teardroptravelin'

After a tough night for Diana we got up, and broke camp.  By 10:00 we were underway and soon romping through the rolling hills and thick woods in this part of Missouri.  We headed generally southeast and stopped for lunch at Cape Giradeau before crossing over the Mississippi and dropping into Illinois.

The river was brown and surly looking under the bridge.  When we reached the eastern banks the fields for miles were under water.  At one point the water was up on the shoulder of the road we were driving on.  We saw some homes partly submerged, and spotted one car on an access road that was underwater up to the windows.  Since we have had a little experience with flooding (not anywhere near this scale) we have nothing but sympathy and prayers for the people suffering the river’s wrath.

We traveled on through Jonesboro, where the Lincoln-Douglas debate took place, and zipped in and out of Vienna (not Austria!) before reaching Route 24 and multi-lane divided highway.

The Illinois landscape is subtly different from Missouri’s with more open spaces, perhaps due to being settled longer with more time for the woods to be cut down for fuel and farming.  Twice, brightly colored red birds (Cardinals?) flew across the road ahead of us.

We crossed over the huge Ohio river, slipped into Kentucky, and stopped at a motel in Paducah.  Hopefully Diana will be a bit more comfortable tonight with more space and a bed she can easily get in and out of.

Right now, we’re watching the local news filled with stories of flooding and views of the river we just crossed over.  Exciting times here in Paducah, but tonight we’re snug, safe, and high and dry!

About to cross the Mississippi at Cape Giradeau, MO

OK, so we’re still here in Branson.  So sue us!  😀

Actually, we have been enjoying this Disneyland South and its many offerings.  The people of the Ozarks are warm, friendly, generous and altogether welcoming.  The hills are green — so many different shades of green — and there is water everywhere.  This is an unusual year, for sure, but even so, the scenery is lush and rich with its bounty.  We like it!

So now, about the last three days — let’s see…

SATURDAY

We decided to go to church today and found that the East Branson SDA church was the closest one.  We found a very nice, new but simple building in a large, open area with a covered picnic/potluck area alongside.  We were warmly welcomed and enjoyed the fellowship of the members who greeted us after the service.  We were urged to attend the potluck, which we did, and sat with a couple and their two adorable little girls.  They were also visitors.  They were immigrants from the Philippines who now live in Mexico, Missouri.  I didn’t even know there was such a place!

We also, as usual, found some people who are related to people from our home church.  It is such a small world!

After we left church we drove around the area and enjoyed the little surprises of finding gorgeous views or amusing signs around each corner.  And there are a lot of twists and turns in the road around here.

SUNDAY

We had received a flyer inviting us to attend a gospel music church service at a place just down the street from where we’re staying, and we got up early to go there.  We were not disappointed.  A small stage and showroom was packed with people. A very proficient and extremely sincere gentleman played guitar and sang.  He was backed up by an incredibly adept man on  keyboard and a woman who sang harmony.

After several very familiar songs, and solos by the woman and a guest guitarist/songwriter who is also the local watch repairman, the guitarist (who was “Branson guitar picker of the year” last year, gave a brief but moving sermonette and closed with a rousing version of a new (to us) gospel song.  We left the service with a new appreciation for the strong, unashamed beliefs of many of the area entertainers.

The afternoon was dedicated to wandering around the area again, and we ended up at the complex of new shops near the lake and the big, flashy Hilton Hotel.  We bought a French press to replace the one we broke earlier, and Diana got a new blouse at a great sale price at the Coldwater Creek outlet.  We are trying to contribute to the local economy everywhere we go!

MONDAY

Today we headed south and west into Arkansas, toward toward the town of Berryville, in search of one of Diana’s great-great grandmothers who supposedly was born in or near this town.  We met with another of the intelligent, helpful, enthusiastic  women who volunteer to staff these local museum/heritage/history establishments.  Alas, although we all searched high and low, no trace of Martha Callen was found.  Diana did glean some new clues which may aid her future efforts.  The hunt continues.

