Home!

"Go Home" was the option I punched into my GPS, and home I came! After driving just under 80 MPH for most of the last four days, when I turned off I-15, just 50 miles west of Las Vegas, the 55 MPH speed limit made the last leg of my trip seem like an eternity! During those last two hours of driving, I mentally steeled myself for getting home, and back to reality: The pile of mail, the list of phone messages, etc., that one must face after over two months of escaping it all, and having such a wonderful vacation. much to my surprise and delight, the house and grounds were cleaned and groomed, my "girls, Sheila and Cinda were clean, shining, and gave me a welcome that filled my heart! My three friends I call the "Posse" were the ones responsible for the most pleasant homecoming I could imagine! They were here to keep the household going, and the dogs happy.

Since leaving here the last day of June, I have driven 5,000 miles. I am grateful they were safe ones, and I am home again. It's good to be home! love, Liz

Backroads

It sounded like rocks being thrown with great force at my van! I wanted to put my arms around her to protect her from the violent rain and hail storm, but all I could do was drive slowly and carefully through it to to get on the other side of the storm. About half the traffic, with less guts than I, pulled off the road to wait out what was to be a long and pouring down storm. Eventually the black skies began to lighten, and I watched the cars that passed me for hailstone pock marks. Fortunately we avoided any damage. On the brighter side, I drove along some great rivers today, Rivers famous for their fly fishing - the Madison and West Fork of Henry's Lake. Lots of camping and fishing going on!

I am camped in the best campground of my trip - in Provo Utah. It is beautiful here, with the Provo River on three sides of the campground. It is nice and cool, a wonderful last night on my journey. A long pull tomorrow will get me home. It is difficult to express the freedom and joy I get from these road trips. Home is calling, however, and I must give Thanks for a safe and wonderful journey. Love, Liz




Sent from my iPad carefully road to wait

Squeezing me in

Here I am in Livingston MT. Allowed to part next to the owner's home and use their electricity!

Many Miles!

Tonight brings me to the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park, but I don't plan on entering the Park. I am in Livingston Montana, having completed a 543 mile day! This is the end of day three, and I have travelled 1,435 miles closer to home. I plan on driving down west of Yellowstone, camping in Pocatello ID tomorrow night. The countryside is cool and beautiful here, right at the base of the mountains that encase Yellowstone. The Yellowstone River flows north and east of the Park, so I have crossed it many times this afternoon. It is a beautiful River. Again tonight, I just squeaked into the campground, which was already full, but they can always squeeze me in! :-). Love, Liz

Sent from my iPad

Journey Joys

I could be a Vagabond! If I didn't love my home and community so much, I would just stay on the road! Today was not a noteworthy day, and yet In the 450 miles I covered today, I went from a wet beginning in Wisconsin, ran into thick fog around Duluth, but it cleared so that I saw at least half of the lakes in the "Land of 1,000 Lakes"; Drove across the state of Minnesota, where all the cows in the fields yield our cheeses; and ended in the state of North Dakota, where the air is dryer, but still north enough to be cool. Along the way, a truck threw a rock into my windshield with such force I thought I had been shot! but the windshield saved me from losing some portion of my face, and now I just have to drive home with a smashed "star" right in the middle of my view!

Tomorrow's goal is Billings Montana? Until then, Love, Liz

Heading Home

It was 7:30 when I took this early morning shot from the cook house, just before driving away from this remarkable place, carrying only the great memories of these past weeks, when the island laughed with children, and we three sisters joined together to host all our family members. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, giving us warm, sunny days, rainy days, and cold days, so that we could enjoy them all. It has been a bitter sweet day. Leaving is so sad, but on the other hand, I am "On the Road Again"!! I love the independence and adventure of selecting my routes, planning where I will stay, and seeing America in its most honest form - the lives, homes, churches, history and livelihoods of Americans who don't populate our cities. We live in a great country!

