Having a Happy New Year

01 January 2014; Snow on the Mountain --

By leaving The Castle at 0230 on this first day of the New Year, I accomplished two things: 1) I avoided the drunks who got booted out of the bar at 0200 and were already in the ditch -- or in jail, and, 2) I was able to arrive at the Timberline Lodge on the southwest "corner" of Mt Hood in time to have breakfast with Uncle Bob, Aunt Adelaide, David and Jane. 

The one thing that concerned me about this trip was the worry that at least one of my offspring voiced before I left: she was concerned about my safety on "this, the most unsafe day in the year for driving!" I want to assure everyone that in any case, I am statistically likely to die in an automobile accident anyway. After all, I love to drive [having already covered over about one and a half million miles by automobile in my life so far], and I love to go wherever I am going or have gone. I would rather be remembered for having been doing what I enjoy when the Good Lord chooses to take me off this Earth. So, all of you: Please don't worry!!

But on to my report of the New Year's Day's doings!

First Sunrise of the New Year

As I arrived at the Timberline Lodge, the sun was showing her dawn brilliance in the Eastern sky. Earlier, as I drove toward Mt Hood, I glimpsed the stars in a clear sky overhead. This photo of the imminent sunrise, reminded me of a time a few years ago when the Grand Mother and I [with a young Ramiro] has stayed overnight at this lodge. The snow was much deeper then than I found it this time, but the sunrise was similar. 

The inside of this beautiful 1930's era lodge is as interesting as it is warm and welcoming. This big fireplace is a center-piece to the architecture of the whole lodge. I waited here until I spotted Jane, one of the people with whom I had hoped to visit and have breakfast with on this morning.

Uncle Bob, Me, David; Jane peeking from behind Adelaide

Bob & Adelaide, and David and some others soon arrived and we all sat down to a scrumptious, buffet breakfast of scrambled eggs, various kinds of fruit, cheese bits, and sausage and do-it-yourself waffles. And of course, lots of hot coffee. [The coffee was welcome after the four-plus hour drive down here!]

Apparently, it had snowed a good 4-6 feet back in October, but there hadn't been any more white stuff -- other than a skiff or two -- since then, and the skiing conditions were -- well, they were almost like ice-skating! The top of what snow remained was solid ice; the main, high speed run was littered with rocks all of which would be deeply buried in a "normal" year. 

With a crust on the top of the snow at least 3 or 4 inches thick, I had no trouble walking on top of the snow all over the area in which we "snowshoed" with no hint of breaking through this crust. This is on the South side of the mountain, so the sun had a chance to partially melt the snow in the daytime and allow the cold, clear sky to re-freeze the stuff during the night.

However, the snowshoes were a good idea; they were equipped with crampon-like steel claws on the toes and under the area of the snowshoe where the heel comes down. So, although I would have had no problem breaking through the crust just wearing my hiking boots, the steel claws prevented me from sliding down this steep side hill -- all the way to the bottom -- or, until I encountered a tree -- or a rock!! 

We saw some people who owned crampons who were easily hiking up the same slopes we hiked. Like I suspected, the snowshoes were not needed for the usual purpose of buoying up the weight of the hiker in normal soft snow.

When we reached the upper limit of the trees, we opted to stop rather than continue to get overheated with the exertion of the climb plus the sun beating on our backs. We found this "Heather Bed" and used it as a convenient stopping place to enjoy the view and watch (and listen to) the skiers "schoosh" by as they tried to steer right and left to moderate their downhill speed. Here (left) Bob and Jane recline on the side hill for a little breather.

I took this photo (right) to show the steepness of the hillside up which we had just come. It seemed even steeper, but a good photo is more convincing than a good estimate. The reader can appreciate the problem I would have had coming back down this icy hillside without the traction devices on those snowshoes. Indeed, I would have slid down rather than walk.

As I lay there on the Heather, I spied Mt Jefferson peeking through these ancient tree trunks, relics of the past, killed perhaps during an extended dry period, or perhaps by a fire that once seared this landscape. The new growth, seen poking up behind these bleached trunks are white pine, I believe. Jane's forester daughter will verify the species when Jane returns home and has an opportunity to show her daughter some photos of the foliage.

