Givens Gaggle

Our Apartment

2011-07-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

Here is where we will be living for the next 23 months. The is the Canyon Road Towers. We will be in the second row of balconies from the corner on the right side of the flag pole on the 11th floor - 3rd balcony from the top.
The side street on the left of the above picture goes along City Creek and leads up to the State Capitol Building. There is a beautiful park and walking trail along the creek.From our balcony looking east you see the expanse of the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains.

To the west you see the Church Office Building and much of downtown. Looking straight out from the balcony (not shown) you see all the way to the Point (south of town.)

This is the living room looking towards the picture window and balcony. The apartment is furnished with beautiful furniture.

This is looking back the other way towards the door - to the far left and showing the dining room.

This is the dining room looking into the kitchen.

This is the remodeled kitchen - new appliances and room for anything we would need.
This condo (for it is a condo) is 1200 sq. feet and had two bedrooms and two baths. The building has underground parking, an inside pool and spa, and gym.

Burrel School Revisited

2011-06-15T22:29:00.001-07:00

In 1969 I began my teaching in a small school district 30 some odd miles southwest of Fresno. My first room was in a 1912 vintage building. I taught there two years and then had to leave in a staff reduction move. I was gone one year to Tranquility Elementary and was invited back as the Principal and teacher of grades 6, 7 AND 8. (Yes 3 grades.) While there we tore down the old buildings and built a state-of-the-art school in 1975. The school district is 100 years old this year and holding a centennial celebration May 11, 2012. The building directly behind me is the building I helped build.

This was a all contained building. It had the office, my office, staff room, cafeteria, and 3 classrooms. My office was behind the window at the far left of the picture and the yellow door went into my room. They have since built a sister building (behind this first building.)
It is kind of fun to have your name on a plaque - this is the dedicatory plaque for the building at Burrel.
I was thrilled to be there the day I was as my first and only secretary, Teresa Rodriguez, was working her last day before retirement the day I was there. It was inspiration I guess to go that day.
I am here with a former student, Sal Cisneros, who was in one of those early classes that I taught at Burrel. He and his wife now work at the school and he is the current PTC President and is in charge of the centennial celebration. That was a fun trip down memory lane.

Pretty Things

2011-05-31T22:00:00.001-07:00

Spring is always my favorite time of the year. I like to think our house is the most colorful in the neighborhood.

I just love my flowers in the spring.

Granddaughter and Diva - Maycee is pretty too.

Mormon Battalion Historical Site (San Diego, CA)

2011-05-31T21:22:00.001-07:00

On Memorial Day we visited the Mormon Battalion Historical Site. The Mormon Battalion was formed by Mormon men who were crossing the plains heading for Utah. The US Army enlisted them to create a wagon trail from the old Santa Fe trail out to San Diego, California in 1846. They were to fight any Spanish troops they were to encounter. They fought no battles but did walk some 2000 miles. The money they earned was desperately needed to help pay their way to the Rocky Mountains. My 2nd great granduncle, Richard H Carter, was one of the 500 recruits. He took sick in New Mexico and died on the way back to the main Mormon encampment on the trail to Utah. He was 26 and left a wife (who died of smallpox a few weeks later) and three small children.
The current building was remodeled in the past year or so and has a much improved experience for tourists who visit it. It is located in Old Town San Diego - right downtown.
Here are Hannah and Topher directing the firing of the cannon. The Battalion was a true military group and pulled cannon with them all the way to California.Here are Barbara and I standing with a Battalion soldier in front of the visitor center.The visitors go through 5 rooms learning about the Battalion experience. It is very high tech. You start in an assembly room where you sit in front of some pictures of real people (well almost) from the Battalion. The pictures actually come to life and begin to tell you their story. They guide you to the next room (not pictured) where the story of the recruitment of the troops is told by movies shown on the sides of pretend camp tents with the characters from the pictures playing key roles.
You eventually get to this room where the troops are outfitted. Hannah and Topher became honorary Battalion members and got to wear some of the garb the troops wore. In this room the characters would come to the window and talk to us.This room represented a camp along the way. The sky became the screen and we learned about being "attacked" by a herd of long-horn cattle, the sickness and trials of the troops, and their final arrival in San Diego.
After the presentations we were taken into a room (not pictured) where you could get your picture taken and you could explore people who served in the Battalion. Then you could go into the patio and mine for gold and do other hands on things.
Why pan for gold? After the Battalion was mustered out some of them traveled home through the San Joaquin Valley and then worked briefly for a Mr. Sutter at his saw mill and became the people who actually discovered the first gold of the gold rush.
All in all this was a very well planned and organized visitor center.

Palomar Observatory (Southern California)

2011-05-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

Mom, Maree, Hannah, Topher, and I took a tour of the Palomar Observatory and Hale Telescope this past Saturday. The observatory is at 5500 feet on a mountain north and east of San Diego. It is operational some 300 days of the year (with a few down days for maintenance and bad weather closures. Planning started in 1938 and the telescope was finally assembled in November, 1947 (the month I was born!)

This is a model of the telescope. The part that is going vertical (up and down) is the actual telescope. The part going more vertical is the mechanism needed to turn in within the observatory. The whole apparatus weighs some 55 tons and was put together on site though parts were shipped from all over the US to here. This is a reflective telescope meaning light is let into it and reflects off a concave mirror that focuses it on a focus point and that is where you "see" the image. At one point it was the biggest telescope in the world. It still gives more detailed views of the stars than the Hubble Telescope out in space. In the diagram the mirror is at the bottom of the vertical apparatus and the focus point is at the top.

The mirror is in the round holder in the picture below. It is 200 inches in diameter and was constructed of the state of the art "glass" in 1938 - Pyrex. Pyrex was a recent invention of the Corning company and was better than regular glass as it didn't change shape much with temperature change, thus allowing for very well focused images. It was cast in NY and shipped by train to California going only 25 miles per hour tops to keep the mirror from cracking. The final polishing of the mirror wasn't done until it was installed here in California. It is coated every 18 to 24 months with a fine layer of aluminum, which is then polished to a perfect reflection.
This is where the focal point is located and where the camera are found. Up in this housing a astronomer sits through the night (sometimes in a flight suit for warmth) adjusting the focus and pointing the telescope where they want it to view the sky. He is up to 135 feet up in the air.
This is a picture of one of our astronomer guides with Topher and Hannah. All in all this was a fun little day trip.

jfla

Life is Better

2011-03-09T07:48:00.000-08:00

Since November (week before Thanksgiving) we have had the heater go out, roof leaks in both the back bedroom and the garage, termites everywhere, and the master bath remodeled. As of a week ago today - heater works, roof doesn't leak, the termites are very unhappy with us, the back bedroom looks great, and our master bath is beautiful. Pictures to come.

House Demolition One Piece at a Time????

2011-01-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

Once upon a dark and gloomy night.....began our adventures into Home Repair and Remodel 1. We had a small leak into the garage at the left of the entry way. Something was going to need be done but it wasn't a high priority at the time, until Christmas night. We weren't even supposed to be home - should have been in Marysville by that evening but had decided to wait until the next afternoon. We went out to dinner at my sister-in-law's home on Christmas evening and when we go home we were greated by a flood in the back bedroom (our computer/genealogy/storage room). We actually didn't realize it until about 11:00 PM. This leak was on the opposite side of the gargage. The water went down the wall between the garage and the bedroom and came out the floorboard of the bedroom.

This the outside of our house with its newly decorated roof. We are awaiting the insurance company's findings on what will be fixed.

The bedroom itself was gutted. The only thing we left in it were the built in cabinets, behind which the water flowed to the floor, and our computer desk - workbench, which was too heavy and big to get out of the room. Again we are awaiting the estimator who will price out the repairs. Since they were able to dry this room out all that should be needed is painting and re-carpeting.

But we weren't satisfied with that level of mess - we had also scheduled our master bath to be remodeled at this very time and the contractor arrived on Monday to begin work. We are gutting the entire bathroom (escept for the vanity itself) and installing a air-jet tub, new shower, granite counter top, all new fixtures, tile floor, new mirror, and of course, paint. Above is where the shower will be with a nice seat inside.

The tub will go here now that the framing is in. As I write this they are cutting the holes in the granite for the sinks - so things are moving along. The tile is here, the tub and shower pan come next week and this project will be moving right along.

Halloween Anyone?

2011-01-14T08:40:00.001-08:00

OK, it is a little late for Halloween but I did want to blog our grandkids at Halloween. We weren't able to get the whole crew but this is what we have:

This is Benjamin (Bennie Man) dressed as Super Mario for Halloween.

Emma decided to be the game Twister.

And Maddy decided to be a spider - I hope not a black widow.

The Keith clan only had 3 participants this year as our eldest grandson, Jonathan, decided that he was too old for this. Joshua, on the left, was a Ninja (3rd straight year), Jillian was her usual diva self and was Belle from The Beauty and the Beast. Finally Jimmy (on the right) was Jack Sparrow.

Finally we have Rustin - who was Peter Pan and had a better time doing the Trick or Treat stuff this year.

Day 22 - Flying back home

2010-10-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well all good things must end. The day had finally come to fly home. We finished packing (which ended up having to be adjusted at the airport), went out and got a light breakfast, and it was time for one last cab ride - out to the Quebec Airport for the flights home.
Our first flight was a short one from Quebec to Montreal. At this point we had to collect all our checked baggage and go through US customs and then turn the bags back in. We then flew from Montreal to Denver. After another layover it was on one last plane to home. Our day started a 3 AM (Pacific time) - 6 AM in Quebec and ended in Fresno at 7:30 PM - that was a long day.
In Denver we saw a couple of notable things. We needed food (dinner) and the only place near our gate was Heidi's Brooklyn Deli. We didn't know Heidi ever got to Brooklyn but she really makes a good sandwich.The strangest thing at the Denver airport is this. They appear to be some kind of tents or teepees built to represent the Colorado Rocky Mounains.

So to recap our little trip. We were gone 22 days and traveled approximately 7420 miles. Those miles are broken down thusly:
Air to New York - 2680 miles

Driving in NY - 700 miles

Cruise - 2500 miles

Air to Fresno - 2640 miles

Day 21 - Exploring Quebec

2010-10-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

After checking into our hotel and resting for a while it was getting on to noon. So we got directions and set out on foot to explore the Old Town. To get there we just walked up (and I mean up - as in up the hill) about 4 blocks (to an elevator) and took it up to the next level of the city, where we continued to walk about 6 more short blocks to a perpendicular street. We took that street about the same distance on level ground and as the street made a right turn we came to the St. Jean gate into Old Town. The gate is under repair so there isn't much to see of it.

It was lunch time and we had already decided where we wanted to dine. We did check out numberous restaurants on the way - $18 individual pizza, $20 - 35 pasta and meat dishes. We wanted to eat in the restaurant (actually 3 restaurants - two indoor and one one the sidewalk). Its name is 1640 after the year the building was built. We ate indoors (it was quite chilly and windy outside) in the forground part of the restaurant.

We both had an $18 steak lunch. It came with cream of chicken curry soup (outstanding). I should have taken the picture before starting the meal as it was presented quite nicely. Besides the stake, it had 4 green beans, 1 asparagusstalk, a pile of cooked onions and peppers, some purple grated pickled beets (I think), bean sprouts, and potatoes (in a cassarole that must be equivilent to au gratin potatoes.) The meat had a sauce under it and was very, very tasty.

Fortified with food we crossed the square to the Chateau Frontenac - the dominating building in Old Quebec City. It is a pricy hotel (mid $300's and up a night) but quite a place. We checked out the lobby and the stores inside the building then exited into the arrival area of the hotel to find an interesting site on the archway leading out to the street.

After being a Dan Brown fan seeing this was most interesting. This is the Maltese Cross Stone. It was made in 1647 by Charles Huault de Montmagny, a Knight of the Order of Malta, and first Governor and Lieutenant-General of New France.

