It long desired to travel this great country from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. Our plan was to head East in April, but do to several family weddings, graduations and etc. we didn’t get on our way until later. Our interest was to look at places and events in the lifetime of our Ancestors. During this trip we looked closely and followed as much as we could of the "Mormon s Trail", "The Oregon Trail," "The Pony Express," "The Civil War," "Light Houses," and other historic events that made up our great country. We also wished to visit as many of the new temples as we could.

Our travels this year started with a trip to The Blyth (California) Music Festival. with a group of friends in January .Then in May, we traveled to San Diego to Visit the Historic sites such as the Early Spanish Mission. We also visited the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center. Russ’s Great Grand Father John W. Hess and his wife (as Laundress) were members of that organization. We also visited with friends and relatives which included a High School classmate (Bob Squire) in San Diego, and a Navy Buddy (Jim Holland) in Phelan, California. We spent a few days at our Carlsbad Time-share resort with our Daughter and her family to celebrate her husbands graduation from Redlands University.

Our Guides for the pioneer trail are: "Oregon Trail" (U. S. Department of the Interior) "Mormon Pioneer Trail" ( U S Department of the Interior) "Iowa Trails," "Iowa State" and maps and guidelines found at the State Visitor Centers.

We left Orem on the 10^th of June about 11:00 A.M. We took the Provo Canyon road to Heber, North to I-80 and East. Beautiful country. It isn’t too hot for traveling and we are pulling our 24 ft RV Trailer. www.infowest.com/personal/d/dixie/rvhome.html

We got to Fort Bridger and it was really great to wonder through it and see the old fort or what is now the old fort. A young girl who is a Junior in High School showed us through one of the officers homes. It is a really great opportunity for her to spend her summer working at the fort meeting people and learning of history. We enjoyed the visit with her. Another young girl from Utah was working there, also.

We turned off at Rock Springs to go North to Farson so that we would be on the marked Auto trail. Stayed overnight at Farson. Farson is where Jim Bridger and Brigham Young met and Jim told the company that he would give $1000.00 for the first bushel of corn grown in the Great Salt Lake Valley.

It is Cold and clear. Great sleeping weather.

The Oregon Trail was the only way to the West coast where there was sufficient water and food supply for the occupants and animals. The Oregon trail was made up using many trails developed by the Indians over several hundred years. To follow these trails, we had to leave the freeway system and drive many back roads.

We stopped at all the marked historic spots. We stood at the very point of the "Parting of the ways". This is where the Oregon trail and Mormon Trail parted with the Mormon Trail heading towards Salt lake City.

We took time to visit South Pass where the trails crossed the Continental Divide and then on to Rock Creek where the Willie Hand Cart company was re-supplied, and further on to the rescue point of the Willie hand cart company. We stopped at Ice Spring Slough where pioneers could stop and get some Ice and have Ice water for about a day. We kept our eyes peeled on Split Rock which was a land mark for all those traveling the trails.

By afternoon, it had turned windy. We got to Martins Cove Visitors Center and went on a Golf Cart jaunt up to the cove with one of the Sisters. There were about 950 young people that came that day in buses, besides the casual traveler like us who came to the cove and were pulling handcarts up to the monument and back, then on out to Cherry Creek Camp Grounds. What an experience! We rode in the golf cart thank goodness, because about half way back we hit a 100 mile wind that really filled us all with sand. We had to crawl along as we had a hard time seeing the way. We were told that it was like that with the Handcart pioneers except it was snow and ice instead of sand. Sand in our hair, teeth, eyes and it was really difficult seeing as well as speaking. Back at the Visitors’ Center we got in our trailer to ride the storm out. It seemed like our trailer was rocking for hours to the extent that it was going to tip over.

It was late when the wind stopped blowing. We had eaten our supper and played cards. The missionaries suggested that we backtrack and go to Missionary RV Village and dry camp for the night.

One of the missionaries came by as we were preparing to leave to see when we were planning to pull out. They didn’t want to block us in and really needed the space because the wind had really ruined tents and some of the kids out at Cherry Creek campground were being brought back from there and they were going to use the barn and whatever they could to bed the kids down for the night.

When we got to the campground, Russ started to check out the trailer. The wind had broken a few things on the trailer, and had taken the cover off our propane tanks. We went by the Cove the next morning and checked to see if it was there.

Couldn’t believe our eyes! Right where we had stopped last night our cover lay against the fence. Bent a bit but not broken. Fit fine. We’re on our way again.

Martins Cove is a large area of about 75 Acres which was part of the Sun Ranch. The LDS Church has purchased 100,000 acres of Range land in this area on which they raise cattle as part of the Welfare Program. This venture has to be a paying program and carry itself financially. The missionaries at Martins Cove are under this program. In other words under the Welfare Department.

As we left Martins Cove we stopped by the monument for Devils Gate. (The groups that pull the handcart to the Cove can pull them onto Devils Gate first and then on to the Cove.) And now on to Fort Casper and the Casper Area.

All The Roads Were One

From 1840 to 1869, all the roads were one in this area. 200,000 pioneers bound for California, 50,000 bound for Oregon and 70,000 bound for Salt lake pass on this single trail. This included Pony Express riders, Freighters, soldiers, stage coach drivers and later, the gold rush.

We could spend days in Casper tracing all the pioneer history that is present in this area. It was here that the Mormon Pioneers built the Mormon Ferry in 1847.

We traveled on to Porters Rock and Warm Springs Canyon, then to Independence Rock. We read with interest all the names written on Register Cliff. Names put there clear back in 1825. What a feeling it gives. Such history and stories. If we but had all the stories or the people to tell us their story in person, it would be fascinating reading for years to come.

Now on to Guernsey State Park. Most impressive was the Guernsey Ruts site. Here the Wyoming State Historic Department is developing this Site to preserve the "Ruts" and make them more accessible. They state that all the wagons, handcarts etc. listed (including people) passed this very spot with the wheels carving deep marks in the rocks. What a special feeling to stand there and think back to their times. It brought tears to our eyes to know that our ancestors (before the railroad) traveled in that very spot.

We stopped in Lingle, Wyoming for the night. We left the trailer there and very early in the morning, we headed for South Dakota. We always wanted to visit this area. At Custer, Wyoming we ate breakfast at the Cowboy Inn. We went on up to Mount Rushmore and stopped at Crazy Horse Monument where we ate lunch returning to Lingle after dark. It was a really special day.

We took time to go through Fort Laramie and take pictures. They are constantly upgrading things, and improving areas such as this.

June 14^th

We got off on a wrong road. However, it was okay because we found ourselves at The Rebecca Winters Grave. She was a Mormon pioneer on her way to Utah, but died at age 50 from exposure in 1852. This site was found by a surveyor for the Rail Road. They moved the rail road about 20 feet to protect the grave. Research was done by local people and found that she was a daughter of a man who served in the revolutionary war. The local people maintain the site.

Following along the trail we saw Chimney Rock. It is no wonder that the pioneers used it as a land mark on the trail. The visitors center is lovely and has a short film telling about Chimney Rock. Pictures can be taken from the back porch of the center.

The States of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa have done extensive studies and pretty well know the exact location of the Oregon and Mormon Trail through their states. There are signs throughout these states marking where the trail was.

We stopped at various other Historic markers including Indian look out point, Ash Hollow, Etc. At the North Platt was the point where the odometer (originally called the Road-a-meter) was suggested by William Clayton, designed by Orsen Platt, and built by Appleton Harmon, who later settled in Washington, Utah. It was built in Council Bluffs out of a wooden feed box and iron scraps, and attached to Brother Johnsons wagon..

We drove highway 30 (off the freeway )across the state as that is where the historic sites and monuments were located. As we got just about to Fort Kearny, we were detoured to I-80 as Highway 30 was closed for construction. We drove to Offutt Air Force Base where we stayed for four days visiting historic things in the area..

We visited and attended a session at the Winter Quarters Temple, and while there we met a sister of a friend, a descendant of Robert Gardner (whose family of course came from Pine Valley and St. George,) and we went to the visitors center twice . We attended church in the Bellevue Military Ward near the base and Visited Fort Crook where the buildings still stands. This was the main command center for fighting the Indian wars in the West. We saw four of the six 747 that are used to carry the President of the United States (called "AIR FORCE ONE" when the President is on the air craft.) Offutt AFB is the operating base from which the executive aircrafts are maintained and stored.

Offutt Air force Base Fam Camp has been a great place to spend the week-end. It is off base by a lake. Convenient for going places without having to go through the base.

Today we crossed into Council Bluffs and found the Kanesville Tabernacle.

This Tabernacle was one of the first Tabernacles built by the Mormons. It was a log structure of 60 by 40 feet long. This is where Brigham Young was set apart as the 2^nd president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Church. The rebuilding of the replica and visitor center is now nearing completion. It was interesting to note that they are working on a new entryway for the visitors center, and to secure a better foundation, they are going 3 feet below the frost line. They were down about 6 feet when we looked in and they plan on going to at least 8 feet for the footings. This is a deep foundation for a porch like entry.

It started out sunny today, but the sky is overcast now. We are concerned that we might get into the tornadoes that have been going on around us. Up to now we have just missed them except the wind storm at Martins Cove.

We have found Highway 92, but it was a challenge to figure out the mapping of Iowa. Their towns aren’t well marked. It you don’t go in on a major highway you don’t know what town your in except by the chance of seeing a business with the name on it.

We drove through Macedonia which was a fun town. The Mormon and Oregon trails came through here. On the side of the road the flowers are really beautiful. They are red Straw Flowers.

We turned off Iowa Highway 92 to Lewis, Iowa and found the Nishnabotna Ferry House. This house was occupied by the ferry operator and his family from the mid-1850 until 1861. This Ferry was used later years by the Mormons, and was a crossroads for many of the trails including the Mormon Handcart, Stagecoach lines, Gold Rush, Oregon Trail, etc. It is currently being restored and there are workmen there on site working on the building. This restoration is being financed by private (non LDS) money.

We drove on up the road a couple of miles to the Hitchcock House. Another landmark for the various trails heading west. This house was built in 1865 by the Reverend George B Hitchcock near the Mormon trail. The house was built as part of the "Underground Railroad" as a safe house for fleeing slaves. Hitchcock was never caught and went to Kansas after the Civil War to set up a school to help educate blacks. We saw in the basement the "secret room" which many fugitive slaves used on their journey to freedom. This house was restored the 1980 by the State of Iowa. Volunteers provide tours every afternoon. All the proceeds from donated jams, jellies, cookbooks, etc. go back into the house. Currently they are working on the other buildings. They just finished getting the electricity into the barn which they use each week-end for musical and art productions. Gaye couldn’t resist another cookbook. Here is a recipe from it.

DOUGHNUTS

One cup of sugar, one cup of milk,

Two eggs beaten fine as silk,

Salt and nutmeg (lemon will do).

Of baking powder teaspoons two,

Lightly stir the flour in,

Roll on pie board not too thin:

Cut in diamond’s twist or rings,

Drop with care the doughy things

Into fat that briskly swells

Evenly the spongy cells.

Watch with care the time for turning,

Fry them brown just short of burning.

Roll in sugar, serve when cool.

Price a quarter for this rule.

Attributed to Hazel A. Marquis in the People’s Home Recipe Book belonging to Mrs. Ted Krause, dated 1914 by Lucille Alff and Debbie Meyer of Lewis, Iowa.

Can you see why it was a necessity to buy a cookbook??!!

We then visited Bridgewater. What an interesting town. Stepped back in time a few years. Wide main street, but parking is on the South side of the street, and in the middle of the street, but not on the north side, On the North side there is the town hall, and next to that up some steps is the women’s room (I guess the mens room is in the service station). On down the street is the Oil Co. After all, you need room for cars off the road to get gas and have their cars serviced and worked on. On the south side of the street is the Café, and the general Mercantile. As we entered town there was an elementary school. In the play park of the school they had a set of monkey bars with wheels which read the Stage Coach, an airplane for two to play on (no motor just handlebars, looks like the little spring toys in the Worthen Park in St. George) then there was a foot bridge that had the moto " FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE". This town was beautifully clean and fun to go through.

