Grammas Scrapbook

Class Of ’55 Reunion July 1, 2017

What cannot be cured must be endured!

“What cannot be cured must be endured.”  The first time that I heard those words were from my husband’s 90 something grandmother.  Being young allows one to be naive and optimistic, even under the worst of circumstances.  This was my first experience with being consoled about how to face cancer.  It was not my cancer but that of my 32 year old husband.  It was in 1961 that he began thhe futile fight to “beat” Lymphoma.  Many experimental treatments were tried, one of which was called nitrogen mustard which seemed to be the precursor for chemo.  But it did not work.  I was told on Christmas day that my husband was terminal.  Even then, I thought that the medical staff was wrong; he was so young, and a new father, with a second baby on the way.  In April of 1963, he died.  In June, our second beautiful daughter was born.  That was the same year that John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated;  I had such empathy and respect for his brave wife when she had to bear her grief before the world.  I knew that she was much stronger than I.  I now know that, no matter who you are or how old you are, you do what you have to do, whether it is in private or before the world.  Since that first experience, I have had more experience with the disease, and know that sometimes one can be cured, and sometimes one can’t.

”What does not kill you makes you stronger” is another adage that is repeated often when facing critical times in life.  That may very well be true.  I have seen many people mature far past their age in years when faced with daily trials of trying to survive, or helping a loved one struggle to survive.  In 1968 or 1969, my father was diagnosed with throat cancer, had surgery, developed a staff infection, suffered many treatments and more surgeries for 5 years.  He died in 1972 at age 53.  He once told me that if he had known all that he had to go through and all that he would put his family through, he would never have started the treatments in the first place.  However, he did what most of us would do…try to get well!   The treatments that were available then were just not enough.  People can survive the same kind of cancer today with the right kind of treatment.

The third family member to receive a cancer diagnosis was two years ago, when my youngest daughter, Melanie  (the one who was born six weeks after her father’s death}, was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She is only 46 years old.  She had surgery, chemo, and radiation, and is cancer free.   We pray that she continues to be free of the disease for the remainder of her very long life.  She handled the situation beautifully.  She endured the treatments, which she had on Fridays.  Then she was back at work as a teacher  on Monday, every week.    She had all the severe side effects from the chemo and overcame it all.  She has the same  wonderful, optimistic attitude that she has always had and seems to see the world and her surroundings in a more mature, relaxed way.  Thank God for her survival and continued good health.  More current information is that it was five years in March of 2015 since she was declared cancer free.  YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In November, 2012, my brother, Bob, was diagnosed with lung cancer.  He has had successful robotic surgery to remove a lobe of his right lung.  The day he was being dismissed from the hospital, he was dressed to go, felt tired and hot, sat down and had a stroke.  He is recuperating slowly from that, and is in the middle of 12 treatments of chemo.  It takes a full 15 weeks to go through the cycle–chemo one day a week for 3 weeks, then one day off.  He is doing well.  The chemo, of course, takes its toll, causing uncomfortable and unexpected side effects.  He is very brave, and we are all looking forward to his being cancer free, too.  (Today is April 4, 2015.)  After the  chemo treatments, the doctors told us that Bob’s cancer had not been helped by the treatments.  They offered a chemo pill, which he took, once again suffering terrible side effects.  The pill did not help either.  Doctors offered further treatment, but by this time Bob felt that he needed to live whatever time he had left to the fullest.  He declined further treatments.  He died on January 25, 2014.

In January, 2013, my husband, Don, was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He is currently in receiving radiation for the disease.  He will be taking 42 treatments.  To date, he lacks 33.  He goes every day (except weekends) for 42 days straight.  The entire family is looking forward to seeing Bob and Don finished with treatments, and healthy again.  Don finished all of his treatments, which lasted for 2 years and is cancer free.  He sees his doctors that were involved with his prostate cancer for follow-ups regularly.

A Teacher’s Point of View

I think I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher.  My mother  thought that I would be good at it because I tended to be a bit “bossy”….  When my friends and I did role playing as young children, I always wanted to play school.  I had everyone sit on the floor in a circle and “be quiet.”I am still playing school…I love being a teacher, especially being a special education teacher.  And, I am still “bossy”…….

My very first teaching  position was as a junior high Language Arts teacher in Idalou, Texas.  I was the only L.A. teacher in the building, and I was also the “pep squad coach”.  Wow!  What an experience!  I had been in the “pep squad” during high school, but it was extremely tame compared to what they were accustomed to doing.  It worked out, as did the teaching job.  I helped the students begin the very first library in the district, teaching the Dewey decimal system and taught them to write essays Before the year was over, each junior high student had written an entire novella.   The writings were  not what we might normally expect a novel to be, but they were special, and, more importantly, each student was extremely proud of this accomplishment.

