Sat - Mar 24/12

Up early and off to the Mesa Swap Meet to get some items to bring back home.

We went early as the temp is scheduled to hit 90 F today. The market wasn't as crowed with buyers or sellers. The "High Season" with RVers is winding down.  A few side stalls were empty and a number of the aisle tables were not there today.

We decided to walk all the aisles (about 2 km) for the exercise. There are still a few new vendors. Sunglasses (for your dog) anyone?

We stopped to pick up some more bag clips, our usual bread and cakes, a few more golf shirts, a summer jacket and a few gift items.

We most often take Baseline Rd to and from the market. It is not as crowded or as fast which allows us to enjoy the convertible more. We just have to get on US-60 at the last exit. The Renaissance Fair is still on (Sat & Sun) which meant it was stop and go traffic the whole 4 miles from the last exit to our RV park entrance on US-60. The "parking lot" would extend another 4 or 5 miles for those going to the fair entrance. Folks going could expect to take a half hour or more to go this 10 mile eastbound section of US-60. The police man the stoplights on this section all day to help improve the traffic flow. The westbound US-60 will suffer the same fate and become a "parking lot" as closing time for the fair approaches.

We rested in the afternoon. Supper was the other half of our Ranch de Tia Rosa's meal that we took home.

Tom Garnsey played the "50's and 60's Coffee House" Show this evening. There was a good crowd. The folks we sat with also got caught in the traffic slow-down as they returned to the park this afternoon. They spent over an hour in the stop and go traffic.

Tom played at the "Happy Hour"  (4 - 6 pm on the patio) yesterday while we swam. He plays our era and style of music. The show tonight was 2 straight hours of Folk Music with a running historical commentary of the history of each song.

It was fantastic. Most everyone sang or hummed along. It was a real "Hootenanny" (an Appalachian colloquialism that was used in early twentieth century America to refer to things whose names were forgotten or unknown. It was originally synonymous with "Thingamajig" or "Whatchamacallit", as in "hand me that hootenanny ." Hootenanny was also an old country word for "party". In the 50's and 60's (and now) it came to refer to a folk-music party.

There was everything from Woodie Guthrie (This Land Is My Land) to the Seekers (|There Will Never Be Another You), The Kingston Trio (Tom Dooley and M.T.A.) to Peter, Paul & Mary (Puff the Magic Dragon and Lemon Tree). The show included from Bob Dylan, John Denver, Joni Mitchell, etc., etc. - all the hits of the Folk and Folk Rock music of the era.

The show ended with a "Standing O" (ovation) "City of New Orleans" This song, written by Steve Goodman ( folk singer/songwriter from Chicago, IL) was made famous by Arlo Guthrie. It would become an American standard, covered by such musicians as Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Chet Atkins and Willie Nelson, whose recorded version earned Goodman a posthumous Grammy (Goodman died of leukemia in1984).


In 1971, Goodman was playing at a Chicago bar called the Quiet Knight as the opening act for Kris Kristofferson. Goodman saw Arlo Guthrie and asked to be allowed to play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed, on the condition that Goodman buy him a beer first and that he would listen to Goodman for as long as it took to drink the beer. Goodman played "City of New Orleans" which Guthrie liked enough that he asked to record it and as they say....the rest is history.

According to Goodman, the song, about Illinois Central's "City of New Orleans" (passenger train) was inspired by a trip he and his wife took from Chicago to Mattoon, IL. This song brought back memories to us. Not only have we been to Mattoon (overnight at the Walmart in the motorhome) we have taken the "City of New Orleans" (now an Amtrak train) from Chicago, IL to New Orleans, LA as part of our "Around North America" Train Trip.

For those who have never travelled by train - it is a deal! When we travelled the pass was coordinated (not now) with Via Rail (Canada) and allowed 30 days of unlimited travel (except commuter lines) in both Canada and the USA. We loaded two backpacks and travelled for 30 days on many of the major passenger train routes (Adirondack, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Texas Eagle, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, Crescent and Coast Starlight Routes) in the USA and The Canadian (Vancouver, BC to Toronto, ON) and Toronto - Cornwall - Montreal (on Via Rail). We took a few routes we more than once with stops in Albany, NY; Chicago, IL; Kansas City, KS; New Orleans, LA; St. Louis, MO; San Antonio, TX; Albuquerque, NM; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA;  Vancouver, BC; Jasper, AB; Toronto, ON; Montreal, QC and Cornwall, ON (home). We slept in our seats on the overnight train sections and stayed in hotel rooms where we saw major landmarks. We took local transportation (bus, pedal cab, taxi and car rental) when we disembarked. We made stops at the Sears Tower (Chicago); The Gateway Arch (St. Louis);  The Alamo (San Antonio); Old Town (Albuquerque); Pier 39 (San Francisco); The Space Needle (Seattle); Stanley Park (Vancouver) and The CN Tower (Toronto).  Wow! the USA and Canada for two on less than $50 a day (then).

Ah, Nostalgia! It ain't what it used to be. (grin)