Roland K. Smith’s Weblog

1. Connecticut is always fun to visit. Lots of roads that go wandering through the countryside and there are so many trees you can’t see very far. Very different from Idaho.
2. Nina thinks we may have made our last visit to Hammonassett Beach. I’m not so sure. She would like to do a family history trip where we would stay several weeks in New England. There’s surely time then to carve out a day at the beach.
3. The rumors are true that you can smell chocolate in the air in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Also, the street lamps all look like Hershey Kisses.
4. Garmin Jill (our GPS unit) has been quite helpful on this trip. Only once has she lead us astray. But, I’m a bit worried about the route she’s taking us on right now as we make our way to Marion, Ohio to meet up with Nina’s brother Ralph. We did arrive, but we took some roads that are not on our big Rand McNally map.
5. It is very hard writing this on my iPhone. I actually had this finished and lost everything from #5 onward. So, it’s now Wednesday and we’re at our daughter-in-law’s home in Springfield, Missouri. I’m now on a nice wifi connection and on my laptop.
6. On Sunday we went to Valley Forge with Daryl and Laura along with Kirk and Dawnmarie and family. That was our second visit to Valley Forge and I finally figured out what is so much different about Valley Forge than the other Revolutionary and Civil War sites. There was no big battle fought at Valley Forge.
7. Marion, Ohio, in addition to being the birth and death place of President Warren Harding, is also the location of a gravestone marker that mysteriously moves. It’s a two-ton granite sphere on a granite pedestal and rotates around on it’s own. No one knows why.
8. We’ve spent more time driving in the motor home on this trip than we have visiting people. It’s a long way across country! When we leave Springfield we’ll have about 20 hours of actual driving time ahead of us before we arrive home. I think we’ll split that across three days as we’re both rather tired. However, the objectives of the trip have been met. We were at Kate’s baptism. We went to the beach at Hammonassett, visited with Aunt Jean and Uncle Bob, and saw Peter and Maureen. We spent some time with Daryl and Laura and saw their new house. We spent some time with Nina’s brother Ralph, and now spending some time with our daughter-in-law and granddaughter (Jim and the boys are at Scout Camp). We spent some time with my favorite brother and his wife on the way out and will see them again on the way home. All in all, a successful family-oriented trip.
9. There is a delightful toy train museum in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The exhibits are very interesting and quite amazing. However, there is also a Red Caboose Motel next door. There are probably forty cabooses from different rail lines, all outfitted inside as motel rooms. We.Must.Go.Back.
10. My brain is fried and there is nothing more to come out tonight. ‘Til next week.

We’re in another of the many “stupid” construction traffic jams we’ve encountered on this trip. We’ve been inching through this one for over an hour and have moved about 2 miles. Incredibly poor planning. Four lanes from two freeways merging into two lanes then merging into one lane, but with an “exit only” lane for about 1 1/2 miles creating yet another merge. Someone in the PA Dept of Highways should have to drive that for eternity.

We actually had one day on Thursday at the beach at Hammonasset with enough sun to get most everyone sunburnt. It was a nice day at the beach followed by some fabulous pizza. Yesterday we went to the famous Book Barn, followed by Mystic Seaport and then a visit with Pete and Maureen. The day was capped off by a huge thunderstorm.

But not like the devastating storm that hit southern Pocatello yesterday. We’ve heard reports of some serious damage in the area. Our house is unscathed, and we’re thankful. This has been a very strange Spring and Summer.

The campground in Connecticut had WiFi. However, it was set up with some default settings and broadcasting on channel 6. Two other wireless access points showed up last night, also broadcasting on channel 6 and all three stepping on each other. That ended wireless connections. Thankfully we had 3G cellphone data connection. Now if AT&T ever gets their tethering act together, I’ll not be dependent on dumb setups like at our campground.

We’re about a hundred miles from Daryl’s. Wagons Ho!

We’re visiting Nina’s Aunt Jean and Uncle Bon. Jean is Nina’s mother’s sister. She is 84 and he’s having his 87th birthday today.

Sent from my iPhone

There were three reasons for coming to Connecticut: visit Aunt Jean and Uncle Bob, see Peter and Maureen, and go to Hammonasset Beach. Today was the only viable beach day so we spent much of the day here.

The yesterday’s forcast was 83 and sunny for today. This morning it changed mostly cloudy and 73. The water is cold. The kids have enjoyed playing at the beach for the most part. This afternoon we had a couple of hours of sunshine. High tide was at 1:47 so we has plenty of water come up while we were there.

