Small Town - Big Hearts

I was afraid we were going to have to high tail it out of Quanah before we did what we came here to do because of a lack of rooms... As it turned out, we got to stay...
I got up early, put on my best overall jumper and went bear footed out too the lobby to speak with the manager.... a good'ol boy who moved here to take care of his mother when she became ill and now that she has passed is counting the days until he leaves next month... anyway... I talked to him about vacancy percentages and overbooking percentages.... he gave me a sly smile as the chew washed across his teeth and said "well, I think I might be able to find something for you" . And he did! So today we headed out to the cemetary looking for my moms grandmother.... I was surprised at how large the cemetary was for the size of this town... I believe there are more people in the cemetary than in town. Oh and t here was a huge grave side funeral going on... must have what was left of town! LOL...








Once at the cemetary we discovered the person who kept the plat map and all the records was in town at City Hall... So we headed back to town. I had to chuckle when we pulled up. It would seem city hall is now housed in the old John Deer / farm supply building. We easliy found the person we needed to speak to and she was more than happy to help. She looked up the information, copied a plat map for us and marked it on the map. So we headed back to the cemetary... Sure enough therre she was Josie E. Kidd, burried in the Leonard family plot. Josie's daughter Viola had married in to the Leonard family and Josie was burried right next to Viola and had a beautiful headstone


While tooling around t he cemetary I also took these shots among others:





Once we leave the cemetary, my mom decides she wants to drive around town to see if she can find any familiar sites. My mom hasn't been here for 66 years... so I'll let you guess how many familiar sites she found! But we did meet this adorable couple



Pat has lived here all her life... and they knew some of my mom's kin.

we also went to the courthouse to see if we could find an exact date of death formy mom's grandmother since the headstone only has the year on it. I spoke to the sweetest gal named Tina in the county recorders office. She wasn't able to find any information on Josie, but did fins marriage information for one of my moms Uncles and told be if she still had the original certificate she would give it to me. She went in the back and came out with three bundles of yellowed certificates, unfortunately none for JL and Ruby Kidd... how cool was that of her to look and offer!



This has got to be the friendliest place that I have ever visited. Every single person we see makes some acknowledgement to us, whether it be a wave from across the street or a smile and a hello in passing. And the folks that we have had the pleasure to chat with have been more than helpful, often going far and above what was asked in an attempt to help us. This town is small and getting smaller everyday... but the people have the biggest hearts.

Here are a few more shots from today:



















We did tons more today, but I think I've talked your ear off enough for today... Off to Seagoville, just outside of dallas in the Morning to visit my moms sister... until then ... peace out!

Don't Mess With Texas

Today we drove all the way across New Mexico and the top part of Texas. We have pretty much given up on historical route 66 because when you take the sign off hwy 40... once at the end of the off ramp there is no indication which way to go. We did drive a short distance on a gravel part of it. We stopped at the end of the pavement for a few minutes pondering the gravel and decided.. what the heck it's an adventure... and a rental car! Along the way we saw Pueblo of Laguna

We also stopped in the little Town of Memphis, population 300, where the street were wide and brick... most of the business were closed and those that weren't were housed in old brick buildings that use to serve other purposes. For example the Memphis Hotel, a large grand building is now the senior center, I believe all upper rooms are vacant. And the Masonic building houses a video store.

We ended up in my mom's home town of Quannah Texas population 3032. Another small town. It has one AAA rated motel and you wont believe our luck... they had one room left, it was a double, non smoking room on the first floor. Yippie!

Tomorrow we will check out the cemetery, look around town and see if we can drum up some distant relatives. Since the motel is booked tomorrow, unless the manager is one of those distant relatives, we will head out to Dallas!

Until then...

Don't mess with Texas!

