https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs daily 1.0 2026-03-30 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/a-new-week-a-new-beginning monthly 0.5 2026-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9459dbf0-c6dd-47bf-a239-943df004a749/processed_20260317_192639.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - Make it stand out Breweries are notoriously roomy places and often allow you to bring your dogs into the tasting rooms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/04a4b70f-5b6b-43c2-97dc-dd05d7fb60fb/processed_20260319_065854.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - Make it stand out These gentle ladies wandered by to say good morning before we left. Sadie would have loved chasing them (having tried to the night before) so I kept her tethered. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/32919192-d3eb-432d-9939-541d65f8af97/processed_20260319_184334.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - This was one of the more interesting structures in the backyard of the property owner. This was the largest of several domes. Apparently guests can stay in these domes, which are fully furnished with mats and funky hippie-era rugs and pillows and tapestries. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2ef911db-b846-4cbb-8628-d3b10e95f89e/processed_20260319_183310.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - Another interesting guest house. This was a full size bus that was apparently fully furnished and ready for overnight guests. In the back of the property there was a full size, hand-built teepee, painted in the same colors as the domes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5d0d0e91-e2fc-4f5e-a430-d69613ef73ad/processed_20260321_115230.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - Make it stand out We enjoyed seeing our bee keeper host Daphne (in the hat) at the farmer’s market the next morning in Port St. Joe, Florida. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2c3863f7-f1a3-4b2a-bb9f-1dc0dd2ce09c/processed_20260327_194338.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - Make it stand out Sadie was wary, but open to making new friends. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/08f9a082-f681-47fb-85f0-dd208fdfc386/processed_20260319_185713.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - This is Emily, mother of Emma who owns the property known as Beakertopia. Emma was apparently sick the day we arrived, so Emily showed us around the place and made us feel very welcome. She is standing in the outdoor “kitchen” and public space open to Beakertopia guests. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/32f816ad-d47e-4262-bcd2-45056aca4387/processed_20260321_115930.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - This is Brenda, jewelry and candle maker. I often buy jewelry from local artists. Earrings are functional and take up little room. This time around it was Brenda’s candles that caught my eye. My picture doesn’t do them justice but you can sort of see them in the far right of the photo sitting on a little shelf. Clear gel candles with sand and shells in the bottom. Had to have one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/970d25fa-b71c-4d02-b509-be161aaf126f/processed_20260325_131906.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - This is Mackenzie. Before I left Georgia I wanted something peachy, even though it isn’t really peach season yet. I decided I could use some good peach salsa so stopped at a Peach World shop on the side of the road just off one of the I-95 exits. Mackenzie may be the best salesperson this side of the Mississippi. I went in for 1 jar of salsa and came out with a bottle of peach wine, a bottle of peach cider, peach bbq sauce, peach amaretto spread, doggie cookies, peach preserves and yes, one bottle of salsa. She was the most enthusiastic, engaging and adorable young saleswoman ever, and clearly saw an easy mark when I walked in the door. No regrets. (yes, those are my bags) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f3a21d84-ce0c-48a5-a1bf-942af5b577cb/processed_20260327_105247.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - This is basketweaver Brenda. I have wanted one of these sweetgrass baskets for awhile, but last time I went through the Charleston area I failed to get one. They have historical and cultural significance going back to slavery times, and the ancestors of the Africans brought across the Atlantic have kept this basket-making tradition alive to the present day. They are beautiful and each weaver has their own style. This time around I was determined, and met Brenda at the famous City Market in Charleston. She had lots of competition, but when she told me that her grandson had made the little roses I decided she was the vender for me. Her baskets were beautiful and so was her happy and welcoming personality. I spent too much money but again, no regrets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ead2465b-7d45-47fd-a079-b5f833754ff9/processed_20260327_113926.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - This is Eric, basketmaker extraordinaire. Sometimes when I’m looking over art, deciding whether to buy or not, a particular item “speaks” to me and I have to get it. That’s what happened here. I had just bought my basket from Brenda when I passed Eric’s booth and his lidded basket caught my eye. Eric learned his craft from his grandmother, and his baskets with lids were the only ones like that I saw out of all the vendors that day. Had to have it. No regrets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2c8da866-3cfa-40da-8409-f287302ce8f4/processed_20260329_122653.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - Meet Stacy, Kim (who you should know by now), Rick and Izzie. These are long-time friends of Kim’s who happen to live in Carolina Beach. She was able to reconnect with them after quite a few years and had some good hang-out time while they watched the Michigan March Madness game together. Thanks for introducing me to these lovely people! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a4c72166-e8d1-413e-b1a5-25531e1d9c48/processed_20260329_162943.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Week, A New Beginning - This is Cheryl, and this is the Four Hounds Distillery tasting room. Cheryl doesn’t particularly like having her picture taken, but I was clearly not the first to ask, and she graciously gave me permission to post this one on the blog. If you are ever in Carolina Beach you might want to stop by and sample their rum. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/week-2-report monthly 0.5 2026-03-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1292bbbe-b8ab-4da4-a9dd-6e725f6366cb/processed_20260317_172909.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 2 Report - This meal at Big Bob Gibson’s in Decatur, Alabama, did me no favors, but may be the best barbeque I’ve had on the trip so far. In Alabama the dominant BBQ sauce is white, which you see on the table. It was interesting, but not sure I would prefer it over a traditional red or vinegar based sauce. The white sauce is made with mayonnaise and vinegar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c3a9c1f0-d1ad-4d28-95dd-802147f8c543/processed_20260322_110819.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 2 Report Sadie and I managed to get a peak at the beautiful blue waters of the Gulf before we drove out of the area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/46a0948f-c811-4ffc-bf5c-560667e7ff67/processed_20260324_172348.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 2 Report - Make it stand out Jekyll Island, Georgia. Trying to take in the sights and appreciate the places I’m visiting even if I’m only at half throttle. They call this beach Driftwood Beach. I wonder why… https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/first-week-adventures monthly 0.5 2026-03-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8e908c58-ebbb-460e-9b05-bdefdade7803/processed_20260316_183105.jpg Breadcrumbs - First Week Adventures - This is Sadie’s favorite spot right outside the door of the camper. I leave her out there until long after dark, and she yaps when she’s ready to come inside. Sometimes I have to drag her in before she’s ready so that I can go to bed. By the way, notice the blue padded waterproof dog mat under the laundry pillow dog bed. That has turned out to be a great purchase! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/03d57c1e-506b-42fe-b556-4c42691b87e1/processed_20260316_170550.jpg Breadcrumbs - First Week Adventures - Make it stand out This is probably the most beautiful campground so far, but alas, we are only here one night. Wish we had our kayaks! On the other hand, it was 27 degrees last night - in Mississippi! Who would have thought it? So glad I brought my winter jackets and gloves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3cf1f3ac-4a01-4597-a28b-aa0c098f0ba7/processed_20260313_125235.jpg Breadcrumbs - First Week Adventures - We had to admit that Mammoth Cave is definitely mammoth size. On our tour, we walked a mere quarter mile of the 400+ miles of accessible and mapped cave. The guide described it as a spaghetti bowl of caverns and tunnels. Hard to imagine! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0398861d-7122-4ce5-9519-cec1c10bf24b/processed_20260313_160801.jpg Breadcrumbs - First Week Adventures - The Dueling Ground Distillery had some interesting flavors to sample, like the honey lavender gin. The bartender Santos knew Memphis well, and had recommendations for us when we told him we were headed there next. He was spot on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ae60333c-a41e-49d4-be3a-497fc22c5799/processed_20260315_142615.jpg Breadcrumbs - First Week Adventures - We found a fun hammock grove on our walk along the Mississippi River. Kim had a little trouble with hers. Beamy was no help. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/roadtrip2026 monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4f2021bb-7434-4f09-b23b-68dcf5713cd9/20260310_160734.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip!! - Make it stand out I’m taking my art supplies and plan to use this journal to record all the adventures! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/fa427226-73ca-4d5b-91d4-238750be1059/processed_20260310_154320.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip!! - I have two dog beds in my office. This is Sadie’s favorite, right under my desk. The orange pillow bed makes a great laundry bag when we’re on the road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/287af0dd-e33f-4fa9-b61e-47ec9429b5de/processed_20260309_122547.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip!! - This is what doing dishes without a kitchen sink looks like. Kind of discourages me from cooking… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/6c514c58-1df1-47e6-80b2-99bc9c85982e/processed_20260307_163441.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip!! - Casper loves being outdoors and is soaking up the nice day while he can. While I’m gone he will get regular visits but won’t get to go outside to prowl. The chipmunks will be happy but it will be a long month for Casper. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/new-year-old-habits monthly 0.5 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/be36a00c-747f-4037-87e6-85836de81397/processed_20260114_142355.jpg Breadcrumbs - New Year, Old Habits - Sadie loves a snowy day. She would happily spend all day everyday out in the cold and snow, as long as I stay out there with her… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/99560851-8a09-4501-9ffd-49f3e140984f/processed_20260223_123905.jpg Breadcrumbs - New Year, Old Habits - Casper and Sadie care nothing about shedding all over the house all day and all night. Their constant need for my attention and care can be so annoying at times. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8379415d-e543-4676-be13-45c858c7549f/processed_IMG-20260218-WA0005.jpg Breadcrumbs - New Year, Old Habits - Make it stand out If it helps, picture this face of innocence and unbridled optimism as you contemplate the best path to preserving the planet we want to leave for future generations. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/thanksgivingreflection monthly 0.5 2025-11-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/633d99a5-6057-4cd5-869c-7d571c115e91/processed_20251124_121759.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Pre-Thanksgiving Reflection - Make it stand out My yard is ready for the cold and darkness of winter (I often don’t bag my leaves) but I’m not so sure I am. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/25fd82ac-0826-42c9-b302-0994639cbac4/processed_20251120_211745.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Pre-Thanksgiving Reflection - Make it stand out I aspire to be as chill as my cat Casper, who doesn’t let the threats of the world keep him from enjoying life to the fullest. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/home-sweet-home monthly 0.5 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ae6a55b7-64b2-4352-be3f-f07212bbe66a/processed_20250830_131142.jpg Breadcrumbs - Home Sweet Home - Make it stand out When you are in a hurry to get somewhere, the isolation of the open road isn’t so appealing anymore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/58ad2adc-e462-4bf9-a11b-cbe2ca6e26bc/processed_20251003_140152.jpg Breadcrumbs - Home Sweet Home - Make it stand out The Columbia Icefield was stunning even if Sadie and I didn’t have time to get up close and personal with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2799fbcb-da21-4bee-b8e9-6f0497be3d2e/processed_20250922_151352.jpg Breadcrumbs - Home Sweet Home - Make it stand out The mountains were majestic, but I also loved the fragrance of the moss covered trees in the damp forests of the Pacific Northwest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9a7f199f-158f-4840-8ddb-013c54846628/processed_20250929_154721.jpg Breadcrumbs - Home Sweet Home - Make it stand out No matter where I put her, Sadie never seemed to get tired of posing for my pictures. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1760360536337-R5PEFF37L99BLEOG7RCV/processed_20250925_120240.jpg Breadcrumbs - Home Sweet Home - Make it stand out Wise words to live by. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/highlights-and-transitions monthly 0.5 2025-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ffc6c230-4fdc-4f54-a2a1-16574713faee/processed_20250927_100416.jpg Breadcrumbs - Highlights and Transitions - This is Allison. Allison and I were camping neighbors for one night in Fort Langley, British Columbia. She has been living solo “out of” her van (as opposed to living “in” it, which is an important distinction for her) for about a year. She has travelled all over the U.S. and Canada, and gave me some important tips for my trip across Canada. We shared experiences of driving and boondocking and wished we had had more time to get better acquainted. You can find her on Instagram at boldertoursntravel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0973284f-dab4-498c-a0bf-51c181428c73/processed_IMG-20250927-WA0009.jpg Breadcrumbs - Highlights and Transitions - This is Terry and her dog Tucker. We first met back in February when I drove to Taos for the creativity retreat. I knew she lived near Portland, so as I got closer to the coast I reached out and we arranged to meet. She suggested a hike at one of the falls in the Columbia River Gorge and I’m so glad she did! What a great afternoon! We had so much fun that I lost track of time and missed my check-in deadline at the winery where I was planning to stay that night. No matter. I pivoted and found a nearby state park, which turned out to be a much better choice to set me up for the exploring I did the next day. Thanks Terry! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c3459105-3943-46c0-849d-02fecdcef4bf/processed_20250920_184828.jpg Breadcrumbs - Highlights and Transitions - This is Carolyn and Mike. Mike is my first cousin who I don’t see nearly often enough. They live in Hood River, Oregon (which is right on the Lewis and Clark trail), up on one of the nearby mountains. From their backyard patio (where they are sitting) you can look in one direction and see Mount Adams and look in the opposite direction and see Mount Hood. On the platter in front of them is a freshly caught salmon (purchased at a roadside fish shack) grilled to perfection. What a special time together! Seeing Jessica (their daughter), witnessing the salmon net fishing by Native Americans, and kayaking on the Columbia River were special unexpected bonuses of hanging out with you two. Thanks so much for your generous hospitality! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/36af2c74-5fad-4cd3-8b5c-73cdbe62bec0/processed_20250917_143614.jpg Breadcrumbs - Highlights and Transitions - This is Denise. Denise and I happen to be members of the same Facebook group, and when I mentioned to the group that I was travelling the Lewis and Clark trail, she invited me to contact her if I was going to be driving through Lewiston, Montana. As it happened I was, so I did make contact and we met for a lovely lunch in downtown Lewiston. She is a traveler also (motorcycles, not vans), and we shared stories of ourselves and our roadtrips. What a treat to meet such an interesting person in this interesting way (I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook, but this is one of the reasons I stay connected to it) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c971d493-703a-4c73-84fb-237615995f42/processed_20250918_183018.jpg Breadcrumbs - Highlights and Transitions - This is Kim. Kim is co-owner with her husband of Echo Ridge Cellars, a family-owned winery in Echo, Oregon. She was a gracious Harvest Host host, welcoming both Sadie and I to her tasting room. I sampled eight different wines, ordered a charcuterie plate to have with my wine, then bought two bottles to take home. It is a popular establishment that hosts events and live music. So glad I found it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/839450bb-abd0-465f-b0a2-6b12c17c5fb2/processed_20250910_113023.jpg Breadcrumbs - Highlights and Transitions - This is “Swede” Troedsson. Swede has an interesting marketing strategy for his book, Smokejumper 2. As I was exiting my van to take a walk around historic Dillon, Montana, Swede approached me asking, “Do you know who Hank Williams, Jr. is?” I said “of course” and he said, “well, I saved his life!” He had the book in his hand, and turned right to the page that told the story. Five minutes later I was handing over a $20 bill. I mean, I had to buy it, right? He was so friendly and enthusiastic that I didn’t mind being accosted in the parking lot. And to think this is the second volume of his stories as a smokejumper. Quite a character! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2db1fd85-5e10-42e2-b0f0-2cb67a49ccbd/processed_20250903_130650.jpg Breadcrumbs - Highlights and Transitions - This is Darian. Darian is one of the many national park rangers I met on my way west. I think this was in Montana. These park staffers are knowledgeable, friendly, welcoming, and love it when people visit the national parks. In Darian’s case, I was asking about the beadwork I saw in the museum, and it turns out that in the summer season he leads demonstrations on the craftsmanship behind the beading. He disappeared for a moment to the offices behind the front desk, and returned with this example of beadwork that he had done. What a nice guy! And typical of all the park employees I encountered. I worry for their jobs… we need people like Darian in our lives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2b8d346f-b890-4646-ab9b-6fe43d71043f/processed_20251001_141921.jpg Breadcrumbs - Highlights and Transitions - Make it stand out This is my campsite near Jasper for the next few nights. You can see the charred mountainside in the background. The area is still recovering from a devastating fire that ripped through this area in 2024. Thousands of trees lost, many of them in this campground. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/reaching-the-pacific monthly 0.5 2025-09-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/225080fd-279e-4c6c-8b19-dce5067477b9/processed_20250923_152456.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reaching the Pacific - Make it stand out I’m standing near the spot where the explorers were pinned down at “Dismal Nitch.” They did not have the option of crossing the Columbia River by way of this four mile bridge you see in the distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/21ec5c77-1ec8-4d31-9c60-151a7ef3c21b/processed_20250924_093526.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reaching the Pacific - Make it stand out This is near the spot where Clark and his small group ventured several miles along the coast from Dismal Nitch and saw the Pacific for the first time (his journal also records that he saw a sturgeon on the beach and carved his name in a tree). Sadie is pretending she is Seaman. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0c74fdc2-90de-4231-ab5e-739d1476d312/processed_20250919_153853.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reaching the Pacific - Make it stand out This is the map Clark constructed based on the trip. Besides just following the rivers straight to the coast, they made a number of side trips through the wilderness and along tributaries and other rivers they encountered along the way. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/a-day-in-the-life monthly 0.5 2025-09-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/44f807ed-030e-4c4c-8d9e-f12aa62d33fd/processed_20250923_144319.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Day In The Life - I’ve seen a lot of Sacagawea images and sculptures on this trip, but I think I may like this one best. She still looks young enough to be a teenager, but confident and wise enough to keep up with the thirty-three men she was traveling with. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7a369caf-9756-4dfe-8b41-8b87ade53b69/processed_20250912_085458.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Day In The Life - Make it stand out Sadie settles right into the campsite once her bed is in place and her food and water bowls are out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b5e0e9d5-4a20-4c47-a3bc-64a2d1a4fffa/processed_20250828_151448.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Day In The Life - I’m having fun dabbling even if I have no idea what I’m doing. My pictures don’t end up looking like much, but I’m having fun dabbling. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/crossingthedivide monthly 0.5 2025-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b97165c7-b271-4338-869c-e5a1fd2c8332/processed_20250909_152642.jpg Breadcrumbs - Crossing the Continental Divide - These are the headwaters of the Missouri, where the Jefferson and Madison rivers flow together and form the Missouri. By reaching Three Forks, I can proudly say that I followed the entire length of the Missouri River, beginning to end! (or end to beginning, which is probably more accurate) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/188eaaf1-ceb0-43e5-8a08-4dea3530e15d/processed_20250910_103341.jpg Breadcrumbs - Crossing the Continental Divide - Make it stand out I don’t know if this rock looks like a beaverhead, but it is striking just the same, rising out of the prairie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cd18fb9b-ba19-481b-92ca-86517b58bda4/processed_20250914_105434.jpg Breadcrumbs - Crossing the Continental Divide - Make it stand out You can see the road I drove on, cut into the side of the mountain. Now imagine our 1805 heroes traveling with their horses and all their gear across the ridges above where the road is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3a4d69d3-ceb1-473f-8493-ea20a14a5a41/processed_20250910_134123.jpg Breadcrumbs - Crossing the Continental Divide - Make it stand out I’m hoping that the combination of all these supplies will be enough! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/6fb21604-2dc7-46ae-87af-33d9484c49df/processed_20250909_124032.jpg Breadcrumbs - Crossing the Continental Divide - Make it stand out This famous painting of Lewis and Clark meeting Flathead Indians is by another western artist, Charlie Russell, and was painted much later, in 1911. It is massively big and sits on the wall in the Montana State Capitol Building. It is kept behind locked doors when the legislature is not in session. When I entered the building I told the guy at the information desk that I was just passing through and wanted to see it if possible, but I couldn’t wait an hour for the official tour to begin. He kindly took me right up. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/headingtomountains monthly 0.5 2025-09-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9d1e8cb7-484d-4a3a-9d16-ca337a0c1a60/processed_20250907_143348.jpg Breadcrumbs - Heading To the Mountains - Make it stand out Sadie is pretending to be Lewis and Clark, trying to decide whether they should follow the river to the left or to the right. They camped here for 9 days before making a decision. Hence the name “Decision Point.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/830262dc-4480-4d3b-acc1-ffadbfb8ddc3/processed_20250906_154607.jpg Breadcrumbs - Heading To the Mountains - Sadie thinks she would have been just as good a mascot as Seaman. It isn’t clear why Lewis decided to get himself a dog, and it isn’t clear why he chose the breed of Newfoundland. In any case, Seaman appears in Lewis’s journals right from the beginning, and endeared himself to all the men, who referred to him as “our dog.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7ccd8bdf-b09a-4ee1-9f97-226cc010bc6b/York_Statue.jpg Breadcrumbs - Heading To the Mountains - This statue of York stands in Louisville, Kentucky, where he lived before the expedition. The various interpretive centers I have visited so far sometimes try to highlight York and his contributions, and I appreciate the statues and monuments that I see here and there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9a232654-585b-43b4-b2f1-79339f2f7652/processed_20250907_160739.jpg Breadcrumbs - Heading To the Mountains - Make it stand out It’s hard to imagine the effort it took to pull dugout canoes up the bank of the river, then 18 miles across rough plains. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3db2baef-f553-40b7-a61c-621431f15580/processed_20250906_151603.jpg Breadcrumbs - Heading To the Mountains - Make it stand out Protected behind glass, the name and date are still clearly visible, and match with the journal entry Clark made on that date. Pretty cool!! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/newdaynewtown monthly 0.5 2025-09-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d7831546-a03b-4cfb-af39-d512c79d5372/processed_20250831_134018.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Day, A New Town - Make it stand out This is a typical earthen home built by the Mandans. There would have been many of these in one thriving village. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/95c64cec-4bb7-468c-910f-15781926e687/processed_20250903_125519.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Day, A New Town - Make it stand out George Catlin famously painted images of the Indian tribal life on a trip west about thirty years after Lewis and Clark. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3128d6c0-d318-438c-b356-a1b618bba6ab/processed_20250831_104238.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Day, A New Town - Make it stand out Sometimes you have to get way, way off the beaten path to find the monument you seek, and the beautiful view that goes with it. This is one of two places that claim to be the grave of Sitting Bull, famous Lakota warrior and chief. One is here near Mobridge, South Dakota. The other is located in Fort Yates, North Dakota, which (of course) I also visited. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/16fd9c74-313b-4f34-bf25-27d444c58a9d/processed_20250831_113014.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Day, A New Town - There was no pathway to the marker, and no pathway from the marker to the buildings in the distance. Fort Manuel was another sad example of a significant historical event and place fading into oblivion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/fb76f0a4-61d7-46e6-b505-b52cd3365785/processed_cea4db1e-4f6b-4924-8535-3d195eb452d2%7E1.jpg Breadcrumbs - A New Day, A New Town - So far Sadie and I are having a blast. This is what we look like in travel mode. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/roadtripreflections monthly 0.5 2025-09-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7414fd7a-cebc-4910-9089-82146aecdffa/processed_20250829_165917.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reflections From the Road - Sadie enjoyed dipping her toes in the Missouri. Sadie enjoyed dipping her toes in the Missouri. The water was flowing rapidly so I’m glad she didn’t go very far in! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1f99b461-2a11-4c30-921d-27d2468809ef/processed_20250827_100823.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reflections From the Road - This is Mr. Keelboat himself, who is mentioned by name in Traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail, which is one of my bibles that tell me where all the interesting stops are. The boat he’s sitting in is a replica of one of the two pirogues used in the expedition. Stephen Ambrose in Undaunted Courage also mentioned the keelboat replica built in the 1980’s by Butch and a crew of volunteers. I met a celebrity! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f452f2c7-2dd4-4909-b81b-134dd193035d/processed_20250827_093749.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reflections From the Road - This is one of Butch’s keelboats. He has built many boats over the years, and has a fascination for early pre-steamboat travel on the inland rivers of the United States. He is extremely knowledgeable, does his research, and is a wealth of information on the subject. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3503424d-6ead-4641-9435-04a8d9fdfcbd/processed_20250827_130545.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reflections From the Road - Make it stand out Lewis’s dog Seaman was not the only canine in attendance at the first meeting with the Indians. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d960ed22-fd5d-4ac6-b34f-be19c398dce1/processed_20250825_142749.