We had lunch in the Berryville Square in a little cafe alongside some colorful locals and then took a side trip to Eureka Springs, a resort town about 10 miles from Berryville.  It was quaint and touristy and very much like a lot of the small, gold country towns we are familiar with.  We wandered around the town and Diana once again found some bargains.  No worries — most of what she is acquiring is small!

I failed to mention that the last three days have been rain-filled.  Everything from light drizzle to full-on thunder and lightning extravaganzas.  Today was no exception and negotiating the wet and winding, two-lane Missouri and Arkansas roads without the trailer was fun for me.

We are trying to figure out what we will do next.  We want to visit Raines relatives in Nashville and Atlanta, but working out a mutually acceptable schedule may be difficult.  At any event, we’re off tomorrow morning for somewhere more to the east.  We’ll let you know where we alight next in the following episode.  We’ll be lookin’ for ya then!

Carroll County Genealogy Sleuths

Well, we have been out of Wi-Fi range since Wednesday, so we have come catching up to do.

WEDNESDAY

We drove away from KC with heavy, threatening weather all around us, but dry pavement underneath us.  As we drove south, we had several calls from Diana’s cousin Garland France and his wife Marilyn, guiding us to where they are staying in Forsyth, which is just a few miles from Branson.  As we were turning off the main highway, our faithful 2004 Subaru Forester’s odometer rolled over to 100,000 miles!  We wonder where we’ll be when it hits 200,000?

We continued to be surrounded by very black skies but only a few sprinkles reached our windshield, and we were still dry when we reached Forsyth.  Garland and Marilyn greeted us like long, lost friends and they generously suggested we put the teardrop in the garage before we set off to search out some of Diana’s ancestors.  They, (and we), are staying at Marilyn’s mother’s home.  It has been empty since her mother passed away and there is only one bed inside, but fortunately we come equipped with sleeping facilities.  The house is up for sale, but they use it has a home base when they are in the Branson area.

Soon we were on our way to the White River Valley Historical Society, also in Forsyth.  Diana and Marilyn poured over binders and looked up information with Garland assisting.  I chatted with the woman in charge of the facility and she showed me pictures of an exhibit they had there several years ago which featured a restored teardrop trailer!

After the research was completed, we took a short drive to look at Lake Taneycomo.  The last ten days of very heavy rain has increased the lake level to the point the water has covered much of the banks, engulfing some homes and causing the water to flow over the top of one of the medium-sized dams.  We stopped to watch the angry brown water rushing over the dam and then returned to dinner at  “Fat Daddy’s,” one of Garland’s favorite local BBQ joints.  They did serve salads and baked potatoes too!

After dinner we returned to the house and spent the rest of the evening chatting, hearing stories of the early days in Taney County and the escapades of some of Garland and Diana’s ancestors.  We also watched the news and heard about the awful damage and loss of life this stormy weather has done in Alabama and other states and were grateful for our safety.  When we got tired, Diana and I retired to the garage for a good night’s sleep!

THURSDAY

After a very quiet night we awoke, grabbed breakfast, and set off on a tour of the area with stops at a couple of cemeteries to look for Diana’s forebears.  Along the way Garland kept up a running stream of commentary on various landmarks and the history associated with them.  Many of Diana and his relatives played a role in the early days here, and his colorful descriptions really brought them to life.

It’s thought-provoking to look down at tombstones with names of people that I have been hearing about for years.  We found Whites and Stinchcombs and McFarlands.  The two most poignant for me were the grave of the infant daughter of the woman who raised Diana, her step-great grandmother Charlotte (Bobbie) McFarland.  Then we were standing by the place where her maternal grandmother, Iris White, lies, all by herself with no relatives near her.  Having scanned pictures of her as a young woman with a baby in her arms, and knowing that she became ill and died quite young, makes the experience of seeing her gravestone and being close to her a moving experience.

Along with our continuing history lessons, Garland also took us to look at the big Table Rock Dam with all of its flood gates open and more than 30,000 cubic feet of water per second pouring through them.  Even so, the water is near the top of the dam, and splashing over the tops of the floodgates.  The sound was impressive, and we could feel the spray on our faces from quite a distance away.

