October 30 - Cape Lookout State Park

Bet you thought we had put the motor home away for awhile...well we fooled you and it is no TRICK but a real TREAT. We both love the storms on the ocean so when Gary suggested a short get away for a few days to Cape Lookout State Park it was a perfect. Mother Nature has not disappointed us...we had VERY LOUD thunder and lightening all around us Friday night. This kind I like and am familiar with. Not like the fearsome storms we encountered in the Mid West on our trip with tornado warnings and prolonged electrical strikes. Here in our home state of Oregon it is BIG thunder claps and blinding lightening, it gets through with it all at once and then really POURS rain. I loved it and especially cause we were warm and dry inside.

Gary has very fond memories of Cape Lookout as he camped here often as a boy. This was the favorite spot for his grandfather Web to meet them and have the family spend lots of time walking the beach, playing ball, skim boarding from one end of the beach to the other and having big campfires.

Also nearby is a Boy Scout camp "Camp Merriweather" where Gary learned many of his outdoor skills at a young age. He pointed out to me the large sand dune where the Scout bus would drop them off so they could hike cross country to this "remote" camp...in subsequent visits, as he grew older, he finally located the road where the counselors and supplies were driven right up to the camp...but for the kids, at least initially, it held a mystical remoteness to enhance their experiences.

I was very relieved this morning to awake to clear skies and dry weather. Daughter Cindy is doing a half marathon this morning near her Vancouver home, I know she does not enjoy doing her "power walking" on wet pavement so today's weather should be a blessing for her. I am there in mind if not in body to cheer her on.

YEAH CINDY...I am so proud of you and all you do.

A proud Mom

How do you break a good addiction ?

ADDICTION = obsession, enslavement, fixation, enthrallment, mania, compulsion, craze, fetish, quirk, hangup, preoccupation

Not all bad words and I guess compulsion, preoccupation and obsession fit the best for my latest "addiction". I got it in Tucson and have been "hooked" ever since...hooked on identifying dogtags which belonged to Vietnam veterans. These dogtags are still being recovered in Vietnam and our friends at TOP (tour of peace) Vietnam Veterans have an "inventory" of 1100 of them waiting to be matched to the names of veterans killed in action, deceased since the war or in some cases still living.

I have taken on the challenge of identifying as many of these as possible. Being the wife of a Vietnam Veteran myself I can imagine how important and significant it is to return these to the veterans and their families.

While they are returned without any monetary obligations involved, I can also see this as a source of donations to TOP from grateful families...donations which could help to fund further humanitarian causes in Vietnam.

I guess that explains why I have become literally addicted to the search and the joy of locating the families. At home I can hardly resist the urge to turn the computer on and look for "just one more". I had committed to Jess Devaney at TOP that I would find one a week...10 by the end of the year...well I have found 8 now and it has just been a couple weeks.

Daughter, Cindy, has a heart big as mine and also the analytical mind it takes to find these (we both "think" in Excel spreadsheets and do logic puzzles all the time). She has jumped on the bandwagon and is helping also...what a team...hope Jess at TOP can keep up with the letter writing this all generates.

So, while I must obviously find some balance in my new obsession, I will continue with it and hope to do some good in the process.

An addict refusing to quit...

Oct 22 - Catching Our Breath at Home

Time to catch you up on the past few days which have brought us home at last...

The last night we were in Tucson we discovered the floor in the bedroom was wet from a leaking hot water tank. It was right before our friend Jess was due to pick us up for a fun dinner meeting friends in Mason, AZ. When Jess got there we were in the middle of pulling the hot water tank out of the side of the motor home. Lots of fun with propane to disconnect, water to disconnect, lots of screws to come out and caulking around it all. Once we got it out we discovered the tank itself was not faulty but instead one of the hose fittings had worked itself loose. Finally we abandoned our repair and proceeded with Jess for a fun night "on the town".

Next morning, Gary and I were literally up at 6 am and out working on reinstalling the hot water tank. "Murphy" was helping us but we got it done and hit the road by 8 am.

