Judy's Journal to GA and Back

Summary of places visited on the way and way back from GA in San Jose

2008-08-25T23:34:00.005-04:00

Presented here is a bullet list of specific places I visited on my 8,540 mile road trip around America, going to and from the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, San Jose, California from June 4, starting in Clinton, TN to July to July 30, arriving in Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400 NASCAR weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; and then heading back to TN.

Stories of my trip on my blog: http://judytoga.blogspot.com/
Pictures on Picasa Web Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/indyfanjudy.album

June 5
Jackson, Mississippi capitol and downtown (visit with Kay and Dr. Mounger)
June 6
Vicksburg, MS and Mississippi River bridges
June 7
Texas Motor Speedway for Indy Car race
June 9
Albany Texas and wind turbines in fields of West Texas
June 10
Buffalo Gap, Texas
June 10
Abilene Christian University, Abilene Texas
June 10
Grace Hotel, now Grace Museum, Abilene Texas
June 11
Visit to Abilene Christian University library
June 11
San Angelo, Texas (visit with Rosemary Sluder)
June 13
Route 66; Four Corners monument of New Mexico, AZ, Utah, and Colorado; end of U.S. 64
June 13
The Unser (Auto Racing) Family Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Route 66
June 14
Route 66 and Petrified Forest
June 15
Holbrook, AZ Wigwams, Winslow, Meteor Crater
June 15
Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff Arizona
June 16
Route 66 and Grand Canyon
June 17
Kingman, Arizona, Oatman, Arizona with Oatman burros to Needles California
June 18
Ludlow, California to Amboy, California and Roy’s Café (icon on Route 66)
June 19
Crystal Palace, (Buck Owens’ Theatre and Museum) Bakersfield, CA
June 20
Gonzales, CA church; Pinnacles National Monument, CA
June 20-28
San Jose, CA and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
June 28
The Tech Museum, San Jose, CA
June 29
Church of the Roses, Santa Rosa, CA (Presbyterian Church U.S.A.)
June 29
Charles Schultz’s Museum, Santa Rosa, CA
July 1
Bridgeport, CA covered bridge
July 2
Elko, Nevada Star Motel
July 3
Bonnieville Salt Flats International Speedway on the way to Salt Lake
July 3 pm
Temple Square and Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal
July 4
Temple Square in a.m., Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah
July 6
Farmer Memorial Church, Rawlins, Wyoming and Devils Gate on the Mormon Trail
July 8
Pompey’s Pillar, on the Lewis and Clark Trail, near Billings Montana
July 9
Theodore Roosevelt National Park and prairie dogs, North Dakota
July 10
Portal, North Dakota and the U.S./Canadian boarder—the beginning of U.S. 52
July 11
Rugby, North Dakota—the geographical center of the United States
July 12
Terrific little towns on what was U.S. 52 before the Interstate
July 13
First Presby in Osakis, MN and Saux Centre, Minnesota—hometown of Sinclair Lewis
July 13
Terrific small towns and fabulous stained glass windows in Catholic churches
July 14
First Presby Church and Public Library, Minneapolis, MN
July 15
SPAM Museum at the Hormel Company in Austin, MN
July 16
Little Brown Church in the Vale church near Nashua, Iowa
July 16
Mason City, Iowa—home of Meredith Willson, “the Music Man”
July 17
Burr Oak, Iowa—Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum
July 17
Bily Clocks Museum, Spillville, Iowa; and Froelich Covered Bridge, Iowa
July 18
Prairie De Chen, Wisconsin and Dubuque, Iowa—Effigy Mounds
July 19
Mines of Spain—Julien Dubuque burial monument, Bellevue, Iowa Mississippi River Locks and Dam; Dixon, Illinois—a boyhood home of Ronald Reagan
July 20
First Presby Church, Mendota, Ill and 2 covered bridges in Princeton, Illinois; Carnegie Library in Mendota; Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet
July 21
“Back Home Again in Indiana” when I reached Kentland Indiana with its different style Carnegie Library building
July 22
Earl Park Park, Fowler, Oxford, and Otterbein libraries
July 23
Lafayette and West Lafayette, Indiana libraries and end of my U.S. 52 trip on Lafayette Road, Indianapolis
July 24-29
In Indianapolis for the NASCAR Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
July 29 and July 30
Leaving Indianapolis, traveling U.S. 52 to Cincinnati, then I-75 to make it to Clinton, TN in time for the First Presbyterian Church Session meeting at 7 PM that night !!

Indiana Libraries, Bricks, and 8,540 miles later:

2008-08-01T15:57:00.011-04:00

Tuesday, July 22 to Wednesday, July 30:
Indiana Libraries, Bricks, and 8,540 miles later:

I haven’t been able to post to the Blog since Monday, July 21. But, at 8,540 miles total since June 4 when I left Clinton, TN, I arrived back at my house in Clinton on Wednesday, July 30. I arrived two hours before a Session meeting at my church on Wednesday evening. I felt responsible to be at this Session meeting, since I was not present at the May and June meetings. But, admittedly, I was cutting it close.

So, to backtrack, when I arrived in northwest Indiana on U.S. 52, I visited some of the libraries that I worked with when I was an ALSA library network director from 1976 to 1986. The Raub, Otterbein, West Lafayette Public Libraries, as well as the IVYTech Community College/branch of the Tippecanoe County Public Library have new buildings. Outside of Raub and Earl Park, Indiana I found more wind turbines in the middle of Indiana cornfields. I was able to visit with two library directors who I worked with as an ALSA Director. I also was able to visit the retired library director of the West Lafayette Public Library.

Getting to Indianapolis for the NASCAR Brickyard 400 weekend meant there was not much time to get on the Internet, update a Bog, or even do much email. Friday and Saturday were spent at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway watching practice and qualifications. My brother, Bucky, went with me on Saturday. We had a good time sitting up in the race day expensive seats up in the Paddock Penthouse.

Now, for those of you who know what took place on Sunday, my opinion is Goodyear and NASCAR made a mistake by not doing a tire test using the so called “Car of Tomorrow” long before the weekend of July 27. For those who do not know, let us just say, the Brickyard 400 was a series of sprint races, connected by yellow flag laps. It was not a normal race. Jimmy Johnson won; not our first choice. We were hoping Carl Edwards, the second place finisher, would have beat Jimmy to the flag at the end of the final “sprint car” race of the last 7 laps.

On Tuesday, I left my brother’s house, went to the Motor Speedway to re-order Brickyard 400 tickets for next year, tried to go find a friend at home, and then hit the downtown central branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library. I “got into” the older maps that the library has and, before I knew it, the library was getting ready to close at 9 p.m. So, I left and drove on U.S. 52 as far as I could in Indiana. U.S. 52 goes off toward south east Ohio along the Ohio River when it reaches Cincinnati. I drove only to the Flying J Travel Plaza, just south of Cincinnati. On Tuesday, I took my time driving some of U.S. 25, instead of I-75, which caused me to arrive back in Clinton at 4:35 p.m.

Arriving home, I found that I had lost the remainder of the maple tree in my backyard. The tree had been previously damaged in previous storm. I also discovered that the new building for the Food City Grocery Store right behind my backyard has a good start. I was presently surprised that Clinton also has a new Radio Shack Store. A Weigels Milk Store being completed at the Interstate; and the new Walmart (which opened May 21st) is going strong.

On my next blog post, and probably the final one of this Blog, I will be bullet listing the highlights of sites and places I saw. This journey has been one wonderful way to spend part of the summer.

Back Home Again in Indiana....

2008-07-21T19:44:00.000-04:00

Monday evening, July 21st:

A blog update from earlier this a.m. About one half hour ago, (6:30 p.m. c.s.t.) I crossed over the Illinois/Indiana state line on U.S. 52/24 at my odometer reading of 82,890-- 7,588 miles from when I left Clinton on June 4. I am in Kentland, Indiana (Newton County) at their public library, using their Gates Foundation Public Access Computer, as they do not have wifi. This is a small, Carnegie library about 5 miles inside the state line. This library is still on Central time (upper northwest Indiana stays with Chicago). I am only three or four miles north of the Eastern time zone in Benton County (Fowler, county seat). I will be using some of my time tomorrow just to "drop in" on two or three of the public libraries that were in my ALSA (library network area) when I lived in Crawfordsville, IN before moving to TN.

It has been good to see green cornfields through Iowa, Illinois, and now Indiana. John Deere is every where!! I saw a billboard that asked: Do you dream in yellow and green?

Mendota, and in pursuit of covered bridges and Chicagoland Speedway

2008-07-21T14:03:00.000-04:00

Sunday, July 20 (Moon Day—1969)

I arrived at the First Presbyterian Church of Mendota, Illinois about 15 minutes before worship. Walking in the door, I was greeted by the Pastor. His expression told me we had met before, and I too had this feeling we had met before. I introduced myself, and mentioned that I was taking a long way back to TN from General Assembly. Then he remembered: not only were we both Commissioners to General Assembly, we served on the same General Assembly Committee, #14 Review of Permanent General Assembly Committees. Now folks, things like this “just don’t happen.”

