attempt at reposting early post second group

Interfaces (Blog of Steve Kneller) archive 2
Sorry some pictures didn't copy

A trip on the Brink
In my last post, I was light-heartedly relating our tale of being stuck in Laramie, with the promise of catching up today. All of the locals we spoke to said, "Oh yes, it will be open tomorrow. Hmmm. It's tomorrow. Check out the pics. First you can see Laramie in the bottom right corner of the map. Arlington is indicated about half way between Laramie and Rawlings. Next look at the road closings in the second picture, then the camera of about a half our ago shows why.

The plan is to hold our room until about 1pm. By that time, if the roads don't open, we wouldn't make it across before night,,, probably; so we would stay the nite, hoping to move on tomorrow (Sat) More later, hopefully from somewhere else. We really enjoyed experiencing Laramie; but we're ready to move on.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2008the saga continues

Not much else to do right now. While waiting to see what was going to happen, we balanced the checkbook using our online banker and now my bride is taking a nap.. I think the stress is overbearing. Several of you have mentioned that you were praying for us. I guess we have you to thank for being stuck here, right? Well, if that's true, it's most likely a good thing. We wouldn't want to be in a mountain pile-up. I thought the images from the cameras on the wyroad.info site were interesting. when I saw this first one after being advised to "stay over, I thought, "well doesn't look bad to me" Then someone explained that just to the right of the green sign should be an exit ramp which seems to contain about an 8 foot drift. That settled my jets for a while (I hate making wrong decisions, especially when their big ones.) So we stayed, yadda yadda like I explained earlier. This morning while again trying to make decisions, the same camera was displaying this second image. Well this got my attention. Notice that the road is now white and "thick". The drifts from the ramp area seem to be coming out into the road. and those trucks are snowplows. I get the idea that the middle one is actually a snowblower. The problem is that this picture was up for several hours. I kept checking back to see if I had made the correct decision (at least I thought I had the power to make the decision???) Then finally about 3pm, the closing page made a sudden change to this, so I went back to see how things looked at the original site. Wow! the road is clear and there is a truck going through the closed road. Well, even if this section was good enough to get through, we still had to go west from Rawlins... Not good. Maybe tomorrow.

We're off and running

You can imaging my joy when I checked in with my recent favorite web site last nite to see That there were no roads closed and I could see the nite traffic passing through the nasty part. Then again this morning I can see traffic moving through.. As you can see in the morning photo, there is traffic moving through our "favorite" site, but wait,,,, I was again mis-informed. The exit appears to be just to the left of the green sign, not to the right... From previous photos, you could not have proven it by me.

So, for us it's an early start on the road to see if we can get over before the next promised winter storm hits this place. Hasta La Vista til later. skk

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2008

1600 down; 500 to go
We did get out of Dodge, I mean Laramie.
To prove it, see the photo on the right. That is the same sign I have shown you the last few days indicating one of the nasty spots between Laramie and Rock Springs. Well, we snapped this picture as we wizzed by at 75 mph (yes we've had the blessing of speed limit of 75 for a while.) I'm told that will end when we reach Oregon. You see, I don't speed, because I believe angels are so pure and honest that they wouldn't go faster than the speed limit... and I don't want to outrun my angels.

Finally we get some real scenery. I'll let Georgia show you the bulk of it or I might put it on my netfiles. We had forgotten just how awesome it is across the Rockies. Here is just a taste. As beautiful as it was in western Wyoming, Utah going up I-84 was even more breath-taking.
We ended up stopping at the Hampton Inn in Rock Springs (where we were supposed to stay Thursday nite.) Angelina, the manager on duty went out of her way to help us. Not only did she make and confirm our reservations for tonite (I'll tell you where later... patience, Gertrude.) but she reprinted our directions to Corvallis, which we misplaced and sent us away with snacks for the road. Although we have noticed that Hampton Inn people are "problem solvers" (You have a problem, let us help you solve it.) She was above and beyond. She even helped us with the "how far can we stand to travel today vs how far do we need to go. It was supposedly 14 hours to Corvallis, so we decided to drive 5 of that today, leaving hopefully 9 for Sunday. She set us up for the Hampton in Twin Falls, Idaho.. we have never been to Idaho before.. Wow, another nice place, except that as it grew dark, although we had enjoyed the snow since Iowa, we hit the first "problem" snow. It got so we had difficulty seeing the lines in the road and we had to reduce speed to about 30 mph. We got nervous until a semi went around us and cleared the road until the snow stopped. This nite shot of the snow at the Idaho rest stop gives you some idea.