After 1 year in Idalou, my husband and I  moved to Bedford, Pennsylvania, where he had accepted a job as ranch foreman for a large cattle ranch and dairy cattle herd.    I was a substitute teacher in Bedford, Pa. for a few months.  I had many interesting experiences, most of them became hard lessons learned.  I became very helpful  around the ranch.  I rode a horse, drove a tractor, fed and herded cattle, grew a very large garden, helped in many other ways.  I also became a good cook.  Then we moved back to Texas where my husband became ranch foreman for another cattle ranch.  .  I did not teach for 2 years during which time I  became a mother.  Our first child, a beautiful girl, was born in November of 1961.  My husband was diagnosed with cancer just before Christmas in 1962.  I was pregnant with our second daughter.  My husband died in April of 1963.  Our 2nd daughter was born in June, six weeks after my husband died.   I suddenly had two beautiful daughters, and was a widow.  I had to go to work.  I applied in Richardson, which was where I grew up and graduated from high school.   It’s hard to know how to begin and when to end.    I want to  preserve these special experiences that have occurred over the past 49 years. What better way than to use a new form of media, “the Blog”?  My job description is a Homebound Teacher.  That means that I go to homes , hospitals, or any other venue where my students are being treated at the time , and teach school age children who are unable for medical reasons to attend school.  Some of these children need these services only part time; others will need them until they “age out”, at 22 years As  you can imagine, there ahave been so many wonderful  ,as well as  sometimes alarming and frightening events.  Most of the time, my going into these situations is quite satisfying and rewarding.This position is a learning process.  Each situation is different and requires being able to adapt to whatever is needed to help the student.

I need to regress a bit here, as I have already described what I am doing now.  My very first time going to a student’s home had occurred in Pennsylvania in 1961.  I did not have a title, nor was there a category for what I was asked to do.  Special Education did not exist.  As I already mentioned, I was a substitute teacher for a small school district in the Bedford, PA. area.  In fact, the principal called me almost every morning at 5:00  A.M.needing a sub. There was a young high school student who was unable to attend school due to an illness, and I was to help her keep up with school work.  She lived in the mountains on a farm.  I am a Texas girl, which means that a “mountain” to me was the height pointed out on a map.  I had never seen mountains until I moved to this area shortly after college.  This was an kAmith community.  My first action was to go to her school and gather assignments that should be completed  while she was out of school.  I was also carrying a heavy load of textbooks.  Off I go……in awe of the size of the mountains AND wondering how I could find any house in this remote part of the state.  I finally did find the farmhouse, which was surrounded by an electric fence.  I walked around the fence for a while wondering where the gate was located.  I finally reached the conclusion that there was no gate; I had to carefully cross over or go under this extremely intimidating fence.  (It was probably 3 feet off the ground).    Due to the fact that it was during a time when women teachers’ required dress code was “DRESSES ONLY “, this was going to be a challenge.  Having  a load of books in my arms, I I realized that I had  to also consider the size and weight of them.  This sounds simple, I guess, but it took me a while to figure it out without being shocked or ELECTROCUTED?  The thought actually did cross my mind during my lengthy deliberation as to how to cross the fence.    Finally I decided to carefully shove the books under the fence.  Then I thought maybe it would be easier to raise the skirt and step over  than to crawl on the ground.  Believe it or not….I was successful and began a long walk to the house.  Suddenly, 2 very large dogs appeared out of nowhere, barking, and running toward me as though I was a enemy threatening their safety. In my mind, they were as big as horses.   I did not have time to think about it.  I threw the books onto the ground and ran back toward the fence, hoping that if I was able to get to the other side of it, the dogs would not jump over.  I certainly went back over the fence a lot quicker than I entered the property.  I was in another  quandry, which did not last long.  Apparently the dogs serve as a door bell to alert the residents that there is a visitor.  The father came and rescued me from the harmless dogs (as it turned out), and I had many pleasant classes with a very nice girl.  I even became friends with the dogs, and they would greet me whenever I arrived.