Back Tracking

I told you that i would update you with photos from yesterday and here they are... first, I forgot to tell you that the car we rented on Monday in Napa, Ca had the needs service light come on in it on Tuesday, so Wednesday before we left Flagstaff, we had to take it to the local Hertz place and exchange it for another car. They didn't have any economy cars, in fact, they told the man in front of me that they didn't have ANY cars! We ended up with a Pontiac G6



Photo off one of the balconies of our suite at Little America in Flagstaff



One last photo of cute little Maci before they head back to Phoenix



Ok.. now Meteor City... did I mention that yesterday? Big walled in place with teepee's around and a gift shop at the entrance? The billboards along the road and on the wall advertised woven Indian blankets from $7.77... Inside... the blankets were tagged "Made in China" Hmmm Chinese Indians? I asked the young man in the shop what was behind the wall.... the conversation went a little like this:

Me: Excuse me, I was wondering wha's behind the walls outside.
Him: We live there.
Me: Oh, I thought maybe there was a big meteor Crater or something in there.
Him: No.
Me: Or maybe aliens...
Him: No.
Me: (looking at him very seriously) Are you sure?
Him: Yes.
Not a very talkative fellow.. he was about 16 and I think meteor city was the last place on earth the he wanted to be. Here are a couple of photos:





Then there was the Wigwam Motel. They were booked... can you believe it? And another not so talkative fellow.. this guy older with a bad toupee' It would seem the Wigwam Motel was his fathers invention... his mother lived in Phoenix and he visited her three days a week. I'm wondering who watches the motel when he is gone... Oh did I mention the motel office doesn't open 'till three pm? OK photos:




I think that covers Wednesday!

Day Three

Had a leisurely day yesterday.. didn't travel very far. Visited with relatives. Saw the Wigwam Motel and stayed the night in Gallup New Mexico. Photos to be added later

Day Two

We got a late start out of Barstow this morning... leaving at about 11:30 am. I was going to be a scorcher there today. Mom took the first drive shift again... no tickets today! In fact life was pretty uneventful today as we had family coming up from Phoenix to meet us in Flagstaff. Because we were kind of on a time frame today, we stayed on hwy 40 and only took one Route 66 detour... that was Ludlow.. it looked like this:



Then we stopped in Needles for lunch... Went to Denny's where the gal at the door told us they were temporarily closed because they had no water. We asked where we might find another restaurant in town. The gal started giving directions to a place called the wagon wheel... "turn left over there, go down by Valero..." I'm looking around for a valero and see nothing. She continues. Go under the over pass turn left, go to the (I don't know what) go under the over pass turn left. she is talking so fast I can't understand her and I just start cracking up! I did find it. When we walked in the place was deserted and all the employees were sitting at the counter... Boy life was hoppin' in this town! Lunch was actually good and we were on the road again... I'm driving.... the road looked pretty much like this until we hit the mountains and then lots of straight up....

We finally arrived in Flagstaff at 6 pm... got settled, spent some time talking to my moms half sister Barbara and her daughter Danielle... that was it for today.... Oh I took tons of photos of Danielle's 19 mo old daughter Maci... isn't she a cutie!

We have zero plans for tomorrow, so we'll See what it brings!

So It Begins

Well today was day one of my road trip with mom... I left Yuba City at 6 am, made good time and arrive at mom's in Napa at 7:30... I thought this was a good sign. Once inside mom's house, I found her sleeping... hmmm.. well the car wasn't supposee to be ready until 9, and she appeared to be packed... so I let her sleep... we left for the car at 8:45... the car wasn't ready until almost 10... uh oh.. this isn't a good sign... Did I mention that while doing the paper work for the car I noticed that I had forgotten to put a credit card in my purse? Oh yes.. thanks goodness... for bankcards and plenty of money in the account... ok well it saves me from needing to pay the bill when it comes. Mom chooses the first drive shift... I would have driven 680/580/99... mom choose 12/99... on highway 12 right on the other side of Suisun (about 30 minutes into the drive) this happens


Ok well the only good thing about that was I wasn't driving! We ended the day in Barstow... on the way we stopped at Safeway in Lodi to pick up some Gallo salami for my sis in Missouri because she can't find any there.. then we stopped in Chowchilla to visit the cemetery and discovered this is what happens in perpetual care when there is no family left in the area to visit the grave.