So we made it to Twin Falls, Idaho and hope to arrive at Corvallis somewhere around 6pm Sunday. Of course the superbowl will be essentially over and we will have missed nearly all of the new commercials. However, assuming we arrive alive, we won't have missed that much. The good plays will be played on ESPN for a week and the new commercials will also play over, and over, and over, and... This last shot was one of my attempts to be artsy-fartsy. I wanted to show the mountains ahead of us as well as those behind us (in the rearview mirror). The result was less than stellar. But at 75 mph in the mountains... did I say I wanted to arrive alive>>>??? nuf sed for today.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2008Whew!

It's Monday nite about 6pm in southwest Oregon. We made the trek from Twin Falls, Idaho to Corvallis, Oregon Sunday, pulling in about midnight. We drug into bed and I "jumped up" to get to "work" this morning. A real eventful day; gave 2 hourly exams (written and practical) got introduced to lots of nice people and procedures. Didn't even have time to get my computer out til I got home. On one of our blogs, we will post pictures of the Snake River Canyon near where Evil Kneivel (sp) tried his jump in 1974.. an awesome sight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Falls,_Idaho
We drove across miles and miles of Southwest Oregon ranchland and more beautiful "hills". Then we hit the Cascades at Bend, Oregon and saw more snow than we have ever seen before. Interesting thing is that the locals say this is more snow than they have ever had. Snow loving Georgia has done it again. Gotta settle in. Thanks to all for your prayers, it was a rather harrowing ending, but we are here. Since we went through about the most beautiful part of the trip in the dark, we will definately need to make a weekend trip back the 100 or so miles to see. It all started at a little town called "Sisters".. http://www.el.com/to/sisters/  I also see from maps that there is a "Brothers"... will have to see what that's all about some time.  OK, back to 2010.

Gothenburg revisited

We are making another trip west, following the same route as we did when we first birthed this blog. Because of my naivity, I thought my blog had too much stuff on it, so I removed the first few posts. As time permits, I will repost those early ones as new posts for anyone who really wants to follow this from the beginning. (maybe 2 people???) On our first trip, we were traveling I-80 at the end of January, so the scenery was pretty stark. This time it is GREEN. Seeing horses and cattle grazing is a beautiful sight. So why did I choose Gothenburg as the starting point of this trip?  We spent our first night in Des Moines and honestly, for us there wasn't much to "write home about". so far. Gothenburg hold interest for 2 reasons. It was where the first Pony Express station was built and part of it still stands. We have pictures.  The most interesting note about the Pony Express is that as much notariety as is given to the Pony Express, it only ran for 18 months. Some presidents have served for 4 years and we don't know as much about them as we do the Pony Express. Here is the URL for Gothenburg's history site.  http://www.ci.gothenburg.ne.us/

The other reason Gothenburg sparked our interest is that Georgia's mom got her first teaching job in a one-room country school (12 grades) in Gothenburg. At the Pony Express station, we saw a museum across the street which we thought might have been the school, but we met one of the museum "committee" who was mowing the grass and found that it had been a "Plymouth meeting house" for a religeous group that settled here and built the meeting house. However, this guy (Dick Larson) was so nice that he gave us the e-mail address (oh, the museum was closed for the day) and name of the historian, so hopefully we can get some more information on that. He did say that at that time (1940) there were several country schools in the area, so we don't know if the building still stands or not. He took me inside to get some information, so I got to look around a bit.  We'll see where that takes us.

