One more Round of Appreciation for Friends

Ken and I spent six days with Beverly, visiting Jake at the Veteran’s, and at Rosie and her mom’s house. It was a fantastic, leisurely, helpful, and friendly time. We had such a fun time laughing and learning and sightseeing we got over the car trouble and heavy load pretty quick. We spent the day reloading the trailer and restructuring the sleeping quarters. Ken and I will have a full additional ten inches for bed space, added to our cramped 5 will give us space to actually turn on our sides! Woohoo! 

With an extended somewhat relaxed pit stop, we were able to see another cool business Ken had been interested in for years: Kitfox Airplanes. Kitfox is actually located in Homedale, Idaho http://www.kitfoxaircraft.com/ about two miles from Beverly’s house. Ken has been interested in these kit planes for decades. It is such a great idea for an individual to build their own plane, so they could know all the ins and outs of it. This would also keep the cost of owning a plane down. 

Ken and I called Kitfox and asked if we could come visit and they said yes. We went down on a beautifully sunny day and the owners were so generous as to give us a tour. We saw the manufacturing hangar with all the hand made parts, forms and assemblages. I had a great feeling seeing the parts for a quality product made in the United States. The final hangar was a museum, there were three beautiful planes shining brightly proud of the awards they had won at Oshkosh. Here we are with our next project after the boat! 

We wrapped up our fine visit with a classic family dinner. Finally Beverly was able to reconnect with Rosie and see where she lived. When Beverly travels, she is usually on a mission but it always nice to know someone in the area if you need them! 

There was such a warm feeling of friendship it was hard to leave. And maybe my head was telling that literally, the next morning when I woke up to leave, I had a pounding, piercing headache. I thought we were going to just get up and go early since we had the trailer at Rosie’s doing the unloading and reloading. Not so today. This was one of those nasty migraines I did not catch in time and it was difficult to reel in. So, basically I stayed in bed all day. Ken was a great caretaker and rounded up all the elements and Rosie offered up chicken noodle soup when I was able to eat. Nice to have a second mom around! But a bummer that the day could not be enjoyed. 

Around sunset is when I finally could move, here is the great view they have from their upstairs window. 

ReConnecting for an Alaska Connection

This is the coolest story ever of finding someone you know but don’t know how to find. I have another friend whom I met through Uncle Andy, Rosie, and I know she is somewhere in Idaho. Uncle Andy was an interesting character. He had been all over the country selling the rock he mined and worked himself. And that is how he came to know Jake and Beverly, and Rosie and Dave, and Dagmar and Julian, and so on.

Rosie’s story is convoluted, though. She moved back to Idaho from Alaska due to an illness, to live with her mother somewhere in this part of the state. She had called me a while back, but used her Alaska phone number. That number had since been disconnected and she had called again with an Idaho number, but in my move I had misplaced it. I was not able to find her name in a phone book or online, which makes sense as everything is probably in her mother’s name which I do not know. 

This fine Idaho late fall morning we are sitting up with Beverly in Homedale, having hashbrown potatoes of course, with eggs and bacon. This is her lovely maple tree in the back yard with piles of some of Jake's hand dug stone. I have asked Bev if she has heard from or seen Rosie. Of course she hasn’t since all this medical emergency episode with Jake. She has, however, gone with Jake to Portland for his surgery (there was no one qualified to remove a brain tumor in Boise) which the Veteran’s Administration took care of. 

This is a tangent to my Rosie story, but I think its a good story to relate. Jake had not taken advantage of his Veteran’s benefits since leaving the military after the Vietnam era. Upon diagnosis of Jake’s health, Beverly promptly marched him down to the VA, got him enrolled and lined up for medical treatment. And it has all gone well. So, notice to all my friends who may have family that was ever part of the military and needs medical care, go sign up with the VA!

After catching up with Beverly and how the rock sales have been going, I found a way to possibly find Rosie. Beverly knew that one of Rosie’s sons ran an upholstery business in Nampa. Beverly did not know the name of the business, the name of Rosie’s son, or the exact location. Here’s what she told me, it was his father’s business, its been there for years, and if I went down the main road, the building was at the intersection and I couldn’t miss it. It might be named Don’s or Dan’s or Jim’s or John’s?

