It is coming! A Kiwi in China - Beijing chapter, is nearly ready to publish. Meanwhile, a photo montage to view.....
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The Road Trip - Part 2
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| 4 famous faces above - 4 famous faces below! |
Still in South Dakota, Mount Rushmore was the next port of call and it is every bit as impressive as it looks on pictures and brochures. It was very, very hot so hats and water bottles were in order. Notice the four famous faces above and the echoing four famous faces below? Ha, ha!
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| Can can girl drink waitress - cute and full of personality! |
We had lunch at Ruby House, in Keystone, South Dakota. This historic building was fitted out beautifully, both externally and internally, with many old west photos and a gun collection. Dad was all eyes for the drinks waitress, though, and she was NOT vintage!
Next we had a long drive through Custer State Park. I was determined to see buffalo, and I was not disappointed! There was a large herd of females, babies and young males, but the bulls keep their distance at this time of the year while the babies are young. We also saw a deer, some elk and these friendly burros!
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| Bull buffalo in Cuter State Park, South Dakota |
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| Friendly burros! |
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| "Wild Bill" Hickok |
Deadwood was a rough town in the days of the “wild west”. There were many saloon brawls and it is the burial place of “Wild Bill” Hickock and Calamity Jane, both colorful figures in American history. The poker “dead man’s hand” stemmed from Wild Bill’s death. Apparently he was holding a pair of 8s and a pair of aces when he was murdered in 1876 at Saloon 10 in Deadwood. (hlp.jpg) (Wild Bill Hickok http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok) (Calamity Jane http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamity_Jane)
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| Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Grave of Wild Bill Hickok (left with statue) and Calamity Jane (at right with white urn and a gin bottle at its base!) |
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| Markers where soldiers fell in the Battle of Little Bighorn. Custer's has the black insignia. |
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| Spots where Lakota fell are marked with red granite stones. |
By now we had driven ( a looooong time!) into Montana. We arrived at the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn towards afternoon and we just managed to catch a historic talk about the battle and site, overlooking where troops and Lakota indians fought in 1876. It was a sobering spot as there are markers where soldiers and indians fell, with a large monument overlooking Custer’s Last Stand. Custer was only 36 at the time of his death and although this was such a major even, he had had a very successful military career.
AND FINALLY - I GOT TO SEE WHERE I WAS BORN!!
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| The Jaeckel family at Fort Lewis, Tacoma, Washington |
After driving over a mountain pass (with temperatures as low as 53 degrees - and this after 110 in the Badlands!) we made it to Tacoma, Washington! We had been told that Fort Lewis Army Base is a closed base and we could not get in, but we decided to bowl up and chance it. It took a bit of persuading, but we were allowed a few hours on the base! The hospital building where I was born had been replaced some years ago at a slightly different location, but some of the lower red brick buildings are still there so at least I now have some sense of the place where I was born and spent the first 6 weeks of my life. We drove to the house Mom and Dad lived in and although it looked different to them, they did recognize some aspects of their first home. Tacoma is a pretty city but it seems vastly overshadowed by Seattle, which is only about 30 minutes away.
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| Fort Clatsop |
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| Overlooking a west coast beach in Oregon |
Sea, beaches and sand dunes featured next as we entered Oregon and northern California, along with warnings in low-lying coastal areas. In Redding, California we visited an enormous sundial and glass bridge over the Sacramento River. In Corning (known as Olive City!) we had olive burgers and had fun looking at all the things that are “olive” related. Apparently Corning has the world’s largest ripe olive cannery.
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| Huge sundial, Redding, California |
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| Corning, California Olive-growing region |
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| Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California |
We finally reached San Francisco and our planned visit to the John Muir Woods didn’t work out, nor did a visit to Point Bonita lighthouse, since the road to it was closed. So, not to be defeated, we walked to the halfway mark of the Golden Gate Bridge and back! The backdrop of the city was beautiful but traffic was truly whizzing by!
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| Lovely dinner, lovely company! |
We had arranged to meet Matthew, Michelle and Harris at our hotel and go out for dinner, so we had a great time with them (although there were sad goodbyes) to round off my wonderful, wonderful trip! Thanks, everybody!
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Road Trip - Part 1
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| The road trip route |
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| At the Sac and Fox indian reservation |
We set off on Saturday afternoon after I returned from Kansas City. We had a huge distance to cover - as it turned out it was about 2800 miles (4500 km) by the time I flew out (longer for the other 3 who returned to the mid west by car)! We stopped at the Sac and Fox for lunch. This is an indian reservation and although the slot machines looked tempting, we only had time for lunch!