We did get a commitment to have it fixed... make note to follow up....
So at 543 miles we made our first gas stop. As many times as I have driven hwy 58, I don't recall ever seeing California City... but that's where we were... the good new was ... 10.5 gallons... the not so good news... WIND... can you see how windy it was?





Off to Flagstaff tomorrow!

Anger

The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present.

- Barbara De Angelis.

Wonderful Spam

So much of it I don't read... but this came from my cousin who hardly ever sends me spam. I figure it must be worth looking at if she felt it was worth sending on.... and it is... interesting time for this to be coming around, but I guess it has to be somewhere...

USS New York

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center .

It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up." "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? "Never Forget"

You can learn more about the ship and see the artists renderings here: http://tinyurl.com/285ub4

for those who don't know, on September 12, 2001, I put up a memorial website. Many times since I have thought now that I have the time, I should put up a really nice site.... and then I go to my site and read through it.... and decide... this is my original, this is my raw emotion flowing.. I can't replace that.. so if you will excuse the simple mechanics, you are welcome to take a peek. I had to disable the guest book because of hackers.. but I do belong to a couple of 911 rings you might be interested in looking at...
http://jleist.com/911 Right now I just don't know how we can be so short sighted!

Scraps of Life

those of you from the digiscrap community might recognize that as the name of Doris Castle's blog... ... ... that's because I come bearing glad tidings from studio doris! Doris is having a blog contest.... read about it here... and pick up a new studio doris blinkie while you're there!

It's Here!

It's Here!
It's Here!
It's Here!

Perfect Sense! (still tracking)

Everyone knows INDIANAPOLIS, IN is on the way from Alaska to California... what an odd place for a hub LOL... alas... just a couple more days!

Tracking Update #1

Okay, Okay, I admit I'm anxious! LOOK! It's in Alaska! Actually, it has left Alaska!

May 7, 2007 3:00 PM
Departed FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK 12:58 PM
Arrived at FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK 9:23 PM

what I want to now is why 15 hours in Alaska.. come on guys! I'm waitin' for it here!

Tracking

Well of course I immediately went to see where it is!



ummm... does this mean it's stuck in CHINA 'till Monday??? DANG! CHINA! What the....

Anticipation

oh boy... I can't wait!

Order shipped

Hello julie leist,

Your order from the HP Home & Home Office Store is on its way! Your chosen shipping method is standard 5-7 business days**. You can use the tracking numbers below to check your order status. Please retain packing lists for your records and mail-in rebates.

We have built your order number xxxxxxxxx to the following specifications:

- HP Pavilion tx1000z CTO NB
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-60(2.0GHz/1MB)
- 12.1" WXGA BrightView w/Integrated Touch-screen
- NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 6150
- HP Imprint Finish + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam
- 40% off upgrade from 1GB (2 Dimm) to 2GB (2 Dimm)!
- 200GB 4200RPM SATA Hard Drive
- LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
- 802.11a/b/g WLAN and Bluetooth
- Extra 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0
- Mobile Stereo Earbud Headphones (1 pair)
- tx1000 additional stylus

So cute!

sharing a slideshow I nabbed off SIL myspace! The adoable little Rylie Ryster, his beautiful mother and wonderful dad! Oh yes I'm a proud mother/grandmother!



..

Dirty Little Secret

Revision of yesterdays post. I torn it down to the two back elements flipped it over and started again. More art therapy. The item in the lower part of the layout is my arm. I wanted to make a layout, showing the damage I had previously done to my skin through my compulsive actions. Looking at the photo was too painful so I covered it with splatters. I don't think it matters much because I know what's there and I put it on paper... and that was the objective... to put it on paper and out there for the world to see!

FEAR

um.. maybe I'll explain later....
and then again... maybe not!

Useless info

time to share some spam!

At three minutes and four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May this year, the time and date will be

02:03:04 05/06/07.

This won't happen again in our lifetimes. (Duh! but next year we will get 03:04:05 06/07/08... even I'm smart enough to figure that one out!)
Hopefully, neither will this kind of useless information. But it is interesting nonetheless, no? Oui?

I Dunno!