The First Presbyterian Church in Mendota had been organized in the 1860's. The present building was built in 1898. Its interior woodwork is oak. Of course, I am always “into” the stained glass windows. I was given a copy of a small booklet that had been produced about their stained glass windows. The church was celebrating its new addition complete with elevator and handicapped bathrooms. Two ladies were present in worship this morning that had not been able to attend for along time. The elevator has allowed them to come back. The pastor made the point that this was the real reason they were celebrating---that folks will be able to attend who have not been able to in the past. Amen.

Having seen a postcard picture the day before of the Red Bridge, I went off to Princeton—a 26 mile detour from U.S. 52. When coming into town, I had pulled over to take a picture of the town sign and thought that I had run over something that might have damaged my tire. Putting the van’s flashers on, a policeman driving by stopped to ask if everything was o.k. Looking at the van, I explained to him why I stopped, but the tire looked o.k. I asked him for directions to the bridge. He told me the town now has two bridges, including one built in 2006. He gave me very good directions to both. Arriving at the Red Bridge, I found it in good shape with a little park beside it. But, no sign to announce how old it was, and the date was not painted above its opening. Backtracking to the new one, I found the Captain Swift Bridge. Beside it was a nice paved parking area. Two ladies on bicycles told me that believed it had been named after an older gentleman who had lived on adjoining land for a long time. I mentioned that it is unusual to see new covered bridges. They shared that a bridge needed to be replaced; apparently the county decided it was as cheap to build a covered bridge as it would be build a concrete bridge. Ummm. The bridge has stone abutments and bricked approaches to the bridge on the roadway. The bridge had been constructed using the Burr Arch design. It was a find. The citizens of Princeton and the county should be very proud of their new bridge.

Coming back into Mendota, I found that the old Carnegie Library was open. The building now houses a historical collection. I found some old documents about the Presbyterian Church as well as some others. There was a large, well archived photograph collection of the area that one could spend a whole day perusing. This Carnegie building, built in 1904 had both a fireplace and a front lawn equaling one-half of a city block. Mendota is the home of the National Sweet Corn Festival. The ladies inside shared with me that the lawn is the site of the flee market under big tents. Umm, shades of Rockville, Indiana and their Covered Bridge Festival.

Leaving Mendota, traveling due south, and then east on U.S. 52, I came to Chubby’s Corner, a restaurant/bar that looked lonely because there wasn’t any NASCAR race for folks to watch on their big screen TV this afternoon. However, what made me stop was their sign out front announcing “The World’s Largest Ham Sandwich.” Well, it was large—like the ones at Shapiro’s Deli in Indy, but made with very thin sliced ham. Served with potato chips and pickles, it was certainly good and cheaper than those at Shapiro’s. The sandwich with good, brewed ice tea was $5.50.

Coming to Joliet, I missed a turn and found myself on U.S. 30 and U.S. 6. Having to retrace my route to U.S. 52 and then going the correct way, I found myself at a drawbridge at the Des Planes River, at the time it was raising for a boat to cross under it. What a mechanical movement to draw the road pavement straight up. Continuing on, it looked on my map that I would go past the Chicagoland Speedway. I was hoping to get there before dark, but I had to turn back to Illinois 53 to approach it and it was getting dark. I never did find a sign on the highway that said “Chicagoland.” What I found was “Route 66 Raceway.” Pulling in going toward the grandstands, it was obvious by the trash that an event had taken place that day. Some souvenir trailer staff was still packing away their souvenirs. They explained that the Raceway was the dragstrip and a ¼ clay track, but the Chicagoland Speedway was part of the complex also. I could see the large grandstands, but could not get to them, passing them the first time. Going back, I did find the approach road and then, finally, a sign that said “Chicagoland Speedway.” I also found a security guard. I was explaining to her why I was driving around. We talked racing for awhile. So, from covered bridges to racetracks, my trip from Mendota was a good one.

I am at a McDonalds this a.m. (Monday) waiting for storms to pass. There was a gully washer last night. I should be “Back Home Again in Indiana” sometime later this afternoon, getting to the state line, then joining up with U.S. 41 for a short distance, and also crossing U.S. 24.

More Iowa Churches to Mendota, Illinois

2008-07-21T13:58:00.000-04:00

Saturday, July 19:

Starting out the day from Dubuque, Iowa, I followed U.S. 52 south from downtown. Crossing a bridge, I came upon a Recreational Area, entitled the Mines of Spain. Being curious, I took a left. What I found first a mystery of the name. Coming upon a fisherman, he told me this land went from the French to Spanish control in 1792, but the French had mined lead before the American Revolution. So, the mines were lead mines. Then, the best part—he told me to go farther and I would come to a view of the Mississippi, the town of Dubuque, and the grave monument of Julien Dubuque, himself. His monument is in the shape of a castle piece in a chess set.

Tracing my way back to U.S. 52, GRAPE and I headed down the highway with the Mississippi River basically to our left. We came upon a couple of small towns named after the Roman Catholic Church that was the town’s focal point. The first, Saint Catherine’s, (not spelled the same way as my Aunt Kate’s name) was not open. An interesting side observation: the name of the town, road to the church, and church sign all spelled “Catherine.” The cornerstone of the church stated: Saint Catharina, 1887. The second town and church I came to was Saint Donatus. This church was open. Walking inside, I found myself among vaulted ceilings with stencils, elaborate alter pieces, and narrow stained glass windows with each focusing on one of the apostles. This church building, being finished in 1908 is one hundred years young. From its sturdiness in looks, it will be around for another 100 years. Contrast that with our “throw away” stadiums and arenas in today’s cities such as in Indianapolis.

At Bellevue, Iowa there is a Subway Sandwich Shop restaurant that must have the best views outside their building of any Subway’s franchises. The Subway is built on a bluff above the Mississippi River at the site of Lock and Dam #12. The building has a deck that one can go eat their sandwich and watch barges being put into the locks for the water to be raised. This process allows barges to continue to float down Ol’ Man River.

As I was ready to go drive east on U.S. 52 over the river to Illinois on one of those boring, modern-day bridges, I looked back to the west on Iowa S.R 64 to find what I thought was a small country church. Turns out it was a modern day Iowa Welcome Center made in the shape and looks of a little white one room school house. Going inside, it was complete with the appropriate school desks, blackboard, and pot bellied stove of the day. It was so cute.

Crossing over into Illinois, I headed toward Mendota, Illinois, passing through Dixon along the way. Dixon, Illinois is “advertised” as Ronald Regan’s Boyhood Home. However, the sign on “boyhood home” indicated he only lived there three years. The house was closed, and maybe there are other homes in the town where he lived. If not, I am not sure but, Dixon maybe doing some false advertising. However, the local public library building with a date of 1900 at its top, does give acknowledgement that Ronald Regan, in 1920, at nine years of age, was issued library card number 3695, “becoming a frequent library visitor and avid reader during his Dixon years.”

Traveling on to Mendota, I stopped for the night so that I could attend the Presbyterian Church the next morning. When I found the church, I discovered what time the service was by the sign in front that turns: one side for 9 am worship in the summer, one side for 10 am worship during the rest of the year.

Prairie du Chen to Dubuque, Iowa—Effigy Mounds and the Mississippi River

2008-07-19T00:09:00.001-04:00

Friday, July 18: first, let me share with you that I have posted some pictures tonight that actually are a part of older posts. I have had the Mcdonald's wifi in Dubuque, Iowa to do this. It's not fast, but at least it is available. Hope you like the pictures from last Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday. You have to scroll down past this post, and the next one about Thursday, July 17.

Today was mostly a driving day, leaving Prairie du Chen, WI and crossing back over the Mississippi River to Marquette and McGregor, IA. After driving around those two towns some, I headed north three miles to Effigy Mounds National Monument. Here I was able to drive the back roads to some ancient Indian mounds that a civilization a long time ago created in simple shapes of bears and birds, cones and links. There was a short walk out to an overlook of the Mississippi River, looking back toward Prairie du Chen. Going back to Marquette, I found a restaurant that made me some yummy fried potatoes (not exactly like my Grandma Cobb’s, but still yummy.). The homemade chicken salad sandwich on toasted wheat bread wasn’t bad either. Leaving Marquette, IA on U.S. 18 West, I headed back to U.S. 52. Traveling through small towns, I happened on to some more pre-1900 Roman Catholic churches, and an interesting garden with Roman Catholic religious icons of Saints and the Apostles.

I found a McDonalds here in Dubuque, where I am using their wifi. However, I am fighting my fingers from freezing with a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt with a hood to fight off the air conditioning blowing on me. I can’t move from this spot very far, because of the outlet being here—the only one in the seating area.

First Day of Rain, more Iowa that I Expected

2008-07-19T00:03:00.000-04:00

Thursday, July 17:

Staying in the little town of Cresco last night, I woke up this a.m. to real rain. Not heavy, but enough to use the wipers more than on intermittent. Believe it or not, since I began this trip on June 14th, 7,195 miles ago, this is the first real rain I have encountered. After having oatmeal and a cinnamon roll for breakfast at Suzy-Q’s, I started driving back to U.S. 52 (Cresco is on State Road 9 in Iowa.) However, I quickly came upon the Cresco Public Library—still in its Carnegie building of 1914. Going inside, I checked out (pardon the library pun) the inside of the building with its distinctive wood and stained glass windows that had been preserved. The building had an addition added; tasteful designed to match the original Carnegie in wood and design lines.

