The Elks, Museums ,and Oil Wells

My first night on the road. This is the Coalinga Elks Lodge. Coalinga is a small town of 18,000 15 miles off  Interstate 5.  The pictures below on the right and left show that I am the only  RVer here. The view from my bedroom window  goes on forever. It is hot but I have hookups, electric and water, for only $10.00 a night. As a solo traveler I like staying at Elk Lodges. Even alone I feel safe, but most of the time there is always  something going on, a dinner, folks playing pool, and though I don't drink the bar is a great place to hang out and talk to the locals. And there are usually other RVers to visit.

Because I travel alone, the questions I am asked the most are, "Aren't you afraid ? "and "Do you ever break down?" 

 

 

I will try to give folks a more detailed flavor of Sportster’s and my travels.

First of all this first day on the road is only possible after  hours of preparation. My rig receives  a complete wash and wax by Brad from Monster Detail in Hemet, Ca. I do this every six months to insure protection from the hot California sun.

Every time! Before a long trip, I visit my favorite garage, Bradley Auto for a thorough checkup.

I also make a visit to Chad at Dedicated Express to insure  the water heater, refrigerator, generator, and house batteries, and all the other components that make life a luxury in a motor home,  are  good to go.

So much can go wrong, but preventive maintenance is the key to avoiding trouble on the road.

My  stick home has only drought resistant plants. I turn off the water and the water heater. My wonderful neighbor picks up those pesky flyers and free newspapers that land at my doorstep. If anyone breaks in, I have everything of value with me.

So the sun is setting on my first day. Tomorrow before I leave this quaint town I hope to visit  The RC Baker Museum, a restored Richfield Gas Station, and The Iron Zoo.

The excerpt and pictures below I have borrowed from a wonderful website I discovered called Roadside America.com , your guide to offbeat tourism. After you spend some time browsing this website, you will discover places that you have never heard of, yet will have to be added to your bucket list.

“Coalinga, California In the hills edging the western Central Valley, the town of Coalinga evolved from a late 19th century coaling station that became part of the region's oil boom. The R. C. Baker Memorial Museum tells that story and others. There's a fat scrapbook of news clips and photos chronicling the 6.5 earthquake that knocked down part of the town in 1983. The museum offers an organized hodgepodge of glass display cases and full-size dioramas depicting daily life in Coalinga. You can glean interesting arcana about Coalinga from almost any display. Who was the Grand Marshall in the 1937 Horned Toad Derby? How often did the buildings on "Whiskey Row" burn down? Where was the "Nation's First Municipal Water Demineralizer"? In Coalinga, of course -- the water was too terrible to drink and had to be trucked in until someone perfected reverse osmosis purification. A large metal plaque, apparently retired from public life, salutes that first demineralizer. On one end of the museum property stands its restored 1934 Richfield Gas Station. And don't miss the 80. ft. long mural along one outer wall of the museum, painted in 2006 for the town's 100th birthday.

 Restored Richfield Gas Station A 1934-vintage petroleum service station was meticulously restored in 2003 in the heart of this Central Valley town as part of the local museum's exhibits. Originally standing at the corner of 5th and Glenn St., it was moved here in 2004. The station can be viewed from outside its perimeter fence at any time. For a more intimate tour, inquire at the R. C. Baker Museum a few doors down. They maintain the station, and if it's not too busy or someone is available, they can open it up. Then check out the rest of the museum.

Iron Zoo - Oil Pump Art

You can see three animals safely from the road. However they really do not want you hanging around there, and for good reason: the air smells very gassy.

Next stop Sacramento, California.

Please don't forget our veterans.
MASADA'S MARINE and other books by Judy Howard on Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Everybody celebrates my birthday!"

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July. And I hope everyone  had our veterans in their  thoughts during this memorable holiday.

The Fourth of July is always an emotional time for me. It was my late husband's birthday. And although he has been gone eleven years, every time  I hear fireworks popping in  the distance, his words come to me, "Everyone celebrates my birthday!"
At times I still miss him even as I remember the struggles we dealt with in our relationship, and I am reminded that it is our struggles in life that make us stronger and life sweeter. So on this Fourth of July, as I recall the price of my free Freedom and yours, I also remember to thank my higher power, for the good and  the seemingly bad, for it is through our tragedy that we find truth.