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reflections From the Road - Make it stand out In 1804 this would have been endless prairie in all directions, dotted with buffalo herds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f6811e9f-17e7-4af8-8fa6-af80a45a580f/processed_20250829_195529.jpg Breadcrumbs - Reflections From the Road - Make it stand out This is my cozy evening workspace. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/sightsandsounds monthly 0.5 2025-08-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c8561d21-ee30-41f5-ba4b-851d7206719f/processed_20250826_151905.jpg Breadcrumbs - Enjoying The Sights and Sounds - Make it stand out Maybe this is what Clark was describing? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/05cff8ef-c6b6-4fe3-94cc-562b5991ca0f/processed_20250826_113944.jpg Breadcrumbs - Enjoying The Sights and Sounds - Clark was an early graffiti artist, but not the first. These may not be the same Indian markings Clark saw, but they were fascinating nonetheless. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7d3ebae6-2448-4843-8101-804c24a600ea/processed_20250824_111647.jpg Breadcrumbs - Enjoying The Sights and Sounds - Make it stand out It was already too late by the time I picked up the stick… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7828d900-6011-4f5b-a72e-0485008cae77/processed_20250825_091210.jpg Breadcrumbs - Enjoying The Sights and Sounds - Make it stand out The prison is rather imposing and intimidating. I took my picture and skedaddled. The military fort installation (that also contained the alluring Lewis and Clark exhibit and museum) is right next door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/638ffc86-6f48-414a-ba88-58ddc9a57501/processed_20250825_101257.jpg Breadcrumbs - Enjoying The Sights and Sounds - Make it stand out Leavenworth wouldn’t let me into anything that day. This was as close as I got to the carousel museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/49b77dd0-3fb2-45bd-b008-21f8aad8f7e6/processed_20250826_111905.jpg Breadcrumbs - Enjoying The Sights and Sounds - This is Dan. He was weedwacking along the banks of the river when I interrupted him. He came up to chat. Turns out Dan was born in a house that used to sit on what is now the Indian Cave State Park property. He worked in the Texas and Oklahoma oil fields for many years before returning to his home base. He now works to help keep this beautiful state park beautiful. We had a very nice conversation! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/ontheroadagain monthly 0.5 2025-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/58c0d5b5-c7b8-4e0d-95e3-347d81a4698c/processed_20250822_134514.jpg Breadcrumbs - On the Road Again… - Make it stand out This is the preserved Cahokia courthouse building, all that’s left of a once bustling commercial center for the region. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/51f7f91e-0c1a-4f09-bd7f-d3eb471822d1/processed_20250822_065039.jpg Breadcrumbs - On the Road Again… - Make it stand out There will be no shortage of statues on this trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/024e805c-2a05-4e00-8240-88deac0ab095/processed_20250821_102213.jpg Breadcrumbs - On the Road Again… - Make it stand out This amazing cypress tree is located on former Clark property in Louisville and is several hundred years old. Definitely there in 1803. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d93cb8ce-9302-4f63-bc02-12475aa489f4/processed_20250821_152209.jpg Breadcrumbs - On the Road Again… - Sadie is managing being cooped up in the van for hours at a time, but really loves it when she can be outside on grass. Bonus if there is water involved! We are finding our rhythm to make sure we are good travel buddies and both of us are having a good time on this trip. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/4d833hhq2nd3q5wukefbgeh4mss3g0 monthly 0.5 2025-08-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/aadd3476-19fb-4352-ae81-0272d6b1c784/louisiana_purchase_map_pdf.jpg Breadcrumbs - Off the Ground and Into the River - Make it stand out The Louisiana Purchase included way more than the present-day state of Louisiana. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/82fced22-078b-406c-8692-989a38488b09/processed_20250727_141824.jpg Breadcrumbs - Off the Ground and Into the River - The commissioned boat was quite innovative for its time. The expedition did attempt to assemble and use the boat during the trip. Sadly, it did not live up to expectations, taking on water as soon as it was launched. It sank and was left behind somewhere on the trail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/195e54b9-b96a-4800-8ccc-37df83b97f50/Pittsburgh+in+1817.jpg Breadcrumbs - Off the Ground and Into the River - Pittsburgh probably didn’t look much different than this in 1803. Pittsburgh is located at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/16c89c69-9e5d-4597-abe8-39afaf4fb2b3/processed_20250724_175207.jpg Breadcrumbs - Off the Ground and Into the River - Make it stand out In the middle of this picture, in the middle of the road, you can imagine the house my family lived in back in the mid-1950s. You might have to close your eyes to see it properly. My brother Sam used to play on the hill where I’m standing. All the houses sitting on the banks were destroyed when the road was built. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/dd81975d-7fad-40ec-adca-355a75a05989/image.jpg Breadcrumbs - Off the Ground and Into the River - Make it stand out This is what flooded Clarington looked like in the 1950’s. That’s my mother in the white scarf, and my dad’s church behind her. She is probably standing near where the road was built after all the buildings, including the church, were torn down. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/plansandpreparations monthly 0.5 2025-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e233a7c6-f95d-4c5d-a5ca-a0591d56128e/20240715_212037.jpg Breadcrumbs - Plans and Preparations - This is what riding out a tornado looks like. You can’t really tell from the photo, but the wind is blowing the rain sideways across the front of my van. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/87f3145d-0ddc-48ec-a87d-2c7a0335bc6a/processed_20250316_162524.jpg Breadcrumbs - Plans and Preparations - When squatting on someone else’s property, you never know who will be there to greet you when you open your door in the morning. These guys are apparently very friendly to people. Other dogs, not so much, so good thing Sadie was not along on that trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/66bd8d80-0ce5-4aaf-a0aa-6da00d1ff3d5/Roadtrippers+L%26C.jpg Breadcrumbs - Plans and Preparations - Make it stand out This is the “big picture” for the trip west. 137 total stops, if I end up doing them all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/fe4ce703-f21b-4552-99dc-7b16edd1e0de/processed_20250812_162217.jpg Breadcrumbs - Plans and Preparations - Make it stand out Still lots to do before I’m ready to leave next week. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/summer-adventures monthly 0.5 2025-07-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/07906ef6-ce46-40c8-b9ea-9f9564f0d5d9/processed_20250724_130514.jpg Breadcrumbs - Summer Adventures - This is Emily I keep trying to get Emily to move to Ann Arbor, but she just won’t do it! Turns out she loves living in Cuyahoga Falls and I don’t blame her for wanting to stay. It’s a great little city with a national park very close by. Not to mention her mom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4fb6f0a7-5de3-4ea5-b412-ad11e52fb7e7/processed_20250724_142106.jpg Breadcrumbs - Summer Adventures - The house looked pretty good! It’s not unusual for random Lebolds to stop by the old homestead to have a look and introduce themselves to whoever the current owner is. Usually we are met with open arms. This time, though, the owner was in no mood for visitors. I saw him open the door to let his dogs out to terrorize me while he stayed inside and refused to come out to see who it might be. The two border collies barked but turned out to be super friendly, especially Charlie. After they calmed down and I proved to the owner (who I presume was watching me out a window) that I was a friend of dogs and could have been a friend of his, I made my exit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/803a113f-55d4-470e-9dd1-f2f481058277/processed_20250727_091214.jpg Breadcrumbs - Summer Adventures - Make it stand out Meet Murphy Henry and her daughter Casey Henry. Both virtuoso musicians whose mission it is to spread the joy of bluegrass and acoustic instruments - especially banjo!! - to anyone who wants to learn to play. Here is a link to one of the performances they did during the camp weekend (one of my favorites among the many songs that Murphy has written over the years). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/faf0571d-dbf8-4e56-a721-c4428c5399ab/processed_28019235.jpg Breadcrumbs - Summer Adventures - Make it stand out Those of you who were there remember this scene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/89c2d815-908d-4816-bed5-b4aa06a60bd6/processed_27664480.jpg Breadcrumbs - Summer Adventures - Make it stand out Can you see my fingers shaking? Can you hear Stefan whispering loudly in my ear: “Don’t stop! This is a gig! Don’t stop!!” I gamely kept jumping in and out of the song and am proud to say I did actually manage to do a few backup rolls here and there - my solo break never materialized, however. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/pausetakeabreath monthly 0.5 2025-07-15 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/rituals-of-friendship monthly 0.5 2025-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/08e6df61-ecdd-4cf7-b22e-1de7c4fe6301/Celeste.png Breadcrumbs - Rituals of Friendship - Make it stand out Celeste has an amazing ability to focus on the smallest of details. Here she is trying her hand at one of the many artistic endeavors she has explored (calligraphy, anyone?). I love the “show and tell” portion of our coffee klatches! Did I mention that she was also the officiant at Conrad’s wedding and has written a novel (as yet unpublished)? A woman of many talents to be sure! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3ffaa4ca-a925-4c91-93a2-d079c7fa6126/IMG-20250709-WA0012.jpg Breadcrumbs - Rituals of Friendship - My dad always had a vegetable garden no matter where he lived or how much space he had to work with. Several of their progeny do as well. What’s the point of having a garden if you can’t share the bounty with your family? Even if it is just to show them how big your cucumbers got this year! Well done Elizabeth! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e068a028-ca79-4fc8-bfb4-9ad76b3109ec/processed_20240425_092352.jpg Breadcrumbs - Rituals of Friendship - Make it stand out Planning a road trip together takes work, but is oh so worth it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/168ff04e-2c65-4e4a-8685-947c0093beb8/Taj+before+pic.png Breadcrumbs - Rituals of Friendship - This is Taj. He jumped into his cyanotype project with enthusiasm and his beautiful result is in the cover picture to this article. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2779388a-d024-43df-a942-3c54869843f4/FrancyAlicia.jpg Breadcrumbs - Rituals of Friendship - Meet Francy and Alicia. Telling stories while waiting for their cyanotype prints to get enough sunlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b15c2c7c-4225-4643-825f-37e1bbc60b84/LeelaEzra.png Breadcrumbs - Rituals of Friendship - Make it stand out Meet Leela and Ezra. When we weren’t crafting or eating, we were playing with babies. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/havingfun monthly 0.5 2025-05-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f477afe1-628e-42ac-9d46-35421b974a6b/processed_20250517_181146.jpg Breadcrumbs - Having Fun and Getting Organized - Make it stand out This is the “after” picture, so you can try to imagine what it looked like before I filled the compost bin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/63bbdb17-905f-4c74-aaf7-b8a45967d7fa/processed_20250505_131403.jpg Breadcrumbs - Having Fun and Getting Organized - Make it stand out We had some windy days which were perfect for kite-flying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/01dbfdfb-6018-4ebe-a83c-fb2bd8e3ea18/processed_20250508_124845.jpg Breadcrumbs - Having Fun and Getting Organized - Make it stand out It was just a horse, but in this context it was mesmerizing. We also saw several others, including a mother and new foal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/fea2c995-bc86-442e-8133-35ef3de88a0d/IMG_5981.jpg Breadcrumbs - Having Fun and Getting Organized - Make it stand out Conrad managed to have a beautiful Mother’s Day bouquet delivered before we left the beach. What a guy! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/unpredictableforces monthly 0.5 2025-04-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/615ad3d6-6fef-47e3-a4a6-090ba31c6d2f/IMG-20250324-WA0015.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces This was the day Conrad brought Sophie home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8d096d39-382f-45c2-999c-c57dae266f0c/processed_PXL_20240928_211222448.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces Sophie and Maria played many games together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/be287e59-8d9b-45f0-aac3-d873faaa0fe0/IMG-20250324-WA0029.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces Sophie would put up with anything for Conrad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cd4a2c3e-ad83-42a3-9087-6dd130045635/IMG-20250324-WA0034.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces Sophie the water dog! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/febe51fb-7072-44f8-bafb-e38c6b1478cc/IMG-20250324-WA0001.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces She will be missed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0f8042a4-9301-491a-8a23-ffd8817f1d96/processed_20250315_200325.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces One of the bonuses of banjo camp are the faculty concerts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7a698f33-8d9a-4365-b654-b4d1fe0838d8/processed_20250316_162959.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces I felt very safe with these beautiful creatures right outside my door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8675bda3-fe7b-4e24-b3ae-c0086f8b917e/processed_20250317_113929.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces This is Lashunda Brown, who volunteers at the National Voting Rights Museum. I arrived as she was closing up but she was gracious and kept the door open for me to take a tour. Her shirt says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King, Jr. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/84ef00b2-010a-4d7e-9fea-bf480cbfd4e9/processed_20250318_103628.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces This vivid sculpture was one of many that depicted the violence of that time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/35eece72-ec49-410e-9c45-44c81ffc46dd/processed_20250318_114933.jpg Breadcrumbs - Unpredictable Forces Gloria and I took several pictures and selfies, but she specifically asked me to take her picture in front of the jail that depicts the one she stayed in as a child. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/springroadtrip2025 monthly 0.5 2025-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1ee083d1-f177-4016-8b07-ea6e1eb42600/processed_20250305_085716.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip 2025 Edition Sadie was very unhappy that she did not get to go on this trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/136d8a07-0fbc-461b-94d6-66fabb58005a/processed_20250311_105006.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip 2025 Edition This is Bob, who makes beautiful jewelry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/53becf8c-47d5-40fd-86fe-0f339e7efdce/processed_IMG_0373.jpeg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip 2025 Edition This was a great stop at the end of a long and winding driving day. Look what I made! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d2f3880e-424d-4048-8e9e-0ffb6e51050d/processed_20250312_165111.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip 2025 Edition What a bonus that I was in Georgia at the height of peach blossom season! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/w855b0rwngg509uiuyi04g4bo64jzz monthly 0.5 2025-02-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/46874fcd-7f04-40d5-965e-ca1a3a8a4094/processed_20250214_164837.jpg Breadcrumbs - Attending to the Creative Soul - Make it stand out The hotel staff recommended BB King’s Blues Club on famous Beale Street as a perfect place for great music and great food, and it did not disappoint! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a6872720-d56e-4a98-894f-e3ca96d351d6/processed_20250206_123114.jpg Breadcrumbs - Attending to the Creative Soul - Make it stand out It wasn’t easy being a single woman in those rough and tumble years of the romanticized West. This is Frankie Bell, one of the more notorious of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1eb9a797-21f0-4aac-b8e8-988562df84e9/processed_20250212_131247.jpg Breadcrumbs - Attending to the Creative Soul - Make it stand out I was enamored with the many windmills I saw dotting the plains in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7c118a80-968f-4c1a-87b4-a54c392bcec5/processed_20250213_123153.jpg Breadcrumbs - Attending to the Creative Soul - Make it stand out Did you know Taylor Swift plays the banjo? Respect!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ccc1ac78-93e9-4759-bdc8-d739888c5bed/processed_20250212_162128.jpg Breadcrumbs - Attending to the Creative Soul - As I said, I took lots of pictures of windmills. This time when I stopped, these cows, which had been scattered all over this large field, came rushing over to check me out and say hi. I thought about serenading them with my banjo, as I’ve heard that cows like that sort of thing, but it was 10 degrees outside. Apparently I was the most interesting thing that happened to them all day… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0ecdcac1-c739-4684-b162-138e02f5ba84/processed_20250215_090644.jpg Breadcrumbs - Attending to the Creative Soul - I drew this bird upside down. Then painted it in watercolors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/059cf036-3e68-433e-82a6-b1079cebb4cd/processed_20250215_144413.jpg Breadcrumbs - Attending to the Creative Soul - I was pretty happy with the way this one turned out. I drew this based on a photograph I took, but when I drew it I turned the photograph upside down first. One of the “wild abandon” techniques. Then I used gel pens to add color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/294ccf9e-7e17-4087-a973-f1aefc8f3dc2/processed_20250215_090825.jpg Breadcrumbs - Attending to the Creative Soul - Make it stand out I drew this rotary telephone with my eyes closed. I’m amazed that it is recognizable! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/rnh37s5h64ds4h7n7lrqxfmf1fd6m2 monthly 0.5 2025-02-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/281cc84e-69e9-46d1-beb1-f446eba60740/processed_20250205_101918.jpg Breadcrumbs - Always Exploring, Always Learning - Make it stand out I passed a total of 5 vehicles on the side of the road or in a ditch before noon today. Two of them were big trucks like this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a2882a84-40b0-48e3-b41a-f80c4b38ae50/processed_20250205_134738.jpg Breadcrumbs - Always Exploring, Always Learning - Make it stand out Google Maps never fails to make my driving life interesting. Today I was directed down Bronc Rider Road, a dirt affair that didn’t seem to improve my driving route efficiency, which is what Google tells me it is always striving for. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/652d5e41-33cb-4bcf-bad1-f7db11cbb29d/processed_20250204_133044.jpg Breadcrumbs - Always Exploring, Always Learning - Make it stand out Mark Twain was a prolific and gifted writer. So much of what he said over 100 years ago is still relevant today. We need to listen. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/end-of-year-check-in monthly 0.5 2024-12-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/dce32e29-8fbf-4429-ba75-b1372bda19f8/earth+image.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Year Check-in - Really?! you might say, incredulously. This one may seem, at first glance, a bit challenging and, dare I say it, unattainable. However, I choose to take an expansive view of what it means to nurture world peace. Notice I did not say “Achieving World Peace.” Big difference between achieving and nurturing. I believe this is one of the most important goals any of us might choose to tackle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/95128807-bd8f-421f-9d2a-ced9f7869d24/processed_20241118_120025.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Year Check-in - In addition to writing, I also try to encourage my creative muse by hosting occasional craft parties with my good friend Celeste. The latest one was looming and everyone had a great time eating, weaving, talking, and making fun “mug rugs” and tiny pouches. I’m determined to expand my artistic horizons in multiple ways, but still hope to stay true to the book project as my highest creative priority. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/38468451-40eb-44eb-8834-a5fc40050721/processed_20240613_165354.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Year Check-in - This was me shortly after returning from banjo camp last June. See how happy I am? To reach my goal of jamming with ease and regularity, I need to find a way to increase my improvement momentum. I’m probably not going to be able to increase my practice time significantly over what I’m already doing if I hope to get my book project off the ground in a meaningful way. So what to do? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5ef3614c-c023-40f1-b3a2-8bba49bc391a/Lewis+and+Clark.jpeg Breadcrumbs - End of Year Check-in - In mid to late August, I am tentatively planning another big road trip to the west coast. This time I will be following the Lewis and Clark trail through the Dakotas and Montana, which I’m pretty excited about because I have never travelled in those areas of the country. I will take about a month to get from St. Louis (the start of the trail) to Portland, Oregon (where it ends), and my return trip will take me up to Vancouver and across Canada, coming back down to Michigan through Sault Ste. Marie and across the Mighty Mac (which I have never done). Due to the northern nature of this trip, I’m hoping to travel after the summer vacationers are finished and back to school and work, but before severe winter weather hits. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/dr4mweoidnunfrkvr5s2fpv8zyf6mu monthly 0.5 2024-09-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/21c41d35-eb74-4a2b-b6e0-04233f37f34d/processed_20240825_143354.jpg Breadcrumbs - First the Work, Then the Reward - The Wedding Shoe Game was a big hit! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4bd6ebb1-9c20-4760-a624-66a3cc182766/processed_20240831_185355.jpg Breadcrumbs - First the Work, Then the Reward Despite all the work and stress, Maria was still able to take advantage of the opportunity to attend her first Michigan Wolverines game, and of course she had to go in full regalia! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d13ef42b-a07a-4969-a7d6-8f11eb809375/Wedding+guest+bingo.jpg Breadcrumbs - First the Work, Then the Reward Many people had fun playing the bingo game throughout the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c94df0dc-2d82-4616-8eab-08543ca648e0/processed_20240919_210929.jpg Breadcrumbs - First the Work, Then the Reward I enjoyed getting acquainted with Alicia before the full chaos of the weekend. Maria was on extra duty as our translator since Alicia speaks no English and I speak no Spanish. Thank you Maria! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4686498e-c4ae-4810-a91d-0935067c2bbf/processed_27655921.jpg Breadcrumbs - First the Work, Then the Reward Just a sample of the beautiful colors in the floral arrangements. The room was festive and happy! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/09cd850f-e6a3-4634-9593-5228efaa60d2/processed_28315701.jpg Breadcrumbs - First the Work, Then the Reward The happy couple got their own Sweetheart Table. The prizes were intended for the people who completed their bingo cards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/faf0571d-dbf8-4e56-a721-c4428c5399ab/processed_28019235.jpg Breadcrumbs - First the Work, Then the Reward From left to right: Josh Lebold, keyboard; David Knowles (standing) guitar and songwriter; Dan Lebold, melodica; Sam Lebold, psalter; Toosie Margolies, recorder; Gust Lebold (standing), vocals; Carol Lebold (standing), vocals; Thea Knowles, guitar; me on banjo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/89c2d815-908d-4816-bed5-b4aa06a60bd6/processed_27664480.jpg Breadcrumbs - First the Work, Then the Reward Bandleader Stefan (the "real" one providing all the other music for the evening) trying to keep me going even as I was messing up. (we did have a conversation the next day and he assured me that I'm actually a better player than I think I am and that (except for my solo attempt) I was doing pretty well with the complicated backup rolls for the rest of the song. He also confirmed that it is a difficult instrument to learn. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/end-of-summer-musing monthly 0.5 2024-09-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c410bcf0-6ec9-464c-9921-0650202bed5f/processed_20240829_085857.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Summer Musing - Although Sadie hasn’t done much travelling outside of Ann Arbor this summer, we are blessed that the city has a river running through it and lots of parks to explore together. Here’s what my summer has been like since my Canadian camping adventure with Kim, along with some reflections. As it happens, Sadie was not with me for any of these summer adventures. Some of the places I went did not allow dogs, and in other cases I decided it would be less stress for her overall if she had her own adventures at Lucky Puppy, where on hot days she likes to swim in the bone-shaped doggie swimming pool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3f478e7c-1243-4f0e-a750-bdb6abd49868/processed_20240714_114408.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Summer Musing - Conrad has never been able to resist a good climbing tree, no matter where he finds it. I hope the spirits of his Frankenfeld ancestors were looking on with approval as he clambered up. Other activities some of us did on our own or in smaller groups included visiting the St. Louis Gateway Arch, biking a bit of the Katy Trail, and visiting the Washington, Missouri, Farmer’s Market and Meershaum corn cob pipe factory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f87ddac2-2ef4-4754-ba52-7ff7c77456f3/IMG-20240715-WA0001.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Summer Musing - Make it stand out A bit of a motley looking crew, perhaps, but we didn't care. Aunt Toosie, our host and the family matriarch, is in the middle with the hat. Thank you for a great gathering! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ad42317e-4b49-48c7-86d6-9c8c25e9da8e/processed_20240726_145603.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Summer Musing - The music was great as always and the bonus this year was Kim’s son Travis who joined us. What a nice young man! I enjoyed getting better acquainted with him over the course of the weekend. Sadly, Kim’s vintage VW camper Inga didn’t make it home. She broke down near Findlay, Ohio, and had to be towed back to Michigan. She rests at the repair shop in Waterford, waiting for Kim to decide whether to bring her back to life with a new engine, or sail her off into the sunset. I’m rooting for Inga’s resurrection so that we can make plans for a joint cross country trip next year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/573e7143-2b14-4c24-a707-38d627100df7/processed_20240808_192301.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Summer Musing - Emily and Conrad are second cousins, born just a few months apart. I love that she calls me her aunt and always finds time to meet up with me when I’m passing through. This time we got bonus time together because the skies let loose while we were in the restaurant, and we had to wait quite awhile until the coast was clear so that we could get to our cars without getting soaked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2e9e53c7-2838-4ccd-bfd0-11c82c69088a/processed_20240812_144714.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Summer Musing - My brother Daniel and I shared a campsite, and rode our bikes all over the Cape and into Provincetown. The week on Cape Cod was really wonderful. Precious family time, delicious seafood that doesn’t get any fresher, fun activities, and lots of biking and sightseeing and ice cream and shopping opportunities in the towns in and near Provincetown. Our group of siblings and in-laws were joined by my nephew Matthew and his family (which includes three young, adorable boys under the age of 13) and Matt’s in-laws. We had lots of fun together and all agreed that the hours and hours on the road to get there and back home, punctuated by numerous highway construction projects or heavy traffic stalls in and around New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., etc. were totally worth the experience of being on that seashore and together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/bda63f78-1dc8-4ff4-927e-b9b37850d5af/processed_20240825_143504.jpg Breadcrumbs - End of Summer Musing - The shoe game turned out to be a hit. This was, I believe, the first ever shower of any kind hosted by me, so I was a little out of my element. But I knew enough to enlist the aid of some friends and my two nieces who were able to provide some fun ideas and guide me. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/roadtripping-with-friends monthly 0.5 2024-07-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c0b92f97-3494-4059-bf95-21e603f0e797/processed_20240622_110855.jpg Breadcrumbs - Camping With Friends - Anticipating some rain, this was my setup at the first provincial park campground. The CLAM is also good for mosquito and nasty biting fly protection. I think it is essential to maintain separate spaces and build private time into the experience when on a camping trip with friends. