Tucson Road Trip, Three Generations, day 4

Road Trip, Part 5

First of all, here's a photo of Connor on Mars.

That's actually from the space exhibit at Pima Air & Space Museum that I forgot to include with my last post.

Day 4 of our vacation, we visited Tombstone, AZ. It's very picturesque and the downtown supposedly appears much as it did back during the tumultuous "Gunfight at the OK Corral" days. We skipped the gunfight re-enactment because we'd have to wait too long for it. Dad says he's seen it and we didn't miss much.

The real highlight of the visit was eating at Big Nose Kate's saloon, where Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, etc. used to drink. Or so they tell us. I had perhaps the best bowl of chili in my entire life at this place. It was loaded with jalepenos - I got one in almost every bite.

I also ordered a "large" beer. I very rarely drink, and when they delivered the "Big Ass Beer" to the table, I couldn't even finish it all. It, plus the chili, put me into a stupor, and I stumbled through the rest of the visit. The other place we examined in detail was the office of the Tombstone Epitaph (being a newspaperman myself I was interested).

After that I pretty much fell into the car and slept. My dad decided to drive to Nogales and we stopped there to look at Mexico (we didn't go in). I had fallen asleep in the car - if my dad had woken me up and said I was in Mexico, and not just on this side of the U.S. border, I'd have believed him.

Later that night Dad took us out to eat at a great Mexican restaurant. I don't remember the name. I figured the food would be different than the Mexican food in K.C., being so close to the border. It was good, but I think there's good Mexican food wherever there are Mexicans, so it tasted like the fare in the better Mexican restaurants here.

Then Connor and I walked around the mall for a while. There's a good game store there called Game Daze. Prices were, on average, about $2-$10 more per item than what I see in my local game store at home. There was an awesome chess set based on the Crusades, but it was $219 so I gave it a skip.

Exhausted, we went to bed early and got up at 3:30 a.m. for the last day in Arizona - a whirlwind day of telescopes and giant holes in the ground.

Family Secrets-Calvary Trooper

Family Secrets – Calvary Trooper

When my grandfather turned 17 he thought it was about time he left home to see the world.  So in 1922 he and a childhood friend of the same age took off from the only home they had ever known in Independence.  They had little money but thought they could work their way across the country by doing odd jobs along the way, besides they had been in Boy Scouts together and knew how to camp and live off the land so they figured.

In February they began to hitchhike after a flip of the coin determined they would head east towards New York.  I am not sure what they were thinking to leave then in the middle of the blistery cold Missouri winter especially hitchhiking in 1922.  There could have not been that many motorized vehicles traveling the roads back then.  However those cars or truck that were making such trips back then were probably more inclined to pick up riders than they would today.

The first day they had made it as far as Warrensburg, Missouri and stayed in a place that shall we say had less than a reputable reputation.  They spent more money there than they had planned.

I don’t know how long it took them or how they managed, but a week later they found themselves wondering around the back streets of St. Louis, cold, broke, and hungry.  They saw a recruiting poster with Uncle Sam pointing a finger at them telling them that he wanted them.  The recruiting Sergeant befriended them, fed them, and let them sleep in his office that night.  The next morning several your men arrived with their suitcases in tow to be sworn in to the U.S. Army.  The recruiting Sergeant told them that if they swore they were 21 they could join too.  Later that afternoon Granddad was on a train west to Cheyenne, Wyoming to be part of the 4^th Calvary.  He had never ridden a horse in his life.

He never related much about how he learned to be a Calvary troop nor much of anything about basic training or the army in general.  The only story he did relate to me was that one day while standing in formation the First Sergeant asked if anyone knew how to drive a tuck.  My grandfather thought that would be a good job, at least he could get out of riding a horse and the other silly minutiae that was probably in store for him that day.  He volunteered.  The rest of the afternoon he pushed a wheelbarrow around the company area hauling gravel from one end of the compound to another.

He started keeping a journal while in Wyoming but only for a short time and even then it was no more than a one or two word entry.  “went to town,” “saw Missy last night,” “twenty mile troop ride today,” “Inspection this afternoon.”  There were only entries like that for about 20 days.  I wonder who Missy was, or what a 20 mile troop ride must have been like, what did he do when he went to town, who were his buddies he did things with, what happened to his buddy he had joined with, I guess I will never know. 