Tonight I am snug and dry in my van, while a thunder, lightening and rain storm pelts Iron River, Wisconsin, where I am camped. Did I mention how I love this van?? I have charted my journey for tomorrow, enjoyed a glass of wine and my "elevator music", as my kids call it, so it is time to sleep for tomorrow's 8 hour trip. Love, Liz

Sun Setting on a Great Day

It is 9:00 PM and the sun is just setting in my little home in the woods. The day started early, rousting all nine of the family members currently here through breakfast in the Cook House, into cars, and on an hour's drive to St. Ignace to board the 10:00 AM ferry to Mackinaw Island, via a passage under the Mackinaw Bridge that connects the Upper Peninsula (UP) with lower Michigan. The weather was perfect! Once on the Island, which does not allow motorized vehicles, we rented bicycles to ride the eight miles around the island, mostly following the shoreline, but riding into the center of the Island to pass by hundred year old cottages and summer places of the rich merchants of the Industrial Revolution in the early 1900's. There is truly no place on earth like Mackinaw Island. Steeped in history as a stronghold the French and Indians fought the English for; it remains much like the days of old. Once debarking from the ferry, visitors can take horse and buggy transportation, or rent a bike. Bike riding around this Island with my family, enjoying the sea, sun, and sights was happily memorable in every aspect.

My van is parked in what was "the orchard" in my grandfather's day, when the island was not vehicle accessible , and my Grandfather had cleared the area in the center of the island and planted apple trees. My childhood memories of learning to bake apple pies from those apples passed to my daughter Angela, who became the Chief pie maker. Time waits on no one, and the apple trees have all died. Pie making continues, but now the apples come from the store in Cedarville. How I love this place, so much a part of my family roots! Love, Liz

The Advance Team Has arrived

Rain followed us across the Upper Peninsula on the last leg of our journey. Mix that with a long mileage day and a 55 mph speed limit, and it equals a 12 hour day. We arrived at Hatch Haven about 6:30 PM, tired, but grateful for the safe 3,000 mile journey, and joyous at once again being in this place. The picture shows the cook house, which was one of the early homestead cabins in the late 1800's, bought by my grandfather Hatch, and slid across the frozen lake to the Hatch homestead before 1910. The Main House is a Sears and Roebuck kit house, purchased, brought up from Detroit by boat, and constructed here on our portion of Island 8 in 1909.

Now hosting the 5th generation, this place continues to be the touchstone of the family, and for my two sisters and me, holds the experience of being children, being parents, and now being grandparents and the "senior generation" here.

Ada and I came as the Advance Team to get the hanging flower baskets up, the beds made, groceries bought, and the boats out and operable. A labor of love and following the footprints of those before us. love, Liz

Where in the world??

The last two nights Ada and I had the pleasure of staying at a special place with special people. This place is in Iowa, but not in the cornfields, in Mason City, but not in the City, as the view is all grass, trees, and birds, in a neighborhood, but not...more like a cul de sac/circle of friends. This neighborhood has no fences; each extensive lawn and landscape blends with the next, as do the neighbors, who are like one big family. We were visiting Jim and Carmen Loveland and the neighbors and good friends joined us last night for a smoked pork loin feast - a meal we all agreed was a "best ever" event. As background to how we ended up on this adventure, Jim Loveland stayed in my guest house in 29 Palms when he was working as a contracted LEP (Law Enforcement Professional) aboard MCAGCC Marine Corps base in 29 Palms about a year ago. He invited me to visit with them when I made my next trek across country. Besides being a retired police officer, Jim is a brick layer, wood craftsman, and house builder. This house they built is beautiful, and has been their family home for many years...always getting the benefit of a new project here or there.

Jim gave us a tour of Mason City, which included the old bank and hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1910. It has been fully restored, and is one of the finest and only remaining examples of this famous Architect and era. Wonderful!