For those of you whom haven't met me and Sportster, please enjoy this  wonderful interview by Julianne Crane of Women RVers.  I will be hitting the road soon and hope to cross paths with you. I would so like to meet you.

RVer, author Judy Howard travels 'Coast to Coast with a Cat and a Ghost'

Author and solo RVer Judy Howard with pet companion Sportster (Julianne G. Crane)

Solo RVer Judy Howard's lust for traveling became ingrained during a family vacation when she was a young girl.

In 1955, she recalls, "We traveled in our Willys Jeep towing our travel trailer from Springfield, Ill., to visit Disneyland" in California. "For a ten-year-old girl, that experience was unforgettable, not only because of Disneyland, but also because of the journey itself--Route 66, small towns, horned toads and Indians."

Now, nearing 70, Judy says she still feels "just as much passion for the journey as for the destination. Every day I am filled with gratitude for the privileged lifestyle I am able to enjoy."

Judy Howard's traveling rig.

She's married three times during her life. "My third was the longest of 25 years, the hardest and, amazingly, the best."

"In 2000 my husband and I purchased a 1997 24-foot Class C Winnebago Itasca.  We were only able to enjoy a few trips before he fell ill to lung cancer and died in 2004."

While she nursed her husband, she also nurtured a dream of driving their motorhome from southern California to Florida to visit a friend.

"After watching the Tom Hanks movie, Cast Away, I created a life-sized doll like the Wilson (soccer ball) character in the movie. He would become my companion and I would tell him my plans," she says.

"Afraid and alone, three months after my husband passed away, I made that trip, accompanied by the doll and my cat, Sportster, riding shotgun. With country music cranked and blaring for 3,000 miles all the way to Florida, I cried and sang my lungs out. However, the woman who drove the 3,000 miles back home had changed. She sang 'I will survive,' 'I am woman,' and 'I’m Proud to be an American.'"

Inside Judy and Sportster's motorhome. (Julianne G. Crane)

In the beginning of her RVing adventures, Judy worked full time as the owner of a pet grooming business, The Canine Beauty Salon.  She joined a Good Sam chapter called the Rolling Singles and tried to be content with close-by, monthly camp outs. "But I yearned to go farther and longer."

Judy has traveled solo in her Winnebago for 11 years now. "I love its size and the coziness of the Class C floor plan."

In 2010 Judy discovered she had a talent and love for writing. "I’ve had a custom desk built in my motorhome so that I can spend my future doing the two things I love--writing and traveling."

Judy Howard's books (Julianne G. Crane)

She wrote her first book about her 2004 trip, Coast to Coast with a Cat and a Ghost. (2011). It is "a memoir about my loss, but more importantly, about my new beginning as an RVing widow," she says.

In 2012, Judy published:  Going Home with a Cat and a Ghost "a romantic mystery appealing to everyone in the second half of their life who have asked themselves, What if? Even in this work of fiction, Judy Howard delivers to the reader a message about how to rise above life's tragedies."

Her third book,  Masada's Marine: A Story of a Service Dog and her Wounded Marine Warrior came out in 2014. The novel, "the uplifting message of overcoming life's dramatic hurdles is delivered. Howard draws the reader into the life of a Marine Corps veteran who struggles with PTSD when he comes home from Iraq and, also, into the life a dog named Masada, who becomes a service dog for the wounded warrior."

About Sportster, the cat

Sportster (Julianne G. Crane)

"He has more fans and followers than I do," says Judy.

"He arrived in my life when someone brought him into my grooming shop as a small kitten, asking where the humane society was located. I was considering adopting a dog, but I agreed to take the kitten and find him a home," she says.

"I didn’t particularly like cats, but my employees talked me into making him a 'shop cat.' He didn’t last long in the shop cat position before he had purred his way into my heart, and I took him home. Now I would not own a dog. Cats are amazing, at least Sportster is."

He is a traveler, a companion, an explorer and a co-author. "He writes a blog, The Cat’s Perspective On Reading, Writing and Life, and has begun to write his memoirs. He too, loves to travel and gets very excited when he sees me loading the motorhome."

