Summer

I am still alive and taking nourishment. (Way to much nourishment.)

The past 4 weeks, I have, once again, been teaching the Family History class in our ward. This is the first set of classes I have taught since we had access to the New Family Search program, so I have spent some time going thought the training and trying to use the new system. I guess I am spoiled being a Macintosh user, also being a past manager of information technology. To be kind, let me say that the New Family Search is a “work in Process.” When I was in business, I would never expose my company to a Beta version of a system, yet that is what the New Family Search program is. That makes us all “Guinea Pigs”, who get to debug the system. Everyone who asks me, I tell them to continue to use whatever system they are currently using. If they have not been using an existing system, then go with the New Family Search, but expect a lot of changes as the system evolves. I’ll get down off my soapbox now.

We have had a great summer with the family. The non-Boise families have all come to visit and we have had a wonderful time. (At least I did, I did not have to feel like they had to be entertained every minute they were here like someone I know.) We have been involved in a number of activities with the Boise families – ball games, dinners, plays – you name it and it seems like we have done it.

For a test run to see how well I would do on a road trip, we drove up to La Grande, OR to visit some old friends that we have not seen since Noelle was born. (Now I can’t say how many years that has been.) I survived the trip, so I have no excuse for not making a couple of trips this fall. The first will be to Billings, MT. for, I think, Diane’s 20^th class reunion. (I sure it is not more than that since she is only 39 years old.)

Since we are getting old and I still refuse to ask for directions, we purchased a GPS unit for our anniversary. Before we headed to far-a-way places, we thought we would test it on some local locations. So Diane was very kind to me and let me take a drive to Celebration Park, which is located close to nowhere. By golly, when we finally found an address for the Park, the GPS took us right there. Here are some photos.

Replica of a ancient tepee Train bridge that crosses the Snake River that is now a foot bridge
















Petroglyphs on rocks

Late July

Last week Gage, Kinsey and the boys spent several days with us. Diane wanted to make the visit memorable and help the cousins to all get to know one another better, so there were several outings. My job, that I failed at, was to try and keep Diane from overdoing. Everyone came to our hose most evenings for food and play. One morning they went to a children’s play area called Rafiki. You pay so much per child (we had 7) and then they can play in a clean, bright well-equipped facility. There was a huge area like you see in McDonalds or Burger King, a craft area, dress-ups, a well-stocked kitchen, a puppet theater, dolls and a playhouse, a Wii, air hockey, and table tennis. They also have couches and magazines for the adults who accompany the children. It was a wonderful place to be instead of outside in the heat. However, the next day they all went to the Zoo – which is definitely outside. They went in the morning and lasted two hours before hunger, thirst and heat made them move on. Everyone came to our house for a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit. There wasn’t one complaint, which Diane deemed a miracle. That evening we had dinner for 15 and then a bunch of people went swimming in our subdivision’s pool. We all had a great time, but by the time the Layton Robertsons left, Diane was exhausted. We certainly aren’t as young as we once were.

I need to give you an up-date on the hip replacement. The surgery went well and I have had little or no pain from the hip itself. There is some discomfort from muscles that are being used differently than before the surgery. I used a walker for a month and I am still supposed to be using a cane, but I set it down and forget to pick it up again and then forget where I left it so I have just given it up. I am on the mend because at 6 weeks from surgery I was able to walk a mile and a half and have been doing that every other day. My big problem is getting started when I have been sitting down for a while and I still limp a little, but it isn’t even two months yet.

I have been working with the New Family Search genealogy program. To say the least, it is frustrating. The program is still a Beta version and you know the joys of working with Beta versions. I was hoping that they would have the multimedia function working, but it is not. I have copies of documents that I wanted to add as sources, but instead I have to try and write a 100 word essay to describe the document, then if someone questions my source, they have look up an on-line document or pay to get their own copy. Right now I think I am going to sit on the sidelines and wait for a stable version with the multimedia function.

I did make contact with a genealogist in West Virginia to work on the Margaret Thompson line. For years, we thought we had this line traced back to the first settlers in Massachusetts but then a cousin found that we had connected to the wrong Margaret, so now we have to start anew.