After arriving back at the lodge at about 1400, I had a relaxing lunch with Jane and at about 1500, after saying goodbye to everyone, I left to drive back to The Castle where I arrived at about 1900 that evening. Needless to say, I slept very well that night and surprised myself with having nothing painful to deal with the next day other than a little stiffness/soreness in my shoulders from having wielded the poles that were issued to us along with the snowshoes. I have to admit that the poles served their purposes with me. I found that I had an illusion that I needed to lean away from the hillside; this resulted in my almost losing my balance a few times and falling over backwards downhill!

Around the USA in a Mooney

10 September thru 10 October 2013; Various daily locations--

As part of this flight around the United States, Grumpy diverted to Turkey with Uncle Bob and his lovely wife, Adelaide. But that story will have to wait; tonight I want to tell you about Bob's and my adventure in the Mooney [his airplane, but with my newly earned "Complex Aircraft Certification", I got to fly it!]. We left the Mooney's home base here in the Northwest early on a foggy morning September 10th. We refueled in Billings MT and stopped for an overnight at Clyde Ice Airfield in Spearfish SD. While in Spearfish, we had dinner out with our cousin Bitsy. "My bad" is that there are no photos from that meeting.

The next morning, we took off for a relatively leisurely flight to Ankeny IA [near Des Moines]. Sister Hazel met us at the airport and we stayed a day or so at her house before catching the "midnight bus" to Chicago for our flight to Istanbul Turkey. The bus ride turned out to be almost an all night affair, as traffic and a blow-out tire on the bus conspired to delay our arrival at O'Hare airport until almost six o'clock the next morning, 12 September. We joined Adelaide at O'Hare where the three of us were to board our plane for Istanbul scheduled to depart about noon that day.

Seven days later, we arrived back at O'Hare after an exciting and eventful six days seeing the sights and experiencing the sounds, foods and smells of Turkey. Again we [Bob and I] took the express bus back to Des Moines where we spent a few days visiting with Sister Hazel. We wanted to convince Hazel to accompany us in the flight around the Eastern parts of the USA. She finally agreed when enticed by the promise of a visit with her daughter-in-law, Siv, and her Grandchildren in Champaign IL; also her younger daughter Kay in Blacksburg VA, as well as getting to visit her Niece Jane in MD, her Nephews David in NC and Ward in VA, and a "Mystery" cousin, Willa, whom none of us had ever met, in Savannah GA.

Uncle Bob visiting with Kari;
Aunt Hazel listening in background

We flew the Mooney on 27 September from Ankeny to the Champaign airport, where we rented a car for the drive into Champaign to meet Siv. [All flights for the remainder of this Post will be in the Mooney, with Grumpy as "Captain" and Bob as "Navigator".] We enjoyed a very pleasant evening dining and visiting with Siv, Kari, Sofie and Olaf. Bob and Kari seemed to have a particularly good interchange. Grumpy's hearing handicap prevented him from overhearing enough to comprehend the context of their discussions. We stayed this night in a motel about 50 miles West of Champaign; some kind of event at the U of Illinois had all of the nearby motels booked solid.

On the 28th of September we flew to Blacksburg (Western Virginia Tech Airport). Kay picked us up and we had dinner together. We also visited Kay's horse ranch where she has a large [larger than she would like, if you ask her!] number of horses. Most are "Pony of Americas" [a registered breed developed from Appaloosa and Welsh pony -- with a little Quarter horse stock thrown in], but several are Norwegian "Fjord" horses.If Grumpy had a larger acreage -- or had a fence around what he has! -- he would sure like to have a pair of the Fjord's! [I could sell the lawn mower, and not have to hire a kid to mow my lawn next Summer!]

The next day, the 29th of September, we flew to Fayetteville SC, where we rented a car for use for the next two or three days. First, we were to meet Bob's friend and sometime boss, Dr Daryush Ila. While waiting for Dr Ila, we toured some of the historic sites in the town of Fayetteville. 

After breakfast the next morning, 30 September, we drove North to Raleigh NC to have dinner with Bob's son David and wife Julie. After dinner, we drove back to our hotel in Fayetteville.

The 1st of October found us flying from Fayetteville to Savannah GA. We rented a Prius this time; Grumpy [the designated driver] was befuddled for several minutes before he figured out how to start this car without a key and how to shift gears with the seemingly unresponsive shift knob. With that confusion settled and after reserving motel rooms for the night, we phoned for directions from our Cousin Willa and ventured forth into the suburban wilderness to find where Willa and her husband Chuck live. 