More about Judy Howard

Judy also presents inspirational seminars about writing and self-publishing at RV rallies, libraries, schools and veteran centers. "I believe writing is healing, and that we owe it to our youth to record our history."

Although not a full time RVer, she says, "the lure to do so is strong. I travel four to five months out of the year."

Always before a long trip she says she is scared. "The 'What If’s' try to consume me. Always before I publish my next book I am nauseous with worry. What will people think? Life is scary," she says.

"My message to everyone–and Sportster would agree–whatever it is you want to do with your life, don’t let fear keep you from getting behind the wheel.  Pack up your doubts, put your dreams in gear, and step on the gas. Life is for living."

Website: JudyHowardPublishing.com
Facebook: facebook.com/judy.howard.716
Twitter: twitter.com/SPORSTERHOWARD
Blog: The Wandering RV Widow.

She is currently working on books four and five.

– Julianne G. Crane

Traveling Coast to Coast

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July. And I hope everyone  had our veterans in their  thoughts during this memorable holiday.

The Fourth of July is always an emotional time for me. It was my late husband's birthday. And although he has been gone eleven years, every time  I hear fireworks popping in  the distance, his words come to me, "Everyone celebrates my birthday!"
At times I still miss him even as I remember the struggles we dealt with in our relationship, and I am reminded that it is our struggles in life that make us stronger and life sweeter. So on this Fourth of July, as I recall the price of my free Freedom and yours, I also remember to thank my higher power, for the good and  the seemingly bad, for it is through our tragedy that we find truth.

For those of you whom haven't met me and Sportster, please enjoy this  wonderful interview by Julianne Crane of Women RVers.  I will be hitting the road soon and hope to cross paths with you. I would so like to meet you.

RVer, author Judy Howard travels 'Coast to Coast with a Cat and a Ghost'

Author and solo RVer Judy Howard with pet companion Sportster (Julianne G. Crane)

Solo RVer Judy Howard's lust for traveling became ingrained during a family vacation when she was a young girl.

In 1955, she recalls, "We traveled in our Willys Jeep towing our travel trailer from Springfield, Ill., to visit Disneyland" in California. "For a ten-year-old girl, that experience was unforgettable, not only because of Disneyland, but also because of the journey itself--Route 66, small towns, horned toads and Indians."

Now, nearing 70, Judy says she still feels "just as much passion for the journey as for the destination. Every day I am filled with gratitude for the privileged lifestyle I am able to enjoy."

Judy Howard's traveling rig.

She's married three times during her life. "My third was the longest of 25 years, the hardest and, amazingly, the best."

"In 2000 my husband and I purchased a 1997 24-foot Class C Winnebago Itasca.  We were only able to enjoy a few trips before he fell ill to lung cancer and died in 2004."

While she nursed her husband, she also nurtured a dream of driving their motorhome from southern California to Florida to visit a friend.

"After watching the Tom Hanks movie, Cast Away, I created a life-sized doll like the Wilson (soccer ball) character in the movie. He would become my companion and I would tell him my plans," she says.

"Afraid and alone, three months after my husband passed away, I made that trip, accompanied by the doll and my cat, Sportster, riding shotgun. With country music cranked and blaring for 3,000 miles all the way to Florida, I cried and sang my lungs out. However, the woman who drove the 3,000 miles back home had changed. She sang 'I will survive,' 'I am woman,' and 'I’m Proud to be an American.'"

Inside Judy and Sportster's motorhome. (Julianne G. Crane)

In the beginning of her RVing adventures, Judy worked full time as the owner of a pet grooming business, The Canine Beauty Salon.  She joined a Good Sam chapter called the Rolling Singles and tried to be content with close-by, monthly camp outs. "But I yearned to go farther and longer."

Judy has traveled solo in her Winnebago for 11 years now. "I love its size and the coziness of the Class C floor plan."

In 2010 Judy discovered she had a talent and love for writing. "I’ve had a custom desk built in my motorhome so that I can spend my future doing the two things I love--writing and traveling."

