We all like saving a buck when we can, and in today’s blog, I want to share a few good deals, and even a freebie or two, that may make you smile.

With Veterans Day this Thursday, even though the “official” holiday isn’t celebrated until next Monday, several restaurant chains  are honoring veterans with free meals. Military veterans and active-duty service members are invited to eat free at any Hooters, Chili’s, or Applebee’s restaurant on Veteran’s Day, Thursday, November 11.  Outback Steakhouse is offering veterans a free Bloomin Onion and a beverage on Thursday.

Continuing a 10 year tradition, Golden Corral restaurants nationwide will be holding their Military Appreciation dinner on Monday, November 15. All veterans, and those currently on active duty or serving in the National Guard or Reserves, will receive a free dinner and beverage.

Both Lowes and Home Depot also offer veterans a 10% discount every day of the year. I don’t know about you, but I really appreciate a business that honors our nation’s veterans like this!

But you don’t have to be a veteran to get great deals! This Thursday, the National Park Service is admitting everybody free at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees. You can get free entrance to national parks next year during National Park Week, April 16-24, 2011; on Public Lands Day, September 24, 2011; and on Veteran Day, November 11, 2011.

Speaking of national parks, the annual America the Beautiful Pass costs $80 and admits the pass holder, and anyone in their non-commercial vehicle, into fee areas at national parks and historic sites nationwide. If you are age 62 or older, the America the Beautiful Senior Pass costs $10 and is good for life. The pass admits the pass holder, and anyone in their non-commercial vehicle, into fee areas at national parks and historic sites nationwide. For those with a permanent disability, the America the Beautiful Access pass gives the same discounts and is free. Note that you do not have to be 100% disabled to qualify for this pass, anybody with a documented disability of any kind is eligible.

The other day, my pal (Froggi) Donna McNicol had a link on Facebook to a great website where you can download free Kindle books. These are wonderful old classics by authors like Louisa May Alcott, L Frank Baum, Agatha Christie, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Melville, and many more.

I don’t have a Kindle any more, but I have my iPad linked to my old Amazon Kindle account, and downloaded a couple of classic books that I have always wanted to read, but never got around to. You can even read these free books on your computer or smart phone with the free Kindle app from Amazon. Check it out at http://www.fonerbooks.com/free.htm. 

Terry and I always want to help our readers save a buck when we can. We used to run an end of year holiday special, and we got away from it for some reason. So, just in time for your Christmas shopping, here we go. If you subscribe or renew your existing Gypsy Journal subscription for two years, we’ll also send a one year gift subscription ($20 value) to whoever you choose, with a note that it’s a gift from you. This applies to both printed subscriptions to U.S. addresses by Standard Rate mail, and digital subscriptions.  Just click this Holiday Special Offer link and place your order. Sometimes the PayPal website gets stubborn and will only let you enter one address, so if this happens, use yours for the two year subscription, and send me an e-mail at editor@gypsyjournal.net with the name and address for the gift subscription. You can take advantage of this special offer even if your current subscription is not yet due for renewal. We’ll extend your subscription to reflect the two year renewal. This special offer is valid now through December 15, so act today to take advantage of the savings!

One final note before I close for today. Somebody sent me an e-mail about yet another Norcold refrigerator recall. Don’t let this go by, be safe and check it out  at http://www.norcoldrecall.com/ and see if your refrigerator is included in the recall. The repair is free, and it could save you from having an RV fire.

Thought For The Day – It’s always darkest just before the dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.

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We spent yesterday exploring Yorktown, where George Washington’s army, assisted by several thousand French soldiers, defeated the British in 1781, resulting in the end of the American Revolution, and independence for a new nation.

Yorktown was established in 1691, and by the early 1700s, it was a busy shipping port. Strategically located at the mouth of the York River, it was also important to the defense of Richmond and the rest of Virginia. So it was probably inevitable that the war would come here.

Yorktown Battlefield is part of Colonial National Historical Park, and is administered by the National Park Service. We started at the Battlefield Visitor Center, where a short video tells the story of the siege and battle that took place here. Then we boarded one of the free trolleys for a tour of the community.

Back at the Visitor Center, we then walked to the Yorktown Victory Monument, which was the first monument authorized by the Continental Congress, just after the battle. However, it took another 100 years before the monument was actually erected.

Then we continued into the old downtown section, where the main street is lined with historic buildings, including the handsome Thomas Nelson House. Nelson was the Governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, and also the commander of the Virginia Militia. During the siege of Yorktown, he directed artillery fire against the town, including his own home, to drive the British out. The house still shows the scars of American cannon balls.