Tonight we’ll see Jean and Bob. Tomorrow will be Pete and Mo. Saturday we’re on the move again to Daryl’s place. But today we’re lazin’ at the beach.

Sent from my iPhone

Inspired by daughter-in-law LeeAnn (each picture is a link). All these pictures were taken with my iPhone:

1. Mother and Aunt Nelma

2. Staying Awake

3. Sunshine Around Kearney, Nebraska

4. Confused in Indiana

5. Our Home Away from Home

6. Entrance to the Palmyra Temple

7. Statue of the Angel Moroni

8. Enjoying a Bookstore

9. A Balanced Diet

10. Wall Reminder and Filing System

11. Uno Rules (at least in Kate's world)

12. Fellows Riverside Gardens

13. Poland Public Library

Kate and Her Maternal Grandparents

Yesterday Kate was baptized. I took a number of pictures during the afternoon and put them together into a slideshow. The show itself is rather large and will take some time to download. For those interested, the link for the slide show is: here.

We had a fun day with the family. Nina’s sister Pam along with Nina’s niece Vanessa and her family came over from Ohio. Our son Daryl drove out from Philadelphia. Both sets of Kate’s grandparents were in attendance. The family was well represented. It was a special day for a very special girl.

1. Tuesday we drove across the eastern half of Nebraska, all of Iowa and Illinois, and a third of the way across Indiana on Interstate 80. We collapsed into bed in a campground near Elkhart, Indiana. No ambition to write the Triple-T. Wednesday we finished up Indiana, drove across Ohio, thru Erie, Pennsylvania, and into a campground in Farmington, New York. Well, excuses abound, but the fact of the matter is, this is the first real opportunity to actually sit for a few minutes at my computer since we left Pocatello on Sunday.
2. Rain seems to be our constant companion. It had been raining for about ten days in Pocatello prior to our leaving on Sunday afternoon. Since then we’ve had only a few hours without any rain. I think we’ve been moving east with the same storm! On Thursday Nina and I decided that we’d had enough of rain dominating our life. While we couldn’t stop the rain, we could change our attitude about it. It isn’t cold rain, it’s not really stopping us from doing anything. That was a significant change in my outlook for sure.
3. We spent Sunday evening camped in my favorite brother’s driveway. We left home at 2:06 p.m. and arrived in Green River about 6:30 p.m. They were waiting for us and we had a great visit and a nice dinner. We toured their new house (a very nice place, it’s going to be!), and talked and visited some more. We always have a fun time with my brother and his wife Chris. Hopefully it’ll work out for us to stop there on the way back home. We haven’t settled on the route back home yet as there are still too many unknowns about what we’ll be doing in Connecticut and where. Our goal is to be home by Saturday, July 4th.
4. With all the rain, the countryside through Wyoming, Nebraska, and on eastward was very green and lush. By this time of the year Wyoming is usually pretty barren. It was nice to see all the green as we drove across the state. I’m sure that means a possibly bad fire season later on when all the lush grown turns into dry tinder. It’s interesting to me how when things get out of balance that bad things are the usual consequence. Too much rain … bad fire season. Not enough rain … bad growing season.
5. We spent much of Thursday in the area around Palmyra, New York. We met our daughter Dawnmarie and her husband Kirk  on Wednesday night when we arrived and spent the next day with them. We started the day at the Palmyra Temple on the 9 a.m. endowment session. What a beautiful temple! The windows and motif all remind us of the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith learned from our Heavenly Father and the Savior what course his life was to take. His life was changed and ours has been as well.
6. After the Temple we visited a couple of the Church historical sites in the area, ending up at the restored E. B. Grandin press and book store in Palmyra where the Book of Mormon was first printed. The Church always does a first-class restoration job and the Grandin store is no exception. They built a big visitor’s center enclosing three sides of the building, keeping the street front of the building unchanged from its original. That was an impressing tour and very informative.
7. From Palmyra we followed Dawnmarie and Kirk back to their home in New Wilmington, PA. We’re parked in their driveway. Three grandchildren will probably be sleeping with us in the motor home tonight. Kirk’s parents are here also. Boyd and Jo are really fun people and we enjoy spending time with them. They’ve been down to see us in Pocatello and we’ve been up to their place in Montana. They’ll be here until Tuesday, so Dawnmarie’s house is rather busy.
8. Tomorrow is the Big Reason for the Big Trip East. Dawnmarie and Kirk’s daughter Kate is being baptized tomorrow afternoon. She was born on Dawnmarie’s birthday. The day she was born was Father’s Day eight years ago. The day that Dawnmarie was born (in Tachikawa, Japan)  was Father’s Day. Our oldest two daughters were “made in Japan”.
9. Gasoline prices have been generally in the mid-upper $2 range. That’s a dollar less on the average than the gas prices when we went out for Daryl’s wedding last October. The most expensive gasoline is still ahead of us. The prices in Connecticut are rumored to be outrageous.
10. When we stopped at the campground in Elkhart, Indiana, it turned out to be the same campground we stayed in a few years ago … and probably in the exact same spot (or else next to the exact same spot). The last time we were there a huge thunderstorm came through and we were worried about tornadoes. While it rained the entire night we were at that campground this time, there was no worry about thunderstorms.
11. Driving Interstate 80 through the southern part of Chicago in a massive rain storm is a very nerve wracking. The visibility seemed to be about 10 feet. So much spray was coming up off the road that the rear view mirrors were almost unusable. I’m sure the locals were cursing the out-of-state motor home driving under the speed limit!
12. As we were entering the Indiana Turnpike to get the toll ticket, the car ahead of us had a couple of women who were completely clueless and very confused. One of them kept trying to feed money into the place where the ticket comes out. They stopped far enough away from the machine that dispensed the ticket that the ticket came out the high output point (the one for tall trucks) rather than the lower output port. It turned out they were going to Michigan and were certainly going the wrong direction. Eventually Nina convinced them to take the ticket, go to the next exit where there would be a person, and ask for directions. A couple of minutes later we passed them … driving about 30 miles an hour on the turnpike, still confused about what to do and where to go.
13. Palmyra has the distinction of having a main intersection with a different denomination church on each corner. Those same denominations were in the same location in the 1820’s when Joseph Smith was there. I’m not sure if the big steepled church buildings that now grace this intersection were there back then. Unfortunately, without being in an airborne vehicle, there’s no way to get a picture that takes in the entire intersection.
14. I think it’s been thirty years or so since we were last in Palmyra and at the Sacred Grove. Nothing was recognizable, and understandably so since the Church has moved the road! I’m thinking that’s not particularly an inexpensive proposition to move a road as part of a restoration project.
15. The Palmyra Temple has the unique distinction of being the only Temple with a clear glass picture window inside the building. The window was put in at the request of President Hinckley to overlook the Sacred Grove. The Church negotiated with the city to cut down some nearby trees to provide a better view. Now from the pathway into the Sacred Grove there is a place where you can see the Temple.
16. I’ve really enjoyed having a “down” day today. I slept in late and have not had to do much today. It’s a nice interlude as the next couple of days will be very busy, once again.
17. From here we’re headed further east to a campground near Hammonasset State Park in Connecticut. The big question is whether or not the weather will allow for swimming!