Judy Howard's books (Julianne G. Crane)

She wrote her first book about her 2004 trip, Coast to Coast with a Cat and a Ghost. (2011). It is "a memoir about my loss, but more importantly, about my new beginning as an RVing widow," she says.

In 2012, Judy published:  Going Home with a Cat and a Ghost "a romantic mystery appealing to everyone in the second half of their life who have asked themselves, What if? Even in this work of fiction, Judy Howard delivers to the reader a message about how to rise above life's tragedies."

Her third book,  Masada's Marine: A Story of a Service Dog and her Wounded Marine Warrior came out in 2014. The novel, "the uplifting message of overcoming life's dramatic hurdles is delivered. Howard draws the reader into the life of a Marine Corps veteran who struggles with PTSD when he comes home from Iraq and, also, into the life a dog named Masada, who becomes a service dog for the wounded warrior."

About Sportster, the cat

Sportster (Julianne G. Crane)

"He has more fans and followers than I do," says Judy.

"He arrived in my life when someone brought him into my grooming shop as a small kitten, asking where the humane society was located. I was considering adopting a dog, but I agreed to take the kitten and find him a home," she says.

"I didn’t particularly like cats, but my employees talked me into making him a 'shop cat.' He didn’t last long in the shop cat position before he had purred his way into my heart, and I took him home. Now I would not own a dog. Cats are amazing, at least Sportster is."

He is a traveler, a companion, an explorer and a co-author. "He writes a blog, The Cat’s Perspective On Reading, Writing and Life, and has begun to write his memoirs. He too, loves to travel and gets very excited when he sees me loading the motorhome."

More about Judy Howard

Judy also presents inspirational seminars about writing and self-publishing at RV rallies, libraries, schools and veteran centers. "I believe writing is healing, and that we owe it to our youth to record our history."

Although not a full time RVer, she says, "the lure to do so is strong. I travel four to five months out of the year."

Always before a long trip she says she is scared. "The 'What If’s' try to consume me. Always before I publish my next book I am nauseous with worry. What will people think? Life is scary," she says.

"My message to everyone–and Sportster would agree–whatever it is you want to do with your life, don’t let fear keep you from getting behind the wheel.  Pack up your doubts, put your dreams in gear, and step on the gas. Life is for living."

Website: JudyHowardPublishing.com
Facebook: facebook.com/judy.howard.716
Twitter: twitter.com/SPORSTERHOWARD
Blog: The Wandering RV Widow.

She is currently working on books four and five.

– Julianne G. Crane

   

   

   

I will donate to the Organization of your choice!

Would you like to make a difference in a veteran’s life?

Would you like to make a difference in a dog’s life?

Would you like to make a difference in the public’s  awareness of the veterans’ suicide rate?

I want to.

 I am so excited that my latest book,

 MASADA'S MARINE,

is accomplishing just that.

 

It has been well received.

 The reviews are in!!

“As a retired VA Nurse, I can tell you that the author knew her subjects well. Alex and Sarah experienced a marriage post Iraqi. Alex desires to do the right thing but must face daily the trauma recall from fighting a war that made no sense, where children were used to kill and be killed themselves. The violent side effects of PTSD does most certainly ruin families. The introduction of therapy dogs is a fairly new concept for our military returning now. However, the VA has been using service dogs for our blind veterans for years. Masada's Marine is the best read! I wanted to just hug Masada.”

“I could not put it down after starting it. Great treatment of a very important issue and the emotional issues of all of the people and Masada. I was eager to read on to see how the many challenges to Masada, the marine, the trainers and the prisoners were met.”

By educating the public, veterans and their families this page-turner book has become an inexpensive, yet valuable tool in the fight against PTSD and its devastating effects.

22 veterans a day commit suicide.

You can be a part of this mission.

Save a veteran’s life.

To help in  the education and public awareness,
 each week during the month of July I will be giving away five copies of MASADA’S MARINE   to an organization of your choice.

All you have to do to make a difference …

Enter name and address of the organization of your choice in the comment section of this blog.

The organization of your choice  could be your local library, your local veteran center, or the veterans hospital. Perhaps your Elks Lodge or VFW, or Lions Club could use them as raffle prizes at their meetings.  You may list as many organizations as you wish.

