Safely back to Richmond

No pix for the last day of travel. We had a pleasant drive from Winchester, WV to Richmond in a mere 8.5 hours with a nice long stop for lunch near Lexinginton, VA at Country Cookin, whose fare can be deduced from the name. Now we are back in Richmond, ready for a relaxed day tomorrow: SkipBo, a little shopping, and some Bill's Barbeque. We'll head home on Friday.

Nostalgia, then eastward, ho.

We spent a few hours this morning in Carterville doing a nostalgia thing. After an ineffective attempt to find Papa's parents' grave, we went to City Hall and got directions. While we were in downtown Carterville, between the two traffic signals, we went into the library to see the plaque there with Anna K.'s name. Back to the graveyard, we found the graves with little difficulty and Mema put some fresh flowers in the urn there. Other than a failed effort to find picture postcards of Carterville (the drug store had some a few years ago, but they were all gone), we were finished with Papa's hometown and headed for the interstate. Eastern Illinois and Indiana slid past with maddening sameness until we stopped to enjoy lunch at the Oak Inn in the middle of nowhere, Indiana. We sped through Louisville, KY and Lexington, then stopped in Winchester, KY for the night at a Best Western where our station wagon was the smallest vehicle to be seen -- all the others were trucks with winches and other machinery mounted on them. Dinner at Applebee's followed and preceded SkipBo and the consumption of a wine from Illinois I bought this morning in Carterville at Kindling, which offered food, spirits, and flowers. Tomorrow we head toward Richmond, maybe one long day's drive, maybe two shorter days. No hurry.

Photos, from bottom: At the Carterville Public Library; Papa with a plaque denoting a contribution Gordon made in memory of his wife Anna K., Papa's sister; detail of the plaque; at the grave of Clyde and Marie McCluskey, Papa's parents; the grave; the veteran's marker for Clyde.

Carterville, Papa's hometown

We left Chicago early this morning, braving rush-hour traffic through construction and tolls. Once we cleared the city traffic, we stopped for breakfast at JN Michael's, the kind of place where an order for two eggs brings a huge plate with four eggs. We left full enough to skip lunch. After another five hours of driving through flat eastern Illinois farmscapes, we arrived at Carterville and drove directly to Papa's homeplace. Sitting on the front porch was the owner of the house, Helen Stutsman, nee Morgan, a delightfully spry 96-year-old. When Papa went to the house and identified himself, Helen welcomed him and called for the rest of us to come up. She regaled us with tales of the neighborhood, then called her younger sister, Ethel, to join the chat. Ethel walked down the street from her house and contributed her own take on the neighborhood some 70 years ago. Helen's daughter Phyllis generously offered to take us through the house and Papa and Mike immediately recognized many features of the house. From the homeplace, we went to see Sue Talley, nee McCluskey, Papa's first cousin, for another round of catching up on who is where. A discussion of the family established that Papa is the oldest living member of the McCluskeys, with Sue running a close second. From Sue's, we headed to the Hampton Inn in Marion and checked in before going just down the street to 17th Street Bar and Grill for great barbeque. I had ribs and they were as good as any I've every had. Everyone else had a gigantic pulled-pork sandwich, also very good. Mema and I had a St. Louis beer, Schafly Dry-Hopped American Pale Ale, very yummy. Finally, it was back to the hotel for a couple of games of SkipBo, which Mema and I won.

Photos, from bottom: Papa at his childhood home; Helen Morgan Stutsman regales Mema and Papa with stories of old Carterville; Helen makes a point; Helen, Ethel, and Phyllis; Mema and Papa with Sue McCluskey Talley; Mema and I winning another SkipBo game.

Still more family, this time in Oshkosh, b'gosh.

We headed for Wisconsin this morning, caravanning with Jack and Ila, to see Uncle Gordon and his family. Uncle Gordon is Papa's brother-in-law, widower of Papa's sister Anna. We drove almost three hours through dairy country, with a few wind-farms dotting the landscape, arms rotating slowly, an enticement to any latter-day Don Quixotes cruising the interstate. After skirting Milwaukee, we arrived at Gordon's and were greeted by him and by his daughters Dauna and Melinda and Melinda's husband, Kirby, who had driven 6 hours from central Illinois for the occasion, and his daughter Dianna and her husband, Rodney. Gordon's son Brian arrived from Madison a little later and Dianna's son, Sam, made an appearance shortly before we all went to dinner at Kodiak Jack's. But first, we sat around chatting, renewing acquaintances and getting to know folks. Mike had only seen most of her cousins here once before, more than 40 years ago, and I had only met Brian twice before and Dianna once, both at the beach. At dinner, Mike and I got to know Dauna and Melinda and Kirby better and enjoyed some banter with Gordon. Bellies full once again, we headed back to Buffalo Grove, driving through downtown Milwaukee, right past Miller Stadium and, at a greater distance, the Port of Milwaukee and Lake Michigan. Now we're safe back at the Wyndham, preparing for tomorrow's drive to Carterville, Papa's hometown.

