Rangers, Royals, Flautas and Frank

Originally I was going to include this in my previous post but I thought George should have his own post. We didn't have time to do much in Tucson other than go to the cemetery but we did grab some lunch at a little Mexican place called El Merendero. It was featured in the Tucson travel magazine and for good reason. I ordered Flautas and they were delicious. Ken's enchiladas looked good too. The Rangers game was slow and boring so we ended up leaving during the 6th. Don't even know if they won or not.

Today we toured Taliesen West, Frank Lloyd Wright's western home and campus. Taliesen is built in Wright's organic style. It is beautiful. For more information go to www.Frank Lloyd wright.org.

If this post seems short on detail it is because my heart just isn't in it. Tonight's Royals game ended on a sad note. In the sixth inning the Red's brought in pitcher Aroldis Chapman. After walking 4 batters Salvador Perez nailed a line drive straight to the pitchers mound striking Chapman directly in the left eye. Our seats were directly behind the third base dugout to the right of the pitcher. We heard the ball hit the bat followed by a sickening thud as it hit Chapman. He immediately fell face first to the ground with his legs flailing behind him. The mound was surrounded by players from both teams as well as medics and trainers. After ten minutes Chapman was removed from the field on a back board to the applause of the crowd. The game was called by mutual consent of both teams. I felt so bad for Salvy. He was so shaken. He crouched at first base for a few minutes obviously praying and  then moved to the side of the pitchers mound. Other players and coaches, very shaken, stood off to the side quietly talking and praying. Rusty Kuhns knelt on one knee near first and looked as if he was praying. The crowd was shocked and silent until they took Chapman off the field. Salvy looked so sad as he walked off the field to the applause and support of the crowd. I've never seen anything like that in a game before. It really shook me up. I know these things happen but it sure takes the joy out of the game. The Royals won 5-3

George Washington Van Zandt

George Washington Van Zandt was born March 29, 1891 in Taney County Missouri near the town of Branson. On July 3,1912 he married my great I grandmother Ethel Day. She was 20, he was 21. Ten months later, on May 13,1913 my grandmother, Pauline, was born. About a year later a second daughter, Carol, was born. In 1917 George registered for a draft exemption in Tulsa,OK citing that he was the primary support for his family. Sometime afterwards he disappeared. The story I've always heard was that he went to work on a ranch in Oklahoma and that he got the rancher's daughter pregnant. There was a shotgun wedding (was he divorced?) and that was the last of George. This was never talked about as it was a subject best left forgotten. I recently learned that in 1977 my great grandmother filed for a divorce from George because she wasn't sure he'd actually divorced her and she didn't want any legal problems when she died. I have one photo of Ethel and George, their wedding photo. Neither look too happy.

That's all we knew until now. Thanks to the magic of the internet and online records I found George. The 1920 census shows Ethel and George living in Hutchinson, KS. I don't believe this is accurate. I think MamMaw (Ethel) probably said he was living there to avoid the shame of being a single mother of 2. It was a government man afterall.  George reappears in 1930 in Phoenix, AZ. At this time he is married to 19 year old Leila May Johnson and has one daughter named Mertice Rhue. Other children are born, Essie Earlene and Glenn. There was one stillborn daughter as well. On the birth certificate George's occupation is listed as carpenter. Sometime around 1950 he moved with his family to Tucson and became a firefighter. On January 16,1959 he died from a heart attack on the way to the hospital. He is buried in Southlawn Cemetery and his headstone says he was a Canadian war veteran. His son Glenn died in 1959 and is buried next to him.  Those are the facts.

There are still some missing pieces. What really happened after Carol was born and why did George leave? Where did he go?  Why did he exempt himself in 1918 in the U.S. if he really went to Canada? Did he go to Canada to get away from Ethel or the girl in Oklahoma? Where was he between 1920 and 1930?  Did he ever try to get in touch with the family he left behind? Did his second family know about his first family? Is there another family out there? Why Phoenix and Tucson? Why, why why?

Why am I so interested?  I think because it is just a missing piece to my past and because it is such a fascinating mystery. I thought George might speak to me but he didn't. Guess I'll just have to keep looking.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Two days of baseball! If you'd told me five years ago that I'd be spending a week watching baseball and actually enjoy it I would have told you no way!  But here I am, decked out in my Royals hat, my specially purchased St.Patrick's Day Royals shirt and my custom ordered Blue and White New Balance shoes. Oh, I forgot my blue and white nails. 