We next went to the Mormon Trail park just north of town, where we met Josh Snyder, an Iowa Fish and Game agent. He told us of where we could find the Mormon Trail Ruts that were still visible. We found them and took pictures. There were signs there placed by the Iowa State Historic people but the signs are getting in bad condition.

We journeyed on to Greenfield, and the Adair County Historic Center were more pioneer trail information was available.

At the writing of this part of the history, we were staying at Orient State Park which is on the Mormon Trail.

Croydon Historical Museum was one of the best museums on pioneer history that we saw on the trail. There was a room dedicated to the Mormon Trail and contained a lot of information on the hymn "Come, Come ye Saints," and William Clayton who wrote it. The hymn was written in Sewal which is in the same County and near here. Due to the heavy rains, we were discouraged in trying to find the location. The local guide said that we would have a hard time turning the trailer around once we got there. She could however direct us, but said she had to have her hands free to do so. She told directions with her arms. Great fun people doing a great job.

June 23^rd

After following the Pioneer Trail for many miles across several states, some time driving on surfaced roads, graveled roads, or dirt road or mud roads and once in a while even Freeways. We reached the Missouri River. However, driving in a heavy rain, we missed our turn and headed south along the banks of the river toward Missouri. We found a truck depot and pulled in and waited out the storm. With permission, we decided to remain there over night, it being nearly midnight by this time. The next morning we drove north along the banks of the river. At points, we could see the Beautiful city of Nauvoo across the river. What a sight the Temple. We drove up to Ft. Madison and crossed the river on a toll bridge.

Of course, we wanted to see the Temple up close. We have followed the re-building (on the internet) of it since they broke ground. However, with all the construction equipment it was hard to get close. The main street runs right by it. It is such a joy and swells our hearts to know that it will be completed in less than a year. I suspect if we make it back next year we will have to have a reservation. That would be ok, and we wouldn’t have to worry about getting in. It looked grand there on the hill. Worth saving our money for another trip back. The State campgrounds are pretty good although they don’t have showers. Maybe we could save a little extra and stay at the commercial campgrounds on the East of town. Something to consider.

It has been nine years since we visited Nauvoo. We could see much growth in the area. The trees and large areas of grass added to the beauty of the area. Over 130 acres of grass is mowed every week The Nauvoo Restoration movement owns 1700 Acres of the original 2700 Acres of the City of Nauvoo. There are a half dozen homes within the area that are still owned by non participants in the restoration project. The restoration project is the largest project of its type in the United States. The restoration of Nauvoo project is largely an LDS Project, however the president of the Restoration Project is not a member of the LDS Church.

Nauvoo restoration park is not just a place where you tour old restored homes as we remembered it back nine years ago. It is a lively entertainment center that draws LDS members, Non-members and children. It is an experience that visiting children and adults will always remembers.

Last night at the Nauvoo Adventure (stage show) we sat next to a non-member who lives about 50 miles from here who says that they come quite often to enjoy the high level of entertainment and the price is right (no charge). The 300 adult missionaries that staff the operation of this experience are supplemented by talented young people from all of the United state and Canada. These young people try out for parts and when accepted, pay their own way and support themselves to do the productions that can be seen here. During the day time, they support the older couples in things like making rugs, ropes, bricks & etc. We also went to the Sunset fireside program next to the Mississippi River for the program that included very professional performers and children involvement. The children are called up as a whole to march in the band, or help the stick dancers dance, or join in the singing.

We went to the Land & Records Office and picked up family stories and histories from our families that lived here in Nauvoo. We rode the horse drawn carriage while Elder Coon (Theron Coon from St. George) gave a great history lesson. Visited with Elder Cook (yes, Elder Cook that served on the St. George Temple Visitors Center Mission with us). Met young sister Stewart from St. George (Green Valley). Someone said that the missionaries were from three states! Idaho, Utah and St. George. That is because there are so many here from St. George. We visited homes, learned to make rope, shoe horses, make wagon wheels, print newspapers etc.

A call for all able body men, to report for muster. Russ responded to the call to serve in the Nauvoo Legion. Two groups were formed with Russ in the group that were over 12 years old. This was due to the different size rifles that were issued. We put our weapons on our left shoulders and we were marched around the Parade grounds to music played by the Missionary Band. Probably didn’t show the resemblances of those 5,000 serving back in the 1800's, but it was a calling, just as then, we answered the call.

We went to church Sunday at the Nauvoo Ward there were about 1,000 in attendance. We are told that some times there are 1500. Nine years ago at the time of the big floods, when we went early to church, we found out that we would have to leave early and head east to go north and back to the Burlington Bridge because the local bridge and the Keocuk Bridges were not passable. If we didn’t go on Sunday we would have to go up to I-90 because they were not allowing outside traffic through. It would be all they could do to get the local back and forth across the river to and from work. What a year that was. We think that we saw every flood the Midwest had to offer. And that was plenty. Houses and mobile homes were floating down the River. We still remember talking to the 73 year old lady that was sitting on the banks guarding her home out on a knoll in the middle of the river with all the other homes floating around it. It was all she owned and she was alone in the world, no husband, children, or living soul. Just her and her van, and the house out on the knoll in the river.

June 27^th

We drove to the St. Louis area, and took in a visit to the St. Louis Temple. We stayed at Scott Air force Base Fam Camp which was closest to the area that we were doing our research.

Scott AFB is a center for many Air force Assignments. Russ is an active member of the Air Force Affiliate Military Radio Service (USAF MARS) and their national headquarters is located there. We had the opportunity to go to the Office of Chief Morgan and chat with them about the program.

Some of our research was for the Barton family line. It was really great going through the towns that had figured in the Barton Family. We visited Historic Lebanon, Illinois, and the county seat, Belleview, because these were where we would center our research. In Lebonon we took pictures of the old town. There are many very old homes and the town is proud of their age and hiertage.

In Belleview we visited the Courthouse and copied deeds and power of attorneys of/for Sally Barton, Gaye’s Great Great Grandmother.

There is not a lot here that we don’t already have, but we also saw the country round about and though there are considerably more people, buildings, and homes than 150 years ago, it was still basically the same in that the rivers and swells were still there.

We went from Scott Air Force Base to Loves Park, Illinois in one day. We were tired. However, we were able to get gas in central Illinois for $1.199 a gallon and in Loves Park at Hucks, it was only $1.159. What a difference. Illinois must not add a fortune on for tax. We stayed the night at the State Park in Loves Park. Very nice campground. Full hookups for $13.00 a night.

It was again, with a great deal of prayer that we visit Wisconsin. We found nice camping in the Kettle Moraine State Park with full hook ups. Then hoping against hope that we would find anything on Gaye’s line we started out. Russ ask where and without hesitation Gaye said Muckwonago. Oh, why? My family settled in Troy, Walworth County. Muckwonago is another county. However, it is the largest city near Troy. What a joy. At the library we found articles that give names and places. When we left the library Russ ask where to now and without hesitation, Gaye said " Troy Center Cemetery". That is how it is listed on his obituary notice. We started out there, and found there are 2 streets in Troy Center. The town is not very big. We went down one and up the other finding nothing. Decided to go to city hall (a small building with the fire station, etc.), but on the way down the back street Russ noticed a man coming down a ladder very carefully and decided that he look like old guy to have been around a while. We ask him where the cemetery was and he said which one, there are 3. Again with inspiration we decided on the one in Troy City itself. That was a bit hard to get to, but found a small cemetery on a hill. After we stopped, Gaye took the west half and Russ the East. In all there were about 40 headstones. As Gaye was reading her side, there weren’t any names that she could associate with. All of a sudden Russ called out, "What was your grandmothers name? Was it Mary Mason?" It was really special to find the graves of your great great grand parents. We have names and dates, pictures, and pictures of headstones. We also found some other relative’s graves It was really wonderful. We also got something to go on in New York. (Any of Gaye’s family that run into the Mason line there are some changes coming on our line.)

The only problem we found with Wisconsin was that we had driven ourselves so hard to get here, (driving from St. Louis to northern Illinois in 1 day thru traffic, etc., and finding a campground) that Gaye got a pinched nerve in her back, and couldn’t walk without pain. Russ was tempted to head for home, but thanks to Julene, our daughter-in-law (registered nurse) who gave us some guidance, by phone, of what to do, we were able to go on. This necessitated a trip to the Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital emergency room and then to Wal Mart drug store for pills, and two days down. We began stopping more often to be certain that this didn’t happen again. It was not good to loose the two days of research time, and the chance of taking the trip North around Lake Michigan. Instead, we went South, going into Chicago. We did not get to Detroit and Northern Michigan as we had planned.

July 3^rd

We left Wisconsin and headed for Kirtland, Ohio. Once around Chicago we got on the Turnpikes and stayed until we got to Willow, Ohio, where we stayed at a State Park. We toured Kirtland, Ohio including the Kirtland Temple. The LDS Visitors’ Centers were in tents both at Kirtland and the Johnson Farm. Kirtland is being rebuilt with major changes including changing several roads so that we will enter it going around the Visitors Center and up into the town. They are removing the "triangle" so that they will have more parking and parks.

A learning experience in Ohio. We were stopped by a policeman for pulling onto the "berm". This is our equivalent of the right hand turning lane next to the stop sign, or a shoulder. They don’t do that back there. We had not turned on red or cut anyone off or anything, but we were warned not to pull "berns" even though they were surfaces and next to the Stop Signs. We didn’t get a ticket, and he gave us directions to where we were going.

The gas went down in Steamburg, New York. This is on an Indian Reservation so it was only $1.299.

As we traveled along U S 86, we stopped at Corning, New Your where we went through the Corning Museum of Glass, the largest "glass Museum" in the world. What a worthwhile afternoon. We only wish time and distance could have let us stay here for a day or two longer. But then it is the same with every area— we spend as much time as we can, and then go on wishing we could stay and really get to know the area and people and make it an integral part of our lives. One wonders how God can know us all personally when we can’t seem to meet and know and do everything we try to do.

The museum is such a fun place to visit. We watched Glass blowing and met "Benjamin Franklin", (He taught us all about the things that he discovered and how he did them).

It’s fun just watching glass being blown but wouldn’t it be fun to learn to blow glass. They have a place in the museum where you can have hands on experience. We were too late that day to do so, but could we have come back on Monday (this was Friday) we could have done this. Well as we said, we can’t stay and do everything.

Sadly our ticket wasn’t drawn to win the hand blown bowl and vase that were being given away that day, but just as well, because how could be have taken care of them. And then a young boy was really excited that he had won, one wouldn’t want to loose the chance of seeing his face when he ran down on stage to collect his prize.

And so, on to Ithaca, New York. It is late, and we needed to find our friends Diane & Roy Moores’ son’s farm before dark. Diane and Roy are members in our ward in St. George and spend the summers on Roy’s Sons Farm in New York.

What helpfulness!. As we drove along this back road, a man drove up and opened his truck window and said. "I know that you are looking for someone, can I help you?" Of course we got directions, and just when we were uncertain again because the street signs didn’t jibe, along came Jerry, Roy’s son to aid us and let us know we were right.

What peace and quiet in this place. A few mosquitoes, but not like we have encountered before. And the Fire Flies are fun to watch.

The smells of a farm are apparent when we wondered down to the dairy barn the next morning. Jerry has a great farm going, but it is a great deal of work. Farmers work hard here just as in Utah when we were kids.

Denise, Jerry’s wife, has a large garden. Rows and rows of garlic which she fixes and ties into strands then sells at craft shows. Then she makes wreaths of dried flowers. They have 3 daughters. The 3 year old goes everywhere with either dad or mom. She rides on the tractor in a special seat that Jerry made to hold her baby chair. How many children can say they were babysat that closely by parents? She can ask questions faster than we could think.