A few months later, I returned home to  Texas, where my  husband, who had majored at Texas Tech in Animal Husbandry,  served as a ranch manager.  For several months, I did a lot of cooking, riding horses, driving tractors, feeding  livestock, helping with the dairy herd, and happily helped with any other chores that needed to be accomplished.   After a while, I had a beautiful little girl, who required most of my time after that.  I happily took care of her, too.  Just before the baby had her first birthday,  my husband was diagnosed with lymphoma and passed away in April of the next year.  At that time, I was expecting a second child.  I moved back to Richardson, where my second beautiful daughter was born.  I had grown up and gone to school in Richardson, so I  applied fora teaching job.  Jones Pearce, the superintendent,  interviewed me personally and said that the district needed to begin a program for helping the students who were ill and unable to come to the buildings.  Richardson was still a small town, and Dr. Pearce had heard my story about the electric fence. That was when it first began in Richardson.  I was quite nervous because there were no rules, no guidelines either at the local or state levels.     This was a brand new program, and my only experience was that one in Pennsylvania.  However, things went very well from the beginning.  At one time, I remember having 18 students, clearly more than I could handle alone, if I was to provide the kind of help that any student might need.  I was simply and picking  up work from the buildings, delivering it to the student,and returning completed work to the classroom teachers.  After one school year, the program had so many students that the district hired a second person.  It was obvious that there needed to be some guidelines.  I began to write guidelines as situations arose.  By this time, I began working on my MA and got permission to compile a “Homebound Handbook” as my thesis.  During my oral exam, the instructors did not even ask any questions.  They were not familiar with what I was trying to do and approved quickly.  The state and I were both working toward the same goals.  We collaborated and after about 1more year, the state wrote  guidelines, which made my job a lot easier.  The first set of guideline was for 8 students per teacher and 3 hours per weekfor instrution time.  About two years later, it was changed to 6 students and 4 hours per week–which is still the case. My first student was a young man in 10th grade from Richardson High School.  He was paralyzed and in a wheelchair.  He had polio,ffor which there was no treatment at the time.  He also slept in an iron lung every night.  It was kept in his bedroom.  He was the delight of my days.  Our classtimes provided me with numerous wonderful memories.  I was only 29 years old and loved my job.  He was one of the reasons.  He was extremely brilliant.  This was before computers, and he had only limited use of one han, so we did a lot of one on one discussions.  He was a challenge, and he liked to challenge me.  He would research some topic of his choice and then begin asking me questions about his topic.  If I did not know all the answers, he became the teacher.  I looked forward to our sessions.  He also had a great sense of humor.  We got through the 10th grade with all A’s in his courses. He always critiqued my clothing each day.  He complimented the color, style, etc., if he liked it, he said so.  If he did not, he also said so.  One day, I remember I had pink bows in my  hair.  He began laughing and was so excited.  I thought he really liked the bows.  Then he got this mischiefious look on his face.  He said, “You look like you are going to bloom!” His parents were wonderful, and the student’s attitude was extraordinary when you consider the situation.  He expressed a wish that I come every single day but, of course, that did not happen.  .  He was confined to a wheelchair and had limited use of one arm.  There is so much to say about him that I am moving on and coming back to him at a later time.  At that time I will explain then why I am pausing this discussion.   Another of my first students in RISD was a beautiful first grade girl who had leukemia.  She was the leukemia poster child that year and died before school was out.  She was the first student that I lost.  It is very hard to remain strictly professional when that happens.  I became emotional just like the members of her family and decided that in the future I had to try very hard not to become quite so involved with the families.  That, by the way,  still happens.  It is impossible to stay detached.   The beautiful child’s mother visited and called me for several years after that.I have had many students to pass away from various causes, and it is always very hard.  I do attend funerals.  I do it for me, as well as the families.

A homebound teacher becomes more than a teacher for the student.  In most cases, caregiving parents need a lot of feedback and reassurance.  It is  difficult not to become involved. They have a heartbreaking situation and coped beautifully.  The student had a terrific sense of humor; he was very bright; and loved to learn.  We had a good relationship.  I remember how he would try to challenge me when I arrived every time, asking me about something that he had researched since our last class. (That was before computers were available for research, so that shows how intelligent he was.)   He also was frank about whether he liked what I was wearing.  If he did not, he said so.  If he did like it, he was then very complimentary.  He also expressed his wish that I come every single day. This young man was confined to a wheelchair and had limited use of one arm.   During the summer at the end of the 2nd year that he had been my student, I received a phone call that he had died.  His parents had gone on a well-deserved vacation; his adult sister and her husband came to the house to stay with the student during this time.  Apparently they were transferring him from his wheelchair into the lung and dropped him.  He died a few hours later.   His parents moved back to Baton Rouge, LA .We swapped Christmas cards for about 20 years.  Then they stopped, and I assumed that his  mom must have passed away.It is August of 2016.  Mom just sent me a letter.  She is 97 and still lives in Baton Rouge, LA.  I will add more later.

