Vacation Report #5

While taking in the sights of Galveston, Lissa was impressed that they had a ship named after her... wait a minute! Something's fishy here, and I don't mean that pungent aroma floating across the bay!




According to the
Galveston Historical Foundation:

ELISSA is a three-masted, iron-hulled sailing ship built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland... She carries nineteen sails covering over one-quarter of an acre in surface area. From her stern to the tip of her jibboom she measures 205 feet. Her height is 99 feet, 9 inches at the main mast... But, she is much more than iron, wood and canvas...

That's right. She's an awesome cool pirate ship! Manned by the scurviest scoundrels that sailed the seven seas! Deck Hand Calico Cassie, First Mate Tim "Black Dog" Duncan, Captain One-eyed Juanita & Ship's Cook Bonny Black Barbara!
Though it may not have actually been a pirate ship, it was an awesome cool feeling to be on the deck of something very much like it. After perusing the ship from stem to stern we dined next door with the Elissa right outside the window.

Vacation Report #4

The beach was our main attraction and so we spent every morning and evening frolicking in the surf (as best we could) or playing in the sand. Cassie laid traps for unsuspecting beachcombers to fall into, but alas was foiled by the incoming tide and falling into her own traps!


I am a testament to modern day sunscreen. After three days of "fun in the sun" I did not return to the Sooner state as a lobster. And despite the red flag warnings by the lifeguards, no one was drowned or dragged out to sea. The surf was definitely a force to be contended with, though. If only any one of us knew the first thing about surfing. We had to be content with flopping about the saltwater surf in floaty rings! I swear I totally tubed one awesome wave, though, dude!

Vacation Report #3

Finally, after a long hot day in the car (how do you Houstonians survive the summer?) we arrived at Galveston Island just in time to take a sunset stroll along the beach. Despite warnings from well-meaning ne'er-do-wells, who foretold of wrecked beaches and disastrous conditions at the site of Hurricane Ike's wrath last year, the beach was in fine form. In fact the crowds this year far exceeded our previous visits!
There were definite signs of damage, from beach houses down the west side of the island missing great chunks (if not swept away altogether) to the hotel on the pier closed down in a shambles (Melissa always thought that was a bad idea)! But for the most part, hotels, restaurants and sundry businesses along Seawall Blvd. were open and thriving with tourists. And despite heavy surf (the red flag flew the entire time)the beach was teeming with people!

Vacation Report #2

Many's the time that Melissa has regaled me with stories of her and her brother playing out in the field by their house: Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, Spy vs. Spy. But more often than not they were playing Army and her brother was... Audie Murphy. Sure, there may have been a time or two when I was a kid, that I'd imagine holding the front lines for some kiddy version of the Battle of the Somme, but I can't remember ever knowing enough about American history to actually portray a real war hero by name!

And in Greenville, his boyhood home, you can find a great big statue of that hero.

For those not in the know (or those who didn't grow up in Melissa's family) Audie Murphy was a real life WWII hero, the most decorated of them all, who made his main claim to fame after the war to end all wars appearing in a laundry list of combat themed flicks filmed in the 50's & 60's. The real story of his military career is heart-renching and trumps any movies he made later on in spades. There's an official site from which you can learn more here.

Since Melissa's brother was invariably Audie, who was Melissa, you might ask? An original creation named "Big Lou Lou".

Don't shoot Audie! It's me! Big Lou Lou!

Vacation Report #1

Our first major sight along the way was: Glenn Goode's Big People in Gainesville!

Once upon a time, in this wonderful land we call the U.S. of A., roadtrips were full of wondrous sights like giant jackrabbits, giant peanuts, giant rocking chairs and... giant people! The Muffler Man is a relic of a time not quite forgotten, when people wanted to sell you something. And when they wanted to sell you something they needed to get your attention. And giant people glaring down at you from the side of the road got your attention! Glenn Goode has a small sampling of old roadside statuary just East of Gainesville.

They're big. Really big.

And you can look up the former Uniroyal Gal's skirt and see her pink bikini shorts! What? I'm just sayin'!

Find out more about Muffler Men here!


Oooooo. Ahhhhhh. They're so... big.

Galveston Oh Galveston!