We also visited the College of the Ozarks campus which is a very impressive facility in a beautiful location.  It reminds me of Berea College in Kentucky where Jakki’s Dad and Grandfather went.  The students can work their way through college, and they can learn old skills, too.  Garland says it is a strict school, so students have to be on their best behavior.  We explored a working mill there, chatted with women making baskets and weaving cloth, and had our first experience eating “Goo Goos” a local confection consisting of chocolate, marshmallow, nuts and sometimes caramel and/or peanut butter. Looks like all the major food groups to me, so what’s not to like?

Here’s a link to the college’s Website:  http://www.cofo.edu/

The day and evening continued with interesting, amazing and humorous stories of life in early Taney County.  Garland has a way with words (he was an instructor in the Air Force) and the hours flew by as we listened and chatted until late.  Again we nestled in our garage abode for another peaceful evening’s rest.

FRIDAY

Today our tour guides must return home.  We are going to miss their company and their vast store of knowledge of the area and Diana’s kin.  We have become the best of friends and we hope they will pay us a visit whenever they come to California.

We hooked up the trailer and drove to Branson.  We have a motel there for the night because Diana wants to do some additional research at the College of the Ozarks library.

After checking in to the motel we entered the college campus again, found the library and Diana was able to locate the obituary she was looking for from 1862 fairly quickly.  After checking out the views of the river and landscape from behind the library, we spent a few hours exploring the contents of the Ralph Foster Museum on campus.  Besides an excellent selection of items from the Branson area, there were other interesting exhibits including a large display on the creation and success of the first nationally televised country music program, “Ozark Jubilee,” which was broadcast live from Springfield, just 50 miles away.

Diana and I also visited the Titanic exhibit in Branson.  We were both impressed with the quality of the presentation and the quantity of items from that famous tragedy.  We spent several hours there and learned a great deal about the ship, its passengers and crew and the circumstances which led to the loss of life and vessel.  There were many one-of-a-kind items, many of them from the ship or passengers themselves.  If you are ever in the area, this is a must-see attraction with very little hoopla and a great deal of authenticity.  http://www.titanicbranson.com/

Finally, after dinner at the Olive Garden (we decided we were on a date!) we are resting in our room and catching up the blog.  Since thundershowers and rain are forecast for tomorrow and Sunday, we don’t know if we’ll continue into Arkansas tomorrow or wait until driving conditions improve.  In the meantime, dear readers, we appreciate your continued interest in our adventures, and we hope we are keeping it interesting!  Good night from just off the “strip” in Branson, MO!

Table Rock Dam 30,000+ CFM

It rained hard last night, but the rain had stopped by the time we woke up.  We’re staying here in Kansas City one more day to let the thunderstorms, heavy rain and flooding slack off a little bit before we dive down to Branson, Missouri.

Diana and I had seen a PBS program on the Steamboat Arabia which had sunk in Missouri River in 1856.  As the river channel changed over time, the Arabia became buried under the land and lost.  Finally it was found again and when it was uncovered its contents provided a time capsule of what life was like in pre-civil war America.

Turns out the boat was found just a few miles north of Kansas City and now there’s a museum here which contains most of the contents of the Arabia.  So a trip into the past was on today’s agenda.

“The Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia” museum exceeded our expectations.  Seeing the cargo of the Arabia up close gives you a feeling that you are actually in the past.  The range of items includes everything from buttons and beads to axes and cast-iron stoves.  From English china to jars of pickles.  From delicate lace to cognac bottles.  If you can imagine 200 tons of everyday items transported from 155 years in the past and looking as if they just came out of the box or barrel, you’ll have an idea of what the museum holds.  Check out their Website — www.1856.com — and then plan a trip to see it.  We are really glad we did!

After a great mozzarella, tomato and pesto sandwich at a close-by Italian deli, we retired to our quarters for a bit of relaxation.

After work, Charisse picked us up and we spent the rest of the evening at her home and then out to dinner with lively conversation filling our plates.

Tomorrow it’s on to Branson and more delving into things genealogical.

Since we didn’t take many pictures in the museum, or in Kansas City or of Charisse and Diana    we are providing a shot of Diana sitting on a petrified log taken during our drive through the Petrified Forest.  The log is over 80 feet long and forms a bridge the early tourists used to walk over.