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b263750f-04c4-4047-a5b2-5f37113bf0e4/processed_20240626_182735.jpg Breadcrumbs - Camping With Friends - Hotdogs have become a tradition when Kim and I go camping together. I have discovered that hot dogs, which I almost never eat anywhere else (except maybe a baseball game - I mean, really, what’s better than a chili cheese dog at a Boston Red Sox, Columbus Clippers or Durham Bulls game?), are particularly tasty at a campsite. Must be the woodsy ambience. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/db1432ba-7c4c-4841-a8b9-a2a1d7559ef1/processed_20240621_175019.jpg Breadcrumbs - Camping With Friends - The watermelon martinis were delicious! Kim and I tend to share charcuterie items and drinks in the afternoon, and dinner in the evening, but we take care of ourselves other parts of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d55bf23b-2d24-4a88-8954-ca4667e21740/processed_20240625_122820.jpg Breadcrumbs - Camping With Friends - Even if you don’t have to balance on rocks, you might have to cross over several sandy dunes to get close to the water’s edge. Some foot stress will be unavoidable: climbing in and out of the camper multiple times a day, taking your dog for walks, walking to the restrooms and showers, etc. Other stresses are optional, but you may choose to do them anyway (with the full knowledge that this will NOT help the healing process): climbing over rocks to get to the beach, climbing up and down sand dunes to get to the beach, walking on the beach, climbing steps and walking up and down on uneven boardwalks to get to the beach, to name a few examples. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/58d50a44-d62c-4620-a594-680d474f9184/processed_20240622_125049.jpg Breadcrumbs - Camping With Friends - Sadie and I waited on the beach while Kim and Beamy hit the glassy water of Lake Huron on the paddleboard. The dogs had a blast together and we had fun watching them swim after sticks in the water, run around on the beach, snuffle in the sand and rocks, and just be the uninhibited canines they aspire to be. The fact that they had each other to play with was icing on the cake for them and for our overall camp experience. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/closingtheloop monthly 0.5 2024-06-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b5a8777b-e5b1-4dc1-83c0-e6bf6626fdb0/20+central.jpg Breadcrumbs - Closing the Loop on the 1938 Project - This is 20 Central Avenue in Fredonia, New York. It has been operating as a funeral home on the first floor with living quarters on the second floor since Fred Larson purchased the property in the late 1920’s. I am imagining my mother Joanie, who was 9 years old at the time, watching impatiently out the windows for the approach of the returning travelers. She would have raced from window to window as she saw them approach, round the corner, and turn into the driveway. At that point she would have raced down the steep back stairs, flying out of the door just as the car rolled up and the tired travelers piled out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/86760d9c-196f-48b8-b090-ba0d3cb3db09/Fred+collection.jpg Breadcrumbs - Closing the Loop on the 1938 Project - His collection caught the attention of the local newspaper in December 1937. These items were still on display in the 1960’s, and I remember seeing them as a child. I recognize a number of them, which were proudly displayed by my mother and are now in the homes of her children. Besides collecting curios, Fred also collected news articles that interested him on major events of the day. The 1938 trip scrapbook that I used to plot my route to California included quite a number of news articles about the big floods that year and also the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge that had taken place the year before their trip. Other scrapbook topics included the Dionne Quints, major prize fights, and the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and trial of Bruno Hauptmann. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7fb69748-c20c-4e58-a15f-98bda03f3815/Lotta+Bunx+in+front.jpg Breadcrumbs - Closing the Loop on the 1938 Project - I love this candid shot of some of the Lotta Bunx partiers as the photographer (probably Fred) tried in vain to corral them into a group pose. The corner of the cottage is in the background, and to the left would be the view overlooking the small beach and Lake Erie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/bafd151c-bc60-4d39-8653-51dc79325b55/Lotta+Bunx+inside.jpg Breadcrumbs - Closing the Loop on the 1938 Project - This is a rare view inside the cottage, which was quite rustic. I have trouble imagining large numbers of people squeezing inside for a rainy day party, but I have a feeling the weather probably did not deter visitors from having a good time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/aa13de66-209f-453a-bbca-2f2f6cca2d53/Joan+w+Fred+and+Josie.jpg Breadcrumbs - Closing the Loop on the 1938 Project - My mother Joan standing between her parents. She was probably around 16. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a81f02d6-94d7-4720-92cf-944387adcc5f/Honey+Girl.jpg Breadcrumbs - Closing the Loop on the 1938 Project - This is a picture of Honey Girl posing with my mother’s cousin Rhea and “Gramps” on one of their Florida trips. Honey Girl was sold in August 1947, almost six months after Fred died. That car represented so much for my mother that she marked the date in one of her scrapbooks and pasted several photos of it, along with a set of the car keys that she had saved. Besides the California trip (when it was brand new), Honey Girl took the family on several trips to Florida, and my mother learned to drive on it. So symbolic that once Fred was gone, everything changed and the car went away also. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5fa4717a-6806-48e9-9a01-52becf781248/Frank+in+later+years.jpg Breadcrumbs - Closing the Loop on the 1938 Project - Here is Frank fairly late in life. Still as dapper and dignified as ever! Frank had outlived all of his siblings by 1950. Mary. Will. Linus. John. He also outlived four of his children: Alma, Alex, Walter and Fred. He was 89. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/roadtripping-with-family monthly 0.5 2024-05-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1cf84e18-db97-4cb7-995f-8a2df6db41aa/processed_20240408_203547.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - I couldn’t be happier that Maria will be joining our family! Conrad and Maria met in New York City when Conrad was still living there and she was on a visit from her native Peru. They have been together for almost three years, managing their long distance relationship with visits back and forth and lots of Zoom calls in between. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2cbb7e26-48e7-4223-a5cc-639fd5d974b9/processed_20240425_095006.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - The most distinguishing feature of Merom is the presence of this conference center, originally built in 1893. My father worked at the center in the 1960’s when it was known as Merom Institute. While several of us have been back from time to time, either alone or with other family members, Daniel had not been back since we left in 1967. For him it was a special pilgrimage to where he literally began his life. For the rest of us it was a special time to spend together and see this special place through our collective eyes and memories. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cce9ef6b-8feb-4d1c-af8e-a20d336f80ec/processed_20240425_101951.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - This unique spiral staircase has been taking visitors up into the cupola at the top of the building since the original construction. After our lovely communal breakfast, the current director of the conference center gave us a full tour of the building and grounds. We had fun remembering the nooks and crannies we used to explore as children, and the areas of the building where our father worked for eight years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7cc6766a-cc43-4b35-9ea3-a60f8afd7e3e/20240424_192854.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - Make it stand out What a beautiful sunset over the Wabash River looking into Illinois! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2c947889-cf4d-4705-a151-5c12d8faf600/PXL_20220702_225209942.MP.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - This picture of the old farmhouse was taken in 2022. It still looks pretty good after over 150 years! My grandfather and all of his children (including my father) were born in the house. When it was a working farm, and for a time after most of the acreage was sold to a land developer, my siblings, cousins and I would spend many hours exploring the property, riding the horses, playing games and building forts in the hayloft, gathering eggs in the henhouse, playing with the lambs in the sheep barn, fishing in the pond over the hill, tobogganing down that same hill, and generally hanging out in the idyllic rural setting that only a farm can provide. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a616316b-b17f-4754-a390-515611a930ab/processed_20240426_105452.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - Although Tim explained what this is I couldn’t tell you today. It is impossible to appreciate how massive these pieces of farm equipment are until you are standing in its shadow or looking down from the cockpit. My cousin Tim, who built his house right across the road from his parents, runs the daily farm operations, and his nephew Tommy, just 16, has expressed interest in learning the business. Tommy’s mom, Marie, lives just down the road and raises purebred Welsh Corgies when she isn’t checking in on her parents and supporting their needs. Her husband Mark works on the farm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9e3f0035-c23a-4b13-a8f1-177f51f453b5/processed_20240426_165034.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - Sister Carol and cousin Don. One of Al’s birdhouses hangs on the tree behind them. My cousin Don is the program and marketing director at a senior living facility, and lives not far away in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He visits Sunrise Farm every weekend. Tim’s wife Tamara, a neonatal intensive care nurse, helps make sure that Jane and Al have all the support they need to thrive and age in place for as long as possible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d1bf3d32-bf0e-46fe-a0d7-c20ba4e150a9/processed_20240426_132736.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - That’s my brother Sam waving to us from the top of the silo. He was the only one brave enough to get all the way to the top. Tim got a good chuckle at our reluctance to face our fears on that small thin ladder. Tim freely shared his knowledge of all the ins and outs of farming in today’s world, and let us climb all over the big, expensive equipment. Our late night of playing pool in Tim and Tamara’s home was super fun despite the fact that none of the out of town visitors were able to win a single game (nor did I expect to…). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3334d39a-ba2a-45d7-b9c4-6583d81d8674/processed_20240427_130723.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - Daniel tried out a bunch of instruments in this wonderful store we found in Nashville. Dan did his due diligence, and at the end of the day was thrilled to find a guitar he wanted to buy (with his sister strongly encouraging him). He and I have already begun planning jam sessions once both of us get up and running on our respective instruments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cc85f4f6-f1ef-424d-900e-2e06c271e5e7/processed_20240505_070221.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - This was my view from my beachside bedroom. I was lucky enough to have a bedroom on a second floor that overlooked the ocean and had a sliding door and deck, which meant that I could fall asleep listening to the ocean waves and also sit on the deck whenever I wanted to enjoy the view. There could be lots of activity downstairs in the common area, which included an open (but small) kitchen, dining and living area, and I could retreat to my own solitary retreat whenever I needed to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/459da150-47c4-4aa7-8467-00b4a8b825d7/processed_20240512_091509.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - John Denver definitely appreciated the natural beauty of this state. As it turned out, the day was gorgeous all day long, and so I made a date with myself and headed out to explore. Highlights: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3b78b0ac-b47f-4fa4-a750-5e1f63ad7ad8/processed_20240512_100719.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - You could find pretty much anything at this popular flea market. I thought briefly about bringing a purebred fainting goat home, but a more sensible head prevailed and I passed on the opportunity. Same with the chickens, ducks, and rabbits I saw for sale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a42ea8e4-586b-49a9-81df-cb33dd4a5bc3/processed_20240512_120023.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - The Big Bend tunnel is no longer in use, but stands behind the sculpture of John Henry, which was based on a local resident in the area whose relatives worked on the railroad. All those years hearing the song, I never knew where the famous event had taken place. And then there I was at the site! I love finding these unexpected breadcrumbs! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/74f323b8-fccf-4970-813d-24ec5619e398/processed_20240512_145206.jpg Breadcrumbs - Roadtripping with Family - Make it stand out What a perfect way to end a perfect day! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/springtripfinalreport monthly 0.5 2024-05-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/01a4a9e1-cb08-4853-847d-a0238181d5fc/processed_20240322_074157.jpg Breadcrumbs - Last Report from Spring Trip - The wisteria were everywhere in Georgia. Not to be outdone, the wisteria of Georgia was followed by the redbuds in Tennessee and Kentucky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/50d44193-6010-4f48-850a-87236d634062/processed_20240324_083008.jpg Breadcrumbs - Last Report from Spring Trip - Sadie had great fun on the beaches, and we were able to find several different stretches where she could be off leash and just run and run. Along the coast it is flat and wet and beautiful. Roadways with water and swamps on both sides. Signs that warn of floods when it rains (not a factor for me, happily). The temperatures were perfect as I drove along. Some rain, but mostly sun and a few clouds. Beaches and ocean views were beautiful, but so were the inland waterways. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/198528bb-ead9-48bd-aa0a-4cc6eaed4d74/processed_20240328_142927.jpg Breadcrumbs - Last Report from Spring Trip - Sadie and I could have spent the whole day at Cloudland Canyon. Next time we go we’ll camp in the park! The mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee are beautiful places, with interesting histories. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ce773a4b-54df-47f1-811c-57bea6e7cc32/processed_20240321_135237.jpg Breadcrumbs - Last Report from Spring Trip - This beautiful large home in Beaufort, South Carolina, is but one of many that hark back to the 1800’s. For me, the appreciation of the beauty of these architectural wonders and the grounds they sit on must be balanced with the realities of the conflict and oppression that made them possible. It isn’t easy to find the right balance, but I believe trying to do so is worth the time and effort. The reality of the past that we are still dealing with today must be acknowledged, even in the face of the progress and resilience that is so apparent. Only then is true reconciliation possible. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/unusualbreadcrumb monthly 0.5 2024-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2c64804c-b40d-491a-9efa-ddd3fb8b6eda/processed_20240325_110237.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Communal Breadcrumb - Who knew pecan trees got so big?? I am visiting Koinonia Farm, a place of respite and tranquility and peace and social justice. Located in rural Georgia, not far from Plains (of Jimmy Carter fame), and Americus (world headquarters of Habitat for Humanity), it is an unassuming place that has stood the test of time, remaining vibrant and active even through tough times during its 80+ years in existence. I am honored and privileged to stay here for a few nights and break bread with the residents at their communal table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8ced95e2-8265-4b59-99b1-72d1ba4f8912/processed_20240325_102111.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Communal Breadcrumb - Clarence and Florence in the early days of Koinonia Farm. When Clarence Jordan and his friend Martin England bought the land in 1942, Jim Crow segregation laws were in full force. The terror of the KKK in the late 1800’s and early decades of the 1900’s had established a racial hierarchy that few questioned as they went about their daily lives in the 1940’s. Lynchings were not uncommon in Georgia after the civil war and reconstruction, and the state is second only to Mississippi in the number of known and recorded lynchings in the country. In Sumter County there were four known racial murders between 1895 and 1920. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/38d6b69a-9598-4050-813b-61cb75ac0134/processed_20240325_102224.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Communal Breadcrumb - Clarence Jordan in his later years after holding steady through all of the tumultuous years. The civil rights movement continued through the 1960’s and Koinonia adapted its operations in order to survive economically and continue serving the families who stayed put. The farm had to innovate in order to stay economically viable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/24265ef7-898a-4567-b2f3-ecb6c4446967/processed_20240325_121410.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Communal Breadcrumb - Everyday during the week everyone is invited to a communal midday meal. There is also a bell that rings at designated intervals that remind everyone to stop what they are doing for a moment and pray or reflect. A nice way of slowing ourselves down from time to time throughout the day! Today, Koinonia seems to be thriving and practices sustainable agriculture to support their income needs. They also offer space and respite in the form of hospitality (you can camp onsite or stay in one of their buildings), which is another important source of income. And they offer internships - both short term and long - to people who want to experience life at the farm first hand and take a break from the fast lane of life. Internships are open to all ages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ab6a02d8-3b1c-4ea2-b857-45544de73641/2610236694779654429.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Communal Breadcrumb - This is Sue, our tour guide, and Amon, my tour buddy. A special bonus was when we took a walk to the shack that sits in a pecan grove away from the main campus buildings. This shack is where Clarence Jordan did most of his writing, and is also the place where he died of cardiac arrest in 1969. Amon saw Clarence’s desk in the shack and identified it immediately as the one that his father brought to the farm in 1958 when they first arrived (confirmed by some of his older siblings when he sent them the picture). So special!! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/aspringmemory monthly 0.5 2024-03-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/15a55836-b02b-491b-890d-f91c25af3a17/processed_20240319_185944.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Spring Memory - You can see the foamy swirl as the waves swallowed the ashes I placed in a depression in the sand. Jay and I loved walking the beach at Fort Fisher and I have many happy memories here. I spent the day remembering our anniversary, which would have been our 43rd. My recently retired brother Daniel is camping with me for the couple of days I’m here, and I was grateful to have him with me for this remembrance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/902a2468-9c75-4979-a89a-44bb5cf1d6ab/processed_20240311_084426.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Spring Memory - Ahhh… there’s my guy…so young… his whole career still ahead of him. I’ll let Jay take it from here. He wrote a letter to his Uncle Art’s family explaining why they had heard about this wedding through the family grapevine rather than in a formal invitation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/fb2fe0d2-3a48-4651-8dff-3a53eb02ee99/processed_20240311_084422.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Spring Memory - Not the best picture, but hopefully you can see the happiness in my face! A few days after the wedding, my parents wrote a letter announcing the marriage to their friends and family who had not attended (and who might have felt slighted at not having been invited). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/70201acd-02cc-47f6-84d6-95fdd7008ddd/processed_20240311_084000.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Spring Memory - Make it stand out Every few years we reviewed these vows together. They definitely stood the test of time. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/spring-road-trip monthly 0.5 2024-03-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/aec1e351-49bb-4f5b-b3bc-a4d741fc5eb5/Roadtrip+map+3-24.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip! - A much more modest trip compared to the two months last fall. But three weeks seems just about right. After a few days with my brother and his family, my quest for warmer temperatures will continue along the coast into South Carolina and Georgia, with a small dip into Florida before heading north by a different route. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4b3f7543-a2ff-44a4-9302-bf0f8d63ff80/processed_20240311_170417.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip! - My day ended in the parking lot of a moonshine distillery, which seemed appropriate for the part of the country I was in. The stay was free, but (of course!) I did spend money on moonshine after tasting a representative sampling of their flavors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0d3de007-6d67-4cd3-bc62-829c3d112371/processed_20240312_124039.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip! - My detour to the Blue Ridge Music Center turned out not to be what I was expecting, but what a beautiful spot! The joke was on me. What I found instead of the gleaming shopping mecca for all things bluegrass, was an outdoor music venue that is closed for the season and won’t open until May. Sadie and I walked around the grounds for a bit and admired the mountainous scenery that surrounded us, then checked the maps to see where exactly we were in relation to Chapel Hill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2a4a3c09-e75e-4a65-a23e-f402c2421ace/processed_20240313_091615.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip! - Sadie and my brother Daniel had a very happy reunion. Longer day than I had intended but ended on a high note for sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3ba72ca2-d64b-401c-8e27-d9b1f0d371ce/processed_20240313_122553.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip! - I had great fun pretending I knew what I was doing. Daniel was a great instructor! Another attempt to broaden my own horizons and stretch my brain to new heights! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/592c6638-3509-406a-ab9d-23b66cedd40a/processed_20240315_200732.jpg Breadcrumbs - Spring Road Trip! - Make it stand out Check out my finished product - I did that!!! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/markingtimevsmarchingforward monthly 0.5 2024-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/baeccfe0-5037-4e21-b65a-81628311726b/processed_20240303_165029.jpg Breadcrumbs - Marking Time vs. Marching Forward - Ever feel like you can’t finish anything? Those of you out there who are already experts at procrastination no doubt have your own version of the following list, and I invite you to share them in the comments. These are in no particular order of priority. They all work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/96b9625a-8aaa-4670-a945-6d5da8020f3c/processed_20240211_103833.jpg Breadcrumbs - Marking Time vs. Marching Forward - A felt-making class can be a very fun way to avoid moving forward in your life. Low stakes and high reward! These tips seems like more than enough to get you started on your own avoidance strategies, regardless of what it is you are trying to avoid. Good luck! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/a-fading-breadcrumb-trail monthly 0.5 2024-02-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/bcae90ab-de91-4f95-91e1-18f3d8ef6fab/processed_20240226_174318.jpg Breadcrumbs - Fading Breadcrumbs - I couldn’t resist snagging these old books from the very early 1900s that David was ready to discard. As I was going through the various boxes, it became apparent that I was not only getting a glimpse of David’s life, but also that of his parents, brother, and various other relatives who had passed on and whose treasures had landed in David’s possession, whether he had wanted them or not. Many of David’s papers, books, photos and other documents came to him through the deaths of his parents and brother, who had their own collections of memorabilia and books and photos from various maternal aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/13b35aa1-4dd3-4e88-a596-ce033a26368c/Marty+Lebold.jpg Breadcrumbs - Fading Breadcrumbs - David’s mother Martha had a rich family history already firmly in place when she married my uncle Don. David’s memory is fully intact and, with great enthusiasm as well as acuity and detail, he was able to answer my inquiries about the various former owners of these items. As with many European immigrant families of the 19th and early 20th centuries, David’s maternal relatives came from large, sprawling families that became larger and more sprawling as the generations unfolded. Many of them are now gone, and he has largely lost touch with those few he knew in his younger days who may still be alive. Would any of them be interested in these treasures, assuming he could even find them? Hard to say. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1f7e8180-30d9-4bba-a030-e760e2c2db27/processed_20240226_154913.jpg Breadcrumbs - Fading Breadcrumbs - Who would guess that my father made this sweet and beautiful little cup during a period of great personal struggle. We can’t always stop families from fading away into the nether reaches of the historical universe. What is the corresponding time frame in our own families? When will we come to the end of our particular branch? Will the breadcrumb trail end at that point or will it find a way to continue? What will happen to the artifacts and memories? Does it matter? Do we care? https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/the-ups-and-downs-of-winter monthly 0.5 2024-01-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/723c11a0-7606-4a53-bdda-8fab8a65d243/IMG-20220205-WA0009.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - Sadie loves the snow even more than I do. Of course, there is a downside to all this beauty. The roads have to be cleared, sidewalks and driveways shovelled, and it is much more dangerous for those who have no choice but to drive on slippery streets and highways through blinding blizzards to get to work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/66b168d6-54b1-4b2b-9442-f8a79399e8b2/processed_20240120_133216.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - This is my older brother Sam and his son Joshua. That’s my walking stick he’s holding. He didn’t need one… Over the years younger generations were added to the group of older stalwarts. As those older family members eventually dropped out, they were replaced by the children and grandchildren who keep the tradition going. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/65e8414c-2bcb-43dc-8099-98a85687e940/IMG-20240120-WA0007.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - This was our group at the beginning, when some of us still had a naive sense of humor about the whole adventure. There were a total of 11 in our group at the start, ranging in age from 6 to 71 and representing Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts and North Carolina. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/05cec720-5d29-452b-8a49-ee3789ebbc75/processed_20240120_115914.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - A recipe fit to serve large crowds. At the halfway point the park volunteers serve up delicious, homemade bean soup, cornbread and hot cocoa for all the walkers, along with an opportunity to leave the hike if needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9319bca5-d164-4bab-9170-d73df2010932/processed_20240120_100840.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - Make it stand out Notice the number of walkers on the pathway. I’d love to return in the summer or fall to explore the paths and stunning beauty in a more leisurely way. There is a campground right on the edge of the park, so maybe I’ll return with Nellie Bly! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7437d507-28fe-4c7a-adcb-c1d2afeda7d3/processed_20240120_093553.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - Make it stand out The icicle were a special treat this year. Just spectacular. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/095f814d-4e30-4bff-96d5-2203eb34fd4b/IMG-20240120-WA0010.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - Make it stand out This is our group who made it to the end, minus photographer Sam and the three who left at the halfway point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a0d6e396-dc46-4746-9452-9704a4e9aa83/processed_20240120_093033.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - Make it stand out I kept wanting to take pictures every time I turned a corner, but it was just too d—- cold. Got a few good ones, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/bb085970-55f1-4afe-ae32-43572c01a974/processed_20240120_134239.