Our destination was Casa Grande, AZ for a visit with sister, Karen and her husband, Dalton. The drive was less than two hours and we parked right in front of their manufactured house. They have sold it and are having a new larger home built nearby so we took a drive to "check it out" and see the area in which they will be living. Had a great time visiting and catching up on families and hobbies. Karen is really into quilting and also had a brand new jewelry kiln "baking" up some new "stones" for necklaces...all very interesting. We could have talked on for days (literally) but the old "home magnet" was pulling us north and also Gary's back was screaming from the water heater repair. The weather forecast was for lots of wind and a storm coming in so we decided to "boogie". The next morning we lit off the diesel (early) and headed north.

I laid out our course from one Wal Mart to the next with daily travel distances of about 500 miles. Gary held up well as his back did not hurt as long as he was just sitting there driving. Our last night was spent in a nice, paved "dry camping" lot at the Seven Feathers Casino in Southern Oregon. Played the nickel machines for about a half hour and then tucked ourselves into bed for some much needed rest.

We had left Casa Grande Sunday morning and arrived home about noon on Wednesday. Then the work began...we took the motorcycle out of it's enclosed trailer and gave the trailer a good cleaning. We have decided that the trailer is too much for us to haul and gives us "fits" in the wind and truck traffic. Next long trip we hope to have a little (light weight) used Tracker or Suzuki samurai to tow as our "Toad" (as they call it). Consequently we took the enclosed trailer back to the local trailer dealer and he will sell it for us. Still keeping the motorcycle and sidecar for local fun but just will not "lug" it along when we go exploring with the motor home.

Yesterday we did a thorough cleaning on the outside of the motor home. Many, many trips up the ladder to reach all the high spots but we got it done. Then it was a number of trips in and out of the coach to unload the bulk of the extra items we carried for our long trip. My legs were literally "screaming" this morning (where is that Tylenol when you need it ?)

Today is our grandson's third birthday, granddaughter Jenna has a birthday in a couple days also. Gary had visions of us taking the motorhome to their house to help them celebrate this weekend...but once we got home I could have cried at the thought of going anywhere else this soon. Not good to let the grandkids see you cry when they don't understand why so we opted to stay home for now.

Our mail was literally piled up when we returned but I have already gone through enough of it to know nothing is on the verge of being repossessed or turned off. Our neighbor, Barbara, did a great job of keeping the mail prioritized and anything appearing important was forwarded to us a couple times during out trip. She was very organized with the shopping bags full of catalogues, magazines, junk mail, bank statements, etc. Not sure it was on purpose or not but several of them were hit behind my sewing cabinet and it kept me from going into total shock when I walked into our office here at the house.

Well enough of housekeeping chatter...we had an awesome, wonderful trip...But we are very glad to be home and very thankful for internet, automatic payments and a supportive network at home which all allowed us to be gone for 5 months on our adventure. We feel fortunate for all the experiences and good people we were able to visit...our blessings to you all.

I will continue with this blog but posts may be a bit further apart.

Working with TOP Vietnam Veterans on the dog tag project...found my second one last night...maybe in a follow up post I will explain what I am doing on them and why.

Hugs...
Linda

October 13 Tucson Arizona

Our choice of RV "park" in Tucson has turned out excellent. We are at Voyager RV which is very modern and definitely full service. It is a Very Large (1200 space) gated community with space for overnighters such as ourselves, plus permanent stick built homes, modulars, park models, etc. They have 2 laundramats, beauty/barber shop, medical clinic, massage, tanning, savings and loan office, library, three swimming pools, excercise, wood working shop, craft lab, classes, ball room, movies, full service restaurant, motel rooms,...did I say this was FULL service. All this and it was really no more expensive than any other place we have stayed (...well OK, I guess it was more than the free nights at WalMart). It has been very well located for where our friend Jess lives and also lots of the sights we wanted to go see.

We have gone driving each day with Jess and visited a sampling of the local sights/sites to get the feeling of Tucson. He shared with us the old traditional part of town as well as the ancient chapels and yesterday an awesome horse ranch .

More important than the sight seeing has been our quality time with Jess as a person. He is extremely special to us as he is the president and founder of TOP (Tour of Peace) Vietnam Veterans. He is the one responsible for the quality, moving, life-changing experience we had when we went to Vietnam in March. His commitment to the Vietnam Veterans is total and very admirable. We are committed to doing whatever we can to help support his efforts which we totally believe in.