This is some kind of a Catholic building (Missionnares Du Sacre-Coeur) but check out what is in the window in the upper right of the picture - a menorah!

Champlain was the explorer who was first here and recognized the importance of the hights above the river. This is the narrowest point on the St. Lawrence - less than a mile wide at this point - hense the name Quebec (Where the river narrows). Champlain in 1613 designated the promontory as Mont Du Gas. Today we know it as the Citadelle de Quebec. We didn't really get any good pictures of it as it was closed by the time we got there. This picture is taken from just below it looking back on our ship and the Chateau Frontenac. You can see the gathering clouds which drenched us a little later.

As we walked down from the Citidel hill we passed this good example of what color was left in the trees.

We left Old Town by the other main gate in the city wall - the St. Louis Gate. It was a straight shot down the first street the paralled the city wall to our hotel. About 2/3 of the way back the rain began to fall but we had umbrellas so we were safe. On the way we picked up a deli sandwich for dinner and we got to work packing for the airlines - which was easier said than done.

Day 21 - Hotel Pur

2010-10-22T07:28:00.001-07:00

We had decided to spend an extra night in Quebec before we left on the trip. In shopping around on the internet I found a sale at the Hotel Pur (yes, that is its name.) Its name was already on my short list and saving another $70 closed the deal. The Pur is a 2 or 3 year old hotel in the New City - a 15 minute walk to the Old Town. Its decor is all black and white, ultra modern. Our first intro to this was when the elevator door opened to a totally black corridor - everything in black except the door numbers in orange.

Here is a picture of the room looking from the window towards the door. It had a nice soft king bed with a divider between it and a work table. The narrow entry has a floor to ceiling mirror and behind it is a full closet with a three drawer cabinet to store clothes.

It had a nice HD flat screen TV on a swivel mount. Under the picture window was a soft bench that I spent a lot of time on proped up on a pillow working on my computer.

The bathroom was back to the black decor - very functional. It had a walk in shower with no door (at the back end of the shower.) All in all, a very nice room and in a major city like Quebec for under $100.

Day 20 - Quebec City

2010-10-21T22:19:00.001-07:00

The rest of the day we spent on a bus tour of Old and New Quebec so we could be oriented to the city. Some of these pictures come from the tour and the rest from our own explorations after the tour and before dinner. Quebec City (at least the old part) is a small town enclosed by a large city wall that sits atop cliffs that drop down to the St. Lawrence River. There is a small river plain about 3 or 4 streets wide. Beyond the city walls up on the plateau you find what is called New Quebec. Below is the oldest school in North America.

This is the oldest building in Quebec City. Since we ate at a building built in 1640 the next day this building has to be older than that.

Old City Quebec is the location of the first basilica in Quebec - the Basilica du Notre Dame. It is pretty but Saint Ann's is the better of the two.

Here is the organ at the rear of the sanctuary.

What would a church be like without stained glass windows.

The highlight of the basilicia is the alter with all the gold leaf. That was quite impressive.

We were about two weeks early for Halloween but Quebec was ready for it with some very interesting decorations.

This is the statue of Champlain - who was the first explorer here.

In front of the Palais Montcalm is an artificial ice skating rink.

Here are some more Halloween decorations. They also like to insert a stick into a pumpkin and then jab the stick into the groud so you have pumpkins on the ends of sticks.

Leaving the old city proper you see a typical Quebec street. Notice the cobblestones and how narrow the street is. At the back of this street is the Funiculaire - the lift to get you up the cliff to the Old City.

The funiculiare cost $2 each to ride but the option is hiring a cab or climbing a LOT of steps. The lift is a very good option.

Day 20 - Albert Gilles Botique

2010-10-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

We actually had one more stop - the Albert Gilles Botique. Mr. Gilles was the gentleman who created the beautiful doors on the basilica. He has since died but his daughters continue his craft in this botique.

This is one of his daughters demonstrating how the design is pressed into the copper sheet. It takes hours to create even minor sized objects. If you press too hard, you can tear the copper, and then all you can do is throw it away and start over.

This is an example of pannels like the doors on the basilica.

Before he died, Mr. Giles created a Christorama where he depicted in frames of copper the events in Christ's life - this is the one showing the crufixion.

So this is the end of a most interesting tour. And the day was less than half done.

Day 20 - Basilica of Sainte-Ann-de-Beaupre

2010-10-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was the breath-taking Basilica of Sainte-Ann-de-Beaupre about 20 km east of Quebec City. It has been credited by the Catholic Church with many miracles of curing the sick and disabled. An original church on this site began in 1658 and the original basilica was built in 1876. That basilica burned down in 1922 and the present building was begun in 1926 and took ten years to finish - though they still have more detail work to do.
Statue of Saint Ann atop the basilica. St. Ann is the patron saint of Quebec.

When we arrived they were having Mass in the main chapel so we first went into the basement of the basilica where they have a whole second chapel - this one to the Virgin Mary. This is a shot of the alter area. All the art in this building - whether in the main santuary or in this one below is all done in mosaics. It is quite beautiful.

All around this santuary are scenes about Christ and done in mosaic as are all the designs in the building.

After mass was over we were allowed in the main santuary. This is the alter area.

The ceiling surrounded with stained glass windows is quite impressive.

This is a closeup of one of the sets of stained glass windows.

Every pew has a different animal carved on the end of it. The detail work in this building is unreal.

As I mentioned Saint Ann is credited with many miracles of healing. This piller and one you can't see are decorated with cruches and cains left by those who were healed of their ailments here.

The doors on the basilica were simply outstanding. The creator of these doors was Albert Gilles and his shop was our next stop.

On the hillside across the street from the basilica was a series of life-sized statues depicting the Stations of the Cross. This is one of them.

On our way back to the bus I was able to catch a picture of our guide (with beautiful red hair) and our bus driver. The guide was most informative and why we choose to pay for these tours as we can learn so much from the guides.

Day 20 - Montmorency Falls

2010-10-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

Our first tour for the day had two main stops - the first was Montmorency Falls (or as the French call it - Chute Montmorency). As you can see this is the first and only day we needed our heavy jackets. It showered a little and even that left by noon. It was a bit chilly - about 48 - 54 degrees.

From this angle the falls don't look very significant. They are actually 275 feet high and 150 feet wide. This makes them 98 feet higher than Niagra Falls, though they are short when compared with our Yosemite Falls in California.

The falls are situated in a park with this chateau as its headquarters. It was actually Manoir Montmorency, the home from 1791 to 1794 of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. The significance of the fall historically goes back to the French and Indian War when the French General Montcalm stopped the British and General Wolfe here at the Montmorency River. This spot is some 15 km east from the center of the old city of Quebec. Things remained at a stailmate until Wolfe took to the St. Lawrance and sailed above Quebec, climbed the cliffs and emerged to the west of Quebec. Montcalm chose to meet the English out on the Plains of Abraham where they were defeated and Quebec was lost to the French.

From the suspension bridge above the falls they do look more significant.

Also from the bridge you can see the stairway path leading down to the river from the far side. Lots of people like to start on the right side of the picture, cross the bridge, hike to the stairs, go down the stiars, cross the river at its mouth and ride a tram up to the right side of the picture and ending up where they started.

After our next stop we were able to stop and see the falls from below.

Here is some typical fall color from inside our bus looking through the window.

Day 19 - At Sea

2010-10-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

So what would a weary traveler have to say about a day at sea? Well here goes (and probably the most uninformative post on this blog.)
We sailed around Labador but were far out to sea and could just make out the coastline. The day was overcast and turned into rain by evening. We were supposed to have a rough ride but it really wasn't bad at all. The roughest ride was in our run up the St. Lawrence River nearning Quebec when we had currents, tides, wind and rain combining to make the ride rough. Overall the day was uneventful and the rest would be needed for the next couple of days.

Day 18 - Sydney and Louisburg Part 3

2010-10-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

One last thing about Fort Louisburg. One the grass in this picture is a saw horse made to look like a horse. It was used for punishment of soldiers. They were made to sit on it. Their arms would be tied behind them to their musket. Thirty-six pound cannon balls were attached to each leg. It could pull their hips out of their sockets. This was done for all kinds of infractions.

Back in Sydney on our dock is found the largest fiddle in the world - 60 feet tall. Now that is a fiddle.

That night the sunset was dramatic.

Even the clouds were an interesting color. But, alas, no Northern Lights. Darn.

Day 18 - Fort Louisburg Part 2

2010-10-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

The big building at Fort Louisburg was the King's Bastion Barracks. It was where many of soldiers barracked and today is a museum of life in the barracks. This is the altar of Kings Catholic Church with a picture of King Louis IX, who became St. Louis - the patron saint of soldiers. Interestingly this church was to be for the officers and officials, but the common men came to worship here and the church for the "commoner" was never built.

As I stated, all the rooms in the Barracks building have been turned into example rooms. This one is a typical kitchen. Notice the laundry hanging to dry.

This would be a bed room for an officer or official. All the upper class had canopy beds like this one.

Barbara with a soldier (a volunteer dressed as a common French soldier circa 1744.) The only problem here is the gender as "she" would never have been allowed in the French army.

This is an example of a typical French enlisted men's barracks.

This kitchen scene is interesting due to the various sized cups on top. They are actually liquid measure cups so liquids could be measured accurately.

This lady is dressed in clothing of the 1744 style and is making lace by hand. It takes 50 bobbins and 1 hour and 15 minutes to make one inch of lace. This was a simple pattern. Some patterns take up to 300 bobbins!

In the home of the local engineer was the first mechanical spit for cooking meat. Imagine a running spit from 1744!

Day 18 - Sydney, NS and Fort Louisburg

2010-10-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Today marked the furthest north we would travel on land on this trip. We actually had to sail southward into Sydney harbor as the harbor is on the north shore of Cape Breton Island. The sailing was rough during the night, but the day dawned clear and cool. We really didn't see much of the community of Sydney. We docked in a residential neighborhood, though it was only a couple of blocks from the commercial hub of the city. For shopping they had plenty of shops in the wharf shopping center, along with internet - yes, the first internet I had seen all week. I only had about an hour and a half to work but I at least cleaned out my inbox.
We had booked a tour to the fortress of Louisburg - the crown jewel of the French military fortressess on the North American Continent - now the crown jewel of the Canadian Historical Preservation group. The fort and community have be totally rebuilt from drawings and plans sent back to France when the community and fort were initially built in the 1740s. From across the bay this is what it looks like today.

As I stated previously the whole community surrounding the fort has been restored to the 1744 era. Since the official tourist season was over only some of the buildings were open for us to visit. In the summer they have upwards of 400 people in period costume here manning interactive displays. The fort, in its heyday, housed up to 7,000 soldiers and is gigantic.

Over the retaining wall, where merchant boats would dock to unload goods, you can see the present day community of Louisburg. Off to the left about a mile or mile and a half down the shore line was a battery of cannons along with another battery to the right (0ut of sight) that provided the typical 3 direction fire power to protect the fort. Unfortunately the French lost this fort twice to the British-- both times because they were convinced that they would be attacked from this direction by boat. Unfortunately, the British both times landed on the back side of the peninsula and marched through the forest to the battery at the left (which the French abandoned leaving cannon, cannon balls, and powder) so the British could bombard Louisburg with its own defensive weapons. The first time that the British overtook the fort the French were allowed to leave with all weapons, etc. and given safe passage off Cape Breton. After the French reestablished themselves here a few years later and the British had to again recapture the fort, they imprisoned all the captives, took them away, and destroyed the fort. In the 1960s Canada realized the tourist value of the fort and began the restoration process which continues to this day.

French soldiers were often kidnapped and pressed into service. Most of them were illiterate so they would need non-verbal ways to know where certain things were located - like the local pub. This sign was designed for them to know this is where they could get some liquid refreshment and the sun was to remind them they needed to be back to the barracks before dawn.