And I’m finished.

Wedding Reception Line

Forty-five years ago this evening Nina and I were married at the New Haven Branch of the LDS Church in New Haven, Connecticut. We had met on a blind date about eight months earlier and within a couple weeks we began talking about getting married. I don’t think I ever formally proposed, but by Christmas time we were busy making plans.

I was going to the Air Force’s Chinese Language School at Yale University in New Haven. I reported there in late September, 1963 and met Nina in late October. The school finished at the end of the first week in June and I had to report for further training at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, Texas on June 22nd. Nina was a senior at Hambden High School and her last class was on June 12th.

We were married by the Branch President on Friday, June 12, 1964. We had a small wedding reception at the Branch Meeting House and Nina and I spent the night at a nearby very nice motel (we watched Jack Parr on TV that evening). The next morning we left with my mother and my Aunt June to go to San Angelo.

We drove through Washington, D.C. (it was an incredibly hot day), then on to Texas with a couple of stops along the way at night. One evening we stayed in a motel in Tennessee that had a number of  log cabins for their rooms.

Mother and Aunt June helped us find an apartment in San Angelo, and then they left to go back home (mother to Soda Springs, and Aunt June to Tooele, Utah).

Our first apartment cost $35 a month and was located in downtown San Angelo above a dry cleaning establishment. It was a two-room apartment and we were very excited to set up housekeeping.

It’s been a good 45 years since then. We have been blessed with wonderful children and they’ve found outstanding spouses. Life has been very, very good. I definitely “married up” and have never had second thoughts. Happy anniversary, Nina, light of my life!