We "bunked" in North Platte last night in the same Hampton Inn we stayed in on our first trip. Right next to "Fort Cody".. We find it interesting that there is all this Buffalo Bill stuff here, yet, a post from last fall shows us in the midst of Cody stuff in Cody, Wyoming. I did fine out that Buffalo Bill Cody established a reputation of Western hospitality when he used his Scouts Rest Ranch here near North Platte as headquarters for his famous Wild West Show. .  Guess he got around. Tonight we hope to land in Rock Springs, Wyoming. That Hampton Inn holds a special place for us because we stayed there over a weekend coming home from our first trip out because a transfer case went out on our explorer and we had to be towed back to Rock Springs and wait for it to get fixed on Monday and Tuesday. The people there were wonderful to us. Today we begin our "suaree" in the Rockie Mountains. To us plains dwellers, this sounds exciting.

Another session for memories

This post is primarily for my family. If you're out there and I don't have your e-mail address, please send it to me... if you don't mind. Several people in my dad's family meet at the junction of Indiana state roads 9 & 14 the first Friday of the month for lunch. Today it worked out for me to attend. What a joy for me as I hadn't seen some of these folks since at least 1988. My dad's sister Edna (Curly) and husband Duane were there along with my cousin Becky and husband Roger, cousin Donalyn, her brother Lon and his daughter Kadie. Lon and Kadie apparently make the July meeting each year on their annual trip back from Texas. It was also good to see my sister and Gary again...wow twice this summer.  Apparently my cousin Monica (not the one from Oklahoma) and cousin Pam often attend, but were unable to make it this time. Another small, roadside eating establishment with good food, but the food was secondary to the rich conversation. As uncle Duane said to summarize the gathering, "most of what was said was probably true"... We recalled much from 50's and 60's including the outlandish stunts that were pulled. It is a wonder some of us made it through those years. For my kids and grandkids, if I ever stop tweaking my "Peppermint, Potatoes, and Pigs" recall of my childhood, you will get to read many of these stories. Having not made any family reunions since 1988, renewing these few family ties is precious to me. Have fun figuring out who is who. Of course, family members can get answers via e-mail. Just ask. Remember; the pictures get bigger if you click on them..

Next wave of blooms

In a previous post, I showed you the first wave of blooms in our yard. It has now been spring for a few more weeks and new and different flowers are gracing us with their shining faces. That is part of the fun of perennial flower gardening, trying to set it up so that there is never a time when something isn't blooming. It's a challenge, but fulfilling. Of course adding a patch of zinnias helps mix in some color. You'll see here that the zinnia patch is photographed first as it is just budding, then this week as it started blooming. You'll see the front porch without, then with the Boston ferns that give it such a breezy appearance. The next challenge will be to keep them alive when these torrential rains stop and it gets hot and dry. That sounds like a fairy tail as I listen to the thunder crashing for yet another night.  I hope you enjoy these flowers half as much as we do. Remember with blogspot, if you click on the pictures, they get larger. Blaine's poor copper arch is now completely shrouded in wisteria vines, which I have to keep trimming back to keep them off the satellilite dish. Oh, in some of the pictures, the wegalia is still in the pots... oops! 

A weekend of remembrance.

Let's see, last Friday, I spent much of the day tying up loose ends because I was determined, (with the blessing of my loving wife) to make it to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Silver Lake, Indiana High School class of 1960.. The day kept filling and I kept chugging along, dodging rain showers as I went. Having been to Indiana the past 2 weekends, she wasn't up to the trip and we decided she would be able to make it home alone while I was gone. The kids and their wives checked on her by phone. Speaking of the kids; I was "boxed in" on the other end of the weekend because the "middle management" team of the Steve and Georgia Kneller family planned a family get together at our house for Sunday evening. So here we go. I hit the road with WDWS news/talk radio escorting me to near Attica, Indiana where I switched to a CD I threw in named "A rough guide to Zydeco"...  which played through twice before I pulled onto Bouse Drive on the west side of Silver lake. The trip from home itself started the memory gusher as I hadn't traveled that route for many years. I arrived at the Friday evening gathering after everyone had eaten, but the joy of seeing all of those old friends replaced any thoughts of food. I took lots of pictures and I had a "first" with this camera.... I found out Saturday that I must have deleted all of the Friday night pictures. So I'm waiting for pictures other people took to enhance the experience. I hadn't seen many of these people for 50 years, but it really seemed like "yesterday". I have decided in this post to not name names to protect.. whatever. So those who know or have known us, will have to match the pictures with names on your own, or ask me by e-mail just who is who. I am convinced that over the years, I have changed in appearance more than any of my classmates. Most are just a slightly wrinkled version of the kid I knew way back then.

