Road Trip, Travis & Wren

On January 15, 2016 Travis and Wren arrived in Spokane.  We picked them up and drove to Post Falls for a brief visit.  We then drove to Moscow where Kevin, Matt, Lacey, and families came for a visit.  Everyone returned home but Travis and Wren who stayed for the week relaxing and visiting.  Saturday we drove back to Post Falls to spend the weekend and then take them to the airport on Tuesday.

 Monday, Kevin, Matt, Travis, and Braxton had planned a road trip and after some persuasion I went with them.  We drove east on I-90 to Cataldo and then turned north into the mountains.  This was a typical valley as we drove along.  There was much conversation, some truthful and some not.

 Matt directed us to the little town of Murray, Idaho.  Population about 50 people on a good day.  He knew about this museum attached to the Sprag Pole Cafe.  It was very interesting and went on and on.  They just kept buying the buildings next door and adding to the museum.  There was no heat so we about froze to death.  I would like to go back in the summer with Mom and spend some more time there.

 I saw this campaign sign for Sheriff Crnkovich.  In about 1992 I sat on the Federal Jury that was trying to convict him of racketeering and involvement with other somewhat less stellar professionals.  We had a hung jury so he was never convicted.

 I've always been interested in how a "Dredge" worked.  They had a mock-up of one and this painting of what the one in this area looked like.

 Lots of logging history and displays.

 This Tamarack was 750 years old.  You can see little red numbers on the tree that correspond to the dateline listed below.

 Dateline of the 750 year old Tamarack.

 Lots of mining history and displays.

 These pages tell about the placement of the drill holes and explosives seen in the picture above.

 This page tells about the gold mining that took place in this area.  Remember, today's gold price is well over $1000.00 an ounce.

 This one tells about the dredge seen several pictures back.  Very interesting!

 Two of the more excited visitors in the museum.

 We saw this little log cabin with the flag and Post Office sign and thought it was just a display.  Matt peered through the glass door and said, "There's a person inside."  We all trooped in and had a nice visit with the postmistress.  She was most informative and pleasant.  It also serves as a small library and video rental center.

 The crew standing in front of the Cafe and Museum.  I think we actually looked like some of the locals.

 We headed on up the mountain.  This picture is taken from my seat in the back and over Kevin's shoulder.

 We arrived at a beautiful overlook at the summit.  The sun came though and we enjoyed the fresh air.

 Braxton was good to take pictures when asked and to keep readjusting my seat belt whenever it started to strangle me.

 Beautiful view.

 We had lunch at the 1313 Club Historic Saloon and Grill.  It's a family establishment so we didn't have to leave Braxton in the pickup.  Excellent food!!!

 Wallace, Idaho was the last stop sign on Interstate 90 from coast to coast.  They finally elevated the freeway over the city and removed the need for the stop sign.

 There was no shortage of people willing to hold Wren.

 I must say, she was not one bit of trouble the whole time.

We were grateful for the visit and hated to see them leave.  Happy they arrived home safely. 

Visitors

We've had a whole bunch of people here.  Mom and I picked up Travis and Wren at the airport in Spokane Friday afternoon.  They flew without a hitch.  We drove to Post Falls for a brief visit with Lisa and family and then to Kimbre's so Mom could get her hair cut.  Then on to Moscow.  Braxton and Kanyon came down with us.  When Kevin got home from work they drove down.,  Matt, Kimbre, and family drove down Saturday morning and Lacey, Seth, and family drove over that afternoon after Snoqualmie Pass reopened after a good snowfall.  Kevin, Matt, and families went home Saturday night due to church obligations.  Lacey and Seth are going home tomorrow.

 You could have your pick of any type of shoe you wanted.

 It was a bit crowed in the living room but we made it.  A serious shot....

 ....and a not so serious shot.

 Wren has thoroughly enjoy her visit, I think?????

 Even Koy is having fun.

Seth brought their 12th Man flag but even that couldn't help the Hawks today.  Oh well, there's always next year.

Family Photo

Talk about a family group shot.  This is a photo of the William Wallace and Harriet Love Sagers family.  From the age of my mother (Leona) in the picture, I would guess the picture was taken in the early to mid-1930's.

Just to identify a few people:

• In the center of the 2nd row from the bottom - William Wallace and Harriet Love Sagers.  My great-grandparents.
• To the right of William Wallace is my grandmother/their daughter - Marion Shields
• Directly behind her is my grandfather/her husband - Marvin Shields
• Back row - farthest right (shortest person) is my mother - Leona Shields (about 12-14 years old I'm guessing)

I found the setting, pose, and backdrop very interesting.  These people we serious about taking a family picture.

Just for Fun

Just a couple more pictures I scanned from Dad's Marine Corps Photo Album.

 The caption under this picture reads, "This tank ran over us in training.  We were in a fox hole."  Dad told me some of the guys were a little lax in digging but when this tank headed their way it was amazing how fast they learned to dig.

Now I know where you guys get your love for guns and shooting.  I think this is a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle).  Dad said it was normally a two-man job (probably one to feed the ammo and one to fire it) but could be done by one man if need be.  I would guess it depended on how motivated you were by the enemy.

More next time....

John and Pearl Zirker

Last Tuesday Brenda, Tami, and I met at Richards to "go through" some of G&G's photo albums and make a decision on what to do with them.  We ended up discussing and viewing the mega stacks of info and pictures and deciding it was just too big to tackle that day.  We make some decisions on the general direction we want to go and decided to return again in mid-summer to start the process.  While there we went through a lot of albums and I found pictures I hadn't seen for a long time and some I didn't remember at all.  I brought four albums home and spent the last few days scanning the best pictures into my computer.  Here are some of them - Today's topic: John and Pearl Zirker.  I figure there has been enough negative talk about John Zirker so I thought I would post some pictures that show he was human just like the rest of us.  I knew him as "Grandpa Zirker" and for many years was unaware of his other "activities and attitudes."

 Dad would take these pictures and then "tint" them with oil paint. 

 I'm not sure if this was taken in Arcadia or Moses Lake.  Grandma Zirker always hid her hands when photographed.  To my knowledge it was because she had rheumatoid arthritis and her hands were somewhat disfigured.

 I don't think I've every seen this picture.  I thought Grandpa Zirker looked very stylish in his wire-rimmed glasses.

 I don't remember this picture either.  In this picture Grandma Zirker looks almost exactly like Aunt Bonnie.  Or should I say Aunt Bonnie looks exactly like Grandma.

For a tough, ornery, man, I though this was a rather tender picture of Grandpa Zirker and his first son, my Dad.  This picture would have been taken sometime in 1922.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.  I'll send more next time.