Roy and Diane took us to the pageant at Palmyra and it was great. Different from 9 years ago when we were here before.. In fact, this year they really changed it. So much taken out, and other things added, that you can’t ever say it is that similar to the Manti Pageant anymore. However, the heavens were weeping during the pageant and we were glad to have rain gear with us. You’d think that being prepared with gear would have stopped the rain by itself!!!

Reservations to the Palmyra Temple are booked 6 weeks in advance, and so we only got to visit the outside Temple grounds.

Roy had driven one way there and another way back. So we went around the Finger Lakes a bit. He also took us to the largest waterfall, Taughannock, Buttermilk Falls, and The Allen H. Treman State Park. Stopped at the Treman Park. Diane and Gaye hiked down for quite a ways and saw the falls. The four of us visited the old Mill there and Roy told of good swimming and fishing in his childhood years. The mill was extremely interesting because we could do a self guided tour of all levels and take all the time we wanted to read the signs and look at the equipment.

On our trip to Pompey we went past the Salisbury Fire Truck Plant. Russ was very interested in this and knowing that they were made here and shipped all over the world. This is the most popular fire truck in the world. Russ was involved in fire trucks when he work for the State of Utah.

Our trip through Pompey was to look for information. We did stop at every cemetery. Roy and Diane Moore were taking us there as they know the area. They were able to discover some names, but didn’t have their books with them to work on these names. We found some Mason names, but the main thing that we found was that Pompey was not just a spot. It was at one time a large area which covered what is now many towns. Therefore, we are going to need help with this one.

We did purchase books on the area, and we got a couple of names to call when we get home that can we hope will help us. The books are of the whole Pompey area, but some of the towns are not covered within them. These towns are the ones that will have to be covered by someone with knowledge of the area.

July 12^th

On our way to Boston we drove though Coopers town and saw the baseball hall of fame.

Battle Trail 1776, and Boston

"The British are coming! Paul Revere’s famous ride. Yesterday, we walked (part of) the Battle Trail where the British Regulars skirmished with the Minute Men. We first walked the end of the trail in the Minute Men Park, then went to the Museum. To get to the "Battle Trail Museum, you had to walk at least five or ten minutes along the "Battle Trail". The Federal Parks Service has done an excellent media presentation of the story including Paul Revere’s ride and the minute men in forming our country’s heritage. It included where the battles happened and the story behind them. It included video animation, LED’s on a large map and other animation that gave a feeling that you were really there.

It reminded Russ as in his youth, when at age 13 he was inducted into the Utah State Militia, given a uniform, a gun, pup tent and other accessories as part of a State Guard to repel a possible invasion of the Japanese during World War II. Through some strange part of the paper work, it became part of his 32 years military retirement and made him a World War Two Veteran.

We are staying in Bedford, Massachuset (Hanscom AFB) which is near where the Battles happened. The Battle march that went from Boston to Concord is located just a short distance from here. We have been told how high the costs (motel and camping) were in Boston. However, we find that $10 per night for full RV hook ups and access to the Base commissary made it very reasonable for us. We are told that a good down town parking space for your car costs $140,000. to own. Apartments in the top of a building will cost two to three million and looking at prices in the stores is a frightening experience. We were very fortunate to have access to the base facilities. We were told that in certain areas if you had to ask the price you couldn’t afford it—Particularly in the Beacon Hill area.

Saturday we went to the (Steeple-less) Boston Temple. Court action is completed and the steeple is in the works. Those people objecting to the Temple were given a special invitation to the Open House and we hear that they were very much impressed with the beauty of the building, inside and out. The temple turned out to be much different than they had been led to believe.

The session that we went to was largely non-English speaking Blacks and Spanish. They had come by bus from Brooklyn. Lovely people. Part of the group came for that early morning session with their group, then worked the rest of the day as ordinance workers.

We have accomplished our "Sea to Shining Sea" with this trip Starting in San Diego (The Pacific Ocean) and now in Boston, on the Atlantic Ocean.

One week is not long enough to see Boston and re-live the Boston experience. We have been spending long hours trying to see as much as we can. The Air Force Base where we are staying, camped at the FamCamp, is the heart of the Country’s "Star Wars" project. Part of MIT is near here . Many research centers are near here. Harvard , MIT and other colleges/Universities are located in Boston and we have tried to go by and see most of them. There are Medical, Veterinary. Dental, Law Schools, some of the best medical schools in the country they say.

Nine years ago, we walked the Boston Freedom Trail, but now we did good just to drive it (on tour buses). We spent a day in the parks floated on the lake in the Swan Boats, (a hundred and twenty year old tradition). We walked the path with the "Ducklings". Maybe you will remember the childrens book "Make Way for Ducklings". That was written here in Boston, and about this Garden Park. We watched the children play in the Frog Pond which is another very popular thing to do, and the mothers use the excuse of taking care of their children to get their feet wet, also. The water is only up to the shins of your leg, but the little ones just love to jump and plop in it. We saw the State House (being remodeled), & Marriott Long Wharf Hotel (Marriott was Russ’s Stake President when he was stationed in Washington DC in the early 1950's)

We saw the old North Church where the two lanterns were placed in the Window, and the Paul Revere House (did you know that he had sixteen children and two wives? Each wife gave him 8 children.) We put feathers in our hair, (Russ put his through the earpiece of his glasses), and participated in the re-enactment of dumping the tea in the water (burlap bags with a rope tied to it like EPA insisted). We drove through Chinatown, the Theater District; saw Bunker Hill, Historic Beacon Hill, The Hard Rock Café and of course Cheers.

There is major Construction going on everywhere causing many Traffic delays. There is no place to park in downtown Boston (and if you did find a place it is a charge of $25.00), so to see things downtown, we leave our Van at Hanscom AFB and take the bus to the Train Station and ride the train in. Part of the construction is to take out the downtown roadways and put in more subway, and parks where the overhead and roads were.

Of course, we visited "Old Ironsides" U. S. S. Constitution which is the oldest Ship that is still commissioned in the U S Navy with tours conducted by Navy enlisted personnel. Near the USS Constitution is the U.S.S. Cassin Young, a Destroyer that served in WWII. Russ specially enjoyed this visit as it reminded him of his time served aboard the Destroyers USS Henly, USS Meredith and the USS Ellison while he was in Europe in the early 1950's, fingerprinting Radars and looking for Russian Missile Telemetry Signals.

Our days for research on Gayes family line came again, and we headed to Road Island, and Connecticut. We want to see Road Island because we have never been there, and also, because when in Wisconsin we learned that the Stantons, Palmers, and Chesebroughs came from here.

We were watching for camping because it was showed on the map, but after driving through some of the towns in Road Island we decided that pulling our rig through would present a great problem. It would be fun to stay longer, but the streets are sooooooooo narrow and with parking on each side, it makes it so that sometimes it is like going up and down some of the old camping roads we used to travel where you went slowly and if someone was coming in the opposite direction, then one of you had to stop and wait for the other to pass. (I think of Farmington Canyon. Remember kids when we were on our way up and some youth were on their way down going to fast. They came too close for comfort at that time.) Well, the roads were so narrow that we had to wait at one end while someone came through from the other.

One town in Road Island considers themselves as patriots, and calls themselves the patriotic town. They have replaced the single white line in the middle of main street with a red, white, and blue line. Then they also have flags flying. However, it is a good thing that we didn’t have the trailer with us, because the streets here are extremely tight. It is a very fun town.

Speaking of fun. We got to Narragansett and came upon the old Casino Hotel. Of course it isn’t that now, because it burned many years ago, and now they have restored it as the Chamber of Commerce and visitor center. It was built on the beach, but it arches over the road much like the Tower of London, and why not, as it looks much like the Tower of London. Next to it is a patriot park honoring those who died in the wars (WWI, WWII, Korean, Viet Nam, & Gulf.) Other places honor the other wars.

We have noticed a great deal of patriotism through the East. Many people fly the flag. Maybe we should get a flag and fly it all the time. Someone also told us that we will find in Canada that they fly their flag at every farm and lots of homes..

We went through Road Island into Connecticut at Westerly. This road goes around the town sq. and you have to be sharp where you go or you will head back where you came.

Going along the road (we choose Hwy 1) we find many names that are hard to pronounce or that are a mystery, like Mystic and Wequetequock, and Poquonock. I recognize some of the names such as Stonington, Groton, and New London from my earlier research.

We have the address and instructions to get to New London Chapel where the family history center is, but they are really off highway 95. We were driving along Highway one, and all of a sudden Gaye looked up and saw the name of the street that the chapel was on. This is great, because we don’t have to hunt for Highway 95 and was able to drive directly to the Chapel. It is the opposite end from the other directions, but we headed up it. Someone was leading us to be there when a young man came out of the chapel. He was very familiar with the names we are searching for, and gave us directions to the cemetery that we wanted. We stayed in the Van over night at the Chapel

Finding the cemetery was great the next morning because we were there when a road crew was working on the shoulder of the road and they gave us a map with how to get to a retired school teachers place who had written a history of the area, and especially of the Chesebrough family which is one of the families we are here for. Things always seem to come just when we need them.

We returned to the Boston area and picked up the trailer. We drove up the East Coast of Maine on Highway 1. It certainly is a challenge at times as some of these small towns have streets that are very narrow and you wonder if you and the trailer will really make it through the tight space. Many times you have to stop and wait and take turns in passing, especially when there is a car or truck stopped. But seeing the Ocean and Coves along the way is certainly worth it.

On our way north we went through Topsfield, Massachusetts which was where Joseph Smiths’ Fathers family settled when they came over from England. Joseph Smith’s Father was born here.

We passed through the area that the Kennedy’s made famous. No use looking for it as we have been told that the locals will not tell visitors where it is, instead telling them some other directions that lead you no where.

The traffic through Wiscasett was bumper to bumper for about an hour. We didn’t time it exactly, but there was a sign in front of a home that said if you favor by-pass (road) honk twice. Meaning that they want a road to take the traffic off from the coast road. We heard many honks, so we helped them and honked. At the other end of town we found the reverse, and we could see the stalled traffic on the other side, (as we were sailing along,) waiting and honking.

We are camped about 100 feet from the water on a Cove which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean in Gouldsboro, Maine. We are near Winter Harbor Maine about 100 miles from the Canadian boarder. Last evening, we sat under a tree watching the Tide come in. In this area, there is quite a difference between high tide and low tide.

Our plans were to stay at Winter Harbor Naval Security Station. This was one of the few Monitoring Stations left. We found that they are closing the base down and there was no place for us to stay. Another base closing and another step in putting our country back to sleep defense wise. This is the same Navy Security Organization who China forced the Aircraft down a few months ago. They call it a SPY Aircraft, but surveillance Aircraft is a better name for it. China is continually "Spying" on us and our government and industry is continually giving our technology to them, I think that we will see some real problems with China in the near future. You know that China recently cracked down on those in China using the internet, saying that they were stopping pornography, but really they are stamping out freedom of learning the truth. Russ was in the Navy Security Group in the late 40 and early 50 and worked with some of those who broke the Japanese codes.

Today we went to the Ellsworth Branch. They are in a large remodeling and expansion building program. The church is growing here and they will soon have a Ward or two in this area. It was fun to visit with the four sisters from Cedar City, Utah that are working for the National Park service. They are an asset to the branch. Actually, there were more visitors than members today. Ellsworth is in the Bangor Maine Stake. Pres. Hatch (counselor in the Stake and a first cousin to Orin Hatch) was there today. An enjoyable person to visit with. He works with the building of churches here in the East. Of course, everyone has two or more jobs here. Right now their chapel reminds me of a seminary building, but the new addition will give them a Chapel-Cultural Hall, more class rooms, and a Family History Center. Then later they can add more classrooms on the other side. It will also give them air conditioning. It was a really hot day today. The humidity was exceptionally high, and the temperature was 80+.