The library staff and I had a chat, which included how I got the idea for following a United States Highway from the start/end point. I told them about reading William Least-Heat Moon’s book, Blue Highways, more that twenty years ago. His idea of traveling the highway colored blue on the road maps of the day, I morphed into following a United States Highway and staying off the Interstates as much as possible. I read them my favorite line from the book: “the 42,500 miles of the straight and wide could lead to hell for all I cared; I was going to stay on the three million miles of bent and narrow rural American two-lane roads….”

Leaving Cresco, I headed back up to Harmony, MN to pick up U.S.52. This was not the most direct way to U.S. 52, but it is essentially where I “detoured to go to Mason City, Iowa.” South of Harmony, at the Minnesota/Iowa state line, was the State Line United Methodist little country Church and its cemetery. It was on the Minnesota side.

Passing quickly through the town of Prosper, because there was not much to it, I came to Burr Oak, Iowa. This is a small town where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived a few years with her family, helping to run a boarding house. It was not a good time for Laura so she never wrote about her experiences there in her Little House series of books. One starts the tour at an old bank building across the street from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. In the museum, many period pieces, including some of Laura’s, are displayed. As a boarding house, twenty people could stay a night in a total of four bedrooms. The Ingalls family of five lived in one room. Ma Ingalls and the girls did the cooking for the guests in the boarding house. It is a side of Laura’s life that is not shared in the books, and, as I recall, was not part of the TV series.

Upon recommendation of the tour guide, I found an interesting restaurant in Decorah for a late lunch, including graham cracker pie. The only place I would find graham cracker pie before this week was Barbara Fritchie’s Restaurant in Fredrick, Maryland. Within two days, I have found it on this trip. The other place for graham cracker pie was in Austin, MN in the restaurant where I had the Spamburger.

Also, upon the recommendation of the Wilder Museum tour guide, I made a small detour off of U.S. 52 into Spillville, IA late in the afternoon. Spillville is a predominantly Czech town of about 400 people, which was founded in 1854 by Joseph Spielman. Although the first few settlers were German, like Spielman, the majority to follow were Bohemian and Czechoslovakian. They all immigrated to the site lovingly called "Little Switzerland" and made it their home. There I found the Bily Clocks Museum. Two brothers, Frank and Joseph Bily (pronounced bee lee) were Czech farmers. When they were idle in farm work, they set about carving and creating elaborate wooden clocks, beginning in 1913. There is no way to describe the details that were created in these works of art. No pictures were allowed, so postcards will have to do. Also, the second floor of the building was the home of the famous Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak, and his family during the summer of 1893. The building’s first floor housed his friend’s tin shop. The Bily Clocks were moved to the building in 1946. Within the St. Wenceslaus Church’s graveyard, where the two Bily brothers are buried, are elaborate metal crucifix tomb markers. They reminded me of the ones Bridgie and I saw in Victoria, Kansas on our trip passing through there in 1981.

While in Spillville, I visited the public library (not a Carnegie). The library was going to close in twenty minutes, so I only had time to read and respond to a few emails.

Driving through the town of Ossian, IA, “advertised” was a public restroom and phone. The sign led me to just that, built and available as part of the City Office Building and Library. The door was opened to the very well kept restroom and phone in the lobby. I made use of both. I drove away thinking, “Umm, I wish more towns off the Interstate would be so accommodating.

I drove across the Mississippi River across McGregor, IA into Prairie du Chen, Wisconsin. Being told there was a McDonalds, I was hoping for wifi access, but none was available. So, I wrote my day’s adventures into a Microsoft Word document, ready to copy into the blog when I found wifi again.

In spite of my trip’s first day of cloudy skies all day, it was a very good day.

the Music Man's home

2008-07-18T23:29:00.001-04:00

These pictures illustrate the hometown of Meredith Willson, Mason City, has honored him--as he honored his hometown as the bases for River City, Iowa within his work, The Music Man.

The table top is one in the local McDonalds, as well as the room divider. The marching band is inside a local bank building. The River City streetscape is inside the building with the inscription from Seventy-Six Trombones around its top. The museum is inside this building also. The complex of this building, his boyhood home, and statue in a small park is all encompassed into The Music Man Square. It was a really a special place to visit for me, who absolutely loves The Music Man.

Fremont's Sacred Heart Church

2008-07-18T23:02:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share these pictures of this beautiful and BIG Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Freeport, MN, a town of 565 people, according to the sign at the town's edge. This church was finished in 1906. This church would rival Sacred Heart Church, near my home in Indianapolis.

As you might guess, the town's moto is: the town with smiling faces.

Pictures of FPC in Osakis, MN and Sinclair Lewis' home

2008-07-18T22:33:00.000-04:00

Here are pictures of the First Presbyterian Church in Osakis, MN where I attended worship last Sunday, June 13. In Saux Centre, I found the home of American Author Sinclair Lewis. His novel of Main Street had a bases of characters from his home town of Saux Centre. There was a well done Lewis Interpretive Center there. You might want to go back to my post of Sunday, July 13 to re-read about my getting there.

Catching up with some pictures--original route of U.S. 52 on Saturday, July 12

2008-07-18T22:03:00.000-04:00

Above are pictures of some places I saw on the old route of U.S. 52 between Moorehead and Saux Center, MN last Saturday. The store was in Sabin, at the beginning of my route. This store's name and logo verified that I was starting out in the correct direction. The "cow family" was enjoying the day near the park in Rothsay, MN where I stopped to have lunch. Ray's Oil Company had been on Main Street in Dalton, MN since 1932, when U.S. 52 was the route right past his store. His grandson was there now, but an older gentleman who was with him verified the route for me. The Viking Speedway was a quarter-mile dirt track that was having races later in the evening, but, alas, I didn't think I had better stay that late and still find a proper place to spend that night.

Trouble, right here in River City. Trouble with a capital "T", that rhymes with "P," and that stands for POOL....

2008-07-16T19:21:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, July 16:

Well, you might guess that I am in Mason City, Iowa--The "River City, Iowa" of the musical /movie, The Music Man. Some of you know me well enough to know that my very favorite movie is The Music Man with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones, which premiered in 1962. It is based on the Broadway play and music written by Meredith Willson. Mason City, Iowa, is the boyhood home of Meredith Willson.

Let me backup. This morning, on the motel TV, the local station covered Rochester, MN; Albert Lea, MN and Mason City, Iowa. I heard that, and "ding" thought "that is Meredith Willson's hometown" and "it can't be that far away." So, after consulting the map, I made a decision to head south and west from Spring Valley, MN.

It took awhile to get here because of a road detour. But, because of the detour, I went past the Congregational Church built in 1890-1894 that the song, "Church in the Wildwood" (the Little Brown Church in the Vale) was written for.

So, arriving in River , ugh Mason City, Iowa, I was able to tour Meridith Willson's boyhood home, and a museum. The museum is build as a part of a streetscape that includes the Pool Hall, the River City High School, Madison Public Park with its footbridge, Mrs. Paroo and Marion's house, but, sadly, not the Madison Public Library. ( This real public library of Mason City is right across the street from Meredith Willson's house, but I can't believe they didn't include it for that reason. This may remain a mystery.)

I saw a thirty minute film on the making of the film, The Music Man, narrated by Shirley Jones. I met some very cool ladies of Mason City, including one who has been to the Indy 500 a number of times.

So, now I will head back toward U.S. 52 and continue my journey to Dubuque and then crossing the Mississippi into Illinois.

SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM,

2008-07-16T19:14:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, July 15:

Heading back toward U.S. 52, south of Rochester, I stopped today at the SPAM Museum. Now, don’t laugh! It was actually very cool. It was opened in 2002. As part of the Hormel Meats complex in Austin, Minnesota, the museum has historical displays, samples of print and media advertising—the old TV commercials were especially fun, a fun movie, and explanations of how the factory process works to put out all of those SPAM cans in the grocery stores. And, of course, it has the obligatory gift shop and samples of SPAM to be eaten

Although it has the Monte Python skit, using the word “SPAM” more than you ever want to hear, no reference is made to the use of the word “Spam” referring to unwanted emails. The museum guides shared their theory of why--because the connection of the word SPAM to unwanted email may be one of those urban legends, and can’t be verified. The other thought of “Spam” refers to the fact that no one who had to eat SPAM so much, like soldiers of WWII, doesn’t want any SPAM to eat now. Thus “spam” emails are those not wanted.

Moving on back to U.S. 52, I got stopped this evening, opting for a motel so I could watch the MLB All-Star Baseball Game. I especially wanted to see the pre-game ceremonies, as members of the Baseball Hall of Fame were going to be introduced. As I am writing this paragraph in Microsoft Word, the game is in the top of the 12th inning, tied. Writing the text in Microsoft Word, allows me to “dump it” into the post of my blog, whenever I get to where wifi is available tomorrow, hopefully a public library, a McDonalds, or a college library when I get to Dubuque Iowa tomorrow night.