The streets of the community were fairly wide. Only officials, military leaders, etc. were allowed to walk in the center of the street. Commoners and regular soldiers were required to walk along the sides of the streets. Why? No plumbing-- so human and laundry wastes were collected in pots and just thrown out the windows onto the streets. The wealthy didn't want to get all dirty and smelly when traveling through the town so they walked down the middle!

This is the restoration of the Frederick Gate where all merchants would enter the community. The local governor caught flack for build this extravagant structure.

There was no running water and all water had to be gathered from wells like this one. Disease was endemic and sanitation was the biggest cause of their health problems.

Canada has gone so far as to reintroduce animals, like these sheep, which are the same breeds as would have been found here in 1744. Remember this place had to be as self-sufficient as possible. So vegetable gardens abounded, and domestic animals were found here in abundance.

Day 17 - Halifax, NS Part 3

2010-10-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

Our last stop was the Halifax Maritime Museum. One of the interesting things it has is a large collection of realia relating to the Titanic as this is the closest port to the sunken ship. Most of the victims were sent here after the ship sank. This is a model of the Titanic.

Here is an actual menu for third class (poorest) passengers. The menu for second and third class passengers were much, much better.

This was part of the woodwork inside the Titanic that was picked up after the ship sank. Rescuers collected anything that floated to the surface - not just bodies but any pieces of the ship that they could find.

These shoes belonged to a child that they never could identify until this year when DNA allowed them to figure out who he was. He wasn't claimed as all his family died in the sinking of the Titanic.

Some people took the pieces of wood that they collected in the ocean and turned them into all kinds of items - here a rolling pin and a plate among other things.

How dangerous are these waters? Each red dot on this map represents a sunken ship or boat. These are unforgiving waters. Overall this was a very interesting day.

Day 17 - Halifax, NS Part 2

2010-10-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

If we wanted to reduce our trip to three words it could be "trees, lighthouses, and forts." Those were the three constants of the trip. Our next stop was the Citadel atop a hill in the middle of Halifax. Of course this picture isn't it - this is one of the two companion forts built to defend the whole harbor. Another fort was across the bay.

Though it was initially built in the 1700's it was never captured by enemy armies. If you build a fort correctly, in a perfectly defensible position, it should be successful and this one was. This was the inner wall of the fort - using natural defense (earth) the walls were up to 25 feet thick. The big cannon ringed the fort and living quarters were under the guns built into the wall.This was our guide dressed in enlisted soldier clothes. He is actually a volunteer for the local preservation society.

This volunteer is dressed as a British officer as they would have been dressed during the Revolutionary War.

The inner walls were surrounded by another, even bigger, outer wall. With the dual walls, and being in a star shape, any attackers would have a terrible time actually defeating this fort. Any attackers who could get down in between the walls would face rifle fire and cannon shots from three directions. The narrow slits are rifle locations and the rectangles are where cannons would be placed.

How do you get messages out? Indians use signal fires, but the British used flags. The shorter pole was for messages to the other forts and the taller one was for hanging of the flags of the ships coming in or those in port. It would fly company flags of commercial ships. The flags of navies could also be flown here so everyone would know who was in port.

Oops - here is a mess up. This artwork is called "Fishermen's Monument" by William DeGarthe out at Peggy's Cove. Somehow I forgot to put this in the last post. It took this man years to carve the granite memorial.

Day 17 - Halifax, Nova Scotia Part 1

2010-10-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

OK - this really fits in with the day before, but we will put it here. After dinner (the night before) Barbara had an extreme attack of esophageal spasms, and we ended up in the ship's infirmary. To get an idea of the pain, she said she wanted to rip off her clothes and jump overboard! It was bad!!! After a careful evaluation of her, and an EKG, she was allowed back to our stateroom. I don't know if the smile is because she feels better or she was happy the bill was as small as it was.

Halifax is a bustling modern city in Nova Scotia (New Scotland for all the people who escaped Scotland and moved here.). We had another beautiful day. We were extremely lucky that the weather was on our side almost every day.

No tours in Halifax for us. On our trip to Alaska, we met a mother and daughter (Pauline White and Cindy Patriquin) and have kept up our friendship. They were gracious in offering to chauffeur us around for the day. It was a delightful day. They also were willing to take us into Dartmouth to see some old friends from Fresno (Elder Michael and Sister Lois Tanner) who are missionaries for the Church and run the office for the Halifax Canada Mission of the Church. This mission covers Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Labrador and a little of Maine. This is an immense area in size - about as big as the United States. It was fun to see them, since they left Fresno several years ago for Utah, and are now here in Nova Scotia.

Our first tourist stop was Peggy's Cove - the place all tourists have on their list when traveling to Halifax. It is about a 45 minute drive from town, and, of course, has the classic lighthouse. This one is exceptionally photogenic. being out on a rocky point. When storms come through, the breaking waves can literally break up on land up to the lighthouse. I loved this on a sign on the lighthouse:

Warning

Injury and death have rewarded careless sight-seers here.

The ocean and rocks are treacherous, so savor the sea from a distance

We were greeted by the sounds of music coming from a bagpiper. We found her down by the lighthouse. She is a struggling college student, playing music for donations. This was so appropriate out here at Peggy's Cove.

Cindy, Pauline, Barb and I next to the lighthouse. This is from the ocean side of the lighthouse.

Peggy's Cove hugs the coastline in a tundra environment. Because this area is washed over by waves on a regular basis, there are few plants here, though a couple of miles away it is forest land. The salt in the sea must kill off most of the natural vegetation.

Here is another shot of this picturesque little village. The nice thing of being on our own was that we could wait for all the tourist boats to leave and have the village almost to ourselves. We ate lunch here without a ton of people all over the place.

Answer to Quiz on Day 13

2010-10-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

Don't look at this unless you have viewed the quiz on Day 13

To get the answer unscramble these letters: SLIFELHJY

Day 16 - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

2010-10-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes place names can be confusing. In Canada they have Saint John, New Brunswick and St. Johns, Newfoundland. And you better not spell them wrong or the natives will really get after you. Saint John, NB is a delightful community of about 175,000 on the Bay of Fundy.
In the morning we got to do a little shopping as our tour didn't begin until 11 AM. Mom was thrilled as she was able to add to our Christmas tree ornament collection. (She never did get to shop in Boston and was bummed about that.)
Saint John was originally settled during the Revolutionary War by Loyalists that chose to leave the American colonies and move here this statue depicts these Loyalists.

While we were shopping Grandma found one of her granddaughters who was lost and needed a love. Can't tell by this picture if it is Hannah, Emma, Madelynn, or Jillian. I am pretty sure by the built it couldn't have been Macee.

Here is a picture of us while shopping. I think it is my favorite shot of me drom the entire trip.

Real or fake? That "statue" is a real person. He gave some tourist a real start when he would move. We saw one of these later in Quebec City.

If you are a tourist and you go to the Bay of Fundy there has to be one thing you want to experience - tides. This place has the most phenominal tides on earth. The tides here average about 8 feet at the mouth of the Bay and up to 50 feet at the head end of the bay. The Bay of Fundy is shaped like a funnel and you can see what happens if you try to poor water through a funnel. Lots more water can go in than can come out. Reversing Falls are actually on the Saint John River. We went by this location twice on our tour - the first time was to see the falls at low tide with the River running downhill (like it should) from right to left in this picture. We will see this same spot some 4 hours later as the tide begins to rise.

After running out to Reversing Falls we reversed directions and went back into town to see the sites including City Market - which is in design in the shape of a hull of an upside down sailing vessel. It was really crowded - 10,000 tourists in town on 3 cruise ships. Thankfully we only were allowed 30 minutes to shop.

I think every city that has existed since the early 1800's has burned to the ground at least once. This happened in Saint John in 1877. Because of the devistation of that fire the city made some rules. All buildings in the downtown had to be built of stone or brick, every family was issued a wooden bucket that they had to put their name on and if there was a fire all families were to send someone with the bucket to fight the fire. After the fire was out they were to leave the bucket - this way the fire fighters would know who got out safely. Also on all buildings over one story - a room was designated on the third floor (ladders could reach that high?) and a white cross was painted on the window frame. This was the room all people in the upper floors were to meet in so they could be evacuated. White crosses still exist on many buildings.

Our next stop was the fishing community of St. Martins about an hour up the Bay. It is a fishing village and that means lobster traps in this area. The shops on the land prepare the traps and the fishermen ret them when they go out. Each trap is prepared and read to go - you drop in some bait and throw it out - the line, float, etc. are all ready to go.

The guide said this is the only place you can see two covered bridges in one place. I don't know if that is true or not but I haven't seen many covered bridges anywhere.

Tides - the tide was rising and I personally saw it rise up the beach a good 18 inches in just 5 minutes or so. High tide from the day before is marked by the little smudge of sea weed you can see at the lower left corner of the picture. The tide would be there in 3 hours or less from when this picture was taken. The cliff in the background has a bunch of natural caves created by waves of the bay. At low tide there is a beach in front of them and you can walk out around the point to a beautiful beach. Where is it now - underwater. Quite a place for tides.

Remember Reversing Falls? Well four hours later we went back by there as the tide was rising. Now the river has been stopped and sea water is flowing fron the left (foreground) to the right up the river. In fact as the tides rise there are no longer any falls here. This is a must see place.

Day 15 - Boston, MA

2010-10-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

Boston, MA - This is a town we have been to and spent a few days in about 10 years ago. I guess I better digitize the pictures for that trip. Anyway we didn't want to waste much money here on expensive shore excursions so we took an expensive little bus ride around the town. We thought it was an open top bus - like in London but it wasn't so pictures were not easy to take. We drove by the Boston Gardon (Bank One Arena or whatever they call it today. The original Garden was built over the freeway (which traveled under the arena. It also had a trainstation in the basement, as it does today.

This being hocky season (and basketball is still in pre-season mode) the decorations out were for the Boston Bruins.

Except I did find this one sign that was out. Go Celtics.

The ugliest building in America? According to the guide, who must have told us 4 times, the new Boston City Hall has been voted the ugliest building in America.

The tall monument in the Kings Chapel Grave Yard is that of Ben Franklin - my favorite president. President? Well he is on the $50 bill so he must be a President - right?

Another of my heroes - Ted Williams in a statue outside of Fenway Park.

I think we actually saw more of the outside of Fenway park this day than we did the day we attended a game here. This time we weren't worried about if the rain would return or where to find the subway station so we could get back to the motel after the game. This is the famous green monster.

The Boston skyline as we sailed away for Canada and new territoru for us to see.

Day 14 - Portland, ME

2010-10-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

Portland, ME, again not really a normal port for cruise ships to drop anchor. This was our poor replacement for Bar Harbor, ME when the cruise schedule was changed. We lost Newfoundland and Bar Harbor and got Portland and New London in exchange - not really a fair exchange.
This stop was OK with us even though the tours only had two things - the Portland Head Lighthouse and Kennibunkport as places to go. Instead we had a cousin of mine, Priscilla Gallant, who was gracious enough to pick us up at the dock and take us around for the day. On our way in to port I saw several lighthouses and this one turned out to be the one we went to visit.

The Portland Head Lighthouse is THE lighthouse in the neighborhood. Lighthouses are a big thing here in Maine as they are necessary for keeping boats and ships from running ashore and sinking. Of course nowdays with radar and sonar they are less valuable. This lighthouse was nice as it had an excellent little museum with it. Here we are in front of it.

This is a picture of our hosts - Priscilla Gallant and Jim Welsh. I met Priscilla through researching my Carters and Jim is also a genealogist - so we had a great time together.

This is a typical lighthouse lamp - I believe at 3/4 size. You can see that they are quite large. The design is to focus the light inside into a single beam that would be seen from far away.
This poster demonstrates how all the angles of the glass in the lamp focus the light into a single, intense beam.

This is a part of old Fort Williams, first built in 1873 right after the Civil War. This was a gun and cannon enplacement facing out into the harbor at Portland Head. Most every port on the coast has old abandoned forts like this that were used in times past for protection from naval attack and pirates. Usually there were forts on the opposite sides of the opening of the bay along with forts built in mid-bay on islands. In this way the forts could provide overlapping coverage of all the opening to the bay from their cannons. This bay has three such forts. The cannons all had ranges of a mile or more so there was no way to enter the harbor without the risk of being shelled.