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| Flooded countryside beyond the banks of the Missouri River |
The Missouri River has been flooded and we saw much evidence of this. In fact, we had to reroute our trip since some of the roads were flooded and closed. The house and barns in the picture were not NOT on the riverfront! I am sure this flood was devastating to many people in its path.
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| The Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota |
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| Corn mosaic closeup |
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| Wall Drug Store |
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| Mom, Dad and I |
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| Arlene and I at the Badlands |
Now at this stage, my camera, which has had palsy on and off for a year or so, started to really get huffy with me and the shakes by now were almost constant, so I had to resort to borrowing Mom and Dad’s camera when I felt the need for a photo. I was NOT impressed!
Crazy Horse Memorial was our next stop. This is very ambitious project that was begun near Mount Rushmore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial) in the Black Hills, South Dakota. The huge sculpture (the final product will be far bigger than Mt. Rushmore - 195 meters wide and 172 meters high) was begun in 1948 and has a long, long way to go. In this photo you can see me, a scaled sculpture of the monument, and in the distant background the mountain that has been carved to show Crazy Horse’s profile.
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| Crazy Horse Memorial, Black Hills, South Dakota |
Part 2 to come.........
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Huerter Family Reunion (July 8 - 10th, 2011)
The last of my grandparents died in 1998. Grandma was 93 years old and had led a long, hard-working life. After that time, her children, my mother and her siblings, decided to meet for a family reunion each year in June, near the time of Grandma and Grandpa’s wedding anniversary.
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| Albert and Leona Huerter |
When I was living in New Zealand, attendance was simply not possible - for all sorts of reasons, and each year I felt sad that I could not participate. Some years I phoned, but that was even harder, so most years I just felt sorry for myself!
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| Veteran's Memorial Wall, Seneca Kansas |
This year, however, the organizers kindly put the date a month later, and I was able to attend! This was another highlight of my summer trip.
The Huerter family reunion kicked off on Friday, 8th July. On the way to Marysville, Kansas, we stopped in Seneca to see my Grandpa’s name on the Veteran’s Wall there.
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| The entire group at the Wagon Wheel |
After we settled into the motel, it was down to the Wagon Wheel for the traditional dinner. Since chicken fried steak seemed to be THE thing to order, who was I to buck the system? I had not had chicken fried steak in years and years! It was so good to spend time with aunts and uncles, cousins and second cousins! A toast was said in memory of Richard who died a few years ago and was missed.
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| In memory of Richard Huerter |
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| Inscribed brick bench at St. Gregory's School |
Next we went to see the Veteran’s Memorial Wall in Marysville. After a long search we concluded that Grandpa’s plaque (and Dad’s and Richard’s) were on the wall where clearly everything had fallen off! Upon investigation, this was indeed the case and it will be some months before this is fixed up. An incentive for me to go back soon?
After lunch in town with most of the group, we ventured to the Pony Express Museum. Here we saw Grandpa’s WW I uniform - well, at least the jacket and helmet. Not sure where the trousers have gone! As always, it was fun to see the exhibits and recall the history of the Pony Express Home Station #1. (I did not recall that the Pony Express only existed for only a very short time - April 1860 to Oct 1861. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express for those interested in finding out more.)
Saturday afternoon two cousins and I managed to catch up with a childhood friend from Marysville and dinner was at a local burger place.
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| The Jaeckel branch of the family |
On Sunday morning we took our various group pictures proving that we were indeed at this reunion, before going to Mass at St. Gregory’s Church. This church features strongly in our family, with a large number of us and our ancestors having been baptized and married there. Quite a number were dispatched from this church, too. So before the service we had visited the Catholic Cemetery to pay respects to Grandma and Grandpa, Rosemary (an aunt of mine), Richard and great grandparents.
Lunch was scattered, but I went to the Mexican restaurant with my parents, aunt, uncle and cousin. Some of us then went to the site of the Blue River rope ferry crossing (replica of the ferry is pictured) which was an important aspect of the early days and settlement of Marshall County and Marysville township.
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| Replica of Blue River rope ferry |
Hearing the news that the Courthouse was open drew many of us there and housed there was Grandma’s wedding dress, the girls’ first communion veil and an old family globe that was displayed in the historical schoolroom.
Some of the cousins and their children had to leave on Sunday to get back into their working week, and others were able to spend time in Marysville until Monday. Many had traveled far to attend and rearranged schedules especially to be there. For this I was grateful because it meant I got to see the largest number of family possible at this event (and I was sorry to miss a few who could not make it). Numbers were good, thanks to the many children of cousins who opted to also come along, and they were patient with the generations older than they, who had lots to talk about and share.
I was pleased to be able to be at the reunion in 2011!
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