kinexxions

Yosemite Falls

2013-05-14T04:00:00.000-05:00

The morning light contrasts sharply with that of late afternoon. The row of trees on the far bank of the river are the same trees that were in yesterday's photo.

Upper Yosemite Falls.

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.

Even though the campgrounds were full, there didn't seem to be many people out and about. Traffic was light and it was easy finding a place to park so that I could simply walk around the meadows in the valley and soak up the views.

On a previous visit in July 2010 I was able to visit Glacier Point (the road was still closed this time) and got soaked at Bridalveil Falls. This time I decided to walk to the base of Lower Yosemite Falls. The trail was nearly deserted, it was very quiet and peaceful - except for the roar of the water which got louder with every step along the path.

There was a hint of a rainbow at the bottom of the falls.

Out on the middle of the footbridge, the mist from the falls was the strongest as was the blowing wind. I got wet, but nothing like at Bridalveil Falls.

A dramatic view of both falls, which is somewhat deceiving as it looks as though the Upper fall is immediately above the Lower fall. But looking at the third photo above, you can see that there is a considerable offset between the two waterfalls. As always, double-click on the photos to view a larger version, then click again to get the full size.

In addition to the road to Glacier Point being closed, Tioga Road (Highway 120 through the park) was also closed so a visit to Tuolumne Meadows was out of the question. As much as I would have liked to do the hike that takes you to the top of Yosemite Falls, I didn't think my legs could handle the rugged, wet trail. Instead, I simply walked around the valley, had a picnic lunch next to the river, and enjoyed a wonderful, leisurely day.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Yosemite Falls," Kinexxions, posted May 14, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/05/yosemite-falls.html : accessed [access date])

Yosemite Valley

2013-05-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

Monday, April 29th - - It was 24 miles from the Hodgdon Meadow campground to "The Valley" area, which took about an hour to get there - and it wasn't because of the traffic either! It was simply the nature of the route going up and down and over and around and even through the mountains. Luckily the road into the valley was wider than the road to Hetch-Hetchy!

The late afternoon light was incredible.

Upper Yosemite Falls.

Bridalveil Falls.

Bridalveil Falls from one of the pull-outs along the road back to Hodgdon Meadow. As always, double-click on the image to view a larger version...

Same view, zoomed in a lot. This really shows the "hanging valley" created when the glaciers receded many eons ago leaving Bridalveil creek with nowhere to go except down!

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Yosemite Valley," Kinexxions, posted May 12, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/05/yosemite-valley.html : accessed [access date])

Ketch-in-up at Hetch-Hetchy

2013-05-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been "on the move" for much of the last 12 days since leaving Salt Lake City and have been off the grid for most of that time. I'm happy to say that I did indeed make it to the Coast of California but first I made a little stop at Yosemite National Park before moving on. The campgrounds in the valley were all full but there was plenty of room in the campground at Hodgdon Meadow at the North entrance to the park and I had no trouble getting a site for two nights.

Having heard about Carol's adventures (on Facebook - she hasn't written about them on her blog yet) in going to the Hetch-Hetchy section of the park, and never having been in that area, I thought I'd see if the drive was as harrowing as she described. I'll have to admit that, even in the mini-van, it was rather exciting with the sharp drop-offs and narrow roads. But I do believe that her trip down those roads was probably more than a little exciting - down right frightening - in that big old truck of theirs!

I did come across one turn-out where I was able to stop and take a photo of the dam and reservoir, but you have to look really close to see them! They are there, in the center of the picture.

From the same spot, zoomed in a lot. The Tueeulala and Wapama falls (on the left and right, respectively) can now be seen.

The reservoir and the falls.

That "dark spot" on the other side of the dam is a tunnel which takes you to the trail-head for several trails leading to the falls and beyond. I did walk about a mile along the trail but it kept going up and up and my legs kept getting shakier and shakier!

The view of the valley beyond the dam.
All photos taken on April 29, 2013

The drive back up to the main road was far more intimidating than the drive down to the dam. Yes, I tended to creep a little closer to the inside walls and away from the outer edges that seemed imminently closer than they had been!

