The "Mini" Mission

Written by Uncle George:  May 1, 1907 Lunch on the train--eggs, cookies, prunes etc. Made a view of Quincy while waiting for the train.  On to the boat without a moment's delay.  Mississippi River.  A new experience for me.  Arrived in Nauvoo.  Went to bed at hotel about one and half miles uptown. Val:  May 1, 2013 I had a couple hash browns and imported grapes from Chili for breakfast. I would have preferred some prunes because I live like an old lady most days, but they weren't on the menu. And if you have ever driven through Chillicothe, Wheeling, Kearney, Hamilton, and Marceline to name just a few, you would know that just finding hash browns is a feat in itself.  Humanitarians would call this stretch of land a "food desert." We are not in Independence anymore, Toto. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to rural Missouri. The Grand River-- flooded. Wheeling is the home of the Girls State Basketball Champions... in 1975. No cell service. I saw

Written by Uncle George:  April 27, 1907 Feel very well satisfied with the record made of the temple lot pictures.  This eve visited the main business part of town. Val:  April 27, 2012 My day, today, seemed to be connected to dead men.  Not that I am a "deadist" like being a "racist" or a "ageist" but it is a bit disturbing to be spending your day thinking about not only one, but two dead guys. Fortunately, I had to The Girl with me so it made it feel less weird. Love note to dead man #1 You are ready to hit the road and get the "hell (uh, Mr. Fun...I'm quoting) out of Dodge" as my dad would say.  For years I wasn't sure that Dodge was a real town.  It is a real place, found in the great state of Kansas.  Since moving to the mid west,I have brushed up on my geography.  I can hear The Girl now..."You don't know where Dodge is?  What did they teach you at school in Alaska?"  Well, why did I care to know where Dod

Dear Uncle George, I have had to take a small step back from the photo world, away from its sorting, weeding, editing, taking, blah blah blahism so that I can do some really interesting things. Like vacuuming.  Paying bills.  And sometimes making dinner. Seeing all these animals in one place actually  is very embarrassing.   Actually, Heavenly Father knew what timing would be exactly right for me to start my mission.  Life has been driving the car as The Boy's therapist says, which in psychology world is apparently a bad thing.  Well, she doesn't say "bad" but some nice 11th grade word like "undesirable."  Coming from Alaska, we prefer the phrase "jacked up" whether we have an 11th grade education or not.  Whatever the phrase is for the mid west, it happened to me. You can read all about here:   http://www.visitval.blogspot.com/2013/09/too-much-media-too-little-val.html (In Rotary, when we cross different programs to promote each ot