NM Methodist Heritage-1

We took a "Caravan Heritage Tour" in northern NM on Friday and Saturday. A brief report. (We didn't take careful notes, so some of the history herein is a bit approximate.)

A total of twelve of us from various Methodist churches showed up for the start of the caravan in Espanola, at the McCurdy School and the adjacent Santa Cruz United Methodist Church. Here is where the Evangelical United Brethren Church, which merged with the Methodists in 1968, started a mission school in 1912. First HS graduating class was in 1926 - six students, all of whom went to college. The 2006 class had 26 students, all of whom are currently in college. We were told many teachers in the Espanola and vicinity schools are McCurdy grads, so continue to have a positive effect on youth in the Espanola Valley.

Some campus pictures:

the first campus building


first chapel, now the art building

Next stop was Alcalde UMC, the second EUB school and church started in the area.

A few more miles up the Rio Grande valley our next stop was the Velarde UMC. A church and school were built here by the Baptist Church in 1903. The history is not clear, but there may have been a killing that led to the site being sold to the EUB Church as a church and school. It provided a second McCurdy campus -- when they separated boys and girls. We had a great lunch here of posole, beans, and red chile.

Next was about a 1.5 hr. drive to the Vietnam Memorial near Angel Fire. This is a very moving and somber memorial, started as a memorial to one young man from NM who died in Vietnam, now more of a national shrine. It just recently became a NM state park and the ranger in charge obviously feels very deeply about his and the state's responsibility. Said some Vietnam vets on motorcycles made it clear that "You'd better not mess it up, or ... ."

Last stop of the day was the ghost town of Elizabethtown. The group got separated so those of us without our leaders -- who went miles beyond E-town before realizing they'd missed it -- didn't get quite the intended experience. This was a gold rush town right after the Civil War. All that remains is the walls of a hotel (picture below is from website). It's important in Methodist heritage because the first Methodist church in NM was built here in 1870, by Rev. Thomas Harwood, who led the Methodist effort, primarily among the Spanish-speaking population for about 40 years.

Because of some hard feelings soon after, the source of which are described later, Harwood was warned not to come to E-town. He resolved to, anyhow (saying, in his history of this era, approximately, "I fought with Sherman. ... Why should I cower before this bunch of lowlifes?"). A soldier friend gave him a revolver to carry and he made his next and subsequent visits safely.

Most of us spent the night in nearby Eagle Nest, and all had a nice dinner together at Texas Red's.

Saturday -- part 2

Cheers,

Rob and Susie

Taos - Sunday

Sunday morning we left early for El Pueblito Church. Pastor Steve, giving us every opportunity to serve this week, had invited us to come help set up for their outdoor service. So we helped to move chairs, hymnals, and sound system outside.

The morning's scripture passages were from Isaiah, on beating swords into plowshares and from Mark, recounting how Jesus, when criticized for supping with tax collectors and other undesirables, said I'm here to save the sinners -- I gotta talk to them to do it. Steve's sermon applied those teachings to current-day issues.

About 60 people attended, not well-captured in this picture, and we enjoyed meeting and visiting many of the friendly folks in the congregation before the service and afterwards at the church potluck.

Here's the cross behind the outdoor altar and the view beyond. Steve preached his first outdoor sermon from the back of his horse in this location. He told Helen afterwards that they needed a cross out there, could she find one. She did, from a clothes line.

After lunch it was back to the RV park to disconnect, ease carefully out of our parking slot in the sagebrush and head home. We rendezvoused at the Santa Fe Wal Mart to deliver grandson Tony's college necessities. Trip was uneventful, under cloudy skies and occasional rain.

Great things are happening in Taos through El Pueblito United Methodist Church and we are glad that we had a chance to contribute in a small way for a few days. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

As a final image, here's a painting of the church:

Cheers,

Susie and Rob

Taos - Saturday

Lots going on Saturday morning and we take it in. We start with Michael's Kitchen for breakfast -- a traditional favorite. Still haven't seen Julia Roberts or Donald Rumsfeld hanging out in the local eateries.

Then, El Pueblito church is having a benefit yard sale -- we help by buying a wicker picnic basket that may have belonged to Ginger Rogers, plus some books. Next it's the farmer's market downtown and the city library is having a book sale near by. We get some veggies, fruit, longhorn bratwurst, and a few more books.











After that we stroll through a few shops on and near the Plaza. Susie has an inspiration. Let's find some chips and guacamole for a snack -- it's approaching noon, but after our big breakfast, a snack is all we want. Turns out we're standing next to a deli/cafe and their menu shows guacamole and chips. Outside dining, too. Priceless.