Mother Nature

There is no question that Mother Nature has created a number of sites that man in his most talented moment cannot even begin to compare with the natural beauty around us. But when you live a few hours drive from mountains like the Tetons and have seen Old Faithfull put on her show more than a hundred times, it is not hard to let the magnificent wonders of nature become common place in your life.

Still there are a number of sites that make your jaw drop and you are transformed by what you see. Once again I have picked out a few that I have enjoyed as I have traveled the world.

Andes Mountains and Lake District
The day we crossed over the Andes mountains from Chili to Argentina, we started on a bus, then moved to a boat and then to a second bus and then a second boat. After s short stop for lunch it was on to bus number three and to boat number three. At this point we had to show our passport since we were somewhere near the border between Chili and Argentina. But then it was on to bus number four to be delivered to boat number four only to sail to across the lake to bus number five to be deposited on boat number five and finally our last leg on bus number six that took us to accommodations for the night. With all the transportation shuffling you almost missed the beauty and grandeur of the mountains and lakes you were crossing.
Ayers Rock, Australia
If Ayers Rock, also know as Uluru, was located in the Four Corners area, I doubt it would be on anyone’s list, but when you travel for hours across the flat land of central Australia and come upon this massive sandstone dome, if is really impressive. As the sun sets it is fascinating to see how the color of the rock goes from rust red to almost a dark purple.

Victoria Falls, Africa
I cheated on this photo. When we got to Victoria Falls we were supposed to take a helicopter ride to view the falls, but because of all the currency problems they were having, they would not take our credit card and we were $20 short of the cash we needed, So I found this photo on the Internet. As you travel along in front of the falls, it is hard to believe that there could be that much water coming down the river. When we landed at the airport in Livingstone, some 8 miles away, I thought that there must have been a forest fire. But we later learned that it was the mist from Victoria Falls.
Grand Canyon
Whenever I see Grand Canyon, I am reminded of the two Scouts that send post cards home. The one Scout tells of the deep canyon and the array of colors. The second Scout wrote, “Today I spit a mile.” Any attempt to describe this spectacular site is closer to the second Scouts description than it is to an accurate portrayal of the true magnitude of size, color and environment. I have had the privilege of seeing the canyon from both the South and the North rim and also from the bottom as we rafted the Colorado River.
Gudvangen Valley, Norway
The fjord area of Norway is impossible to capture in one photo or for that matter, a hundred photos. This photo shows how deep the valleys have been cut and how the giant glaciers that have covered this region have rounded the tops of the mountains.
Matterhorn, Switzerland
We had visited Switzerland on two other occasions and had never taken the time to go down to the southern border where the Matterhorn is. We were in Italy when bad weather drove us out and we had a couple of extra days before returning home. We decided to drive into Switzerland and see the Matterhorn. As we took the train up the canyon and the Matterhorn came into view it was sheathed in a halo of light and clouds. When we reached Zermatt the clouds began to move away and we got to view this great mountain in all of its glory. When we returned home, our daughter who had spent a year and a half in Switzerland, was shocked that we had been able to see this magnificent mountain because it’s peak is only clear one day in seven
Milford Sound New Zealand
This is the other photo that I had to copy. The day we were in Milford Sound the wind was blowing so hard that there was a waterfall that was pushed straight up by the wind. Between the clouds, you could get glimpses of the skyline that made you wish you could come back another day and see the sound as it is shown in this photo.

Pamukkale, Turkey
I have been to a number of places where a hot spring has left the white rock deposits, but no place comes close to the size of the deposits at Pamukkale. For more than a mile and a half you look across the tiers of ponds being held up by white icicles.
Torres del Paine, Chile
I had a picture of these mountains, but had no idea where they were located. I would search the Internet and would ask fellow travelers if they knew the location. Finally, after more than three years of searching I found that they were located in the southern part of Chili. Wouldn’t you know it – the next month, National Geographic had an article on them. They were well worth traveling to the far end of our hemisphere to see.
Yosemite
If you cannot tell by now, I love mountains with their high peaks and cascading waterfalls. Few places in the world better display theses attributes that the Yosemite Valley in California. Is it because I live in the Mountain West that I love the mountains or is it because I love mountains that I live in the Mountain West?