As there have been so many students, this is harder than I thought.  Which ones do I discuss?  I suppose it should be the most memorable experiences.  One that stands out any time that I think about “unusual circumstances” was when I was seeing a junior high age  boy at home.  Every time that I went there, we worked at the kitchen table on the first floor .  Also, EVERY TIME THAT I WENT THERE the parents went upstairs to a bedroom just above the kitchen and had sex.  It was quite obvious what they were doing.  There were many sounds including the bed banging on the floor.  Sometimes it would last for 20 minutes or so.  My student just kept on working, and I tried to ignore it.  One day, after class with this student, I went to his home school to talk with his counselor.  I told her about what was going on. I needed to share!!!  Her comment was, “Wow!  Twenty minutes!  I am impressed!”  That somehow helped to relieve my discomfort about the  situation.  I guess it was funny!!!!! Sometimes laughter is the best medicine.

Another situation early on in my career involved a young man from Richardson High School who lived with his grandfather at Hamilton Park.  He was recuperating from a gunshot wound to the stomach.  Soon after we began having classes, I learned that his grandfather was the one who had shot him.  That made me a little nervous.  Then, every time I rang the doorbell for classes, the grandfather opened the door wearing nothing but his underpants.  Shortly after we began having classes there, 2 older men began coming to the house during our classes.  I was beginning to get really nervous now.  One morning, they came in, sat down on a pull out bed in the living room and proceeded to smoke pot.  I did not say anything to them.  I was honestly too afraid to do anything.  After I left the house that day, I called the Ad building, which was where the current homebound director was officed.  I told him what happened.  He then arranged for the district “truant officer” to meet me at the house for classes.  That is what we did until the student was able to return to school.

For about 8 years, our district served day treatment centers, furnishing teachers, supplies, and maintaining classrooms in these situations.  I was assigned to Brookhaven Psychiatric Unit for 2 days per week.  They specialized in school age children.  One of the first students I saw threw a book at me when I first walked into her room.  After a short while, she and I became friends, and, in fact, I saw her several times after she was released from the hospital.  There were many memorable students, but one of the most unusual things that happened at Brookhaven that was nonstudent related occurred one day when there was a fire drill.  We were in a locked ward, and fire drills were common occurrences.  Normally I stayed in the unit until the students returned.  However, on this day, one of the staff members came running into the room where I was waiting and told me that this was THE REAL THING!!!  I rushed to get out only to discover that the unit was already in lock-down.  I finally found someone else still there and hurried out behind her.

At one time there were 18 homebound teachers.  These treatment centers tended to keep students in their facilities until the insurance ran out.  This went on for about 8 years.  Then insurance companies got smart and started putting strict time limitsson their policies.  I also had some students in the psychiatric ward at the Richardson Medical Center on Campbell Road in Richardson.  The patients were not limited to young people. there were a lot of adults.   Early one morning I was sitting at a table waiting for my student.  One of the staff came over to me and very kindly asked, “Honey, have you had your meds yet?  You look like you need them.”   Wow!  That was a surprise!

Several years ago, RISD began serving students who are new moms on homebound.  These areschool age girls, usually from grades 8 – 12, a few 7th graders.  I have had some extremely interesting experiences going into these kinds of situations.  Most of the girls  live in apartments or in houses where several families all share space.  Most are either African American or Hispanic.  This is not a racial issue; it just happens to be the way that it is.  Cultures, as we know, have different ideas about certain aspects of life.  Having children young is part of the lifestyle of some.  That is just the situation in the world.  One day, I pulled into an apartment parking lot, where a policeman asked what I was doing there.  I showed him myRISD ID  badge and explained what I was doing.  He immediately told me that a drug bust was about to happen but he could not tell me the location, and he suggested that I leave immediately.  I did as I was told!  Later when I was telling the story to  my family, my grandson said, ” Grandma, he probably thought you were a pimp because of the car that you drive.”   It  is great the way  someone else’s point of view can take away the anxiety.
Another apartment where I was visiting always had a group of young men congregating in the parking lot.   That bothers me personally that they have nothing better to do, such as working!  All of them had on various types of baseball caps.  One in particular had a bright red one.  He seemed to be the leader.  One day, after walking through a parking lot filled with loitering young men, I went to see the  new mother; she opened the door, I pointed my thumb toward the lot, and I said, “Why don’t these men get a job?”  She did not respond.  I walked on into the living room  and sitting on the sofa was the father of her baby….the man with the bright red cap!  Oops!!!!!  Another lesson learned? Probably not.

There are also problems that occur that are not related to students.  When teachers visit apartments, we must be certain to park in acceptable or designated spaces.   Otherwise, we will probably be towed.  One towing cost me $40. 00 when I  picked up the car plus the inconvenience of having to call someone to rescue me at the apartment.  Another side effect is that a lot of time may be spent waiting for apartment gates to open.  Most apartments do not have a way for non-residents to enter their areas.  A few have codes that families can share, but most of the time I have to wait until someone leaves or returns  to accessthe premises through the gate, and quickly enter before the gate closes.There are so many unexpected events that can happen during any day, that a homebound teacher has to be ready for the unexpected.