At Fort Williams is also the remains of the Goddard Mansion built in 1858 as an Italian Villa. The owner, John Goddard, was a wealthy lumberman. The mansion was acquired by the military in 1896 and used as housing for married enlisted men at the fort. The mansion and fort are in disrepair since the fort was decommissioned in the 1960's.

This is the fort in the middle of the harbor with 360 degrees of fire from the middle of the bay.

Across the bay from Fort Williams are the remains of another fort making up the triple fort arrangement for this harbor's defense.

Day 13 - What are these?

2010-10-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Quiz time - Today's quiz is to identify what you see here. I will give two clues - first, this was seen at the Mystic Aquarium and secondly they are alive. Solution will be found in a later post.

Day 13 - Security in Port

2010-10-19T07:33:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned earlier New London is he home of the Coast Guard Academy. I believe the br0wn building the the middle of this picture, taken from a bus on the bridge over the harbor, is a part of the academy.

Big ships always get an escort out of port - usually the Port Pilot. Well in New London we got that plus an armed guard - two patrol boats with manned machine guns. They were very diligent and would position themselves between us any pleasure craft that would come to close to us. We couldn't tell if this was for our protection or just so they could practice this. With the General Dynamics sub building plant and a narrow harbor entrance they may exercise extra dilligence so a big ship like ours doesn't get sunk and block the harbor. Who knows?

Day 13 - New London, CT

2010-10-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

New London, Connecticut isn't my idea of a stopping place for cruise ships and our visit here didn't change my opinion. How important is gambling on a cruise ship you might ask? Well it is about 50 miles from Newport to New London. The ship left Newport for New London at 3 PM and the ship's log shows they sailed 127 nautical miles so they beat a fast tack out to sea and opened the casino while they sailed around in circles waiting for the morning to come.
Now on to New London - home of the Coast Guard Academy which was closed today as it was homecomming for the football team - talk about timing. Not much to do here - we have been here before on a genealogy trip
We did take a tour (more to get off the ship than anything) to the Mystic Aquarium and Mystic Village. This is Barbara with a statue to the South African penguins housed here.

These are cute little critters. They have quite a few of them and they were out and about so we were able to see them on land and swimming around in the water. They had an interpreter there who was able to fill us in on anything we wanted to know about these cute guys.

New London, as mentioned before is the home of the Coast Guard Academy and also the major nuclear submarine building location in our nation. Below is an enclosed hanger where a sub can be built in secret (0r repaired in secret) and next to it a sub that is being repaired.

This is just one of those pictures you have to take. I could call this the smallest lighthouse I have ever seen but it is actually a bouy out in the harbor at New London. It is a classic.

Block Island - home of my ancestors. This is about as close to it as we were to get on the voyage. It is a great vacation destination for those with money in the East.

Day 12 - Newport, RI

2010-10-18T04:09:00.000-07:00

After sailing out of New York Harbor, we sailed along Long Island on the Atlantic Ocean side. We sailed past Block Island in the dark and then set anchor in Newport Harbor since there was no dock that could accomodate us.

This required that we take a shuttle to the wharf. The lines were long on the ship and even longer on shore so we go virtually no time to play in port.

We booked one tour that took us past many mansions along the coast. Many of the old mansions have been turned over to the Newport Preseveration Society. They are hard to see from the front on a moving bus as there are many trees and plants between them and the street but from behind where they face the bay the view is much better.

This is Rosecliff mansion that we toured. It sits on 21 acres and was given to the preservation society to maintain and open to the public. The docents were really grouchy and not that friendly but the building was beautiful inside. Wish I could provide pictures but photos were strictly forbidden.

From the gigantic back yard of Rosecliff here are a couple of the neighbors' homes that lined the little cove where they were located. These are obviously more humble but still quite impressive.

Unfortunately this was our fate when we got back to the docks - a two block line of passengers waiting to get back on the ship. Because of this and a 3 PM sailing we were basically eliminated from doing any shopping - must have saved us some money. We never fully understood why we had to leave at 3 PM to sail 50 miles to New London, CT but they left early so, we presume, they could get out in the Atlantic and open up the casino on board the ship.

Day 11 - To the Crown Princess

2010-10-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

After a $40 cab ride we arrived at the warf and by 3:30 we were on the ship.

This is a view from our stateroom while we were at the dock in Manhattan.

Here is Barb making friends with here new home away from home - room A234 on deck 12 - the Aloha deck.

Here is a fleeting view of our room with the balcony behind the curtains.

We set sail about 7 PM so we left NYC in the dark. Here is a view of the Manhattan skyline. The Empire State Building is the pointed one at the left.

I really tried to get a good shot of the Statue of Liberty but just never could get the good setting. Bye-bye New York. Tomorrow Rhode Island

Day 11 - Last Day in New York

2010-10-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

You know what you do when you are on a long vacation? You wash clothes. We spent most of the morning - until almost 11:20 getting our clothes washed, dried, and packed ready for the ship. We could board any time after 1 PM but didn't want to be too prompt or we would just be in long lines.

So with time short we hopped on a subway and went up Manhattan to near St. Patrick's Cathedral. It is quite a site tucked in between highrise buildings. In fact all the churches in NYC are overwhelmed by the tall structures around them.

While we were in the building they were actually holding Mass. I guess they are used to visitors taking pictures during their services as they didn't seem to even notice us back at the rear of the hall.

I love the doors on old churches. This one is very nice but later in the trip we will see doors that over shadow these by far.

A stroll down 5th Avenue can't be done without a little window shopping. Barbara wanted a picture of a de Beer diamond but I thought this neckless from Cartier was better.

You ask just about anyone in NY where you must eat and they will to a person say the Carnegie Deli. The Carnegie music hall was closed for repairs but the Deli was doing a bangup business. What to eat? A sandwich of course - a sandwich built for two. As you can see below it is quite a sandwich.

Day 10 - Phantom of the Opera

2010-10-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

That night we had a treat and went to see the Phantom of the Opera on 42nd Street at the Magestic Theater. It was easily within walking distance from our hotel so we didn't even need a taxi for this little trip.

Was it worth it? You bet. The acting was great, costumes were unbelieveable, and the special effects were super. Were in the second row a little left of center. If we stood up we could look right down into the orchestra pit. The chandelier? Well lets say Barbara was so close she wanted to duck.

Great play.

Day 10 - Empire State Building

2010-10-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

The day was getting late by the time we got back to Manhattan. I think it was about 3 PM or so and we had the play to go to this night. Bless the subway - we got up to the area of the Empire State building in less than a half hour. The lines at the Empire State Building can be enormous in the summer but bless the fall season. We had very little wait. Also the day before the overcast had been so bad you couldn't see the top of the building from the ground. This day was great weather. We had overcast but that is all. This is the ESB from the ground looking up.You know sometimes you just have to take a picture. This guy was in line just before us and it wasn't a kid but an older guy no less. We were eating breakfast today with a guy that only had one sock since he had packed all his others and the luggage had been taken away. We suggested he just switch it from foot to foot every hour or so to make things even.

This is the very top of the building from the 86th floor lookout. They wanted another $20 to go up to the 101st floor but we opted out of that one. We never saw King Kong either - darn.

We took tons of puctures but this one has significance. The pointed building in the center is the Chrysler Building. It was the second tallest building in the world once upon a time. What is significant is that it tower bisects a dark piece of land that is a peninsula of Long Island. By my reconing that is where Sands Point, Long Island is located. My Sands ancestors owned land on that point back in the late 1600's.

Not the greatest picture as we were looking into the sun. This is looking south on Manhatten. Ground Zero is actually about where the furthest right tall buildings are located. You can see the Statue of Liberty out in the river and the island just to the right is Ellis Island.

And you ask where we were staying. We were on 40th Street just off 8th Avenue. This picture has 3 hotels in one. The black one is the Four Points, The red is the Marriot and the gray colored one is ours - Staybridge Suites at Times Square. Like I showed earlier it was an excellent hotel, even though a couple of doors past the Marriot was the New York Parole Board offices.

Day 10 - Ellis Island

2010-10-07T07:31:00.001-07:00

The next stop on the ferry was Ellis Island - where so many immigrants passed through on their way to a new life in America. Barbara's own ancesors on both the Blessing and Yates families came through here on the way to Rhode Island and Chicago. It is interesting how close this island is to the island that the Statue of Liberty is located.

This is the grand hall at Ellis Island. It is the big room that all immigres would have had to be processed. If they were ill or didn't have a sponsor (or way to support themselves) they would be turned away. For Barbara this room was significant as she had ancestors who had to walk this very room.

Seeing the display of luggage also made us think about how much did her ancestors bring? I suspect we have more than they had just for this trip. I can't imagine leaving everything - family, friends, worldly possessions to start over in a new country. We actually didn't do the genealogy thing here as they charge for internet time and charge a huge fee for anything you want copied.

Day 10 - Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island

2010-10-07T04:56:00.000-07:00

This was our one day to do New York on our own. We planned out the Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, Phantom of the Opera in the Evening, and everything else we could cram in there. Well everything else ended up being getting our ticket situation straightened out.
We started our day about 8 AM purchasing tickets (we thought) from our hotel but the printer didn't work so they sent us over to Madam Truseau's to print the tickets. (No sweat we thought.) Well we ended up in at least a 30+ minute line with others trying to get tickets printed. We got the stuff printed so lets skip a head in the story to the Ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We try to get into the line and they turn us away because all we have is a voucher for tickets. The guy sends us a couple of blocks away to find the guys in the yellow jackets who actually issue tickets for this company. By the time we find them and get the voucher changed to a ticket it was 11:30! Lesson? There are ticket venders running around all over the city in Blue and Yellow jackets that can sell you tickets to the nearby attractions. The prices are the same so if I had to do it again I would just buy the tickets nearby from a vender.

As we left our hotel we passed the most interesting parking lot we have seen in the city. High rise parking - that is a unique use of space. The guy that owned it wanted to be in the picture so of course I let him pose.

Going back to our narrative, today we got to do my favorite mode of transportation in New York - the subway. You can't beat it for getting around the city fast. We bought one day - unlimited passes for $8.25. That allowed us to get on and off as much as we wanted as opposed to $2.25 per ride. So we walked a couple of street over to the subway and rode the length of Manhattan underground to the Staten Island Ferry and a short walk over to the Statue of Liberty through Battery Park. This park was the site of one of the three forts guarding the entrance to the Hudson River and Manhattan itself.

The picture below is a statue that was recovered from the site of the World Trade Center and will be moved back there when the park at that site is ready. It was part of a fountain there, and though damaged, survived.

How many pictures can you take of the Statue of Liberty? Apparently quite a few. This one is my favorite taken as we were coming in close to the island to land. The base that it sits on is in the shape of a star. Of course the green color is from the fact that it is a steel frame covered in sheets of copper.

Here is a picture of Barb standing at the base of the statue. After several days of rain or showers this was a gorgeous day with patchy clouds and no precipitation.

In the gardens were statues to several of the people responsible for the building of the statue, which by the way, was constructed in France and shipped here and put back together. The statue below is of Andre Eiffel who designed the steel frame of the statue. Yes, the same guy who build a little tower in Paris.

Our trip to the Statue wouldn't have been complete without finding the plaque with the famous Emma Lazarus poem. We never did find the actual plaque but we found this display with a copy of her original poem. I want to put the whole thing here:

Not like the brazen gient of creek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land,

Here at our sea-washed sunset gates

Shall stand a mighty woman with a torch,

Whose flame is the imprisioned lightning,

And her name Mother of Exiles.

From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome;

Her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor

That twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient land, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired , your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe fre.

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.

I lift my lamp besied the golden door!"