Photos, bottom to top: A wind-farm beside the interstate; Gordon; Melinda, Kirby, and Jack; Mema, Papa, and Gordon; Dianna and Rodney, with Dauna behind them; Mema and Brian; Mike and Gordon; at Kodiak Jack's, on the left, Sam, Brian, Gordon, Melinda, Kirby, and Dauna, and on the right, Rodney, Dianna, Papa, Mema, and me.

More Family -- cousins once and twice removed

After the big breakfast, we went back to Jack and Ila's for a while. They live in a lovely condo overlooking a golf course. Leaving Mema and Papa to chat, Mike and I went back to the hotel. Rhonda came over to have some girl-talk with Mike and I went back to Jack & Ila's. Mellysa (Jack & Ila's daughter Pam's younger daughter) and her husband, Mike, arrived with their two kids: Jack, almost 4, and Cassie, 18 months. Shortly thereafter, Mellysa's older sister Carly and her husband, Brian, arrived with her gang of 4 kids: Joey, 10; Nichole, 8; Sarah, 6; and Andrew, 4. After a period of cheerful chaos, we feasted on authentic Chicago pizza. OMG!!!! It was from Lou Malnati's, which ships pizza on dry ice nationwide, and was incredibly good, both the thin crust and the deep dish. The young people eventually left and us oldsters sat around for a while, then trundled back to the hotel. Tomorrow we are off to Oshkosh to visit with Gordon and his family.

Photos, from bottom to top: Ila and Rhonda pose with us and Mema and Papa; Mike's artistic shot of the mirrored ceiling of the elevator leading to Jack and Ila's penthouse condo; Mema watches me explain Papa's Kindle to Jack; Ila and Papa chat; Jack slices pizza, closely watched by Cassie, held by her father, Mike; Nichole and Cassie play.

Buffalo Grove - Uncle Jack & Aunt Ila; Rhonda & Brandon

We arrived here yesterday afternoon following a drive through Indiana that was pleasant and interesting (saw some enormous wind farms being developed) until we got to Gary, where the driving turned nightmarish and remained so through Chicago. Driving the interstate through downtown Atlanta does not prepare one for this crowded metropolitan roadscape. After checking into the Wyndham Gardens Hotel, we went to Jack and Ila's condo where Rhonda and Brandon joined us, then to dinner at Yen-Yen where we had the best hot and sour soup we've ever experienced. This morning we met for an enormous breakfast and will gather with Carly and Mellysa and their families for pizza this afternoon. Food continues to provide essential punctuation to this journey.

Entering Middle America

Following the valley of the Kanawha River, we left West Virginia and went to Ohio. With just a stop for lunch and some quick outlet mall shopping, we headed into Indiana, but only barely. We stopped for the night in Richmond, IN. The high points of the evening were dinner at Applebee's and playing Skipbo on a table jammed into the largest space in the room, just outside the bathroom.

Chicago trip -- on the banks of the Kanawha

After a pleasant drive from Richmond to Charleston, WV, talking and listening to Garrison Keeler, we settled into the Budget Host Inn and had dinner at the adjacent Riverside Anchor. Several games of SkipBo were fit in, of course. Ain't we got fun?

Finn & Reese visit 8/9/09

Finn and Reese came over for a visit that included the snack pictured here, a trip to the pool, a trip to a park, lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and another trip to the pool for Finn and me while Mike and Reese played at home.

Hambidge Anagama opening August 8, 2009to

I went back to Hambidge Art Center in Rabun Gap, this time accompanied by Mike, to get the pottery I put in there a week earlier. Of the 15 pieces I had in the kiln, 4 are satisfactory. The other 11 all have problems involving either a poor fit between clay and glaze (2 pieces) or a failure of the glazes to mature, most likely due to placement at the back of the kiln where the temperature only got to ^8 instead of the desired ^10. Those nine pieces might be improved by another firing. There were some beautiful pieces of pottery in that kiln. The process of emptying the kiln involved passing the pieces hand to hand, which was a great opportunity to see the work close up. Here are a few pictures and there are many more on my flickr page. Photo credit Mike Johnson.

Parker Rose's visit

Beth brought Parker Rose over Tuesday for a visit. While Beth was away, we got to hold and feed Parker Rose and just sit and look at her. There are a few more pix on our flickr page.