We retrieved our van and drove the Battlefield Tour, which took us past locations occupied by British, American, and French troops during the battle. Not much remains except earthen redoubts and a few cannons, and information signs telling visitors what took place there.

The Augustine Moore House, where the surrender negotiations took place, was closed, so we couldn’t tour it. But we did stop to take some pictures.   

I have to say that overall, we were rather disappointed in Yorktown. Maybe we’ve been spoiled by our visits to places like Valley Forge, Gettysburg, and the Little Bighorn Battlefield, all administered by the National Park Service. But while those historic locations all have rather impressive museums, and lots of statues and monuments, at Yorktown there wasn’t much to see.

It took all of five minutes to see all there was to see in the small museum in the Visitor Center, and except for some cannon and the Victory Monument, and the buildings in town, the rest of the battlefield is pretty much open fields, a few earthen redoubts, and signs. No statues, no monuments.

Yes, it is an experience to stand on the hallowed ground where it all happened, but I would think that Yorktown, where we finally wrested our freedom from the grip of the greatest military power in the world at that time, deserves more. Terry and I were both left with the feeling of “is that all there is?”

I’d be interested to know what readers who have been to Yorktown have to say.

While we were out sightseeing, Bad Nick was busy posting a new Bad Nick Blog titled Abuse Isn’t A Right. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Beautiful young people are acts of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.

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During the second half of the 1880s, entrepreneurs set up trading posts on many Indian reservations to supply everything from food staples and tobacco to farming equipment. Many times the traders accepted animal furs, Indian artwork, and crafts in lieu of cash for payment.

One of the most famous of these trading posts was the one operated by  John Lorenzo Hubbell  at Ganado, Arizona. Unlike many traders, who took advantage of their customers, Hubbell had a good relationship with the Navajo people, and they shared a mutual respect. Hubbell became the foremost Navajo trader of his time, building a trading empire that included stage and freight lines, as well as trading posts. Eventually Hubbell and his two sons owned 24 trading posts, a wholesale house in Winslow, and other business and ranch properties. 

Hubbell had an enduring influence on Navajo rug weaving and silversmithing, consistently demanding and promoting excellence in craftsmanship.

Established in 1878, Hubbell family members operated the Ganado trading post until it was sold to the National Park Service in 1965. While the property is managed by the Park Service as a National Historic Site, the trading post store is still active, and operated by Western National Parks Association, a non-profit association that continues the trading business of the Hubbell family.

While the store still stocks a few basic grocery items and snacks, today the inventory is mostly Navajo rugs and tapestries, Indian jewelry, and crafts.

Besides the trading post itself, and the Hubbell family home, the complex includes a National Park Service Visitor Center that has a small book store, and a loom where Navajo women demonstrate the weaving skills. Unfortunately, we arrived just as the demonstration ended.

The Hubbell family home houses the family’s private collection of Southwestern art and Native American arts and crafts. The Park Service brochure says the home is available for guided tours, but it was closed during our visit. The woman on duty in the Visitor Center, who had all of the personality of a toad, really didn’t offer any information on what the actual tour hours are, since they don’t seem to follow the information in the Park Service brochure.

We spent some time poking around in the trading post store, admiring the beautiful Navajo rugs and the silver and turquoise jewelry on display.

Unlike the woman in the Visitor Center, the two ladies working in the store were very friendly and helpful. We didn’t purchase anything, because when you live in an RV, space is always a limitation. But there were a couple of weavings that Miss Terry sure wanted to take home with her.

I had a good time just taking pictures of all of the neat stuff on display inside the trading post, as well as outside.

Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site is located on U.S. Highway 264, a mile west of its junction with U.S. 191 in Ganado. It is 37 miles from Ganado to Interstate 40. Summer hours at Hubbell Trading Post are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, from April 30th to September 8th. Winter hours are 8 a.m.  to 5 p.m., daily from September 9th through April 29th.

There is a very short, sharp turn off the highway and it would be difficult for large RVs. When we arrived there was an eighteen wheeler in the parking lot dropping off supplies, and it did not go out the main entrance. But the woman in the Visitor Center just gave me a blank stare when I asked about RV access. I guess she was having a bad day, and my presence didn’t help it any.

Thought For The Day – Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

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I have just two things to say about our visit to Canyon de Chelly National Monument – “Awesome!” and “If you have never been to this natural wonderland, put it at the very top of your travel plans NOW! You won’t regret it!”