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Becky Wiseman, "Ketch-in-up at Hetch-Hetchy," Kinexxions, posted May 10, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/05/ketch-in-up-at-hetch-hetchy.html : accessed [access date])

My Genea-Mecca Sojourn is Coming to an End

2013-04-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

After six weeks in Salt Lake City, I'll be leaving Sunday morning. It has been a satisfying and frustrating experience. Although no breakthroughs have been made, more documents have been gathered that add to the understanding of some of the ancestors. Of course, some of those documents have generated more questions - a few which will likely never be answered. But that is the nature of genealogy and family history research, which is a seemingly never-ending obsession.

In addition to research at the library, I've also been working on cleaning up my Legacy database. It is a slow and tedious process but I'm starting to have a good feeling about it. There is still a lot to be done with it but there is light at the end of the tunnel. One of the benefits of this process is that some of the "holes" in my research have been identified and I was able to obtain a few of those missing documents here in Salt Lake City.

One of the highlights of my visit here was being able to spend some time with Denise Levenick, The Family Curator. Denise was here for five days, coming a few days prior to the Utah Genealogical Association's Spring Conference where she was the keynote speaker and gave several presentations. It was a very nice change of pace to have someone to bounce ideas off of and just talk about stuff.

One evening, A.C. Ivory joined us for dinner at The Garden restaurant on the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Building. Lots of laughing and talking - and we also enjoyed the sunset over the valley!

What's up next?

The coast of California will be my next stop, for about a week of "just relaxing" then I'll be meeting up with some of my Joslin cousins in Missouri in mid-May. After that, I'll be returning to Indiana to "settle down" into a somewhat "normal" life - whatever that is!

G.R.I.P. is on the agenda in July. I'll be attending "Your Immigrant Ancestors’ Stories: Writing a Quality Narrative" with John Philip Colletta and Michael Hait and in August I'll be going to the FGS Conference in Fort Wayne. I'm looking forward to seeing some of genea-peeps again and soaking in some knowledge that will, hopefully, help with the research process.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "My Genea-Mecca Sojourn is Coming to an End," Kinexxions, posted April 26, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-genea-mecca-sojourn-is-coming-to-end.html : accessed [access date])

Thank You, Family Tree Magazine

2013-04-17T00:04:00.000-05:00

Early this afternoon, I took a break from research at the Family History Library and checked in on Facebook. There I saw a couple of mentions about Family Tree Magazine's Top 40 Genealogy Blogs in 2013 so I clicked through and started reading the article. I was amazed and honored to find that Kinexxions had made the list in the "Story Time" category!

There are many fine genealogy blogs being written and it had to have been difficult to pare it down to just 40. I know I'd be hard-pressed to come up with such a list. But, like Randy at Genea-Musings, I was surprised to see some very excellent blogs missing. Congratulations to all of those who are listed.

For new visitors here, the post written in January for the 6th anniversary of Kinexxions, Now It's Six, provides links to the "year end" roundup posts and will give you some idea of what's been written in the past. Posts have been somewhat sparse thus far this year but more will be coming in the near future.

Thank You, Family Tree Magazine. I appreciate the honor and the recognition.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Thank You, Family Tree Magazine," Kinexxions, posted April 16, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/04/thank-you-family-tree-magazine.html : accessed [access date])

Thoughts on RootsTech

2013-03-26T14:49:00.000-05:00

Much has already been written about the RootsTech Conference, which was held last week in Salt Lake City. Randy Seaver has compiled a list of Geneablogger posts in his post RootsTech 2013 Geneabloggers Review. But I thought I'd add my two cents worth...

I managed to arrive on time for the keynote speakers on Thursday morning in spite of having to remove two inches of heavy, wet snow off of Van Dora and then driving in "rush hour" traffic through the valley. That drive stressed me out so much that I decided to forgo the keynote addresses on Friday and Saturday - knowing too that they were being recorded and would be available for viewing later.

