Night at the ballpark

We are still having such nice weather. We had a little rain Saturday and then it cleared up and was just lovely the rest of the day.

I went to a Mariner's Game with Debbie, Kent and Erik last night. It was a real spur of the moment thing. I had like 5 minutes to get ready. First I said no and then I said OK. I have never been to Safeco Field before. I was so glad I went. It is real nice and you are able to see the players so well. The reason we had to leave so quickly was that someone had given Kent's sister, Ann, 4 tickets and she couldn't use them. We had to drive to Redmond to get the tickets and then drive to Seattle. We were only a few minutes late. Even when it was getting dark, it was still so warm while we were watching the game. The Mariners won so that was nice.

Debbie has to go on a business trip to the new Thriftbook Warehouse in Dallas, Texas and I am going with her. We are leaving on the 16th of September and will be back on the 20th. Debbie will have to work for two days while I entertain myself. We will have the evenings and the weekend to see things. I am really excited about going. Debbie will have a rental car. That is the only way to go. After my trip with Donna to the midwest in a rental car, I think it is the only way to travel. I am not even interested in cruises now. You can see so much more when you are on your own. Counting airfare, car rental, hotel rooms , food and gas, I did not spend anymore than I would have on a cruise.

I cannot believe how Thriftbooks is expanding. There is the store in Auburn, (listed Seattle), Portland, Detroit, Atlanta, and Dallas. Debbie says there will be another warehouse opening in Boston.

Lovely Summer Days

Here it is the 25th of August already. I so enjoy all the nice weather we have been having. Yesterday Debbie, Kent, Erik and I went to play minature golf in Kent. It is another new thing for me. I have never played minature golf. It was really fun. It was a very warm evening so it was fun being outdoors.

Today I went to lunch with a group of ladies from our church. We went to Galliano's which is an Italian Eating Place on Interurban Avenue in Tukwila. We left a little after 11am and didn't get back until after 2pm. We really had a nice time. We plan on doing this once a month.

I really don't have much more going on right now but just thought I better check in to let you know I am still around. I called Darrell on Sunday, the 23rd, to wish him Happy Birthday. He is 50 now. Dan will be 49 in October. In October 2010, I will not have a child under 50.

Mark Twain country

I thought I would put some pictures of Hannibal, Missouri on for you. It is pretty countryside but I did not like it near as well as the Prairie country.

Diane is finally finished with her radiation treatments. She is still very tired but I am sure she will get her strength back soon. When she is a little stronger she is planning on coming over to get me and Tyler and take us to a park. Tyler is just such a bright little boy. The mighty mississippi River as seen from Hannibal, Missouri

Donna and Laif on the downtown street of Hannibal.

We rode this trolley car around Hannibal. Hannibal is a quaint little town. The town is right by the Mississsippi and there have been flooding problems there even in recent years. The city has put in flood gates now.

Another picture of the downtown. Lots of Mark Twain sites in Hannibal.

The three pictures below are from the Ingalls Homestead in DeSmet, South Dakota. I am sure everyone is getting bored with my pictures by now. It reminds me of the days when we used to get everybody together to watch home movies or slides. That would get so boring sometimes you almost fell asleep on your chair. Anyway, South Dakota was one of the most beautiful states I have seen. You can see for miles. It is hard to describe unless you have been there. It is so impressive that you get a wonderful feeling like there is no end to it. Beautiful summer day on the Ingalls homestead.

The five trees that you see here are the original trees that Pa planted. He had planted trees to go around his whole homestead but these were the only ones that survived.

Just another picture of the countryside. Beautiful land and beautiful sky. I can see why the Ingalls loved that homestead property.

Back to the real world--Debbie had to make an unexpected trip to the Portland store to work on a problem. I just admire her so much. she is so capable and deals so well with people. I had no idea when she was little what a wonderful outgoing person she was going to become.