As I said, there are so many students…  Another of the early  students that I had on homebound in Richardson was a young lady who had scoliosis surgery.  It was at a time when the patient was placed in a complete body cast for several (9 as I recall ) months.  Wow!  Talk about discomfort!  This student had so many skin problems and was uncomfortable the entire time that she was in the cast.  She happened to live in my neighborhood, so I knew her and her family.  I felt so helpless that I was not able to help her be more comfortable.  I can imagine how her parents felt.  She went on to do very well, graduated with honors, and became an outstanding adult.  (I was able to keep up with her, as her parents were still in the neighborhood).currently, these patients are home in 3 or 4 days and begin activity very shortly after surgery.  What a change!!!!!!!

Of course, the students with the most severe medical problems are the ones who die,  or the ones that I seem to recall most vividly.  There have been hundreds of students.  I wish that I had at least kept a list of the names of all of my students, just to be able to know how many there have been.  I always try to keep up with them to see how they do in school as long as they are in RISD.  Many times I receive mail, and/or emails from former students.  I also receive a lot of graduation announcements.  Being a homebound student for any student is a memorable experience, one that no student is going to forget, primarily because it is associated with some kind of traumatic event in that person’s life.

There is a teacher in Richardson  ISD who is getting ready to retire.  When she was a senior at Richardson High School, she was served by one of our homebound teachers, when the student had a leg amputation from a Cancerous tumor in her left leg.  She could be the poster child for RISD.  At the time of the surgery, etc., she was somewhat withdrawn and hard to reach, but she was still a good student and did well with her work.  She has told me that because of this experience with homebound, she became a special ed teacher.  She has been helping special needs children during her entire career.  She now has a husband, a son, a daughter-in-law, and her first grandchild is on the way.  This is a true success story that would not have happtned if the student experiencing this personal tragedy had not been a strong, committed, and loving person.  I admire her for many reasons.

This school year (2014) has been unusual.  We have had fewer homebound students than at any time in the past.  However, the ones that we do have on homebound have very special needs.  Most of them are PPCD kids.  I teach one of these little ones.  He is 3 years old and has many, many health issues.  However, he is very bright and a real joy to be around.  I have come to love him and his mom very much.  He is eager to learn and especially likes his ipad.  He is creative.  He experiences slow speech and fine motor skills.  We have been working on those two things, and he is doing much better.  I think of him often, even when I am not with him.  He recently spent a week at the Boston Children’s Hospital having a variety of tests.  When you are faced in writing with all of his medical issues, it seems overwhelming, but when you see him, he is smiling and as eager as ever to go to work and learn as much as possible.

This student (2015-2016) was able to go though 2nd grade without being on homebound.  This can be attributed to extraordinary parents and an absolutely wonderful teacher.

(2015-2016)  My schedule this year included a young man (10th grade) from Lake Highlands HIgh School who was both deaf and blind.  He, as I expected was an extraordinary young man, with an extraordinary family.  I soon discovered, after being with him for a couple of weeks, that he could distinguish some sounds and could see some things if the lighting was “just right”.  I discovered this with the use of an I-Pad.  There was a light in the ceiling above where we worked.  If I turned the I-Pad pointing at the light above, he could distinguish some movements, etc.  Also, with a musical program that I used, he could “hear” or “feel”? the music.  We had a good time.  The Lake Highlands classroom were extremely helpful, by providing activities that he was already familiar with from being in school.  This familiarity was good for him.  He knew exactly what to do with certain items.

Life this year (2016), as a homebound teacher,  has been wonderful.I completed year 50 of being a homebound teacher in RISD.  The district acknowledged my years, and the years of many other teachers in the district at avery nice ceremony.  then later I was contacted by the Dallas Morning News, and they did a long first page article about my career.  It was very nice, but I was a bit embarrassed that I would receive this kind of attention for just doing my job.  Others work just as hard and long as I.  Then during the summer I was contacted by one of our State Senators.  I was summoned to her office, where she gifted me with a copy of a Resolution that will be entered in the archives of the State capitol.  I am in awe of all this attention.  I have signed a contract for another year.

7-27-2012 Vacation of a lifetime!!!!!!

First night at the falls

An 11 day automobile trip for two couples can either be tense and stressful or absolutely wonderful.  I am thrilled to say that our vacation was perfectly enjoyable in every way!  We had fun, ate, toured, ate, took boat rides, ate, visited historical sites, ate, AGAIN and did a LOT of driving.  We even elected a “grand poopah”.  One guess as to whether we actually did what he said…..