Day 9 - The 9 - 11 Site

2010-10-06T05:56:00.001-07:00

The last major stop on our tour was the World Trade Center site of the 9/11 terrorist attack. This is a picture of the new Tower 1 being rebuilt. I think they said it would be finished in 2013 or so. The foundation and first few floors of the new Tower 2 will be built but that is all for now. They have the same financial problems that the Empire State Building and others had when they were built. You can build a building but then you need tennents. So until more financing and tennants appear there will be just one Tower fully built.

We were taking these pictures across the street from the Twin Towers site. The building we were in is absolutely beautiful and only had its windows blown out that day. It is interesting how buildings so close to this disaster were only slightly damaged. Memorials to the dead are being built at the actual site of each tower. In the middle of this picture of the site you can see some trees. That is the rear of St. Paul's Chapel. The church was undamaged that day but one tree in the cemetery was blown over.

This sculpture is actually a rendition of the root system of the tree that was blown over and is placed at Trinity Church due to a lack of space at St. Paul's. The metaphore is that as trees need roots to be anchored, we need to have roots to hold us firmly in our family and nation.

I don't know the name of this building but it is one half as wide as one of the original Twin Towers and one half as tall making it just a quarter the size of one of the original Towers. They were huge. That is the beginnings of the second tower in the foreground. Our guide was a witness to this disaster from two miles away in Brooklyn where he was working. He said they actually saw the second plane crash into the tower and after they came down didn't know what to do so they left work. He went to his wife's school in Queens to pick her up and he said he was covered with ashes from the buildings even though he had been so far away. He could hardly talk about it and was quite emotional. You feel a hallowed feeling here like I have felt at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, etc.

All good days must end and ours did too as we walked through Times Square to our hotel. This is where the ball is dropped each New Years Day.

Day 9 - Wall Street

2010-10-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

Wall Street was our next stop. The Trinity Church is right at the beginning of the street. In the Colonial Days it Wall Street was actually a wall to keep the Indians out. During the Revolutionary War it was less than successful at keeping the British out though. There is a cemetery around the church and Alexander Hamilton and other famous Americans are buried there.

This is the front door of the NY Stock Exchange - just a block down Wall Street from Trinity Church. The security around here is extremely tight. No one gets next to the building without going through security.

Across the street is the Merchants Hall with a statue of George Washington in front. This was the spot that washington took the oath of office as our first President. His right hand is out as if he is placing it on the Bible he swore the oath of office. That Bible and an original of the Declaration of Independence are on display within the building.

This is a shot up Wall Street from the last location showing all the security barriers and how close Trinity Church is to this spot. After his inauguration, Washington walked to Trinity Church and prayed for the country.

Day 9 - Out on the Hudson River

2010-10-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

We took a boat arond both sides of the tip of Manhattan and out to the Statue of Liberty. Below is a picture of the Manhattan skyline from out on the Hudson heading to the Statue of Liberty.

This is Ellis Island where all the immigrants entering the United States through New York City were sent to be processed. It was the first stop of immigrants in the later part of the 1800's and the early 1900's.

I think we all know who this is. Built my Mr. Eiffel - the builder of the Eiffel Tower.

This is Wall Street seen from the Hudson with Trinity Church at the end of the street. More on this in the next installment.

Day 9 - Manhattan Part 3

2010-10-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

This coiuld have been the tour that would never end. Anyway, this is a building that was just unique and felt needed its picture taken. Interesting, wouldn't you say?

Speaking of buildings, these two make an interesing pair. They are both owned by Met Life. The one on the right is the Met Life building. The second one was planned to be 100+ stories but was never finished as they got this far and the Great Depression hit. The guide said that if they had finished it, the Empire State Building would never have been built.

Speaking of the Empire State Building, here it is in the low overcast. This wouldn't have been a good day to pay over $20 to go up it and get a good view of the city. We learned that it was mostly empty after being built and some obscure movie made it so famous that companies started moving into it. Remember a gorilla and a girl and airplanes shooting at the ape?

If I can sell you this, I could sell you the Brooklyn Bridge. Well this is a tower of the Brooklyn Bridge showing the hundreds of cables that support the roadway on the bridge. This was the largest suspension bridge in the world when it was built. I remember reading a book about the builder in junior high.

Day 9 - Manhattan Part 2

2010-10-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

Some pictures just have to be taken and shared. This would have been better as the dog walker was walking towards us but I was so mesermized by this person walking about 10 dogs that all I could do was look. By the time I activated my camera they were past us. Oh yes, you can hire a dog taxi to take your dog to be groomed. I guess if you can afford a $25 million apartment, you can afford to hire a taxi for your dog.This is the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral. It does seem strange at first to find an beautiful old building in between modern skyscrapers.

Rockerfeller Center was getting a color splash today with all these beautiful flowers being planted. It was literally trucks of flowers being put out. But isn't winter just around the corner?

This is a closer view. The skating rink will be activated later this month until March or April. The flags were all out today because it was a special firemen's day with tons of kids here to see fire trucks and the firemen.

OK, here is another picture that you just have to take. I forget what the building is that the men are delivering to (1st Mercantile?) but anyway those are bags of money. I wonder if I could get a sample??

Day 9 - Manhattan

2010-10-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

Oh gosh, how do you summarize 10 hours of touring the island of Manhattan. I took over 100 pictures and probably can't remember 10% of what I was told by our tour guide today. We have never seen so many people in one day - probably at least a million. OK, let's give you a taste of NYC:

We had a 5 1/2 hour tour scheduled as part of the package we purchased for our stay here. We had to take about a 20 minute walk a couple of blocks past Times Square to pick up our tour bus.

We passed this sign and I couldn't resist taking a shot of it. Tomorrow we will be in the theatre to see Phantom.

This is The Dakota and the spot at which John Lennon was shot. It is really a beautiful older building. We would love to live there but the last appartment to sell went for $25 million - just 24.8 million over our limit. Darn!

Central Park, across the street, has an area now designated Strawberry Fields after Lennon. In it is this beautiful mosaic that was given by Italy after his death. BTW - Strawberry Fields has no strawberry plants but lots of beautiful trees and other plants. Lining all the walks are benches that you can place a plaque on for $7,500 - that puts your bench in the park but you can't take it home or even sleep on it at night. (Much more to come.)

Day 8 - Meals

2010-10-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

OK - we couldn't resist doing a little "Grandma Betty" blog. For of the day whenever my parents were on the road. I won't do that to you but must mention two.

In Albany we ate dinner at Delmonico's. Absolutely outstanding food buthose who never knew my mother - when she traveled we would have to get a meal by meal review t the waitress didn't warn us about one thing - the portions! We ordered lasagna and after ordering we were reading the walls where charactures of famous people are drawn with captions. One said something to the effect of "We don't compromise for size in our portions." Well they meant it - our lasagna pieces were big enough to feed three people each. It measured at least 9 inches by 4 inches and at least 2 1/2 inches high. We are used to Olive Garden portions and this is at least 3 of them or more.

Below is our first NYC meal at 5 Napkin Hamburger - yes an upscale hamburger joint. Jamie, our bellman at the hotel, knew what he was talking about. - Never had a $20 hamburger before but what a burger. Called a "Hamburger for Two" - it could have fed more. Look closely at the plate - we have only eaten half of the burger. It looked like a small mountain when it came. Flavor? It was outstanding and the company at the nearby table was enjoyable too. We had to walk 5 blocks to get there (35th street) but it wasn't really very far. We must have passed 20 places to eat in that short stroll down 8th Avenue.

Day 8 - Staybridge Suites Hotel

2010-10-05T04:21:00.000-07:00

We chose to stay in NYC at the Staybridge Suites Times Square during our visit to the Big Apple. It is one 40th Street between 8th and 9th. That mean we are just a 10 min. walk from times square. The hotel is very new and not like a typical big city hotel - there is actually space in our room. Here is the entertainment center with a 35 in flat screen TV with every kind of connection you can imagine.

King sized bed which is really comfortable. View? Well across the way is another hotel and over the tops of the surrounding buildings you can see the upper part of several places.

This is actually an extended stay hotel. It comes with a full refrigerator, stove, dishes, microwave. A regular full kitchen.

The bathroom is even well designed and filled with very plush towels. Just love this place.

Day 8 - West Point

2010-10-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

Not the greatest weather to travel. At least this time it wasn't so heavy but it is definitely cooler. With the rain and a time crunch as we wanted to be in to the city before the rush hour so we could only do one thing and chose the one hour tour with just two stops.

The first stop was the Presbyterian Chapel is a beautiful church.

There are dozens of stained glass panes like this one. Each cost $300 and different classes in West Point have bought a panel as a graduation present. (Often they are bought for older classes who didn't have the chance to purchase one.

Here is the stained glass behind the alter. This picture doesn't do it justice.

This is the chapel looking back from the alter.

One pew is roped off and a candle is burned each day to recognize those lost in action who are MIAs or POWs.

This shot shows classrooms with the chapel behind. The green in the forground is the Parade Gounds where the cadets march. No one is allowed to step on that grass except cadets. I thought about it but wasn't about to get sent to the brig.

The location of West Point isn't an accident. It is at the narrowest part of the Hudson River, and the Fort was built here to stop the British from traveling up the Hudson and cutting the colonies in half. Washington had the perfect solution for this. They built a 65 ton chain and strung it across the river - this kept the British to the south..

Day 7 - Cooperstown - Baseball Hall of Fame

2010-10-04T17:58:00.001-07:00

Cooperstown is a relaxing hour and a half from nowhere (in this case Albany) through beautiful rolling land. It was enjoyable to drive the highways here. They aren't as crowded as in California. People drive the speed limit - the Highway Patrol enforces the speed limit and the drivers generally obey.

Now we were here on October 3rd so we weren't in the real tourist season of the year but the place was crowded and parking was hard to find. We asked about what it is like in the summer and the natives would only say "crazy." OK, so a life-time dream is about to come true. The size of the Hall of Fame isn't really that big but it can take hours to go through it all. It is a lot more than just the plaques. I have plenty more pictures than we will post here. (Oh, yes, if you are a Yankee fan you will be in heaven here. There is just a little home town bias here.)

I have a lot of pictures but I feel this is memorable as this is the oldest existing baseball ever used in a real game. Used back in 1854 - that is 156 years ago.

Ask me who my all-time favorite player is and I would tell you #4 - Duke Snider - center fielder for the Booklyn and LA Dodgers. I actually met him in Tucson as a youngster and have an autographed picture of his. The above picture is full of momentos of his career.

Did Mom have fun? I actually think she enjoyed this - especially when she ran into a way to get back to Wrigley Field. You name it and they have it here. From Abbott and Costello doing "Who's on First" to tons of baseballs, equipment, pictures, and on and on. In fact they can only show a tiny portion of all that they do have. They can only display 10% of the things they own.

I'll end our tour of the Hall of Fame with this picture. Look at it closely and see if you can find what is wrong here - besides me pretending to catch bare handed. BTW - the last major leaguer to play without a glove played in the 1890's.

Day 7 - James Fenimore Cooper Museum - Cooperstown

2010-10-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

Cooperstown has much more than the Baseball Hall of Fame. It has crowds, congestion, no parking, and other sites like the James Fenimore Cooper Museum on the property owned by James' father. It is a mile or so north of Cooperstown so you can actually park here. Right behind it is Lake Ostego and to the south and across the street is a beautiful golf course with rolling fairways and lush green everywhere.

Above are views of the front of the museum, the changing foliage on the grounds and from the back pavillion - the view of Lake Ostego.

Day 6 - Lake George to Fort Ticonderoga

2010-10-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Our day started with a drive up from Albany past Lake George. It is a beautiful lake dotted with hundreds of little islands. It was somewhat disappointing as almost every inch of the shore is privately owned and it is very hard to even find a place to stop so you can look at the lake. In the olden days lakes and rivers were the highways so this lake and Ticonderoga - to the north played significant roles in the military history of this region.