Diana on a petrified log

It’s still raining here.  Fairly hard overnight, but the forecast says the showers should diminish today except for scattered thundershowers and a slight chance of tornados!

We started off east on Highway 70 and 40 and suddenly discovered we were on a toll road.  There was no exit for 14 miles, so we enjoyed driving on a very nice six-lane road with only light traffic.  At the first exit we paid our $1.10 and turned off onto old highway 40 which wends its way through small towns and hilly countryside.

Diana’s friend Charisse had recommended a restaurant in Lawrence — WheatFields — that had good vegetarian food and a bakery, so we stopped by.  The place was great, with excellent coffee and a range of interesting meals.  We opted for an Asiago cheese scone and a lovely cinnamon roll to go with our coffee.  The fresh loaves of bread drew our attention, and we picked up one for us and one for Charisse.  If you’re ever in Lawrence, check it out.  They also have meals to satisfy any of you carnivores out there.  Their Website is:  http://www.wheatfieldsbakery.com

We decided to take a look at the downtown area and enjoyed the interesting mix of shops, antique stores, restaurants and sporting goods emporiums this college town has to offer.  One place in particular, the Blackbird Trading Post, caught Diana’s eye, and we both spent considerable time pouring over their little treasures.  The find of the day was a small marble birdbath with tiny carved doves on the rim that is an exact duplicate of one that a much-younger Diana gave to her mother.  When her mom passed away, it got lost in the shuffle and she has been wanting to replace it ever since.  Now she has.

After our walk around downtown we continued the short drive into Kansas City.  This is a big town and we plan to spend a couple of days enjoying what it has to offer.  In the evening we met up with Charisse and her 17-year-old daughter, Mariah.  We had dinner at a Polish Mexican restaurant, Ponak’s, and enjoyed it tremendously.  Afterward Charisse gave us a quick tour around the town showcasing the different neighborhoods and interesting architectural styles that make up the city.  We liked the tour, but we enjoyed being with Charisse and Mariah even more.  We had a lot of interests and friends in common with them.  Charisse took us by the Shawnee Mission hospital, too.  They have an exciting mobile of stained glass, porcelain and metal in their new lobby.

Tonight we are being serenaded by flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder.  Tomorrow we’ll do more tourist stuff and see what interesting Kansas City experiences we can find.  We’ll report back.  Promise!

WheatFields Baker and some of his tasty wares

Saturday night is quiet in Concordia.  And we awoke to a beautiful, partially blue sky.  Happy Easter to everyone!

While we were getting ready to leave we had the TV tuned to the Weather Channel.  Big thunderstorms and tornado warnings abound to the south and east of us.  We want to get to Branson, MO this week, but with the current storm track it doesn’t seem like we should land there until Wednesday.  We will just have to pace ourselves.

We drove out of Concordia on an almost empty road, and continued south and east.  We backtracked through Clay Center and followed highway 24 through Manhattan to our old friend, I-40.  We decided to take a break in Manhattan to do our laundry.  We used Google Places to find a good-sounding laundromat and pointed the Subaru to “Sud’s Y’r Duds”.  Turned out it was a nice, clean, almost empty spot across the street from the Kansas State University campus.  We loaded up the washers and walked a couple of blocks to the neighborhood Burger King for a couple of BK Veggie sandwiches which we enjoyed while sitting in Sud’s Y’r Duds and reading the Manhattan Sunday paper.

When everything was clean and dry we drove down to I-40 and headed east to Topeka.  I know we’ve said this before, but it bears repeating.  Driving through these states we are constantly finding that our stereotype assumptions of the landscape is completely wrong.  I pictured Kansas looking like Dorothy’s and Toto’s abode — flat, arid and bland.  Today we drove through rolling hills, picturesque little valleys and interesting small mid-America towns.  This is beautiful country, not bleak wasteland!  What a surprise!

Tonight we will stay in Topeka and tomorrow we’ll drive to Kansas City, Missouri.  We will probably hit the tail end of the latest major storm and we will be looking out for any tornado watches.  Or maybe we’ll be watching out for tornados.  Perhaps both.