There's also a car show in town, but we pass that up. Ditto for the county fair. Spend the afternoon in TuziTwo's air-conditioning. We have a bowl of green chile chicken stew for dinner at the historic Sagebrush Inn, pick up some Albertson's brownies for tomorrow's church potluck, and that's it for the evening.


For excitement, I climb on top of Tuzi for another sunset shot. (Living in Cedar Crest, on the east side of the mountains, we don't see colorful sunsets, so I guess that's the attraction here.)


We've decided to head home tomorrow afternoon after the church potluck. We've had a great and relaxing time in Taos.


Cheers,


Susie and Rob

Friday in Taos

Mid-morning Friday we went to Ranchos de Taos, site of the oft-painted and -photographed St. Francis of Assisi church. Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe had their shots. Here are a couple of mine. Try to ignore the power lines, second picture.

We visited an adjacent gift shop. Proprietor asked, "Are you on the bus?" No, we said. "Good," he said. Tour buses used to stop at Ranchos and give passengers enough time to see and photograph the church and visit gift and craft shops around the plaza. No longer. Take your pictures and get back on the bus, is the order. Motivated us to buy something, though. We're suckers for sad stories this week.

From Ranchos we angled NW across the Taos mesa (On the Mesa, by John Nichols, author of The Milagro Beanfield War, is a passionate evocation of this mesa, the more remote parts, if I recall correctly) to US 64 which crosses the Rio Grande Gorge. We were looking for Lorraine's house -- Lorraine being a volunteer we had worked with Wednesday. Across 64 we found the road (unpaved, rocky) to her house and followed it several miles NW across more mesa with scattered houses. Just past her house the road ended, but there was a two-track path leading south toward 64, apparently. I had the Magellan GPS with us and it showed some lines across the mesa in that direction. Surely, we can get back that way, I said. I hate to backtrack.

Well, the main problem was that if we drove in the ruts, we'd high-center on the ridge between them. So, I tried to keep one wheel on the ridge, the other on whichever edge seemed the more drivable. We kept going and going, across a few washed out places until we finally came to ... a fence. No choice but to turn around and backtrack all the way. Fortunately, we didn't get stuck or Lorraine might have found a couple of stranded travelers on her doorstep.

Helen, at Shared Table, told us that the best Mexican food in the area was Lena's, in Arroyo Seco. That's where we headed for lunch -- up the road to Taos Ski Valley. Trouble was, other than an upscale restaurant that wasn't and couldn't have been Lena's, the only place to eat in Arroyo Seco was Abe's Bar, Grocery, and Grill. Thought maybe I might have gotten the name wrong from Helen, but the place looked good. Lots of pick-ups parked outside. About six tables squeezed into the half of the building housing the grill and grocery. Menu definitely Mexican, including homemade tamales, order at the counter. Wallpaper and table vinylcloths with matching chile patterns. Midway through a tasty lunch, I heard one of the patrons saying Hi to Lena in the kitchen. We WERE at the right place!

After lunch we strolled the shops in Arroyo Seco. Met a personable young man from Midland, TX in this A-frame pottery shop -- he lives upstairs and seemed to be really enjoying life. Would he go back to Midland? No way, not after he's seen Arroyo Seco. Susie bought a coffee cup to help his economy.



Speaking of pick-ups, old pick-ups are depicted in lots of local art. This one in Arroyo Seco may be the model:




Arroyo Seco also features an historic church -- this is the La Santisima Trinidad church, dating to ca. 1834.





We drove to the ski area and back and called it another pleasant day in Taos. We've had fun, also, on our excursions the last two days, exploring residential areas. Lots of dead-end streets, winding streets shaded by tall cottonwoods, adobe walls and hidden haciendas.

Cheers,

Susie and Rob

More Taos

We promised more info on Steve Wiard and his Taos ministries. From our visit with Steve and a 2006 article in the United Methodist Reporter:

Steve was raised in Kansas and taught high school social studies for 18 years. He became active in politics and ran for and was elected to the Kansas state senate -- quite an accomplishment for a pony-tailed Democrat -- and served three terms. Door-to-door contacts did it for him, he told us. He also began part-time preaching in the 70s and became a lay-preacher in the Methodist church -- a level below being "ordained," as I understand it.


At some point he let the church know of his interest in a move to Taos and that came about in 1997. The church had started Shared Table a few years earlier as a meals program. In '97 they switched to distributing commodities in order to feed more people more substantially and to help low-income workers with large families. The program also provides at-cost prescriptions and short-term emergency assistance, such as lodging and transportation for those in need. Steve says he gets calls from the police for all sorts of situations.


If you would like to contribute to the Shared Table ministry, the address is:


El Pueblito United Methodist Church
6981 ndcbu
Taos, NM 87571



The church and Shared Table operate under separate Boards. The Methodist church is not a sponsor of Shared Table, but the NM/NW TX Conference of the church did make a special donation last year.