These are falls on the short river (four miles long) that is formed by the water that flows out of Lake George towards the north. Lake George is 250 feet higher than Lake Champlain, so the river can not be navigated. These beautiful falls are in the community of Ticonderoga.

We are just a little bit ahead of the full fall color change but it is still pretty. We hope over the next couple of weeks to see much more of the fall foliage.

This tree is a good example of the color breaking out but not yet fully done.

Day 6 - Fort Ticonderoga

2010-10-03T04:42:00.000-07:00

It is interesting how small important forts really are. Fort Ticonderoga, originally called Fort Carillon by the French, who built here first to keep the British out of today's Canada) was never intended to house more than 400 troops. At times upwards of 12,000 were stationed here - so they were outside the fort. The British eventually captured it during the French and Indian War and the Green Mountain Boys captured it for the Colonies just 3 weeks after Lexington and Concord. The British captured it back in their attempt to drive down from Montreal to NYC and cut the colonies in half but the Continental Army eventually got it back. By then it was in ruins as the British blew it up whan the last abandoned it. It stayed in disrepair until the owners of the land here began to restore it. It is located on a peninsula at the southern tip of Lake Champlain.

Mortars look like large kettles. These fired 13 inch projectiles. Cannons could fire a smaller shell for over a mile. These would fire for a shorter distance but were larger and could fire over obstacles. These were used by the French in the French and Indian War.

This picture was taken from the north wall looking south into the parade grounds. The buildings in the back are the buildings that housed the enlisted soldiers. They slept 3 to a bed in bunk beds. The French gave you two sets of clothes. You would wear on set for a week and change to the other. Officers were housed in a building to the left of the picture. The powder magazine that the British blew up to destroy the fort before the Americans took it over was located between the two buildings in this picture.

Guides were dressed in period costumes. This officer took us on a tour of the fort. The guides are very knowledgeable and amusing.

This guide was dressed in enlisted soldier clothes as American troups would have dressed. He gave several demonstrations. One was on diseases and talked about how to avoid dying from smallpox. You watched your friends die but waited for one who appeared to be recovering. While he still had active sores on his skin, you would break them open with a knife and get the puss on your knife. Then you would stab you are lightly several time to pass the weak germs into your body. The suggestion was if ill avoid the doctors as they were worse than the illness in those days. Long rifles - during the revolutionary war they estimate for every 300 bullets fired one person would be killed. The bayonets were far more deadly. By comparison they estimate in WWI it was 13,000 shots to kill one person, WWII it took 26,000 rounds to kill a person and in VietNam it took something like 300,000 shots per kill. I know that sounds crazy but that is what the guide quoted. BTW - it took him just over 14 seconds to load and fire this rifle. All in all this was a great place to visit.

Day 6 - Hadley, NY

2010-10-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

Asahel Gray - Barbara 4th GG father was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. I don't know where he fought but being in the Albany Militia I am sure it was around here. The Gray cemetery is right along state route 9N just south of town. In this cemetery are many other graves of relatives of Barbara.

The father of Asahel Gray was Enoch Gray and he owned a large track along the Hudson River in Hadley. Much of his land is now located on the Bend of the River Golf Club. We thought about claiming the course as our by right of ancestry but didn't have enough time to pursue this in court. "Barbara's" course is quite pretty.

(Would have had more posted tonight but the internet won't let me download any more - so you will have to wait until tomorow.) Sorry!

Trip - Day 5 To Albany and RAIN

2010-10-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

You know in California we don't really experience a lot of rain. Over a 36 hour period New York was hit by a tropical storm that never made it to a huricane but nevertheless brought a little rain north. Albany (where we are now) got hit with 5.36 inches of rain. Yesterday by 5:30 AM they had already eclipsed the day record or rain (2+ inches between midnight and 6). We were going to go north and do some sightseeing first but chose to come south to Albany as the south cleared up first. We really had no problems though there were places that were flooded out earlier in the day.
Spent most of the day in the State Library doing you know what. So not much to really report. From now on it is sightseeing! Today to Fort Ticonderoga and into Hadley (where Mom's and my family lived) and hoping to see more fall colors. Chilly this AM down to 45 with a high of 60. Quite a change from near 80 with 96% humidity back on Tuesday. Until later...

Another day in Ballston Spa and Glens Falls

2010-09-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain, rain. We woke up to rain and it rained steadily for the rest of the day. Most of the day was spent inside the Hall of Records in Ballston Spa finding more genealogy. Hey that is why we came here. We had planned to do some cemetery hopping but not in a downpour.
OK - I did take one picture today out in the rain. This house was across the street from the Hall of records and is an excellent example of what homes look like in this neck of the woods. Sorry about the trash can but it was raining and I was shooting this from inside the car.
This evening we went to a nice family owned restaurant in near where the Eckenfleders live. The chef was trained at the CIA and you could tell as the food looked every bit as good as it tasted. This has been an enjoyable stop on our trip.

Trip Day 3 - to Ballston Spa and on to Glens Falls

2010-09-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

One of the first things a westerner needs to learn when they come to the Eastern United States is that there are trees everywhere. In fact the only places you don't see trees is where man has cut them down to build towns, farm, etc. The fall colors are still a week or more away. Some of the trees have begun to change but not many. The predominate color right now is yellow if a tree isn't green. Barbara and I both would love to see the reds, etc. but not yet.
We took State Route 9 for aways today winding between little towns - they are always the best in upstate New York and the other rural areas we have visited in the past.
But about 2/3s of the day was spent traveling on a toll freeway up to Albany where we could switch to a free highway. Traveled this way up to Ballstown Spa where we both have ancestors. The county has a county historian and the office is in the county courthouse and has a tremendous collection of information. In fact left only because they kicked us out. Had so much fun we skipped lunch. (Yes, really.) I took 211 photo images of pages of information for Barb and I.
Then we left to spend the next two nights with Jill Poulson's parents in Glens Falls. Jill use to be in our ward and as it turns out is related to Barbara 2 different ways. Her folks were gracious enough to allow us to bunk in there house for two nights and save us a ton of money. I even went hometeaching with Bro Eckenfelder (Jill's dad) and gave the lesson.

OK, the only pictures today were about breakfast. Yes, breakfast. We went to the CIA for breakfast. No not that CIA but the Culinary Institute of Americe. It is an exclusive pace for people to train to be first class chefs. We were too late for dinner last night so we went for breakfast. You know me and eggs so I went for the French Toast (soaked in a custard flavored in cinnamon. Lucious but way to filling - I actually couldn't eat but a little more than one slice. This is what my plate looked like.
This is one of the halls of the Culinary Institute. It is almost $30,000 a year for tuition for either a two or four year course. We walked the halls of ground floor of this building and were able to look in windows and see lectures and food preparaton activities. Great place to visit and the food was good.

One more picture

2010-09-28T18:57:00.001-07:00

I don't know if it was just a coincidence that so many Jewish people were here at the FDR museum but I am sure one of the displays they wanted to see is pictured here. It is a copy of the Torah that was given to Roosevelt for his efforts in ending WWII - this Torah had to be altered so it could be given to a non-believer so the took out a small portion of it so it was considered imperfect.

Day 2 more pictures - FDR Museum and Library

2010-09-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Barbar got invited to an afternoon tea by the nicest couple. She had a really had a fun time with them.

Ever seen a wheelchair with an ash tray? Well FDR had one.

Here is the FDR car - really quite well preserved for its age. But how would a man with no use of his legs drive?

Here is how - the two levers controlled the clutch, brake, and gas pedal.
The silver metal box to the left of the stearing wheel dispensed lighted cigarettes.

Pictures Day 1 - 2

2010-09-28T18:13:00.001-07:00

LA airport before we knew it was going to be a 3 hour delay. The smile soon evaporated.

The front of the Vanderbilt mansion built shortly before 1900 and was out of style within a few years. Some rooms really reminded us of Hearst Castle.

What do you do it you don't want neighbors watching your back yard - buy the far bank of the river and pay to have a convent buit there. You can see the beginning of the fall colors on some of the trees but it has a long way to go. A train track is right below us and the trains are quite noisy. Would that bother you? Maybe but when you own the railroad it is the sound of money.

Side and back porch of the mansion. It really is on a lovely overlook of the Hudson River.

Trip Day 2 - To Hyde Park, NY

2010-09-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

OK today was better - the sun was hidden by clouds but it was daylight and I much prefer to drive in the daylight. Got out of NY alive. Drove right past the World's Fair site (I remember being there in 1964. Saw the old Shea Stadium and the hugh Citi Park that the Mets play in. Our goal was to drive up the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie so Barbara could do some genealogy at the Dutchess Co. Genealogical Society. She wanted to find out about the parents of her ancestor Festus Cronk. We weren't successful but found out that he was probably a descendant of the original Dutch Cronkites or however they spelled in in Dutch.
From there we did some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Vanderbuilt mansion on the bluffs above the Hudson River in Hyde park. Built right around the turn of the 20th century. When Mr. Vanderbuilt died in the 1930's tey tried to sell it and couldn't even get $300,000 for so they gave it to the government for a dollar! I didn't even get to bid. Darn.
Lastly we went to the FDR Presidential Library. It was the first presidental library and you can tell as it is so modest in comparison to the later ones. So far we have see the Kennedy, Hoover, FDR, Nixon and Regan libraries/museums. It was very interesting. We so dozens of Orthodox Jewish families - young families - everyone wearing black, heavy stocking, men in locks, ladies in hats. Thought is was somewhat strange until I saw the Jewish tributes to Roosevelt in the museum.
All and all a fun day with only light showers and near 100% humidity. Pictures after dinner. More to come.

Trip - Day 1 - or How long does it take to get to NYC?

2010-09-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

This was one long day. Wake up call was 3:30 AM so we could be out the door at 4:15. The day started good with Fresno-Yosemite Airport was a breeze. The flight to LA was uneventful - took off at 5:45 to the minute and arrived about 6:30. Great day -right? Well it was downhill from there. We first were told due to low clouds, rain and heavy traffic our flight was delayed from 8:30 to 9:30. OK no problem - we wished. At 9:30 it became 10:30 due to the same problems. The plane actually boarded about 10:30 but then as we taxied down the tarmac towards the runway we were pulled over and made to sit there for some 45 more minutes. We finally took off at 11:40 which caused us to get in to JFK airport at 8 PM instead of 5 PM. Then we had to wait for luggage and rent a car. Now it is 9:00 PM plus and we need help to get to the hotel just 5 min from the airport. That was 5 min by the way the crow flies. I wish we could fly like a crow! I drive like a lost Californian. After going in circles we finally got to the Comfort Suites at a quarter to 10 or so. Luckily there was a NY Pizza place a block away that wasn't quite closed and we were able to get a couple of slices of NY pizza - first real meal of the day. I hope this isn't a portent for things to come. We will assume that things will only get better. After all, all's well that ends well. Until tomorrow.
What is this - 11 PM - 71 degrees and 96% humidity!!!! This must be the East Coast.

Rustin (our grandson) and the new camera

2010-08-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

What do we have here?

Evidence that Rustin Lowery is a budding photographer. Well at least he likes to take pictures of his feet. I had the camera out when he came over and it was on the carpet when he left. I didn't think anything of it until I digitized some of my genealogy and went to download it on my computer and there were so many more images than it expected. Never dull with Rustin. :-)))))))

Tab Choir and Church

2010-08-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

A trip to Salt Lake City is incomplete without a trip to hear the Tab Choir. We came into town to get to the 9:30 broadcast then visited the visitor center at Temple Square before catching a church survice.

This is the stained glass front of the chapel in the church just to the north-west of the conference center on the first street north of North Temple. This is our old friend's ward (the Hollidays). I love looking at that window.

Salt Lake Downtown Remodel Job

2010-08-02T14:57:00.001-07:00

Here are images of the high rises going up directly south of Temple square in downtown Salt Lake City. These shots go from East to West along South Temple.

This one really gets me - mainly condos and sits on the site of our favorite hotel here in SLC - The Inn at Temple Square.