Good night from the capitol of Kansas!

I called one of my friends from my high school.  We had a reunion last year.  I learned Charisse is a counselor in Kansas City, MO.  She is really a lot of fun and was glad to hear from me.  We are having dinner tomorrow night with Charisse and her daughter.  I’m really looking forward to it!

After a peaceful, restful, quiet night in Lindsborg, we awoke to very threatening clouds covering the entire sky, horizon to horizon.  Problem?  Not for the intrepid S&D team!  We were off again, heading north and after a while east to the place where Jacob and Selma Jacobson were married — Clay Center, Kansas.

We easily found the Clay County Museum and Diana was soon busily working with Cathy who was a great source of information.  Cathy managed to locate my grandparent’s marriage certificate and census information.  But it turned out that although the marriage certificate had been obtained in Clay Center, they had actually been married in Clyde, not Clay Center, which is in Cloud county instead of Clay county.

To find out more details we needed to go to Concordia (what’s with all the C’s?) and check out the museum there.  This required driving west again and also north for a total of about an hour.

Turned out the person at that museum had only been there for a couple of weeks and couldn’t help us much.  Fortunately the woman she replaced is now doing genealogy research for a very reasonable hourly rate, and she is going to do some digging for us and report back.

We ate lunch at a local place — Kristie’s Diner — and after lunch we made reservations at a local motel and then returned to the museum to check out a great collection of local items.  While we were inside, it did rain, fairly hard but not for too long.

After checking into our motel, and disconnecting the teardrop, we drove the 15 miles to Clyde to see the actual marriage town.  Clyde is a small, pleasant town with a three block brick paved main street lined with buildings which look 1930ish.  Almost everything was closed, but we did get a chance to stroll around a thrift shop and chat with the owner.

We drove around town, enjoying the variety of home styles and front yard treatments, stopped for a picture of the water tower, and as we were leaving we discovered a very dangerous place (see below).

On the drive back we investigated a stone arch bridge about 100 yards off the road which was built in 1899 and restored in 1991.  The bridge carried all the traffic until a new road was built in 1920.

Back in Concordia we settled into our room for a quiet night.  Tomorrow we start heading east again.  See you then!

After a restful night (sans rain) we were up fairly early, enjoying bird songs and ample hot water.  Diana was anxious to check out because she had an appointment with, um, nature, more accurately geological nature.  She will now enlighten you:

Marge in Guthrie sold me some of the Selenite crystals that I could dig up on the salt plains.  I had seen them before in stores.  The ones from Oklahoma are unique, though.  They have an hourglass brown color in the middle.  It isn’t found anywhere else in the world.  So Steve took me out on my muddy, salty adventure.   On the way we stopped in Jett, a little town to pick up plastic gloves, water etc.  The last pair of plastic gloves were gone so the lady at the quick stop gave me a pair.  The people at the market were so nice .  Two teenage boys behind the counter called me “Mam” more times than I could count.

I had to change into my grubbiest clothes because the dirt may not come out of the clothes.  About 10 miles outside Jett, down 4 miles of dirt road and another mile of dirt and salt, we got to the digging area.  Oklahoma lets people dig for free in different areas.  Water coming in and reacting with the soil replenishes the fragile crystals.  I had a trowel to dig with.  The holes need to be about 6 inches to a foot deep.  Then the crystals are revealed when water is splashed on.  The best time to dig is when the crystals have time to dry out so that they come out of the dirt as big pieces.  I didn’t have that much time, so I only got small crystals in the 2 hours I gave myself.  Since I love rocks, shiny things and playing in the mud,  I had a blast. Steve even got dirty helping me!  That’s love!

Now Steve will tell the saga of how we got back to civilization–and after 3 possible camping sites–another motel.

After playing in the mud we decided to head north as quickly as possible because we want to spend time looking for my Swedish ancestors the weekend.  I plugged Wichita into our GPS and off we went.  For a while things seemed to be going well, although some of the turns and roads Ms. Garmin directed us to seemed odd.  Finally though, we were well and truly headed north down a straight road through lovely alfalfa fields, herds of well-fed cattle and occasional clouds of birds in flight.