I have been to the Grand Canyon and the Salt River Canyon, I’ve seen Canyon Diablo, and a lot of other natural wonders of the Southwest, and in my opinion, none of them are as impressive as Canyon de Chelly! I only wish I had discovered this magical place years ago.

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d’Shay) is located at Chinle, Arizona, on the Navajo Indian Reservation, and has been inhabited by native peoples for nearly 5,000 years. At the canyon’s mouth, the colorful rock walls are only 30 feet high, but deeper in the canyon, the cliffs tower over 1,000 feet above the valley floor.

We had been advised not to take our 40 foot motorhome to Canyon de Chelly, and I’m glad we didn’t. There are two campgrounds, one the free Cottonwood Campground, which is best suited for small (under 30 feet) RVs, though we did see a couple of larger rigs that had somehow managed to squeeze in. But between the small spaces, tight turns, and trees close to the roadways, there is no way I’d take our motorhome in there.

Spider Rock Campground, about nine miles from the National Park Service Visitor Center, is privately owned, and it looked pretty run down to us. About the only amenities you’ll find there are lizards, porta-potties, and dry camping

We left the motorhome in Show Low and drove our van to Canyon de Chelly, and after a stop at the Visitor Center, we took the seventeen mile long South Rim Drive, which offered seven overlooks, each one more magnificent than the one before. Each overlook gave us a different perspective on the canyon. Our first stop was the Tunnel Canyon Overlook, which gave us nice views of the canyon, which is very green year around due to the river that flows through the bottom of the canyon.

At our next stop, Tesgi Overlook, we saw this farm, which is owned by a Navajo family who lives in this dramatic wonderland. Can you imagine what it would be like to wake up to these kinds of views every day?

Further along the South Rim Drive, at the White House Overlook, we took this photo of these ancient Indian ruins that date back to 1060 A.D. Archaeologists say that at one time the ruins had over 80 rooms, though only about 60 remain today.

It is very had to choose just one, but if I had to pick, my favorite view in Canyon de Chelly is of magnificent Spider Rock, which towers over 800 feet from the canyon floor. This rock formation is sacred to the Navajo people, who say that Spider Woman lives on top of the rock, and it was this deity who taught the first Navajo women to weave, creating a tradition that has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations.

Navajo mothers tell their children that if they misbehave, Spider Woman will carry them away and take them to the top of the rock spire to live until they learn their lesson.

I wish I had room to show you all of the wonderful photos we took at Canyon de Chelly, but there are just too many. And it doesn’t matter, because the photos just don’t do this natural wonder justice. You have to see it for yourself to believe it!

In tomorrow’s blog I’ll tell you about our visit to historic Hubbell Trading Post, another Navajo Reservation landmark.

Thought For The Day -A good traveler has no fixed plan, and is not intent on arriving.

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While you might picture the wide open spaces out West when you think about wild horses, you really don’t have to venture any further than the Outer Banks of North Carolina to see some of these beautiful creatures living wild and free.

Shackleford Banks, an island located three miles from the mainland in Cape Lookout National Seashore, is home to about 100 wild horses that are the descendents of animals abandoned by the Spanish in the 1600s, and others that escaped shipwrecks in the treacherous waters along the coast.

Popular with tourists and beloved by the local people, the National Park Service, which administers the island, wants the horses to live as wild as possible, so no water or food is provide them. The horses graze on natural grasses and get fresh water from small ponds and pools on the island.

The horses live in small harems, which are controlled by a mature alpha stallion, and in scattered bachelor bands of younger stallions that have not yet gathered their own harem.

As with all wild animals, interaction with human beings is harmful to the horses, and it is illegal for visitors to the island to feed or disturb them. One must keep in mind that though they may look like domestic horses, they are still wild animals, and can be dangerous to people who get too close. The horses are capable of biting and kicking when they feel endangered. One must be careful not to get between a mare and her colt, or two stallions that are fighting.

With no natural predators on Shackleford Banks, to keep their population in balance, the National Park Service occasionally rounds up some members of the herd and offers them to the public for adoption. Because of their natural beauty and intelligence, the horses are very popular with their adoptive owners.

Access to Shackleford Banks is by private boat, or by several privately owned passenger ferries that operate from Beaufort and Harkers Island. There are no facilities on the island, but visitors can bring their own tents and provisions, and camp overnight for up to fourteen days.

Thought For The Day – It was all so different before everything changed.

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