Then there is Donna--She called me yesterday to let me know that she had to leave Girl's camp early and in an ambulance at that. She was having terrible chest pains and she even had an EKG in the ambulance. It was not her heart, thank goodness. It was caused by muscle spasms. That is usually brought on by stress. Donna did way to much in July and August. Originally we just had our trip to the mid-west planned in July and her girl's camp in August. It turned out that she spent a week at Debbie's girls camp because they could not find anyone in the Renton stake to be in the nurses station, then we went on our 10 day trip, then Donna and Laif and their kids and grandkids went to Idaho for a family get-together. After that she went to her ward's girls camp. I know that stress can cause muscle spasms which act like a heart attack. I know Richard has had that happen. Also many years ago your dad had muscle spasms and we thought it was a heart attack. Probably most of you will not know what a green chain is. He was working in a saw mill and working nights and he was on the green chain, which is probably the hardest job in a mill. I would try to keep all the kids quiet so he could sleep in the day. One morning after he had been sleeping for a couple of hours, he rose up in bed clutching his chest with terrible pains. We didn't have 911 in those days and if you called an ambulance from where we were in Bonney Lake it would take a long time. The pain did stop and we did get him checked out. It was not his heart but it acts the same.

Donna, if you are reading this you should blog. Your life is far more interesting than mine. You will find that blogging is so fun and relaxing even if you don't have much to say.

My thoughts are running all over the place today. Debbie had told me a while back that a lady she works with has a mother the same age as me but he mother needs a lot of care. Sometimes I whine about weather and stuff but I really know how lucky I am to be so healthy for my age.

Marceline, Missouri-Boyhood home of Walt Disney

"To tell the truth, more things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened since--or are likely to in the future" Quote from Walt Disney. Downtown street of Marceline where Walt Disney was inspired for his Main Street USA Theme Parks.

Above is Walt Disney's "Dreaming tree". It is a very old Cottonwood tree.

This barn was rebuilt by volunteers in 2001. Donna, Laif and I all wrote our names on the inside with thousands of other names. There is hardly any room left for names. This barn was a location used for some of the Walt Disney movies. The most notable movie was "So Dear to My Heart" which was made in 1948. It is one of the most beautiful stories ever made. It was about the Race horse "Dan Patch". A few of the stars were Burl Ives, Bobby Driscoll, Beulah Bondi and Harry Carey. If you or your children or grandchildren have not seen it, rent it and watch it.

This is Walt Disney's childhood home. It is a private home now so you can only see it from the outside.

A little about Marceline,Missouri---In 1887 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway began construction from Kansas City to Chicago. Marceline was chosen as a terminal or division point between the two cities. Marceline is a beautiful town. The population today is 2,558 people.

I am in a good mood today. Summer has returned again. I even got to sit in my lounge chair and soak in the sun. (I do use sunscreen.) I am trying mentally to prepare myself for other seasons of the year. This year I am determined to find good things about every season. Also, I have gotten lazy and have not used the exercise equipment since Donna and I got back from our trip. I am starting again tomorrow. I was looking in the exercise room this morning and to let you know how much I have neglected that room, there was a cobweb on the treadmill.

Mount Rushmore from the visitor's Center.

We got someone to take our picture. Mt. Rushmore is so impressive. We had a picnic lunch there.

Here we are at Wall Drug. If you visit Mt. Rushmore, you go through the town of Wall, South Dakota.

Had my picture taken in front of the sign. Wall Drug is also called the "Ice Water Store". In the 30's when traffic started going to Mount Rushmore everyone would just pass by the drug store that he and his wife had. (Still the only drug store in Wall). Finally his wife got an idea to put signs up along the highway offering free ice water. Before the day was over, they almost ran out of ice. Now the drug store takes up two blocks. There are big signs on the highway now for Wall Drug that start miles before you get there. You can still get free ice water.

Nothing much else going on. I always seem to stay busy. I never seem to do everything I plan to do in a day and I don't even have anybody to take care of but myself.