Saint Cloud to Minneapolis, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church;

2008-07-16T19:08:00.000-04:00

Monday, July 14:

After feeling so smug about being able to find the original route of U.S. 52 from Moorehead to St. Cloud, I was not able to repeat the feat to Minneapolis. I had my suspicions, but was relegated to go on I-94, to downtown Minneapolis. However, on a “tip” from a fellow wifier at a McDonalds, I went to see the Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. This church, which will play a part in the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in 2010, was open for a tour. The church has a membership of about 2,900 and a building to match. I learned that one of the rose windows had been taken apart, piece by piece, and restored. Also, the chapel just received a brand new organ. Suffice it to say, I hope I get to come back and worship at this church, at least within a couple of years.

After my church visit, I decided to go research in the map collection of the Minneapolis Public Library within their new building as of 2006. I missed one detail. The new library WAS CLOSED ON A MONDAY!! Apparently, the money was given to build the new building, but not enough to staff it. Uuuggghhh. What was sooo weird was the coffee shop was open, people were going in and out of its lobby (a city-block long) as a cut-thru, and all of the lights were on.

Moving on out of Minneapolis, on U.S. 52, picked up on the southeast side of town; I headed toward Rochester, MN. Arriving there (after a stop at a Dairy Queen for a “Thin Mint” Blizzard—mint ice cream and Girl Scout Cookies). Going to the downtown library at Rochester, open until 9 p.m. yielded some info about how U.S. 52 was routed in Minneapolis at one point before all the Interstates were completed.

Leaving Rochester, I headed west on I-90 for a new Flying J Travel Center, listed as being opened in June, 2008. Trouble was, it wasn’t. No problem in terms of having somewhere to spend the night, as there was both a Love’s and a TA Travel Center at that same exit. But, I don’t have a wifi account with those folks.

Towns of the Original Route of U.S. 52, from Moorhead to St. Cloud, MN

2008-07-14T00:53:00.000-04:00

Greetings from St. Cloud, Minnesota, this pretty Sunday evening:

The last two days, with the help of state and detailed county maps, local folks with wisdom and memories; as well as intuition, I have been traveling through the towns of the route of U.S. 52, before the coming of Interstate 94. The interstate now makes most of these towns a “travel stop” on the normal drive between the North Dakota/Minnesota state line and St. Cloud, MN.

Leaving Moorhead, I arrived at Sabin on, now, County Road 52. Coming into Sabin, I knew I was starting correctly when I found the “Old 52 General Store.” Talking with the owner gained me good info about my itinerary. She gave me info on county road numbers that would change, but yet remain the roadbeds of U.S. 52. A bonus to being in her store was the acquisition of packs of Beemans Gum (hard to find now). At Baker, a Presbyterian Church road sign led me to one of those “country churches” that looks like it should. After Barnesville and Lawndale, I found the city park in Rothsay to have a lunch break. It happened that the little kids of the town were being treated to fun on those inflated slides and bouncing rooms. Families were having a good time together on a Saturday afternoon. Nearby, in a pasture, a “cow family” was enjoying time together. Continuing on, traveling through Elizabeth, Fergus Falls, Dalton, Ashby, and Evansville. In Brandon, in the late afternoon sun, sitting off by the nearby Interstate 94 interchange, was a small motel. With the sun shining on its clean appearance and no cars in front of it, I was reminded of the “Cozy Cone Motel” of the movie CARS—a small lodging in a small town being bypassed by travelers on the Interstate, waiting until they get to the “big box motels” of the larger cities. Garfield was west of Alexandria and Osakis east. West Union was east of Osakis, and west of Saux Centre. I stopped for the night in Sauk Centre, the hometown of the author, Sinclair Lewis. This morning, I backtracked to Osakis (pronounced “O-say-kiss”) to attend worship at the First Presbyterian Church. The present building, built in 1964, replaced a building built in 1906 on the same spot. Yes, they were able to save and incorporate the original stained glass windows. After lunch, and with their knowledge and confirmation of the remainder of the route to St. Cloud, I traveled on east. But, first, I went back to Saux Centre, I stopped to visit the Sinclair Lewis Interpretive Center and find his boyhood home. Traveling through Melrose, I had a “find” in Freeport, “the City of Smiling Faces”—according to their billboard at town’s edge, and the smiley face on their water tower. Sacred Heart Church, build in 1905-06, with an amazingly tall steeple was open. I went in to view a beautiful sanctuary, with wonderful stained glass windows. There also was a school building built in 1913. This Sacred Heart Catholic Church rivaled Sacred Heart Church in Indianapolis. The difference is that the stated population of Freeport is only 565 people! Then, traveling on to the next town of Albany, I discovered the Seven Dolors Catholic Church almost the same size and beautiful inside. Avon, with its large Catholic Church that I was not able to view inside, played Westminster Chimes from its tower for me. Ending my journey were the larger, and adjoining towns to Saint Cloud were St. Joseph and Waite Park. I arrived in St. Cloud to have dinner at a local restaurant and find this McDonalds to use for wifi services. Tomorrow, I will continue on toward Minneapolis-St. Paul. Then, the current U.S. 52 leaves Interstate 94 and heads south toward Rochester and then the Iowa stateline.

I will come back to this post and add some accompanying pictures if this time in McDonald’s allows, but I wanted to get the text added first. I have discovered that, for me, doing the text in Microsoft Word first, then doing a “copy and paste” into the blog makes writing time easier.

TRNP, Portals to U.S.85 & 52, and the center of the North America

2008-07-12T02:30:00.000-04:00

Hi folks:

It is Friday night late. I have a strong Internet signal at this Flying J in Fargo, North Dakota. But, I am not sure how long I am going to last in here. The air conditioning is going strong. So, this might be shorter than I would wish.

First, July 9th: from Beach, North Dakota, I got off the Interstate and visited the southern portion of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This park incorporates land that Roosevelt owned. Among other things, this park has a scenic drive that is awesome. That is what I did mostly, stopping to have a picnic lunch along the way. The best part was all of the cute, little prairie dogs along the way. The colors of the scenery was second. Other animals of buffalo, deer, and horses were seen.

Afterwards, making it to Williston, for the first time on this trip, I did the "stay in the Walmart parking RV lot" that folks always mention. Don't worry. I wasn't the only one there. As a matter of fact, there was a little village of us. One poor little camper somehow had made it there minus one tire. It was being replaced early in the morning.

This was not in the original plan, but I was so close to the northern beginning of U.S. 85, I made my way to the Canadian/U.S. boarder. Thus, the picture you will see with two feet and a straight line. Backtracking toward U.S. 52, I came up on the town of Fortuna, ND. It is the first town in the U.S. on 85. According to the postmistress, the official population is 12. She was sad to report that the only reason the town and postoffice was still there was because of the grain elevator in the town doing business. There was one tavern as well.

Turning east at Fortuna and traveling ND 5, brought me to my goal of being on U.S. 52.

Portal, ND is a larger town, with a larger post office, and not-so-friendly boarder inspectors. More about them, if you ask me. At both portals, the same kind of markers exist, but there is no painted line across the road at Portal, ND. Unlike U.S. 1 in Key West, FL the U.S 85 and 52 signs do not say "begin" and "end" ---just the first sign for "South" (85) and "East" (52), and the opposite on the other side of the road.

Driving along, I would see these fields of bright yellow on top of a green crop. Today, stopping at an Agricultural office, I was told that the crop is canola (where we get canola oil--better for us when we cook stuff in it.) The yellow is the flower of the plant, and it is only in bloom for a couple of weeks--at this time of the year. The plants are harvested in the late fall using a combine, like corn.

After staying the night in Minot, ND at a travel center, today, I had to take a detour off of U.S. 52 to go to Rugby, North Dakota. It has been determined that Rugby, North Dakota is the geographical center of North America. There is an obelisk to mark the spot, along with the U.S., Canadian, and Mexican flags. There was really no explanation that I found on how this spot was to be determined the geographical center. Ummm, more research is needed.

Rugby was a neat little town, complete with a public library that has an official name of "The Heart of America Library." Inquiring how and when the library got its name, the assistant could not tell me. Ummm, more research.

Leaving Rugby, going back to U.S. 52, I followed it east as much as possible, including the towns where U.S. 52 went through before Interstate 94 was built. I found some interesting court houses, and churches, and other buildings along the way. In Bowbells, ND late on Thursday, I found a Dutch Windmill. A sign in a restaurant stated that people establishing land claims in and near Bowbells were from Indiana.

Well, I need to attach the pictures, and leave this Flying J restaurant before my nose turns into an ice cube.

Made it to my 49th State !!

2008-07-09T13:16:00.000-04:00

Good morning from Beach, North Dakota.

I crossed into North Dakota after dark last night. But when I got out of the van to take a picture of the stateline sign, I turned off the van lights, just leaving the flashers on. ( Good people of North Dakota left a parking area on the Interstate to do this sort of thing.) I let my eyes adjust, then looking into the heavens, saw millions of stars in the Milky Way. I let the nightsky star chart come into my head. The moon was not distracting the light. No way to capture that in a picture, but, trust me, an awesome sight. The words to the hymn, "How Great thou Art" came into my head.

On the way to the North Dakota stateline, I stopped at Pompy's Pillar. It is a National Monument now, but was a landmark for Willam Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expeditions. He left a signature that is still visible on July 25, 1806. There is a new Interpretative Visitor's Center there.