After a significant delay (it's a busy life) I'm finally posting our pictures from our latest edition of The Great American Road Trip! This year it was no wild meandering across the great American West nor an extended expedition into the colder climes of the Colorado Rockies nor a fun-filled family outing to Florida. This year it was a simple venture south and to the beach. Yes, Melissa revoked her previous oath never to set foot in that state that will remain nameless, and we traveled to our old vacation mainstay, the newly revived beaches of Galveston. This year our special guest vacationer was Melissa's mom, Barbara, who also happens to be my favorite mother-in-law!

It was a short holiday - but we tried to make it a memorable one. Join us as we remember - it'll be fun and exciting, like watching somebody's vacation slides! Only better! Because... they're just better!

Factoid of the Day!

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

Discovering Facebook

After attending my 20th High School Reunion this Spring I discovered an inordinate number of my past schoolmates with Facebook accounts. In fact much of the gathering had been organized through Facebook, much to my surprise. Thusly, I was given the challenge of signing up myself and finding out what all the hubbub was all about.

Cassie now accuses me of being a "Facebook Addict". True, since signing up I've logged on almost every day. Yes, I participate in inane comment banter. Of course, I answer various random Facebook surveys and top 5 lists. But am I addicted? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile the Duncan blog goes sadly unattended. Sorry blog.

C&H:ITC Princess Diana Report!

Swingin'

One of my favorite snaps from when Cassie was little!

New C&H:ITC!

Cassie & Hannah interview the Elephant Man!

Factoid of the Day!

Chewny is Scottish slang for chewing gum.

No C&H Year in Review

Instead look for Cassie & Hannah's latest biographical book reports ala C&H:ITC! Cassie's topic will be Joseph Merrick, more commonly known as the Elephant Man and Hannah's will be Princess Diana.

Factoid Of The Day!

A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

Factoid Of The Day!

You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.

It's That Time Again!

Yup, it's the time when I randomly post something to the blog, bemoaning the lack of activity on my part and yours! Looks like before Christmas since anything was posted and here it is almost Valentine's Day! Hope everyone is well and surviving the hard economic times. Look for a "2008 Year In Review" from Cassie & Hannah soon!

Change in Christmas Plans!

Here are the new plans for the Holidays as it concerns Clan Duncan and its friends and relations:

The annual Muse Red Oak Christmas will be December 20, the Saturday before Christmas, as is customary. But instead of reconvening in Wilburton afterwards for our usual gift exchange, the powers that be have decided to change things - in order to spice things up a bit and to make things easier for those traveling from the more outlying locales on the family map.

The plan now is to meet on Christmas Day in the afternoon at Mike's house in Norman for BBQ and presents. It's closer to the Lawton branch and the Ada branch of the family plus the Houston branch will be nearby on Christmas as well! This way if you can't manage the trip to Wilburton and Red Oak you won't miss out on the rest of the festivities!

Ho-Ho-Hope to see you all there!

Alex on election night

Here is Alex on election day/night 2008. As most you know he was field coordinator for the Andrew Rice for U.S. Senate campaign.

Cassie & Hannah: Wiggin' Out!

Duncan ABCs

So, say a person wanted to create an ABC book for the younger cousins of the Duncan family for Christmas, can anyone out there help me come up with names? Here's what I have:
A - Ashley, Alex, Abigail, Alanna
B - Uncle Billy, Bunnie, Barbara
C - Cooper, Cassie
D - ?? (group photo of Duncans?)
E - Elizabeth
F - Fern
G - Greg D, Greg M, Glen
H - Hoyt, Hannah, Hailey, Hunter
I - ??
J - Jordan, Julie, Jim, James
K - ??
L - Lois
M - Mike, Melissa, Margaret
N - Nici
O - ??
P - Price
Q - ??
R - ??
S - Susan
T - Tim, Tami
U - ??
V - ??
W - Weta
X - ??
Y - ??
Z - Zac

I'd prefer to stick with family proper, but if I have to fill in a few with pet names, that will work if I can find pictures. ;-)
Julie

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween on Friday! We had a blast ourselves. I had to go to work but since my fellow prepress monkey also dresses up for the occasion, we roamed the plant making sure everyone was safe from paranormal activity and supervillains. After work the whole family went out with friends, wandering the streets of Norman, getting attacked by werewolves, giant spiders and kids hiding behind porches.