Sunday was our first game day at the Surprise Sports Complex. The Phoenix area is the home of the Cactus League Spring Training. The Surprise stadium was built in 2000 and is home to the KC Royals and the Texas Rangers. Each team has 4 practice fields that are next to the stadium. During the week it is possible to attend preseason games in the afternoon or evening and practices in the morning. If you have several favorite teams and love to watch you could attend games at more than one stadium.  In the morning you can attend practice and watch all of the farm team players practice. In the afternoon they play other farm teams. I didn't realize that all of the farm players trained with their major league counterpart. 

Sunday the Royals were playing away and not being familiar with the area I wasn't sure how away away was so opted for the Rangers game. I was excited to see Prince Fielder even if I did have him mixed up with Big Papi for awhile. The game was lackluster and very slow but they did win 14 to 8. 

Dinner was at our favorite, Old Spaghetti Factory. Yum! It was worth the 30 minute drive. 

Monday morning we tried out the practice sessions. They were interesting but we didn't see any of the big guys. In the afternoon we watched the first 4 innings of the Omaha game. It was too hot to stay so it was back to the hotel. 

Tonight's game was fun! It was great to see the boys again. Billy Butler has trimmed down. Moose was hitting strong and all in all they played well. George Brett is apparently coaching again as he was there in uniform. They beat the Rangers 6-0. Now if they can just beat them in regular season. 

Tomorrow we are driving down to Tuscon to find my scoundrel of a great grandfather's grave. More on him tomorrow. 

It's a Whole New World

Yesterday was an interesting day. One of the things I enjoy about traveling,especially by car is viewing the way the landscape and geology changes. I also enjoy slipping in and out of different cultures. When we drive south to Alabama the cultural changes are mostly due regional idiosyncrasies. The dialect changes but the faces are basically the same.  In the southwest,especially in western New Mexico and Arizona, you really begin to see the influence of different cultures. I can't say that I experienced them but I definitely observed differences. For example, at the Arizona welcome center there were three Navajo ladies making and selling Indian Fry Bread. The coolest part was listening to them speak Navajo to each other while they worked. A little thing, but now a fun memory that I can share when we read Navajo Code Talkers in two weeks.

My three geology classes as well as Mrs. Jones' geology units in elementary school came in handy as the mountains, buttes, mesas and rock formations changed. In some places the rocks were sandstone, in others limestone and some were a mix. In one spot in New Mexico called "The Land of Fire and Ice" the ground was covered with what looked like Scoria or basalt. I wanted to stop the car and go exploring. I wonder if any of my ALC friends experience the desire to go climbing around on rock outcroppings as they drive down the road? The flora changed as well. One minute there were scrub oak and tumbleweeds and the next minute you'd drive over a hill and there would be pine trees. As you enter the Phoenix area you drive down a mountain. As you near the bottom it's as if someone drew a line because Saguaro cacti suddenly start growing. Of course we noticed a 15 degree temperature difference from the top to the bottom so I'm sure that has something to do with it. I've never seen Saguaro in the wild so it was pretty cool. I saw one that was taller than a house.

We drove in 50 mph winds all day. Dust was everywhere and tumbleweeds rolled across the road. We skipped our stop at Meteor Crater because we didn't want to be sandblasted. That was not an interesting part of the day.

On the Road to Spring Training

I've turned into a baseball fan...specifically a Royals baseball fan. Last year it occurred to me that we probably could attend spring training. With a little research I discovered that the Royals train in Surprise,AZ, that they share the stadium with our other favorite team, the Rangers and that we could attend practice and games! So, here we are.

Our trip began yesterday after I worked my required 3.5 hours. We left Wichita about 10:15 and our first stop was an hour and a half later in Greensburg, KS. As most of you know, in 2007 98% of Greensburg was obliterated by smile wide, EF 5 tornado. We last visited Greensburg two years ago. Yesterday we decided to take a quick spin through town to see how things look seven years later. The town is slowly being rebuilt. Very slowly. The new Big Well Museum is open so we decided to go in and check it out. What a nice surprise!  The building is beautifully designed in a spiral representative of the spiral of nature, the spiral of time and the spiral of the well. The center of the building is the well. A spiral staircase reaches down into the well and upward to a second story observatory looking out over the new Greensburg. Around the circumference of the well there is a beautifully interpreted museum telling the history of the town and well, the story of the tornado, and the rebirth of the town.