I have volunteered to take on the challenge to assist in locating information that can possibly lead to the return of recovered dog tags to the families of deceased Vietnam Veterans.

We are also working on leprosy bandages for the leprosy villages in Vietnam. I have started knitting them by hand (which is very time consuming) but hope to figure out how to do them on a simple knitting machine I have ordered. In fact Gary wanted me to teach him how to knit them and I am hoping the knitting machine may work for him to help out on them. Our Vietnam Veteran's group on the Oregon Coast posted an item on their website regarding the leprosy bandages. I have already gotten an inquiry from a woman in England who is working on these custom bandages and will be sending them through us for delivery directly to the people of Vietnam. Amazing what impact the internet can have!

Another project that is very near to our hearts is the sponsorship of wheelchairs for the crippled young people in Vietnam. TOP has a resource in Vietnam that will produce a high quality wheel chair for just $110. They have a steering wheel type handle that they pump back and forth to propel the chair forward. Jess says there is one young man who even travels a couple miles each day in his to and from school ! They have pictures of them on the TOP website...if you look for them watch for the picture with two yellow chairs in it. What a lasting gift these are to these young people. We hope to sponsor a couple chairs ourselves and also get the word out to others who might be interested in donating to the cause.

Tomorrow we will go with Jess to have dinner with some of his family as well as another of the TOP volunteers...a husband and wife who adopted a Vietnamese daughter.

Next stop after we leave here on Saturday will be a visit at the home of my sister, Karen, in Casa Grande.

Final Couple Balloon Pictures to Share

Got some comments back on the balloon pictures...
Yes, it was very cold in the early morning hours (when the morning mass ascension of balloons occurred) and after dark (for the Balloon Glowdeo). Those most certainly were coats the people had on.

Wanted to show you just a couple more pictures of the mass ascension (taken from our motor home) and then some of the excitement of the glowing balloons after dark.

You can tell we really enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

"Special Shapes" Balloons are the favorites

Every seat had a good view !

Oct 10 Tucson, AZ - Reflections on last weeks Balloon Fiesta

Finally back at a park with an internet connection so I can catch up on my blog posts. We will be here in Tucson through the end of the week visiting with Jess Devaney..."TOP man" at TOP (Tour of Peace Vietnam Veterans). More on Tucson later...for now some reflections on our Albuquerque adventures.

We stayed at the Balloon Fiesta from the 6th through the 9th. We had an awesome time and would recommend the Balloon Fiesta to anyone who can attend.

My big thanks to our good friends, John & Janice Roner who recommended the Fiesta to us and in particular parking in the VIP section. I mentioned at check-in that Gary was disabled and anything we could do to shorten walking distances would be appreciated. Well they put us right in the front row of motor homes and we had the option of just sitting in the RV and watching from there if we wanted.

We did enjoyed the view from the coach but also wandered down onto the field to be right there among the balloons as they were inflating them. What excitement! Rather than try to describe it, I will share with you a few pictures and hope I do not exceed the capabilities of my blog in displaying them.

This first picture is of our motor home surrounded by balloons...you get the picture...we were truly in the middle of it all.

Oct 5 Balloon Fiesta tomorrow

We will move tomorrow to the grounds of the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque and it may be a few days before I can post any pictures or much of a blog.

If you want of sneak peek at what we are seeing and experiencing, pull up the website for the Fiesta at
http://balloonfiesta.com
Try the two links they have to "Gallery" and "Fiesta Cam"
Enjoy...
Linda

Oct 5 More results from our genealogy research

Another piece of the family "puzzle"...

It has been just since our trip this year, travel and research along the way and information gained at the reunion in Stockertown, that we have been able to pull together the following overview:

The question had been asked...why would your ancestors have left Ohio and moved West ?

Between the September 19, 1879 birth of their son (Orin) and the 1880 Census, Allen Frederick Stocker moved his family from Ohio to Newton City, Kansas.

When we visited there this fall, by chance we visited a Mennonite Museum and happened upon this poster.

If you want a Farm or Home "The Best in the West" Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Lands in Southwest Kansas.