Ken and I take our now leisurely drive out of Homedale and into Nampa on the Caldwell road. Leisurely because we have parked the trailer at Jake and Bev’s for a couple of days. Now in the daylight, the drive is not as stressful and we can enjoy the views. As we come into the more commercial edge of Nampa, there straight in front of us is Jim’s Upholstery. Could that be it? There was only one way to find out. Ken drives into the parking lot and I go in looking for someone who has a mother named Rosie. 

This is the coolest find ever! Rodney is the owner, http://www.jimsupholstery.com/?page=home and he said Rosemary is his mother.  He called her up and told her that a Ginger was in his shop looking for her. Little did I know, she knows a couple of Gingers. I tell Rodney I am Ginger from Texas and boy could I hear the shriek on the other end! It was smart of Rodney to call and get confirmation that his mom knew me. He then gave me the address and Rosie’s new phone number and we laughed and I gave big thanks! Rosie lives very close by so we were there!

Reconnecting the easy way! See, the internet cannot do everything for us! 

Southwest Idaho, Potatoes, Good Friends, and Good Health

We crept into Homedale, Idaho at about 8pm on the 8th after yet another installment of “Where the Heck is my &*&^%# GPS taking me?!” It never helps when it is night and you are not familiar with your surroundings anyway, but to be led by the crazy GPS programming is really nerve-wracking. The Homedale-Parma-Caldwell area of southwest Idaho is basically level farmland. There are a few rises and a picturesque drop off along the banks of the Snake River. Potatoes are king here, elevated to superstar status by J.R. Simplot after he clenched the McDonald’s french fry contract. I didn’t believe it was a real person’s name at first, you know, kind of harkens to Soylent Green. But, there was a real person and he has done great things in the processed food business and for the commerce of Idaho. 

Other large swaths of farmland in this area include alfalfa, mint, onions, vineyards, and sugar beets. Yes, sugar does come from a beet my southern friends. I didn’t believe that one either but after seeing piles and piles of melon sized beets waiting for squeezing, I learned. In the northwest, a great deal of sugar is made from beets, not cane. Interesting what you learn when you get out of your home. 

Back to the GPS issue, all this farmland is usually (or was) divvied up by sections that were rectangular. When roads were dozed, they where constructed around the fields. As farms grew and families expanded their farmland, the road was moved to outline the field. Of course, no farmer wants a road through his property causing him headaches to move equipment back and forth. Farming has been going on in that part of the state for decades. As such, there was a time when cars did not go or were not driven as fast as they are today. So all the circumnavigating of farmland was not as distracting as it is today. We don’t like having to slow down for a 90 degree turn out in the middle of nowhere. 

Which brings me back to our frustration of the evening, its pitch black, no street lights, no malls or convenience store lights to give us any indication of the lay of the land. What came to be a normal 20-30 minute drive from Homedale to the freeway, seemed like two hours that night. Never-the-less, Ken, myself, and the obedient trailer made it safely to our pit stop of the week. 

Our hostess, Beverly, is a bubbly retiree from the office but a squirrelly busy rockhound. I met her and her partner Jake through my Great Uncle Andy while visiting him in Arizona. Jake is an avid rockhound, miner, stone worker. He and Beverly each have several claim leases they mine for agates, jaspers, and other natural wonders. They sell their beautiful rock in bulk for others to work, in slabs, and finely polished for presentation. Picture jasper, Blue lake jasper, Graveyard Point jasper, Morrisonite, Bruneau jasper, mushroom jasper, and many more are some of the stones you could purchase from Jake and Beverly. If you visited the big sales in Quartzite, Arizona in the winters over the past few decades, you would have seen them. 

Much to my surprise on contacting Beverly for a visit, she informed me Jake was in the Veteran’s hospital recuperating from a mild stroke and surgery to remove a brain tumor.  Thank goodness he was doing well, he is a hardy goat of a man and I can’t imagine him being hurt, nevermind that he is a Vietnam vet, a smoker, coffee drinker and wine drinker. Nevermind all that, he gets out in the deserts of Oregon, Idaho, and Arizona to excavate rocks! TONS of them. 

Before we get to our final stop in Homedale, Ken and I stop in Boise to visit Jake in the Veteran’s Rehabilitation center. Its a fine facility and it was a great surprise for him! We had not seen each other since Uncle Andy’s passing in 2006. And Jake was recovering great, he was walking with an aid and cognition was excellent. 

Here is a little bit about Jake’s Graveyard Point Plume agate diggings

http://rockhoundblog.com/rockhound-stories/graveyard-point-plume-agate/

buy some of jake’s picture jasper here 

http://rarerocksandgems.com/