I'm not going to give a run-down of the sessions that I attended but will just say that with 6700+ people in attendance, most rooms were crowded. There were several sessions I wanted to attend but couldn't because the room was already at capacity when I arrived 5-10 minutes before they were due to start!

This year I decided to attend sessions on topics that I knew very little about. For the most part, that strategy worked out well. However, I had a big issue with the descriptions of some of the sessions and the fact that very few were identified as Intermediate level. The bigger issue, however, is that several sessions identified as Intermediate were definitely not. And, the titles of some sessions were misleading.

One session, billed as "using technology to solve research problems," was very disappointing. In my opinion, it was a basic beginners level overview of how to do your genealogy - the only "technology" mentioned was the use of the internet and genealogy software. In fact, the speaker, after polling the audience to determine our research level, stated that she expected more beginners to attend.

Some of the highlights... learning about the Genographic Project, picking up some ideas from Denise Olson on using Powerpoint (or other presentation software) to tell short family stories with pictures (photo above), and learning that Thomas W. Jones utilizes online family trees in his research process.

On that latter point, the Thomas Jones session "Can a Complex Research Problem Be Solved Solely Online?" was worth being stuffed into the smallest room available. The session was unlike any other I attended - an interactive experience with the audience responding to questions regarding resources that might be used and then learning from 'the master' what was actually used. Can you imagine getting an email from Tom Jones inquiring about the sources for your online tree?

Will I attend RootsTech next year? Doubtful. But then, that's what I said last year! I think a better option for me is to watch the sessions that are live-streamed and archived for later viewing. Also, if they follow through on their plans to have 600+ locations holding sessions locally at the same time in conjunction with live-streaming - well, that would be awesome.

The downside of attending virtually, of course, is that you miss out on the interaction with other attendees and spending time with friends. But if RootsTech grows in attendance next year like it did this year, the current venue would be impossibly crowded...

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Thoughts on RootsTech," Kinexxions, posted March 26, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/thoughts-on-rootstech.html : accessed [access date])

Out of Texas... into New Mexico... and Beyond

2013-03-17T21:31:00.000-05:00

After departing Big Bend National Park on March 3rd, I traveled about 100 miles northwest to Fort Davis, just as I had done three years ago. Once again I stayed at the Davis Mountains State Park for nearly a week. And, once again I did pretty much the same things as then but there were no hikes or even pretty sunsets.

Leaving Fort Davis on March 10th I made it into New Mexico, traveling west through El Paso and north to Alamogordo, stopping for the night at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park. It was extremely cloudy in the north as I drove out of El Paso giving me hopes of seeing a nice sunset. There were several layers of clouds that blanketed the sky when I arrived but within an hour they were gone! It was amazing to me how quickly the clouds disappeared.

My Campsite, looking toward the east.

A fun and rather dramatic shot of Van Dora and the mountains in the background.

The think layer of clouds that blanketed the area when I arrived gave way to puffy cumulus clouds and blue skies.

By the time the sun was setting, the clouds in the west had blown away.

The mountains to the east caught the last golden rays of the setting sun.

In the intervening week, I ventured into the north and western parts of New Mexico, primarily because I had never been there before and actually ended up in Colorado briefly. I'll have more photos posted in the next few days.

When I left Indiana, I had planned on eventually spending some time in Salt Lake City again. That time has come... the last three days were primarily spent driving (and driving), and I have arrived in Salt Lake City. I've also registered for RootsTech and hope to see many of my genea-blogging friends this week.

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Becky Wiseman, "Out of Texas... into New Mexico... and Beyond," Kinexxions, posted March 17, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/out-of-texas-into-new-mexico-and-beyond.html : accessed [access date])

Big Bend Revisited :: Boquillas Canyon Trail

2013-03-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday, March 3rd - - On my last day at Big Bend, I decided to hike the Trail to Boquillas Canyon, going in mid-morning to avoid the heat that was coming later. It was forecast to get near 90 degrees today, the hottest day yet.

It is a short trail - only 1.4 miles round trip - but it takes you up a rather large hill, then back down the other side.