If you went out trick-or-treating, e-mail us your picture so we can all see how silly you looked on Halloween!

Cassie as Goldilocks
Who ya gonna' call?
Cassie, Tim, Jensen and Hannah as Goldilocks, a Ghostbuster,
Goth-chick and the Queen of Hearts

Big News

Just wanted to make sure everyone saw my new blog http://zansttcjourney.blogspot.com/. We found out the genders today!!!

A REAL election poll!

I don't know a lot about Worlds of Warcraft, the online role-playing game, but in light of the upcoming election - I thought this was deeply insightful!

Ready for Halloween?

How are you dressing up this Halloween? Favorite superhero? Scary monster? Political candidate? Let us know! And send us your pictures (or better yet, post them yourselves!).

Vintage Picture

Found this in a bunch of old pictures. They must be related somehow...

Best C&H Episode Ever!

See more of Cassie & Hannah at YouTube.com!

Cassie takes on Volleyball!

The newest addition to the Alcott Lady Wildcats Volleyball team: Cassie Duncan! She'll be signing autographs after the game...

New! Cassie & Hannah: In The Closet

The latest from Cassie and her friend Hannah plus this week only: a bonus friend (while supplies last)! Topics include Pennslyvania cheese, an Oompa Loompa named Robert and what the heck happened to the "peace" sign?

Alex Graduation Video

Alex's graduation memorialized in video form: Here!

Nici News!

From Nici:

So I know a few of you are probably wondering what exactly is going on but are afraid to bug me about it constantly. So I decided to put up a blog to keep people updated and so I don't have to talk about it over and over and over again. So I promise I'm going to try and keep it updated! Here it is!

Cassie & Hannah: In The Closet

In this episode Cassie and Hannah set things straight concerning sugar, splinters and... cheese, of course.

Vacation Report Wrap Up

And that's about it, really. We dropped Ashley off in Wagoner, returned the van and made our way back home, weary but satisfied with a vacation well done.

We laughed. We cried. We got lost. We ate lotsa junk food. We saw lotsa stuff. Now you've experienced everything we experienced. Except for the long stretches in the van.

Let us know what you thought of our vacation in the comments section. And post your own vacation reports right here at Much Ado About Duncans!

Vacation Report: Day Six #2

Our summer vacation had a veritable cornucopia of Fast Food Discoveries, from the Arctic Circle and Fry Sauce in Wyoming, Utah and Idaho to Bison burgers in South Dakota. Our last meal on the road would boast one more.

Lunch time landed us in Salina, KS. A list of the quickest stops for a burger or sandwich left us wanting something different. Then we saw it. Let's try it! What was it?

Spangles! The sign said "It Just Tastes Better!" And with not only Elvis but Marilyn Monroe herself beckoning us from the windows, how could we not stop?

The decor was replete with 50's kitsch splattered all over the walls - like a bomb made from all the best stuff from your aunt Vera's attic exploded in the center of the building. The burgers are pretty good and the fries come in cups. If you find yourself in Kansas and a Spangles is nearby, give it a try. And say "Hi" to Elvis and Marilyn for us!

After ice-cream all around, it was the final drive into the great state of Oklahoma and home!

Vacation Report: Day Six #1

After Cassie and Ashley spent a night turning into prunes in the pool, we started off on our last day of vacation traveling. The day began with a look at The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument.

Apparently featured in the Jack Nicholson film About Schmidt (can't say I've seen it, though now it may end up on my Netflix list!), it straddles the highway as a monument to the Platte River Valley and Westward Expansion. What can I say, they don't have a lot to memorialize in Nebraska!

Unfortunately, we arrived too early to see anything inside (not that we had all the time to see it, what with Kansas in our way between us and home). But we took a few pics and moved on.

Vacation Report: Day Five #3

After Mt. Rushmore we made our way south for our last leg of the trip. But we still had Nebraska and Kansas between us and home. Our fifth day would end in Kearney, NE, home of the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument which we'll pay a visit to later. But on the way we had a little unscheduled excitement.

Melissa was our primary driver on the trip and throughout our travels she kept a close eye on our speed, albeit usually about 5 miles faster than the limit. Normally not a problem. But in Nebraska, where there are long stretches of nothing on the highway, and fewer cars traveling down that highway than Obama supporters at an NRA rally, Nebraska's Highway Patrolmen get a little bored. Maybe they just pull people over just for the company.

