUR LOG CABIN IN THE WOODS OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN

After being on the road for seven months in our RV, it is good to be back at our little corner of the world... Our Cabin In The Woods of Northern Michigan.

We love the laid back atmosphere the north woods has to offer. Along with the beauty of the woods, the beautiful sky and the cool clean air, we are surround with natures creatures... everything from the smallest up to the larger ones, such as black bear, deer elk etc.

Ginnie was born and raised in Michigan. I was first introduced to the north woods, when asked by her dad to go deer hunting in the area we now live in. That was back in 1953.. the year we got married. I knew back then I would one day want to live here. In 1963 we bought property and built a shell of a cabin to vacation in.

In 1993 we sold our home Ohio and move north. After three years of adding on to the cabin.. remodeling it and building a barn/shop, garage. wood shed etc. we now have a modern place to live, but still in the wild. Ginnie loves her flower gardens and I think she does a marvelous job keeping them in top shape.

If you ever get up our way stop by... this is about as close as you will get to Heaven, with out actually being there!

VISITING GINNIE'S FAMILY

On our way home from New London, Ohio we decided to stop for a few days in the Milford/Clyde, MI area to visit Ginnie's family.

This is the area where Ginnie was born and spent the first 17 years of her life. In 1951 she moved to New London, Ohio and finished her eleventh and twelfth grades of high school. (That is how we met.)

I am terrible at remembering to take pictures.. although I carry the camera with us... I then forget it is in the truck. Therefore, I did not get pictures of all her relatives we got to visit. I have included photos of those whose pictures I did remember to take. We both had a wonderful time visiting the family.

The first photo is Ginnie with two of her nieces.. Chris and Dana. We were at Chris and Marty's for coffee that morning and Dana dropped by.

The second photo is with Ginnie's nephew John and his wife Debbie. (They picked us up and took us to breakfast on Mother's Day morning.

The balance of the photos were take at Ginnie's great niece Erin's house. Her and her husband Dave put on a wonder Mother's Day BBQ for the Gardner family. We were blessed to have been invited and had a wonderful time.

The third photo is Erin's dad Terry... her brother Lee and her husband Dave.

The fourth photo is Lee's wife Leslie and Erin.

The last photo is Erin's mother (Ginnie's niece) Dana and Erin's husband Dave's mother.

Like I said, I missed taking pictures of several others... maybe I will do better next time!

We are leaving Ginnie's old home town area this morning and heading up to Otter Lake for a couple of days to visit our old neighbors, Bernie and Bonnie Thomas. We will be staying at Otter Lake RV Park. Thursday AM we will be on our way home to our Log Cabin In The Woods. We left there last Oct. 15th. and it will be good to get home once again after being gone for seven months.

OUR NEWEST GREAT GRANDSON

Here I am, with my newest great grandson... Jackson Reed Geist. He is the youngest of the three boys our granddaughter Sara and her husband Geoff have. His middle name Reed, is also my middle name. Reed was my mother's maiden name. Needless to say, I feel quite honored, Geoff and Sara named him after his Great Papa!

Great Papa and Great Grandma, is a role Ginnie and I will never get tired of playing!

FOUR GENERATIONS

Yesterday (Sunday May 3, 2009) there was a Mother/Daughter Banquet. Our oldest daughter Laurie asked her daughters, granddaughters and her mother Ginnie to attend. Everyone, except Amy and her two little girls Kyleigh and Macy were in attendance. Amy lives in Savannah, GA and was unable to be there.

Because of Amy being unable to attend I have had to use two photos to show the four generations. I thought them being together was pretty neat and wanted to do a post in my blog on it.

In the photo, taken at the banquet, from left to right is: Sara "Jones" Geist and the youngest of her three boys, Jackson - Laurie "Burt" Jones - Emily "Jones" Cheich and her little daughter Eleanor - Grandma Ginnie "Ruggles" Burt and last but not least Abbey Jones.

In the photo, taken at Amy's house in Savannah, GA when we were visiting there a couple of weeks ago. From left to right: Grandma Ginnie - Amy "Jones" Harvey holding Macy her youngest and Kyleigh the oldest.

Needless to say, I am one proud Father, Papa and Great Papa of them all!!

THANKS TO OUR NEPHEW DAVE BAILEY...

Ginnie, Sparky and I are in our old home town.. New London, Ohio. We are in our RV and staying out at the New London Reservoir Campground. We love staying out there with the beautiful lake, trees and all. The only downfall is, we have no form of Internet service out there and have to pack up the laptop and take it to one of the kids or grandkids to use it. Seeing how we are on the road seven, or more months a year... we live by our laptop.. our lives depend on it.

Well, this trip is different. Thanks to our Computer Guru Nephew Dave Bailey, we have exclusive super fast WiFi right in our RV for our stay!!! We are the only ones in the entire park with this new system. It is so nice to be able to pay our bills, read the newspaper back home in Michigan, or from our winter quarters in Texas, email letters and pictures, plan our next trip, etc. right from the comfort of our RV!!!

THANK YOU DAVE... YOU HAVE MADE YOUR AUNT GINNIE AND I TWO HAPPY CAMPERS!!!!

FIRST TIME MEETING ELEANOR

Great Grandma Ginnie and I had a wonderful day yesterday... we got to meet and hold our newest great granddaughter Eleanor for the first time!

We are staying at a campground in Columbus, Ohio. Eleanor's dad and mom (Michael and Emily) drove down from Akron and another of our granddaughters.. Abbey, who lives in Columbus came out to visit us. She brought her cute beagle dog Bayley with her. Sparky and Bayley were sure happy to see each other.

It was a beautiful day. Great Grandma Ginnie fixed a nice picnic style supper and we all ate out on the picnic table. It was so nice to be with some of our family again.

This morning we will be on the road again... heading up to New London, Ohio for ten days or so, to see more family and friends. We are sure looking forward to that!

WE HAVE BEEN SO BLESSED

I was so blessed on July 24, 1953 when Ginnie and I were married. We then, were both blessed with the births of our two beautiful daughters Lynette and Laurie. They married two wonderful young men. Lyn to Dan Phillips and Laurie to Mike Jones. The Phillips's have blessed us with two wonderful grandsons... Brian and Craig. The Jones's have blessed us with four wonderful granddaughters... Amy, Sara, Emily and Abbey. Then, between Amy & Kelly, Sara & Geoff, Emily & Michael they have blessed us with six great grandchildren!
Here is a picture of the three gals that started this all.. from left to right..
Lynette - Ginnie - Laurie