People coming to Wednesdays' Shared Table are not seen as prospective Methodists. The message is subtle - here is a place that cares and people who treat them with respect and dignity. Steve characterizes the church as a "guilt-free zone," open to anybody. The church has grown and they recently knocked out a wall next to the sanctuary to expand seating from 65 to 85. We're looking forward to being in church Sunday, though as the fourth Sunday in a summer month, the service will be outside under a tent.


Steve's bottom line in the Reporter story: Anne Frank's quote comes to mind: 'In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.'

Speaking of good hearts, here's Steve and Susie with a proud new papa and his baby



Susie and I have had conversations this week about how to improve the lot in life of those in poverty. There is a real issue on the types of assistance to provide. You have to meet people's survival needs, but you/we also need to provide ways for people to improve their status. It's one thing to be in poverty; it's another to be mired in poverty, to have no hope of a way out. One of the saddest things Wednesday was watching three-generation families come through the line. How do they and we break that cycle? They need skills and attitudes. We're reminded of the familiar sentiment:


“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown


That's the original. The website I retrieved this from also had this modified version:



"Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you can sell him fishing equipment.”—Author unknown


Now, that's the entrepreneurial spirit!


Steve told us the first Methodist church in Taos is now a residence. We drove by. The front view didn't look very churchy, but the side view, second picture, does -- note the windows.




If you should happen to be in Taos and would like to see this church/house, the address is 115 Quesnel. As you approach the Plaza area from the south, turn right at the light just past McDonald's.

I need to find out the history of this place. I recall a story that the Rev. Thomas Harwood, largely responsible along with his wife, Emily, for establishing the Methodist church among Spanish-speaking New Mexicans in the late 1800s, told. I need to look this up in Harwood's History, but, as I recall, in Taos one night a gun-wielding gang of toughs crashed a service he was holding. Cooler heads prevailed, but this was but one of several life-threatening adventures the good Reverend survived in his 40-some years of ministry in NM. Taos Methodist preachers also figured prominently in the Colfax County War of 1875. It was sparked by one preacher's murder, fanned by another preacher's zeal to find the murderer.

Speaking of history, we're coming back to this area next weekend for a New Mexico Methodist heritage event -- stops at several sites from Espanola to Cimarron.

Thursday evening we tried to catch sunset over the mesa.

Storm clouds over the mountains, reflecting the sunset, got our attention, too.

They say the New Mexico sky helped launch the Taos art colony.

Cheers for now,

Susie and Rob

Shared Tables - Taos

Wednesday was Shared Table day. Sunday, at church, we had filled Tuzi's basement with food and hygiene products donated by St. John's members. Our "toad" PT had grandson Tony Hinkle's college stuff that he had stored in our garage for the summer. He's returning to the College of Santa Fe for classes next week and we're going to deliver his things to him in Santa Fe on the way home. Maybe all this weight contibuted to yesterday's Tuzi overheat episode.

At any rate, Wednesday morning I unloaded Tuzi:

and then packed the PT (hope you can see the generosity expressed by the Albq folks),

for transport to the El Pueblito Methodist Church.

In case this is not what you expect a northern NM church to look like, this building was once a gas station, bar and cafe. It became the church in 1960. The lower left area is the sanctuary. It was a covered driveway and gas pump island. The upstairs is now mostly storage for the Shared Table supplies.

Steve Wiard wears two hats, one as the minister at El Pueblito and one as the Director of the Shared Table food bank (although these two hats were disguised today as a Boston Red Sox cap). He introduced us around and chatted with us about his background, the church, and the program's history. We soon started helping the staff and volunteers get set up for the distribution which started at 11:00am. Susie and I helped in the toiletry section -- filling plastic bags with toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, diapers, and "personal" items. Also had school supplies for families with school-age kids.

Here's Steve, with assistant director, Helen, showcasing the day's produce.

St. John's donors brought us a lot of toothbrushes and toothpaste and they should know it was all distributed! Diapers and Depends, too. Didn't keep track of the canned food, but I'm sure it either was passed out or is stored in the pantry for future dispersal. The toothcare stuff were products they had run out of recently and they were in much demand. The policy is not to distribute willy-nilly but to provide what the folks asked for. Most everybody who came by our table asked for a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Each recipient starts off with bags of canned vegetables and fruit, plus meat, bread, and dairy products. Also, a roll of toilet paper, I noticed. The aim, Helen told us, is to provide food that a person could survive on for three days, if needed. Our understanding is that for the most part, the recipients have homes or other access to cooking facilities. Fresh corn, cabbage, apples, and potatoes were also available today. The program's food comes from individual, restaurant, and grocery donations and purchases from the Food Depot in Santa Fe. (A statistic: in 2006 the Food Depot distributed 2.5 million pounds of food and related products to some 100 agencies in seven northern NM counties.) One of the Table's part-time paid employees is a van driver who does pick ups around town. Santa Fe delivers.