Beautiful town of Nauvoo, Illinois

This is the Temple in Far West. We walked the grounds there and went to the Visitor Center. This is the Temple in Nauvoo. It is very beautiful inside and outside.

One shop from the streets of Historic Nauvoo. The buildings were recreated to look like the original businesses that were there before the Mormons were driven out.

We sat and listened to the Nauvoo Band. The park was so nice and the sun was shining on us.

Two pictures of Nauvoo. The streets are wide and the town is so pretty. This is the small kind of town that I love. The town is near the Mississippi River. The population is 1,063 people. Of course, I would not want to live here as with all the towns we have been visiting, it gets very cold in the winter. We were able to see the Pageant that is performed every summer there.

Museums in Pepin

This is the Pepin Train Depot Museum that I told you about yesterday.

Train sign for the Pepin Train Depot Museum.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Pepin. It is so interesting to go through these museums and see the things people used in their everyday life in that period.

Below is a lantern like Laura described in her Little House books. The lantern held a candle and the slits let the light shine through. They used these to work outdoors when milking or doing other chores.

Very early typewriter. A little more complicated to use than our computers.




I am sure every housewife would want one of these wringers. Wringing by hand is hard on the hands and back.

I have been having fun looking through my pictures. I enjoyed the trip so much but it sure felt good to come home. I guess that is the way it always is with trips.

"Little house in the Big Woods"

Donna and I enjoyed all the Laura Ingalls Wilder history. We stopped at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Wayside which is 7 miles North of Pepin, Wisconsin. This is the reconstructed log cabin that paints a charming and historically accurate picture of where Laura was born and what pioneer life was like. This is a picture of the land and trees surrounding the cabin.

It was pretty dark inside the cabin but I did get a few pictures. Donna is standing next to the all-in-one heating and cooking.

The attic over the main room would have been where Laura and Mary would have slept.

This cabin is quite small as most of the pioneer cabins were but below is a doorway to the bedroom off the main room where Ma and Pa would have slept.

We continued on into the town of Pepin where we visited the Pepin Depot Museum. This building was the original Pepin Depot and was saved from destruction years ago by a former railroad employee. Now restored, it is chock full of railroad and steamboat memorabilia. I will show pictures tomorrow of Pepin and the Museum.

More pictures of Modale--First pictures for today are below

Donna climbed up on the tracks to take a picture of where the train stopped. The sign says Modale.

I just added this picture in case anyone wants to invest in property in Modale. This house is a hud repo and is selling for $36,400. I just looked on line today and it is still for sale. This house is 108 years old.

This is the church in Modale. It looks like the original building. Donna and I drove around to the side and the back. On the side are some pretty stained glass windows.

This is the Modale Public Library. It is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

I am so happy that I had an opportunity to see Modale. I never imagined I would ever see it in my lifetime. That was probably our hottest place. It was close to ninety degrees. I got out and took the pictures of the town. Donna cannot stand the heat but she was really sweet to climb up on the tracks and take a picture. She told me to listen for a train. It is a working track and we were just minutes out of Modale when a train came through.

If this looks like the same building--it is. The Fire Department has the other half. There was no one in the fire department either. It is a Volunteer fire department.


I took more pictures of houses in the town. Most of the houses are really old. There are a few newer ones. Actually there are not that many houses. I saw one house that I thought might have been my mother's but it turned out not to be. She probably lived a little further out.

The first part of this blog today starts below this picture.

Welcome to Modale,Iowa

I had to put some pictures on from our stop in Modale, Iowa. The town where my mother was born and raised. Modale has a population of 300. The city has a total area of 1.1 square miles, all of it land. Modale stands for "Missouri-dale", a reference to the nearby Missouri River. When my mother lived there it was a water stop for the train and also the grain elevators were right next to the tracks. The original grain elevators are still there and also new ones are built right next to it. Modale was a passenger stop. That is how my mother's family would go to Omaha and Mitchell. When Donna and I drove to Modale from Omaha it was only 25 minutes. I don't know how long it took on the train. In that era passengers and freight would use the same train. There was never a train depot in Modale. It was called a whistle stop.