Everywhere we go we get similar comments. Are you new in our ward, can we help you find a place to live. We know of some nice building lots. Then you say that you are from Utah and just visiting and traveling through and the comment is. "Utah has too many Mormons, we think that the Prophet should reverse the order and send you out to fill our wards up."

There is one thing about being right on the ocean, it cools down beautifully at night. We have not experienced one hot night since we have been traveling. and most of the time we "dry Camp" using only our self generated solar power to run our fans and other things on the trailer..

Driving up the East cost of Maine, we have stayed as close to the coast as we can. We have enjoyed the beaches and beach towns. One major disadvantage is that the roads are some times somewhat rough. Due to the rough roads, it keeps the trailer and car bouncing around. We lost three hub caps on the Van ($35.00 each) and our desk top computer keeps going out on us.. The monitor went up in smoke we think due to the bumpy road, and we have to keep opening up the computer box and putting the cards back in the slots. However, the old Lap Top computer is still hanging in there and working most of the time, but oh sooooo slow.

We traveled to Labuc, Maine which is on the coast and they claim to be the most Eastern town in the US, further East than any other town in the United States. The Sun rises here first! They say that the day starts here for the entire country.

At Labuc, we heard about a Lighthouse called Quoddy and drove Easterly until we found it. It was a very foggy day. The fog horn sounded every few minutes, while the light kept its vigil over the coast, creating an eerie atmosphere. Despite the clouds, we enjoyed the view. At first, we were the only ones there, but several others joined us before we left. We are now "hooked" on Light Houses and in the future, we will try to visit every one that we can find.

See www.lighthousegetaway.com/

Campabello Park, FDR’s favorite place, is located in New Brunswick, Canada. We spent some time at this International Park. It is a unique example of International cooperation. This 1134 acre park is a joint memorial by Canada and the United State. Franklin D. Roosevelt is remembered as a prominent figure in the history of the United States and spent many of his enjoyable and not so enjoyable years here. www.fdr.net/defaul.htm

During the 1880's, wealthy people had extensive leisure time and the means to enjoy it. They bought most of the island in 1881 and established luxurious hotels and homes that they leased to private enterprises.

FDR came to Campabello as a child, it was to pursue the orderly summer adventures available to a well-to-do Victorian family. When he came as a young husband, whose third son was born on the island, it was to rekindle the taste of the excitement of childhood on this island. From 1883 when FDR was one year old, until he was stricken with polio in 1921, he spent most of his summers on this beautiful island on Passamaquoddy Bay. Sailing was the most important part of the Campobello summer. The bridge was not build until much after FDR’s death in 1945. Now it has easy access to the public, driving from Lubuc, Maine, or by ferry from New Brunswick, Canada.

Much of his time while fighting Polio was spent here. We enjoyed a video and took a tour of the restored cottage and grounds. We also spent several hours driving around the island to see the beautiful area before driving back through Maine, then back to Canada. The Bridges from Camabello only go to Maine. To stay in Canada, you have to take a small ferry which our car and trailer were to large for.

New Brunswick www.bayoffundy.com/index.shtml

July 23^rd

We stopped for some time in St Johns, New Brunswick walking the streets!! Actually, you go into the Market place and you can take elevators or escalators from one level to the other for about 3 blocks, and then go through the north end and you have managed to go without climbing the hill to that level. It was fun to see the old market. It has burned at times but they have rebuilt it. We ate lunch at Grannans Café, because they had fish and chips. We were really hoping that they would be served the old English way, but they were good anyway even though they were the modern chips (fries), and served on plates instead of wrapped in newspaper. Oh, well, we enjoyed them and enjoyed visiting the library (which is in the Market place) for possible information on Russes line. Russ was able to go on line for a few minutes and get our bank statement, but no e-mail.

After going through the Market, we went through Kings Park and walked along to see Queens Park going down to the East end of town to where we had parked our rig. The buildings are old and interesting. Some such as the Post Office look like it had been added upon a time or two because of the change of colors at each floor.

New Brunswick is the home of the worlds greatest tides. They rise very rapidly and fall rapidly.

Stayed the first night at a State Park in New River, New Brunswick, and then the second night we stayed at Murray Corners Park on the North of New Brunswick.

Through the night at Murray we had such a Thunderstorm, that we weren’t sure any of the tents would be there when we got up. We visited with one mother and she said that her son was in a tent alone and when the really bad strike hit, he "vaporized" into their tent. He had come through a zippered front so fast that they just knew he hadn’t opened it to come through, because it was opened and closed too fast.

We have noticed that there is ever so much more tenting (both regular and tent trailers) in the East. In fact, I would say it is about 3 to 1. Three being Tents, and one being Trailers or Motorhomes. It is possible that it is higher.

Take a drive in the Sea! 27 July

Like " take a drive our in the country" except this time, we took "a drive in the sea!" Many areas, when a ship is over three miles out to sea, it is considered out in the ocean and in international waters. Well, we took the Van and Trailer and "drove" out on the sea. The Confederation Bridge is 17 Km long, the longest bridge in the world and it crosses the Ocean between New Brunswick and PEI. As we left the main land of New Brunswick, the mainland disappeared leaving only the bridge we were driving on and the ocean visible. We, however, knew that out in the distant Fog, there would be Prince Edward Island (PEI). It is called the "dream drive." The bridge toll cost is $42.25 for a Van Pulling a Trailer, which you pay on your return, it being free to go out to the island. (www.confederationbridge.com)

PEI ( Prince Edward Island) is the garden spot of the world. Every thing is green. (The saying goes. "The Grass is greener on the other side!) You don’t irrigate anything, you just mow it. No one cares if you drive on the grass, it doesn’t kill it out. PEI enjoyed years of isolation due to the difficulty of getting there. You had to go by ship going and coming. Local people were concerned when they put in the Bridge as they lost their isolation and became part of the world. It certainly was better for the Farmers and the industry. Last year they only had 279 divorces and about a1,000 marriages. But their special way of life is now being neutralized and becoming like it is in other places. It is one hundred and fifty seven miles long and around 30 miles wide. Largely farming - Potatoes and Corn. Good families and was a great place to raise Children. (www.gov.pe.ca/) (www.peiplay.com)

Lighthouses.

The gulf of St. Lawrence, had been responsible for many ship wrecks."They still have many Lighthouses even with the new navigational equipment. Again, we drove the back roads and especially looking for Lighthouses. One time while on a back road, we ask some local boys for directions to the Lighthouse that was near there. They said yes, down that dirt road. So we drove down "that dirt road". However, when it got muddy, we decided to back out and find a turn around spot. Russ told another local about it and they told me that the Lighthouse was only accessible at low tide and if we hadn’t left when we did, we would really have an interesting, disastrous story to tell as there were several feet of water there in high tide time. Kind of a dumb thing for an ex-sailor to get into Russ feels that he can call hin self a sailor having spent over a year of my life on Ships on the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans.

At East Lighthouse we were able to go through the light house and learn about it’s history. We climbed the stairs and ladder to the top where the light was located and looked out over the Ocean. We had a great time watching the school of Sea Otters that were swimming around by the light house

The reason for so many light houses in and around PEI is that there are only a few places that ships can come close to the Island. North of the Island is a grave yard of many ships dating back into the 1500. There are terrible storms in the Waters around this island that have given them isolation for many years. (www.peisland.com/westpoint/history.htm)

Here as in other areas when the island was found by the "White Man" The local Indians thought that they were the "White God" they had been waiting for so when Jacques Cartier landed here July 1 of 1534.. Here as in other places, the Whiteman took advantage of the local Indians. We have purchased a book about the Island and find much enjoyment in learning the history of this island.

It is interesting that this Island has many, many beautiful beaches. Many Farms run right down to the Ocean. However, talking with a Canadian "Beach Front" property owner, The Americans have found out the secret and are purchasing up the property just as soon as the farmers will sell it. The money exchange rate permits a $100,000 property can be purchased for $66,000 U. S. Dollars.. Some of the local residents are a little unhappy about seeing the Americans invading their country, which is understandable..

Anne ( With an "E") www.annesociety.org

Hello from "Anne land" Yes, it officially called "Anne Land" by the government of Canada. This part was written by Russ. Anne of Green Gables, a world famous fictional story, was a product of Prince Edward Island, written by Lucy Maude Montgomery. My wife Gaye (with an "e")has always had a close relationship with the factitious character of Anne, growing up as a redheaded, freckled, quick to temper, gifted with much speech, great imagination, kind heart (kindred Heart as Anne always said) and good intentions and always overly trying to do things for others. She even grew up in an area of Red Dirt. Gaye grew up with bright Red Hair and was teased as about being the only one around with bright red hair. She always hated it and developed an inferiority complex because of it, not realizing that people noticed it because the dark bright red hair had a very unusual beauty. Many people have told me how special her hair was. People can always remember her but not many can remember ever seeing me. Old bald headed men are common.

The story contains many things that were part of Author Lucy Maud Montgomery’s life. Green Gables was really based on her grand parents home. This home has been restored to what it looked like when Maud Montgomery wrote the story. We searched out the home and drove to it on the far North West part of the island and enjoyed the tour of the real house. (We even bought 2 bells for Gaye’s collection, and an Anne doll). We also saw the "shining water’ as noted in the story. It is strange that only a small number of people visit the real home instead of the simulated home in the park that the Park Service has constructed. Later we visited this Green Gables Park developed using simulated buildings and things based on the real home and barn. At the time we visited this park, it was crowded and was hard to find parking space in the large parking lot. We did take pictures, and exchanged taking pictures with a French couple that couldn’t understand English, but we communicated well anyway, and it was fun. We could say later that we enjoyed the serenity of the real home more than the commercial Version. Maybe that was because we were the only ones there at first, and then a bus load came and they were so serine in their demeanor that they really didn’t interrupt our thoughts, or maybe it was because the real is just special. (home.islandia.is/tora/picpei.htm)

We went to the live Stage play "Anne of Green Gables" in Charlottetown. It was an excellent experience. It cost us $40 for the afternoon show. and well worth it The play runs several weeks each summer and we are told that it is always hard to get tickets and the large theater is always packed.

We had planned to come PEI and look around for about a day, and stayed about a week. We attended Church at the Charlottetown Branch..

One of the primary justifications for our trip is searching out places that our forefathers lived and were buried. From PEI we headed to Sackville, NB, Canada. Russ’s Great Grand father was Marriner Wood Merrill. He was an early Church Leader, and Apostle, Stake President. and Logan Temple President, all at the same time. He had 54 Children and eight wives. 24 of those children obtained a four year degree from College. Eight had Masters Degrees and eight had Doctors Degrees. Marriner Wood Merrill was born in Sackville, New Brunswick ,Canada Today, we walked in buildings and areas that he walked.

We visited several Cemeteries. We visited the Church (St. Anne’s) where my forefathers attended. As we were driving around the area, for some reason, Gaye suggested driving up a road that Russ was reluctant to go on as Russ was afraid that it would be a dead end or a long dirt road. However we went up the road. We came across the Westcock Burial Ground. How exciting it was for Russ as he was reading the head stone to find his Great Great Grand Parents graves. The grave yard has many other relatives.

In order to locate more about this area, we took a driving tour. As part of the tour, we visited several buildings, homes, etc that were here when my forefathers lived here. We stopped by an old large building that was being restored and some day will be a museum . We lucked out and got a personal tour of the building. We learned much about the history of the building and saw interesting parts of the building that will not be visible at the completion of the restoration.