Just something I put together tonight... er... this morning... created entirely with brushes... not one photo was harmed in the process... threw them all together in a little slide show.... I do have a fav... but thouoght I'd share them all... 2:30 am... I probably really don't know what I'm doing.... LOL.. alas, life would be boring without my little antics eh?

WooHoo!

I'm so excited! Look what I bought today! I should have it in a couple of weeks! I can't wait! It will be here just in time for the rod trip I am taking with my mom! We are goiong to catch Route 66 in Bakersfield, follow it to missouri where we will visit my sister. On our way to missouri we will make a couple of stops in Texas to visit relatives. When we leave missouri we will head up to Nebraska, do some visiting, then take 80 home! We haven't set a time frame, but were thinking 2-3 weeks... anyway, I'll have my new laptop to upload the photos I take along the way.. I'm not making sense... I'm just giddy! WooHoo!

SALE!!!

Add $30 worth of great kits to your cart at Studio Doris, upon checkout, enter Coupon Code: SPRINGFLING30 to receive discount.

Is it REALLY Art?

This is just my lame attempt to get the song "Nothing at All" by Travis Pickle on my blog. "Rock You" is the only place I can find it. It's NOT on their album... so, enjoy! I love this song! This gals voice is haunting!

Our Past...

Recognizing what we have done in the past is a recognition of ourselves. By conducting a dialogue with our past, we are searching how to go forward.

- Kiyoko Takeda

Woo Hoo!

Check it out!

April 11/07 justjulz's "bare footing"
3Scrapateers Layout Pick of the Day!

April 11/07 justjulz's "bare footing"

What a great layout for the newest trend, photo popping! Great extraction, and terrific journalling to go along with it!To see Justjulz's gallery, click here.


Thanks kiki-kins! you made my week! Hugs! ~Julz

Font Freak?

I certainly am.. can't get enough of 'em... that's why I gotta share this: The Dollar Sale at ScrapNfonts is coming to an end. Don't miss your chance to save up to $66% on most of their products! I think ALL their fonts are $1.00 right now!

I'll usually wait and wait before I pay $25.00 for a font and when I do it's because I just can't live without it anymore... Today, I bought 35 fonts... that brings me to a grand total of.. oh.. about a bazillion!

Forget the shoes.. I need fonts!

ACTION!

Some of you may know that when I get a creative block I often go out begging for other peoples photos. I don't know why, but I always find them so much easier to work with. Thanks to an old friend of mine, I didn't need to go begging this time. He has the coolest action photos of his family... I have never had an opportunity to work with such photos before and I think I'm addicted. Take a look at what I have done with his photos

Little Lucy

Just thought I would share a few of the photos I took at the Sanza/Souza wedding on March 17th. It's hard to believe the girls are all grown up and both married now! Lucy (Lucia) Sanza and Justina have been life long friends. You can see photos of them together at Justina's wedding and on Lucy's first day of Kindergarten on my photosite Look for Justina's wedding album

Little Things

Enjoy the little things,
for one day you may look back
and realize they were the big things!

Queen of Uniquity

It's been a while since I have been over to DAQ (Digital Art Quirks) so you cn imagine my surprise when I recieve notification that I had two new comments on a layout I posted back in October 2006. They're so much fun over there.. here's one of the comments:

Thu April 5, 2007 5:27pm
Today, you are the queen of uniquity!

LOL thanks indy bev... what a great mood lifter! maybe even a motivator! I love ya guys! here's the layout.. made from a photo I took at the 2006 west coast VCOA national meet. you may have seen it, but look at it again and think "queen of uniquity!"



hey I think I'll even wave my DAQ blinkie!

Play List

Yes... ok... it really was time to give 'ol Alice Cooper a break. Radio JULZ has put together a new play list. This list goes out with a personal dedication to the luch hour DJ(S) "A kind soul is inspired by Angels!"
Enjoy! ~J

Memories

This, for an old friend... thanks for the inspiration I took these photos while taking a drive down memory lane in my home town not too long ago. I have many a wonderful memory around this bridge. Being there, the sounds of the birds above and the water rushing below, together with the sweet familiar smells almost made me forget the past 35 years... and I was 13 all over again!