Grumpy, Cousin Willa, Uncle Bob, Aunt Hazel
 Chuck Baisden

This visit with our "long-lost" Cousin Willa had the most surprises for us of any that we experienced on this entire trip! Her husband, Chuck, is a veteran (one of the last four living!) of the famous Flying Tigers group that flew out of Burma, over "the Hump", prior to our entry into World War II. Willa is a couple of years older than Grumpy, but she is a lot nicer than Grumpy ever was. 

Chuck is a few more years older, but is still able to navigate on his own. He authored a book* about his experiences as a Master Chief Sergeant in the "Flying Tigers" [the American Volunteer Group (AVG)] and its subsequent organizational names and assignments of duty. The artifacts from his affiliation with that group as well as other items he has collected as a hobby since retiring, fill an entire room in their house. It was a great honor and privilege to meet this man and a pleasure to finally meet our cousin, with whom Grumpy has been corresponding via e-mail for the past year or two.

Willa called a local eatery from which we enjoyed some of the foods for which Savannah is famous, including crab cakes. 

After a good visit and receiving an autographed copy of the book that Chuck authored, we drove the Prius back to the motel for our night's rest. The next morning, Grumpy recorded over 60 miles of driving and had to "click off" the gas pump four times in order to get it to take more than one gallon of gasoline.

Aunt Hazel, Neil, Ward, Jane, Uncle Bob

On 2 October, we flew northwesterly from Savannah to Fredericksburg VA where Ward met us and drove around most of the D.C. "going-home" traffic to get us to Frederick MD where we met Bob's daughter Jane, and husband Neil. We enjoyed dinner and a visit with them, and then stopped by their home and Jane's downtown studio for a look at some of her stained-glass artwork. She markets her glass art work under the name of Trilobite Glassworks. [Jane is a Paleontologist and a student of microbiology.] Some of her art features enlarged realistic images  of such things as microbes and malaria germs. [How would you like to eat your dinner on a plate in which were embedded images of typhoid larvae?]

Stratford House; birthplace of Robert E. Lee

After our visit with Jane and Neil, Ward drove us back around D.C. to his and Peggie's home near Colonial Beach VA where we were warmly welcomed, fed and watered. We stayed two nights in Ward and Peggie's home. Ward drove us to some historic sites which were not open due to the government shutdown. One memorable site that was open (owned and operated by a private foundation) was Robert E. Lee's birthplace. Ward also drove us to the site where John Wilkes Booth was captured (and killed); he and Peggie took us to an excellent restaurant in the village of Colonial Beach where we enjoyed crab cakes and other special seafood dishes.

The Mooney at Fredericksburg

On 4 October, Ward drove us back up to the airport at Fredericksburg where we departed for the 300-mile flight down to Huntsville AL, landing on the turf strip at Moontown. Bob had some things he wanted to drop off there, as well as some things that he wanted to pick up from there. Hazel stayed in the home of Bob's friends in Huntsville [which he "house sits" when he is in the U.S. and they are at their home in Brazil]; Bob and Grumpy checked into a motel nearby.

The Mooney at Moontown;
Time for an oil change

After breakfast on 5 October, Grumpy ferried the Mooney over to a paved runway about ten miles from Moontown. This was because Grumpy was uneasy about attempting to take off from the turf strip with the near-limit gross weight we would be carrying in the Mooney for the long flight to Ankeny IA. On the way from Huntsville to Ankeny, we had to dodge through a frontal system that was sweeping across the Mid-continent. With Bob navigating, including monitoring the lightning detector instrument, and directing Grumpy's flight path, we were able to negotiate the front without incident.

Bob and Grumpy spent a couple nights at Hazel's home visiting and helping collect fruit and vegetables for canning before setting out on our flight West to home base. We took advantage of this opportunity for viewing and photographing Hazel's cacti that were blooming in an outside cactus garden.

Grumpy called our Cousin Bitsy, who lives in Spearfish, to check on the local conditions there, as this would be our first stop for an overnight before embarking on the long flight leg over the Rocky Mountains and Cascades.  Bitsy informed me that the Northern Black Hills had suffered a four-foot snowfall with winds which piled up drifts such that I-90 was closed from Chamberlain to Gillette WY! Clyde Ice field in Spearfish would likely not be open and, even if it was, there would be no ground transportation to enable us to get to a motel, and obviously we would not be able to visit our Black Hills cousins. 