I am leaving the Interstate for at least a couple of days, heading toward the Canadian boarder and U.S. 52 to begin my trip southeast down that U.S. highway. I will stop at the Flying J in Fargo, N.D. to re-group and use my Flying J wifi account. But, who knows I may find wifi before that. After all, I found it in Custer, Montana last night, population 145, according to the sign on the highway.

5,000 miles marker near Midwest, Wyoming

2008-07-08T13:55:00.000-04:00

Good Morning from Billings, Montana:

I am taking a break from driving this a.m. to sit here in the Flying J parking lot. I am able to use my Flying J wifi account to use my computer. But, the real reason I am sitting here is to listen to my Sirius Satellite Radio for awhile. On the NASCAR channel, they are doing a special program from Petty Enterprises in North Carolina. They are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Richard Petty's first race in Columbia, South Carolina on July 12, 1958. I can do two things at once.

Yesterday, on I-25 at mile marker 217, between Casper, and, believe it or not, Midwest, Wyoming my odometer turned to 80,302. This marks 5,000 miles since I pulled out from my house in Clinton.

I will be in Beach, North Dakota tonight at the Flying J. This is just at the North Dakota/Montana state line. From there, tomorrow, I will go up to the Theodore Roosevelt National Monument in North Dakota, leaving the Interstate for awhile, as I head on up to Portal, North Dakota at the Canadian boarder. This is my goal to start driving at that spot, the very northern start of U.S. 52, and follow it all the way southeast, staying off the Interstate as much as possible. U.S. 52 ends in Charleston, South Carolina. I can't go all the way to Charleston, South Carolina on this trip. I will stop in Indianapolis. U.S. 52, before the Interstates, coming from Kentland and Lafayette, Indiana was Lebanon Road, Zionsville Road, then Lafayette Road coming into downtown Indianapolis. Leaving Indy, toward Cincinnati, U.S. 52 was and Brookville Road. I am posting some pics from yesterday. The town pictures, including the "Johnson County Courthouse" (for my cousins) are scenes from Bufflo, Wyomig.

Attention, Walmart Shoppers

2008-07-08T13:46:00.000-04:00

Between Casper, WY and Billings, Montana I was thinking I forgot to tell you all what I saw in Salt Lake City.

I was driving to Walmart, but coming in from the back and side of the building, so I didn't actually see the parking lot until I got right to it. This Walmart in Salt Lake City had a TWO FLOOR, COVERED PARKING GARAGE, attached right to the front side of the building. I walked in, then saw the escalators to the top floor of the parking lot, with a special mechanism to take the shopping carts up to the second floor. This mechanism was right in the middle of the "up" and the "down" escalators. I wish that I had went back to my van to get the camera to take a picture of it, but I didn't. I did mention to the Walmart Greeter that I was surprised about the set up. She said a lot of people comment about it, and she thinks it may be the only Walmart set up like this in the country. (Now some of you may be thinking, "doesn't take much to entertain her.)

Sunday at Farmer Presby Church and Mormon Mission

2008-07-07T02:34:00.000-04:00

Hi again, late Sunday night:

This a.m., I attended worship at the Farmer Memorial Presbyterian Church in Rawlins, WY. The church is in between pastors, and their interim pastor's last Sunday with them was last weekend. A Commissioned Lay Pastor--almost with completed studies---Virginia Senne was in the pulpit this Sunday. Virginia, and her husband Roger, have made trips to led worship at pastorless churches in rural areas of Australia since 2000.

After church, I was invited to join the church group for lunch. Sound familiar, FPCOR folks? They sent me off with a small loaf of bread, and instructions that the non-interstate road to Casper would be good driving. Works for me. I was sharing with them that I had difficulty finding the church, hoping there would be a sign. Well, Judy T. shared that the sign had just been taken down, anticipating the new sign that had just arrived. You may be able to see it sitting, still wrapped, in front of the entrance doors of the church building. We had a good laugh over the sign not being up quite yet to help me find the church.

I stopped at an historic site of one of the spots on the Mormon Trail---the path that a group of Mormons used to go west from Iowa and Illinois to Salt Lake City. The story that is told at this site, on a former ranch, sure makes one appreciate our good roads and good cars to travel in.

Arriving at Casper, WY about 7 p.m. tonight, I encountered my first significant rain shower of this whole trip--since leaving TN on June 4.

Tomorrow (Monday), after doing some laundry, I am off to Billings, Montana.

Fireworks on the Fourth at Lagoon Admusement Park

2008-07-07T01:56:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Casper, WY:

It is Sunday night late, Monday morning on the East coast already.

But, I need to go back and tell you about how I spent the afternoon and evening of the Fourth of July at the Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah. Twenty-seven years ago to the day I was there with my friend, Bridgie Brelsford. Well, the amusement park still has the roller coasters which I did not ride, but the Scrambler, dodge'm cars, sky lift, train, Farris wheel, and the 110 year old carousel, which I did. There were also the newer "spin till you puke" rides, as well as a couple of good stage shows---one based on songs from Broadway stages.

It still had the Pioneer Village and a small zoo, complete with a camel, zebra, and other assorted animals.

When Bridgie and I were there in 1981, it was the first time I had ever seen, or at least noticed, an arcade game of "Wack-a-Mole." I was please to see that "Wack-a-Mole" still held a prominent place on the main walkway in from the entrance gate. (This past spring, at the Food City party before the Bristol spring race, a variation of the game was there---"Wack-a-Germ" sponsored by Clorox Bleach.)

The fireworks were set to music to finish off the evening. They were good, but not as good as the ones we saw 27 years ago--that fell around us, or the fireworks that finish off the Knoxville Symphony Concert at the World's Fair Park.

After all of the fun at the park, I went on up the road about twenty miles to spend the night in Ogden, UT. Left Ogden on Saturday morning to arrive at Rawlins, WY Saturday night, after stopping to eat at Little America, WY and discovered they had the Nascar race from Daytona on their TV.

from Rawlins, WY because of NASCAR

2008-07-06T03:26:00.000-04:00

Hi gang:

I mentioned that I was going to be in Cheyenne, Wyoming by tonight (Saturday). Well, I fell a little short in my goal. I am in Rawlins, Wyoming. I played along parts of the Lincoln Highway, U.S. 30, which most of I-80 buries. I actually found one original Lincoln Highway marker on the east outskirts of Lyman, WY. But when I got to Little America to eat supper, I happened to walk past a part of the restaurant where a TV was turned to the NASCAR race at Daytona. So, instead of driving on, I took the time to watch the race with some guys. But, as it happens, on of the guys was knowledgeable of and an experienced photographer for the Bonneville Salt Falts race course. So he answered some of my questions.

I am going to attend the France Memorial Presbyterian Church here in Rawlins tomorrow a.m. before continuing my journey to Cheyenne.

Bonneville and a new friend from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

2008-07-04T17:23:00.000-04:00

Happy Fourth of July everybody:

Yesterday morning, I left Wells, NV and headed for Salt Lake to have my oil changed in my van. (I had put a little more than 3,000 miles on it since I had the oil change while visiting Mark and Barb Tucker in Abilene, TX.) But first, I had to make a stop at the site of the Bonneville International Speedway. Just off of I-80 at exit 4 in UT, it is an historic site where land speed records have been set. Yesterday, I and a few other folks came just to view the place, only marked by the end of a paved road and a sign. Beyond that was white sand marked with tire tread marks. The view is so empty that you can see the curvature of the earth.

Arriving in Salt Lake, I had made an appointment at Larry Miller Dodge Chrysler. Turns out Larry Miller owns numerous car dealerships in multiple states, as well as the Utah Jazz. Now, I know where the "Miller" in Miller Motorsports Park in Memphis comes from. (Nascar fans: Larry Miller is another "Rick Hendrick.")

After getting my oil changed, I headed for Temple Square. I have been there twice, but this time I attended the regular rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The public is welcome to attend for an hour and one half. Unlike when I have been here before, there is a 21,000 seat Conference Center where the Choir performs during the busy tourist summer months. They still use the Tabernacle at other times.

On the way back to my van, I was talking to a member of the Choir. I was telling her how much I appreciated their music. The member, Susie Butler, invited me to stay with her in her apartment, where my van was parked across the street from her building. Susie was so gracious, and patient with all my questions about the choir. She shared that the choir practices on Thursday nights for two hours, then on Sunday morning beginning at 7:30 a.m. before their Sunday morning broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word. Then they practice after the program has finished. Susie sent me off with a couple of the Choir's CDs, some carrots to munch on, and some yummy gingersnaps.

This a.m., I went back to the Conference Center to take a tour of the facility. It was opened in 2000, after taking three years to build. The organ has more than 7,000 pipes. Like in the Tabernacle, the 350 member choir are seated in front of the pipes. The organ console is movable, and the entire stage set up for the choir and orchestra can be moved so that a flat stage can be used for theatre with the organ pipes being covered by a back curtain. It truly is an amazing building.