Whatever the case may be, on Friday June 6 somewhere along Hwy 30 near Odessa, NE, one of Nebraska's Finest pulled over a van with Texas plates full of Okies. He was the friendliest guy, especially after we made sure he knew we were from Oklahoma, despite the tag. There's a certain comraderie between Sooners and Cornhuskers, despite the years of collegiate rivalry. Texas? Not so much.

After the usual rigamarole, license and registration, the good officer handed Melissa a slip of paper.

"I'm just giving you a warning. You can just throw that away if you want."

You don't hear that very often from the boys in blue.

"I'm keeping it as a memento!"

You don't hear that very often from someone given a ticket!

Vacation Report: Day Five #2

And what kind of "All-American Vacation" would it be without a visit to one of the nation's most recognizable landmarks... Mt. Rushmore! No, we didn't see Cary Grant or Eva Marie Saint running about on top nor have they added George Dubya, Michael Jackson or Alfred E. Neuman to the existing presidents. George, Tom, Teddy and Abe are all there in all their stoic glory.

Of course we had to catch the obligitory shot of someone picking a president's nose, but it was comforting to see we weren't the only ones! And we saw one garden gnome make the trip as well!

Vacation Report: Day Five #1

Each hotel stay included a "continental breakfast" which could mean anything from toast and juice to a full complement of breakfast foods including sausage, pancakes, bagels and a variety of fruit. Most of our meals at the hotels up to this point were quiet, oftentimes we ate all by ourselves with the occasional fellow traveler meandering in and out of the room from time to time. Not so in Custer. Located basically at the hub of a major national vacation spot in the Black Hills of South Dakota, it was veritably busting at the seams. The breakfast area was in the lobby of the hotel and people were everywhere. But we eventually made our way through the queue and had our breakfast among the din of other people having their breakfast.

We gathered our things and piled into the van for our first site of the day, not much more than 15 minutes away: The Crazy Horse Memorial. The museum there was huge, we saw a short film on the monument then took a bus ride directly under the huge face of Crazy Horse.

It is a huge monument, albeit unfinished, built to the spirit of the Native Peoples of America that inspires one to ask: "Why?". When one considers what Native Americans believe about the sacredness of nature, it's a little difficult to imagine them supporting blowing a piece of it to kingdom come for the sake of art.

Rather than bring to mind the Spirit of the Red Man, Melissa says she got more out of the Crazy Horse monument concerning perseverance through hardship and the great American Pioneering spirit of Korczak Ziolkowski, the man behind the monument. The Crazy Horse Memorial is the brain-child and blood, sweat and tears of the former Mt. Rushmore worker, all around handyman and jack-of-all-trades.

Where Mt. Rushmore had a full contigent of federal employees hard at work, Korczak single-handedly took on his task without government financing or even a crew for that matter! Just himself, a ladder and some dynamite. That's all you really need to make art, right?

Right?

No matter what you think of The Crazy Horse Monument, there's one thing we can all agree on. That thing is big!

Vacation Report: Day Four #4

An inadvertant underlying theme seemed to be insinuating its way into our vacation this year. We started in Wichita's Museum of World Treasures where we saw Custer's Nephew's scalp, a trophy of the Battle of Little Bighorn, crossed through the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming where the Little Bighorn river has its beginnings and now after the long and arduous journey across Wyoming (we didn't get lost this time!) we landed in Custer, SD.

The hotel room in Custer was about the size of Cassie's closet, with a bathroom attached. But the size of the room didn't matter that night. We were exhausted after a tiring day in the van and as long as two beds were crammed in it, we were happy. After a quick pizza delivery and a late supper it was beddy-bye-bonzo time.

Tomorrow: Crazy Horse!

Vacation Report: Day Four #3

When packing clothes for a vacation, always plan ahead.

Having lived all our lives in the Sooner state, we've gotten used to some strange weather phenomena. It is often said of Oklahoma just as Samuel Clemens said of New England: "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes." But there are some meteorological occurences that are just unheard of. Snow and ice the first week of June might be one of them. And so despite having seen snow on the mountain tops along the way here and there, on Thursday June 5, Northern Wyoming was home to a van full of startled Okies!