Here's the fresh vegetable table with Helen and a couple of volunteers. The young man in the orange frock(?) was a volunteer named August and he had just been in town a few weeks. He was volunteering in exchange for picking up some food and supplies.

You see a slice of life here that you don't normally see. (Someone asked at home: "Taos has homeless people?) As we drove up we saw a heavily tattooed, multiply pierced young man. His tattoos were quite visible because he was wearing a low-cut, short dress and combat boots. Corporal Klinger would have been green with envy.

Everything is nice and orderly. People sign in and let the staff know how many adults and children they are representing. Last year's statistics: 5000 adults and 2000 children served.

The staff controls the flow to a leisurely progression between tables. Here are Beth and Lorraine, two volunteers who taught Susie and me the ropes on the toiletries table. We visited quite a bit with Lorraine. She and her husband retired to Taos from education careers in New York about 11 years ago, almost simultaneously with their son and daughter moving to Truth or Consequences, NM. They spend a lot of time volunteering.

After the food bank closed up here, Lorraine took the excess down to the Presbyterian Church in Ranchos de Taos, south of Taos (El Pueblito is north of town, so the two churches bracket Taos), for the afternoon distribution there. We had lunch on the way through town then joined them and helped finish up Shared Table south.

Faithful readers of our chronicle know that Susie finds people she knows, or who know people she knows, wherever we go. One of the Presby volunteers was Eddie, formerly a teacher and ultimately superintendent of Taos schools. He mentioned he went to Highlands U, in Las Vegas, NM -- Susie's alma mater. Well, he remembered her dad, Rush Hughes, a Highlands VP, and various other Highlands notables.

I slipped away and got a shot of the sanctuary. Very nice -- they recently celebrated their 100th anniversary. There used to be a Presbyterian school at the site, where Eddie started his educational journey. "If you teach them, they will come," is the philosophy that launched many Protestant schools and churches in New Mexico a century and more ago.

We did an ice cream stop on the way back to the RV park, then vegged out for a good while before making the obligatory Wal Mart run.

We'll provide more info on Rev. Steve and Shared Table in a later installment. Need to ponder a bit. Plus Blogger tends to do funny formatting to long postings.

Cheers,

Susie and Rob

TuziTwo Takes Toiletries to Taos

A couple of years ago David Edwards, our preacher, asked us to think about ministry ideas for folks like us who tend to travel quite a bit. That led to us deciding last winter to try to have a joint outing by St. John's RVers. The idea was to go to a scenic, interesting area -- and one that had a local Methodist church. We would do RVer/tourist sorts of things and we would also interact with the local congregation. I got suggestions from Jim Hawk, our former preacher and current District Superintendent, and settled on Taos. It's of course a well-known destination and the local church, El Pueblito, is active in the community. In particular they sponsor a Shared Table food-bank ministry in which they distribute food and hygiene products to needy folks in Taos -- starving artists and others -- twice a month. Distribution days are the second and fourth Wednesdays. In talking with the Taos preacher, Rev. Steven Wiard, I also learned that they have pot luck lunches the fourth Sunday of each month. So, we picked August -- the week encompassing the fourth Wednesday and fourth Sunday.

We had about six RV-owners interested at the start, but the date didn't work for some. Three couples made RV park reservations early in the summer, but circumstances beyond their control forced them to cancel just the last week. So, Susie, Tuzi, and I are in Taos this week, flying the St. John's banner, figuratively.

The two preceding Sundays we put a notice in the church bulletin asking for food bank donations -- food and hygiene products. Members came through in a big way this past Sunday and we filled TuziTwo's basement.

Trip up (on Tuesday) was a little eventful. The automatic leveling system hasn't been working right and it signaled a problem as we were driving! That's not good, but I think I must have accidentally bumped the On button. Then, just as we topped out on Taos mesa, approaching the first turn-out for viewing the Taos Gorge, the temperature sensor started beeping. We pulled off promptly and things cooled off while we had lunch. It's a pretty steep climb and we were fully loaded, including the PT, but didn't seem like much stress for TuziTwo, so I was surprised. We made some much more severe climbs last September going to Yellowstone.

Then had the most difficult time I've ever had getting set up. Our slot was rather narrow, more so than I realized and as I was watching the left side I brushed the right side up against some sagebrush. Got some scratches that I think I can remove.