Dahl Lungren, Uncle Bob, Cousin Barbara Lungren;
Mooney at Broken Bow

A "southern route", through Nebraska and southern Wyoming, was deemed more appropriate. Hazel informed us of some cousins who live in Broken Bow NE; Grumpy thought of his Granddaughter, Amy and family who live in Oregon! So it was that Bob and I took off on 7 October for the two-hour flight to Broken Bow. We met our heretofore unmet Cousin Barbara and her husband, Dahl Lungren. Cousins Darry and Marvin Weber, with their wives, Dolores and Gaylene, drove up from Arnold to visit with us also.

After our overnight stay in the Arrow Hotel in Broken Bow, Barbara and Dahl met us for breakfast the next morning and then came out to the airport with us. Dahl showed us his crop-spraying aircraft and a beautifully-restored Cessna that belonged to their son. He also used his on-field ATV to tow the Mooney over to the fuel station, thereby taking a strain off of Grumpy's still-healing back if we had had to push the aircraft over to the station.

"Great Grumpy" and newest
Great Grandson Samuel

We flew from Broken Bow to Boise ID for an overnight in a nearby motel. The next day, 9 October, we flew from Boise to Valley View Airfield near Estacada OR. An airfield resident spotted us after we landed and kindly gave us a ride to the Fox Motel in Estacada where we booked our room for the night. Amy's husband, John, picked us up on his way home that afternoon and we had the pleasure of a home-cooked meal in Amy's house, as well as a good, long visit with Grumpy's Great Granddaughter, Elianna and her four brothers, Malachi, Amos, Ezekiel and Daniel -- Grumpy's newest Great Grandson, Samuel, who Grumpy saw for the first time since his birth in early September, was sleeping and didn't have much to say even when he woke up later.

Daniel, Elianna, Ezekiel, Amy, Uncle Bob;
Mooney at Valley View Airport

On 10 October, we left Valley View with our intended destination being the West coast Mooney base. However, as we neared our destination, we could see that low-lying clouds made our approach and landing prohibitive [we are both VFR-rated pilots and in any case the visibility on the ground would have prevented an instrument landing given the equipment in the Mooney].  We turned back to land at the Troutdale airport where we remained overnight,  booking a motel on the other side of the field from where the Mooney was tied down.

On the 11th, after watching the satellite weather picture, hoping for a break in the cloud cover to the North, we finally decided to take off with sufficient reserve fuel to fly all the way to Arlington airport and then return if necessary to Troutdale. As we flew over the Seattle area we saw that the low cloud cover persisted. However, as we approached the areas further north, the cloud cover had been pushed south by the prevailing air currents and we were able to make a clear landing at Arlington. A quick call to daughter Susan got us a ride to her home where we enjoyed her usual hospitality of dinner and a place to sleep overnight.

The 12th of October dawned with the promise of good flying all over, so Bob and I took off for the last leg of our long and divergent flight home from "Around the USA in the Mooney".

*"Flying Tiger to Air Commando", by Chuck Baisden [Schiffer Publishing, Ltd]

Near Death Experience

19 March; Somewhere (NOWHERE?) in Kansas --

Speaking of falls, Grumpy took a bad tumble when Hazel and he were visiting our Nephew (cousin of Grumpy's children) near Soldier KS. A bad tornado had hit his place a couple years ago -- just before Mother and I visited him, in fact. 

It folded his metal granary flat! and lifted the "lid" off and flattened that, too; I wanted a picture of the results with me in it for perspective. Anyway, a grain auger, used to lift the grain from a truck into the granary, had been blown down and was lying in the grass near where the granary had been. The drive shaft, a solid steel rod about 5/8" in diameter, was sticking up out of the grass, pointing in my direction and therefore difficult to see with the grass all around. I caught my left foot on it as I stepped to take another step. I was holding a cup of coffee in my left hand, which I didn't want to spill, so I extended my left arm out in front of me as I fell full-body length on my front side. My chest contacted the auger tube, crossing from just below my rib cage on the right side to between my left shoulder and neck -- across the long-healed incision performed when I had my double bypass 10 years ago.

I felt pain in my rib cage -- of course my wind was knocked out -- but as soon as I regained my breath and took stock that nothing seemed seriously damaged, I got up without any problem. Later I found out that my most serious injury was a sharp bruise to my left forearm, just below the elbow, where it apparently contacted a corner edge of the concrete pad on which the granary had stood.

I still (two weeks later) have no black and blue spots, but only a dull ache if someone hugs me too hard -- not that I mind that, thank you; I'll take all the hugs anybody wants to give me!!

