Ward's Wanderings, Chapter 2 -- April 18-19

Out and About Topeka; April 18 & 19---

This morning [Friday], with encouragement via an e-mail from my Great Niece Kristi Bobek, Bob and I took off from Ankeny Airport to fly in a Southwesterly direction to Topeka KS. The weather looked perfect -- a "marginal VFR" icon over Topeka looked out of place -- but we decided to fly anyway and divert to an alternate if it was really that bad. [A later telephone contact with Niece Kathy confirmed that blue skies prevailed over Topeka!]

A one-hour thirty-six minute flight brought us to a smooth landing at old, historic Billard Airport. We were met by Kathy and Great Niece Kristi Bobek! We all found a restaurant open to have lunch together until Kristi had to leave in time to pick up her children and get home.

Adalyn, Karen, Grayson

Kathy invited us to stay in her nearly-empty home [only youngest Jeremy is still at home, finishing up High School]. We gladly accepted, with hopes that tomorrow and Sunday we will get to see almost all of the kids -- and Grandkids! -- of this exemplary family.

As we arrived at Kathy's house, we were met by husband Lou, and then soon by Great Niece Karen's children [Landon, Grayson, Owen and stunningly blue-eyed baby Adalyn], and Karen's husband Lewis.

The next day (Saturday), Niece Joan and her husband dropped over to say hello. I saw Joan when she was about five days old in Hartford City IN, in 1945; at the time I was stationed at Glenview Naval Air Station, just north of Chicago, and another Navy Cadet who lived in Hartford City, offered me a ride down and back as he was going to visit his folks on a "long weekend".

Tomorrow promises to be even more interesting [with many Hurla descendants in attendance!]. See continuing "Wanderings" for what happens next!

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]

A Visit From an East Coast Niece

The First Wife and Grumpy were blessed this past week by a visit with Nephew David's wife, Julie. Grumpy had met and visited with her and David when Uncle Bob and he flew up from AL a couple of times in the past few years. But the First Wife, and the local members of the Z Tribe, had not met her, nor known the pleasure of her company.

The first opportunity to visit was at a local Chinese eatery, where Grumpy was again unsuccessful in convincing a knowledgeable vegetarian that Buffalo meat is really vegetarian -- Buffalo eat only grass! That makes them vegetarian -- doesn't it? Our Guest Niece ordered a Vegetarian Chow Yuk (a terrible-sounding name for a very nutritious and delicious mix of vegetables in a light white sauce. The Mermaid Father ordered "Orange Chicken" -- Lemon Chicken ["Well, it looks orange to me!" he opined.]. Resident Grandson ordered Crispy Beef -- a spicy, tasty dish that Grumpy could enjoy, too! First Wife ordered Sugar Pea Pods. BoPop ordered vegetarian fried rice to round out our family-style menu.

On Friday we took a short auto tour, with breakfast at the Black Diamond Bakery, with the added hope that the clouds would part for a stunning view of Mt. Rainier. Ah--'twas not to be. Actually, the best view was a couple days before as we drove from downtown toward our Chinese dinner date; there was 14,411 foot Mt. Rainier towering above near-sea-level Kent Valley!

From Black Diamond we drove over Tiger Pass to Snoqualmie Falls where Grumpy and Julie took the short hike to the viewing area for some photos of the Falls in fairly good photogenic splendor. There was no sunshine at this time, so no rainbows to capture. Julie took the only photos as Grumpy inexplicably forgot to even bring his camera along on this trip!

Next we drove the long way to Ivar's Salmon House -- via Kirkland, Juanita, Bothell and Lake City. At Ivar's Julie and Grumpy enjoyed the Alder grilled Sockeye salmon while First wife had a spinach salad which she declared was the best in the West!

This was a short day necessitated by the need for Julie to pack her things for an early flight next day back home to North Carolina. Those of us who met her were happy for this opportunity; those who didn't don't know what they missed. However, she did suggest that she wants to return again someday for a longer visit and more salmon -- and might even bring David along! Then more of the Z Tribe will get to meet and visit!

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 IV

On the 4th of July, we drove to Rapid City with multiple purposes: to see my old classmate Roy Anderson, who married my second cousin Shirley Sprague (Lorraine's daughter), to have coffee with Emil & Irene Jundt (old friends from McLaughlin SD and Susan's godparents), and to spend the day with Aunt Francis Noble/Gray and all the Noble offspring that could be gathered that day.

As it wonderfully turned out, there were many more than we could have expected! Kay and Bob King were there from Colorado Springs; Alesha and Cortez family were there from Texas! Many more, not all of whom I could remember, were at Gary & Cindy's house for a patio picnic hosted by Gary (see photo of the "Chef", right).

The Grand Mother and Grumpy were treated royally by all, but especially by Gary and Cindy's granddaughter, Hailey Cortez (9 1/2) who made sure we were greeted at the front door, helped into the party area and had something cold to drink and plenty of treats to eat.

We were also happy to see Larry there and to get this photograph of him socializing with Mason, his grandson (son of daughter Melaney). Larry reports that he is working for the City now; that the deer population in the Hills is as good as ever, but the hunting becoming less and less fun as the number of hunters increases.

Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to tell about our trip to the North Dakota Badlands. It was much better than the Grand Mother and Grumpy expected! Exciting, too!