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Highs and Lows of Winter - This is Ash Cave, the last major bit of scenery before we reached the end. This is also where we observed the collective Candy Bar Eating ritual. To get to these places and to the end of the hike one must climb rocks, go up and down steep and icy staircases, traipse along narrow and wide pathways that are sometimes level and sometimes on a steep or gradual incline or decline, all while navigating slick ice and unpacked layers of puffy snow that has the texture of walking on a sand dune. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/1938-project-final-wrap-up monthly 0.5 2024-01-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2e5f37f2-04e5-4e6a-af2b-ed4351a6f2f7/Fred+expense+tally.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Project Wrap-up - Fred kept a ledger like this for every member of the group. In looking at the final tallies of “eats” and “beds” there is variability among the five travellers, which isn’t surprising. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1c80c3e2-5f7c-49c6-ab0f-eac4262e7299/Everyone+bug+dad+note.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Project Wrap-up - “Everyone Bug Dad” - clear evidence that Fred and his siblings found ways to have fun on the long, boring stretches of road. The 1938 group did not have the luxury and convenience of today’s highways and byways, and their driving days were typically much longer than mine were. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d3117b72-7599-4367-b84e-ca9a86c9d2dd/processed_20231121_115247.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Project Wrap-up - Sometimes Google led me to some tightish spots where I felt like I was driving on the edge of the world. Maybe less reliance on Google gps and more reliance on paper maps next time… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c9b20cbe-6ccc-4c12-a8a1-b143ac97c8bb/processed_20240117_140316.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Project Wrap-up - Sadie settled right back into her daily routines, and seemed very happy to have her favorite bed back. Sadie, of course, was ecstatic to arrive home and showered Conrad with sloppy kisses while racing around the house excitedly. She was such a trooper the whole time we were away, and while she could still be a bit unpredictable (i.e. reactive) when she perceived a threat to me or an invasion of the camper (she did not like having anyone who was not family poking their head inside the cabin), she really did remarkably well the entire time. I’m really proud of her and she was great company. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b455adc8-5029-42a3-abfb-4ffb08ee3dbb/processed_20231022_130218.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Project Wrap-up - I did not truly appreciate the full extent of homelessness in America until I drove through the streets and neighborhoods of our larger cities. The sheer number of unhoused people across the country is mind boggling, as is our collective willingness to let it continue. I guess it’s safe to say that for everything I may not have liked or appreciated about a particular area I visited, the natural beauty, history (even where that history is tarnished or fraught), and people I met provided new insights, meaning and richness to every experience and place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2c621a6f-9963-45db-9eb2-1ae1081fb4ec/20231001_124635.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Project Wrap-up - This is the Auglaize River in Wapakoneta, Ohio I began the ritual in Wapakoneta, Ohio where Jay’s family lived during his early years in grade school. My son Conrad was with me that first day of the trip, which added to the significance of the experience. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/a-story-for-the-holidays monthly 0.5 2024-01-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0a4abc0b-1662-42c5-a1d0-179275b0544f/Emmaus+aerial+view.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Story for the Holidays - This aerial view of the St. Charles Emmaus campus apparently appeared on a Christmas card one year, circa 1930’s. The Emmaus Homes were started in 1893 by two German-American pastors. The first home was located in Marthasville, Missouri and the second was built in St. Charles in 1901, just outside of St. Louis. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7b1a35c0-3e82-46c9-9cb6-7d3d3df45165/processed_20231223_094825.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Story for the Holidays - As a seminary student in 1918, Theo worked for a time at the St. Charles Emmaus location as an assistant to the Superintendent, Rev. J.W. Frankenfeld. While at Emmaus Theo met Rev. Frankenfeld’s daughter Frieda, whom he would later marry. Theo graduated from the seminary and pursued his calling as a minister in small German farming communities in Iowa and Missouri for the next several years. When Rev. Frankenfeld died in 1929, Theo was invited to take over the Superintendent job from his father-in-law. At thirty-three years old, he accepted the call. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5fb78cb8-877b-4375-bcbf-a561f9f3ac39/20231130_192058.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Story for the Holidays - This is Theo’s cover to the booklet he created for the story, showing the photos of the teacup and lamb. His daughter Toosie still has both items that she rescued from the attic of Emmaus before the building in St. Charles was torn down a few years ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1f0f247b-df4c-4777-805d-2e1aab640ff1/processed_20231223_111901.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Story for the Holidays - But, in this aged mother the exceptional thing happened. Sometimes when a candle has burned so low that we expect its flame to die in the next moment, it will rise again to a last bright flicker before it goes into the darkness. Nourishing food, a warm room, rest and medical attention caused the once strong constitution to flicker up like a dying candle. She started to talk, she oriented herself in her immediate surroundings. She was friendly and revealed a loving disposition. The hand-painted teacup was placed before her… https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/the-rockford-mystery monthly 0.5 2024-02-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e7ca1f63-324c-4181-ae99-de8687b57f19/Rockford+Group.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Rockford Mystery - I see my great aunt Flo (far left), my great grandfather Frank, and my grandparents Lucille (middle) and Fred (far right, with his hand on the boy). The others I don’t know for sure, but I believe they have to be some combination of Mary’s children and their spouses. The boy may be Eskil’s son Elmer, who would have been about 13. The 1938 travelers spent two nights in Rockford at the tail end of their trip. In that year Eskil, Olga, Hulda and their spouses all would have been there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/537c019c-c644-4f1a-8552-064628258ec2/processed_20231201_184335.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Rockford Mystery - This beautiful church is over 100 years old and was a perfect venue for the Swedish Christmas children’s choir. The church that held the concert was definitely there when Eskil and his family lived there. Were they members? Who knows, but sitting in that beautiful sanctuary I imagined them attending services there and maybe even participating in an annual Christmas celebration event such as the one I was witnessing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/6209acb1-3b98-499a-8e52-8122a2c57398/processed_20231130_134224.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Rockford Mystery - Kim and Toosie are standing by the stone of Jay’s great grandparents. His grandparents are in front. At one point in his younger years, Jay had expressed interest in being buried in this cemetery in the family plot. A small and symbolic gesture, but I was glad that I was finally able to bring him “home” to join his Stoerker family. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/28b7c601-4793-473b-b4e2-6fb1bdcb3168/processed_20231124_124722.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Rockford Mystery - My hosts Dee and George stand on either end, with Simona, Gabriel and Daniel in the middle with Sadie looking on. I was grateful to have this group with me as I scattered some of Jay’s ashes in the shadow of the museum. Jay appreciated the science and history surrounding the development of the bomb and was interested in the ethical debate that ensued in the decades following Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is a place we likely would have visited together had we had the opportunity to do so. After Los Alamos, where it was too cold to tour any part of the large complex other than the inside of the museum, we made our way to El Santuario de Chimayo, a place of historical and religious significance, especially for Catholics. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/e5ixodp264ts1mcv0rsg7ccsfl1qcv monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/97abf24e-7a1e-4229-beb9-d10d40f31db3/Barstow+flood.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - This is one of several pictures they took in Barstow as they passed through. The extensive flood damage was clearly visible from the main road and impressive enough that they wanted to record it. After Barstow they drove into Arizona, where they encountered the “Gold Road” that includes the mining town of Oatman and also the “Sidewinder” portion of the road that I spoke about in my “Letters from Home” article. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d9e9e140-efc7-4831-9e27-cc85dc49c09f/processed_20231103_122527.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - My Larson relatives definitely passed through the middle of Oatman just as I did. It was still an active mining town in 1938 so probably did not have all the tourist attractions that exist today. Oatman opted to capitalize on renewed interest in recent years in the old west and Route 66, and is now a vibrant tourist stop for families and bikers looking for off road mountain adventures and a full family tourist experience. Many of the old historic buildings remain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/620b1fd4-3044-4a34-9e61-79150189b9d4/grand+canyon+shepherd.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - There are no photos of the Grand Canyon in my grandfather’s scrapbook. I found it interesting that he chose instead to photograph the shepherd beside the road. I stayed in the Flagstaff area for three nights and my original plan was to follow the Larson trail all the way to the Canyon. Once I arrived in the area, however, I decided it was more of a detour than I was willing to take. From Flagstaff (where Route 66 runs through), it would have taken me over 1 1/2 hours to get to the Canyon rim (and it would have cost me $35 to drive in with my vehicle). I have actually been to the southern rim so my decision not to make that three hour round trip gave me some flexibility to explore other places in the vicinity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/39b95fc4-14be-4833-8146-7e860e5f832f/processed_20231105_131536.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - I did follow the Larson trail to Cameron, and even turned in the direction of the Canyon before deciding not to go the entire way. I stopped at the Little Colorado River Gorge, which is on Navajo land, to get a flavor of the Canyon without actually going all the way there. (I know, I know, not the same…) Given that I decided against the extra miles and time to go all the way to the Canyon, I’m pretty impressed that the Larsons decided it was totally worth their time and effort to do so. The roads they had to work with no doubt made their trip to the Canyon much longer than it would have taken me had I decided to go there. They also stopped here and there along the way to photograph the scenery, which of course extended the time frame of their trip that day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3209e457-16b3-4a79-9084-6e197555d52f/painted+desert+rock.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - Hard to tell if I saw this exact rock formation when I went through the Painted Desert, but I believe it is possible! When the Larsons drove through this area in 1938, Route 66 would have taken them right through the desert and past many of the petrified logs lying around on both sides of the road. Now, to see the desert one must go through the National Park prescribed roadway to get access. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/426d2b1c-793a-4ef0-b68c-fc581640a5e2/processed_20231109_112819.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - I see the flat mesas behind my great aunt in the blurry black and white photo and I’m imagining that they were near the same spot where I took this picture. I did not hike down to where the rock formations and petrified logs were, but that area may have been more accessible by road in 1938 than it is today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ea54e77c-9555-4a2c-924f-fd88d696fcc3/processed_20231116_131023.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - A definite highlight of the week was the visit to Acoma, which made the three hour arduous trip to get there totally worth it. We took the interstate back to Albuquerque, which got us to the AirBnb in about an hour. So much more fun to spend that week with Carol than spending it by myself! And yes, I did take care of all my laundry and other tasks I had on my to-do list. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8452971f-30f8-499f-8561-c8c6f55da47e/processed_20231119_171229.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - Sadie did get close enough to lick some noses, but when the adorable alpacas gathered around her to check her out, she couldn’t handle it. The owners were very sweet to let her get that close, and the animals themselves did not seem overly stressed at all, so it was all good socializing for Sadie to get a new experience like that. Candace and John also run a fiber mill and I got a full tour of their entire operation. So fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5fc8d5d9-5c7f-4f05-a097-eca1a3f223f0/processed_20231118_185413.jpg Breadcrumbs - Starting for Home - I spent a delightful cold, rainy evening chatting with Cindy, Tom and Ammon at the Hub City Brewery, where I had a delicious pumpkin spice beer that Tom told me was a one of a kind brew that he may never make again and that was not available for purchase to take off-site. Needless to say, I savored every sip! The brewery is right across the street from the Belen rail station, so I was serenaded by trains all night. Trains don’t seem to bother me at all - thankfully, because they were going through all night long! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/alone-but-not-alone monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/32724ffa-99a4-4748-b094-d8642dd5a270/processed_20231030_094823.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is Toni - Felton, California Toni and I were the only ones in the laundromat at 7:30 one morning in the cute little town of Felton, California, at the bottom of the hill from the Hallcrest Vineyards where I had spent the night. She guided me on which machines were the best ones to use, which ones were finicky, and when my credit card didn’t seem to work, she tried to help me trouble-shoot (I ended up cashing a $20 bill and using quarters as the path of least resistance). We bonded as we chatted while waiting for our laundry, and when I told her about my road-tripping adventure, she told me stories of how her family would take off and road-trip around the country every summer when she was growing up. No summer camps, just amazing family road trips. When she was in middle school and had to write the standard “what-I-did-over-the-summer” essay her teacher was so blown away by her unique experience (that was totally normal for her) that she had Toni read the story to the entire class. Such fun getting acquainted and sharing family histories! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/fca146e8-7a60-4fca-947c-b981ced90c79/processed_20231030_160159.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is Nancy - Sunol, California Nancy and I are members of the same FaceBook women van camping group and when she knew I was headed to the San Francisco area, she suggested a meet-up. She lives in Berkeley but drove to Elliston Vineyards where I was staying and we bonded over wine, charcuterie, dumplings and tea. She introduced me to the art of gongfu tea-making practices, which I was completely unfamiliar with. It was great fun getting to know her, and I learned a lot about both tea and wine while we sat and chatted! Will definitely be in touch on my next trip to San Francisco! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/6a777405-0308-459e-998d-de38ea2d3c3b/processed_20231101_180400.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is Tana - Mendota, California Tana has been a full time van camper for quite a number of years. We had a wonderful time getting acquainted when we inadvertently crossed paths the afternoon we both pulled into Cardella Winery where we were spending the night. She has criss-crossed the country several times, and pulls a car behind her rig so that she can park for longer periods in one place and still get around. Her van is bigger than mine so as a full-timer it’s nice she has more room to move about. She often parks for weeks at a time but then gets up and goes whenever the mood hits, and is often on the move for several months at a time. She has a number of other van lifer friends that she meets on the road and takes trips with. What an inspiration! When morning came we went our separate ways. She was headed to Las Vegas, Nevada and I was headed to Barstow, California. (she’s holding the bookmark I gave her in the photo and so we have a way to stay in touch) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4c84eaf8-ee56-461c-89d5-3cf914dd50e8/processed_20231102_180931.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is The Barn, just off the freeway in Newberry Springs near Barstow, California. There were three campers staying in the parking lot of The Barn the night I was there. This is the only business still alive in Newberry Springs on old Route 66, and the nearby abandoned motels and gas stations and restaurants are just shells, beaten into faded ghosts of the former vitality that this little town once represented. However, Jazzy, the barkeep who greeted me when I wandered inside, couldn’t have been more welcoming (I didn’t get her picture, which is why you get my van instead). And I learned that this solitary, forlorn-looking little bar is actually a favorite haunt for the locals in the area, and they hold various events, including live music, karaoke and vintage swap meets at this popular location in order to keep interest and business alive. I was happy to have one of their delicious pizzas and support their cause, and they were gracious enough to let me stay overnight on their property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a7945e1e-8fa8-4f71-82dc-3ab6c3ca391d/processed_20231103_133054.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is Deb and … darn it! I forget her little dog’s name - Cool Springs, Arizona Deb is the proprietor of the only business standing in Cool Springs, Arizona, which was at the end of the “Sidewinder” 8 mile stretch of the Route 66 between Oatman and Kingman that I wrote about in my last article. Deb’s store was a delightful hodgepodge of everything you can imagine you might need or want, whether it is toothpaste, candy, a postcard or a tacky Route 66 souvenir. She had it all. Of course I had to buy something, so the rusty coyote sitting on her counter is now sitting in the back of my van, as is the rusty “welcome” sign sitting beside it. What you see in this picture is basically what her entire store looks like, inside and out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/14bfa13f-f986-4d74-80aa-d4d2dec98940/processed_20231107_112046.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is Sunny and Timber - Flagstaff, Arizona You never know who you might meet while having breakfast on a dog-friendly patio. Those of us camper travelers like to take our furry friends with us when we eat out when possible, so Sunny and I found ourselves having coffee with our dogs just a few tables from each other at the Toasted Owl Cafe in Flagstaff one morning. We started talking and lo and behold! she’s in the middle of a cross-country trip as well, and has been out camping in her truck since the end of September. She’s now headed west to her home base in Big Sur, California and I’m headed east to my home base in Michigan. We just happened to cross paths at the Toasted Owl, and had a fun time getting acquainted (I had pretty much finished my meal when she arrived, but I’m not sure she ate much of hers because we were talking so much). When we were finally ready to leave we took pictures, shared a hug and then went off in different directions. She has a job that lets her travel all over the country for months at a time, and she pretty much knows all the places one might ever want to explore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/be5e0283-99a5-4c57-b2c3-e2f2385bd3e5/processed_20231107_135854.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is Marley on the left, artisan extraordinaire standing in front of some of her wares, and Deni on the right, proprietor of this unique shop that features only work from area artists. Deni is also one of the artists - Winslow, Arizona With so many different types of art represented, it was difficult to keep myself from overspending, but I had fun chatting with both ladies as I perused the items, finally settling on a pair of silver earrings. I’m always happy to support local artists in the places I visit and this little shop in Winslow was a bit off the main drag so I was glad to find it. Thankfully, it did not have one single kitschy, silly, mass-produced souvenir in the entire store. They also welcomed Sadie in the store, always a bonus when I’m roaming the streets. When I told them what I was doing and gave them each a bookmark, Marley handed me a piece of turquoise and said that in her culture the turquoise has protective power and is something given to a traveler to keep them safe. She wanted me to have it. So touching and so meaningful! Thank you Marley! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ac44f3a0-1133-41d4-a29b-b96ce77809cb/processed_20231105_134029.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is a set of stalls selling Navajo art at the Little Colorado River Gorge Scenic Overlook near Cameron, Arizona Here I met Lucille and Betty, selling some beautiful jewelry and pottery and of course I had to buy a sample from each. I enjoyed chatting with them as I looked over their items and learned about how they were made. The jewelry I bought is made with cedar seeds, and the piece of pottery is white clay infused with horse hair, feathers and sugar. Somehow it didn’t feel appropriate in this setting to ask for their pictures so I didn’t. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/dd7694e6-8f28-4822-b04e-86abb695c51d/processed_20231109_182410.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is Ryan Whyld - Grants, New Mexico Ryan greeted me warmly when I arrived to spend the night in the parking lot of The Junkyard Brewery, an interesting business model of junk-dealing and beer-making. It is a wonderfully quirky place, and Ryan couldn’t have been more welcoming, making on-the-money recommendations for both beer and food. Turns out that Ryan has quite a story of his own, having gone to culinary school in Chicago and hobnobbed with folks at the Food Network (I just happen to be a Food Network junkie so this caught my attention when I looked him up online). He has owned several successful vegan restaurants in Texas and Arizona and loves what he does. It’s clear, and it was a pleasure getting acquainted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e5f51de5-644d-4f1d-b479-3eb517db46bc/processed_20231109_180329.jpg Breadcrumbs - Alone But Not Alone - This is Lisa and Tim - Grants, New Mexico The Junkyard Brewery on Route 66 is a very popular overnight stop for Harvest Host guests. The night I was there I believe I counted at least 10 other RVs in the parking lot by the time I went to bed. Having arrived mid-afternoon I met Lisa and Tim, who had arrived before me, at the bar. They sold their bricks and mortar home almost two years ago and have been traveling the country ever since with their two cats and their van. We traded stories about van life and how to find places to stay in a pinch. They gave me some helpful tips on apps I should have and we shared our experiences at the different Harvest Host sites and other campsites. What a delightful conversation while sipping our beers at the bar, as Ryan greeted the other overnight guests as they arrived! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/lettersfromhome monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4dbe54ea-51cb-4eb9-9a2b-585e61567d4d/processed_20231104_082626.jpg Breadcrumbs - Letters From Home - Places like this, where I got my morning cup of coffee one day, are very common in all the towns along Route 66 that are trying to capitalize on the romanticism and importance and history of this famous road. Where the interstate bypasses towns that used to play an important role in the life of people traveling across Arizona and California (the only parts I’ve been on so far), there is usually an exit so that travelers can get off, drive through the town on “Old Route 66” where there are lots of old west style touristy attractions, or artifacts and memorabilia from the 50’s and 60’s. When they get to the end of the town, they get back on the interstate and keep on going. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b7b09598-3723-47f9-a9f6-ad74caea3117/processed_20231103_130451.jpg Breadcrumbs - Letters From Home - This is at the top of Sitgreaves Pass, Elevation 3550 feet. They call this part of Route 66 the “Sidewinder.” It was a long and remote drive off the main highway just to get to that portion of the road and I definitely would not have attempted it at all in a bigger rig or towing anything. But by venturing off the beaten path I was treated to the old gold-mining town of Oatman, where wild burros roam the streets at will (including wandering in and out of the shops), and the entire town is devoted to glorifying the old west, complete with a gunfight on the main street everyday. Sadie and I didn’t have a compelling need to stay for that, but it was a fun place to roam the streets (although I had to keep Sadie on a tight leash after being told by several locals independently that if we got too close to any of the burros, she could be mistaken for a coyote and get charged and stomped to death.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e8302424-89d6-4c65-84e5-a0540725c175/processed_20231104_151950.jpg Breadcrumbs - Letters From Home - There is a little arboretum just outside the Biological Sciences Building, which was perfect for my purpose. It was a good day in Flagstaff and I felt Jay with me all day. Can’t explain it, but there it is. The world is mysterious. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e9a9de95-2aca-4fc6-80fe-9431e5cc5904/Shirley+Temple+house.jpg Breadcrumbs - Letters From Home - Make it stand out This is the postcard that my mother was sure she saw Shirley Temple in the window. Who are we to say she’s wrong?? https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/a-san-francisco-story monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e3c12320-4b9d-4f8e-9f10-2d8023675a70/processed_20231031_190615.jpg Breadcrumbs - A San Francisco Story - Sadie appreciated the couch and I appreciated having the whole bed to myself all night! The bonus, of course, of my unscheduled stay in a hotel, was the unscheduled hot shower I enjoyed in the morning! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1fc8df85-8012-450d-9c5e-72378e08b272/processed_20231031_144731.jpg Breadcrumbs - A San Francisco Story - Alcatraz is quite striking even today as a tourist destination. When the Larsons saw it in 1938 it was full of prisoners. If you haven’t seen the movies Bird Man of Alcatraz (1962) or Murder in the First (1994), both of which are based on true stories and fairly well done as far as movies go (in my humble opinion), I highly recommend them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/512c9d7f-db67-4ac2-bcbf-0329ca6e2e4f/processed_20231031_130938.jpg Breadcrumbs - A San Francisco Story - Grant Street in Chinatown was very lively the day I was there, and I even managed to parallel park the van on a rather steep incline. Yes, I used the parking brake and she was still there waiting for me when I got back! I’m sure Chinatown was an interesting place to visit in 1938 and I can attest that it is still an interesting place to visit in 2023. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d52e3868-0d6c-4153-9f0a-625d177adbc8/Alex+with+Frank-Emma.jpg Breadcrumbs - A San Francisco Story - This is a picture of Alex taken during Frank and Emma’s trip to California in 1926. Alex is on the far left, followed by Emma, Alex’s wife Margaret (pretty sure), Frank, and Alex’s stepson Frank (pretty sure). I believe Alex and Margaret had baby Marian that year, which could be the reason Frank and Emma decided to visit. Pure speculation on my part, but it does make sense. Florence told my mother Alex was the “black sheep” of the family. Why would she say that? Who was Alex and what changed between the 1926 and 1938 visits? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7c0fd4c5-1f6d-4ad9-a0cd-3d6568035ab2/processed_20231031_112231.jpg Breadcrumbs - A San Francisco Story - I decided to sprinkle some of Jay’s ashes on Alex’s grave when I visited. He had few friends or family looking out for him by the time he died, and I just thought he and Jay might hang out together so that Alex won’t be alone. For his honorable service he received a military funeral and is buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4feb635f-348b-4657-b356-c4247ca43ae4/processed_20231031_122246.jpg Breadcrumbs - A San Francisco Story - The beige building is 316 Bartlett Street. Hard to tell how close this is to what the building looked like in 1938 or while Alex was living there for most of his life between 1917 and 1948. No doubt serious renovations have occurred over the last 75 years. The residence at 316 Bartlett Street served as the primary residence for not only Alex and Margaret, but also his stepson Frank, and Frank’s biological father Joseph Karl. Yes, you read that right. Apparently Frank’s stepfather and biological father and his mother were all sharing the same apartment. Were they all living together there at the same time, or were they coming and going? No way to know. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b83efb30-d7d4-4279-bf9e-94d5dc360b0d/Marian+Larson.jpg Breadcrumbs - A San Francisco Story - This sweet picture of Alex’s daughter Marian was in my grandfather’s scrapbook. She would have been about 12 years old when they visited. The San Francisco paper trail is inconsistent and difficult to piece together. Still working on sorting everything out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5a3c387a-b63f-4120-9657-b50f5d560d8b/Alex.jpg Breadcrumbs - A San Francisco Story - Make it stand out Alex Larson, in happier times. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/vanlifeforwannabes monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3f4643dc-4d4d-41ed-8c14-e67dee1eebb9/processed_20231026_140440.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - This is what tidy looks like in my van. The water heater, french press and cup near the window get stored in the sink when I’m on the move. At least with clutter you can de-clutter every now and then and your van will return to its tidy coziness for a time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8fcd34f5-73c1-4833-849a-5bc26b3b6059/processed_20231014_134823.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - This is Sadie’s fancy new dish after I lost her basic, crummy ones. Mmmm… maybe you don’t have to worry about this rule if you don’t take your dog with you… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a9a0f881-4ebd-4a11-a4c4-5960a6d4115c/processed_20231026_154050.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - Clear plastic bins are your friends. Know where your important stuff is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0d23708e-b7cc-4d70-be25-5e9e3aafe0a8/processed_20231026_141059.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - This is the backend of my “garage.” Again, plastic bins make all the difference! And they stack! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b5752550-201d-48e3-8f97-8f85593920c5/processed_20231018_193803.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - Sadie goes to bed before I do, but dutifully moves herself to the far corner when I get in (she’s supposed to stay on the towel and not the quilt). By morning, I’m usually curled up in a ball or my feet are sticking out the side, and she is blissfully stretched out on whatever space she can fill. Letting Sadie sleep on the bed is a small gift for her patience and unconditional love and protection and worth a little inconvenience on my part. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ee3c3408-8eda-411c-96cc-be0c7f673f13/processed_20231026_162516.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - I do love a good campfire and a grilled burger, but I often don’t bother. When I do, it’s wonderful! You may have a great frig that can carry everything you could possible need to make the world’s best gourmet camping meal, but just know that whatever you get out, cut up, dirty up, and cook on and eat on will have to be washed, thrown out, or put away again. This can be a time-consuming venture if you are tired after having just driven 300 miles and the sun is beginning to fade. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d1d29f3c-8f0a-44bc-b783-206c060a30af/processed_20231026_105048.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - Sometimes a relaxing day at the campsite provides a needed respite from the hustle and bustle of a travel schedule. Most of the time I’m just getting ready for the next destination. That’s the nature of this particular trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5b07f36a-1d66-44f2-bc87-ada5979a8b8e/processed_20231028_152216.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - Sadie and I were enjoying the scenery at a local patio on the water when these ladies walked in all wearing their witches’ hats. I had to take a picture and they were kind enough to let me not only snap the photo but also post it on the blog. Thank you ladies! The serenity prayer can come in handy at key moments when things are not going according to plan! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8ba0e523-6ad7-4aeb-b925-4670520ccf42/processed_20231028_181348.jpg Breadcrumbs - Van Life for Wannabes (or the curious) - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/whybakersfield monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3db3e265-59f3-4729-9e07-3a5623a3f0ab/1416+Richland.jpg Breadcrumbs - Why Bakersfield? - This was the house on Richland. Today, it is boarded up and abandoned. The street only exists on one side, having been replaced on the other side by a big highway. When her father and siblings came to visit in 1938, Jennie was still living at 1416 Richland Street in Bakersfield. It’s possible that her daughter Florence LaMar was living there with her as well, although it isn’t totally certain. Jennie would not remarry and lived out her life at the Richland Street address. She died in 1979 at the age of 94. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2dc3f77d-cb90-4cc2-aca4-4f3465ca3d8a/Flo+LaMar.jpg Breadcrumbs - Why Bakersfield? - This is Flo LaMar Rogers, either downtown Bakersfield or somewhere on Hollywood Blvd. Sadly, by the time the New York Larsons visited the California Larsons in 1938, LaMar’s marriage to Donald was on the rocks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/905de619-ecae-4367-9fdd-d20fa0b75f06/Santa+Anita+racetrack.jpg Breadcrumbs - Why Bakersfield? - It would have been fun to go to the races in 2023! The group also went to the races at the Santa Anita track. I drove there when I was in the area, and would have happily gone to the races had they been happening the day I was there. Sadly, my meticulous planning didn’t think ahead far enough to look into the possibility of attending races. I didn’t think of it until the day before I went. Oh well… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ab48a134-449f-43f2-a06c-0be3d9dce1de/processed_20231025_113637.jpg Breadcrumbs - Why Bakersfield? - Being in the presence of these trees that are hundreds or thousands of years old never ceases to be an amazing experience. The two hour drive each way actually was more like 3 to 3.5 hours because the views were so unbelievable that I kept stopping to take pictures. That, and the fact that I tend to drive pretty slowly on those narrow mountain roads that have no shoulder and no guardrail… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/bd0fdc41-3b5a-44a8-b18a-1c1e9b9dac41/processed_20231026_110905.jpg Breadcrumbs - Why Bakersfield? - Beautiful morning walk around Ming Lake. Til next time. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/1938events monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c70ab38a-0deb-4f9b-ae61-540a02206238/processed_20231022_130218.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Events and Parallels in 2023 - As I drove up Alameda Avenue from Long Beach through downtown Los Angeles, I passed several of these encampments by the side of the road. The RVs in the picture were all clearly undriveable, and were just being used as shells for whoever was living there. You can also see evidence of people living on the sidewalk beside the structures. I don’t know what to make of all this suffering that I see everywhere, and I don’t suppose the Larsons did either. I am privileged and fortunate and have had a good life overall. I have a strong family and friend support network. I have never had to suffer the way many people do, and I have never been in a situation that I did not have a warm place to sleep and a pillow for my head. It is disturbing to know there is so much suffering in the world and so little that one individual can do about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d495d8be-f24b-4f88-a603-8d3efaa8ea5e/Flood+picture+from+scrapbook.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Events and Parallels in 2023 - This is a picture of a car buried underneath the mud. Riverside was not on the direct route from Banning to Bakersfield, but apparently they were forced to make that detour. When the group arrived in Bakersfield on March 9, my grandmother Lucille sat down to write a letter to her kids back in Fredonia before she went to bed. This is how she described what they saw as they drove through California that day: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/68f1162c-a374-4d15-bd55-0e0a442f3695/Riverside+Flood+washout.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Events and Parallels in 2023 - This was a bridge washout in Riverside. This epic, record-breaking flood changed the landscape of the region forever. Engineers went to work during the rebuilding process to construct channels and aqueducts that would direct the flow of water in such a way as to avoid similar catastrophic devastation in the future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a8fccf8d-d458-4328-b5ae-74c215c36677/processed_20231023_095348.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Events and Parallels in 2023 - Instead of walking along a creek, which would have meandered through the park unimpeded prior to 1938, similar to what we see in many towns, we walked beside the concrete channel you see in picture. There was no longer any creek but simply this big, wide, deep concrete ditch running through the length of the park. Such a structure certainly affects the scenery and natural beauty of the original creek, but it’s understandable that drastic measures would have been taken after the 1938 experience. There has never been a similar overflow of banks since the concrete channels were put in place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/75c114e3-8c61-49b0-898a-93efd8a337dd/Long+Beach+pic.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Events and Parallels in 2023 - This is what a big chunk of Signal Hill looked like in 1938. At the time, Signal Hill was famous for its oil fields, and this is something that Frank, who had his own oil leases back in Limestone, New York, may have had an interest in seeing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ea16c747-b2b3-4277-b715-9b81180676e7/processed_20231022_095259.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Events and Parallels in 2023 - These oil pumps dot the landscape all over the Signal Hill neighborhood, seeming to exist in various backyards of residents. The large field of derricks from 1938 no longer exist, but it is clear that there is still a fair amount of oil drilling happening. I also found a park memorializing the original discovery of oil in that region in 1919. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/making-lemonade-out-of-lemons monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/bf6346c3-0ab1-405b-b075-cf3d0e1f2da8/processed_20231019_093407.jpg Breadcrumbs - Making Lemonade Out Of Lemons - Such fun meeting up with people from Michigan on my journey! Thanks, Angela, for a delightful time and for the delicious breakfast (and caramels…)! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/919775ea-cafc-48f6-b77f-c6edd0ca309d/Desert+Center+group1.jpg Breadcrumbs - Making Lemonade Out Of Lemons - Doesn’t look like there is much there but the sign suggests that this was an important stop for supplies. The writing says “Between Blythe and Indio” There were several pictures taken at the big sign and I think the 1938 group enjoyed the idea of being right in the center of the desert. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/07e373f5-73d2-4ca9-a390-634cc0ce8725/processed_20231019_152323.jpg Breadcrumbs - Making Lemonade Out Of Lemons - The picture shows what Desert Center looks like now. I’m sorry to say that in 2023 the whole place is literally one big garbage heap. I could see no evidence that anyone actually lived there, but lots of evidence that the town is being used as a dump for all the refuse in the surrounding area. Buildings were boarded up and covered with graffiti. So sad. I thought maybe the sign might still be standing, even if faded and broken, but alas, no. Needless to say I didn’t stay long. Just took a picture from inside the car and got back on the road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a75dfe21-405c-4f75-b5f9-66fd54d0d47e/processed_20231020_145822.jpg Breadcrumbs - Making Lemonade Out Of Lemons - This is one of the pullouts on the mountain road. If you look closely you can see the curve of the road and the lack of any effective guardrails, both on the road to the left of the van and again running over the top of the van. Found out later this road is called “Rim of the World Scenic Highway.” I believe it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/432f4b1c-4c43-4ffc-a5cc-12d0d73ed4b5/processed_20231021_084822.jpg Breadcrumbs - Making Lemonade Out Of Lemons - Silverwood Lake is truly a beautiful oasis in the middle of the San Bernadino mountains, once you finally find it. All in all, a very satisfying, relaxing day. Sadie and I went on several shorter walks after our big one this morning, and everytime we passed the apple orchard on the grounds I picked a few. They are delicious and rotting on the ground, so I figured no one would mind if I helped myself. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/fromtumbleweedstoroadrunners monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d2e5caf9-ee65-4c5c-bf27-f0b97c5a1553/processed_20231011_160443.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - It was a beautiful, windy afternoon when I arrived at the Double T Ranch near Millsap, TX. Loved this ranch overnight and would have loved to meet the owner, but I left him a bookmark in his mailbox on my way out the next morning. This ranch wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was a great stay nevertheless. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/90ca00ab-f0b2-4a12-896a-54e8d8b7d2e4/processed_20231014_103254.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - I love this shot, taken at about the spot where I viewed the eclipse and scattered Jay’s ashes. Behind me you can see the big white speck which is Nelly Bly, nestled among the smaller white specks. Had a lot of fun climbing this rock. Glad I had Jay with me to enjoy it as well. This eclipse was different than the one in New York. The moment I reached the pinnacle of the climb at Hueco Tanks also happened to be the moment of the pinnacle of the eclipse. I put on my glasses and drank in the wonder of the universe. Then I scattered some ashes into the wind to honor the memory of that time in New York and the many fun times we had climbing rocks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/10587d56-f2d0-4cd0-95ee-6148e64499cf/processed_20231014_093930.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - There’s just something about a flat rock that makes people want to draw or write on it. Being a history buff, Jay would have appreciated the juxtaposition of the different centuries represented on the rock face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1f85e8fb-35c7-44bf-b162-30c71e62d726/cactus+shot.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - Clearly the Larsons were impressed with the size of the saguaro “trees.” When I crossed into Arizona, the landscape changed immediately. Suddenly I was climbing in altitude and driving through big hills (were they mountains or foothills? not sure). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/21f6a21e-fdb2-4701-aa74-4738554bbe65/processed_20231017_074855.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - Since I only have Sadie as my traveling companion, she had to be the stand-in for this picture. Equally impressive in 2023! Again, long stretches on the road with little signs of civilization, and I loved it. I saw the occasional cattle herd, but couldn’t tell who they belonged to because there were no signs of humans living within range of my eyesight anywhere around. There were occasional dirt roads leading off of my wide, paved road in one direction or another, but when I looked as far as I could see I could not tell that it led anywhere at all, much less to someone’s house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/fd8f1568-e91b-4868-a7bb-1a4201463b7d/Gripe+AZ.png Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - For some reason this note was sitting in the middle of one of the pages of the scrapbook. Gripe isn’t really a town anymore, but Google was able to find it for me, which is just a cluster of buildings on the road to Safford. Turns out that this section of the road used to be an inspection station, put in place at this location just outside of Safford after the Coolidge Dam was completed. Cars were stopped, inspected, and luggage unloaded for any evidence of agricultural product coming into the state. It was a slow process for impatient travelers, and the inspectors got so tired of hearing complaints that they put up a sign letting people know that they understood the pain and that it was ok to “gripe.” According to the history, once the sign was posted and the inspectors acknowledged the frustration of the travellers, the griping greatly diminished. You can read the full story here. Fred must have found this an interesting tidbit and chose to memorialize it in his scrapbook. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/dc691fc5-9c3f-48af-bf21-94406d9472f2/Coolidge+dam.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - This is what the 1938 travelers saw. Calvin Coolidge Dam opened in 1930 and so was still fairly new when the group crossed it in 1938. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0b6736ab-5481-4096-a2b5-d19d4d5dd20f/processed_20231016_093912.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - This is what the dam looks like today - pretty much the same!! I finally got to the dam and stopped to take some pictures before crossing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f005b2ab-ee2e-4917-a55d-8d1affcb15be/Roosevelt+dam.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - This is what the Roosevelt Dam looked like in 1938 The Roosevelt Dam was much easier to get to, with big, wide roads going through the Tonto National Forest, which I knew nothing about because I hadn’t done any homework except to research how to find the dam. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/51651185-6dc3-4b5d-9fc3-f5baaf1441fe/processed_20231016_130227.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - This is what the Roosevelt Dam looks like in 2023. Turns out that it has had major repair and reconstruction work done several different times after the 1938 travelers visited. It looks very different now, but the road to get there provided the historical experience I was hoping for. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cac4bf6f-a034-44ba-b6d7-0b00decf292d/processed_20231016_135216.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - Might be a little hard to see in this picture, but I sprinkled some ashes at this point on the path, looking up at the cliff dwellings and also looking down into the water basin. Both beautiful views. I’m so glad I went back the way I came after viewing the Roosevelt Dam because when I turned in to see what the Tonto National Monument was, it turned out to be a site of former cliff dwellers. Beautiful spot to remember the special time we had in Arizona when Conrad was 10 and we visited some ancient cliff dwellings up in the Flagstaff area. I knew Jay would have loved seeing these as well. It was 100 degrees by that point in the afternoon so there was no way I was going to climb all the way up to the dwellings, but I did get Sadie out of the car and we went about halfway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5c0ecbd5-91ff-4aec-a62e-33949e178f6b/processed_20231017_151720.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - One of the smaller shops I wandered into was owned by Rocky and his family, who made all the art they were selling (at least that’s what he told me, and I was in no position to question his veracity). His shop was full of a variety of beautiful things. I bought some earrings that Rocky made, a beautiful vessel that his sister made and another unusual vessel that his aunt and uncle made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/506601bd-c940-4fb2-9294-3da3ff855a15/processed_20231017_180055.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - I had such fun connecting with Gavin and was so glad we were able to work it out. Behind Gavin is the area where my campground is, in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains. And yes, that’s a big ole steak you see us both chowing down on. Later in the day I met Jay’s nephew Gavin for dinner. I had not seen him in quite some time, even before he moved out to the Phoenix area last August, so it was great to catch up. What a wonderful young man he has become! (of course, he was a pretty special little boy as well…) We sat outside the saloon at the ghost town camp and Sadie was able to join us on the deck. The cook Jude had told me I could bring Sadie to dinner even though there were signs posted everywhere “No Dogs Allowed!” Later while we were eating dinner Jude sent out a plate of cooked ground beef for Sadie. Sweet! And Mallory, our server, was sweet as well, steering us away from items on the menu that she didn’t think we should sample. All in all our choices turned out to be excellent, and I let Mallory choose from my bookmarks one for herself and one for Jude. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/89f91705-cc2d-43a5-848a-7858b266e45c/processed_20231017_171129.jpg Breadcrumbs - From Tumbleweeds to Roadrunners - Make it stand out This is a small sample of the many unique bookmarks I made for this trip. I’m having such fun giving them away! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/el-paso-1938-vs-2023 monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3a6b4da6-602a-4909-8711-d0f11796ad5f/El+Paso+bus+picture.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - Make it stand out I believe it is Bertie on the far left, then Flo, Frank and Josie. Fred must have taken the picture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/25107034-e7f6-4294-bebf-261f0cf8a676/El+Paso+group+shot.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - This is our group in front of the old mission in Old Mexico. I have no idea who the interloper lady is on the far left. I think their bus driver probably took the picture. Frank looks quite the patriarch in his cap standing proudly apart from his kids. I did not cross the border on my visit, so cannot tell you whether this old mission is still there. I certainly hope so, but so much has changed in the intervening years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/35f58102-9919-4654-addc-33fc446c9cb2/El+Paso+Tivoli+Cafe.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - Someone named U.S. Heatherly gave Fred an introduction to get into The New Tivoli Cafe for their floor show. Apparently it was quite an experience to go there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/bbfbb25e-e1e2-46f9-be29-90a607ce03d8/El+Paso+motor+court.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - I love that the picture notes it is 86 degrees in El Paso and yet they are all wearing coats. Bertie must have taken the picture because she is the only one missing. This is one of several pictures of the place they stayed in El Paso and I had the address so I went looking for it. I knew it was near the downtown area from an old 1938 map I had looked at. I knew my day was in trouble when I found this instead: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5c9b515a-5b5d-43ce-a0c9-782968195967/processed_20231014_122623.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - Ok, I didn’t really expect the motor court to still be there, but I couldn’t help hoping as I approached the address. So then I went looking for the Rio Grande, where I hoped to walk Sadie along the peaceful riverwalk (I was sure there must be one). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/60751404-a284-4536-acff-bc76eb66e623/El+Paso+Rio+Grande+shot.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - This was the river view from 1938 from the Mexican side. There was another river shot from the U.S. side that had some construction going on but you could still clearly see the river from both the U.S. and Mexico. Here’s what I saw, and all I saw all along the river border: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e9e46a20-0992-4833-8954-9762d1bfb926/processed_20231014_130225.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - That's thick barbed wire all across the top of this unfriendly lookimg border fence. I took this shot at an intersection of a road that runs alongside this fence for a bit, then merges onto a spaghetti bowl highway system that seems to carry everyone over and around the city of El Paso rather than anywhere inside it. I spent a large part of the afternoon high above the city, with big, wide, highways crisscrossing every which way to make sure that no one ever drives inside the downtown part of the city. I was unable to find a single glimpse of the water anywhere within the city limits of El Paso. So I decided I couldn’t leave the area without seeing the river and made it my personal mission to find a spot where I could see it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/634ca300-045b-47ba-b37c-27f03ac19aba/processed_20231014_132827.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - You’ll have to take my word for it that this is indeed the famous Rio Grande, but it does not separate Mexico from the U.S. at this point. It merely separates a condo community from numerous shopping plazas and big box stores. By this point I was no longer in El Paso and just wanted to get back to the campsite. But since I was near this big shopping district I decided I needed some dog supplies and asked Google to find me a pet shop. There seemed to be one nearby so I followed Google on a meandering, twisty, turny route in the opposite direction from the campground to an obscure little pet shop back in the corner of a small shopping strip behind all the big stores. The only good thing about the experience was that it was a locally owned shop, so I felt I was supporting the local economy. Always a good thing, right? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8f36f31f-29ab-41f1-9b7a-118ee78b528e/processed_20231014_141526.jpg Breadcrumbs - El Paso - 1938 vs 2023 - If you look closely you can see Nayeli and …. (darn it - I knew I should have written her name down - so sorry!!) who operate this food truck. They tell me you can find them on Instagram (one of these days I need to beef up my instagram account). Of course I had to give them each one of my bookmarks and when I showed them an array and told them they could choose, they asked me how much they were. It was such fun telling them they were free! They told me I should charge for them. Food for thought another day, but not on this trip. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/1938travelthroughthesouth monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/91609d48-ceee-4b43-bb80-212f090c4d0f/Huey+Long+Bridge.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Travels Through the South - In case anyone is wondering who Huey P. Long was, suffice it to say he was a rather colorful and corrupt Louisiana politician who served as governor and also in the U.S. Senate. He was opposed to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies, and was considering a run for President when he was assassinated in 1935. You can learn much more by watching the Ken Burns documentary about him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3a553de7-e26d-4e30-b9b7-af50541af9d3/Texas+open+range.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Travels Through the South - Fred’s caption: “Texas open range” (I’ve been studying his writing and getting pretty good at deciphering much of it) The vast expanses of Texas must have been quite a sight for Fred and Lucille and Bertie, who I’m pretty sure had not been to this part of the country before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/54c1265e-a1b9-48b2-9f3e-f6d20cb0535b/processed_20231012_113504.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Travels Through the South - Fred also noted on their map “cotton” in several places along their route once they passed Dallas on their way to El Paso. Based on that I was on the lookout for cotton fields and was not disappointed. Right where Fred said they would be! I pulled over to the side of the road and (again, surreptitiously, in case anyone was watching or cared) pulled a couple of stems with ripe cotton balls on them as my Texas memento. Score! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/42ee66f7-32c0-4322-973b-1fc950cfdbb8/processed_20231012_185340.jpg Breadcrumbs - 1938 Travels Through the South - Sadie is enjoying the luxury of a carpeted floor that she can fully stretch out on. She is a trooper and goes where I go, but I know she doesn’t like the vibration and the shakes and rattles of the camper when I go over bumps, or turn corners, or hit those awful grooves on the sides of the lanes (yes, from time to time I do veer into them, but that’s only because some of these roads are narrow, not because I’m dozing off). https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/dispatchfromlouisiana monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4914bb8f-fd9c-4296-890d-2152b17843f7/processed_20231010_073551.jpg Breadcrumbs - Dispatch from Louisiana - Lake Fausse Point State Park - highly recommend As I write on this evening of October 9, I am sitting at a campsite at a state park located in the middle of the Bayou region of Louisiana in Cajun country. I have my own dock on a river, and Sadie is happily settled after a day on the road… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a0203b59-6fb6-4926-af7c-01cce1b17e70/processed_20231010_152454.jpg Breadcrumbs - Dispatch from Louisiana - This is the deer farm where I’m staying on my last night in Louisiana. You heard me. I said deer farm. And also some chickens. And also a dog charged with guarding said livestock. Needless to say, Sadie did not get much running around time but instead had to stay tethered and look longingly at all the deer just a few feet away from her. Under the circumstances, she handled the disappointment pretty well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/57ffec84-6ad4-4a60-a74c-e605138865e3/processed_20231009_134516.jpg Breadcrumbs - Dispatch from Louisiana - Couldn’t resist this picture. I was in the middle of nowhere deep in the middle of farms and sugar cane fields when I happened upon this short sliver of a road connecting two other, bigger roads. It’s harvest season and I passed many trucks loaded down with stalks, and many fields where the canes were being cut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c75cd492-8b84-43ed-ada3-9e481a480e95/processed_20231007_122104.jpg Breadcrumbs - Dispatch from Louisiana - Kent drove all over the sprawling cemetery in search of the graves of Walter, Gert and Buddy. I never would have found them without him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e979e4f8-a34d-429f-bbe8-e2d2bb293b69/processed_20231010_150532.jpg Breadcrumbs - Dispatch from Louisiana - Deborah and Oscar are wonderful hosts to overnight guest like me. Thank you! And the lemon bars were a special bonus. Double thank you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c71c04e0-bd27-45b1-b9db-e7d2b85b92bf/processed_20231010_102340.jpg Breadcrumbs - Dispatch from Louisiana - Adriene makes beautiful jewelry. Highly recommend you visit her shop Adorn if you find yourself in Lafayette, LA I enjoy getting acquainted with the people in the various places I visit. Oh, and I love sampling regional food as well. Today was boudin day in Cajun country! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/a-day-of-remembrance-in-mobile monthly 0.5 2024-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cadb75d5-f3b3-4261-ab62-b1ffdd4dd020/Bill+J+Larson+Album+2+Page+16B+%5B5RM0-A077%5D.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Day of Remembrance in Mobile - Walter Jr., Gert and Walt Sr. Beneath the surface of happy photos and fun stories and joyful times together, whether they appear on Instagram or in a scrapbook over 100 years old, there can lurk darkness and struggle that we often don’t want to face, much less talk about. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f9e9a939-53f0-47b6-af14-db1268102f47/Walt+lumber.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Day of Remembrance in Mobile - Walter with some of his workers at his lumberyard. He also dealt in railway products. One of his classified ads offered: “Relay Rails —I have several cars of good secondhand 30-pound and 35-pound rail I can sell cheap. W.G. Larson, 453 Michigan avenue, Mobile, Ala.” This advert appeared in the Times-Picayne in New Orleans and also in the Mobile News in 1927. Besides selling rails and lumber, Walter also tried to make his living speculating in the real estate market. Throughout the last half of the 1920’s there are numerous classified ads of land or commercial properties for sale with W.G. Larson as the contact. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9bd8af13-c71a-4376-8e7c-cc24bb0484a7/At+the+falls.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Day of Remembrance in Mobile - 1928 was a fun year of travel and sightseeing. We know that in 1928 and in 1930 the family was still intact. They took a couple of trips north and went to Niagara Falls. Around that same period we also know that the family took a trip to New York City and Washington, D.C., where they visited Walt’s sister Bert. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b75d8a6e-8fe5-497c-ac4c-51667dd42410/Walt+with+family.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Day of Remembrance in Mobile - This is one of my very favorite pictures. My grandmother Josie is on the far left, with Fred next to her with one arm around her shoulders and the other leaning on Walt. Gert is next to Walt, and then Emma. I don’t know who the couple on the right are, but you can see Frank laughing on the ground in the midst of his grandchildren, Buddy on his right and my uncle Bill on his left. Josie is enjoying the kids and no doubt keeping an eye on Billy. From the many pictures of visits between Mobile and New York it is clear that he loved his family very much, and they loved him right back. Judging from these photos, he was particularly close to his father and his brother Fred. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/the-launch monthly 0.5 2024-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/047b6402-b898-437d-ae40-8982613a4367/processed_20231001_164128.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Under Way - Nelly Bly and Inga side by side Kim and I love the contrasts between our two vans. Hers looks smaller but I swear she has more storage space than I do. Plus a bunk bed! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0fcc8f1b-07fc-4924-95f4-a3cb4c6cc0ae/processed_20231003_064013.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Under Way - You can see why they called their place Sunrise Acres. That’s my van in the background and Sadie in the foreground. Al and Jane have been married 65 years, most of that time spent in this idyllic place. Their son Tim lives across the road and farms the place now. Before I left I was able to score a birdhouse that Al makes in his spare time when he isn’t doing other work around the farm. Thanks, Al!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9f8f2dd8-65b5-452a-9903-a38ea90181be/processed_20231004_132845.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Under Way - Each hanging block represents a county where a lynching took place between 1870’s and the 1950’s. There were counties represented all over the country, not just the southern confederate states. On each block are the names of those lynched, with the dates. In some counties there were so many that they had to use very small type to get them all on the block. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ea0135d4-aa9d-4064-9645-34d1462a3dcd/processed_20231004_151943.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Under Way - Angelica and Ebony had fun picking through my stack of bookmarks that I made for this journey. I’m giving them away to some of the special people that I’m meeting on this trip. Angelica and Ebony, if you see this, thank you again for your kindness in letting me in to take a swim on a hot day! (I swear I am a legit member and my friend who bought me the membership is already on the case to fix the problem you two discovered) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8d6457b5-9694-4a74-80a8-65b3a19e7c60/processed_20231004_204820.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Under Way - I am enclosing a little flower that is blooming all around here. To-day we saw daffodils, forsythia bushes in full bloom, peach trees in bloom. Trees just ready to spring into leaves. It don’t seem possible that you may be having snow. (Note: this flower was found in the scrapbook.) Love, Mother https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/the-five-travelers monthly 0.5 2024-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3fe174e1-8bb3-434d-8e1b-ba34528e1255/Frank+and+Emma+Anniversary.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Travelers - Frank and Emma celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 1933. I can only begin to imagine the intense grief mixed with guilt that Frank felt when Emma died. Roads could be very treacherous in those days, with car accidents all too common (and deadly). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b049d666-7911-437f-81e6-8182e31a172f/processed_20230920_092821.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Travelers - Taken around 1930, this is my mother and Uncle Bill. My Uncle Bill was born in 1923 and my mother Joan, the youngest, was born on July 9, 1929. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c053eb47-60fe-4e80-8cfe-51cc301c5ae7/PXL_20211216_232607599.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Travelers - This grand building which stands at 20 Central Avenue in Fredonia, New York, is where my mother grew up. The funeral home is on the first floor and the living quarters are on the second floor. There has been no Larson involved in the business for many many years, but the fact that Larson is still on the sign is a testament to the “good will” built by my grandfather Fred, followed by his son (and my uncle) Bill. The home at 20 Central had a rich history before it became a funeral home. Among other notable local figures, the author Jean Webster, a relative of Mark Twain, lived there and wrote several of her books from this house, including one of my childhood favorites, Daddy Long Legs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/79dca2af-c54e-4b5b-84d5-a6e17b5ca499/Touraide+Cover.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Travelers - You can see Fred’s notes on the cover of the booklet. The trip out to California took one week and used up 377 gallons of gas and 34 quarts of oil, and cost $90.98. He brought $400.00 with him on the trip. In addition to the maps, the “Touraide” also included suggestions of sights to see in every area they would be passing through, as well as information on places to stay overnight in every town and the mileage between cities all across the country. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8b32540b-2ba1-44b4-b17c-9232bdfefbfb/Flo-Rhea+1926.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Travelers - This photo of Florence and her daughter Rhea was taken in 1926. Florence married a musician, Daniel Rifenburg, in 1923. For the first years of their marriage Flo and Daniel lived in Jamestown, New York, just up the road from her hometown of Limestone. In 1929 the two of them moved to Bennington, Vermont with their five year old daughter Rhea. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/26696a27-d95d-4724-9175-4267d084aa0f/processed_20230922_110908.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Travelers - This picture of Bertie’s hangs on my wall right above my desk where I sit as I write and research. While Florence was working for the state institutions in the mid-1920’s, Bertie was attending Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she studied art and design. While at Cornell, she got accepted into a program at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where she attended for a year to learn dressmaking. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/getting-ready-to-hit-the-road-again monthly 0.5 2024-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ff86415e-f9bd-4880-9607-1f6c2560a981/Screenshot+2023-09-17+205906.png Breadcrumbs - Ready to Hit The Road? Not Quite… - This is what October looks like for me. Start in Ann Arbor and end in San Francisco. Researching and booking places to stay is a time-intensive, but absolutely necessary exercise. I have been working on this for several months and now have a pretty good plan for where I’ll be each night beginning October 1 and ending when I get back to Ann Arbor on Dec 3. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9dcb129e-6cdd-4668-b47a-6c9aef5bb456/Screenshot+2023-09-17+213409.png Breadcrumbs - Ready to Hit The Road? Not Quite… - Anybody know what this is? In 1938 it was the largest one of its kind in the world. You’ll have to check back in a future article to find out! The historical events that were happening around the travelers as they made their way to California will be woven into the 1938 experience of my relatives, and also give me a chance to reflect on what I find in these same places in 2023. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/003b38bd-8544-401c-98fd-0a51bb22d964/processed_20230917_213956.jpg Breadcrumbs - Ready to Hit The Road? Not Quite… - My orchid plant is inexplicably beautiful despite no one watering it all summer. I don’t mind gardening and like puttering outside, but when faced with forced choices about where to spend my time, somehow it never happens. When I finally decide I’m ready to do some weeding I go outside, take a look at all the ugly thistles everywhere, and turn around and go back into the house. There is always something else waiting for my attention. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/getting-through-the-roaring-20s monthly 0.5 2024-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a23c6334-6b3e-4d69-9e29-79508c5be33f/20230906_200904.jpg Breadcrumbs - Moving Through the Roaring 20’s - Once it became clear that there was an effective and relatively safe way to extract the oil out of the ground, refine it and industrialize the operation, oil rigs popped up everywhere and the hunt was on. Within a few years of Drake’s strike in Titusville, oil was discovered near Bradford, Pennsylvania, just across the border from Limestone. The Pennsylvania oil was very distinct from its cousins in other states due to the greenish color and high quality of the crude. Oil refineries were built to process the oil and names like Pennzoil, Kendall Oil, and Quaker State became household brands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cbdf1f14-f1d2-46d6-8e46-0c158a9511eb/nellybly-cochrane-elizabeth.png Breadcrumbs - Moving Through the Roaring 20’s - It turns out that my camper’s namesake, Nellie Bly, acquired the patent for the 55 gallon steel barrel that is still used as the primary measure for refined oil today. Nellie Bly (nee Elizabeth Cochran) is most famous for her journalistic exposés in the 1880’s and 90’s, as well as her trip around the world in 72 days, beating Jules Verne’s fictional Phileas Fogg’s 80 day trip. But in addition to being a prolific writer and traveler, she was also an astute business woman who championed workers' rights when she took over her deceased husband’s Iron Clad Manufacturing Company in 1904. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3dbd7ea0-44a3-4418-8a6f-1b9e897d9d4e/20230506_164441.jpg Breadcrumbs - Moving Through the Roaring 20’s - Pumps like this one (guarded by my dog Sadie), which is still operating, appear in seemingly random spots throughout the area known as the Bradford Oil Field. Over two-thirds of the crude oil that passes through the Bradford refinery today comes from within a hundred mile radius around the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/03d7b91e-42bb-4504-b5da-34b3cdec16ab/Casey%27s.jpg Breadcrumbs - Moving Through the Roaring 20’s - This was a postcard for Casey’s Limestone Hotel, which was a prime spot for bootleggers to hang out, drink, and do business. One newspaper described Limestone as a “Mecca for thirsty prohibition evaders from Olean, Bradford and surrounding towns.” Another news report described three federal raids in one night in Limestone that netted two arrests, a complete intact still, “a number of samples of allegedly illicit liquor and beer,” and “liquor making apparatus.” The paper went on to comment that “it is evident that the prohibition enforcement unit is making a special effort to close up the oasis so much frequented by New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians suffering acute symptoms of drought.” (ahhh… so poetic!) https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/987wmchtlwap8i2x964phq70un4tca monthly 0.5 2024-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/427e049f-4cff-4597-b957-991873c201fb/Cropped+inside+store.jpg Breadcrumbs - Deepening the Roots - In this photo of the store, Frank is to the far right, with Fred to his right and then Alex. According to the 1910 census, my grandfather Fred (23 years old) was working for his father as a “salesman” and Alexander (20) was a “driver” for the grocery. Walter (18) was a “carpenter.” The others were still in school. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/58facd31-d9b7-44c2-921b-f87083e2a6ab/20230704_184716.jpg Breadcrumbs - Deepening the Roots - I love this picture for its depiction of the prospecting camp in 1915. Walter must have been the photographer. I didn’t know Walter had been in California until we unearthed this photo in one of his descendant’s scrapbooks. Thanks, Katie, for sharing your family treasure and this important breadcrumb!! There is nothing in the records to suggest that any of the family prospectors struck it rich in California, and we know that Walter was back in New York by 1917, working as a carpenter in Salamanca before he left for the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1155df84-c195-43da-a087-9f9b8d1a8271/Buffalo_Evening_News_Fri__Sep_28__1917_.jpg Breadcrumbs - Deepening the Roots - The first Limestone conscripts sent to fight in Europe, which included my grandfather Fred, received quite a celebratory sendoff. The United States entered World War I in April 1917 when the Senate voted to declare war on Germany. This was followed by a declaration of war against Austria-Hungary in December of that same year. Between April 1917 and the end of the war in November 1918, all of the Larson boys, as well as the young men of eligible age who ended up marrying Larson girls, registered and served in the conflict. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a95bf7be-7154-45ce-93f7-413f5d5d1ecc/20230704_184933.jpg Breadcrumbs - Deepening the Roots - This picture, taken in 1917 before Walt and Gertie were married, is fuzzy and out of focus, but I love it because of the joy, love, and playfulness you see on their faces. We aren’t quite sure how Walter met Gert Bolton, but once he did he was apparently smitten. After meeting his family in Limestone in 1917, Gert waited for him to join her in Mobile and when he returned from the war they were married. After moving to Mobile he started a lumber business with his brother-in-law Dudley Bolton called Loop Lumber Company. More to follow about Walter and his time in Mobile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9c94a227-f07f-417e-8600-fa01b33e1f1c/20230901_145153.jpg Breadcrumbs - Deepening the Roots - This photo of my grandmother Josie and great-grandmother Loretta hangs on the wall in my house. Josie’s dad died in 1896 at the young age of 47, less than a year after she was born, so she never knew him. Josie’s stepfather, Spaulding Brown, was a Civil War veteran who married Loretta sometime after she went to work for him after Daniel died. When Spaul died in 1916 at age 79, Loretta, who was 58, was able to stay in Limestone and support herself and Josie with his Civil War pension. Both of the older children were married and out of the house by then. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2c750d87-5821-4e79-9079-c64e918442af/20230901_145435.jpg Breadcrumbs - Deepening the Roots - I’m not sure when this photo was taken of Fred and Josie but I’m pretty sure it was either shortly before, or shortly after, their marriage. Fred would definitely have known Josie as someone he saw around town when he was working at the store. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/4p469aqvfjrlvabmzqn1i5wdqtgr5f monthly 0.5 2024-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/6a911447-b300-42f5-abda-57103e8b4628/Larson+family+photo.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Dawn of a New Century - Make it stand out Based on the ages of the children, this rare studio portrait of the entire family appears to have been taken around 1907. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f9a1ff7a-beb1-467e-b3f2-ccba18cc6dfa/Redslared+church.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Dawn of a New Century - This was the Redslared parish church where Frank and his siblings worshipped as children. I believe that is Frank’s handwriting on the photo, which was likely taken during one of his trips to Sweden in the early 1900’s. I have a very similar picture taken in 1986 when I visited Sweden with my mother and father. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/286debb7-75a1-4a65-a27e-3180b59c4801/Limestone+HS.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Dawn of a New Century - This is the school Frank’s children attended. Besides serving on the committee that was forming a new church, we know that Frank also served several terms as a member of the Limestone Board of Education. Newspaper articles mention that Frank was Limestone’s mayor for “several terms” and that he was instrumental in getting street lights installed and bringing electricity into Limestone homes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ca54c3ac-9f4b-4885-adc3-cba00f1fdb17/Trolley+pic.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Dawn of a New Century - This trolley picture was in Frank’s scrapbook. Some of the travel would have been made easier by the prevalent railroads and trolley systems in place to make it possible for people to traverse more easily between the many small towns that had popped up all over this part of New York and Pennsylvania. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/47466b24-7695-408d-99c8-167cec5ef003/scarlet+fever.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Dawn of a New Century - This is typical of the kinds of signs that appeared in windows during the scarlet fever pandemic. In a household with many young children, maintaining an effective quarantine would have been difficult, but we have no record of any of Alma’s siblings contracting the disease. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/454e04ff-fcec-423d-906a-924ef455ca6a/Anna+Stina.jpg Breadcrumbs - The Dawn of a New Century - Frank’s mother Anna Stina looks rather severe in this picture, but if you look closely, I believe you can see a smile lurking on her lips and a proud sparkle in her eye. In Frank’s scrapbook this picture is labeled “Dear Old Mother.” In 1907, Frank, Emma, John and three-year-old Bertie made a trip to Sweden. Frank’s father Lars had died in 1893, but his mother was still alive and would have been 77 years old, probably considered pretty old in a country where the life expectancy for women at that time was 57. Flo was 14 years old and working for her father in the store that year. In 1986, when my mother interviewed her at age 94, Flo was still mad that Frank wouldn’t take her on that trip. To the best of my knowledge, Flo never did make it to Sweden. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/life-after-logging monthly 0.5 2024-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/aa68387e-f958-4b5c-a5da-d649cf9ff8ae/processed_20230816_132743.jpg Breadcrumbs - Life after Logging - This is the region of Pennsylvania and New York where the Larson family made its home. So how did Frank accomplish all that he did and why did he end up settling in Limestone? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5be1ab3c-958e-49ee-adda-56e4ac02228e/20230704_140602.jpg Breadcrumbs - Life after Logging - This receipt, found in a box of my mother’s artifacts and scrapbooks, is pretty clear evidence of Frank’s transition from employee to entrepreneur. Presumably, whatever job Frank and John had in the tanneries taught them the skills they needed for the shoe-making business. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/eff98acf-1ba0-476a-9d02-a2a2be09cf0f/20230704_140858.jpg Breadcrumbs - Life after Logging - This is one of the rare pictures taken inside the Larson & Son General Store in Limestone, NY. The “son” was my grandfather Fred, who ran the business with Frank for a number of years until he married and moved out of Limestone. We are still trying to identify the woman, who we believe was probably one of Frank’s daughters - but which one?? Going from newly minted immigrant doing difficult, physical labor in the logging industry, to making shoes and harnesses, and then to running a general store tells us something about what kind of man Frank was. He was clearly ambitious, smart, and confident, with the ability to see opportunity and go after it. He was willing to take risks, starting a new business while also building a large and growing family. He had to have good relationship skills in order to network, establish contacts and sources for his goods and build a successful retail store. On top of that he would have to have been a good problem-solver and have a competitive nature in order to navigate the complexities of setting up a business, running the business, and staying in business for over 25 years. As we will see, many of these traits were passed on to his children. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1d2b3147-dfb5-4186-b1ea-34c430a48002/20230704_152203.jpg Breadcrumbs - Life after Logging - This is the main street of Limestone. I don’t know the exact year, but the car would suggest early 1900’s. I’m pretty sure that the Larson General Store is one of the storefronts since this photo was found in a family scrapbook. The town of Limestone is comprised of 1000 acres of land lying at the base of a hill about one mile wide and one and a half miles long. At the time my great-grandfather Frank arrived with his family in the late 1880’s, the town was dense enough to have two hotels, a post office, a bank, two barbershops, several saloons, a hardware store, a grocery, and an opera house. Over the years it would grow big enough to have multiple grocery and mercantile stores, several more hotels, a doctor’s office, a law firm, police and fire departments, and other services and amenities associated with a thriving community. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/road-trip-wrap-up monthly 0.5 2024-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e61367c4-7fa0-4794-b684-1f1e5719e587/20230723_181013.jpg Breadcrumbs - Road Trip Wrap-up: Observations, Insights, Reflections - This was my campsite for a week on the Cape, sharing precious family time with nephew Gabriel, sister Carol and brother-in-law David. Here are some observations from my month on the road: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1ff981bd-a7dd-44ae-b20c-c9db0f114602/20230715_075541.jpg Breadcrumbs - Road Trip Wrap-up: Observations, Insights, Reflections - This is me waiting in line for the Deer Island ferry on my day trip to Saint John, New Brunswick. Living as a solo traveler for a month taught me a few things about myself: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ea919dd1-b7ed-4bbe-9ab9-708aa2b92636/20230718_063744.jpg Breadcrumbs - Road Trip Wrap-up: Observations, Insights, Reflections - I never got tired of the ocean and the bays. When you travel alone, you have only yourself to keep you company. For this to be a good experience, I believe you need to: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b57ab430-a38a-465e-82e2-1fa50816c5d4/20230730_150450.jpg Breadcrumbs - Road Trip Wrap-up: Observations, Insights, Reflections - I treated myself to a side trip to Niagara Falls on my way home. They were spectacular as always. Now it’s time for me to revisit my Larson ancestors, research their history, and finish preparing for my next trip coming up in just a few short weeks! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/week4 monthly 0.5 2024-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d2b29e8a-5bbf-4670-95ec-355464404527/20230713_175617.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - The foggy mists and cloudy skies inspired peace and reflection, and felt emotionally freeing rather than confining, if that makes sense. I couldn’t see the shores on the other side of the Bay, but since I didn’t know what was out there, I didn’t miss it and instead embraced what I could see: a wonderful mysteriousness, with dim and receding or approaching shapes in the distance, and beautifully detailed rocks, trees and beaches up close. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/574b6642-400e-4822-b7ad-b92d61726337/20230716_110759.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - This is Don and Barbara’s beautiful view from their back deck. Despite the fog (which pretty much defined my entire time in Maine and New Brunswick) they tried to convince me that if the day were clearer I could actually see Campobello and Deer Islands from their back yard. I’ll have to take their word for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a49bdedc-8cb8-44a5-b133-8ce05c9d6e59/20230717_133516.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - My campsite was right on the beach, which I loved. The campground was quite crowded with vacationers stacked next to each other like sardines, but I didn’t mind one bit (I had read some reviews so was prepared for this). What I liked about the location was easy access to miles and miles of sandy coastline, and the totally flat terrain which made for easy biking over long distances. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/dc7cb9fa-6e1a-48ea-af16-931962c24ab8/20230719_190103.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - This is Malka and Anna Malka was the most gracious host you could imagine, and even let me do two loads of laundry! (thanks again, Malka!!) She took a day off from work and we were able to spend quality time catching up on the missing years of our lives. Her husband David was busy saving people’s lives for most of the time I was there (he’s a cardiologist), but we did intersect here and there and it was nice to see him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/78886fe7-2735-4e07-b3e7-ef91cbe63c1c/20230720_180012.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - This is a representative sample of our group - meet Maryann, Diana, Risa and Myrna. Sorry to those who didn’t make it into this picture! It was a very joyous reunion! Leaving a job or moving away results inevitably in changed relationships and lost contact with those people whose lives intertwined so closely for so many years. I was at that agency for ten years, and I’ve been gone for fifteen. Yet as each of my friends arrived, I was happy to discover that the personalities that attracted me to them in the first place were still intact, and we fell easily in and out of conversation as we caught up with each other. Such a gift to see them again! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ae0b1090-1155-4643-a464-0a6a6d83b7e8/20230721_141018.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - Jerry’s sits right next to the Whydah Pirate Museum, which was interesting and fun and we also recommend. We do not recommend the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory tour, which apparently doesn’t exist anymore, as we found out when we finally located it after being directed to the wrong location (darn you, Google, why do you do that?!). Had we been more deliberate in our research rather than simply going there “on the fly” we would have known it was closed, but live and learn, right? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/84c9afcc-99b4-475a-a2fc-1b92db6129e6/20230722_202903.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - Our campsite was within easy walking distance of this beach in Truro. This is one of many sunset pictures I took - they never get old for me! In the evening people who have permits can build fires on the beach and it is quite a sight to see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9aae9881-d5a5-489e-b7b6-a6dbe0e11fb3/20230726_105444.