The slot has two narrow cement slabs for parking, but you have to get perfectly centered and lined up in order for the leveling jacks to be solidly on the slabs. That took some back and forth, plus nursing a balky system to lower the jacks. Finally got all set up, then realized we couldn't open the awning, so it was disconnect, raise the jacks, pull forward ten feet and set up again. Hot day, too, and feeling kind of dumb -- not pleasant.

The good news is that the satellite TV was promptly activated by DirectTV. We had a couple of hours to cool off, wind down, then took a drive around Taos, had dinner at the Chow Cart and made the ritual stop at Wal-Mart (scratch repair, etc.).

Tomorrow we'll transfer the food bank stuff to the PT and take it to the church.

Cheers,

Rob and Susie

Miscellanea - August 07

1. A friend and I are traveling to Australia in September. I've started a blog: AussieOdyssey with some background info. If you're interested in following our trip, check once in a while in September.

2. Got a phone call out of the blue a couple of days ago. Friendly lady from Michigan asks me if I'm Rob E of Tuzigoot fame. I admitted it. She was coming to New Mexico and wondered if it would be possible to see Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and the Grand Canyon in six days. Sure, one day for each, three days for travel.

I guess this proves that either our Tuzigoot website or this blog has been discovered by at least one surfer. Susie says, "That's scary."

Cheers,

Rob

Denver Weekend

Family Greetings!

We made a quick weekend trip to Denver - up Friday, July 27; home Sunday, July 29. To see family, of course, and to see the Dodgers play the Rockies.

Got an early morning start, pausing in Galisteo long enough to snap this picture of the church in early sun. Actually, there's an interesting string of mailboxes across the street which is why I stopped, but didn't get a very good photo there. There used to be a tiny general store across the highway where we would stop and get some great tamales -- Josie's tamales. Josie was pretty old and nobody took over the store. It's been closed a couple of years now.

On Saturday we went to a bookstore. Didn't notice until later that the book behind Malia is titled, "Angry Little Girls." Doesn't apply to our little girl. We bought a few books on science and statistics for her to start studying. Actually, Susie the Teacher picked out some books that are good for early learning.

Next came a petting zoo. On the way there we drove through a part of town, a nice part of town, called Jackass Hill. There's even a street with that name and kids who live there, Valerie told us, are tickled to be able to tell people where their home is.

Malia is very comfortable with animals. Living with two dogs and two cats, that's a survival skill. She and Tucker, the golden retriever, have a very trusting mutual friendship. You can see pictures on Valerie and Jeff's blog, http:bringinghomemalia.blogspot.com.

We brought Malia a doll, picked out by Aunt Mandi who flew into Albq on Thursday night for a sorority reunion. Malia became fascinated by the doll's shoes. She worked long and hard, with no frustration, trying to take the shoes off and put them on. Her attention span exceeds Rob's with a remote control in hand. Friday evening she had put her own shoes on for the first time and we were all thrilled.

Jeff and Valerie are quite the parents -- teaching her words and concepts. "Where's your bellybutton?" and that sort of thing. It's fun to watch the next generation come along. They've started the paperwork, and the (two-year?) clock ticking, to adopt a sister for Malia.

Saturday night Jeff and Rob had a pleasant outing at the ballpark, even though the Dodgers lost. Sunday morning we caught a little time on the deck before heading for brunch.

Rob's nephew, Kevin McCubbins, and family (wife, Kelly, and children Andrew, Daniel, and Christine) recently moved to the Denver area -- they're living in Castle Rock. Kevin is the son of Judy's sister, Jan. We met Sunday morning for brunch and had a good time visiting with them and getting to know the kids. Good for Jeff and Valerie to have family nearby, too.

We left for home right after noon and got to Cedar Crest around 7:30. Some moderate rain near Colorado Springs, heavy rain near Wagon Mound, NM. It's that time of year -- somewhat grandiosely we call it the monsoon season. On the north side of Trinidad we've noticed this old and large brick barn. Don't know its history, but this time we stopped for a picture.

What about TuziTwo? you ask. Because of Rob's Tu/Th teaching in July, there wasn't time to take Tuzi on this trip. Our next Tuzi outing is a week's trip to Taos starting Aug. 21, with friends from church.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Susie and Rob

SpringTrip07 - Report 20. Boiling Springs

My brother, two sisters, and I, plus families, have been having reunions every five years coinciding with Mom's numerically meaningful birthdays - 70th, 75th, 80th. Last year we couldn't get one organized for her 85th, but we made up for it this year in grand style.

Mom isn't up to long-distance travel, so we hit on the idea of meeting at Boiling Springs State Park, near Woodward in NW OK. This is the part of the state where Mom was born and grew up. My dad, too. More on that below. It's only about a two hours drive from Edmond where Mom and my two sisters live.