This afternoon, I am headed for the Lagoon Amusement Park and Pioneer Family Campground to visit the park and see fireworks. My friend, Bridgie Brelsford were at the this same park twenty-seven years ago. We saw some of the neatest fireworks ever, because they fell around us. The next morning, being a Sunday, there was a van sponsored by campground that took us back into Temple Square to hear the Music and the Spoken Word Program on July 5. I shared with Susie Butler, that morning was one of those Life Experiences on the "Top Ten List."

re-grouped this a.m., almost to Utah tonight

2008-07-03T02:28:00.000-04:00

hi folks:
tonight (Wednesday) I am in Wells, Nevada. Tomorrow I will be heading to Salt Lake City. But, first thing when I cross over the state line, I am going to detour off I-80 a bit to go see the Bonneville Speedway, or see what I can of it. There is a Bonneville Museum in Wendover, UT, but it doesn't open in time for me to stay there and still make it to Salt Lake to do what I want to do. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get into the rehearsal for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Thursday evening. I was told the rehearsals are open to the public, but only so many folks can come in to listen. My friend, Bridge Brelsford where in Salt Lake City and Farmington UT at this very same time in 1982. We saw some of our best Fourth of July fireworks ever at the Lagoon Park in Farmington, UT next to the campground where we stayed overnight. I am going past to see if the park is still as pretty as it was back then. until later, j.

found a covered bridge in CA

2008-07-03T02:14:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody: I think most of you know that I am "into covered bridges."

My friend, Sandy Hiner in Bakersfield, CA, told me about this bridge in one of California's state parks. It was not that far off of I-80, close to a cute little town, Nevada City, CA. Nevada City was a gold mining boom town. Now it is full of little shops, antiques, old restored hotels, and a wonderful little restaurant where I had a yummy dinner Monday evening. I went back to the bridge on Tuesday a.m. when the light was better to take my pictures. It is supposed to be the longest single-span covered bridge left in the U.S. This Bridgeport bridge is listed at 229 feet.

Church of the Roses pics to share

2008-07-02T02:47:00.001-04:00

Greetings again from the Flying J in Winnemucca, NV:

Above are pictures from my worship experience at the Church of the Roses in Santa Rosa, CA on Sunday. For some reason, Google would not let me upload them when I did the post about staying at the church (two blogs ago.) Again, Pastor John Cushman and his wife, Cheryl, pictured above were so welcoming to me. One of the nicest happenings was the acknowledgement of all of those from the church who had attended the General Assembly meeting in San Jose. I was included, and invited to also sign my name, along with the other attendees, to the back of a ceramic plate brought back to the church from General Assembly. Just goes to show you how "connected" Presbyterians can be. Again, check out the church's website at : http://www.churchoftheroses.org

Charles Schultz museum pics I wanted you to see

2008-07-02T02:25:00.000-04:00

Greetings from the Flying J at Winnemucca, NV: (monday evening).

Above is some of the pics I wanted to attach to my post about the Charles Schultz Museum that Google would not let me do the other day (two posts back) The stained glass Snoopys are actually a part of the Warm Puppy Cafe at the ice skating rink. Again, the mural of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown is made from 3,500 individual strips, using the well-placed black backgrounds of some of the strips to make the line drawing. The docent told me that the artist had Jeanne Schultz put the last strip in place to complete the mural. .

The Church of the Roses, Santa Rosa, CA

2008-06-30T16:40:00.000-04:00

On Sunday morning (June 28), I attended the Church of the Roses, a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation, close to the Charles M. Schultz Museum. This church has an interesting history. It started as "The Presbyterian Church in Montgomery Village” on June 21, 1952. The original building was actually built in one day. It was reported to have a wedding also the same day, as soon as the church was built. When you go to the website, www.churchoftheroses.org, be sure to click on the link about its history timeline link at the top of the history page. Then, look at the link about the stained glass windows of the church. My pictures did not do them justice.

One of the interesting things the pastor told me was: instead of being the Presbyterian Church of the Roses, the word "Presbyterian" dropped, so the church would be listed first under "church" in the local phone book. But in their literature, it is clearly known that this is a congregation of the Presbyteian Church (USA).

The Pastor, John Cushman and his wife, Cheryl, were so gracious to me. After going to the Charles Schultz museum, and the Luther Burbank Gardens on Sunday afternoon and evening, dinner, and wifi work at this same McDonalds were I am at now doing this blog, I was invited to come back and use the church parking lot to park for the night. The church has a facility that includes a fully-equipped, wheel chair accessible shower. How cool is that!! The pastor offered its use to me this a.m.

Cheryl Cushman, and a staff, conduct the Rosebud Preschool. Before I left this a.m., I was able to meet one of the other teachers, and a couple of the kiddies as they were coming to school this a.m. I am attaching some pics below of my visit at the Church of the Roses.

Well, for some reason, Blogger is not letting me attach pictures to the blogs. So I will come back to this blog entry, as well as the one about the Charles Schultz Museum and add some pics later. But, be sure to go to the church's website.

Peanuts and the Gang

2008-06-30T16:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, after worship at the Church of the Roses (which I will tell you about in the next blog), I had the best time going to the Charles M. Schultz Museum here in Santa Rosa. (After the museum closed at 5 p.m., I was able to go back to the center of downtown to walk through the Luther Burbank gardens.)

The Schultz complex actually has three major buildings. First the ice rink, including the Warm Puppy Cafe. Charles Schultz was from Minnesota and missed not having a place to ice skate or play hockey, so he had the Ice Arena built for the city of Santa Rosa. Built very close to his office, he would start out the day at the Cafe with coffee, muffin, and watching the skaters. He had a table reserved just for him by the fireplace which is still there today.

After lunch at the Warm Puppy Cafe, I went over to the museum itself. Among original cartoon frames of Peanuts cartoons, is a reproduction of C.M.S.' office with his desk, drawing table, and bookcases with a variety of titles on a variety of subjects within them. Mr. Schultz was widely-read, and in a movie-interview shown felt his funny ideas had to come, in part, from his love for reading.

To me, the most impressive item in the museum, is a mural wall black and white outline drawing of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. This wall is made from 3,588 individual strips arranged in such a way to make this mural.

For a long-time lover of Charlie Brown and the Gang, this museum was a real treat. I remember when I first heard about it, and the comic strip mural, I said to myself, I need to go there someday. Well, yesterday was that day. What a joy.

The third part of the complex, of course, is the inevitable gift shop. Nuff said about that.

Summery info on the GA Committee where I actually was assigned.

2008-06-30T15:46:00.000-04:00

Hi: while I have a McDonalds wifi still available to me this afternoon, I wanted to share a bit about the GA committee where I was assigned.. Our task was to review info, and make recommendations to the GA, concerning two permanent committees and one Commission of the PC(USA). In our committee, we reviewed the Presbyteries' Cooperative Committee on Examination of Candidates (PCCEC). This group is responsible for the ordination exams for office of Minister of Word and Sacrament. We made recommendations to the GA to revise the Book of Order descriptions, listing, and other wording in G-14.0431. Our recommendations were brought to the GA and at 11 p.m. on Thursday (June 26) they were approved. This day of the General Assembly started at 8:30 a.m.

Our committee also reviewed a self-study, relevant surveys and listened to hearing testimony of the work of the Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethic Concerns (ACREC). We made four recommendations which also were approved by the whole GA at the late hour on Thursday night.

And, approved also were five recommendations for the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC). In the testimony given to the committee, plus the extensive self-study document, we concurred with the the commission, among other items, that there is a greater need for technology support for their Commission.

on the scene details of "the vote"

2008-06-30T01:43:00.003-04:00

Hi.

this blog post is especially for Presby folks. I thought you might like to know that the assembly vote was 380 "yes" to 325 "nos" on the vote to delete the current paragraph which requires church officers to "live in within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or single" and replace it with new language. now, that does not mean that the Book of Order will automatically change. This action, like some others taken at the General Assembly will have to be taken back to the 173 Presbyteries for 2/3rds majority approval. Similar proposals in 1997 and 2000 sent to the Presbyteries were rejected. There also was a minority report that some would have hope would have been the recommendation sent to the Presbyteries instead. The General Assembly rejected the minority report on a vote of 319 to 375. When the final vote was taken on the committee's recommendation, the room was silent. No cheering, just silence.

F.Y.I Concerning the counting. We all had electronic push button keypads to use in voting. One would vote within 8 seconds. The screen in the front of the room would give the percentages of yes to no, or 1,2,3 choices in bar graph form, with the actual numbers at the top of the bargraph. It was not used in every vote. Many times, voice votes were adequate. But, on important issues, or when the voice vote result was undetermined, the voting keypads were used.

off to Santa Rosa

2008-06-28T05:08:00.000-04:00

Good 1 am California time morning:

just wanted to let you know I am leaving San Jose tomorrow (Saturday) after the General Assembly closes the sessions. I am going to visit the Charlie Schultz/Peanut museum on Sunday afternoon. The plan is to attend worship and then go on to the museum.