He apparently did not like the army much so after 18 months of doing whatever he was doing he sent his father a letter asking him to see if he could help Granddad buy his way out of his four year military obligation.  That was standard procedure back in those days.

Some how the family managed to raise $1,500 and Granddad was a free man and returned to Independence.  As far as I know he never rode a horse again.

Tucson Road Trip, Three Generations, Day 3 part 2

by Seann McAnally

Day Three (part 2). After enjoying the vistas of Mount Lemon, we dropped off Grandma Jan and made our way to Whataburger. I seem to remember there being one in K.C. somewhere, but lost track of it. They have a guy who comes around to your table with little ketchup cups. Otherwise it's basically like a Burger King.

After that it was Pima Air and Space Museum. It was the most expensive thing we visited during our vacation ($14) but there's certainly a lot to see, and, in the opinion of well-traveled folks I asked about it, it is "Smithsonian quality." There were five hangars full of planes from all eras of aviation history (and brutally hot walks across arid gravel in between them). Again, I'll let the pictures do the talking. Here are some of my favorites:










After this, we were all hot and tired, and we enjoyed some time at the pool before going over to Grandma Jan's. Her boyfriend Kurt cooked some steaks for dinner. Then we drove out to the edge of town where it was really dark, got out Connor's telescope and found Saturn by dead reckoning (I spotted it, he homed in on it w/out the laser guide...which isn't easy). Then it was home for bed...

How can you beat a day like that?

Tomorrow: Tombstone.

Tucson Road Trip, Three Generations, Day 3, part 1

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

by Seann McAnally

Road Trip, Part 3

Day Three (Part 1). We woke up early and drove up to Mount Lemon with Grandma Jan. This was Connor and I's first mountain. About 7,000 feet up we got out of the car and walked around for a while - it was an awe-inspiring view. I could have spent days up there, and in some ways it was the best time I had during the whole vacation. Words can't really describe it so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I had a very special time up on this mountain and had a chance to do some thinking about life and stuff...which is what you're supposed to do on a mountain, I suppose. But I won't get into all of that here. It's enough to say it was a quasi-religious experience.

Well...that's a lot of pictures to upload at once so I'll save Day Three (Part 2) for tomorrow - stay tuned for lots and lots of pictures of cool airplanes.

Tucson Road Trip. Three Generations day 2

By Seann McAnally

Road Trip, Part 2

Day two of our journey began with a visit to San Xavier del Bac, an old Spanish mission from the 1600s-1700s. This is where I first discovered the whole "dry heat" thing, as I drank about six cups of coffee before we left and was parched the whole time. I almost passed out climbing a big hill to get a good view. There was a cross at the top of the hill where Connor and I rested and looked around. The mission itself was in the full throws of a Catholic mass - we'd arrived on Sunday morning. On the way out of mass, Native Americans were rubbing some kind of reliquary and putting pictures of loved ones on it; it was almost pagan, but you could tell the people there had very strong spiritual feelings about what they were doing. Here's some shots of the place, which is truly beautiful. I wish I had more pictures of the interior - it was excruciatingly designed in Baroque detail. All I got that wasn't blurry was one picture of an angel, who I decided would stand in for Darius (Gonen's World folks know what I'm talkin' 'bout). Here are some pics:

Leaving the mission, my dad drove us to a scenic park so we could get our first good glimpse of panoramic scenery. We just hung out for a while and enjoyed the view. This was always my favorite thing to do on this vacation - just sit and look at the landscape.

That afternoon, we had a traditional Italian meal at my dad's girlfriend's mom's house. The meatballs were excellent but I had already filled up on pasta (they eat the pasta first, then the meatballs) and could only eat one. Then it was two rounds of desert...whew! I was slightly embarrassed that I couldn't eat everything that was set before me. We visited with Grandma Jan for a while (my dad's mom) and then rounded out the day by going to see Captain America. I even got a few hours in at the pool. All in all, a good day two. We slept like logs that night.