Following a quick lunch we were back on the road headed to Tucumcari, NM. Lot's of little towns between here and there. We passed the Nurseanickle Motel and the Whiskey- the road to ruin Bar. Both made me chuckle and made me think of Ken's mom who loved funny little names like that.  Got to Tucumcari at dinner time. Tucumcari is a tired little town on Route 66,  known for the tagline of "Tucumcari Tonight?". We decided to give in to nostalgia and stay at a refurbished vintage motel called The Motel Safari. It's a "Googie" or Do wop style motel. The room was small but nice. However, the wall heater was loud, the bed hard and the pillows were too soft. Neither of us slept well. To add insult to injury, there was no hot water in the morning. As Ken said nostalgia isn't all it's cracked up to be. Dinner was at the Pow Wow restaurant and Lizard Lounge, recommended by our desk clerk. It's attached to a scary looking semi-vacant motel turned flop house. I wasn't altogether sure our car would be there after dinner. We both ordered enchiladas which were edible but not remarkable.

Following our fitful night we had a great breakfast at Kix 66 and got back on the road. Bought some fry bread from some Navajo ladies at the AZ welcome center and fought the 50 mph winds on I-40. In Winslow we found the Standing on the Corner park complete with a flatbed Ford made famous in the Eagle's song  " Take It Easy". Took the obligatory pictures, bought some t-shirts and then stopped at the La Posada Hotel. The La Posada is the last full scale Harvey House hotel built in 1923 and refurbished over the course of 15 years. John Wayne, John Ford, Maureen O'Hara and others have stayed there over the years.

We arrived in Surprise at 6:30 and quickly figured out that AZ doesn't observe daylight savings time so we are two hours earlier than home.

Tomorrow we have tickets to the Rangers game but for now, it's time for a snack.

The Grand Library Tour days 4 and 5

I'm in Big D, my oh yes...
Big D, little a, double l, a, s

Yesterday was day two of Lyndon Baines Johnson.  He was a big man so he took up two days.  I was kind of tired and discouraged Wednesday evening so I proposed skipping Johnson City and the LBJ Ranch but now I am glad that we didn't.  My advice to future visitors...if you are short on time and can only choose one or the other, skip the LBJ Library and head for his childhood home and ranch 40 miles west of Austin in Johnson City, TX.  You will learn everything you need to know and have a much more enjoyable time.

The drive over to JC was really pretty.  Texas Hill country begins a few miles west of Austin.  It is a very scenic area with rolling hills and valleys.  There are vistas along the road where you can see for miles into the distance.  Little Texas towns dot the way.  The Pedernales River runs through hill country and into Johnson City.  For those of you outside of Texas the correct pronunciation is Per-dah-nal-es.  I don't know why.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in 1908 about 15 miles outside of Johnson City, TX in a little house on his grandfather's ranch.  Grandpa Johnson had been a real cowboy.  He obtained some land in  what is now Johnson City and developed a longhorn herd consisting of about 1000 heads of cattle.  He drove his first herd to Abilene, KS and sold it for $100,000.  Most of the money was reinvested in cattle but by the time he drove the second herd to Abilene cattle had gone bust and Mr. Johnson lost all of his money.  The family eventually moved to what is now known at the LBJ Ranch.  Lyndon Johnson's father was a self-taught attorney turned politician.  His mother was college educated, a rarity for her time.  When Johnson was 4 he began running up the hill near his house to a one room school. He insisted on sitting on his teacher, Miss Katie's lap.  His mama enrolled him in school where he became a voracious reader.  Mrs. Johnson wanted her children to go to a better school so by the time Lyndon was 7 the family had moved into town.  The house in town was adjacent to the original Johnson farm.  In 1951, LBJ bought his grandfather's ranch from his uncle and it became the Johnson home when they weren't in Washington DC or Austin.  Improvements were made over the years including the addition of a runway and hangar for "Air Force 1/2", the Lockheed Jet used to shuttle LBJ, his family and guests from the AF base in San Antonio.  It is said that Johnson conducted 25 % of his Presidential business from the Texas White House as the ranch became known.  The house is typical of a 50-60-70's décor house.  It isn't huge and it isn't small but it was adequate.  One thing that tickled me is that Johnson had this little amphibious car.  He would take unsuspecting visitors out for a ride and while driving down along the Pedernales (remember how to say it?) he would veer off down the bank screaming "the brakes went out".  They would land in the river where LBJ would engage the amphibious side of the car and off they'd go.  We had a delightful half day in JC and at the ranch.  We ate dinner at a local brew pub and hit the road for Arlington.  3 hours later we arrived at our hotel and hit the rack.