In school, we all have heard about the 13 colonies that were part of the Revolutionary War. Did you know that there were supposed to be fourteen Colonies? This part of Canada was to have been the fourteenth Colony. Not every one pushed for this to be part of the United States, but there were sea battles and ground battles which were lost by the Americans. Two American War Ships "Sacked" Charlottetown, P.E.I., for which their Captains were latter disciplined and lost their commands. However, the US never made restitution and there were long time hard feelings. This area was first controlled by the French who had taken it away from the Indians, that called themselves Acadians. The British took it away from the French and "some Americans" tried to take it away from the British. We visited Fort Beausejour. It was built in 1730 by the French. The British took is from the French in 1855 and the Americans tried to take in 1778. It is now a Provincial Park, and we were able to enjoy learning the history of the Fort and walking in the underground passages. Later we visited Fort Lawrence which was another British Fort located just a mile straight across from Fort Beausejour. After they had them both, they dismantled Fort Lawrence, because the other Fort was built much better. They removed the buildings and put them up at Fort Beausejour.

We were able to get a personalized tour of Radio Canada International(RCI). This is the largest "Short Wave" transmitting complex in the world and has high powered transmitters. Voice transmissions are broadcast and sent all over the world in several languages.

www.rcinet.ca/

August 3^rd

As we headed for Halifax, we stopped by the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum. They have a collection of various Air Craft the has played a part of Canada’s History.

acam.ednet.ns.ca/

Halifax, Nova Scotia www.portofhalifax.ca

We think that there must of been a lot of "BOOZE" in the early days before Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada was established. Because the way these streets are laid out, it must have been by lots of "drunken Indians" or drunken someone making paths. We had been warned up in PEI (Prince Edward Island) by another couple trying to find the Temple. They ended up calling one of the Temple Presidents, and he had to come and rescue them and escort them to the Temple. The Temple is in Dartmouth and we also stayed at an RV Park in Dartmouth.

We decided that we wanted to go to Walmart and Costco which are located in Halifax. There are three ways to get their. The first one is a very long drive north and coming back down on the other side of the Bay (Beford Basin) . The other two are over toll bridges. We were lucky to have a detailed street map so we headed for a bridge. We will add right here that if you haven’t been there it is hard to imagine the way the streets are. On the map they are plain, but when you start following them you suddenly learn that one street has 3 names, not on the map, in the space of that many blocks. So we headed for a bridge and after what seemed an hour found the other bridge, not the one we were looking for. At least, we got across the water (.75 cent toll cost) Then a long time and finally finding the area that Costco & Walmart were located. The cost of everything was exceedingly high, even with our favorable exchange rate so we only purchased what we had to have.

We started back and headed for The Bridge, going around in circles again this is caused because of those streets being more than one name and only one shown on the map. Traffic here is always very heavy. We were about to lose control with our stress limits exceeded, so, we pulled over out of the traffic. A man pulled up just in front of us and came back saying, "you two look like you are lost." With our acknowledgment, he said that Halifax and this area were very confusing to any new comer. He noted that it would be difficult for him to explain how to get back to the Bridge as it was too complicated. He went out of his way to guide us to one of the bridges so that we could get across it. We, after another 75 Cent Toll (required any time you use one of the bridges), made it back to Dartmouth where Gaye tricked Russ into going to the temple before going back to the RV Park.

One more thing about the roads. Their freeways run together with no way to know, unless you know the name of the areas and streets well, which one is your direction. They have as many as 4 & 5 roads converging on 1 spot to separate off in that many directions. We found a turn around out in the middle of nowhere in New Brunswick. There was a sign, but only till we hit the spot did we understand it. Russ was sharp and picked up on the fact that we had come to a turnaround so we were ok.

The people in Canada (except for Quebec) have been very kind and sociable. (It could be the language problem with those from Quebec). By law, every sign, book, directions of any kind, etc., has to be printed in both English and French. They have a bi-lingual system, and every child must take both languages in school.

We were able to get to the Halifax Temple for one session. This temple is the smallest of the small temples. It is only open three days a week and shares the parking lot with the Stake Center. There are very little "Temple Grounds" as we are use to. We met some very interesting people and got a lot of ideas for researching the Merrill Family. We would like to have stayed in Halifax area for a few days and looked around more, but it was a major holiday, this week-end is like our 4^th of July and there are no openings anywhere for us to stay and we couldn’t find a place to park the trailer. So we headed back up through Nova Scosa. We talked about going to Newfoundland by ferry, but were concerned about the holiday traffic and didn’t want to wait for the following week end.

We were up into New Brunswick headed back to the US and needed some gas. Gaye talked Russ into turning off at Moncton. Russ wasn’t very happy about it as he was afraid that he would end up driving through downtown heavy traffic. We found a station where we could get into with our trailer and refuel. Gaye looked down the street a half a block and said, "thats an LDS Chapel". Russ wasn’t sure(look like a half built Cahpel) but then we saw the name on the building and decided to take a short break and turned into the parking lot. We went on into the building and found people working in the family history center. We got to talking and found that they were related to the same people that Russ is related to. A man and his daughter were working there and the daughter had a book that was just given to her mother. From her book, we found a lot of the information that we were seeking about Russ’s great, grand father, and great,great grand father and his family. We exchanged E-mail addresses and will have some good contacts in the future for information.

We had driven from Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) and through New Brunswick. We stopped over night at a Service station/restaurant Parking in Kings Landing, NB, Canada about an hour before the boarder. We were planning to travel on to the boarder, but they made us an offer that we couldn’t resist. Parking came with the Gas fill up and meal at the restaurant. We left early the next morning after breakfast at the restaurant. Food was excellent and the price was right. The gas was expensive as we found all over Canada. It averaged abut $2.80(US) per gallon in Canada.

We re-entered the United States on Interstate I-95.. It seemed good to be on a freeway again and less stress. We left I-95 south of Mentor, Main and took Highway 2 West. Freeways are nice, but all you see is a nice road with trees on both sides. Highway 2 goes through every little town along the way.

As we went though Westport, Maine, we stopped by Wal Mart and purchased a new flat Screen Monitor for the trailer Mounted table top Computer.

Stopped at a KOA Camp Ground in Canaan, Maine and went to church at The Skowhegan Ward in Skowhegan, Maine. We were concerned if we could find a meeting in this area and found several. We have found meetings houses on Sunday every where we have been.

We stopped at Rumford Falls, they say they are the longest and largest falls this side of Niagra. They were beautiful, and someone had placed many metal or wooden cut outs around on the shore of scouts, Indians, canoes, and bears. This was the home of Edwund S. Munskei, Senator, Governor, Secretary of State, Candidate for President. These falls have had dams and such placed through them so that they generate the power for this area.

We stopped at Stony Brook Recreation Park Near Hanover, Maine. As we get South, we need power for our air conditioner and it doesn’t get cool at nights as it did in Canada.

We left Maine traveling again on back roads into New Hampshire. We traveled across the While Mountains. The scenery was outstanding, but the steep hills were not for pulling a trailer up and down. The Vortec Engine in our Van was up to the task. We passed through many small towns and recreation areas. We saw several places for entry into the Appalachian Trail. Trail hiking is a big thing in this area. But not for some of us with worn out knees and hips. There are always many cars parked at the hiking areas.

We stopped at a RV Camp that was in our Happy Camper membership book. It was nice to have the Air conditioner as they have above normal temperatures in this area.

We arrived at the Joseph Smith Memorial, the birthplace of Joseph Smith, is another special experience. This is the birth place of Joseph Smith. They have a very nice Visitors Center. The rock used for the front step of the cabin where Joseph Smith was born, is still there. Gaye took a picture of Russ standing by the hearth of the cabin (it isn’t there, but is in the center ) standing in Sharon, Vermont, and then went around and took a shot of him (he didn’t move) while standing in Royalton, Vermont. His mother said that he was born in Sharon, but since the city line ran through the house, and only the bedroom was in Sharon we know that he was born in the bedroom.

After our routine tour, we chatted with Elder Fellows from Taylorsville, Utah. He and his wife are on an 18 month service mission here at the center. We found that we had many things in common. After his work time, he took us on one of the four wheel drive Mules (utility cart) for a tour of the 320 acres area. We went over to where the Mack’s (Lucys’ father and brothers’) homes were. The foundations are still there. Then he took us up on Patriarch hill where you can look out and see the surrounding area. We were able to see some beautiful rock fences. This is a real hike normally. You can see the Joseph Smith monument from up there. There is a tree named Josephs’ tree up there. It would have been there when the prophet lived there.

We also went over to Camp Joseph which, at this time, was heavily populated with young girls from all over the east coast. Camp Joseph has very nice facilities and can handle a large number of girls for girls camp or boys for boys camp. We had heard of Camp Joseph several times at different wards in our travels. The cabins here all have names of the Book of Mormon Prophets. Elder Fellows knew the girls that were camped in the Enos cabin so we met and visited with them.

That evening, we were invited to a family home evening at the directors ( Johansen) home. There were sixteen of us and we had a very enjoyable time. The center had just gotten the Swindle picture display and we discussed each picture. (These were the pictures that we had in the Tabernacle and Temple Visitors Center here in St. George before we left.) There was an attorney there that was related to us through the Merrill line. The next day, we went to his home and got some more information.. Elder and Sister Fellows showed us around the area and told us about many other interesting places to see.

Since going on their mission Elder Fellows has discovered another talent. He has begun writing poetry. He read some of his poems that he has written about his feelings and love that he feels for this area to us. We’ll be waiting for his book to come out. He has also done some photography that goes with the poems.

We wanted to see more of the area. We visited many interesting places. The general Store where Joseph Smith’s parents met is still there and in operation. It is like stepping back in history to see an old store like that. It is complete with the wood stove in the center of the store, Rocking chair for people to sit in when they come to visit. Really "laid back" type operating. There are a few of these type stores still in operation and are still needed by the local residents. They are not close to Wal marts, K marts, etc., to put them out of business. We spent an hour or so visiting with the owners, a young couple that wanted to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city, and some of the customers. Bought a cook book from their daughter. It was the last one she had to sell and supported her school project. But then you knew we could be talked into buying a cookbook.

We also visited several "Covered Bridges," the area where the Smiths had to have walked the streets, saw the location where Hyram Smith was born and may other places of interest. We went to Royalton and saw the village square and the hotel that many have stayed in when they came to see the place where the prophet was born.

We find that many other people have, as we do, an interest in Light Houses and Covered Bridges. By the way, do you know why the bridges were covered? The answer is that it keeps the horses from being "Spoked" as they crossed the bridge.

Hunter, Green County, New York was our next point of interest. We went here, because Gaye’s great, great grandfather Julius Mason was born there. The family moved from Connecticut, in the late 1700's, to here and then on to Pompey, New York in 1803. This is one of the better known areas of the Catskill mountains. It is really a ski resort and tourist trap area now. We stayed at a lovely high in the mountains State Park. When we say high, it was. The road up was not one we would ever consider pulling a trailer again. There are easier ways in, but the lady at the information area said this was the shortest and best. When we talked to her latter she said that she just assumed because buses came this way that we could. The road was being worked on, and it was beautiful, but if we had hit it when they closed the road for even a few minutes, and we had to stop, we could not have been able to start and pull the trailer on up.

While driving the road Gaye could look around. A climb down over the side of the road of about 200+ feet, (and this is a very steep climb,) on one side of the road into the canyon puts you at a beach on the river. All the cars parked along the side of the road (leaving only 2 lanes open to drive ) were parked there because people come to hike down into this canyon and swim in the river.

Hunter is a quaint old town. It was settled after the Revolutionary War by large land grants, and these people selling part of their grants. We visited the library, and copied things then went to a larger town, with a larger library and found information on Russ’s VanOrden line. Here is another area, like Wisconsin, that our ancestors have crossed. In doing the lines we have found many areas in the east that they both lived in at the same time, so it wasn’t too surprising to find this area, also.

We had the van serviced in Catskill, the county seat, at a really nice garage. We met several people and visited with them. One being another RV’er who knew the roads from this area to Florida thru New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina. Just the area that we will be going through. He helped give us a few pointers to look for.

Another person recommended the Vedder Memorial library in Coxsackie, the town to the north. This required a bit of hunting only to find that it was closed. Latter we found the books that she said and they didn’t have information on Gaye’s family. We didn’t find much here, but like Pompey area we will still have more research here. What we did find was a cross reference of two Mason names.