Thursday, June 7, we trekked across OK from the Red Barn in Carthage, MO, mostly on interstates and toll roads. Took this route to save time and because of very strong crosswinds from the south, blowing hard when we left and correctly forecasted to last all day. I’d rather deal with crosswinds on divided four-lanes than on narrow two-lanes.

Somewhere along the way, saw this sign: Cross Winds Ahead. I hate it when wind gets grumpy.

Speaking of signs: Early warnings of upcoming lane closures or changes are very helpful. Illinois wins the award: Right Lane Closed/Eight Miles Ahead. Of course, by the time we got there, I’d forgotten which lane was to be closed (actually, there was another warning at one mile). This was in a rural area, not in the Chicago commute area where such an advance warning might be especially helpful.

Got to Boiling Springs (I won’t abbreviate) and found a campsite by around 5:00 pm. Full-service hook-ups, spacious, too. Will be room for four of my nephews to set up a tent. My brother, Lael, and wife, Katherine, will park their VW camper in the campground, too, and everybody else will stay in four cabins we rented.

The clan arrived Friday pm. – total of 25, almost all of my parents’ descendants and spouses. We kicked the festivities off with a cookout.

Saturday was sightseeing. First to Little Sahara Sand Dunes. We hoped to relive some experiences of 11 years ago when we all went to White Sands - jumping off dunes, rolling down, ... . However, Little Sahara is a playground for off-roaders so that didn't work out. We proceeded to Alabaster Caverns for an enjoyable lunch and cave tour. Pizza in town finished the day.

The three youngest boys, two nephews and a grandson, next picture, hit it off big. Kept busy all weekend fishing, chasing ducks, playing ball, swimming, inventing things to do. Also slept with us in TuziTwo. They had a memorable pillow fight - at least I told them they would remember it when they're my age.

The spring has been unusually rainy this year and everything is much greener than usual. Rivers that usually trickle are running bank-full and over. Flowers are blooming in the pastures. A windy cool front came through Friday night - got us up to close the awning and the tent guys up to tie things down better - so the weather was pleasant, too.

Some family reunion background (some of this I’ve reported before, but for completeness and for faded memories, I’ll repeat it here): Both of my parents came from NW OK. They met when my Dad was hired to teach at Mom's home town of Selman. She was 14 at the time but the spark was lit. Dad was young, too. He had skipped two or three grades along the way, but he was still a college graduate. They dated after he moved to become superintendent at another school and married after Mom's freshman year in college.

Mom’s parents, Gene and Ethyl Bennett, had settled in NW OK, recently Indian Territory, in 1915. Their family grew to five daughters. They built a successful and respected farming and ranching operation – Grandpa was president of the school board when Dad came knocking on the Bennetts' door. From reminiscences of my Aunt Sammie, now deceased:

[When my parents moved to OK:] Old timers in Barber County, Kansas, on large ranches predicted my father would take Ethyl out west and they would starve but our father was a hard worker and my mother a saving type and they did very well.

What a summary! What they faced, what they did, and how they did it. Gives me chills. Here's a blurry picture of a picture of the Bennetts.

I worked for Grandpa the summer after my junior year in HS and it was a formative experience. Did me a world of good. (Son Mike later recalled that I often lamented during their growing-up years that it was too bad they didn’t have the opportunity to spend time at grandpa’s farm. It’s interesting what kids remember. I think I threatened to send them to work on my cousin’s farm if they didn’t turn off the TV and do something else.)

Sunday we had lunch in town. We had invited all the Bennett cousins and families living in OK to join us. Several live near Woodward, but others came from Tulsa and the Oklahoma City area. Had a great time sharing pictures and memories, catching up with families.

Most of the group left Sunday afternoon, but a few of us stayed until Monday morning. I took Mom for a drive and couldn't pass up the opportunity for a picture of her against a backdrop of Oklahoma sagebrush, sunflowers, and sky. We love you, Mom!

We drove all the way home on Monday. Went west through the OK panhandle to Guymon, then SW on US 54 to Tucumcari. In stark contrast to some of our Midwest passages, this is a stretch of nearly 300 miles with only two towns with a stoplight and just a handful of country crossroads to slow down for. Amazing!

Usually, it starts feeling like home when TX cropland gives way to NM mesas and valleys on I-40. This time, coming down US 54 it was the sight of Tucumcari Mountain, named, it is said, for the tragic tale of the Indian brave, Tocom, and Kari, the maiden he loved. Almost home.

Arrived home in a light rain about 7:30 pm. Final statistics: 5800 miles, 46 days, 6 kids, 5 grandkids, and much more -- priceless!

Cheers,

Rob and Susie

SpringTrip07 - Report 19. MI to MO

Tuesday, June 5.