The one and only bank in Modale. This is the original building. It says 1904 over the top of the door. I am sure it has been updated some starting with the front door.

Above is the Post Office. It looks like the original building too.

This is the Modale School. The sign on the building just says Modale School. It doesn't say grade school or high school, it just says Modale School. We could see that it has been added onto several times. On the far left is the original part of the building.

This is the busy downtown street in Modale. We came into Modale on a Sunday. Absolutely everything was closed except a tavern. (One and only tavern in the town). It is the yellow building on the far left. Also there is no grocery store in Modale. I am sure when my mother lived there Modale must have had a grocery store. The nearest large city is Omaha but there were small communities all along so I am sure people do not have too far to go. The small building on the left of the building where the truck is parked is the Cafe and Lounge. It was closed also. It would have been fun to say I ate in Modale.

Mitchell Corn Palace

I was really impressed by the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. The Corn Palace was built in 1892. It was rebuilt in 1905 and again in1921. The Moorish Domes and Minarats were added in 1937. It was originally built to showcase the rich soil of South Dakota and encourage people to live there. Each year the Corn Palace is redecorated and uses 275,000 ears of corn each year. 12 shades of corn are used. All the colors of corn are grown naturally with special seed raised just for the Corn Palace. Each color must be planted in separate fields to maintain its pure color. Over 500,000 people visit each year. This year's theme is America's Destinations and the Space Needle in Seattle is featured on the front of the building. The Mural of the Space Needle is the third one under the Mitchell Corn Palace sign. There are Murals all around the building. My mother had visited the Corn Palace when she was young. This is how the Corn Palace looked when she visited.

Donna standing by a "live" Ear of Corn inside the Corn Palace.

A display of the corn used for the Corn Palace. Wade Strand is the product grower for the Corn Palace.

Downtown street of Mitchell, South Dakota. The population of Mitchell is 14,558.

Our motel where you pay the refrigerator

I wanted to put the pictures on of our motel (cabin) in Canistota, South Dakota. This cabin was so neat and clean. It was cleaner than some of the chain motels we had stayed at. This is the famous Cabin 9 with the unlocked door . We didn't check in and we left so early the next morning that we still didn't see anyone. You just pay the refrigerator and go on your way. I did leave a nice thank you note. It certainly had a lot of advantages over the rest stop where we were going to have to stay. Donna had driven nearly 600 miles that day and she was not going to make it to Omaha. Laura, Laif and our Heavenly Father were with us. Getting ready to leave Canistota in the morning.

Nice yard and picnic table in front of the cabin.

The kitchen had a stove and Microwave Oven and even a double sink. There was a lead warning about the pipes but I brushed my teeth anyway. I am sure I have been exposed to some lead along the road of life.

Donna was impressed with the rocking chair. The room even had air conditioning.

Ou Our nice comfortable bed. I know any bed would feel good at 1 am but this was a very nice bed and the sheets and blankets smelled so clean.

I think I liked South Dakota the best. Of course we were there while they were having an unusually cool summer but I just loved the beauty of the state. There is so much to see there besides corn and soy beans. There are miles and miles where you can see so far and see so much. There are lakes and trees. I would not want to live there but it is a wonderful vacation area. I can see why the Ingalls (Little House stories) wanted to live there.

Of course, here in the Pacific Northwest we are having unusual weather too. Debbie called on the 29th to say records were being broken everywhere. Seattle was 103 and Renton 105. It has been hot here ever since I got back but I guess it is supposed to cool down by the end of the week. The highest it got in the Midwest when we were there was 89 degrees a couple of days. Most of the time it was just in the low to mid eighties. Of course, Donna thinks it is a heat wave if it gets to 75. She does not tolerate heat well.

I so appreciate that Donna was willing to take this trip. Even if I could go places by myself it would not be any fun alone. So thanks to Donna and Laif too, I had a real nice vacation and I know they enjoyed it too.