Leaving the Hunter area we did not go back down the way we came up, but took a much more gradual dissent. We stopped everywhere there was a historic marker until we were out and on the freeway again.

Traveling through New Jersey, what an experience!! Heavy traffic, and again trying to get in the right lane to get on the freeway that will take us through New Jersey and down to Delaware. We were given directions by a man in Catskill that sounded easy. He had a motor home and traveled it often to Florida. (But of course he was used to heavy traffic and knew the area having stayed there many times before.) We finally decided that the easiest was to stay on 95 instead of 301 down through New Jersey. We opted not to take the turnpike, because it has 6 lanes of traffic and you must know where your going and when you take off so that your not trying to cross 6 lanes of heavy traffic when it is time to take off. We found 95 easy until it started to rain. This rain was not light rain, but buckets. At one point about 3 o’clock it became apparent that we just couldn’t see; it was too dark and raining too hard so we pulled off the side of the road (others were pulling off, also) and waited that one out. Finally we started up about 3:30 and went on to the Delaware Bridge. We had been advised to stay in the left lane but when we got through the tole, guess what? The road we needed was on the far right. Have you ever crossed 6 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic, pulling a 24 foot trailer, when the rain is back in sheets and it is dark?! What an experience. But guess what. Russ made it and we were on our way only to find that where the information bureau was supposed to be maybe was but not marked. Finally I had Russ pull over and I ran into the Police Station to ask directions. It was still raining so I was soaked when I got in there. They didn’t know where the information bureau was, but I think that I was sooo soaked by this time I got in she took pity on me and directed me to a State Park that she thought was great. Well, the distance was great, but we made it and when we got there there was noone to direct us to a spot, so again we just took the spot where there wasn’t a reserved marker and set up. By this time it had stopped raining, and the sun was out even if very humid and hot. About an hour after we were set up and we were just getting ready to run the money down to the booth, we saw a young couple out checking our power and the site. We went out to see what they wanted. Long story short. Someone had forgotten to put a reserved sign out, and they had reservations for that spot. They did, however, have a tent trailer and because we had pulled in the way we had, and would be leaving in the morning they were not upset and we could share. There was plenty of room for two rigs. They didn’t have air-conditioning either, and would only need a light to set up.

We would have liked to see more of Delaware, but since it would be Saturday and not much would be open to do research, we decided to go on and get to the Washington DC Temple, (Gaye had been to this Temple, but Russ hadn’t) on Saturday, and be able to get on to Richmond in the evening so that we could go to church with Rayda (Gaye’s sister-in- law) on Sunday. We parked our trailer in Raydas’ drive way.

One note here about the Temple. We went in and checked on the Gordon’s, Noni and Stan. They had served with us at the St. George Temple Visitors’ Center Mission, and were now at the Washington DC Temple. However, the man at the Recommend desk didn’t know them and couldn’t find them on the list for that day. We were disappointed but went on in. Gaye walked into the woman’s dressing area and can you believe it. She walked right into Nonis’ arms. What a joyous reunion. They have extended for more time there.

August 12^th

Richmond, Virginia Capital of the Confederacy 15 August 2001

Good thing we made it to Richmond. Rayda and Kelly spoke in church. They really did a beautiful job. They were supposed to be the only ones speaking, but they had put a farewell in, and so it stretched church a bit. It was surprising that all three talks just fit together so beautifully, and noone had correlated their talks. For those who have prepared music and gotten musical numbers ready it would not have been a surprise, because the Lord really works things so that it is that way. I have prepared the music many times weeks in advance, and found that without correlation everything just fit like it had be orchestrated. I know that it happened too often to have been an accident. After church Laurie had us all over for dinner. Laurie and Owen had prepared a nice ham dinner for us and it was great to visit and get to know their children.

Richmond, Virginia was the heart of the most defining event of the United States of America - the Civil War. We spent several days in Richmond and surrounding areas.

As the industrial Center and political capital of the Confederacy, Richmond was the prize over which two mighty American armies contended in bloody battle from 1861 to 1865. It was a great opportunity to visit many of these historic sites.

We found the main visitor center for the Civil War at the Tredegar Iron Works, under the direction of the National Parks Service. |During the Civil War, this location provided much of the supplies required by the War Effort of the South. We found that the museums in downtown Richmond were difficult to see due to parking limitations.| We were especially impressed with the Cold Harbor Battle Ground Visitors’ Center where they have an excellent Electronics LED and audio automated presentation of some of the major battle Sequences. 17,000 "fell" on June 12th.

Many of these "battle fields" have been protected since the Civil War and are now part of the National Park Service. Several of these have "walking tours" and or Driving Tours. You can drive in and see where the Army of the South was then around to where the Army of the North was. The "Fragile Earth Work"(We called them "Fox Holes" in WWII) are still visible in the parks and on a lot of private ground.

The Glendale and Fort Harrison Visitors’ Center also had the Electronics LED automated presentation. Some of the Seven Day "battlefields" sequences are preserved by the Parks Service

August 15^th

Outer Banks.- First Flight

Ken Wynn was a teacher and a High School Principal in Richmond, Virginia. Ken and Beth lived in our Ward while working in the St. George Temple. They later filled a full time mission in the Las Vegas West Mission. We some times visited them while on our "preparation day" when we were on our full time mission. They invited us to visit them at their home in Kill Devil Hills. Little did we know what was in store for us when we made plans to come to this Island. As I once sat in a doctors office earlier this year, I picked up a National Geographic Magazine and read about the moving of a Light House. I like many others, have always had a fascination with Light Houses. So we came for a couple of days visit and stayed longer.

We found it a little (big) challenge in bringing our trailer here due to the heavy traffic. We parked our trailer on Ken & Beth’s front lawn. Elevation 8 ft above sea level. We right off, noticed that most of the houses were built on Stilts. Most people live "up stairs", parking their vehicles in the space underneath their house. This includes the average home to the upper class multi million dollar homes. The Sea can rise and run under the houses during storms without getting into the living parts of the home. Even the Hotels are built to let the Stormy Sea Water pass under the buildings. This Island extends from about a mile to just a couple of blocks wide. The population of these islands very from about 25,000 (Winter) to 250,000 (Summer). They are the playgrounds for people of all classes including the rich & famous. However, it is becoming more for the latter as time goes on. The costs of homes and property is increasing rapidly. It will not be uncommon for an average house to cost over $250,000. Many of the homes are "rentals" and they range from just a few hundred a month to thousands of dollars a month. It is not uncommon to pay 9 thousand a week. People want to get their money out of their investment incase a storm destroys the house. Insurance is very hard to find and usually has a clause which says that they only replace for a fraction of the cost if your home is washed out to sea, and if you can’t build on the same spot they pay nothing. Of course to build on the same spot, you would have to dredge the ocean and bring back the land. However, there is still building going on in a big way. Homes that are not just 2 story, but 3 & 4. This includes the stilt level. It is not un common to have the road closed due to high water. The Hurricane Evacuation route signs makes us nervous. They evacuate on the average of a couple of times a year. Many businesses and homes are built knowing that they can not get insurance and could lose everything. We looked at areas where the homes were destroyed by the stormy ocean.

Having expressed our interest in the Light House that they moved, we went down to the bottom of Hatteras Island driving over a couple of long bridges (not as long as the bridge to PEI up in Canada), but a real feat considering how the ocean washes sand away. Below it they had several dredges working to bring sand back to the area. We drove to the bottom of this island. Any further south requires the use of a Ferry.

We came to the Hatteras Light House. This is the tallest brick Light House (at least in North America). It has recently (1999) been moved 2,400 ft and was considered a major engineering task of the century. It is a National Park and normally open to climbing, but was closed at the time we were there due to a structural study as some material came lose just after they reopened it. We watched videos of the moving of the structure and toured the visitors center and historic buildings (that have also been moved). The eroding of the soil was letting the Ocean reclaim this area of the beach and the light house and buildings were on the edge of water and not wanting them to be claimed by the Atlantic Ocean, they moved them. www.hatteras_nc.com/light

Another lighthouse that we went to was the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. It is all brick, and hasn’t been painted with stripes, but to us it is the most beautiful lighthouse. It was here that they have had herds of wild horses roaming. But because of cruelty to them the Park service, who run the lighthouses, stepped in and saved them. Ken and Beth sponsor Little Red Man, one of the horses, and pay money each year to support him and his herd.

Our hosts took us to many of the areas of these islands driving the roads through the areas where the rich and famous stay or live. There are only two main roads driving down the Islands. One is close to the Sea and the other one (by-pass) is in the middle of the Islands. Everything must be reached by theses roads, which are sometimes only one when the land gets down to water very close on each side . We drove through the town of Nags Head, (www.nags_head.com/) where the pirates would put a lantern on a horse and run it up and down the beach. This would cause ships to come to see what the light was and run a ground so that the pirates could rob the ships. The Pirates that operated in this area were encouraged by the British to harass the Spanish ships. This includes the famous Black Beard. http://www.ocracoke_nc.com/blackbeard/

Speaking of Pirates , we were invited to the fishing tournament at the Pirate Cove. Where two to four hundred sport fishing boats were participating in the event. Our hosts are members of the local LDS Branch and builders of the Spencer Sport Boats. They have facilities to build seven boats at a time. They had five boats built by them in the activities. Paul Spencer won 3^rd ($70,000) in this tournament. Several years ago, he won first place ($750,000) in the tournament. Brother Spencer (the father) told me that the average cost of these Sports fishing boats was over one million dollars each. The last 64 ft boat that they built was 1.7 million. When the boat was ordered the owner said that he wanted the fastest, best boat he could get, and money wasn’t an issue. These million dollar boats are only used several times during the three month season. Several hundred of these sort of boats are normally birthed here at the exclusive Club with minimal concern with them being destroyed by a storm .

We spent several hours visiting the two Spencer Yacht building plants and were taken on a personally conducted tour of the faculties. We saw seven boats being constructed in several stages. They use special wood from France and other special material that makes them strong and fast. These boats are 50 to 70 ft long depending on the requirements of the purchaser. Each boat is custom built. They have speeds of over 42 knots (50 MPH). Some of them have tower seats where the operator can sit high in the air (20 ft?) So that he can better see the fish. Fishing boats need to be fast so that they can get out to the fishing spot fast and back. Especially when they are used in tournaments, and as charter boats.

We visited the Charles Kuralt (Host of the Sunday Morning Program on CBS) Trail. It leads to many large Wildlife Refuges. It is very large and includes 12 different Wildlife Refuges. I didn’t know that Alligators, as found in the Alligator River National Wildlife refuge as part of the Kuralt Trail, were this far North. Bird Watching is very popular here as there are so many different colors and types of bird.

Our third, of the 5 light houses to visit here, was Bodie Lighthouse. It was built about 1830 and was destroyed because the footings and foundation weren’t strong enough, then rebuilt and then destroyed in 1859 by the Confederacy because they didn’t want the Union to use it to come into the sound, and it was rebuilt in 1872.

Gaye got her feet (and a few other parts,) wet in the Atlantic ocean. We went out to just get our feet wet. We took our shoes off and had a jolly time. Some of the waves are just a little more aggressive than others so more than our feet got wet; and when you are wearing a dress then if you didn’t hold it up high enough, it got wet, also. However, in fairness to the waves, it wasn’t too bad because it made things cooler for the rest of the drive.

Sunday we went to church.. They have a very small branch. But the people are strong. They certainly have a lot of talent. We attended a Fireside Sunday evening, the speaker was Brother Crawford Gates who is a composer and conductor. He has composed the music for things like the Palmyra Pageant, Promised Valley and the New "Joseph" production. He composed the music for the Ricks College Orchestra. He is the Conductor/composer for a large philharmonic Orchestra in Wisconsin and is a guest conductor for Orchestras in many parts of the world.

