Ginger and Ken drive to Alaska from Texas, through Wichita, Madison, Chicago, Corpus....

We decided to make a lifestyle change and move. Following are tales of our trips, packing mishaps, beautiful drives, visitations and more! This is Texas2Alaska2 because it is my second time to make the drive.
Showing posts with label veteran's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label veteran's. Show all posts

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A New Alaska Friend and Veterans with Similar Interests


The Warhawk museum is located at the municipal airport in Nampa, Idaho. http://www.warhawkairmuseum.org/ It was Veteran’s day during our stay in the area and there were many events celebrating Veterans including open house at the Warhawk. With both Ken and I having family members associated with airplanes and our own interest in planes, we figured it would be an educational place to visit. This photo feature is for Vicky, Curtis, Uncle Ken, Uncle Andy, Bill, Grandpa’s and us!


How is this for another coincidence: while we were spending time in southwest Idaho with our friends Rosie and Beverly, it just so happened that Rosie’s brother was coming down to visit from Alaska. Wonderful for Rosie and her mother, and fantastic for Ken and I to meet another Alaskan and get some road trip tips. 


Johnny is a Veteran and an avid plane expert. He has rebuilt what is called a boxcar, a C119 transport plane. See his fine work here http://www.flyingboxcar.com/ Johnny has worked on and rebuilt too many planes to mention. He is truly an artist at reconstruction. Johnny is in town to retrieve an old 1952 Chrysler Imperial that he parked at his Aunt’s house back in the 1960‘s! He is waiting for his cousin to arrive to help pack up the car on a trailer and they will be driving the rig to Alaska. 


This is the type of submarine Ken served on from 1978-1984.



All the history buffs should enjoy this trip and the fine work the museum has done to preserve these planes as well as the history and stories of the dedicated forces that served the U.S.


Carved shell casings are works of art that I had not heard of or seen before. Kind of made me think of the old sailors that carved ivory or word on long tours of duty. 

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

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!