Day 2 more pictures - FDR Museum and Library

Barbara 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

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

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?

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

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

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

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.