Andy Griffin (Matlock) had his start in the Outer Banks. He started preforming when he was very young in various plays. When he made it big, his home was still in the Outer Banks. We drove by his home several times, hoping that we may get a chance to see him. His lane is unmarked and you have to know someone local to find out where he lives. Local people see him at the post office and in local stores. At the present time, his health isn’t the best and they don’t see much of him. He has a helicopter pad at his home. He comes and goes via helicopter and no one knows where it takes him to.

Kill Devil Hills http://www.killdevilhills.com/

Our trailer is parked on Ken and Beth’s lawn, less than a mile from the site of First flight of the Wright Brothers. The Wright Brothers material had to be brought here by Ferry as there were no bridges then. The crafts were fabricated in Dayton Ohio and were brought to this location. They made over 1000 successful flights from Kill Devil Hills with their rudder and elevator controlled glider. The town is called Kill Devil Hills as once there were three hills, which it is said, that they dug a hole and buried the Devil, kinda of "Witch craft" thing. There is only one hill now and they have to put a lot of effort in preventing it from blowing away. This hill is made up of Sand and is the highest point on the islands. It was just right for developing the gilders. When they tried to use it for the powered craft, they crashed. They later went to the flat area and made the first four powered flights. The Wright Brothers real invention was the elevators and rudder, not the powered flight that they are commonly noted for. (They were smart enough to patten these two inventions, and that is how they made money, not from the flight. The family still receives royalties from them today.) The original powered craft was built for $300. It was damaged after the fourth flight by the wind. They said that they were so excited about the flight success that they forgot to tie it down. The replica model that is located here was built for $50,000. They are talking about trying to fly it on the 100^th anniversary. The original craft is in a museum in Washington D. C. They are planning the Centennial Celebration here the end of next year. So far, they haven’t found someone to fly the craft for the re-enactment. We walked the path of the flights and climbed the hill. Kitty Hawk is located north of here and was where the telegraph, that they sent out of the news of the successful flights, was located. The telegraph was at the Black Pelican Coast Guard Station, in Kitty Hawk. The story of the black Pelican is an interesting life saving story. We also visited that station or what there is left of it. www.firstflight.org

America’s Longest_Running Symphonic Drama

Fort Roanoke was built by the Lost Colony to protect them from the water.

There is a theater located near the fort, today, where we were able to go to the open air play entitled "The Lost Colony". The Lost Colony, America’s longest_running symphonic play, skillfully employs song, dance, drama, comedy and special effects to bring the colonists’ story to life.

Next to that is a beautiful Elizabethan Garden where we spent part of the day visiting with "Queen Elizabeth" (present day version,) and had our picture taken with her and some of her attendants. This was in celebration of Virginia Dares 417 Birthday Party and it was neat that we were there for the celebration. And for those who don’t know Virginia Dare she was the first white child born on what is now US soil. www.roanokeisland.com/ www.thelostcolony.org/f_press_room.htm www.nps.gov/fora/search.htm

www.nps.gov/fora/roanokerev.htm www.outerbanks_nc.com/manteo/history/vadare.htm

Our last day on the Outer Banks was spent going North to Williamsburg and Jamestown. We walked the streets of Colonial Williamsburg. Ken attended school there when he received his Masters Degree. We also went to Jamestown and by Yorktown, but time was limited.. York Town and Jamestown were the most disappointing part of our trip. They charge you for parking at the Visitors Center. They charge you for visiting anything and these charges are not small. They run from about $10. to $32 each. It is too bad that our Nations History learning must be boughten. You can read it, but it has a very special meaning to roam the area where it really happened. www.maintour.com/virginia/nfkwill.htm

We did enjoy the beautiful drive there and back. Which took about 3 hours each way.

It was a nice drive from the "Outer Banks" of North Caroline to Raleigh, North Carolina. We left our trailer at a Jordan Lake State Park and drove into the State Capital of North Carlina. We Visited several of the Civil War historic sites and attended the Raleigh Temple. North Carolina Raleigh Temple was really Great, looks just like the Halifax Temple, and like that temple is situated amid businesses, the post office being just across the street. It was only about 15 minutes from the Temple to Jordan Lake State Park.

We spent the day in the Historic Records building looking up as much information as we could find on the family lines. We copied information from the books on Orange County and we decided that we needed to go up to Orange County.

As we drove north to Hillsbrough, the county seat of Orange County, we really enjoyed the beauty of the countryside. After making it through Chapel Hill and turning north toward Hillsbrough we passed a Prysperitarian Cemetery, in New Hope, and near the Haw River and we saw old head stones. Gaye made a comment to Russ that she was sure that was the place her ancestors were buried, and noted that it was New Hope. When we went into the Library and into the genealogy room there sitting on the table were two books on cemeteries. We looked at them and studied the way they were made up, turned to the New Hope Preyspertarian Church, and there found William Barton and Mrs. William Barton. Oh, why didn’t they use the wives maiden name?

We were able to find some information and copy it. We learned a great deal about the area, where Gaye’s great+ grandparents lived, and spent five hours in the Hillsbrough Library that seemed like 5 minutes. Wish there had been more books about the Bartons.

Hillsborough was at one time the largest city in the State and it was to have been the State Capital. It contains much history. The British used this city for their center to coordinate British activities in the South. We visited the home of a British General which at the time of the revolution, changed sides and became a general for the American Colonies. However he was killed while in a battle supporting the Colonies.

(Somewhere I have misplaced his name and also the signer of the Declaration of Independence that also lived in this home.)

There were many other historic homes that dated back to the 1700 & 1800's. We visited the building that served as the last headquarters for the South as the Civil War came to a close. We tired to search out Civil War Historic Sites as much as we could find them. We did come across the Hillsbrough Historic Museum which had many interesting artifacts from the Civil War.

It was a beautiful drive across North Carolina into Virginia. The weather cooled off and we stayed over night at the Flying A truck complex. They invite truckers and RV’s to park over night there. The RV’ers have an area away from the truck parking area marked "RV only". We drove through the Blue mountains of West Virginia. Our plan was to drive to Lexington, KY, but we ran out of steam and stopped in Hurricane, West Virginia. Having arrived at the Chapel Saturday night, it was about 12 hours too early for church. So we stopped their over night and received a specially warm reception the next morning. Again those words of "Utah has too many Mormons."

August 26^th

Kentucky Sunday after noon, we drove on to Gaye’s Cousin Carmas son, Don & Jayne Sproul in Lexington. That evening, we went with Don (Stake High Councilor) and Jayne (Stake Primary President) to a missionary farewell open house. The missionary family home was one of these very nice large beautiful Plantation Homes that to get to, you drive down a long drive way, like out of the movies with Kentucy Blue Grass and white fences everywhere. This is owned by a Dr. who is a member of the Stake Presidency, so the ranch is run very successfully, by his wife. They are great people. There were people and cars every where; all you could eat food; and elbow to elbow people in every room. Russ said that he didn’t think that he even got a chance to meet the missionary, but Gaye did and he was fun. He’ll do great. He is going to Russia. He had sent his papers in and never heard. Finally a letter of instruction arrived, and when he opened it, it started with "When you get to Russia". Oh, I’m going to Russia!! They waited more and finally he called the missionary department with "Where am I going?" Well, his papers had gotten lost, and they had gotten them back, but they were in the mail now and he could expect them any day. He would then know where he was going. Of course his version was funnier but I think we can all get the picture.

We spent Monday in Frankfort (State Capital of Kentucky) with Doc and Rosemary Snow Hasler. "Doc" was a veterinarian and worked for the State of Kentucky until he retired and Rosemary a nurse. Rosemary was a neighbor to Russ when he was in school in St George. Her sister Katharine was a close friend and in the same class with Russ, and Gaye went through school with another sister Margaret. Doc & Rosemary served on the same Mission with us at the St. George Temple Visitors Center and we got to know then and appreciate their talents. Doc carves wood, and Rosemary paints it for him, and paints pictures & does tole painting besides being very active in the Church. Doc is also doing some substitute teaching.

In Frankfort, they have just completed a new Museum of History. which covered a lot of History of the State. Upstairs is a large state of Kentucky Genealogy Library which is sponsored by the Kentucky Historical society (See www.kyhistory.org) KHS catalogs & Databases http://catalog.kyhistory.org) For more information on Family History Web Sites, we have our site at www.familyhistorycenter.org which is our assignment at the St. George Regional Family History Center.

Before leaving Lexington Don had arranged a tour of the Toyota Plant in Georgetown for us and took us out there for the morning. We were given a tour of the manufacturing of the Toyota and how the plant operates. This is one of the largest auto manufacturing plants in the world. The CEO is an American. They only have about 37 Japanese people at this plant. Autos that use to be manufactured in Japan are now manufactured here and other plants in the United States. They produce two vehicles here every 58 seconds and vehicles are being shipped over all the world. The efficiency of this plan is shifting manufacturing to the US. The average employee receives $40 to $60 K. In addition they receive many other benefit.

August 29^th

We drove the main roads down to Georgia through several heavy rain storms, but stayed at the really beautiful Norris Lake State Park, in Tennessee. It had the most mosquitoes of any place, but we were alone in the park except for a young couple with 2 boys that had come up from Nashville to put up a tent to save a spot for his parents, who were coming from Florida in two days, and they wanted to make sure they had a place for them, this being a holiday week-end. They didn’t stay that night and we were alone in the camp ground.. What a quite night. It was just beautiful.

The other thing that we saw as we came out of Tennessee into Georgia was Lookout Mountain. This was the beginning of the range

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When we got to Georgia the first thing that we did was call and get reservations to the World Famous Navel Lake Site (US Navy). It is the Recreation Fam Camp for the Navel Air Station of Atlanta, Georgia. It is on the Allatoona Lake Shore. We really enjoyed this area (not so many mosquitoes.)

The Allatoona Pass was very important to both the North and the South. At the time of the Civil War, the Allatoona Pass was where the Wagon Trail and the Railroad entered the valley. About three miles from where our trailer was, is the Allatoona Battle Ground. The Wagon road is still visible and protected and can only be used for hiking. There are graves of unknown soldiers who were buried there after they were killed (they are in some one’s front lawn and they have a confederate flag by them). This area changed hands several times during the War.

We visited a little different kind of a museum. We went to the Weinman Mineral Museum. It is divided into three areas, The Georgia Room, The Mayo Wing and the fossil Room. The Library has one of the most extensive collections of books, periodicals and special publications on geology in the region. It is used heavily by the schools and has a Discovery Room to give students hands on experiences.

We visited the Marietta Museum which is housed in the Historic Kennesaw House in downtown Marietta. The room containing the civil War Collection is where James J, Andrews spent the night. This Hotel was used as a hospital by the Confederate Army in August 1863 and by the Federal Army when it occupied Marietta on July 3, 1964. The Hotel was burned by Sherman when he torched Marietta in November 1864, but latter it was rebuilt. The building is still in use today for state offices in addition to the Museum.

Friday we went to the Atlanta Temple. It was beautiful, but hard to find.. After that we went out to the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield and toured that area, learning more about the Civil War, and getting the most beautiful view of Atlanta that you can see from anywhere. This required a hike up a hill, but it was worth it. There were originally nine cannons on this hill the Confederates used them to protect Atlanta. This is part of the U S Parks Service and they maintain tight control over the area. We were able to drive up part way, but normally, when there are lots of visitors, you have to ride on the Park Service busses. It rained all the time we were in the Atlanta area, but stopped long enough for us to hike up to the Canon emplacements. The canons that they still have on the hill are said to have been some of the cannons from the Civil War. It is said that many of the Civil War Canons and other military equipment had been buried in a large storage area and were found only after WWII. They have short hikes, and long hikes from here covering the Kennesaw Battle ground. Oh what fun it would be to be able to come to the area when you are young and can take the long hikes!