Ada and I left Mason City, Iowa this morning, drove north all day through the green lands of Minnesota, and we are camping on a lake in Wisconsin tonight. As we ate our macaroni and cheese with hotdogs, we judged last night's feast better....by far!!! Love, Liz

Sent from my iPad

Carnine Ranch

It was a harsh world in the Sandhills of Nebraska in 1901 when Forrest's father homesteaded the land. There were endless miles of rolling, sandy, semi arid grasslands, but not a tree in sight. Finding bitter cold blizzards in winter and hot drought conditions in the summer, this homesteader said, "If I could have afforded it, I would have left." Not having the opportunity to leave, he dug a well, planted trees, and started growing alfalfa and wheat, and a family. Forrest, the second generation to run the ranch, is now 88 years old, and his son Daniel, now in his 40's, is continuing to run the ranch as well as his father and grandfather. The ranch is large and productive. Of the 6,500 acres, about half is irrigated and producing crops of alfalfa, corn, and wheat. The remaining land supports their cattle business.

There is no sugar coating ranch life. The folks are genuine: honest, hard-working, conservative, warm and friendly, and always there to lend a hand to a neighbor. But they live by the laws of nature. I bottle fed a young calf who has been weaned from his mother. She was a good, nurturing mother, but had an infection and couldn't feed the baby. When they took the calf away, she stood by the fence and bawled for three days. They watch over the calving, assist at the births when necessary. Forrest carries a small notebook in his shirt pocket. Each animal has a numbered tag on its ear, and Forrest keeps notes on each one - even though there are about 300 head of cattle!

The trees planted over 100 years ago now offer wind breaks in the winter, and shade in the summer. Dorothy tends the beautiful lawn and gardens around the old ranch house that has seen a century of branding, planting, reaping, sharing and caring.

Branding Day

It is a day of herding, roping, vaccinating, branding, dust, bawling calves, worried mama cows, seasoned cowboys down to kids trying their hand at it all for the first time, women preparing a feed for 60 or so people, families and neighbors gathering together. To be here today on the Carnine Ranch is to experience ranch life as theses families have lived it for generations.

Dorothy and Forrest Carnine have been our family friends since Dorothy, Ada, and I were Tri Delta sorority sisters at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff in the early 1960's. Dorothy met and married Forrest Carnine and joined the family ranch near Alliance, Nebraska, and thus began our summer treks to the ranch. The story of this ranch is the story of Americana at its finest. that story must wait for another writing. Love, Liz

Highs and lows

Highs and lows were the Order of the Day- both literally and figuratively. We started the day in our forest campground surrounded by deer, who had more curiosity than fear. The day was long- nearly 400 miles of road construction, thunder, lightening, and rain. Ascending and descending the great altitudes of Colorado, was a driving challenge, but also offered the scenic beauty of Colorado: the mountain towns that are replicated in model train villages, the remarkable Colorado River, and the rugged beauty of this state. After about 12 hours on the road, we reached our destination, having navigated through the metropolis of Denver, arriving in rain and thunder, and finding that our campground, our day's destination, was a real dive. A decent dinner and a couple of glasses of wine smoothed out the day, and listening to my XM radio somehow offsets the landing pattern of the Denver Airport overhead, the frequent train traffic which blows whistles ceaselessly through this neck of the woods, and the sounds of I-79 close by. Wouldn't change the adventure for the world! Love, Liz

What it's all about

There is something about the vibrations of my van when it gets on the road again that makes me smile all over. Once again I am unfettered and in the "new adventures" mode. Today's journey exemplifies the ideal. I planned a short trip (233 miles) for today, knowing that my sister Ada was making the departure from her home for two months, and there a numerous last minute details to attend to. Our journey today took us across the Indian lands of Northern Arizona and Utah. This is truly the land of the Big Sky, and where all the old single-wide trailers are living out the remaining time of their usefulness.