We began the excursion by picking up our friends, Jim and Carolyn,  in Allen, Texas, and heading toward Arkansas.  The first night was spent in Memphis (home of Elvis and the barbeque capital of the world) at the Super 8.  Just had dinner and went to bed.  Resting up for the long day ahead.  We have all been to Memphis several times previously and always love it.

The second leg of our journey brought us to Dayton, Ohio.  We took a slight detour in Ohio, through Columbus, which was the birthplace of our friend Jim.  His ancestors (both sides) were original residents of a small community called Minerva Park and donated a large tract of land, including a lake, to the still standing small community near Columbus (see pics below).  The land has been developed into a park and is carefully maintained to preserve its original state.  Any additional landscaping is carefully planned to look as natural as possible.  As stated in the deed,  if the land is ever used for anything  other than a park, ownership will automatically revert  to  the family heirs. It was very beautiful and an interesting part of our trip. We spent the night at the Fairfield Inn in Dayton, Ohio.

Jim’s Grandfather.s house

Minerva Park Plaque

On the third day, we reached our ultimate destination, Niagara Falls, Canada.  We stayed four days  in Niagara Falls at the Howard Johnson Inn.  This was  the first time in many trips across the Canadian border that we did not have any trouble crossing, just a few questions, then on our way.  When we reached our motel in Niagara Falls, it was late in the day.  However, we went over to the Falls area and drove around so our friends could get their first glimpse of it.  We had been there 5 or 6 times before  but are always in awe of the splendor and power of the falls.  We then went back at dusk so that we could view the illumination of lights.  That was spectacular!   We found a parking space behind a restaurant across from the falls and were able to walk across the street.  The parking fee was $15.00, but that is better than parking on the outskirts of the area and walking.  After all, the four of us are each over 39 years old; walking long distances tends to use a lot of energy that might be needed for something else!!!  In the evening we went to a Jack Tanner Restaurant and enjoyed some delicious food and absolutely wonderful iced tea…with very little ice.  Texas are accustomed to a lot of ice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But…..we managed.  When in Rome…………………………..

The situation at Niagara Falls is very different from when we first began visiting there.  There are a LOT of tourists–in fact, there was no simple way to walk around and enjoy the area.  We used to be able to just drive down in the area, find a close parking space on the street, and have a great time.  Progress sometimes causes a pleasant and comfortable experience to become more difficult.  Niagara Falls is not the only location where this has happened.  The locals rarely go there anymore.  That is progress, I guess.  However, it is still an experience that everyone should have sometime during his or her lifetime.

Day Number Four was also spent in the falls area.  We took the drive all the way down and back on the Niagara Parkway.  We visited Fort Erie, drove around the Falls several times so that we would not miss anything.  All of us were enthralled with the force of the water, the beauty of everything, the marooned ship hovering just above the falls, just everything!!!!!  In the evening, Jack and Judy, a very special cousin and her husband,  made reservations for us to all have dinner together.  That was a spectacular evening.  We had delicious Japanese food. It was wonderful seeing them, as we only see each other one or two times per year.  I wish we could visit more often.

Ready to eat

Our chef

 The visit to Fort Erie was very enjoyable; in fact, we made some extremely special memories.  Don (the grand poopah) was not feeling well that day due to the fact that he had been diagnosed with pneumonia the day before we left but absolutely refused to delay the trip.  On this day, he chose to stay in the car while the rest of us toured.  Jim was the only one who wanted to pay to take a guided tour.  Carolyn and I went to the Fort but only to take pictures and see the fort on our own.  We met some very interesting characters.  One was in Indian costume and confronted Carolyn about touching items in a tepee on the grounds.  He did it quite kindly,  and they became friends.  Of course, she makes friends with everyone–one of those people who never meets a stranger!! There were also numerous English soldiers, canon fire, and others in costume.  The most interesting person we met was a man picking up trash.  He decided to stop beside where Carolyn and I were waiting for Jim and tell us his “very exaggerated” life story.  He was married to a marine biologist who traveled extensively at her company’s expense, but he was always able to accompany her for free on these trips.  He was 60 years old but had not married until he was 40.  He told us what an exciting ride he has had  (his words).    Carolyn gave him the nickname “garbalogist”.  The double entendre in this story is evident.  We have shared a lot of laughs about that afternoon.  I suspect that this particular event occurred because of Carolyn’s short pants.  See the picture below.

Entry to the fort

Carolyn and a tall friend

Carolyn found an Indian friend                                                             The “Garbalogist”

On the 5th day we took a guided tour, which included a trip to the revolving Minolta tower, the floral clock, a whirlpool, the entire Falls area “up close”, a winery (where we purchased some great wine),  the Table Rock, and concluded with the most exciting event of the day –the boatride on the “Maid of the Mist”.  Everything was so enthralling and spectacular.  The boat ride under the roiling waters of the falls was the most exciting, I guess.  We were probably  even “cute” in our blue “garbage bags”.  We did not get a lot of pictures  while on  the ride because the boat was too crowded to get even close to the rail.  AND the water was always blowing a mist all over us.  Made taking pictures difficult.  It was a long and taxing day – but wonderful!   The four of us did not have any trouble falling asleep any night on the entire trip.