To give me a chance to visit I asked my sister if I could "bunk" at their house. Not only did she heartily agree with my request, but Saturday morning she fixed my "favorite" breakfast. (You may have to go back through some of my recent posts to find out what that was.)  Her husband was overjoyed.... apparently that great breakfast isn't often made there..... which is a good thing because none of us should be eating that breakfast very often... but MMMMMM good (like Campbell's soup????) After breakfast and great conversation, I headed back to Kosciusko county. I somehow let my classmates talk me into joining in on the Golf Outing at Rozella Ford course just south of Warsaw. Even the driving trips to and from my sister's house afforded additional memories as I traveled through Whitely and East Kosciusko county on a couple of different routes showing me many things that have changed and some that have stayed the same since I drove those routes years ago. I think there were 10 classmates and spouses attempting to play golf and 1 "rider" divided into 2 teams.  They introduced me to a wonderful concoction of rules which saves golfers from being frustrated with us duffers when playing together. I think it was called "best ball"; where the whole team shoots from the spot of the best shot.  We found that just like back in high school, none of us were really outstanding, but as a group, we were pretty darn good.  It wasn't brought up this weekend, but I think our class motto was; "to make the best better".  This weekend, that was so obvious as the support of these people for one another just shined, lifting each other up moment after moment. There were hilarious moments along with those sad and thoughtful times. The "other team" had finished 9 holes and our team 7 when one of the common rainstorms of the weekend came across the course. We "hightailed it" to the clubhouse where we had a late lunch. One of our beloved classmates living in California was not able to make it to Silver Lake this weekend, but believe it or not, while sitting there in the clubhouse, one of us recognized his "baby" brother sitting across the room. She went to acknowledge him and brought him to our table for introductions. What a treat. Then it was time to calculate scores and see which team had played the most stellar golf... If I understand it correctly, we ended up with a tie score which brought another problem. Some of the ladies had put together winner and loser prizes for the outing, so someone had to be declared winners... We flipped a coin and the prizes were handed out accordingly. After that we dispersed to prepare for the Alumni Banquet. I ended up making a surprise visit to one of my cousins living locally where we had a great visit before I used their shower and changed clothes for the banquet.