But I should watch where I step more carefully from now on; old people have been known to break parts when they fall. I still hope to grow old some day.

Fred Schwink [1962-2010] -- Husband, Father, Nephew, Friend

Central Illinois; 29 September to 1 October, 2010 --

Sad news came to Grumpy's family, that Frederick Ward Schwink had passed away at the young age of 48. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and one son, all of whom live in Central Illinois. Our condolences and prayers of comfort go out to this young family.

Grumpy booked his flight to Chicago via Southwest Airlines without coordinating with the Kayaker Son, who booked his flight with United; both flights were scheduled to arrive Chicago at noon or a little after. All would have been well with this independence except that United flew into Chicago O'Hare and Southwest flew into Chicago Midway. Kayaker rented a car and found his way from O'Hare down to Midway where he had to wait half and hour or so for Grumpy to arrive.

Grumpy had lent Kayaker his Marine/Auto Garmin GPS for use in navigating the devious (and sometimes dangerous!) streets of Chicago. After picking up Grumpy at Midway, Kayaker allowed Grumpy to manage the pesky GPS -- which Grumpy promptly decided to ignore her plaintive pleadings to "turn right, turn right, turn right" -- all for the purpose of making a U-turn to get us going in the right direction for the shortest/fastest route to Champaign, our interim destination.



A "Tailgate Lunch" in a Chicago Suburb



Fortunately, Grumpy's misguided attempts to navigate a "better route" resulted in our coming upon a grocery store where a variety of edibles (well, most of it was edible!) were purchased for an immediate lunch and then bedtime snacks later on. We got some apples, some grape juice, some breakfast cereal, some rice cakes (hereinafter referred to as "Styrofoam"!) and some peanut butter. The last item was intended to be used in an attempt to make the Styrofoam "edible".

Rice Cake, with peanut butter

Putting peanut butter on a rice cake results in a "food" which chews exactly like one would expect of a clean piece of pure Styrofoam, and tastes exactly like one would expect of a table-knife full of peanut butter. With some trepidations concerning whether the Styrofoam would lurk in our digestive systems for a few decades -- Grumpy had read that Styrofoam bio-degrades ve-er-ry slowly! -- we each consumed a couple of these peanut butter-laced "treats". In fact, this item of our diet fulfilled one very useful function: we now felt full!

We arrived in Champaign about 5 p.m. and, after finding one of the three Indian cuisine restaurants, had a delicious dinner of some kind of chicken and a spinach dish with Roti paan.

Hickory Tree bark



Wednesday morning, we went for a short walk in a park, listening to crickets chirping, birds singing and scolding; squirrels complaining and freight trains hooting. A large, old hickory tree was fascinating, in that its loose, deeply-striated bark is very different from any trees we see out here on the Wet Coast.

 

Hickory Leaves and Nut (in husk)

The hickory nuts from this giant old tree are formed in a pithy husk which splits open to reveal the quarter-sized, three-corner shaped hickory nut inside (click on photo to right and note nut in partially-opened husk just left of center). Grumpy remembers breaking open a hickory nut when he was about 6-8 years old; the hickory nut was sent to us by our Grandfather in Illinois. Hickory nuts yield very little nut-meat with a great deal of effort; Grumpy would advise the readers not to waste their efforts.




A Blue Wild Flower

 

Grumpy spotted this brilliant blue flower, growing in amongst some tall weeds near the creek. Its brilliance contrasted with the sad purpose for which we were here: to memorialize my Nephew, and Jim's Cousin, Fred. This afternoon was spent in relative solitude, sharing sad and happy memories among Fred's family and relatives. Fred left a priceless legacy of pursuit of knowledge of the Germanic languages, which he tirelessly shared with graduate students at the University of Illinois. But he also left a legacy in the little family he loved and headed.

Interspersed with the grief was the pleasure we had in meeting many of Fred's friends and neighbors, not the least of which was the family who invited many of us to stay in their home, and who prepared a fine meal for us. The friendly hospitality and the meal, we especially enjoyed -- an incomparable relief from the previous day's lunch of "Styrofoam".

Summer 2008: Day 14, Noble Nephews 4th of July Barbeque

[Friday, 4th of July 2008, Rapid City]--This day was to be one of surprises and relief from responsibility. The explanation of each of these are contained in the story that follows.