We ended the day in Monticello, Utah, founded in the 1800's. A fascinating museum told its story, we dined in a local Cafe, then headed up the mountain to camp in a National Forest. We are sharing the campground with more deer than people. It is refreshingly cool. Ada has her tent set up, I am all set up in my van, and we are enjoying the end of a delightful day. This is what it's all about! Love, Liz

Passages

This pilgrimage to the family's summer gathering has a melancholy beginning. A pilgrimage it is - it will take a week of driving and camping for me to get to this remote summer home on an island in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A family gathering it is - all living members of Hatch Family generations three, four, and five will be present and accounted for, coming from far and wide. Melancholy it will be - once again. The history and strength of this family rests in this special place, where we grow up with grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, rising to the challenge of tradition - joining the other cousins on the overnight to a nearby island, after you have lost your first tooth, swimming the distance of the channel in that COLD water, catching your first "keeper" fish; the list goes on. However my two sisters and I, the third ,and now the "senior" generation, cannot return to the Island without memories of those that are missing - parents, aunts and uncles, husbands, and a beloved niece. Our lives were enriched by these family members, and the roles each played in weaving the fabric of our lives. The joy lies in the next generations, who are bringing energy and laughter to the gathering. So once again we make the pilgrimage - there are still memories to be made! Love Liz

Pictures of New Years Party

Subject: happy new year in switzerland

A visit to the Chocolate factory

No trip to Switzerland with kids would be complete without a trip to the Chocolate Factory! 

Not Surprisingly,  the factories are situated near lots of milk cows and good water, not conveniently close 

 to the main railway station. With Angela's expertise as a travel guid, the two trains and a bus we needed

To take to get to the factory happened with perfect connections -both ways.  after an animated tour

(We took the one scheduled in English) , we passed along all the amazing machines that shape and 

cut the warm, malleable chocolate into pieces, chill it down, pluck each piece up with finger-like precision

And wrap it.  Amazing!   The last room is the kid's favorite - a U-shaped table with trays of all the

Chocolate candies this Nestlé-Cailler company makes free samples!!  Well, I guess you could say the LAST

Room is the sales room- with shelves of every kinds of chocolate candy bars and boxes.  who could say

No?

New Years Eve at the top of the world

Getting there was half the fun! A family friend names Rita lives in the Alpin village of Bad Ragaz and invited our whole family to join in their village New Years celebration high up in the Alps. The train trip from Basel gave us a three hour journey to enjoy the quaint houses and green fields turning into beautiful snowy mountain scenes, as our train climbed higher into the Alps. We arrived in Bad Ragaz in the early afternoon and walked about ten minutes to the small and lovely hotel Sardona. After settling in to our room, we continued our journey upward, this time on an enclosed gondola with enough seats for 8 people in a car. Now we were enjoying a 15 minute breath-taking ride to a mountain top community where we would welcome the New Year in a lovely ski resort that had been transformed into a Swiss style New Years Eve party site. The resort has dormitory style rooms where the Rameson, O'Connor, and Meyer families would spend the night with all the kids (7 kids aged 9 and under) and ski on New Years Day. The older generation, Ada, Liz, Martha and Cary, would ride the gondola back down the hill to our hotel.

This was not to be a tourist's version of a Swiss night out, but rather we were welcomed into the German-speaking fold of relatives and friends who have shared their lives together in this Alpin village. Most speak several languages, and did not hesitate switching to English for our benefit, as we were introduced and made to feel at home.

The evening started with a glass of wine in the lowest level of the Chalet, where all the skiers enter to warm up during the day. From there we were ushered upstairs to tables beautifully set for different reserved parties of people, and other tables laden with artfully displayed first course salads, cheeses, cold meats, olives, and a selection of crusty breads. Groups mingled, as friends greeted each other, and a talented accordion player, all dressed in traditional regalia, kept the polka music going. The main dinner was beef Wellington and the most tender cut of roast beef with many choices of vegetables and potatoes - a really delicious meal! The buffet of desserts, which was presented a couple of hours later, offered a tasty selection of sweet dishes to enjoy with very good coffee.

So, getting there was half the fun, and the meal and party was delightful, but OHH, the VIEW! As midnight neared, we all donned our jackets, hats and scarves to go outside and truly feel like we were on top of the world! In one direction we could see the entire country of Lichtenstein, with firework displays popping up around the various villages in this smallest of countries. In another direction were the Swiss Alpin towns, also dotted with fireworks, and around us in all directions were the snowy peaks of the Alps - absolutely breathtaking! As we toasted with champaign, a group gathered together and started yodeling - the perfect final touch!

Sent from my iPad