I have shared my choices with you, so now you have to tell me what you would add (or subtract) and why.

Wonders of the World - Man-made

As I have perused the magazine stands and the Internet, I have noticed a number of “Wonders of the World” lists. I decided that I have been to enough places in this glorious world that I needed to make a list of some of the great places I have been. (I’m sure if I were to wait a week, the list would be different.)

I have broken the list into two parts. The first one is of “Man-made” sites. Later I will post a “Natural” sites list.

I think I might have found better pictures had I searched the Internet, but I wanted to share the pictures that we had taken. The sites in each of these two lists are in no particular order.

Thorncrown Chapel, Arkansas.
I had read about this chapel some years ago, so when I found that it was not far from where we were in southern Missouri, we thought it would be worth the short detour. You have to walk a short distance through the forest to get to it. When I finally realized what I was looking at, I was overcome with the simplicity of the structure and how beautifully it fit into the surrounding forest. Thorncrown was chosen 4th on the American Institute of Architects top designs of the 20th century.

Terra Cotta Warriors, Xian, China
The sheer magnitude of the numerous rows and columns of life-sized warriors is enough to put it on any “top ten list” I might make up, but then when you look closely and realize that each warrior, horse and cart is unique, it moves to a status beyond my imagination.


Taj Mahal
There are two man-made structures that I have seen, whose beauty cannot be captured in a photograph. I don’t care how many pictures you have seen of the Taj Mahal, you have no idea of just what a magnificent structure this is to behold. It has to be one of the most flawless architectural creations of the world.


The Treasury, Petra, Jordan
The other structure that is impossible to capture in a photo is the Treasury, Petra, Jordan. You can watch “Raiders of the Lost Ark” a hundred times and still not comprehend the detail of this facade carved into the mountain in one of the most desolate regions of the world.

Great Wall of China
The first time I actually saw the Great Wall of China, I would almost have to say it was a “religious” experience. It was unbelievable to see this magnificent wall climbing and dropping over ridge after ridge and realize that I could not see even a tiny fraction of the existing wall. It was really fun to climb and descend the irregular steps that make up a large portion of the wall.


Sphinx and pyramids, Egypt
The size and engineering skills required to build the pyramids demands that they get put on my list. Before visiting these great structures, I assumed that a vast army of slave labor was required to build them. But as I learned of the technology that was required to place a stone every three minutes, I realized that there had to be a number of skilled craftsmen to build and decorate these structures.

Machu Picchu, Peru
Take the engineering skills that were required to build the pyramids and put them on top of an 8,000 foot mountain and you have Machu Picchu. Talk about a “room with a view,” this is beyond any place you have been.


Cappadocia, Turkey
We have all tried to build a sand castle only to have it come tumbling down. Imagine packing the sand until it was roc -hard and then building your castle. That is what they have done at Cappadocia. They have dug an entire city out of the sandstone mounds that fill the valley.

Stonehenge
I have included Stonehenge because of the things it stirs up in my imagination. The first time I went to England I remember trying to figure out how to skip out of my meetings and get to Stonehenge on public transportation. That didn’t work out, so I was sure that Stonehenge was on my list the next time I was in England.
Coliseum in Rome
I think that the Coliseum of Rome shows the ups and downs of civilization better than any other place I have been. The fantastic workmanship contrasts with the violent deaths that were exhibited here. The great luxury of one civilization compared to a later civilization that had become so backward that they tore down part of the building to salvage the iron because they no longer had the knowledge to smelt iron.

Well that is my list. What would you add or subtract and why?