We arrived in Rapid at mid-morning, driving down from our lodgings in Spearfish (less expensive and much better accommodations than the Super 8 in Rapid!), and quickly found Aunt Francis' home in South Rapid. As we arrived, no activity was noted inside the house, so the Grand Mother and Grumpy continued to listen to the "Book-on-CD" that we had been listening to on the way down to Rapid. Soon we noticed Aunt Francis come out of her house and load some things in her car. Grumpy got out of the Red Rocket, parked at the curb on the street, and hailed Francis -- she hadn't notice the "strange" car parked in front of her house.

Of course she invited us in and asked us if we wished anything to drink. I think both of us asked just for water. Later, when she had come back from delivering the goodies to Gary & Cindy's house, she asked again if she could provide us anything; Grumpy eagerly asked for some coffee! Then we sat around her living room visiting, Francis bringing the Grand Mother up-to-date with the Noble gang; the Grand Mother reciprocated, telling what the Zimmerman tribe is up to. Grumpy showed Francis some of the photos that had been taken so far on this trip.

Going over to Gary & Cindy's house at about 12:00 o'clock, we found a fairly large crowd already there. The big, pleasant surprise was finding that the Cortez family from Texas were there! Allesha Cortez is Gary & Cindy's oldest "child"; their three (or four) children are Francis' great grandchildren! Their oldest girl, Hailey, is now 11 years old -- and had a mouthful of braces, confirming her advancement toward the age of teenhood! She welcomed us, just as she had done the ear before, and then proudly announced to Grumpy that she had her "own e-mail address"!

Much visiting followed until the host and hostess announced, "Burgers, Brats and Hot Dogs are ready!" There was finger food galore and of course Chef Gary's inimitable barbecued meats. Grumpy chose a Brat, his favorite, and also chose some things for his First Wife, including a bottle of lightly-sugared green tea. We wish we had noted the brand as First Wife commented afterward how delicious and refreshing it was.

The day was quite hot -- especially for the moss-backs from the Pacific Northwest! Soon the children (ages 3 to 11) started dipping water glasses of water from the inflatable pool and pouring it on themselves -- and each other! Grumpy watched with envy; the year before he had become an instigator and, ultimately, a victim of a water fight that involved water guns, including a pump model that could shoot an accurate stream of water as much as 25-30 feet!! Grumpy was hoping -- yes, hoping -- that some kid would "accidentally" splash some water into the adult crowd sitting on the patio, just as they did last year. Then Grumpy would have the excuse he wanted to allow him to enter into the damp fray; it would be nice to be water-wet and cool, rather than sweaty-wet and hot just sitting there.

Then, without any such provocation, a gentleman (he objected to my calling him "Sir!", insisting that it almost gave him a heart attack) ventured out onto the field of battle, seeming to plead with the children for calm. Such futile hope! Soon he found himself attempting to defend himself using only a water glass and the same bottomless source of cool water that the children had been using. Alas, two against one! Realizing he didn't have a chance, he retreated after being dunked with a full glass of cool water down the back of his neck!! Grumpy both pitied him and envied him. This was the relief from a "responsibility" that Grumpy had foreseen as his to fulfill.

Gary & Cindy's back yard where the picnic was held was beautifully landscaped with these two gorgeous Climatis; one pink and the other a deep blue.

Later, the conflict succumbed to a bunch of wet kids wrapped in towels, sitting in any available warm place such as the uncooled garage. It was at that point that Larry (grandpa and great uncle of most if not all of the kids present) showed a characteristic likened (in Grumpy's mind) to BoPop. Pictured here he is monitoring the small ones playing on the plastic climbing, sliding and crawling playground toy.

Summer 2008: Day 9, Nephew Alvin Bell and "Helpers"

We regretfully missed seeing Nephew Alvin last summer when we visited Kansas, so Grumpy vowed that we would stop to visit him this year if we couldn't visit anyone else! Grumpy was disappointed that Shirley was not able to be here this time. She had a wedding to attend in Wisconsin and had left just a day or so before we arrived.

Further complicating this visit is the fact that two weeks ago, a class F3 or F4 tornado set down over Alvin and Shirley's place, causing extensive damage to the trees, house and outbuildings. Thus this post will concentrate on photographs of some of the most unusual damage caused by this tornado.

This 1500 pound red granite boulder (about 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 on its base by 3 1/2 feet high) had been standing on this exposed bottom before the tornado lifted it out of the depression in which it sat and tipped it over on its side.