I will try to post again to this blog after I get back from a meeting tomorrow a.m. at the General Assembly. right now I need a bed. judy
z z z z zzzzz

for my Presbyterian folks

2008-06-28T04:58:00.000-04:00

Hi: Today (Friday)at the GA was a loooong day into night. We finished at 11:45 California time. Some quick news: Gradye Parsons was elected Stated Clerk. The ordination motion made it, but the marriage one did not. You know the ones with the "elephant." (Actually the committee voted to disapprove the overture from the Presbytery of Baltimore---so the vote was actually in the positive favor to vote the committee's recommendation. ) The vote on the study of the Belhar Confession made it through the positive vote, with no meaty discussion. I'll hope to give you more details when I can get back to this and it is not 1:10 am California time.

No Time Now

2008-06-27T04:11:00.000-04:00

Hi again, I promised earlier today (Thursday) I would update the blog later tonight. Well , it is now later tonight. It is 1:12 a.m. in the night and I need to go to bed. We have to be back in the General Assembly at 8:30 a.m. We were in our meeting until after 11 pm. Getting back to the hotel, I had to spend time getting organized. Is that possible. I am not sure. Anyway, hopefully before I leave this fast connection, I can get some more neat stuff posted. j

real quick update to GA happenings

2008-06-26T22:12:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody: I am going to have to catch you up later on some cool music that happened yesterday and this a.m. , but, for now, a couple of news bulletins for Presby church folks:
Name changes approved: General Assembly Council to General Assembly Mission Council, and Youth Advisory Delegates (YADs) name change to Young Adult Advisory Delegates (YAADs)
We dealt with the language in the Heidelberg Confession and approved the action of the committee.
all for now. I have 15 minutes to get back to our evening session. I did figure out that if I came over to the Hilton next door to the convention center, I can use their wireless Internet. Picture below is of a hand cut communion table cloth that we used in worship today. j.g.

two days of work in my committee

2008-06-25T01:36:00.002-04:00

Monday and Tuesday, 6-23 and 6-24:

After being one of the overture advocates, asking the Social Issues committee to allow the entire General Assembly to view a documentary film on Living Waters of the World, a program to provide clean water to specific places where it is lacking, I went off to be a part of the committee I where I was assigned. Our group, Review of Permanent GA Committees, had the task to hear testimonies and review written documentation of two standing committees, and one commission of the General Assembly. After the presentations, we were divided into three sub-groups to evaluate the committees and commissions by the information given to us, and to write a summary report, with possible recommendations, that will be presented to the General Assembly. Below is a couple of pics of our group at work. Notice all the laptops. We were required to bring laptops with us, to use PC-Biz, an Intranet created for our work. PC-Biz use is to cut down on the amount of paper we might otherwise use.

Before our committee work began, we participated in a worship service that had a feel of Taize.

You may be wondering about the Scales of Justice as part of the worship set up on the stage of the Civic Auditorium. I realized that I have not shared that the Scripture for this 218th General Assembly is
Mic 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"

On Tuesday morning, some of the folks who are from the Presbytery of East Tennessee got together at 7 am for breakfast.

In the picture, left to right, Ron Sabo, Charles Snodgrass, Carol Schlich, Carl Schlich (the new Interim Presby. Executive), me, Donna Hopstead, Paul Rader, and Sharon Carter. Jonathan Wiesehuegel, Bill Barron, and Harvey White were not present at the time for breakfast.

Wonderful Worship and the rest of the day

2008-06-23T01:47:00.000-04:00

Sunday: This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! And, we certainly did this a.m.---Rejoice in Worship. I could not even begin to describe how wonderful the worship experience was this morning----the music and the choir especially. I can tell you that it was a worship service in two different venues at the same time. Most of the service was live in each venue--the same music, congregational singing, choir anthems, and liturgy. The sermon given by the outgoing Moderator, Joan S. Gray, was delivered by a satellite link to one venue, and live in the other. The same was for the benediction and charge given by the new Moderator. There were 400 chalices and 100 plates used for communion that had been handcrafted by one potter for this service.

I have extra worship service booklets that I will share with different folks after I get back to Clinton.

After worship, I met my friend of 47 years, Rev. Herb Valentine. We went and had lunch in an outdoor restaurant with a couple of his friends, then did some of the exhibits. At 4:45 I was back in our General Assembly meetings listening to folks who were placing in nomination folks who are wishing to be elected as the next Stated Clerk of the General Assembly.

After those presentations, we all viewed a film concerning our relationships and courtesies with folks who have a disability. It was presented in a "Ten Commandments" format with humor. It would be a good video for a church group to present---like a Sunday Evening Supper Club at FPCOR.

After a group supper, we all went to our first session of our assigned committees. We did an interesting ice-breaker where we had to line up according to our month and day date of our birthdays--without speaking aloud to one another. We discovered one of our folks had a birthday today. So a rousing addition of Happy Birthday broke out.

all for now, I have "homework" for tomorrow. judy g

first day business and Bruce Reyes-Chow elected Moderator of the 218th General Assembly

2008-06-22T02:52:00.000-04:00

Our first day of official business at the 218th General Assembly began with a short worship service, followed by reports and presentations by various established offices within the denomination. I also hit the exhibits as much as I could. Learned lots.

Tonight, our primary focus was to elect a new moderator to serve for the next two years. After two ballots, Bruce Reyes-Chow received 55% of the total vote, with 3 other candidates. Rev. Reyes-Chow is a part of the Presbytery of San Franciso. He is the founding pastor of the Mission Bay Community Church. During the question and answer period to the commissioner, I was impressed by his "cutting to the chase" in his answers.

However, he was not my first choice, but my second of the four candidates. I was inspired by the work of another candidate, Carl Mazza, from the New Castle Presbytery. Rev. Mazza is the Director of Meeting Ground. Meeting Ground offers friendship, worship, Bible study, and prayer, emergency meals and transitional housing.

Here is a photo clip I of Rev. Reyes-Chow and myself. I have a short video clip of Rev. Reyes-Chow as he was being installed as Moderator.

All for now. Worship is at 10 am in the morning in two different venues at the same time ??

AFTER 3,442 FUN MILES......

2008-06-21T03:46:00.000-04:00

....I am here. I made it into San Jose proper about 4pm this afternoon (Friday, June 20) checked in to the hotel, brought stuff in, set up the computer, made some phone calls, and went off to my first meeting. The meeting was an orientation for folks who are overture advocates----those speaking in favor of an overature (read like : speaking in favor / support of a motion before a committee).

Thursday night, I parked my van in the parking lot of a cute little Presbyterian church in a pretty little town, Gonzalas, CA.. I went to do some laundry. I happened to see their small library in a shopping center, right across the parking lot from a Dairy Queen. How better can that be!!!

Going into the library, just to "check it out," to my delight I saw an ALA READ Poster hanging---the one with Danica Patrick!

Before I left that area, I took a side trip to the Pinnacles National Monument. It has natural rock formation that apparently is a favorite for rock climbers. I didn't get to see much up on the top except some pretty visitas of the farmland and vineyards in the area.

Stopping in Salinas, CA for a late lunch, I discovered the Black Bear Restaurant. Trust me, it was an experience. The "sides" were a portion that filled a good size soup bowl. An a "piece of pie" was a soup bowl size of cobbler. A "bear claw" was the size of a real bear's claw!!

Some first few pics I have taken in San Jose. All for now, judy

getting my kicks on Route 66

2008-06-19T11:16:00.000-04:00

Good morning: It is actually Thursday morning, but I am catching up. Again, my use of the Internet has been hit and miss. It will get better when I get to stay in San Jose for the week.

On Tuesday, 6-17, in Kingman, I found a very interesting Route 66 museum in a restored building that had been a power house for the area. After eating lunch/supper at Mr. D’s 50’s style café, I headed out toward Needles, CA by the original route of Route 66 over the Black Mountains and Oatman, CA. Driving the Black Mountains and its hairpin turns was not much different than driving TN 61 between Maynardville and Luttrell; or driving up the mountain to Clairfield, TN. Oatman was a short-lived gold rush town, and still has that look, complete with wild burros.

After arriving at Needles, and seeing my first $5.19 sign for regular gas, I went onto the Interstate and stopped for the night at a small, real truck stop in Ludlow, California.

Yesterday, Wednesday, 6-18, I had the absolutely wonderful morning backtracking on Route 66 to Amboy, CA. Amboy, CA is the home of Roy’s Motel and Café, one of the real places left on Route 66 used as a bases for Flo’s Café in the movie, CARS.
I met “Amboy Jack,” a gentleman who works for Albert Okura, the owner of Amboy, CA. Mr. Okura bought the whole town of Amboy a few years ago, and promised the former postmistress that he would restore the town. Across the street, at the Amboy Post office, I met Joan Fuentes. She wanted to know all about Dollywood, and wants to come someday. I hope she does.

From Amboy, I came back to Ludlow, had lunch at the Ludlow Café Coffee shop and went again on Route 66 that literally is beside I-40 for a good part of the route. Stopping at the Bagdad Café close to Newberry Springs was an ice tea and potty break. But, there I met two gentleman from France to do Route 66 (and could afford it, because the dollar exchange is low). The Bagdad Café was originally the Sidewinder Café, but changed its name after it was used as the setting for a movie entitled “Bagdad Café.” Café.”

Arriving at Barstow, CA I found a Juan Pollo restaurant that is owned by Albert Okura. Juan Pollo is a chain of restaurants that features roasted chicken and the side fixings.
At Barstow, I had to turn from Route 66 and head toward Bakersfield. So, Bakersfield is where I am sending this post to my blog.