Off to Utah July - August 2010

2010-07-31T14:19:00.000-07:00

Well the car is ready and we are off at 8:20 AM - not a bad start time but with a long drive to St. George with a stop in Henderson, Nevada to Richard and Shirley, our former neighbors who just moved a month ago.

You can't go to St. George without stopping by the St. George Temple. In the morning light it was almost too bright to look at without sunglasses.

Another treat was getting to meet Allen Forsyth, my co-trainer, since they live in St. George. They took us out to a scrumptious breakfast and then gave us a tour of some of the newer parts of town. St. George has grown so much since we were here last you almost can't recognize it.

Cove Fort is a stop in central Utah where an early Mormon fort was built to protect travelers from the Indians. The Hinkley family (Gordon B Hinkley's grandparents) were sent there to build the fort and maintain it from about 1868 to 1892 or so. This is the Hinkley house that was actually built in another community of Utah and moved here to represent the kind of 2 room cabin they would have lived in while building the Fort.

So what is the big deal about this fort? Well when my great grandparents, Alexander Wilkins Jr. and Charlotte York Carter traveled to Arizona to colonize the Pima River valey they would have traveled by there and probably spent the night here. I had never realized this until we passed through here this time.

Barbara + 9 days or 54 hours = RETIREMENT!

2010-05-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

FTA Union Dinner Party to celebrate the 100+ teachers retiring this year. I calculated somewhere between 4000 and 5000 years of experience being lost to the district this year. Each retiree got a certificate and an engraved glass apple. We "borrowed" one of the table decorations as they said they should go home. Nice party with several teachers from her school.

Go Celtics!

2010-05-19T16:18:00.001-07:00

Grandpa and his favorite Celtics loving grandson Bennie. Check out Bennie's retro Celtics t-shirt. I am so jealous. The Celtics - too old, too slow, too crippled, etc. Everyone but Bennie and I had them through for the year. Now we are two games from facing each other in the Championship series. Of course then .....
Bennie and I will become mortal enemies as our two favorite teams (Celtics for Grandpa and the Lakers for Bennie) will face off. At least one of us remain standing and happy in the end.
GO CELTICS ALL THE WAY!

Mother's Day

2010-05-19T16:12:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Barb - a little slow in posting but I did remember in time. A quiet Mother's Day morning. Not quite breakfast in bed but.....
I loved these Corral colored roses. But then we love all roses.

Spring in Full Bloom

2010-05-19T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of the yard as the flowers are in bloom.

Spring is the prettiest time of the year.

Spring is Coming - Rose Time

2010-02-12T17:33:00.000-08:00

The flowers are blooming - now the daffodils are starting. One of my Tulip trees is about to bloom too.Then there are the roses to tend to. Spent most of Friday finishing up the weeding, the trenching, fertilizing, spreading bark and watering my front rose garden. It will be beautiful soon - had to get this started as the roses were beginning to bud out!
That is a good example of why I smply had to get to work on this today. Nature waits for no man. (Those weeds are on the neighbors side of the flower bed!

The Little Princess

2010-02-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

Jillian fits into the family just fine - all the girls like to play dress up at that age!

Starry Starry Night - Can't get it out of my brain

2010-02-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

It started last night when I went out to put out some trash and looked up at the sky and the stars were shining brilliantly and the song Starry Starry Night came into my head.
I love that ballad - probably from the 1960's - all the best music was then you know! Anyway I decided I wanted to hear it on my computer and came across the strangest thing. This pop ballad was written as a depiction of the life of Vincent Van Gogh. You can go to the following web page:
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starrynightlyrics.html
to see the whole story or just click on the link below to play the music with accompanying pictures painted by Van Gogh.

Spring Is Coming

2010-01-28T20:26:00.000-08:00

First signs of spring - flowers begin to bloom. Traditionally the first flower of spring in our yard are the Crocus. Since I have replanted the small bed where these are found many of the Crocus have disappeared. Still they are a nice forerunner of spring. Camellias are one of my favorite types of flowers. I replaced a jungle in the back yard last year and got a deal on three camellias. This is the first bloomer - a beautiful light pink variety.

Will Barbara Make It to June (to retire?)

2010-01-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

I saw this poem posted at her school when I went to pick her up Friday. This is dedicated to any of you who have been teachers. (She swears it just appeared on one of her cupboards one day.)

June Ahead
June ahead,
Hurry June.
For I am tired.
This one needs time
To renew and refresh,
To put back the tiny cogs
Which have slipped,
Or been jostled
Out of place.
This one
Needs freedom
From eight o'clock,
From jumping, bubbling energy
That never tires.
Freedom, June,
From bells and books,
And crowded rooms.
Just so tired,
Of the need
To be someplace next.

(Glen Keener,
North Carolina Education)

Afternoon - Pacific Grove and Cannery Row

2010-01-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

We have awys loved the coastline between Pacific Grove and Monterey. You get to drive right along the shore, see the rocks, breaking waves and sea lions. We drove up here staked out our spot at a couple of different parking areas and kicked back and enjoyed the view and read our books for a restful afternoon.Beautiful rocks, breaking waves and a couple of whales (not pictured) who swam by.Don't know their name but these flowers were beautiful.
For dinner? Cannery Row and Bubba Gumps where else.

Carmel - A great place to visit

2010-01-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

We didn't take any pictures but this one. I loved this little shop with the roof that was growing. This is a place to just walk and shop. The hardest thing is finding a parking place. The meter maid guards the parking like you can't believe.

Our Anniversary at Monterey - Point Lobos State Preserve

2010-01-16T19:25:00.000-08:00

If you head south of Monterey and Carmel down Highway 1 you come to a 945 acre State Preserve at Point Lobos where the coastline is being preserved as it was before man.
Beautiful scenery and great ocean views. Trails take you right to the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
Since I love geology this place really interested me. The landscape is littered with layers of sandstone between layers of conglomerate (mixtures of pebble and sand that were formed into stone.) Very unique.Point Lobos sticks right out into the ocean and isn't protected by any coast land. In fact at this point waves come in from two directions and actually cross each other.

The sea lions on the rocks off the shore love the weather and the protection of the reserve.

Christmas Came and Christmas Went

2010-01-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

We (a little by me and a lot by Mom) got the house ready for Christmas but then it all went bye-bye. So sad. Our tree - artificial - but beautiful. Takes forever to put up and decorate - took parts of 3 days this year. But it is so pretty.This is a good example of Santas and Snowmen everywhere. It seemed like things were everywhere yet we still had 3 or 4 boxes of things not put out.My favorite is the mantle with the stockings and the Santa fireplace screen.These blocks are a gift from our Aimee and so pretty but so heavy. I got a workout putting the box they went in up in the rafters.
All the shelves are now bare - so sad.And finally the decorations are all in their places in their 13 or so crates and boxes ready for another run at decorating next year.

Miss Maycee and the Olive Fingers

2010-01-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

Our hilarious granddaughter Maycee just loves olives. She would eat a can of them at a time if you let her. Who needs silverware when you have fingers?
You have to love that curly hair - it is so, so cute.

How Your Income Stacks UP

2009-12-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

Saw an article in Kiplinger by Kevin McCormally with this title. Here it is - the incomes that get you to the indicated place in all incomes in America according to the IRS in 2007. This is personal income but would still be somewhat applicable if you are looking at your family income:
Income Category 2007 AGI
Top 1% $410,096
Top 5% 160,041
Top 10% 113,018
Top 25% 66,532
Top 50% 32,878
Where was the poverty line? Well for a single person $11,201 and for a family of 4 it was $21,834.
Shoot - I remember making less than the poverty line as a principal with a family of 5! Shoot when I moved over to Riverdale and got my big raise to $20,000 we still would have been in poverty today! Very interesting.

My Topher Christmas Tie

2009-12-20T15:05:00.001-08:00

If it is near Christmas it is time to wear my Topher Christmas tie. I got this tie several years ago and get to wear it each year at Christmas time. It usually draws all kinds of comments.

So Christopher (Topher) this post is dedicated to you and we wish you a happy birthday as yesterday was your 9th birthday. Next year you will be double digits! My how time flies.

Grandpa Birdie's Shiner

2009-12-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

Unofficial Account of the Incident: Grandpa was out celebrating Pearl Harbor Day and got into an altercation with a retired Marine. Someone asked grandpa how the Marine was and he replied that he didn't know he was still in intensive care.

True version - He had a nasty fall in front of Bonnie's house. He has stitches, the black eye, he banged up his hand (better today) and had a big goose-egg above his eye but that too is better today.

Missionary Trainer's Office After a Day of Work

2009-12-10T07:36:00.001-08:00

So how does a missionary trainer work. You know we actually have a computer room in our house but I hate working from there because it is like a cell - small, crowded and the one window looks out on the side fence - not much of a view and claustrophobic to me. Solution - Move out into the living room/dining room at the front of the house where I have a view out into the neighborhood and feel like I am in the world. This is much better for me but drives Barbara crazy because of all the mess. This was taken right after my last live lab with this group of missionaries. My tools: Two lap tops (one to teach from and one to view what the class looks like to others), boombox to play music on between the time the lab is opened on the web and we actually start the class proper. Speakers to plug into computer 2 to play the sound from a YouTube video I showed that lab - can't figure out how to get the sound into the lab directly. And then paper, paper, paper, binders, binders, binders. Yes, now that the labs are over it is cleaned up. And every Sunday it is cleaned for the family dinner. So most of the time when I am on line here is my home.

Maycee Eats(?) Soup

2009-12-10T07:33:00.001-08:00

How does a 1 year old eat soup? Not easily that is for sure. Maycee the picky eater wasn't doing so well with ham so we decided to give her some of the chunky veggies from our soup since veggies are her favorite food. Well she loved them and obviously they loved her too.

Christmas Scenes from Around the House

2009-12-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

The Christmas tree is all trimmed - lights, ornaments and tinsel it was an all week project.

The tree is in the regular Santa room.

In this room all the Santas are snowmen.

Meeting Sister Horton

2009-12-07T13:16:00.001-08:00

Sister Horton is one of the missionaries that I trained with when I went into this mission. She lives in southern California - Covina - near the 210 freeway that we travel when going from San Diego to Fresno. This is neat to meet those you serve with. I have now met 6 different missionaries in the program. That is a rare occasion in this mission. The FHC that Sister Horton works at is a tri-stake one and really nice.

Disneyland for my Birthday

2009-12-07T12:52:00.001-08:00

Disneyland for my birthday - great - wore the "Happy Birthday" badge and everyone said hi and have a happy birthday all day long. That was a blast. Darn I can never get the sword out of there - even with mom's help.
Mother met one of her old boyfriends there. You just never know who you are going to meet.

Grandpa Jim is 101 today

2009-10-30T17:47:00.001-07:00

Well today would be grandpa's 101st birthday. He has been gone now over 25 years - my gosh a quarter of a century. I don't have a wealth of pictures of him but here are a few.

This is grandpa with his parents when he was about 6 years old.
This is a single of him taken at the same time.
This is grandpa on his honeymoon with grandma so he would be 33 at the time.
Have to have grandpa with a fish. This was taken in or around San Diego probably about a year or two after he married grandma.
This is still the best picture of Grandma and Grandpa together.
Happy 101st birthday!

2009-10-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add this picture to my last post. It is a take off on the famous hands drawing by Escher. I just love this....what else can I say.

Pick Your Favorite Picture

2009-10-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some interesting pictures I found on the web. Which is your favorite?

What does Maycee do with her first birthday cake?

2009-10-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here is what a 1 year old does when she is presented with a cute, round, frosted thing. Do I look at it? Do I eat it? NO, I demolish it. Play time......

Maycee Givens has learned to walk!

2009-10-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

In the couple of weeks prior to her first birthday, Maycee Givens has figured out how to walk. It is so much fun to see her walk like a drunken sailor as she kind of waddles from place to place. First a step or two and now as far as she wants to. Here she is walking at her first birthday party at grandma and grandpa's house:

Yes! Yes! Yes! The house is paid off.