Alvin's previously "cherry" condition Bereta Chevrolet, shown here, has both windows on the driver's side shattered, the hood wrapped up over the windshield and an ugly dent in the side just rear of the driver's door to Alvin's left.

This previously-round steel grainery was sucked flat, apparently by the extreme pressure difference between the pressure inside the tornado funnel and the outside air rushing in. The roof was also folded flat by this same phenomenon. The round concrete floor on which it originally sat is toward the camera to the right.

After surveying the damage (much work had already been done, cleaning up the debris from the trees and other items strewn around the yard by the tornado), we all drove into Holton and had lunch at the Trails Cafe. Their fried chicken and roast beef are among the best restaurant cooking we have had on this trip! The participants included Elynor, Alvin, the lovely Samantha and handsome Billy (the latter two, grand children of Alvin and Shirley). Grumpy was there, too -- he can be seen if you turn around and look toward the camera.

Ward & Elynor's Summer 2007 Wanderings; Visit with Kathy & Lou Hurla and Family

We contacted Kathy only the day before and she contacted all of our Bell nephews who live in the Topeka area. However, only some of Kathy's family showed up; Kathy and Lou had ten children: five girls and five boys! It was too short a notice to gather everyone, even in this tight knit family.Pictured above are the Grand Mother, Kelly (youngest daughter), Kathy (the Mom) and Lou Hurla (the Dad).

We also saw Karen (oldest daughter) and her two boys; James and his wife and little boy; Jacob (next to youngest son, a 6' 3" basketball player). Notice the characteristic blonde hair on these Hurla "kids" and their offspring. What a sight when they are all gathered!!

We are sorry we missed seeing Jeff & Mary Ann Bell, Frank & Theresa Bell, John Hurla and his wife, Kristy Hurla (previous engagement), Kim Hurla (previous engagement) and Jeremy Hurla (the youngest, also a previous engagement). Joe Hurla and his wife live too far away to join this festive evening.

The most regretful incident was missing seeing Alvin and Shirley Bell. They live north of Topeka and I had expected to see them Wednesday morning as we drove north on US-75 to go to Nebraska. Unfortunately, I did not call them Tuesday night to confirm the time and place and when I tried to contact them via cell phone Wednesday morning, their phone was not working. I assured Alvin when he called me later, that I would make sure we got to see each other next year "even if I had to stay a day or two extra!". I acknowledge my total failure in this case.

Ward & Elynor's Summer 2007 Wanderings--Part VII

We drove from Olivia MN directly to Cousin Harry Kunkle's home in Altoona IA -- a suburb east of Des Moines. There we met Cousin Edythe Cavanaugh, Harry's sister who had drove down from her farm home near Lohrville IA just for this visit.

The three cousins, their ages spanning nearly 20 years, show obvious familial traits -- they are all handsome and good-looking. Grumpy is proud to be related to all and married to one.

We had a late lunch together in Altoona and then the Grand Mother and Grumpy hurried along to Carlisle, south of Des Moines for a late afternoon and evening visit with Grumpy's sister, Hazel, and his Nephew Paul.

Another pleasant surprise greeted us when we arrived at Hazel's house: our cousin, Jeannie "B" had arrived that day from Washington State! Jeannie had sold her farm near Everett and acquired a motor home in which she was planning on "seeing the USA". We (Hazel, Jeannie, Paul and Grumpy) enjoyed an evening of visiting and a meal together before Jeannie had to continue on down the road to find her night's accommodation -- much more flexible when you are driving your home!

A familiar face that greeted us was Tootsie, previously our welcomer when we came to visit her former mistress, Rachel in Marysville WA. Tootsie is as peppy and mischievous as ever, Paul having taught her a couple of new tricks: sitting/staying and laying down, both of which she performs on command from Paul.

We had been unable, before we left Seattle, to make contact with the Bell families in and around Topeka, so it was with great happiness that we were able to get valid telephone numbers from Paul which allowed Grumpy to finally talk to his Niece Kathy Hurla in Topeka. Kathy generously offered to call and try to gather all of her brothers and as many of her ten children as were available in the area to come to a picnic supper the next afternoon/evening after they got off work. This gave us a morning to visit and have breakfast with Sister Hazel and Nephew Paul. We had whole-grain waffles with yogurt and blue berries, plenty of black coffee and some more good visiting before leaving in late morning for our date with the Hurla's and Bell's and Co.