The banquet; If you attended a small school and have not attended an alumni banquet for several years, get ready.... I was not prepared. I walked in and seeing a table of people considerably older than myself, leaned over and said, "I felt like an old guy til I saw you folks"... Probably not the best way to put it, but it really was meant as a compliment!!!  Really!!!... I have to believe I was being guided a bit because the lady to whom I addressed that comment turned out to be our next door neighbor when we moved to Silver Lake in what 1945??? Margaret would have been near graduation from High School at that time (I forgot to check the sign on their table to see what year they graduated.)  Yes, I have mentioned a name.... on purpose because the next name is so important and should not be overlooked. She directed me to her husband Denny Conley... My mom's family played nearly every string instrument made and mom loved music. she was involved in some kind of musical performance from her teen years to her death. During the early 60's we had "Hootenannies" made up primarily of local talent. We developed a little group and Denny taught me to play the stand up bass and tenor banjo as part of many evenings of "jammin". At the time I had sort of graduated from the Ukulele to the guitar, but we needed a bass.  Denny was one of those people who could play anything.... and play it well.  I credit him to what little I was able to pass on to my children and they on to theirs.  His legacy grows and grows... even without his knowledge.  Back to the banquet.. So I said, "are you still playing"... He affirmed that he gives Ukulele, guitar and bass lessons both in Florida in the winter and Indiana in the summer.  .  . He's 89 and going strong!   WOW!  That was just the beginning. Although as probably typical, most of the people who put me in awe were older than I. Each time I would put a name with a face, another group of memories would come racing through. Actually I was emotionally exhausted (in a good way) before I left. To add to the emotional effort, Marilyn who I think has done the most to hold our class together and asked us earlier if we wanted to write something about the meaning of classmates who had become deceased. I wrote something about each one and Marilyn graciously asked me then if I would read it at the banquet... I was honored and thought, "I've been talking in front of groups for the past 40 years, so that should be fine".. The time came and as I moved to the mike I had to walk past the still living father of the first man on my list.... Simply stated, Marilyn had to read that one and a few more because I got so choked up that I couldn't speak.... What a surprise to me. I know I have gotten more "tender" over the years, but my oh my... I felt like a blubbering idiot!..  We got through it. Got our pins for participation in band, chorus, baseball and softball, helped clean up a little and headed out for an "after party" at a local classmates (actually 2 classmates who were married) house. Had more fun wrestling with memories, taking pictures, talking and laughing at ourselves. I didn't break out my camera Saturday night.... sorry. That went on til fairly late and I headed back to my sister's house. Wouldn't you know it, as I was driving into Silver Lake from the north, where I had driven hundreds of times before, I was not paying attention. I turned east onto 14 and saw red and blue flashing lights in my mirror. Pulled off to find that I had apparently been speeding as I came into town. It shocked me because I wasn't in a hurry but was just not paying attention to signage. Fortunately, the officer (Nothing like Lee Moyer) only gave me a warning).. and I was on my way. I got there late and went directly to bed.

Sunday morning I went to church with my sister and her husband, then changed clothes and headed back to Silver Lake for one last segment of our get together. Since this was my first trip along this route in the daylight I took a couple of old shortcuts, one bypassing South Whitley and coming into Collamer the "back way" along the Eel River which was always one of my favorite little jaunts. Just before you cross the bridge, there is a small man made water fall from a dam of some sorts. Because of the rain, there was really not much of a waterfall.  I passed by a barn still standing where some of us had played basketball as teenagers which reminded me of all the barn lofts we in which we used to play basketball. I arrived at the eating establishment just north of Silver Lake at the former sight of the "Igloo" a "dairy queen" sort of place. There is a similar family run shop in Linden, Indiana.... really good.  But the Igloo is gone, replaced by Homestead's Backyard Grille.  Really tasty food and good service. Since I was not pushing the clock to get home, I was the first one there. Because I am also a fast eater, which I attribute to the fact that over my life, most of my meals have been consumed "on the run" I was also the first to leave. Different classmates were able to attend different segments of the weekend, but it was great to be able to see those who made it as often as I did. Could have stayed a week, but then my life is no longer in Silver Lake.. That little town is still to me "a great place to be from"... but I can see that also it is a great place to live. I passed up the one last planned gathering and headed west. On the way home I discovered a field of peppermint just west of Parr, Indiana. I had to get out and walk through it. Another flood of memories from the early years when we raised peppermint on the farm. We spent our summers crawling up and down those rows of peppermint pulling weeds and swatting bugs and deer flies. This field was what we called "meadow mint" which was no longer in rows.

I arrive at home in yet another rainstorm just in time to help my wife get some stuff together. While we were working on it, we heard the melodic tones of our children arriving for the final "celebration" of the weekend.  After they all went home we sat and talked a little bit about the events of the weekend. Georgia related how glad she was that I was able to go for the gatherings, how Silver Lake had given her great times, great friends, and great memories and that she remembered how the people in the class of 1960 were so nice and accepting of her. In her words, "in Silver Lake, the whole town and the whole school was one big family". After basking a bit more in those rich times,  I drug off to the bedroom for a night of physical and mental recovery. Today is another day! Yesterday may be gone, but the memories are sweet to savor!