This morning we headed to the campus of SMU (Siri calls it "smoo") to visit the George W. Bush Museum.  The last three days we've only shared the space with a few people.  Today was a different story.  The museum was very crowded.  I'm sure its newness has a lot to do with it as well as end of the year school trips.  Yes, TX schools are still in session.  The building itself is beautiful, and difficult to get to.  Once inside you are in the middle of a huge rotunda where every 15 minutes a spiffy multi-media show takes place ala' Disney World.  The museum is interesting, lots and lots of information presented in many multi-sensory formats.  The most movie exhibits are in the 9/11 gallery.  A beam from the World Trade Center is in the center of the floor.  A docent encourages visitors to touch it.  I particularly enjoyed the Life in the White House section.  One area that's neat for kids is a section on the Book Festival started by the Bush family.  There is a shelf with award winning books for kids and a place where they can sit and read.  Overall, the museum spends the majority of space on Bush policy, the Afghan and Iraqi Wars and Overseas initiatives.

The museum is impressive but I also found it to be overwhelming.  There is so much information presented that my brain kind of turned off after awhile.  I think it is a museum that would best be viewed in chunks.  Choose an area you are most interested in and spend your time there.  Don't miss the four films at various stages of the museum.  They are worth sitting through.

Tonight is the Royals/Rangers game.  Hope last night's luck carries on tonight.  They beat the Cardinals at 3:10 a.m. this morning after a 4 hour rain delay.  Way to go Royals!

Home tomorrow.

LBJ for the USA

When I was in Kindergarten we had a highly technical toy called a spelling board.  It looked something like this:
   Being the precocious child I was I spelled out L-B-J on the first line and U-S-A on the second line.  Miss Warren apparently thought I was quite brilliant and trotted me around the school to show various adults my prodigious accomplishment.  I don't know why I remember that but I do.  I vaguely remember that I had seen that letter combination on something at home-probably a campaign pin or on tv, I don't know.  Anyway, Lyndon Johnson has a place in my memory.  I think he is a fascinating man.  Today, we visited the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas.  The building itself is a huge white structure on the campus of the University of Texas.  It would have been very modern and beautiful in 1971 when it was dedicated.  Today it is a dated, large white building.  When we walked in the lady at the desk said that they weren't set up to collect admission but donations were encouraged.  She asked us our zip code and then the lady next to her asked if I wore a lot of yellow since we were from Maize. She said she was just asking since I was wearing yellow today. Ha, ha ha...yesterday we were asked if Dorothy had her own museum in Kansas.  I don't ask Texans if they remember the Alamo or if the eyes of Texas are blue.  I mean, come on!

Our tour began with an introductory movie (are you sensing a trend?) about the life of LBJ.  Just as the movie came on a large group of elementary age children came into the theater.  Let's just say, if a couple of them had been my students, they wouldn't have lived long.  Fortunately they left after the movie.  My overall impression of the museum is that it was arranged in a confusing manner, especially on the first floor.  I mean the third floor.  Then you walked up a giant marble staircase to the fourth floor.  There is a photo that shows Johnson's casket being carried up the same stairway for his lying in state.  The fourth floor is a timeline of Johnson's political career.  He was a teacher who became a professional politician.  There was much made of the "Johnson treatment".  He was a tall, imposing man who, if he wanted something, became very insistent.  He had a habit of invading what we now call your "personal space".  He would grab you by your lapels, lean into your face a proceed to make his point.  I think it was Rockefeller who said he had a way of breathing into your mouth until your air was completely sucked out and you had no choice but to give in.  With women he was a shameless flirt.  One thing they did have that I enjoyed were phone kiosks that you could listen to excerpts of conversations he had with various people on different topics.  When you finished the fourth floor you had to take the elevator to the 10th floor for the final 3 exhibits.  The Oval Office reproduction, an exhibit on the lovely Lady Bird and a short movie about LBJ's family life.

Johnson's legacy is a great one.  Many of our social programs were started by Johnson and his Great Society.  He accomplished much during his short tenure.  It is too bad that Vietnam overshadowed his presidency.  Sadly, Johnson died 5 years after leaving office.  Tomorrow we will head over to Johnson City and the Johnson Ranch.

Off to bed.
(Dang Royals just gave STL 4 runs in one inning!)