Got an early start from Grand Rapids. Skirted around the Chicago metro area, happening by this impressive county courthouse in Rensselaer, IN, then plunged southward through IL via I-57, thereby avoiding St. Louis. Although there are some diagonal roads that would get us from MI to NW OK, we're making more of an ell-pattern: south then west.

Covered about 450 miles and spent the night at a KOA in Benton, IL. Had a problem for a while in that we weren't getting electricity into TuziTwo from the campground's power source. Finally discovered that in pulling heavy-duty power cord from the storage compartment I had inadvertently turned a key in a control box that cut us off. Live and learn. The key doesn't have an obvious on/off label and of course I hadn't read the manual, or even looked it up.

Not long after we got set up a van pulling a camping trailer parked in a spot just across the road in front of us. People started piling out. They kept moving and I never got a good count, but it appeared that it was two men with 9 or 10 kids ranging from toddlers to teenagers. They set up a tent in addition to their trailer. Later, though, as they ate dinner I saw that it was a man and a women with 8 plus kids. I'd mistaken one of the older boys as a second adult. Later I told Susie about this group, but too late for her to see the show. In the morning, though, just as we started to pull out, kids started coming from everywhere: trailer, van, tent - looked like a stirred-up ant hill, or circus clowns coming out of a car. It was Dad and the kids, fixing and having breakfast. Susie said, Don't go. I gotta see this. We still couldn't get an accurate count with all the coming and going - statistics means never having to say you're certain. The youngest was strapped in a booster seat that wasn't fastened to the picnic table bench and he kept falling sideways on the bench like Arte Johnson on the tricycle in Laugh-In. Dad would right him and breakfast continued. Mom never showed up. I said maybe this is her quiet time. So, we left, soon after 7 am.

As we drove south from Benton I discovered where all of Illinois's hills are - they've fallen to the bottom, like potatoes sinking in soup.

Goal today, Wednesday, was to drive across southern Missouri via Route 60. Three years ago we started west from Virginia Beach, the eastern terminus of Route 60 (historic sign shown here), once known as the coast to coast highway. I'd gotten interested in route 60 for a variety of reasons including that it runs through my home town of Tonkawa, OK, and I remember in the 50s that my dad was involved in a Route 60 Association - trying to repeat the Route 66 magic. Here's the series of reports on that Route 60 journey:

In 04, because of a side trip for repairs, we skipped the MO portion. I'd heard, also, at the time, that it was a pretty tortuous drive through the Ozarks for a motorhome, but now with more power, thought we'd give it a go.

After crossing the Mississippi one more time, next picture, this time on I-57, we soon picked up hwy. 60. Made a Wal-Mart stop in Sikeston, MO, and headed west.

Turns out the much of MO's 60 is new, four-laned. They're turning it into a parkway. Our Magellan GPS, even though I updated its memory just before we left, wasn't up to date. It kept showing our position as off the road, wandering somewhere through the mountains and not on what it thought was route 60. Occasionally, we'd see a parallel road labeled as Old 60. We took Business 60 loops through a couple of towns, apparently the old road bed. But, in contrast to what we saw in other states in '04, we didn't see preserved, still active businesses, such as motels or diners, or buildings from 50 years ago or so. The buildings we saw from that era were abandoned derelicts. If only I'd launched a Route 60 Heritage Association three years ago, things might have been different. Oh, sure.

Around lunchtime I made one serious mistake. Took an exit advertising a family restaurant. It wasn't where the sign said it should have been and we found ourselves heading away from 60 on a county road with nowhere to turn around.

After 3-4 miles we came to a fairly wide intersection and I decided we could "make a legal U-turn," as Magellan is forever instructing me. Well, we couldn't, not without backing and working back and forth. Not a good situation to put the PT in, but I nursed it carefully and we finally made it - luckily no traffic during our tortured turn-around. Also, no damage to PT, Tuzi, or hitch. As I was U-turning, I could see myself stuck in the intersection, having to disconnect the PT while traffic lined up, drivers either fuming or laughing at us.

We ended up eating left-over sandwiches from Kaci's open house in the parking lot of an abandoned grocery store. I guess that should have been my featured Route 60 photo. I had been sure we would find an Ozark restaurant specializing in catfish or barbecue. Oh, well. Later in the afternoon, at a Dairy Queen break, I got us into a tight parking lot but managed to get out by cutting across a strip of lawn to an adjoining business's parking lot. Not my most pleasant day behind the wheel.

For the record, the middle 50 miles of our Missouri Ozarks Route 60 transit was two-lane hills and curves, but no problem to negotiate. Even there you can see that they're starting to clear land for a four-lane parkway.