Hip Surgery

Well, I made it through the first week, so I thought I would provide you with a summary of my hip operation and first week of recovery.
Last Monday, June 8th, started with a visit to the doctor’s office for a final check-up and a chance to answer my questions. I passed the check-up so we walked to the hospital wing of the building for admitting for the surgery. I was stripped down, scrubbed down and laid down. The anesthesiologist came in to see if I wanted a spinal or a general. I asked if she was being operated on what would be her choice. She said the spinal, so that was what I got. Later it would become apparent that being laid down and getting the spinal would be a problem.
After an hour and a half, they let a very unhappy Diane back to be with me. We didn’t understand why she could not be with me during the pre-op, and why it had taken so long. She had been told that she would only have to wait 30 minutes. We had a short visit and off to surgery I went. I was aware of the preparations they were making in the room, but I was completely asleep before the operation started. The next thing I knew, I was being wheeled back to the recovery room and I was flat on my back. It didn’t seem long before I was taken to my room where Diane was waiting.
A year or so ago, I had had some problems with sciatica, but it has been fine since I was given a steroid injection. Well, as the anesthetic started to wear off I had a major flair-up of the sciatica. Lying on my back and having a spinal combined to aggravate my sciatic nerve. When I sat up and was able to dangle my feet off the edge of the bed, the pain started to subside, but that was the last time I would be laying in bed in the hospital. A resourceful nurse found a “cardiac chair” that I slept and sat in until I was released. I had absolutely no pain from the hip surgery, but it took 2 or 3 days before the sciatic cleared up.
The food was surprisingly good. Whenever you wanted to eat, you called “room service” and ordered off a menu. One evening, I was not really hungry, so I ordered chocolate malt and a raisin cookie. With no questions asked, it was delivered to my room. The hospital staff was very pleasant and efficient, so it was not an unpleasant experience at all.
Physical therapy at the hospital consisted of moving my ankle up and down and going for a 100-foot walk using a walker and learning how to get out of the bed – not what I would call tough. On Thursday about 2 o’clock Diane brought the Sequoia to take me home. The last phase of my therapy was learning how to get in the car.
It was sure nice to get home. I practiced getting on and off the most of the chairs in the house. The “cardinal rule” that must be obeyed at all time is never let your knee be higher than your hip. This means that you have to sit on a stool or slouch with your leg out in front of you. This is okay for a while, but soon the chair starts to cut into the back of your leg. I have tried some pads to sit on, but that is not a whole lot better. The real problem at home is getting comfortable at night. Even with the pain pills, I don’t get more than a couple of hours of sleep before I have to get up and walk around or sit in a chair.
Twice a week the home health nurse and the physical therapist come to the house. The nurse checks my vital signs and changes the dressing on the incision. The therapist has given me a bunch of exercises to do and takes me for a walk with my walker. Her first visit was on Friday and after going through all the exercises, I asked her how I was doing. She said: “not bad for 2 weeks,” so I must be doing OK.
I am sporting extensive black and blue colors on my bum and down the surgery leg. Diane took a picture of my back so I could see what I looked like. We thought that might be a tad revealing, so Diane took a picture of just my leg to share with you.
Last night we got together with our “Family Home Eatin’ ” group. It was nice to get out of the house and it was especially nice to visit with good friends and have an excellent meal.
I’m starting to have “cabin fever” now so I might ask Diane to take me for a ride.
I think the operation was a grand success and I just have to be patient until the muscles have a chance to heal and I can pitch the walker and cane and get back to full activity

Horatio auto trip

We had a great time when we drove Route 66 a few years ago, So when I saw the special on PBS about the first trans-continental automobile trip taken by Horatio Nelson Jackson in 1903, we thought it might be a fun trip to follow Horatio’s route across America. The same PBS program also told of the first trans-continental highway system called the Lincoln Highway. The two routes overlaid each other from Ohio to Utah. On the East end of the route, Horatio went across New York State and the Lincoln Highway crossed Pennsylvania. On the West end, the Lincoln route went across the center of Nevada and California on what is now U S route 50. Horatio’s route took him from San Francisco to the northeast corner of California, then across to Ontario, Oregon then across Idaho to meet the route of the Lincoln Highway near Evanston, Wyoming.

Since Horatio’s route would take us through Boise, we decided to do the western portion of both routes now and then at some future date; we could do the trip to the east.

We started the trip by driving to Utah where we made a stop to see Gage and Kinsey’s new home. Of course the highlight was to see the boys and their folks, but it is a nice home. The house is small, but well laid out. Kinsey has already done some nice decorating. With a full-unfinished basement, they will have plenty of room to grow.