Then, in the distance I spied something troubling.  The road looked unusual.  Sort of reddish brown.  And as we drew closer we saw two things: a “Welcome to Kansas” sign, and the end of the paved road.

The dirt road ahead of us didn’t look that well-maintained and there was no signal on my iPhone so I couldn’t use it to give us an alternate route.  I did the only thing I could.  I turned around.

We backtracked several miles to what looked like a promising road to the east which became more worn and potholed.  We saw a man standing by his big rig with the hood up.  When I stopped by him, he assured us that while he didn’t know what was wrong with his truck, help was on the way.  I asked him how to get to Wichita and he said he was pretty sure if I continued on this road I would run into another road and that one should take us to “some town” that would lead us to our desired destination.

Proceeding with less than absolute confidence I finally turned off the stupid Garmin lady who insisted that we turn down every dirt road we passed even though I had programmed the GPS to avoid dirt roads.

Our road never quite turned into dirt, but there were more potholes than pavement by the time we reached the promised road.  It was better paved and took us to the city of Manchester (not the one in England!).  We drove into the main street and parked across the street from the post office so Diana could mail a post card to her dad.  As we were parked there, a gentleman drove up and asked if we were interested in the bar.  Not sure if he wondered if we needed a drink or wanted to buy the place, we asked him how to get to Wichita.  He proceeded to give us detailed directions which included turning left at a church, right at a McDonalds and left again at a Chrysler dealership.  Not completely sure I could remember everything he told us, I once again fired up the GPS and we took off.

Many turns, road construction delays, and a stop for gas at (honestly) “The Anthony Farmer’s Cooperative Elevator Company” (I have the receipt to prove it!), we actually did stagger into the Wichita area.

After another stop for gas and food, we started driving north again.  We were both rather tired by this time and when we saw a billboard promising a campground in the country just a few thousand feet off the highway we decided to take a look.  We took the off-ramp and turned into a dismal hovel of old trailers, all of them with tired skirts or tethered dogs barking as we approached.  Deciding this was NOT tonight’s resting place, we hit the road again.

We started seeing signs for Lindsborg — “Little Sweden USA” and it sounded nice, so off the freeway we turned again and drove 4 or 5 miles into a truly beautiful little town with cobblestone streets and rows of stores named Anderson or Peterson and festive little painted artwork horses on every street corner.  We went to the Mill Park and found campsites there for $10 a night, but pit toilets and a lot of flying bugs discouraged us from staying there.

We ended up at the “Viking Motel” and were greeted at the front desk by a very friendly Indian woman (from India!) who welcomed us.  Feeling like we were in the Twilight Zone, we thanked her, took our key, and collapsed in our room.

Tomorrow, if we’re lucky and the GPS doesn’t lead us to Cuba, we will enter Clay City, the location where my maternal grandfather and grandmother were married and started their life together.  Wish us luck!

The Great Salt Plains Crystal Digging Expedition

After staying overnight in the “Brickyard” district of Oklahoma City (what we will henceforth refer to as the “soft underbelly” of that city) we made a quick exit to Highway 35 north.  Since Diana had missed out on thrift shop touring in Oklahoma, we made a mutual decision to spend part of today rectifying that situation.

As we drove along we kept looking at towns and exits without feeling any strong desire to check them out until we came to Guthrie.  The blue freeway sign for that exit promised food, lodging, fuel, AND antique shops galore!  Diana’s lopsided smile told me this was the place!  And here she is to regale you with the details!

Guthrie is a beautiful little Victorian town,  They have maintained the downtown and not gone out of business doing it.  Evidently there will be a huge influx of people a few days from now.  I think the occasion is to celebrate the time when Guthrie was the state capitol, until a group from Oklahoma City came one dark night to steal the state seal and made Oklahoma City the state capitol.  Maybe Guthrie should be very happy.  It is beautiful place while OC is just another busy capitol.  