2009-07-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well after all these years we have finally done it. Thursday, July 10, 2009 was a red-letter day as we mailed off out last and final house payment. Soon we will be the owners of our first house. The whole world knows it since Mom Facebooked it last night but I have the proof right here. Before you lament our loss of a tax right off - Our interest expense this month was a whole $17. What do we get for this. Well we no longer will be paying $2100+ a month on our house. Our expense will drop to $300 (taxes + fire insurance). Yes, $200 a month in taxes - eat your heart out. Ha, ha. Anyway this is one our family goals met after all these years.

June Trip Day 7 - Our Trip Home

2009-06-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

Our last day started with literally a bang. At 5:55 AM a terrible thunder rolled through our motel room and the heavens opened to a driving rain and lightning storm. Needless to say we were awake for the day. The storm passed shortly and the rest of the day was HOT and HUMID. It got up to 97 with a heat index of 110. Not nice weather. We drove to Des Moines and flew out in the afternoon reversing our trip out there and arrived home about 9:00 PM. Boy were we tired but it was an enjoyable trip.

June Trip Day 6 (Cont.) - Edson Barney Property

2009-06-27T20:58:00.001-07:00

One last thing I wanted to do was locate the lands that our ancestor Edson Barney owned in the Nauvoo area. I got the help of Elder Eickbush, who is a retired surveyer. We took the map the land office provided and drove off into the farm land east of Nauvoo where the Barney family once lived. The maps showed all kinds of streets but they no longer exist so this was quite a guessing game. Before we actually knew we were right Elder Eickbush figured out this was the largest part of the Barney land. It is directly north of the Nauvoo cemetery and directly east of the old Joseph Smith farm. The Barneys owned the land between the road and the tree line in the background.
We then drove around looking for where the other properties were and stopped at a couple of farm houses. At the second one we met an old farmer who was just saying goodby to his family as they were leaving. He pulled out his county map and low and behold we were right were we needed to be. His driveway was the eastern boundary of the Barney land. The picture below shows the Barney land under cultivation. There was once an old Mormon cabin there made out of brick but it is long since gone. He had one on his property that dated from the same time (the early 1840's) and he gave me one of the home made bricks from that house.
After the trip to the Barney land we went by the temple and got this shot as the sun was setting.

The other new thing in town was this statue of Joseph and Hyrum on their last ride. It is quite impressive as the site overlooks the lower level of the town and the Mississippi River in the background.

June Trip Day 6 - Last day of the Reunion

2009-06-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

We wished we had had the nice weather we had the prior day on this day. It was back to raining. We were to meet Charles at 9 AM but got off late and got off a little late. So by the time I reached the place on County Line Road where the others were parked there was no evidence of where the cousins were located. I hopped the fence where a gate was located where the cars were parked. This was a mistake as I then had to travel through undergrowth over a 100 yards eastward to where they were located at the little cemetery. It was an area about the size of a living room, completely over run with day lillies and weeds. It was surrounded by a pretty little wrought iron fence with a gate that faced the road which was down the road about 100 yards away. This first picture is the tombstone for Phillip Carter, John and Hannah Knight Libby Carter's son who stayed in Nauvoo when the Saints left. We all suspect that John might be buried here even though some think he is buried in the Fletcher Cemetery.Here are Charles, Layne and me in the cemetery with the Phillip Carter tombstone behind us.

If you look closely to the right of the tree at the very top of the light green weeds you can see the top of the Philip Carter tombstone.
After this we returned to the Nauvoo campground and had a chicken dinner cooked in a cast iron pot just like in the old days. Joining us were the Eickbushes. We had become acquained with them when Charles had gone to the Land Record Office to find out about our family lands and when he went to a computer our Dominicus Carter was up on the screen already. The people just before him had been looking for us too. Charles ran out in the parking lot and found a couple, the Eickbushes. Sister Eickbush is another cousin. They are in Nauvoo serving in the temple. With their help and Jeff Zeck we agreed to try as a family to do two things: 1) Restore the old Carter Cemetery and possibly place a stone there in memory of John Carter; and , 2) search for the original painting of Hannah Knight Libby Carter which was last located in the Nauvoo area in possession of Dora Carter Bolt, who died in 2002.

June Trip Day 5 - Reunion Day 2 - The Tour

2009-06-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

We decided to travel the next day all around the Nauvoo area to visit historical and family related sites. We started by going to Carthage where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred along with his brother Hyrum. Here are those of us who went on the trip. In the back row was Jeff Zeck (a cousin who lived here locally and was our guide), Lance Carter and his wife Linzsay in front of him, Grandpa and Grandma in front, and finally Morgan Wise and his wife Cathy who is a Carter cousin. Not pictured were Jeff's mother, Charles Carter and his wife Jan, and Elder and Sister Eichbush. The Carthage Jail has a special spirit there. This picture below is of our guide Sister Picard pointing to the bullet hole in the door where the bullet that killed Hyrum Smith passed through the door.

Grandma wasn't behaving very well so we had to lock her up in the jail cell in the jail. Joseph and his group weren't in there the day he was murdered as it was too hot in there. We were grateful for the air conditioning, but especially Grandma who had to spend the day in the jail. (Just joking.)

From Carthage we visited several cemeteries who had cousins buried there and ended up in the area of Lima, Illinois. This was the site of Morley's Settlement. Our Carters - John and Hannah and William Furlsbury all settled here - near the woods at the back of the picture below. The historical marker mentions that Morleyville had between 400 and 500 Mormon settlers until September 1845 when up to 125 homes and outbuildings here were torched. Since our John Carter never joined the Church he stayed on here when the Saints left for the Rockies with his 3 children who also didn't join the Church. Isaac Morley, whom the settlement was named after, was sealed to John's wife Hannah Knight Libby Carter so she would have someone to look after her. One of the things we wanted to do here was find the Carter Family Cemetery which was located in the woods at the back of the picture.

Our little tour ended with a visit to the Hotel in Warsaw where the mobbers who took the life of Joseph Smith met to plan their deed. From there they traveled due east to Carthage. That route would have taken then right past the home of Alexander Wilkins who lived 3 miles to the west of Carthage. Grandma Wilkins actually heard the shots that killed the prophet and later witnessed mobbers riding past their home saying they had killed their ..... ..... Mormon Prophet. I have often wondered about this but it makes total sense once you see where the Wilkins lived and the route from Warsaw to Carthage.

After our little jaunt around the county we returned to Nauvoo. We had stopped at what we thought was the Carter property but couldn't find anyone home. We wanted to find the cemetery in the worse way.
We went to the Nauvoo Temple that afternoon and took in a session. Then we scrambled for a meal and then went to the visitor center and saw two outdoor shows - Sunset on the Mississippi and the BYU Ballroom Dancers. The skys threatened to open but we made it through the two shows with only a couple of sprinkles.
Jeff Zech and his mother had eaten dinner at the Nauvoo Hotel and found a man who knew where our Carter land was located so we agreed to meet the next morning and try again to find the cemetery.

June Trip Day 4 - On to Nauvoo While Dodging Twisters

2009-06-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Friday morning dawned with rain and lighting. In fact there was a tornado watch in the county just to the north of us. That storm was heading southeast right into the northern suburbs of Chicago, where we could have been. That part of Chicago never got a tornado but had terrible hail and heavy rain that flooded out highways, etc.
We took off to the southwest as we headed across the state to Nauvoo. We had off and on really heavy rain interspersed with cloudy but dry weather. We drove all the way to Keokuk, Iowa, where we stayed the night. No sooner than we got there than they had a tornado warning for Fort Madison just 15 miles north of us and across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo. In fact our cousins who were staying in the campgrounds at Nauvoo were evacuated to the men's restrooms at the campground. No tornado set down there but the path of the watch traveled the path we had driven just hours earlier.
That late afternoon we went over to Nauvoo to see my cousins and plan out what we wanted to do for the weekend.

June Trip Day 3 - To Elgin, Illinois

2009-06-27T18:58:00.001-07:00

We spent half of the next day traveling from Cedar Rapids, Iowa across the northern part of Illinois to Geneva, IL. Geneva has a great genealogical society that works out of a closet sized room in the historical society. It is only open from 1 PM to 4 PM on Thursdays and Saturdays. Fortunately we were there on a Thursday. We wanted to go there because they have a huge local computerized genealogical data base you can only access there. Barb again had family from here and though she didn't find the ancestral connection she wanted, we did pick up quite a bit of collateral data and listings for obituaries that we picked up later that afternoon in Elgin. But Geneva is an adorable town which is a lot like Carmel, CA with little shops lining the street and tons of character. Too bad we didn't have time to explore here. (But the pocket book appreciated that fact - mine anyway.)

We went on to Elgin and hit the local library where they had all the local newspapers on microfilm and using the indexes we gathered in Galena we harvested quite a few news clippings - obits, birth and other records.
That night we stayed in Elgin and Barb was so sad as we were only 30 miles or so from her old stomping grounds in Chicago. As things turned out it was good we didn't go on into Chicago on this trip.

June Trip - Day 1 - 2 Des Moines - Amana - Cedar Rapids

2009-06-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

We flew out of Fresno on June 16th to Dallas/Fort Worth and then on to Des Moines. We were supposed to get into Des Moines at 9:30 but our flight was delayed until almost 10:45 so we were shot by the time we got into our hotel. The next day we drove over to the Amana Colonies where Barbara has ancestral families. We first stopped off at the courthouse in Maringo and spent a couple of hours going through the birth, marriage and death records for the county and found so tidbits of information for Barb. We then went on to Amana and went to a play - Neil Simon's Odd Couple with Barbara's cousins - Bill and Barb Schreiver and Flo Shoemaker. They are pictured with Barb below outside the restaurant we ate at that evening.
Pictured L to R - Bill S, Barb G, Flo, and Barb S.

This was the store across the parking lot from the restaurant. Maddy Ward, our granddaughter, should like this.

That evening we went with the Schreivers to Cedar Rapids. Bill took us on a tour of the flooded out parts of Cedar Rapids. It looked horrible - block after block of totally ruined homes. They live within site of the Rock River but are high up on a hill where they were safe. We spent the night sharing genealogy as Bill is a genealogy nut too.

Who is Nathaniel Grigsby?

2009-05-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well he isn't a relative of our, but even though he died 120 odd years ago he had the political situation scoped out. Who ever said genealogy is boring. Check out this guys tombstone:
http://www.geneamusings.com/2009/05/tombstone-tuesday-nathaniel-grigsby.html

Home Makeover Update

2009-04-19T07:51:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of our Home Make over. I saw the following picture in Heidi's picture book and thought it w0uld make a good "Before" shot of our living room. This was taken probably shortly after we moved into the house (so maybe 14 years ago.)
Now here is essentially the same shot with our Home Makeover. We have gone from green and green plaid to red and black and white. Some change I would say.
Here is a view if the room from the other angle showing our new couch and love seat along with the shelves (ala Heidi)
Here is the family room with it's Make Over. Recycled furniture, shelves, new lighting, a film coating on the window (since the picture was taken to cut the light a little) along with the new carpet (thoughout the house).
What comes next? Well plans are on the way to get the bathrooms remodeled - so stay tuned.

Grandma Betty on her 92nd Birthday - Baby Pictures

2009-04-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

I am a couple of days late honoring my mother on her 92nd birthday. The following pictures are a pictorial of her life from birth up to the time she went to Tucson, Arizona and met my father. The big missing picture will never be shown - one with her mother. Her mother died a couple of weeks after giving birth to Grandma and there were no pictures of the two of them together. Enjoy these pictures.
This is an extremely rare picture as Grandpa Hale took most of the pictures of Grandma when she was little. It is hard to find him in a picture with her.
This is a great picture.
A collection of baby pictures isn't complete unless you have one of these.

It isn't labeled but this is Grandma's first Christmas in her home in Bloomfield, New Jersey.
Not much hair to need a brush. Wishful thinking?