We spent the night in Layton and started our trip on the Lincoln Highway. Our first stop was to see what remains of the old Saltair resort – not much. We took a picture of it and the old Magna smelter that is just to the south. I recalled the days when Saltair had a giant roller coaster that was a real thrill to ride and a large ballroom where all the famous Big Bands came to play. That day is certainly far gone.

When we turned off the freeway towards Tooele, Diane saw the signs for the Benson Grist Mill. I thought it would be out by Grantsville and didn’t want to stop, but it turnout to be just a block or two west of the highway, so we made a stop. Apostle Ezra T. Benson, who was sent by Brigham Young to help develop the area west of Salt Lake, originally built the mill in 1854. The site was not supposed to open for a while, but the lady in the office said she would unlock the buildings for us even though there were no guides there yet. We wandered up and down the three floors of the old mill and found it very interesting and the signs informative. There is no way that they are going to restore the old mill so that it can actually function, so next door they have built a small mill so that people will be able to see how a grist mill actually works. We got a brief demonstration when one of the workers turned the waterwheel by hand. We visited the blacksmith shop, the barn and a few old log homes that they had on the site. Diane also got to grind a little wheat on a small hand grist mill, called a quern, that they had in the Visitor Center. We had a great time and would recommend it to anyone who was in the area. Kids from six on up would really enjoy it.

Since we could not actually follow the Lincoln highway across Utah because it crossed through the Dugway Proving Ground, we headed south to Route 50 at Delta, Utah. From there we headed west across the dry Sevier Lake and intersected with the actual Lincoln route at Ely, Nevada.

Just outside Ely, we wandered around for an hour looking for the Ruth Copper Mine pit, which is supposedly the largest pit in the world. All we saw was a lot of mine tailings, but not a large pit. It is not like Bingham where there is one very large pit. From there we headed for Eureka to spend the night. The drive was quite interesting. From the Nevada board to Eureka, we crossed over four major summits. With a population of 1,500, there was not a lot to do, but we did have a nice dinner.

The next day found us doing the same climbing over summits and dropping into long valleys as we had done the day before. There are state road signs stating that this is “The Loneliest Road in America.” When we got to Austin, Diane noticed a drugstore that advertized having an old fashioned soda fountain, so we stopped and went in. I had a milkshake and Diane had a hot fudge sundae. It was a fun stop. Not far down the road I saw a tree with things hanging from the branches. Diane had read about it and said they were shoes that people threw into the tree. Sure enough, when we got closer you could see hundreds of shoes hanging from the branches.

Just before we got to Fallon we were winding around a dry lake and noticed a couple of girls placing rocks on the far side of the borrow pit. We then noticed that there was lettering all along the side of the road with all sorts of messages. The writing had to go for over a mile. At the same time we saw a large sand dune that looked like it had ants crawling all over it. They were ATV’s crisscrossing the dune. At the base of the dune, there had to be well over a hundred campers parked.

At Fallon we visited the Pioneer museum. It had some fun stuff displayed. Diane took special note of the quilts and even had to stop and sew a few stitches in the display room. They had one of the nicest sleds I have ever seen – it was very well preserved. They had a lot of old equipment and a few antique cars. We did not stay long, but we really enjoyed the displays.

Our next stop was Virginia City which is an old mining town still getting rich from all the tourists in town. We took a 20-minute tour of the town in a cart pulled by a tractor. Back in its “heyday” it must have been quite the place with a number of mansions and more saloons than you could count. The cemetery was interesting because every group of people had their own section. If you were a Catholic fireman of Irish decent who belonged to the Odd Fellows, They would have had a major problem figuring out where you should be buried.

Our reservation for that night was in Carson City where we arrived about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, so we decided to see a movie. We saw Angels & Demons and really enjoyed it. After the movie, we drove around town to see the state buildings.

On Saturday we headed out of Carson City over the mountain to Lake Tahoe. I was sure glad we were going west – the traffic coming up was bumper-to-bumper. As we examined the route we would be taking to cross California, we realized that we would not be very far from where Michelle and Masonga lived. We had to call Neil to get a phone number. Then we called Michelle to see if they would be home. They had an appointment, but if we hurried we would have time for a short visit. We got the instructions on how to get to their house, which included: “Call when you get close and I’ll come out to the road to meet you.” (I didn’t realize you could live that far out in the sticks in California, but they do.) We had a great time visiting with Michelle and Masonga and getting to see their cute little boys and oh, having a great lunch which Masonga cooked.