The closest Chapel to us was the Allatoona Ward. They were really a great ward. So many young children bore their testimonies. The new Relief Society President is so funny. She gave a beautiful lesson. A little gal from St. George is one of her councilors (Dallas Mangums Grandsons wife, she was a Jenkins from Bloomington Hills). The membership in the area is growing rapidly and they have three wards in one small one ward chapel. The new expansion is under construction and they are using temporary class rooms like you see at the schools. However, they kind of get muddy when they walk out to those classrooms in this rain that we experienced in Georgia.

We were able to catch up on the laundry and get ready to travel East on Tuesday looking for more genealogy and civil war history.

We traveled through Atlanta on our way East. The land and traffic is really great once you get out of the city of Atlanta. (This was the same as Northern New York, without the city it is beautiful country.) Not that Atlanta isn’t beautiful, but it has so much traffic that one has little time to see the beauty. We even passed by the Temple the first time, and had to retrace our steps to find it. This is one Temple built in the middle of big business, and you really have to know where it is to see it. A brother to Dorothy Gardner, from our home ward, was working at the desk. He has lived and taught at the university here for many years.

We were headed for Lovonia, Georgia because at the information bureau we were told it was the county seat of Franklin County, but when we arrived in Carneville, Georgia Gaye ask Russ to turn off into here. We learned that this is really the county seat of Franklin County. It is a congested town. Some day they will have to push things back and make room for people to move around in it. However, it is a lovely town, and the county courthouse sits in the middle. They have no county library, but after checking around we found that they have a county historian. His office is in the basement of the City Council building. When we found it, it was a surprise. When they closed the library and gave the building to the School Board they put all books relating to records and history into this one small room. It couldn’t be any bigger than 8' by 10'. Into that they gave him a desk and a copy machine. He has added his own computers (two). He is a retired school Teacher (English) and a Baptist Minister. Great person to work with, and he knows the area. I’m afraid that it would probably take many weeks to do all the county line changes and find things here. Oh, for the time. Russ really was a martyr that day. The only place we could find to park the rig was on a corner, at a garage that was closed that day, by the one (1) traffic light. All traffic went by there and if the light is such they all stopped here. This was auction day, and for many, I don’t think they would need an explanation. However, all of the cattle trucks stopped and left a lot, and Russ stayed there faithfully waiting for hours for Gaye.

We drove out to see Lavonia, the first City inside Georgia from South Carolina. Oh, to know how and exactly when they traveled here.

The Historian at Franklin County suggested that when we go to Elberton, that we should stay at The Bobby Brown State Campground. We saw other locations that were closer to Elberton, and were tempted to stop but were inspired to continue on and find Bobby Brown State Camp. We went to the Elberton Library to search for Family records. We found that Phillip Penn that we were looking for, lived in Petersburg, Georgia. He had come over from Abbeyville, South Carolina to Petersburg and bought lot #20 from a free colored man. Petersburg was the third largest town in Georgia and was an important area for transportation. But due to the Cotton Gin, the farmers changed from growing tobacco to growing cotton and Petersburg would no long be used for inspecting and processing of Tobacco. Also the new steam ships were too large to navigate up to Petersburg. Petersburg became a ghost town and now has been covered by water.

It was interesting that Bobby Brown State Park included the area where the City of Petersburg once stood. We hiked down to the area where this great city stood. There also on Bobby Brown State Park is where Fort James was established in 1773 by the British and was a supply center.

We drove up to Abbyville, South Carolina to go to the Library that we hoped would have more information on Phillip Penn. We didn’t find a great deal more, and then only duplicates of what we had gotten in Elberton. A disappointment, but it is another place that can be eliminated for search. Maybe the South Carolina state records will produce more. Oh, to have a year to search!

Now on to Atlanta to visit Lou and Susan Lee (Luwens son). They had a very nice apartment. Lou is doing his internship at Camp Gordon Hospital. He graduated from Med School in May, and will do one year here, then on for about 4-5 more years of Residency. They expect their first child in October. They are expecting a girl. (Oh, modern science and no guess work) so everything in the nursery is pink. Very much enjoyed getting to know them better. When family live so far away it isn’t easy to have this luxury.

We traveled to Jacksonville Florida which is said to be the Largest Area city in the lower 48 States. We stayed at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station RV Camp. Having the opportunity of staying at these facilities is one of the few benefits of being Military retired. It is kind of like belonging to a (military)Family. The protection of staying on these facilities gives you a secure feeling. In most cases, every thing is available to us such as groceries, laundry etc. Having been a member and served in the Army, Navy and Air force, we can feel at home with any of the Military "Fam Camps" These facilities are available to the Active duty and Retired on a "cost" basis.

The Jacksonville NAS has a museum of Navy Air Craft. Looking at the large four engine R5D brings back memories of the experience Russ had back in the winter of 1949 in Alaska when they hit a severe storm that bounced the R5D Air Craft around like a toy plane and disabled the air craft’s hydraulic system..We were able to make it in to land at an air strip (normally unused) on an Island called Umnack, Umnack was the secret fighter base that stopped the Japanese from invading Dutch Harbor, Alaska. They were able to repair the damaged air craft and get it operational. However, we had to manually pull each propeller blade to rotate the engine and get the oil circulated as there wasn’t the usual Auxiliary power unit available. Russ went up and felt the blade of the air craft which felt warm—not like the blades of the air craft on Umnack that your skin would freeze to if you touched it with your bare hands.

Also, there is a PBY5 amphibius twin engine air craft which is like the Norwegian PBY5 Russ flew in when he was at Trompso, Norway. It was the only time that Russ was at the controls of a large (non-hydraulic) manual control air craft. They flu over Hammerfest (most northern city in the world), along the cost of Russia and over Finland. He saw the Capsized Trepid, the German battleship that was sunk by the British in World War II.

Our plans were to spend a little time in Florida, visiting the temple and seeing the southern part of the State. Gaye wanted to visit her two class mates that went through school with her. We stayed over night with Lorin & Joan Bennet Williams at their home and attended church with them, meeting their children who are all seven in their ward. Joan’s father was our Stake President when we were in Jr. & Senior High School. It was our opportunity to spend a little time with President Bennet and his wife one evening. Lorin and Joan have a beautiful home that comes complete with a Swimming pool and a marsh full of all kinds of animals including Alligators. Their backyard marsh extends to the ocean which is accessible by boat. It was really great to visit and renew old ties.

We drove to Savannah, Georgia for a 1 day quick trip. We were planning to visit Savannah, Georgia, but weren’t able to find a place to stay that had power. It is very hot and humid and we needed to have our air conditioning working in the trailer. So we bypassed Savanna and drove to the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida instead.

Savannah is another place that you need a month to see, but we only have one day. We drove back up into Georgia to see this city that overflows with Southern hospitality. We took the old Savannah (White Trolley) Tour though the city. We elected for the "on & off" option so that we could get off and see special things when we wanted. We saw the beautiful homes and the many city Squares. We also walked the old down town area and walked along River Street, visiting many old shops. Of course, you always have to stop on River Street for Fish and chips.

We had planned to stop at the Tybee Island and Lighthouse, but it was getting late and that would be another full days experiences. It was quite late when we returned to Jacksonville NAS.

We had just left the Jacksonville Naval Air Station when the terrorist attack started. We knew that president Bush had landed at the Naval Air Station where we were staying on Monday and visited an elementary school in Jacksonville, and flown on to visit other parts of Florida. We received the information about the attack by a Cell phone call from Salt lake City. This was certainly upsetting. So this along with the storm warnings for southern Florida, we decided to head for home. So we missed out on going to the Florida Temple and some of the other experiences that we would have had in traveling south in Florida. We traveled along the Northern part of Florida heading West. Our original plans were to stay at the FAM-CAMP at Pensacola, but with the attack, we knew they would be busy and tight and we would only add to problems so we stayed in Blackwater State Park in Alabama. Really a nice place quite far back from the highway. They had fishing and such (which we didn’t do) but because it was a weekday there were only about 4 other campers.

We stopped at Battleship Park. Russ had been on many ships, but not a battleship. At Battleship Park, the BB 90 - USS Alabama has been made a primary drawing item for the park. The Battleship is open to the public and they have conducted tours or you can roam around through the ship by yourself. They also have many other items there including the Submarine USS Drum SS 228, and the Black Bird "Spy Plane, F86, P51, and a few others. They have many artillery guns and tanks. We could have spent a week there, but only spent a good part of a day. It helped that the USS Drum was closed right now for work. They had moved it to do work on the USS Alabama, and it wasn’t set up in it’s new spot and ready for tour. www.ussalabama.com

We headed West, not stopping at any more Bases. We called Barksdale AFB (Shreveport, LA) and were told there was plenty of room at the RV FAM Camp, but there would be a several hour delay on getting on base due to the new Security Requirements. This was the Base that President Bush flew to when he left Florida after the bombing of the Trade Center. President Bush went to Offut AFB in Omaha after Barksdale, and we stayed there on our way East when we went to the Winter Quarters area.

We stopped at an RV park between Canton & Tyler, Texas, just half way between Shreveport, LA, and Dallas, Texas. It was called Willow Branch RV Park. Canton, Texas is a fun town with a World Famous First Monday Trade Day. One weekend every month, this peaceful, friendly little East Texas town (population 3,000) turns out the biggest open-air trade days in the world. It all began in the 1850's when the circuit Judge stopped in Canton on the first Monday to hold court. Area people came to Canton to attend to legal affairs, witness circuit court sessions, and many brought goods, produce and livestock with them to buy, sell or trade. By 1965, First Monday had outgrown the town square. It was then that the city purchased six acres just two blocks north of the courthouse and moved operations off of the square. The result is an event you have to experience to believe! Now First Monday Trade Days hosts up to 6,000 vendors and as many as 250,000 visitors. First Monday Trade Days takes place Thursday through Sunday before the First Monday of every month. We of course missed it by a week, but it sounded good enough to look at the city and tell ya’ll that it is a peaceful town.

We also stayed at a Flying "J" Travel Center on our way home. We had stayed at several Flying "J" Travel Centers. They have a parking for Trucks and for the RV on the other side of their facility. We always ask for permission and receive a warm acceptance from the people at Flying J Stations.

We stopped at Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit a niece and attend church. Judy teaches the Gospel Doctrine class and gave a beautiful lesson, tying it in with the events of the week. Church was great also with uplifting talks to strengthen the people after this last weeks activities. All in all a great Sunday.

Our last stay was just as we entered Arizona we stopped at the information center. Russ ask if we could stay a few hours until we got rested, (by this time we had "get home" fever,) and they said that they didn’t care as long as we were self contained.

Traveling with a trailer back East is a major challenge. At times when we were in very heavy traffic, we would look around and not see any RV’s wading through the mire of cars.

Both in Canada and Eastern United States, many of the tourist attractions have large maps and ask you to put a pin in the map to show where you are from. Some maps had no pins in the State of Utah. We didn’t see many that had a pin in St. George. We saw very few cars with Utah License Plates. Many of the wards and branches that we visited said the only time they saw Utah plates is when they had a senior Missionary couple working in the area.

We were able to find an LDS chapel to attend every Sunday. Traffic was our major challenge. We always like to leave a little room in front of us for stopping distance. As soon as we did, a car would jump in the space. We found many of the drivers in the East are very rude. Reading the maps also was a challenge and highway markings were not clear. As when we were trying to by-pass Chicago, two highways had the same highway number, so we took the west highway, but it turned under the other highway and took us right through the main downtown area of Chicago. Another example is when there were six lanes of traffic and we were driving in the far right lane. Cars were bumper to bumper just creeping along when we spotted our highway to the far left.

Several have ask about our expenses for this trip.

We drove 17,520 miles. Our average MPG 12. miles which includes pulling the trailer and city driving. Average cost of gas $1.46./Gallon. Highest cost for gas was $2.80 (in Canada) and lowest was $1.15 Gal (in Loves Park, Illinois.) We were way over budget

Fuel and Car expense cost $2196 with the total trip costing less than $4,000. We were on the road for over four months.

 

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04 May 2004