We continued our journey via the Cloud Peak Skyway through the Big Horn Mountains where we encountered 34 degree temps. Just west of Buffalo, WY near Cloud Peak at an elevation of 13,167 ft., the road began icing over and snow fell in wet splatters on the windshield.It wasn't all that dangerous and it didn't last long but it made one consider if this is what this part of the world is like now, what must it be like in winter?

Vacation Report: Day Four #2

Back in the day, filling stations along the hi-ways and bi-ways of this great country of ours would employ attendants who would pump your gas for you, wash your windows, check your oil, wish you a safe journey and send you on your merry way confident that the motor-going public was in safe hands when needing a quick fill-up. Today your lucky to get a nod from the guy at the counter inside when the pump won't accept your debit card.

Except at The Red Barn gas and convenience store just East of Yellowstone on the North Fork Highway! Here you'll be greeted by arguably the friendliest service station attendant you'll ever meet. We're not sure of his name (it wasn't on his tag) and he didn't actually pump the gas or wash the windows, but he made sure everything ran smoothly at the Red Barn and sent you on your way a little cheerier than you may have arrived! And you can tip him with Goldfish crackers!



Make sure to say "Hey!" next time you're traveling that way!

Vacation Report: Day Four #1

After skirting north along the east side of Idaho and making a quick jog into the southeast corner of Montana we arrived at Yellowstone National Park, home of free ranging herds of bison & elk, grizzly bears, wolves, Old Faithful and Yogi Bear... or is that Jellystone?

Yellowstone has a natural beauty unrivaled on our trip. But our one thought at seeing folks stopping in the middle of the road to snap shots of the bison shambling slowly by was "Hey! We can see these in Lawton! Keep movin'!" What we really wanted to see was the hot springs geyser that everyone's familiar with: Old Faithful. We were afraid we might get our timing off (as is our inclination it seems). The show repeats approximately every 90 minutes or so. When we arrived at the parking lot we discovered everyone else on vacation had decided to stop and see how their timing was as well. So Melissa dropped us off.

Miscommunication is the bane of Man's Existence and it reared its ugly head once more. I thought Melissa was dropping us off so we could find out how close we were to the next scheduled eruption, she'd find a place to park or wheel back around and we'd plan accordingly. She already had a plan, however, for us to go ahead and see it, and she'd catch up one way or another. Oops.

I ran to the ranger's station, found out we were right on the money, just 5 minutes give or take before. So Ashley, Cassie and I stood by to wait for Melissa.

And waited.

And waited.

I searched the parking lot. Nuffin'. The girls filmed the top of the geyser as it spewed above the station building, not actually getting to see the whole thing since we didn't want to get everyone lost, the crowd was huge. I made my way back from my fruitless search just starting to get a little worried about Melissa and there she was making her way from the direction of Old Faithful.

"Did you miss it?!"

"Ummm. Yeah. We were waiting for you."

"Oops."

If only she had taken the camera! She insists it wasn't anything spectacular. I think she secretly thought it was awesome and was just trying to ease our sense of disappointment. But we didn't have time for another hour and a half wait! There was a long road ahead of us!

Despite having missed Old Faithful, there were plenty of steamy hot springs, snow, critters and beautiful scenery to see along the way. And more to see ahead of us as well!

Cassie & Hannah: In The Closet

We take a break in the vacation reports to give you this special message from our sponsor:

Vacation Report: Day Three #3

To top off the day we spent the evening in the hot tub and pool. Cassie's plan was to sample each and every hotel pool. Unfortunately the hotel in Logan, UT didn't have an indoor pool (and we were running so late we would have missed it anyway) and later in Custer, WY she missed out again.

Vacation Report: Day Three #2

How can anyone make a trip to Idaho and not visit The Potato Capital of the World! It's Blackfoot, ID and it's also the home of the Idaho Potato Museum, an educational and entertaining foray into the world of that most special spud, that terrific tubor, the ever-popular potato! See the giant potato! See the world's largest potato chip! Discover the fascinating history of the potato! And get a free pack of hash browns with each admission!

This was probably my favorite day of the whole vacation. We took things at a leisurely pace, the weather was beautiful, the hotel room in Pocatello was roomy and we got a nap in the afternoon! Plus we got free hash browns! This is what family vacations were meant to be!