Temperate Climate, Excellent Health, Pure and Abundant Water, Good Soil for Wheat, Corn and Fruit

The Best Stock Country in the World

This poster represented an open offer during the late 1870's and likely shows the reasons why our portion of the family would have begun their westerly migration.

Census records reflect Allen was initially a farmer and later a "teamster" in Kansas.

Allen and Ella remained in Kansas until their deaths in 1922 and 1923.

Their children did not remain farmers but moved into other professions:

• Son Robert worked as a shipping clerk for a plumbing company, perhaps Crane. He lived his entire life and died in Wichita. We located graves of Bob and his wife "Lucy" at another of the Wichita cemeteries.
• Son George was a locomotive engineer. Still tracking where he ended up.
• Son Zellan was a "stenographer" and eventually moved to Colorado.
• Son Harry had mental problems and died at age 53 in a home for the "feeble minded".
• Daughter Edith, married and eventually moved to Oregon, died at age 44 and is buried in Wichita. We found her grave right next to those of her parents.
• Son Orrin (Gary's grandfather) went to work in Newton City as a lineman with the Newton utility company. 1905 Newton Kansas City Directory lists him as a resident. 1910 national census lists Orrin in San Francisco working as a lineman. We are assuming that he was there helping to restore utility lines after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Later he moved to Oregon, installing the power grid lines for the Bonneville Power Administration.

So for those of you not acquainted with genealogy research, it can be quite interesting and fun to put the names, dates and external events together into a logical sequence of events. It's the best you can do if the people are already deceased.

I know I have said this again, but do your grandkids a favor and put some of your life events and stories down on paper. There will come a day when they will appreciate and even treasure them.

Oct 5 Gary finally "meets" his Great Grandparents

Want to share with you some images of the results of our tombstone searches when we were in Wichita Kansas.

This picture was taken September 13th at the "resting place of the pioneers" Highland Cemetery.

All our research paid off when we found the final resting place of Gary's great grandparents:
Ella C. Stocker 1857 - 1922
Allen F. Stocker 1853 - 1923

Allen Frederick Stocker was son of Solomon Stocker (and Elizabeth Stauffer) son of Solomon, son of Andrew, son of Andreas, son of Michael Stocker the immigrant who came over from Germany on the ship Brittania in 1731.

Ella Cora Stocker Stocker was daughter of Richard Stocker (and Savanna Harris) son of Christian Stocker Sr., son of Andreas, son of Michael Stocker, the immigrant who came over from Germany on the ship Brittania in 1731.

Yes, it was one of many of the Stocker/Stocker marriages, Ella Stocker married her great uncle, Allen Stocker.

Allen Frederick and Ella Cora Stocker had 6 children, one of them was Orin Grant Stocker (1879 - 1952), father of Gary's father, Eldon Alvin Stocker (1919 - 1994)

Oct 3 Los Alamos, New Mexico - elevation 7,355 feet

This morning we took the 45 mile drive north to visit Los Alamos and went to their science museum. We were totally in the dark with regard to what to expect of this town which had been such a secret but monumental part of our country’s past.

The scenery was beautiful. The topography of this portion of New Mexico is a series of plateaus (mesas) and canyons like the fingers extending out from a hand. The narrow roads leading up to the town of Los Alamos wound round and across the plateaus as we approached. We could visualize how it would be easy to “sequester” or quarantine the community and control access from the “outside” world during the height of the Manhattan Project.

Some reading this may be too young to know a great deal about this top secret project which resulted in the development of the atomic bomb…other than knowing that it took place. It was in deed humbling to realize the importance of the events that took place in this location. We learned at the museum that the project was kept such a secret that they did not even have “Los Alamos” addresses. Anyone who lived there received their mail addressed to a post office box in Santa Fe. Any babies born there were listed as having been born at that same post office box in Santa Fe.

Prior to our arrival there, we were expecting a literal “ghost town” but instead found a thriving, community which is still strongly involved in research and defense of our country. Their total population is in excess of 18,000. The Los Alamos National Laboratory currently employs 9,000 “regular” employees with a total employment of 15,000 including contractors, maintenance and security.