Tucson Road Trip, three generations

by Seann McAnally

2011 Road Trip, Part 1

Well, I didn't post a single time last week, because Dad, Connor and I were off enjoying the great American Southwest. Rather than put up dozens of photos and try to recount the whole trip all at once, my blog entries this week will all be about the vacation, day-by-day.

This was surprising even to me when I realized it, but I haven't been on an official "going out of town" type of vacation for my entire adult life, so I was really looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint.

First up, let's look at Day One of our journey.

This is a rest stop in Texas. It is essentially a glorified toilet, proving that indeed, Texans do everything bigger. We got turned around in Amarillo, Tex. in the middle of the night, but finally made our way back south toward Roswell, New Mexico. In Clovis N.M. we got lost, and ended up on a very creepy back-country road that I didn't think to take a picture of. The sign said it led to Roswell so we trusted the sign...but it was a dark, long road with only one other set of headlights in about an hour. Connor fell asleep, and my dad and I kept an eye on the car clock, looking for lost time like Fox Mulder (it seemed as likely a place as any to be abducted by aliens).

Here is Martin's Capitol Cafe in Roswell. We got there at 5:55 a.m. and had to sleep in the parking lot of a military academy, and killed time here until the UFO Museum opened. Let me tell you in all seriousness: this place has the best bacon I have ever eaten in my life. Period. I don't know if that's a New Mexico thing, a Roswell thing, or a Martin's thing. But it was damn good. I was almost full after eating three slices of bacon, so that should tell you something.

Here are some photos from the International U.F.O. Museum & Research Center:

Connor in front of a really cool plaque showing an Aztec or Mayan, I forget which, in a spaceship. Supposedly this proves the existence of ancient astronauts. That would be awesome. I want to believe. Exhibits like this one showcase the serious side of UFO research. This one, on the other hand...

...is me sadly viewing an alien autopsy. This is the dummy they used in the Roswell TV Movie (not the TV series, apparently). This photo shows the other, fun and cheesy side of the UFO Museum.

After that, time was ticking, and we needed to get on the road if we were to hit Tucson before dark. New Mexico was a long drive, but we passed through some beautiful Apache country. I thoroughly enjoyed this portion of the drive, because it was finally daylight and I was seeing terrain that I don't get to see back home. Dad napped in the back seat and Connor and I enjoyed vistas like this one...but the picture doesn't do it justice.

Of course, these hills were nothing like the mountains we would later see when we hit Arizona, but it was very picturesque and it seemed like a really beautiful place to live.

Late that afternoon, we hit the White Sands testing range. This picture was a fluke - it didn't really look like this from our angle, most of the time. But it proves that there is, indeed, white sand on site.

Finally, we hit Arizona - or what looked like it; I missed the actual border - and started seeing weird rock formations on the side of the road, like this one.

Again, the pictures don't really do it justice. I can't remember what this stretch was called. Apparently there was a huge volcano or something in ancient times that spat all this stuff up and it just landed this way and stayed there. In some places, it looked like the rocks were going to tumble off onto the road!

Before too late, we reached Tucson and my dad's resort-style mobile home community, which you aren't supposed to call a trailer park. It IS a trailer park, but it's for well-off 55+ folks and felt like a resort of some kind (I spent a lot of time up at the pool). We had some tasty burgers that my dad's girlfriend Beverly cooked for us. Then, since we were all very tired, we all went to see Cowboys & Aliens at the mall in Tucson. That was extra special because we'd been driving through the very same landscape all day that we saw in the movie, which made it "real."

So that was Friday night and Saturday - stay tuned for the Sunday morning entry, in which I almost pass out from "dry heat" on an Indian reservation, and then almost pass out again from a traditional Italian lunch.

Dear Bernice

 

On another blog I write called Korea: A World Away, I am posting letters my Dad sent to my grandmother while he was in Korea.  I have enjoyed reading them because it is like getting to know Dad as a young man.  I have gained a lot of insight to the times and how he felt about a lot of things.  It gives me an interesting perspective to understanding him.  Some things are easily understood and others give tantalizing hints of things that he must have done or felt, that are forever lost to the present day reader.  I had often thought during the course of the blogging that wouldn’t it be nice to have such information about my other ancestors. 