Anyway, I had a great time in antique stores and malls.  The first store we entered was owned and run by a man from California.  He was very nice, and when asked, revealed his 3,000 sq. ft house with land on the golf course cost $260,000.  We have been so favorably impressed with Oklahoma’s beauty and hospitality in the small towns, I can see why he would have moved.  We also met a nice lady, Marge, who  taught me about “Frankoma,” a brand of Oklahoma pottery. I bought two mugs (elephant and donkey) to appreciate in value in my cupboard.  She also told me where to camp and dig for crystals in the Great Salt Plains State Park.  So after a rewarding trip (for me) to a gallery of Oklahoma-created art and a lunch made in the back of the teardrop, we started off for a new side trip to the state park.

Poor Steve has been driving his fingers to the bone.  We got to the state part after registration had closed, but we had called first and our key to a cabin was waiting in the mailbox.  I must explain that we haven’t been camping as much as we intended for three reasons.  One reason is the fear of bad weather.  Everyday the radio says it will rain.  After our early debacle in the rain, we don’t want to get wet.  Secondly we keep taking off for long drives to parts unknown and end up having no place to camp.  Third, we are so used to staying in beautiful state parks, we can’t face pit toilets, dogs barking incessantly and trailers that have been in the park for months or years.  So we stayed in a rustic, fully furnished state cabin for $55.

I must add here that yes, the cabin was rustic, but also contained a fully equipped bathroom and kitchen as well as a flat-screen HDTV with Dish Network.  If I must “rough it,” THIS is the way I prefer!  And check out the view from our cabin window (that’s the lake in the distance).

"Rustic" Cabin View

We woke up and went to the KOA cafe for coffee, since yesterday I managed to break our French press.  The coffee was very good, and we started up a conversation with our neighbors.  We had a lot in common.  They were both teachers, so there is always a lot to talk about when teachers get together.  Wally and Marge were from Iowa.  He was a rock hound like I am, too.

We continued across Oklahoma to Prague where my gggrandmother died.  I really don’t know much about her, so I wanted to do some research.  At the small Prague Museum I had a blast.  The people were so helpful.  Prague was really named after Prague in the Czech Republic.  While I was researching, Steve spent some time enthralling the ladies with pictures of our visit to the European city. The pioneers who established the town were Czech (but not my relatives).  My relatives came about 1900 during a big land grab.  My gggrandmother and her children and step-children went to Oklahoma.  I found this out from the staff at the museum.  One, named Diana, came in from home to help us.  She found my ggrandmothers’ obituary in the local paper.  I hadn’t even realized that my gg had died in Prague.  She is buried near here in Giles cemetery next to her mother who died 30 years later. It was loads of fun to look at the old pictures and read the articles. One of the step-children became a Justice of the Peace in Prague. The staff were so generous.  They even got us copies of pictures of the town in the 1940‘s just before my ggg died.  They made my day really special.

After the museum closed at a little past 4 (because of us), Steve and I headed out to the little old cemetery.  On the way out of town we stopped at an historical marker.  We assumed that it was a Native American monument since it was on Moccasin Trail.  However, we were wrong;  it was an obelisk of names of students on the Bobcats teams!  Early on, some of those names referred to Humphrey relatives.  We took off on Moccasin Trail for the cemetery.  We had to go about 7 miles, the last couple of miles on a dirt road.  Of course, I had left the directions to the graves in the museum, but Diana had assured me that it was a small graveyard.  Steve and I checked out every grave, but we couldn’t find Martha and Nellie.  The Humphreys were all in one place except for Serena Humphrey who died 2 years before my gg.  But many of the stones had fallen over and except for irises we could see coming up, everything was weedy.  It didn’t matter that much.  We knew that the two–mother and daughter were buried side-by-side.

We (Steve) had to drive all the way back to Oklahoma City because every room in Shawnee was filled with kids for some big sports event. And of course, that made it pizza delivery night . . ..

It was a memorable day for me.  I have never been close to much of my family for many reasons, the first of which is that we never knew the Humphreys because Nellie died when her little girls were so young.  It is meaningful to learn more about their lives.

Tomorrow we head to Kansas to see what we can find out about Steve’s Swedish family.  The fun continues!

Giles Cemetery near Prague