Midwestern updateAug 12, 2008
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| We arrived at last in Ames, Iowa on Sunday evening to the welcoming Banitt family. The kids have been reuniting with cousins, the grown ups are all catching up on the latest news, and we have been sharing the Olympics together. Uncle Bill gave us the technology and password to his Slingbox, in layman's terms, a way for us to access his TiVo over the internet so we can watch the equestrian portion of the games. Thanks Uncle Bill! We took a scenic byway into Iowa (yes, there is one, now stop the snickering!) going through my family's hometown of Carroll , Iowa where at least 3 generations of my mother's family resided after moving from Bavaria to escape the Napoleonic wars. My greatgrandfather was mayor and family doctor of the town. Imagine having the mayor show up to deliver your baby! I was reflecting on the strange twists and turns of fate that brings us to where we are, and how it was that my mother left Iowa. Now, this is just conjecture, but none of her family had left the state (in her direct line). So why was she able to? Well, she had a 'challenging' set of teeth (in Iowa this translated to being able to "eat apples through a picket fence" - sorry , Mom!). So she was sent out of town by train by herself as a youth to the orthodontist. In other words she got used to traveling, moved eventually to CA where I was born and travelled some more. We spent hours criscrossing the Western United States when I was a child on various vacations. So, naturally, I became accustomed to travel and here I am in my RV rolling across the US to Iowa , perhaps because my mother was born with "buck teeth"... Oh, yes, a purse update. My purse, all of its contents intact, was sent by Dannie Dunbar, manager at the Burgerville in The Dalles, OR. Thanks Dannie! And if you go through The Dalles, be sure and get a burger there! Tomorrow: our visit with Grandma Frieda, 98years old! |
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