Every Friday I will draw the name of one organization of which I will donate and send 5 copies of MASADA’S MARINE in your honor.

How easy is that?

Make a difference!

Leave a comment!

 

Other Books By Judy Howard

GOING HOME WITH A CAT AND A GHOST

 

 COAST TO COAST WITH A CAT AND A GHOST

An Opportunity To Help Record History

To you, my ever loyal reader,

My four year anniversary as an author is approaching and I want to thank you and the rest of my readers for your support over the past four years.

Sportster thanks you, too.

Many of you know that I travel the country presenting a series of seminars about writing. My first seminar, titled, “Have You Ever Thought About Writing?” begins the series.

I began offering these workshops because 23% of the public has thought about writing a book.  This first seminar, probably the most inspirational, explains that I was not in that 23% category. Writing had never crossed my mind, and yet today I rank in the top 10% – 20% of Amazon’s Author ranking.

Four years ago I signed up for a free creative writing class offered by the community college because I was considering retiring, and wanted to slow down  at pet grooming salon that I had operated since I was eleven years old grooming in my parents’ basement coal room.

Eleven years old! I was a dog groomer, not an author. Who would have thought? Not me! But as write this, and I look back on these past four years, I am amazed.

I am grateful to have discovered this talent of styling words instead of fur. And yet I cannot find the perfect words to express the humility and warmth I receive from you when you tell me that my story…my story...has affected your life. If I had realized how important my words would be to you, and so many other people, and what an impact my words would have on issues that matter, I would have been too frightened to scratch out one word.

This journey has been amazing – exciting, frightening, depressing, humbling, and fun – a wild and crazy roller coaster ride. Thank you for your support these last four years. You have shared my books with your friends and I am so grateful. Without your support I could not, would not have continued on this road. Like every writer, I do not survive on sales, but instead on the emotional support of my readers.

Today, I am asking your help. My desire is to present my seminars and workshops to Veterans’ groups, seniors, and young people across the country. I am passionate that veterans as a group have stories to tell, should tell, and most importantly, need to tell.  Please help me help someone you know find a way to express themselves and in turn, record our history.

Please contact me if you would like me to speak to your club or organization. I charge a nominal fee of $5.00 per person. Don’t forget I travel. I can schedule your organization on my itinerary. I know with your help, other writers can be born.

Thank you for your continued support.

Judy Howard

Jhoward1935@gmail.com

951-544-3046

Service dogs Save Veterans Lives

WWII soldiers saying their last goodbyes  before shipping out.

 

Memorial Day has been  created to honor and thank our fallen men and women for their ultimate sacrifices so that  you and I may pursue our coveted and privileged lives. Everyone  has been touched by a veteran.  We all  have had to  say our good byes, whether they be temporary ones  at the dock or tarmac when they ship off, or final farewells at the bedside.

But don’t  forget the most painful goodbyes - the tragic, unexpected farewells we  must say alone after  a veteran's suicide. These goodbyes occur twenty-two times a day.

 Twenty-two times a day.

Today I want to remember those Masada souls who fought the valiant fight, and could not give up….until they did.

These fallen heroes have defended my right to stand up for my beliefs.

 

 



A protestor at Tiananmen Square  who was never seen again after this picture was taken -1989

Because of them  I do not live in fear...



A 106 Year Old Armenian woman guards her house - 1990



 



...and I will not starve ...

A Vulture waits for a Sudanese girl to die. 1993

... and I am free to follow my dreams.

POWS cheer as their plane lifts off to take them home after the Vietnam war.

 

This Memorial Day please join me as  I offer a special thanks in honor of those men and women who have fallen too early. Because of them we are able to live a charmed life. I am embarrassed that  my biggest worries are losing ten pounds, hoping the potholes on Interstate 5 are filled before my next road trip, and being disappointed if my favorite show tonight is a rerun.

 

Today, and every day of my life, with every breath I take…..

Thank you.

 

Service Dogs Save Veterans' Lives.



A Service Dog in WWII

MASADA'S MARINE ON AMAZON

General Patton's Memorial Museum

  The General Patton Memorial Museum

at Chiraco Summit,  Indio, California

is now carrying in their library copies of ,

MASADA'S MARINE