After lunch we headed off for San Francisco. We had planed on eating at the Tadich Grill for dinner, but since it had been more than 10 years since we were in San Francisco we wondered if there might be some better places to eat. So who better to ask than our good friends the Stewarts who we knew would be able to recommend the best places in town? We gave them a call and after a couple of calls back from them, we had a great list to chose from.

My hip was really giving me fits, so there was no way I was going to do much walking. So we stopped by the hotel to see if we could check in early, but they said the room would not be cleaned until 4 o’clock, so we drove around town. Diane had her head buried in the map trying to figure out where we were. I said I could get around without the map and for her to watch the sights. We checked out the parking at a couple of places to eat. We then drove along The Embarcadero past all the wharf area. It was fun to see all of the people and the sights. By then it was time to check into the hotel.

We decided that the easiest place to park was near Tadich’s, so in spite of all the good recommendations from the Stewarts, we drove to the Tadich Gill and had a great dinner. Our timing was perfect. We had to sit at the bar, which was fine, but within ten minutes the place was packed and people were standing all around waiting for seating. As we got up to leave, I asked the people behind us how much they were willing to pay us for our seats. They asked if the food was good and Diane said that I had been coming there for 40 years. They then asked where we were from and I said Idaho. They said that’s where they were from too.

After dinner we drove over to Ghirardelli’s for desert. We were very lucky and found a parking place right by Ghirardelli’s. We each ordered a sundae and then waddled back to the car and drove back to the hotel. By the way, the view from our room was spectacular. We could see the Golden Gate bridge and a lot of the bay. Too bad it was a little foggy, but we enjoyed the view just the same.

When we reached San Francisco, we had completed the Lincoln Highway portion of our trip. Now it was time to start the Horatio’s part of the trip. The next day we took the freeway to Sacramento and could not imagine what the route must have been like in 1903. From Sacramento we headed north passing rice fields and a variety of orchards. At Oroville we headed into the mountains. The scenery was great, the road was a challenge. I was very surprised at how courteous the drivers were. Any time I came up on someone, they would pull over at the next turn out.

As we approached the Oregon border the landscape started to look like the area between Boise and Mountain Home. At the time we did not realize that this would be the terrain for the next 300 miles.

We spent the night at Lakeview Oregon. At the motel we noticed that a number of the parking stalls had motorcycles in them. The place where we ate dinner was on the corner of the highway intersection and we saw a number on motorcycles passing by. After dinner we drove to the service station to fill-up and asked the attendant about a motorcycle that had just pulled away. It had a wire cage mounted behind the driver. We were told that there were two dogs in the cage wearing Oregon Duck sweaters. There was a piece of Plexiglas on the front of the cage to break the wind. As we were filling up a couple of motorcycles pulled in and we asked the attendant how many motorcycles usually stopped at the station. He said that on an average summer day he had about 250 motorcycles stop for gas.

We circled town twice to finish listening to an audiotape. With nothing else to do in town we went back to our room and watched the movie Taken that I had copied to the computer.

The next morning we started across southern Oregon. Whoever labeled highway 50 in Nevada as “The Loneliest Highway in America” had obviously not driven across southern Oregon. Other than a few cars that we passed there were next to no signs of civilization. Even the lakebeds were dry. Quite to our surprise, when we thought we were in the middle of nowhere, the phone rang and it was Jason, Chris, Ethan and Fiona singing Happy Birthday to me. The connection only lasted a couple of minutes, but for the life of me I can’t imagine where the signal came from.

We hit the freeway at Ontario, OR and quickly drove the rest of the way home. As I reflected on the day’s journey once again it was beyond my imagination how Horatio was able to survive the trip across this no-man’s land.

After reading Ann's blog, I thought I would go looking for the gypsy groups that might have anything to do with Ann being part of our family. I think I found one of the four groups.