The “Maid of the Mist” is a boat owned and operated by the same family for over 60 years.  They run boats from both the U.S. side (in New York) and Canadian side.  However, we learned that beginning in 2014 the family’s contract will not be renewed, and  a different company will begin providing the service.  The name will also be changed.  The original company will still be providing “Maid of the Mist” service to tourists from the New York side, though.

       Resting up for the big day                          On..Into the falls!!                          Does anyone have the time?

Day 6 we drove over to the Georgetown area and spend a wonderful afternoon and evening with my cousins.  They have a beautiful rock home on the Escarpment, about 35 or so acres.  The view was spectacular, a pond, lots of beautiful trees, a waterfall, a real deer, and a for- real  buzzard.  In fact, they are the only relatives that I have who have a pet scavenger.  Their home is gorgeous and quite comfortable.  We talked a lot, and snacked a lot.  Everyone went for a ride in Jack’s newly purchased Fisker Karma.  Judy served a scrumptious Italian dinner……everything homemade!!!!!  After dinner we went down to their media center and watched “War Horse”.  Jack did not like it very much, so I later gave it to him as a gift so he could watch it again whenever he wanted.   ( Upon leaving we forgot to take the movie with us, but I thought I would just give it to Jack instead of having them send it to me.)  Jack enjoys a good joke!!!!!!!!!!!!! We left their home on Saturday A.M.

Jack and Judy                                                                              “Canadian Parakeet

….and the deer jumped over the Lexus

Day 7 we left Canada through the Detroit area and drove only as far as  Dearborn to spend the night.   The only exciting thing we did there was to try to find a place to eat.  We got a list of restaurants from our hotel but could not seem to find any that were still where they were supposed to be.  We also used “Alice”, the GPS in the car.  We eventually wound up at a Chili’s.  A note on the crossing of the border back into the U.S. It also was very easy and quick.  Don and I told our friends that they were our good luck charms, because those were the ONLY two times that we have done that border crossing without having a lot of trouble.  We usually have to pull into a special area and have our car (and my purse) searched.  This has been especially true going into Canada. Last year we decided that the Canadians were profiling Texans!!!!!  No Kidding!!!!!!!!!!!   Of course, this was during the time that the English prince and his brand new bride were in the area.  In Dearborn we stayed at the Courtyard.
On day 8  we went early to the Ford Museum and then to Greenfield Village.  The four of us started going through the museum.  It soon became obvious that when you are accompanied by 2 engineers, it is going to take a looooooonnnnnngggg time!  So, Carolyn and I opted to let them take their time, and we went on our tour without them.  It did not take the two of us nearly as long as it took the guys.  We girls were more interested in seeing things like Lincoln’s chair, old kitchens, “separate drinking fountains for coloreds and whites”, the Rosa Parks bus, and the Presidential Limousine’s of the past (including the one in which Kennedy was assassinated).  The most interesting presidential “limo” was one that was a fancy horse-drawn carriage.  According to the information we read about the vehicle, it served 4 presidents, and the only times that it was used was for a president to do his own personal errands.  Wow!  How things have changed.  Now the automobiles have to be bullet proof.  WE LEFT THE ONLY CAMERA THAT WE WERE CARRYING WITH THE GUYS………….SO YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT 2/3 OF OUR PICTURES LOOK LIKE!  LOTS OF ENGINES –FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TO THE END.