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - We saw seals everywhere we went. They were clearly interested in us and ventured pretty close to the shore, but mostly minded their own business swimming up and down the shoreline, disappearing from one place only to pop up somewhere further down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/385c20e4-bae3-48f9-92fc-b52cf3d5f0a1/20230724_211115.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - Provincetown has a rich history of supporting and advocating for the LGBTQ community over many decades. We happened to be there during Family Equality Family Week. We visited Provincetown several times. An interesting place, with lots of art, music, drag shows, interesting shops, and great restaurants. A wonderful mix of diverse visitors and residents. Navigating through the Commercial Street strip can be challenging and dangerous - cars, mopeds, bicycles, scooters, strollers, street buskers and walkers all vying for the same narrow pathways. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b52106ea-918d-4e9c-ba3b-eb32989d9778/20230728_153302.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - This lighthouse is at the very tip of the Cape. You can walk there over the breakwater, but we opted for the ferry. We visited several of the lighthouses in our vicinity, all still operating and some which had to be moved because of the inevitable erosion of the coastline over the decades. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/aa4aabd9-bd83-40c7-a276-61e9d03787d1/20230726_100634.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 4 Report from Home - If you look closely, you can almost see the ocean in the distance over that far dune. One hot, blistering morning we decided to walk on a trail that took us over the dunes to the shore. We were told it was about a mile to the beach but would be an “arduous” walk. We packed sunscreen and water bottles and made our way to the beach, our feet sinking into the soft, hot (well over 100 degrees) sand with every step, and the sun beating down on us mercilessly with virtually no respite. The reward was the view along the way and the arrival to one of the most beautiful beaches we visited that week (which is saying a lot because they are all SO beautiful). Of course, after cooling off in the gentle surf and watching the numerous seals swimming all around us, we had to trudge our way through the same, arduous path back to the car… https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/week-3-report-from-the-road monthly 0.5 2024-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8a010089-d0ec-4a8c-9289-f550d53f307f/processed_20230712_180513.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 3 Report From the Road - I blame my inaction on that shy little girl inside me who keeps popping up and preventing me from speaking or taking social risks. After all, what if the woman rebuffed my overture? The last thing I want to do is intrude on her private space. Maybe she wants to be alone. Maybe she’s going through something tough and doesn’t want uninvited interaction with strangers. What if we had nothing to talk about? What if the conversation went sideways and we both regretted having spent an otherwise lovely evening trapped with a stranger we didn’t want to be with? Such are the inner conversations people like me have with ourselves, and the reason that we both ended up eating alone that night. I am all about pushing myself out of my comfort zone, but somehow the stakes seemed higher in this situation than I was willing to risk and I chose the easier path. No regrets really, just a reminder that I’m a work in progress. Maybe next time… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/884ad808-6f22-476f-8308-b875e5c8806a/IMG-20230708-WA0007.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 3 Report From the Road - Week 1: This is Rick (center), carpenter and builder extraordinaire. He is standing with my sister and brother-in-law in front of the barn he is building for them. I can’t begin to tell you how beautiful the work is and the care he takes in executing his craft. The day I left Carol’s place in Ashfield, he had just put on the back door to this barn and wanted to be sure I saw it before driving off. I’m so glad I did, and that he wanted me to see it. He was working diligently as a one-man operation the whole time my siblings and I were together, and the progress he made in that very short time was phenomenal. He happily took time out to answer questions we had and explain what he was doing, exhibiting well-deserved pride in his work. He also does a lot of camping so was interested in seeing my rig. Personable and friendly, it was a pleasure to meet him and see him working at a craft he clearly loves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7f02d846-c743-4f5f-b453-ff034df871c2/processed_20230708_093029.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 3 Report From the Road - Week 2. This is Pam Parrot. She has a booth at the Wakefield, New Hampshire farmer’s market and when she isn’t spinning thread and making beautiful scarves, hats, mittens, etc., she is tending to her herd of alpacas, goats and angora rabbits. She was fun to talk with and happily explained all about spinning wool into yarn, and had her spinning wheel onsite for demonstrations. I bought a scarf from her and before I walked away she told me which threads in the scarf came from which animals. I would not have even been at that farmers market that Saturday except for a lovely woman named… mmm… Diane… mmm… maybe… I think…?? (so terrible at names and I didn’t write hers down - darn it!). Anyway, this lovely woman is friends with the women who hosted our New Hampshire rally, and is a seasonal resident at that campsite. She didn’t know us from anyone and wasn’t participating in the rally. When her long-time friends Kathleen and Lisa were still sleeping when she came to their site to ask them to go with her to the market, she invited KD and me, strangers (certainly to her and almost to each other, having met only the evening before when we arrived at our campsites), to go with her instead. We both leapt at the opportunity, and she drove us to the market. There were lots of interesting people, craft booths, fresh veggies and baked goods. Such a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning in a new place! With such lovely people! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1a33fba2-683c-40ed-8411-ec5cada09d06/processed_20230712_114306.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 3 Report From the Road - Week 2. This is Jan Roberson, who lives on one of the islands of Harpswell, Maine. She is a local pastel artist and has a gallery just off the main road on Bailey’s Island. I had taken a long early morning walk that took me past her place and I was curious about it but it was closed. On my way back to the Inn, after stopping for a water break and shade from the hot sun, I noticed she was open and decided to go in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/6c715913-f038-4ebf-ad1b-24bf694323d3/processed_20230715_075553.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 3 Report From the Road - Week 2. While I was waiting for the ferry to take me from Bellacampo Island to Deer Island and then the mainland of New Brunswick, I struck up a conversation with the three young men who were waiting in the truck behind me. They had been on the island fishing for herring and apparently had pretty good success. (Note to my son Conrad: in answer to your recommendation that I eat some herring while in New Brunswick, that is as close as I got to herring of any kind despite the fact that I was staying at the Herring Cove Provincial Campground). Waiting for the ferry to take me back to Deer Island and Bellacampo at the end of my day trip to Saint John, I was approached by a woman who was traveling with her (presumed) husband. “Are you one of those women van campers who just travel and go everywhere?” I guess there is a first time for everything! I smiled, thought for a second or two, and responded, “yes, I guess I am!” That led to a short but fun conversation about van life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5a7851f5-538b-47ce-b546-24fe22139383/processed_20230715_130940.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 3 Report From the Road - Week 2. This is the Wall of Grandmothers, which is located in the City Market in Saint John, New Brunswick. I was looking for a place to have lunch in this old, long-standing indoor market, with many vendors and stalls of all shapes and sizes and variety of goods and food. This restaurant stood out to me, partly because of the wall, and partly because of the sign above the counter which read, “Slocum and Ferris, Established 1895.” I decided I didn’t care about the food, but I had to eat at this place and find out about the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b2412a4a-e930-45ff-8004-6449813642cc/processed_20230718_141703.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 3 Report From the Road - Week 3. Meet Brian and Pat. They have been coming to Salisbury Beach for over 40 years to fly the kites made with great care by Brian. They get them going and then sit under an awning outside their car parked in the public beach parking lot and enjoy the view. They clearly take great delight when families and children come along and appreciate the uniqueness of Brian’s kite designs. They didn’t seem to mind when I approached them, and readily agreed to have their picture taken in front of their kites. The circle kites are particularly unique and beautiful. Before I continued on my bike ride, Brian gave me a small Ukrainian flag, saying, “They are fighting to save our democracy.” Not sure what he meant by that, but not planning to spend too much time thinking about it. My visit with them was a joy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/da017419-b6a7-45f4-9b9f-4f2ec6dfd753/processed_20230718_141816.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 3 Report From the Road - Week 3. This is David and Buddy. David takes Buddy everywhere on his bicycle and tells me he sticks to his shoulder like glue no matter how fast he goes. He told me he used to be a stand-up comedian but now that he’s old and retired he’s a “sit-down” comedian. When I was trying to remember his name and called him Dave, he responded by saying, “you forgot the ‘id’” - took me a minute to realize what he was saying. My little pea brain sometimes just can’t keep up with someone else’s wit. David is good friends with Pat and Brian of kite-making fame, and none of them seemed to mind me busting into their conversation when I rode up on my bike. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/road-tripping-through-history monthly 0.5 2024-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5b4bd5e1-291b-4c2c-aa0d-6679f1655f41/20230711_112431.jpg Breadcrumbs - Road Tripping Through History - In the distance of the photo you can see a bridge. In the shipbuilding heyday of this town and the sister town upriver, Kennebunk, hundreds of new wooden ships passed through the river gate shown in the photo on their way to the ocean to serve the needs of importing and exporting to and from Europe, Africa and as far away as China and India. Shipbuilding was the prime industry for this town and many others up and down the Maine seacoast from the mid-1700s until after the Civil War, when it began to decline and all but disappeared in the early 20th century. Steam engines entered the picture, which made sailing ships obsolete and a new era of shipbuilding took over. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/01d5386b-6952-4d45-94e1-712d0c4b3538/Biddeford+Mills+1912+2023-07-17+192818.png Breadcrumbs - Road Tripping Through History - Biddeford was a perfect place for a textile mill, given that it sat near a 47 foot waterfall coming from the Saco River. It provided a steady flow of water from the White Mountains and promised good fortune for anyone who could capitalize on the opportunity it offered. Because of its prime geography and access to abundant, flowing water, investors lined up to open mills there. One of the most successful was the Pepperell Mills, which opened in 1850. During the 1850s the three largest mills together operated in 11 different mill buildings, employed over 3500 people, housed them in 70 boarding houses, and produced over 25 million yards of cotton cloth annually. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/988fa851-92da-477c-8abe-5a7e08365d63/Screenshot+2023-07-17+194646.png Breadcrumbs - Road Tripping Through History - Young women were recruited in large numbers to work in the mills. They flocked to the factories from surrounding farms, and when that source didn’t meet the demand, they were recruited from among the immigrants flowing into the country. The (mostly) young women were needed to run the machinery that spun the cotton into threads, which were then woven into cotton fabrics. Apparently, in its heyday, the mills also actively recruited men from Albania, who were known for their expertise in fabric design and dyes. This was a counterpoint to the recruitment of Swedes by the logging industry in Pennsylvania based on the knowledge and experience with logging they brought with them from Sweden. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b74a5b1c-34d7-432a-a634-943a3ba07efb/20230712_151803.jpg Breadcrumbs - Road Tripping Through History - If you look closely in the photo you can just about make out the lobster buoys in the water. Fishing became a prime driver of the economy fairly early on in this region of the country, and focused originally on “horse mackerel” which most of us know as tuna. In fact, Bailey’s Island borders Mackerel Cove, presumably named for the abundant horse mackerel that was caught there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e551feea-1842-4766-8e39-66013d51fa46/processed_20230714_124327.jpg Breadcrumbs - Road Tripping Through History - It was in this house that the Franklin Roosevelt family spent summers while raising their five children. During the early years of the 1900’s Franklin was busy planning and getting groomed for his life in politics, and Eleanor was busy managing the household, which included a number of servants and many social gatherings. Campaign strategists would stay at the home as they planned Franklin’s future. Eleanor was a prolific letter writer and her original desk remains in the home. One of the children, Franklin Jr., was born in the house in 1914. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/report-f monthly 0.5 2024-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a7fdd983-6365-4d89-aff5-779ee1e58aa6/20230707_145027.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 2 Report From the Road - True friendships stand the test of time - 15 years was nothing at all! As it turns out I needn’t have worried at all and I didn’t have to pretend anything. Martha was the same Martha I knew when we worked together, and my excitement at seeing her completely erased any trepidation I might have had. You know you have a good friend when you can just pick up where you left off and it’s like no time has passed. I was so happy to rediscover our deep friendship we had when we worked together! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cb5e449f-d743-4332-9134-5f06bb77b9e1/20230708_072058.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 2 Report From the Road - After my visit with Martha, I made my way to a private resort campground to meet up with some fellow women van campers. Someone who lives in New Hampshire near the Maine border organized this rally and invited women van campers who are members of the same FaceBook group to join her for the weekend. This was a totally new experience for me, but I figured “why not?” and decided to jump in with gusto. It turned out to be a small group of women who were able to make it on this particular weekend, but we had a great time together. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/report-from-the-road-week-1 monthly 0.5 2024-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ca9c263b-dab9-4f19-a09e-7d8823069ca5/20230702_162637.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 1 Report From The Road - This particular beach is not what one would consider sandy, and is covered with stones of all sizes, shapes and colors, large and small pieces of black slate, tiny shells, and driftwood blown in from who knows where. The playground and beach area near the overlook where the bench sits was totally empty when I arrived. Rainy days have a way of deterring families from venturing outside, but for me the empty park and the steady drizzle enveloped and welcomed me. The dense moisture in the air provided a somewhat surreal feel to the surroundings that was very comforting and peaceful. Before going to the bench I walked first to the water’s edge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/38e044d2-9fca-4933-932c-ebcf1d5bc3ed/20230702_163232.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 1 Report From The Road - I made my way up the little hill that overlooks the beach and placed the two stones on the bench. Somehow it seemed fitting and I thought about the love that those two little stones represented for me in that moment as they looked out over the water. I sat on the bench with the stones for a moment, then put them in my pocket and walked back to the van. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/18f40301-7411-4256-8607-4acedbb58bef/20230706_130326.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 1 Report From The Road - Across the back row (left to right) are my grandparents, Fred and Lucille, and Katie’s grandparents, Gert and Walter. In the front on the left is my Uncle Bill with my mother Joan behind him, with their cousin Walt Jr., Katie’s dad, to their right. The icing on the cake came when we discovered a photo (above) in Katie’s book that we did not have in ours. That photo shows both families together, with her father and my mother (first cousins) side by side in the foreground, with their parents (our grandparents) behind them. Such a fun connection!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/32e01938-9965-462f-8fa0-b395bebea9e9/20230710_160220.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 1 Report From The Road - After quite a bit of research and studying and playing around with my system, as well as experimenting with different settings (hence the squawking and errors), Sam and Dave finally figured out what I could not, and I now have a custom-made, color-coded schematic that explains everything and also provides some “rules of the road” to follow when I am trying to conserve battery power. Yay!!!! I have more confidence now in my ability to manage that complex system. I even have a better understanding of what Amp, watt and voltage mean (or, at least I did a couple of days ago… better look at my notes again…). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/db0927d1-1848-46e1-aadb-09ce0e6afcc3/20230704_080553.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 1 Report From The Road - Mesmerizing beauty at 7am. To her credit, Carol put no pressure on me at all – well, maybe just enough to get me thinking seriously about doing it. I did the rest myself. And Carol’s friends are such interesting people and were very welcoming to this newcomer! The swim was leisurely enough that we could converse easily while also feeling like we were doing something important for our bodies as well as overall health and well-being. I can highly recommend this as a daily ritual (although the chance that I will take this up as my own 7am morning routine is pretty much nil…). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b2015874-50a0-4fa4-86e9-97ec6ad1d04a/20230705_165854.jpg Breadcrumbs - Week 1 Report From The Road - Walking across the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls is always a favorite summertime ritual. Never gets old. Other activities included hikes to new places, visits to old favorites (like Herrell’s Ice Cream in Northampton, for example), and sharing memories and family videos. (I’ve put a link to what’s maybe our all-time favorite family musical recording on my Snippets and Tidbits page for you to enjoy if you are so inclined - be warned: it is not quite the musical masterpiece we had envisioned…). It’s called Birthday Memories. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/getting-ready-to-travel monthly 0.5 2024-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/dc5134ff-e56a-4b84-ba3b-86191c98a4c0/New+England+Road+Trip+Map.png Breadcrumbs - Summer Road Trip! - This is a rough outline of my road trip plan. Not exact, but you get the general idea. Over a period of four weeks I will be driving from Michigan to Massachusetts to New Hampshire to Maine to New Brunswick, then back to Massachusetts and out to Cape Cod. Along the way I will be spending some days with family and friends. I will be doing all the driving, navigating myself from place to place, meeting new people and soaking up the scenery and ambience. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/5d9930a3-045f-4b5a-bd11-1f9bfb67809d/PXL_20220905_231107884.jpg Breadcrumbs - Summer Road Trip! - This little loopy thing screws into a hole on the front of the van. I looked pretty stupid when I was stuck in the mud and the guys trying to help me asked where it was. Why would I know this if I never owned a cargo van before? https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/planning-to-plan monthly 0.5 2024-01-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b3eb4d8d-b2a5-4a04-99a0-257691ea35a6/20230614_164526.jpg Breadcrumbs - Planning to Plan - Not too bad for a first attempt, but it took a lot longer than thirty minutes… I may be risking my self esteem and confidence by exposing my retirement project aspirations so publicly, but perhaps doing so will lead to a few of the ones that have been relegated to the bottom of my priorities to rise a little higher and maybe even come to fruition (or at least get worked into an overall plan). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7717b78c-ea5f-46ef-bbcf-52eb8ddcd187/20230614_162843.jpg Breadcrumbs - Planning to Plan - This planner is still one of my favorites. After letting it languish for several months while I pursued other “foolproof” organizing methods, I bought myself an identical but new planner book, thinking I needed a fresh start. I have yet to take the plastic off and open it. Just as I was while working a paying job, I am still on that eternal quest for the perfect organization system that will give my life both the structure I need to make progress on my various lists, and also the flexibility I crave. I have been through many such systems over the years, “tried and true” for those devotees who can’t live without them. I get excited when I come across one that I think will work for the long term, only to discover that if I use it for more than a few weeks I should consider that a resounding success. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1e5c1de6-d792-4814-9c18-88b578ad0a9a/20230606_072847.jpg Breadcrumbs - Planning to Plan - My secret to weeding is to keep and manage all the invaders that are colorful and pretty, and only pull out the thistles, crabgrass and anything choking the peonies or drowning the daylilies. Hence the plethora of daisies you see here. So now that I’ve managed to spend an inordinate amount of time musing and avoiding all of the items on my list save for item #5, (which won’t count as progress until I actually post this article), I think I’m ready to move on to figuring out where my fall road trip will be taking me and where I will be staying along the way. After that I’ll dive back into the Larson history and flesh out more of that story, which is time consuming but so, so engaging and fun for me. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/shininglight monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0f24d8be-9a8f-4110-afc8-0be74a6cdf79/PXL_20220513_214111643.MP.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Shining Light Emerges from Tragic Loss - Sam has been doing the heavy lifting of the genealogy portion of the Larson family research, and is a master at finding, collecting, and organizing the massive amounts of information available on the internet and elsewhere. Here is a small demonstration of Sam’s ability: When Carol and I were in Pennsylvania there were several times we drove to a town we thought significant in some way. We would text Sam as we approached it, asking, “We think this town is important! Did anything happen here?” He would respond within minutes with a full rundown of who lived, married, died or was born there, often with specific addresses we could go find. Impressive, no? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c1c0a414-71fa-4329-b1b0-6c88ecbdd262/Wm+Frithiof+cemetery.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Shining Light Emerges from Tragic Loss - This year on Memorial Day, I choose to remember Captain William Frithiof Larson, who was killed in action on August 11, 1944, while leading Operation Percy Red in support of the French resistance during Nazi occupation of France. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Captain Larson would have been my second cousin once removed, although I had not heard of him, or his branch of our family, until recently. His family and his story are among those fading into the forgotten mists of time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9e0e4442-62bd-4996-bf23-1d668f695181/20230510_133146.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Shining Light Emerges from Tragic Loss - At one point the tannery owned 44,000 acres of forest. The photo provides a sense of the massive amounts of bark that were being stripped from the trees to serve the needs of the tanning operation. Will married Annie Johnson in 1889, and they settled in Wilcox PA where he worked in the logging industry as they began raising their family. The Wilcox tannery was another of the very large operations in western Pennsylvania described in previous articles. It specialized in making sole leather (used in shoes) and relied heavily on massive quantities of both bark and animal hides to meet its production demands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/04a40ee4-2ba1-4022-8288-f3cca2b2ed9e/wilcox_privies.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Shining Light Emerges from Tragic Loss - Wilcox was a small town of about 1200 people in 1890, located on the Clarion River. As the photo shows, it was a somewhat traditional “company town” in that the Wilcox Tanning Company provided homes complete with toolsheds and outhouses for the workers and their families. The town had both electric and gas power, and boasted its own doctor, not a common occurrence in such a small town. It also had hotels, general stores, churches and other businesses. It is reported that President Ulysses Grant was an avid fisherman and visited Wilcox twice, leading to the construction of the Grant House hotel in 1882 in his honor, although apparently he never stayed there himself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9fb0cf59-b602-4e9a-90ed-cc16c786bd65/20230531_171913.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Shining Light Emerges from Tragic Loss - Will’s job while living in Wilcox was a “barker.” The load of bark in the photo demonstrates how this strenuous job required him not only to physically strip the bark off the huge hemlock trees in the forest, but also to pile it onto wagons, which were then pulled down the mountain by teams of horses to be loaded onto railroad cars. Part of Will’s job was also the “bark driver” who managed the horses and the load as they maneuvered their way out of the forest to the railroad cars waiting for them. This work peaked during the winter months, when there was plenty of snow on the ground to aid the horses in moving the heavily-laden sleds down the mountain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b1224e49-bbbd-40de-b58c-b14375e02368/Wm+Fritioff+Larson.jpg Breadcrumbs - A Shining Light Emerges from Tragic Loss - Captain William Frithiof Larson William and Lennea's first child was born in 1917, and they named him William Frithiof. After graduating from high school and working during the depression, in 1940 at age 23 William registered for the draft. He enlisted, and rose to the rank of Captain. He was leading a highly trained team of 18 soldiers working with the French resistance, when he was shot by Nazi fire. His death was yet another tragedy for Annie and her son William Frank. He now rests in a field in France surrounded by his fallen comrades, at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/expanding-the-boundaries monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0d84e2b2-a053-49d2-af3d-2bb89ffa3cd1/Buffalo_Evening_News_Thu__Dec_2__1937_.jpg Breadcrumbs - Expanding The 1938 Project - This news article was published in The Buffalo Evening News on December 2, 1937. I never met Fred but he was always described as the life of the party and someone who had lots of friends from all walks of life (an asset for someone who owned a funeral home). He always signed his name with big flourishes, and had a wide variety of interests and pursuits. My mother was always very proud of the fact that her parents and relatives were not drinkers yet could have a raucous good time together that made their neighbors think alcohol was flowing freely. So my assumption was that the original 1938 trip centered around Fred and everyone else was along for the ride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ba9f51ce-b840-4f47-9db5-dd7562a19688/20230509_152603.jpg Breadcrumbs - Expanding The 1938 Project - This short item was reported in the Ridgeway Advocate on Thursday, February 4, 1892. By the time we got back to the campsite, William had become Will, a name suitable for someone known and loved by friends and family. Will is the name that appears in the news article. It is the nickname you give to a loved child, a name your friends call you, a name that has nuance and personality over the more formal William that appears in legal documents and passenger manifests. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a5af7eb9-6844-4048-9baa-923aae0659db/20230529_192609.jpg Breadcrumbs - Expanding The 1938 Project - A map of the tanneries existing in western Pennsylvania in 1888 shows just how prolific these operations were. The Sheffield tannery was part of an enterprise that had global significance, and the Horton & Crary company was very well known in the leather manufacturing industry. It rivaled its competitor in Costello in terms of scope and quantity of yearly output. In fact, until the Costello plant eclipsed it in size and output, the Sheffield operation boasted of being the largest in the world (the Wilcox plant where Will ended up made the same claim). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3389ea08-0969-461b-a100-e92a7dc4c3ae/downtown-sheffield-1024x744.jpg Breadcrumbs - Expanding The 1938 Project - The Sheffield tannery, depicted in this photo, had been in operation since 1867, so the town of Sheffield, located alongside Minister Creek, was well-established, with all the amenities and supports that a young family would need and expect in those days. Natural gas was piped in to light up the tannery, and by extension the rest of the town. There were hotels, homes, schools, shops, and other businesses in the town, and heat was also furnished to all the houses and buildings in the area. It’s no wonder that Frank and John brought their wives there. According to our files, John married Augusta in Sheffield on July 21, 1882, which would have been just a few short weeks after Augusta’s arrival to the area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e55b6572-3228-4136-9d38-6d9c25845785/Josephina+research+page+in+Gothenburg+2023-05-29+194023.jpg Breadcrumbs - Expanding The 1938 Project - My parents and I were lucky enough to track down one of Oxabeck’s children on our Sweden trip in 1986, not knowing who she was or how she fit into the family. Birgit spoke not one word of English but still welcomed the Americans into her home when we showed up at her door. Imagine our surprise when she pulled out her scrapbook and showed my mother the same exact family photo that my mother had just shown her. It was quite a revelation to discover that John was Birgit’s grandfather and that she and my mother were second cousins! This image from our genealogy search after meeting Birgit is in my mother’s handwriting and documents what we found about John and Josephina, Oxabeck and Birgit. Although John did not marry Josephina, he apparently maintained ties to his daughter and grandchildren over the years. His family in the U.S. knew there was a connection with someone in Sweden but no one knew what it was about. They just knew that he occasionally sent money and gifts and also visited. An important breadcrumb revealed! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/cbf135cb-9ee9-4287-8d74-5bdb7ef4db32/Sheffield+Tannery+f5797335-2626-4fda-9655-b71afdf0f72c.jpg Breadcrumbs - Expanding The 1938 Project - So at this point in our story, we know that John and Augusta apparently went back and forth between the U.S. and Sweden several times through the 1880’s. We also know that Frank started out in Sheffield and had his first child there after leaving Costello. He would move to Allegany, NY, and perhaps Port Allegany, PA, before eventually settling permanently in Limestone, NY. Along the way Frank fathered 11 children and John 6. We will hear more about both Frank and John and their careers and families in future articles. So that leaves us William. What became of him and his family after that terrible accident in Wilcox? That’s coming up next. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/a-bit-of-pennsylvania-history monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1af87336-e6dd-4132-b26c-e40d828ab472/Hand+drawn+WNYPA+Map+0523-1.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Started in Pennsylvania - This crude map shows the various places the Larson boys worked and raised families. Why did they choose Costello as their first stop? Let’s find out! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/4890a67c-b05b-46ef-b95c-047136fb06f0/20230510_132643.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Started in Pennsylvania - Major deforestation had been going on around the country for several decades by the time the Larson boys got to Costello. To accommodate the transportation needs of the logging industrialists of the era, the state declared rivers to be public highways, basically allowing unfettered use of the waterways. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/473cd8c3-8e0b-475d-8d59-07ccb5d61376/CostelloTannery+Photo155455o.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Started in Pennsylvania - The Costello tannery, depicted in the photo, was reported as being the largest in the world at that time and accelerated the growing need for hemlock bark. Demand for that tree, whose bark was highly prized for its tannin, was quickly replacing demand for the coveted white pine, which was used more in construction and was pretty much decimated in Pennsylvania by 1880. This increased demand for tannin was a direct result of the industrial revolution and the transition from single craftsmen making shoes to mass production of leather shoes in factories. The evolution to a manufacturing economy was taking place across industries, and shoe leather was no exception. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0176ebed-9352-497c-b149-10233f1f767c/20230510_141147.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Started in Pennsylvania - The camp where the Larson brothers were probably housed included a large boarding house structure, repair shop, general store, blacksmith, stable, and farm land. The workers were described in early descriptions of the factory as “skilled workmen” and “excellent citizens.” Given that there were more employees of the tannery than families actually settled in the area, the logging camp was its own community, isolated from other towns and cities. There generally were no women at these sites unless they worked in the kitchens, although historical accounts and photos show that occasionally women and even children did live at or in close proximity to some of the logging camps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/49bf27cf-7218-4c31-9a4c-ad7317c71fcf/20230510_133139.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Started in Pennsylvania - Winter was typically when the trees were cut because it was easier to slide them down the mountain in snow and ice on sleds drawn by horses. Spring was typically when bark peelers were hired in great numbers to shave the bark off the trees and prepare it for leaching the tannin needed for treating the leather. Summer would have been down time for the forest workers and tree-cutters (wood hicks, as they were called). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/63cb064e-e89c-45be-94df-21fba9730a1a/20230524_162209.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Started in Pennsylvania - Before the arrival of the Europeans, 90-95% of Pennsylvania was covered with old growth forests. By 1895, more than half of the original forest was gone. In those days, the nature of the logging industry was such that, once the trees were gone in a particular area, the tanneries closed and moved to the next forest, leaving the bare, stripped hillsides and ghost towns behind. The camps with their crude dormitory-like structures were simply dismantled and moved to the next site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/32382a21-770e-46fb-a0fd-53e0b9585db1/20230524_162338.jpg Breadcrumbs - Getting Started in Pennsylvania - The Larson boys would only stay at the camp in Costello for a short time. Frank and John went to Sheffield and stayed for several years, where they probably worked at the tannery there. I’m guessing that was a more stable situation for them because Sheffield was an established community and we know they planned to bring their fiancées over from Sweden and get married. The rough and tumble world of the newly constructed Costello logging camp and its relative isolation was probably no place to start a family. William, on the other hand, was not yet ready to settle down and may have stayed on in the camp after his brothers left. It isn’t certain how long he was there, but we know that his search for home and work took him in a different direction from his brothers. We will continue William’s story in the next article. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notice of my next post! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/top-10-tips-from-the-field monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1503667a-33fc-40f2-a280-1368fb0db636/20230508_132355.jpg Breadcrumbs - Top 10 Tips from the Field - First and foremost, if you are going to be searching for family stories and hitting libraries, historical museums, cemeteries or just driving around taking pictures in relatively remote places, I highly recommend doing so with a favorite person, such as the best sister ever (like I did), or an equivalent special person. Hanging out together in the evening, laughing over our mishaps, planning the day’s itinerary, venturing into unfamiliar places, and sharing the joys of new discoveries, adventures and experiences made this trip very special. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e950b2dc-b9cd-4e3a-bb97-e2cc025b2880/20230509_161654.jpg Breadcrumbs - Top 10 Tips from the Field - Bob and Darla welcomed us at the Ridgeway Historical Society in the late afternoon and helped us find a crucial missing breadcrumb we had been searching for all day. They stayed well past their normal closing time to make sure we had everything we needed before we left. Bob even followed up that evening to send me a pdf that he couldn’t send from the museum’s computer, and also offered to be our personal tour guide through the history of Elk County on our next trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ceea8482-94ec-4c2a-a337-e643791c2923/20230508_142102.jpg Breadcrumbs - Top 10 Tips from the Field - c) If you are going to check with your son about the SIM you should do so before you are halfway to the nearest Best Buy to buy a new one (a two hour drive out of the area where you are spending the week). However, once you are already committed to a wayward path, be sure to salvage the day by pivoting to something fun and visiting other important sites that weren’t on the original itinerary (such as Lake Erie State Park to visit the bench you and your siblings installed there in memory of your parents). Your day-long detour may turn out to be one of the best days of the week, and you never know what other gems you might discover. For example, if you are ever in Brockton, NY, be sure to have lunch at St. Stephen’s Café, which is part of Breathe Life of WNY, Inc., a Christian-based, non-sectarian organization which coordinates with other service providers to serve county residents suffering from homelessness, addiction, and sexual and domestic violence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a7023575-2e24-46a5-a2f2-c70ce859e428/20230508_150936.jpg Breadcrumbs - Top 10 Tips from the Field - a) Trust Google when it tells you to go on a small road that looks like it will definitely take you the long way or the wrong way to your destination. Those little unscheduled byways and small roads that don’t appear on the atlas sitting on your lap may just reveal some of the most beautiful sites you will see on the trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/0c3d5fab-122f-4d0a-b2ea-f0a5086552d0/20230509_122012.jpg Breadcrumbs - Top 10 Tips from the Field - If you are looking for a specific grave in a cemetery in a small, out-of-the-way town, don’t just assume that you will find the plot immediately. In your excitement of finding the cemetery you might drive right by the local library. Once you have spent an hour in the cemetery and finally realize you need help, it’s a good idea to go to back to the library and humbly request assistance. The librarian will happily go straight to the book that records all the gravesites going back to the 1800’s, show you the map of the different sections, and find your relative’s name and location, all within about 10 minutes. When you drive back up the hill to the cemetery for the second time, you will have no trouble locating the stone, right where she said it would be. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d58860ab-556b-4e02-8522-1f2c323aaea0/20230511_105430.jpg Breadcrumbs - Top 10 Tips from the Field - b) When the trooper does not get out of his car and just sits in the cemetery facing the rear of your car, act cool and just get out as planned to go find your relatives’ gravestones, which are scattered all about the old cemetery. You may not be able to see the trooper behind his blackened windows, but if you continue to wander the cemetery he will stay just long enough to check your plates and determine that you are not fleeing felons in a stolen car. At that point he will drive off. You will then be able to search the graves in peace, wishing he had had the courtesy to get out of his car and at least have a conversation about what you were doing there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3eb94887-86c4-44cb-9af1-1b6971e0f216/20230510_164122.jpg Breadcrumbs - Top 10 Tips from the Field - The ice cream here was delicious, and the staff appreciated our interest in their cute little shop. The strategy of smiling, greeting, and having brief conversations works in many situations, and can diffuse preexisting tension or suspicion. There are many short but genuine and authentic exchanges that can create small but meaningful encounters and good feelings, whether it be with the cashier at a store, the person scooping your ice cream, someone walking their dog, or even someone in their car at an intersection. Unexpected kindness in the form of friendly cheerfulness is easy to deliver. There is no need for reciprocation; the gesture itself stands on its own. Even when there is no overt response (and there often is), there can still be ripple effects. Such is the nature of human connection and the benefits of reaching out to others in small, benign ways. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a32cc53c-56cd-4afe-845f-d8ce5417f63e/20230506_143214.jpg Breadcrumbs - Top 10 Tips from the Field - The natural beauty available in three dimensions when you actually look at it with your own eyes up close and personal cannot be matched by anything online. Information available online cannot mimic the flavor, textures, sounds, odors and overall sense of a place. Maps, even in satellite view, don’t do justice to the experience of driving around the small roads. The opportunity to appreciate the pride (which is palpable in so many ways even in the face of obvious hardship and struggle) and uniqueness of each town while traveling up the mountains and down into valleys is not to be missed. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/field-research monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1317591e-5c68-45fa-8c71-33cded0d7ee0/PXL_20220505_161234286.MP.jpg Breadcrumbs - Field Trip - As I write this article on May 5, 2023, I realize that it was exactly one year ago today that I picked up my brand new camper. Woohoo!! Earlier this week I picked up Nelly Bly from where she had been in storage since late October. I opened the driver side door and breathed in deeply as I climbed in. I was happy to discover that she still has that “new car” smell (despite several camping outings during which her inside cabin endured other less glamorous odors such as stale coffee, dirty clothes, wet dog, food garbage, and other unmentionables…). The fresh scent is not what I should have been focused on, however… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/a1df5ff3-fe9a-47e1-aecb-54c53834a0aa/20230504_211044.jpg Breadcrumbs - Field Trip - This plumbing system was thoroughly explained to me on the day I picked up the van. A year ago… Oh yes, I thought to myself. Silly! You have to turn the pump on first. Turned on the pump, which started right up. Nothing, not even a drip. Mmm… what could be the problem? I went to the back of the van and stared at the various blue and red lines, and the valves that pointed in various directions. Which valves were supposed to be open and which ones were supposed to be closed? After staring at it some more and checking my notes (which weren’t great but not as bad as I had feared), I decided that everything was configured properly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/86580ec0-fc2b-4c46-a96f-24387454d791/20230504_144438.jpg Breadcrumbs - Field Trip - If you look closely at the blue cylinder, you will see a big hole in the bottom that shouldn’t be there. While I was looking up the phone number for the good folks at Drifter Vans, who did my van conversion, hoping for a miracle, my son Conrad crawled into the storage space and examined everything. Sure enough, he found the source of the leak. I took a picture of it and sent it to my Drifter Van people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c7963282-8bde-4526-b32d-d5a11be1b268/20221016_181436.jpg Breadcrumbs - Field Trip - This picture was taken last October, when temperatures were frigid and it snowed for part of the time I was at the campsite. The good news is that I discovered that my heater works very well! Camping in freezing cold weather in a tiny van with a big dog can be challenging and is a different kind of adventure. It isn’t something I would necessarily choose to do if I didn’t have to. As the trip approached and the weather remained cold, wet, cloudy, gray, and generally unpleasant, I had to make a decision whether to wait and go another time. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/coming-to-amerika monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/e52f0aac-3b89-4968-b8b0-6266abeed069/20221017_120409.jpg Breadcrumbs - Coming to Amerika - Mossoja Yttregarden (roughly translated as “mossy outer farm”) was a farm located witihin the Redslared parish in Sweden. Franz Larson and his twin brother Wilhelm were born on December 16, 1861 at the farm called Mossoja Yttregarden. They were babies when this dramatic change in government structure occurred. At the time, their father Lars was a peasant and did not own the property he farmed, which meant that his or any of his children’s ability to have a say over the governance of his local village was very limited. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8296d284-b7f9-42ee-88c7-6bf614880542/20230502_124140.jpg Breadcrumbs - Coming to Amerika - You can almost see and feel the moss on the rocks in the woods in this fuzzy picture taken at Mossoja Yttre in Sweden in 1986. Try to imagine the vibrant farming community that was there one hundred years earlier! There were quite a number of small farms and villages that made up the Redslared parish. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/8b6d9944-b074-47fc-bddf-84c3423e7dfc/Snip+of+Passenger+Manifest.jpg Breadcrumbs - Coming to Amerika - City of Paris Passenger Manifest - Franz and Wilhelm are the first two on this page, Johann is the last name on the previous page The twins Franz and Wilhelm, along with their older brother Johann, left Redslared parish for the United States on November 11, 1880. Their plan was to get themselves settled and then send for their fiancées. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/925a26f2-02ff-4013-9c17-9399d2d80e15/PXL_20220516_005847343.MP.jpg Breadcrumbs - Coming to Amerika - The New York skyline would have looked quite different in 1881. Upon arrival in Castle Garden, New York on May 23, 1881, the three young Larson men were designated as passengers 442 (Johann), 443 (Franz) and 444 (Wilhelm). They identified themselves as “laborers.” The twins Franz and Wilhelm were just 18 years old when they left Redslared as Swedes in November 1880, but disembarked on U.S. soil in May 1881 as 19 year-old newly minted Americans. Johann was 23. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/the1938project monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2cb1f5a6-c641-47b1-a604-45d06a712500/2018-06-19+18.09.49.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Project - My love of family stories has always been there, but over the years often got buried in the chaos and daily challenges of living my own life. It is with a certain degree of wistfulness and regret that I look back on all the opportunities I had to gather and record the rich histories and stories of members of my own family, yet failed to do so. I enjoyed listening to the stories over the years from our parents and grandparents, but there was no organized probing for detail, no actual interviews or (with very few exceptions) attempts to write down the memories of the older relatives while they were still with us. Once the “witness” is gone, there is no getting that person’s unique perspective or memory back. Questions linger, and those of us left behind have to seek other ways of uncovering the answers now buried in time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d0c64069-775a-413c-a427-d77fb245f1bb/1902+Rock+City.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Project - Here is an example of what I’m talking about. This picture exists in one of my mother’s scrapbooks. Her recognizable handwriting is on the pink slip to the left of the picture: “may be Rock City PA.” Someone else wrote on the white slip to the right (it kind of looks like my handwriting, but I can’t be sure and have no recollection of a previous conversation about this photo): “Gramp Larson (standing).” And under the picture yet a third person wrote “Taken at Rock City in 1902.” (Pretty sure that was my Grandpa Fred) I know that Gramp Larson is my great-grandfather. I’m pretty sure that the woman sitting to his right is his wife, my great-grandmother Emma. I have no idea who the others are in the photo, or why those pictures are lined up on the rock behind them. What else was going on that day and how did they happen to be at Rock City? Who took the picture? So many questions!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/c6766143-c041-4801-9165-2b64fda74fb5/PXL_20220505_212535784.MP.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Project - The decision to purchase the camper was inspired by a friend of mine who had also retired recently. She bought herself an adorable vintage VW popup camper and I immediately became envious. Within a year I had acquired my own camper, guided and built by the incredible care and expertise of the folks I found at Drifter Vans. I named her Nellie Bly, after an intrepid adventurer and journalist from the 1890s. (If you want to see more of the van, check out the link below of the video they made on the day I picked it up - super fun!!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/ea726ba7-31c4-42cc-ab5a-fd5e08f2f40f/1938+Scrapbook+front+cover.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Project - My mother had told us over the years that her father Fred had been a prolific scrapbooker of major events that interested him (Amelia Earhart, Lindbergh baby kidnapping, to name a couple). Most were long gone, but she was always convinced that a few might still be hidden somewhere. The one we stumbled across in 2022 had a map on the front cover and turned out to be a detailed chronicle of a month-long road trip in 1938 from Fredonia, New York to Bakersfield, California and back. The pages of the scrapbook were filled with maps, photos, telegrams, letters and postcards, news articles, receipts from everywhere they went, tourist brochures, business cards of places they visited, and even the expense journal of everyone on the trip. Eureka!! What a treasure trove! Here was the perfect plan!! I would retrace their trip in my new van! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/29be8fff-b8ae-44ea-9bf1-9691bf14f6bc/Packed+car+picture.jpg Breadcrumbs - The 1938 Project - The travelers on the day they left for California. More to come! I invite you to travel with me as I look for the family breadcrumbs hidden within The 1938 Project! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/inthebeginning monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/2841b844-0843-4d06-901c-680fb8ee78b8/20230309_084823.jpg Breadcrumbs - In The Beginning… - Writing has been a prevalent part of my personal life as well. When my husband Jay and I moved to Germany after graduate school back in the 1980’s, I wrote long, detailed letters to family. The letters included stories about our daily adventures as well as my first legal cases as a brand new lawyer. The soldiers I represented, whose outlandish behaviors got them into trouble, often made for humorous story-telling fodder. Many years later I took all of those letters that had been carefully saved and returned to me and stacked them up chronologically. I was stunned to discover that the entire compilation was a running commentary on the daily experience of an American couple living in Europe in the 1980s. The audience was limited, targeted to the family members who were most likely to be interested enough to read each letter all the way through (i.e. my parents and inlaws). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/83f32aa3-ef88-47c6-b422-9c9857d67bf1/20230420_131812.jpg Breadcrumbs - In The Beginning… - You can peruse the old issues of my family newsletter in the Older Stuff section of this website. In 2011 I tried again to start a family newsletter, this time with more success. Word processing and document production technology was more developed, and email had supplanted snail mail as the preferred method of sending documents. Family Matters had a wider audience but still targeted primarily the paternal relatives descended from my German immigrant ancestors. The newsletter list grew to include a number of far-flung distant relatives throughout the United States and beyond. While I still did all of the editing and most of the writing, others contributed as well, which kept it alive and interesting for several years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/bf4b4764-d444-4d19-92e9-4e36242a7ee4/Rome1986130.jpg Breadcrumbs - In The Beginning… - Jay and me in Rome in the 1980s Jay and I in Rome in the 1980s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/11d3cb4e-41f1-4b5c-ae24-5143ee2657f6/20230309_085553.jpg Breadcrumbs - In The Beginning… - In 2023 I’m not the same person I was in 2019. As we all do, I have forged my path forward within the limitations of my circumstances. It has taken me several years to decide how I want to live my life without Jay. During that time the world has changed dramatically around me. In my next post, I will explain why this blog at this time in my life. The focus and potential audience are very different from anything I have written before, and I am excited about what the future holds - stay tuned! https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/category/Travel+Adventures monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/category/History+and+Research monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/category/Personal+Notes monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/category/Family+Stories monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/category/Stories+from+the+Past monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/tag/camping monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/tag/projects monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/tag/Bradford monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/tag/banjo monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/tag/Limestone monthly 0.5 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/breadcrumbs/tag/Emmaus monthly 0.5 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https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/snippets-and-tidbits/winter monthly 0.5 2024-01-26 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/snippets-and-tidbits/41xlsolol4r7giar6ho92f2f2gl94h monthly 0.5 2024-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/d9bb891d-3fb6-45b8-851f-775f940342b1/Family+Tree+Chart5.jpg Snippets and Tidbits - Larson Family Tree - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/snippets-and-tidbits/1938-flood-in-california monthly 0.5 2023-09-10 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/snippets-and-tidbits/familytreecharts monthly 0.5 2023-09-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/fa8e4599-7bda-4d94-9203-bf3ea9b2b817/Lars+and+Anna+Stina+tree.png Snippets and Tidbits - Larson Family Tree Charts - Make it stand out Lars and Anna Stina lived their entire lives in Sweden, but all of their children (who survived to adulthood) eventually came to the United States. Frank was my great grandfather, so I’ve highlighted his information in orange. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/9b6756a4-a3e8-4626-8e8b-2f0a91bc71b7/Frank+and+Emma+Tree.png Snippets and Tidbits - Larson Family Tree Charts - Make it stand out Frank and Emma had eleven children, ten of whom lived to adulthood. My grandfather Fred is highlighted in red. After a bit of moving around, getting married and having children, three of the siblings ended up settling in Florida, two moved to California, one moved to Alabama, one moved to Michigan and the rest stayed in the western New York and Pennsylvania area where their parents and most of the extended relatives lived. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/1692126813292-Y5RSFXVSR0IN1SIJJK28/Fred+and+Josie+Tree.png Snippets and Tidbits - Larson Family Tree Charts - Make it stand out Fred and Lucille (she went by either Josie or Lucille) were my grandparents. Their child Joan was my mother. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/snippets-and-tidbits/birthday-memories monthly 0.5 2023-07-10 https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/snippets-and-tidbits/bringing-life-into-a-lonely-house monthly 0.5 2023-06-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/7eb382a0-b424-474a-85df-f07d8fd466ad/PXL_20210704_203200453.MP.jpg Snippets and Tidbits - Bringing Life Into a Lonely House - Those of you who have met Sadie may or may not know the back story of how I got her, or why. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/3c253d40-b245-4a8f-b41c-4449d0222bd6/2018-08-26+17.56.18.jpg Snippets and Tidbits - Bringing Life Into a Lonely House - Make it stand out This was taken the day I brought Sadie home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/f4e25d41-dd88-4581-bdce-ed1b9f4796ed/20230511_184445.jpg Snippets and Tidbits - Bringing Life Into a Lonely House - Sadie will be accompanying me on my two month journey to the west coast in October and November. https://www.familybreadcrumbs.com/snippets-and-tidbits/a-musical monthly 0.5 2023-06-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/643f22618ed1457d64d7d3be/b6283169-b7cf-4588-806a-f7bac72f6b14/Jay+Slideshow+Pics+%28124%29.jpg Snippets and Tidbits - A Musical Remembrance: J’s Song - I still miss this guy every single day. I have heard from Tim a few times since that painful period, and it is always to share a story about something going on in his life that reminded him of his friend. 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