In 2004 I had noticed a dearth of businesses with Route 60 in their name (as contrasted with Route 66 promoting businesses). Well, our Passport America campground book listed a Highway 60 RV Park in far SW MO, so that was our destination. The deal with being a PA member is that you camp for half price. This place listed at $30 regular, $15 for PA. Well, it was nothing but a pasture with hook-ups. No amenities, no ambiance. Outrageous! Maybe worth $15 period, but no way worth $30. At other PA RV parks we've stayed at I didn't have the feeling that their listed prices were phoney, but here I did. Nice manager, though, so I just said I thought we'd drive a little further. It was only around 4:00 pm so there was ample time for Plan B.

We were not far from the Big Red Barn RV Park near Carthage, MO, where we have stayed before, so that's where we headed for the night. They were sold out in their full-service sites, but we decided we would rough it with only 30 amps and no cable TV. We ordered pizza

delivery, turned on the satellite TV, and had a nice, relaxing evening.

Around 1:00 am, though, I woke up and noticed that we had no AC power. Oh, no, I thought: electrical problems again. Checked the things I know to check and found no problem. The little key was in its proper position, but the little red lights signifying power-in were not on. Outside, we could see that the campground lights were out, so the problem was elsewhere. Within an hour the power was back on and all was well.

Medical Update. Susie's foot, injured two weeks ago, is still giving her quite a bit of pain. She spent a lot of time on her feet in Grand Rapids and we think that may have delayed recovery, but there was no way she wasn't going to be in the middle of all this fun and activity. Memories are made of this!

I'm going to post this now because I'm not sure about internet access once we get to Boiling Springs State Park, near Woodward, OK, where our family reunion is taking place. At last, after all this time with Susie's side of the family, we're finally gathering with mine - I joke :-).

Susie's insert-- Actually, I said that we had done the "Hinkle family thing" we were now heading for the more sane and sedate Easterling (actually, Bennett family--Bonnie's extended family) family. I'll report later if the reunion is sane and sedate. We are very anxious to see the kids--big and little. The good news is that we will be home soon. The bad news is that we will be home soon. We have had a WONDERFUL trip.

Incidentally, I have no idea how Blogger does paragraph breaks. Every time I open a draft to update it, the breaks have changed. Then when I post, not all of the breaks translate to the posting. Also, I've noticed that dashes don't print as dashes - more like heavy dots. Oh, well.

Cheers,

Rob and Susie

SpringTrip07 - Report 18. More Michigan

June 4.

Friday and Saturday we worked getting ready forKaci's open house. Late afternoon downpour Saturday altered plans a bit, but the party went on in fine style. A couple of pix. Tony is testing the chocolate fountain while Susie arranges the goodies.






That's a reflection over Kaci's head, not a crown.

We try to be in Grand Rapids on Sundays because we greatly enjoy the Methodist church that Matt and family go to. Matt leads the musical praise team, which makes his Momma very proud and teary, and we always enjoy and appreciate Pastor Will’s sermons. He’s in a series now on the book of Revelation. The writer’s message, he explained, is that people have a choice: God’s empire or Satan’s empire. Satan’s empire has a front man – the beast. At the time the book was written, the symbolism pointed to Nero, the despot of the time, as Satan’s beast. As Albq friend Jack Nuzum, who teaches a Bible class in HS, often points out, the final outcome forecast in Rev is that God’s empire wins in the end. In the meantime, it’s not necessarily easy; in fact it may be terrible. Every generation since Nero, loosely speaking, has had its own beast to deal with, Hitler being the easiest example. On a personal level, Christians face the same choice of empires to follow in their individual lives.

On a global level, the event of the last couple of years that sticks with me is when a TV crew was kidnapped by Islamic radicals. Convert to Islam or die, they told the hostages. They converted. How do we deal with that beast? I asked Will later. There’s no clear answer, but history tells us there could be much bloodshed, he said. Sobering.

Sunday evening Matt took us to visit his plant – a box manufacturing plant. About six months ago Matt made a gutsy career move: left the company he had been with since he got out of the army and where he had risen to sales manager of the Grand Rapids plant to become plant general manager at another packaging-manufacturer in Grand Rapids, Pratt Industries. The plant was in decline – sales, morale, pride, image. He’s been working hard to turn things around. And making progress: the workers recently made wage concessions to help the business succeed. Setting the tone, Matt and Suzy spent weekend time painting and sprucing up some break rooms and conference rooms. Son Tony is working there this summer – odd jobs, filling in for people on summer vacations. Susie said to him, “I’m so proud of you, Tony.” “You should be prouder of your son,” he said. “He's got a huge job and the respect he gets in the plant is amazing.” It’s not easy, though. There are some “beasts” lurking around that he has to deal with. Something you might want to know: Pratt makes all their boxes, and other corrugated products, from recycled paper. Their PR material says they save 30,000 trees a day! That's your statistic of the day.

Cheers,

Rob and Susie