Well, today, Thursday, from Bakersfield, I will be heading up California Highway 101 toward San Jose. According to my Rand McNally’s it is 244 miles between the two cities. I will need to stop somewhere close enough to San Jose tonight to complete the journey tomorrow. I can’t check into the Wyndham Hotel until after 3pm tomorrow, so I anticipate these two days being a relaxing drive.

Thanks for letting my share my Route 66 journey with you.

Experiencing the power of God's Creation

2008-06-16T12:51:00.000-04:00

Good morning greetings from Flagstaff, Arizona.

Yesterday, after attending a small Presby church in Winslow, Arizona, I had the opportunity to experience and be reminded of God's great handiwork of the heavens. I first went to the Meteor Crater just southwest of Winslow. Then, last night here in Flagstaff, I had the opportunity to visit the Lowell Observatory. We had the opportunity to look at the planet Saturn, with three of its moons, our own moon in the bright sky last night, and some star clusters through a variety of telescopes.

On the facility was a building built as a library for Percival Lowell. His personal collection of books, writings, drawings of the Heavens are all still there and being preserved. It serves now as a museum of original writings, and older telescopes.

It was an awesome experience. I don't know how else to describe it.

some pics:

This observatory building is the one used where a student of Percival Lowell first saw Pluto on a photographic plate attached to a telescope. This is on of three actual observatories open to the public to see. In the bottom picture, is one of the older telescopes used that is now housed in the library building of Percival Lowell. Notice the balcony holding bookcases of books. The building and this room is circular.

Leaving Flagstaff, I am on the way to Kingman, Arizonia, then off the Interstate to do a good portion of the original Route 66 between Kingman and Needles, California. If there is time today, a side detour of the Boulder Dam. Well at 2,330 miles from Clinton and counting. all for now, judy

Four Corners of the U.S.

2008-06-16T12:24:00.000-04:00

Hello from Flagstaff, Arizona: First of all , if you already read my last blog (which I did late at night) you may have caught my "dessert" for "Painted Desert." Thanks Marilyn for catching my mistake. And, of course, spelling checker did not help in that case!!!

I didn't include some pictures of my trip to the "Four Corners" monument---the only place in the U.S. where four states come together: Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. The monument is within the Navajo Indian Nation. It was early evening when I arrived, so the sun was low in the west which made the shadows long. "Four Corners" is about 120 miles north of Gallup, N.M. I will share a couple of pictures here: Seeing these pictures, some may say "well, it doesn't take much to entertain her," but putting my feet in four states at once does something for me. It was well worth the 240 mile detour off of I-40!!

backwards to Abilene, TX and Rosemary Sluder

2008-06-14T23:47:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone: Today, (Saturday) I left Gallup, N.M. and headed over to the Petrified Forrest and the Painted Desert. Totally awesome scenery. More about that later. I may have said this already to some, but a couple of days ago, I found out by email that I will be a Commissioner to the General Assembly of the PC(USA) instead of an Alternate Delegate. So, I am in for more than I bargained for, but I am excited and looking forward to the experience. I will be filling in for Dr. Michael Gant of Knoxville who will be unable to attend.

Let me catch you up with my visit in Abilene, Texas, including my visit with former member of the FPC of Oak Ridge, Rosemary Sluder. My friends, Mark and Barb Tucker were able to go with me to San Angelo, TX where Rosemary Sluder has lived the last 16 years. All of us had the best time, including participating in a worship/communion service at Rosemary's current church, St. Paul Presbyterian (USA) there in San Angelo. Rosemary is living at a very nice assisted living complex. She really likes it there. All four of us were able to have dinner with Rosemary's brother, Bill. Bill has been a character actor in movies and televisions series. After dinner, Rosemary took us on a tour of the Water Lilly Ponds that San Angelo is famous for.

My friend, Mark , is the Library Director at Abilene Christian University. That university is one of the universities of the Church of Christ. On the campus, is a wonderful sculpture entitled Jacob's Dream. It was designed by one of the university professors. Thomas and his son Alexander Campbell were early church leaders of that denomination (as well as the Disciples of Christ). The library holds a 200 year old pulpit used by Thomas Campbell. I am including some pics here. I am going to quit on this post now. I am at a McDonalds and I keep losing the connection. How I long for a DSL line now. I should be thankful however. I am using it free of charge here. more about the Painted Desert later. Maybe tomorrow will be a better time with WiFi.

While in Abilene, Mark, Barb, and I experience traveling mercies. While sitting at a stoplight near their home, Barb's car was hit by another car with its airbags already deployed. That is the first time I have ever seen actual air bags expanded. Occupants of the two other cars were not hurt, and not even angery or nervous, which might be normally expected.

all for now, (edited on Monday, 6-16)

catching up in Albuquerque

2008-06-13T12:49:00.000-04:00

hi gang: well, I am at a Flying J Travel Center here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Today, I am going to visit the Unser Family Museum, and then take a side trip to the "Four Corners" of the United States (where Utah, Colorado, Arizonia and New Mexico meet) .

Yesterday, as I was checking email, I found that instead of being an alternate delegate to the General Assembly, I will be a Commissioner. One of the Presbytery of East Tennessee Commissioners will not be able to attend, but I will be dissappointed that Dr. Michael Gant from Knoxville will not be with us.

On another post, I am going to catch you up on my visits in Abilene, including a picture of Rosemary Sluder and info about our visit with her in San Angelo.

Well, this connection is wayyyyy toooo slooww to upload images. So, I will wait until I can get a faster connection. Hopefully this evening. But we had a great visit with Rosemary, including a visit to her church, St. Paul Presbyterian Church. We met her co-pastors, one of which is attending the GA. And, I had a great visit in Abilene with my awesome friends, Mark and Barb Tucker. The visit included a tour of the campus and library of Abilene Christian University. Mark is the library director there. I want in another post to send a couple of pics of a very cool sculpture entilted "Jacob's Dream" that is on that campus.

Windmills in Texas

2008-06-09T22:43:00.000-04:00

"Abilene, Abilene, prettiest town I've ever seen...." (Grand Ole Opry's George Hamilton IV 's song). I made it to Abilene from the Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday evening, to land at the home of some very cool Christian friends of mine--Mark and Barb Tucker.

For those of you who are use to seeing the windmills from the Walmart parking lot in Oak Ridge, I thought you would like to see a couple of pics of Windmills up close. These are in Albany, Texas (25 miles northeast of Abilene). Barbara and I traveled over to that part of Texas this afternoon, and saw windmills up close and personal. No restricted, roped-off space around them.

I will be here in Abilene until Thursday.

opportunity to share our faith

2008-06-07T16:27:00.000-04:00

This morning at the Loves Travel Center in Van, Texas, I met some college age folks who are a part of TeenMania ( a Youth for Christ-like group). The group was doing a car wash for their organization and mission. It was too good of an opportunity to miss to be able to have my Big Purple Van washed in Van, Texas!! I had an opportunity to share with them my mission to be attending the General Assembly and what the Presbyterian Church does. We all had prayer together, and a picture opportunity was not to be missed.

from Diamond Jacks casino in Shreveport, LA

2008-06-06T20:26:00.000-04:00

It's Friday evening: No, I am not playing the slots!! I am using the Diamond Jacks hotel lobby's wireless Internet. I am taking a break before crossing into Texas. Had a great visit with Kay and Dr. Mounger last evening and this a.m. Before I left, we went over to his church and took a couple of pics.

This is the church Dr. M. is serving. He is planning on being at General Assembly as well. He hurt his foot the other day, so he has to get "medical clearance" from Kay, never mind the doctor!

On to the Texas Motor Speedway for tomorrow night's (Saturday) Indy Racing League race (same guys, and Danica who race at Indianapolis). I may not be able to post again until after I leave the race track on Sunday morning going toward Abilene. We'll see. Peace and Prayers, Judy G.

...from the Mississippi Welcome Center

2008-06-05T12:49:00.000-04:00

Hello to all: I am at the Mississippi Welcome Center using their Wifi. I had a good drive yesterday (392 miles) to the west side of Memphis. I doubled back to I-55 this a.m. Other than some spilled milk to clean up, no problems. I am on my way to Jackson, Mississippi to stay with Dr. Dwyn and Kay Mounger tonight.
Kerra: I thought of you this morning when I put in my Connie Smith and Nat Stuckey CD. One one of the tracks, they were singing "This Little Light of Mine." I remembered you had fun with that one day in one of your sermons.

finally on my way

2008-06-04T13:40:00.000-04:00

Well, its about 2 pm and the last thing I have to do is take "down" my laptop computer and put it in the van, turn off the electrical stuff, turn off the lights and lock the doors. I will be heading to the Flying J Travel Plaza in West Memphis tonight. Then, on Thursday to Jackson, Mississippi to visit Dr. Dwyn and Kay Mounger on Thursday night. Just in case, Kay's cell is 904-315-9311.

Getting ready to roll

2008-05-31T22:57:00.000-04:00

Today, I took the big purple van to Target to get items necessary to make some curtains. Then we were off to the car wash to give the big purple van a clean up before driving it to church tomorrow.