My grandfather never threw anything away as far as our garage on

Lake Drive

could attest.  There are boxes and boxes of stuff still crated and not opened since they were sealed years ago.  It is a daunting task to sort through them.  I can tell you how much he spent for breakfast in Jackson, Mississippi on the 2^nd of August 1951, when he bought the last War Bond in 1944 and a host of other nonsensical items.  One item jumped out at me like a lighting bolt.  It was an envelope that on the outside was written a woman’s name, Bernice Livingston.  I opened it and what follows is the content.  It was a photo copy of a letter he had written to Bernice.  My grandfather had no more than an eighth grade education so the letter was less than Shakespearian.  He didn’t do a bad job however.  What he lacked in literary style he made up for in carving out an emotion I never knew he had.

1970

Dear Bernice, 

I saw you the other day at Wards at a distance.  Age has been kind to you.  You are still an attractive lady.  It has been over 45 years since we last talked and would really like to talk to you again.  For what reason I am not really sure.  Perhaps it is touch of the melancholy that old age brings when recounting life experiences and wanting to set things right before the grim reaper has his day.

Our last conversation was less than pleasant.  I recall the circumstance very well as I hope you do also so no need to go into all that again.  I thought at the time all that needed to be said had been said but no sooner had you walked away than a 1000 things came flooding to the for front of my mind.  Things I wish I had said or explained a little better, or told you honestly about the feelings I had.  Perhaps if I had every ones life would have been different, at least every ones life whose life we have touched since then. Not that it would have made life better for either of us only different.

I have had a good life.  My wife loves me dearly as I do her.  We lost one baby early on but had a son soon afterwards and now have several grandchildren.  I have not made a lot of money (but enough) or had an exceptional career (but varied and interesting) but have been happy and content and really missed very little in life’s journey or least nothing that I feel like I have missed.  I heard you married John and from all accounts had a great life until his passing several years ago.  I thought at the time I would write and give my condolences or even go to the funeral, but I didn’t think it would matter much and just drudge up old memories or perhaps feelings that at such an emotional time as it must have been need not be brought up.  Or perhaps I just wasn’t ready to feel those things myself.

I don’t know why I left really, it seemed like the thing to do at the time, but for what it is worth, I made a mistake.  The hurt I must have caused you was devastating and unforgivable I am sure, only perhaps surpassed by the hurt I have inflicted upon my self these oh so many years due to my actions.  That is no excuse of course.  I should have been more of a man about things and at least given you the opportunity to send me down the road and not make decisions for you.

I would like to meet with you, and completely explain everything.  Not to rekindle anything of course.  That preverbal ship has sailed.  Perhaps it is selfish of me to want to explain entirely and honestly but we were friends and young lovers once and I owe you at least the opportunity to say no to me this time and have a decent parting.  Perhaps I just need to fill a void that has persisted these last 45 years.  Let’s meet at the old bandstand area in Sugar Creek next Tuesday.

I feel some what guilty about seeing you because I don’t want Marie to know, she would not understand that my feelings for you have changed and have nothing to do with my feelings for her.  But feelings of past and first loves never completely go away and I have thought about you much more than a grown man should over the years.

If you are not there Tuesday I will understand. 

Best Wishes,   Conley

So, who was Bernice?  What happened to break them up?  Did they ever meet at the band stand?  Did she ever receive the letter or did he even send it?  Did she feel as much of a loss as apparently he did?  I would like to think they did meet.  I would like to think they smiled, laughed about the folly of youth, that she understood why he felt the need to see her, that she too had had a good life, he explained why he left and forgave him, had a found farewell and that they were able to keep the memories of their love in a different place in their minds where things like that belong and when they did dredge them up hence forth there was no pain just found remembrances of things past.  We should all be so lucky.  Some of us are.  But this I will never know.  Joseph Conley McAnally died in Jan of 1971.  A search of obituary records in the Kansas City Star shows that a Bernice Livingston Crawley died in Jan of 1972. 

The answers to the above questions remain unknown.  I guess there are some things really never known and perhaps it is just as well.