Four weenies and a weinermobile

Lunch in Greenwood Village

Carolyn and I went to the Greenfield Village without the guys.  Both the museum and the Village are large places, but with cell phones, communication is still available.  The village was of the 1800’s.  We visited a farm that grew all the food that was eaten…vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy products…everything.  When we arrived at the farmhouse, the employees were just sitting down to a homegrown and homecooked lunch.  It had been cooked on a woodburning stove.  It was so hot inside the house that I don’t know how they could enjoy their meal.  In fact, I asked a lady how in the world they could wear those long skirts, petticoats, bonnets, etc.  She replied that the skirts and petticoats actually served as a barrier from the hot stove when they were cooking.  (Learned a lot of surprising things on this trip.)  We toured various sites: saw mills, weaving shops, tool sharpening, canning, and many others.  All the buildings were designed from original ones for that time period, with lots of windows and door openings  creating “Breezeways”, situated as to allow drafts of wind to circulate.   These buildings were  surprisingly pleasant, especially since it was in the high 90’s when we were there.
At lunch time we called the guys and had them meet us at the Eagle Tavern, a restaurant where the menu was 18th century cuisine and waiters/waitresses were dressed in the garb of the time.  Of course, the restaurant was about as far as possible from where  our husbands were in the Museum.  (In fact, we walked over 6 miles total that day.)   It was over a mile to where we were, so we waited patiently by touring more buildings.  Finally. when everyone arrived– hungry and thirsty, we got a table.  The place was quite crowded, had no electricity, lots of windows for the light to shine in, lamps on the tables–when needed.  There were three items on the Bill of Fare.  The food was quite different from what we were accustomed to.  The other 3 people chose from the entree Bill of Fare, but I wanted just vegetable soup (which was also on the Bill of Fare ).  I had not thought about the fact that in the 18th century they cooked mostly with carrots and celery—-which was what I got in my soup.  It was extremely bland but interesting.  I asked for some crackers or a roll.  Sorry, no crackers, and you can’t order a la carte.  A roll does not come with your meal.  We had mint tea (the only cold beverage on the menu).  Seconds were not allowed.  As soon as the food was served, I snatched a roll off my husband’s plate.  (He was given 2).  The desserts were very good—buttermilk pie cherry cobbler, a couple other kinds that I don’t recall now.  It was a wonderful experience, and we had a lot of laughs and met some very interesting people.

Day 9 was spent mostly driving.  We went to the Indianapolis Speedway, arriving there at a very late hour.  We had not checked to see what time they closesd, so the first thing we did was take a bus tour through the Speedway; we got out on the track; Don kissed the finish line; we saw the press box, which has room for 500 reporters; we drove through gasoline alley; saw the entire facility.  It was a fantastic tour.  When we got back to the museum, it was closing in 15 minutes (at 5P.M.).  The guys rushed to the auto museum to get more pictures, while Carolyn and I shopped for souvenirs.  We spent the night at the Fairfield Indianapolis in Terra Haute.  This particular motel is a prime example of what can happen when you shop for a room while on-line!!!!!!!!!!!!

The infield at Indy

Kissing the bricks. an Indy tradition

Finished

Day 10–This was a day when we, again, did a lot of driving.  We visited the Meramac Caverns in Missouri.  These Caverns were where Jessie James and his gang had their hideout.  It is not hard to imagine having this kind of bandits in these caverns.  We did not walk through the caverns, as it was about an hour walk down and another hour back.  We did not want to use up all of our energy doing  just walking that day.  We did some serious souvenir shopping, though.  It was a fun experience.  Our only other activity that day was to visit a Harrah’s facility in St. Louis and spend a couple of hours gambling.  Neither of us is a serious gambler, but we have a lot of time putting our pennies in the one-arm bandits.   We did the gambling in the morning.  We spent the night in Springfield, Missouri,  at the Lamplighter Inn and Suites, on the corner of Stewart and Kerr.  We had a DELIGHTFUL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The corner of…

Day 11 was mostly spent driving – again.  We stopped for one very interesting tour of the Fantastic Caverns in Missouri.  I highly recommend these Caverns.  We were driven through on a trailer being towed behind a jeep.  It was surprisingly comfortable.  The view of  stalactites and other formations inside the caves was a wonderful, spectacular scene.  It was enchanting.  The caves were first explored by a group of 10 women who belonged to a women’s athletic club  in Missouri.  When we  saw the small opening that was the original entrance/exit to those caverns, it was hard to imagine anyone being able to crawl through there.  Our guide explained that they fastened flashlights to their heads to be able to see to walk and still have use of both hands.  I guess that is where the lamps on heads of the  miners originated?  Or maybe the  miners were  doing that first?  We spent that night in Oklahoma City at the Econolodge.

Cave dwellers

Day 12, our last day, we went through the Arbuckle Wilderness in Oklahoma.  We have hundreds of pictures of this Wild Animal Preserve.  There are a lot of wonderful, beautiful animals there.  They were striving, as we all were, to stay cool.  Then we droving to Denton, Texas, and had lunch at Appleby’s.  Our final destination was home, which we reached before it got dark that day.  In choosing pictures to display for this excursion, I thought the “animals” displayed below were much more colorful to view than a hippo, tiger, water buffalo, or all the other fantastic animals there would be.

Leaving Arbuckle Wilderness

Hold that tiger

A one line summary of our trip might be, “We did as  many exciting and wonderful, unforgettable things  in 12 days as we possibly could….especially for being over 39 years of age and had a DELIGHTFUL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”.
We drove about 3700 miles on that trip.  WONDERFUL!!!!ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE! FOR THE PEOPLE AND THE CAR!!!!!!!

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