The laboratory conducts leading-edge research in many areas of science and technology to help solve national problems related to energy, the environment, infrastructure and health. Their defense mission includes ensuring the safety and reliability of the U. S. nuclear deterrent “while reducing the global threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons”. Imagine the technology it takes to certify that our nuclear weapons are viable and able to be put into action…imagine doing that without firing off any nuclear weapons. Some of the informational movies we saw at the museum explained how they test each of the components and “theoretically” the whole process and now I can see why it would be an issue of great importance. We have to believe our system is viable for it to work as a deterrent to our potential enemies.

We enjoyed driving all around the actual community of Los Alamos. Due to its remoteness and concentration of “high protein”, think-tank people, there are all kinds of activities to keep everyone busy and apparently the funding to build quality facilities. These included: a large indoor aquatic center, an extensive network of walking/jogging trails, expansive golf courses, riding stables, quality schools, well developed roads, shopping facilities. Due to it’s location on a high plateau with all the beautiful canyons and viewpoints, there are plenty of very nice residences all with gorgeous views.

Our side trip to visit Los Alamos was definitely very enjoyable as well as educational.

Oct 2 Sunset from our Motor Home in Santa Fe

Oct 1 Touring the streets of Santa Fe

When we awoke this morning we were amazed at the excellent television coverage of the balloon fiesta which started today in nearby Albuquerque. We had to literally tear ourselves away from the coverage to travel the 8 miles to downtown Santa Fe for some sight seeing.

We had checked it out at the visitors info bureau the day before and located a highly recommended open air "trolley tour" of Santa Fe. The starting point was in the heart of downtown Santa Fe in front of the Loretto Chapel, a historical old church built in 1882. When we arrived, the local street merchants were already setting up along the walkways. Colorful flags adorned the passageways and blew in the gentle morning breeze. We ventured inside the mall adjacent to the chapel and relaxed over coffee and muffins while we waited for our tour to begin.

Our tour guide was the typical Santa Fe local with long, grey streaked hair tied back under his cowboy hat. He had a definite "gift for gab" and a story to tell around every corner. We learned that Santa Fe has a very strict building code and want everything to have the same adobe style architecture.

Adobe is a mixture of sand, soil, straw and water which the ancient Indians used to build their villages. Spanish settlers knew the material from their homeland and readily adopted it here. It was ideal for building in an area that had few large hardwood trees for lumber. The Spanish added refinements - making the adobe into bricks, and creating the distinctive curved corner fireplaces that can heat an entire room. Many of Santa Fe's 400 year old adobe structures still stand...which is considering a miracle as it is subjected to winter snow and summer rain.

A select few old Victorian buildings in Santa Fe were "grandfathered in" and remain in their original style. The rest of the old structures were covered in adobe complete with the stylistic rounded corners. Any new construction can use whatever building materials they wish as long as they "top it off" with adobe and maintain the visual style and a tone of brown to blend in with everyone else. It fits in within the downtown plaza area to have a uniform look but it is indeed strange to see even in the outlying areas a Burger King, Dairy Queen, Walgreens, Old Navy, etc. all in adobe brown.

Art is a very important part of Santa Fe. It is estimated that one in six residents is employed by the art industry...painters, sculptors, photographers, framers, curators, foundry workers, and more. Our tour guide took us through the concentrated district of art museums, galleries and workshops. There were awe inspiring outdoor statuary...the type that you don't even ask how much but just enjoy the view. Many street corners through out the city are adorned with similar local works of statuary. It definitely adds to the experience.

Much of our tour was out of "lifestyles of the rich and famous" as we viewed large sprawling estates owned by movie stars and other celebrities. My favorite was a 12,000 sq ft home with lots of windows on a hillside. Carol Burnett had it built for herself ten years ago. Once it was done she decided it was too large and cold so she put it on the market...and there it sits unsold 10 years later. To date the only occupant has been a caretaker. It is told that asking price is currently $6 million.

We ended our perfect day of touring with a visit to the oldest house in Santa Fe. However the vintage of the house is not what attracted us...we went there for a sample of "Upper Crust Pizza". Ah yes, sampling Southwestern cuisine !

For some people the altitude (7000 feet...1500 feet higher than the mile high city of Denver) decreases their appetite, we may have the high altitude head aches but it has not kept us from indulging in a little pizza.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's trip to nearby Los Alamos.