The trail provides some nice views. Blending into the distant landscape is the the town of Bouquillas. If you look closely you can see a few white buildings in the center of the photo, just beyond the green area. Actually, the town is not far from the Rio Grande Village area.

One of the many bends in the river. The man in the foreground was fishing. I wonder if he caught anything?

On my previous visit in February 2010 I had the pleasure of hearing "Victor, the singing Mexican" but he was on the other side of the river then. There were several bottles set out along the trail, asking for donations for singing. Some bottles were identified as Jesus, others as Victor. This man was standing beside one of the bottles identified as Victor but when I asked his name, he said Jesus! Anyway, while I was in the canyon area, I was being serenaded.

The path leads you to the river...

The canyon walls go straight up, and the river disappears around the bend.

It was cool in the canyon, but as I walked back out, I could feel the heat. It was indeed going to be a hot day and it felt good. A few of the buildings in the town of Boquillas can be seen in the far right corner of this photo. As always, double-click to view a larger version.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Big Bend Revisited :: Boquillas Canyon Trail," Kinexxions, posted March 13, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-bend-revisited-boquillas-canyon.html : accessed [access date])

Big Bend Revisited :: Cerro Castalon

2013-03-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday, March 2nd - - In English, Cerro Castalon is called Castolon Peak. Whatever you call it, it dominates the landscape in the Castalon region in the southern realms of Big Bend National Park.

The southern view is the most photogenic side of Cerro Castalon. As you drive in from the north the peak appears from out of nowhere as you crest one of the many hills. The road winds through the area with virtually no place to pull off to get a picture.

On my way back from Elena Canyon, I shot this through the front window, stopping in the middle of the road. There wasn't much traffic... Shooting through the windshield adds a greenish tint to photos so I converted it to black and white and adjusted the contrast a little.

At the base of the peak, on the western side, is a pull-out. This too, is Cerro Castalon though it doesn't look quite so impressive from this vantage point... which just goes to show, you need to look at everything from different perspectives!

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Becky Wiseman, "Big Bend Revisited :: Cerro Castalon," Kinexxions, posted March 12, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-bend-revisited-cerro-castalon.html : accessed [access date])

Big Bend Revisited :: Santa Elena Canyon

2013-03-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday, March 2nd - - From Rio Grand Village to Santa Elena Canyon is about a 55 mile, very pleasant scenic drive, through the varied terrain of Big Bend National Park. It's worth the drive.

There is not much water flowing through this area of the Rio Grande. On the right you are in the United States, on the left is Mexico. You could easily walk across the Rio Grande, but it is definitely not recommended. In fact, it is illegal to do so.

A trail goes up the canyon wall in a series of short switchbacks on the far right, then takes you on back into the canyon a short distance. The temperature was reaching into the 80s and I had done the hike three years ago so chose not to do it this time.

This is the creek that was full of water during my last visit. You have to cross it to get to the trail. Going across was a bit of challenge then, not so now.

Yep, it was pretty dry. Some of those cracks were 3-4 inches deep.

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Becky Wiseman, "Big Bend Revisited :: Santa Elena Canyon," Kinexxions, posted March 11, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-bend-revisited-santa-elena-canyon.html : accessed [access date])

Big Bend Revisited :: Torrey Yucca

2013-03-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Thursday, February 28th - - As I was driving from one place to another, I kept seeing this strange looking plant. It stood anywhere from four to six feet in height. Usually the bottom half was still brown and dry looking, but on the upper portion were long green spikes and a huge flowering head. There are quite a few pull-outs along the park roads but it seemed there weren't any of these plants in those areas. I finally found a pull-out with several of them somewhat near the road, while on my way to Boquillas Canyon.

This is the Torrey Yucca... The University of Texas at Austin website has some information about the plant as well as some pretty neat photos.

Many of the specimens I saw had only one flowering clump adorning the top, but this one, as well as others, are sporting two.

What appears at first glance to be one huge flower turns out to be a clump of many small flowers, in varying stages of development.

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Becky Wiseman, "Big Bend Revisited :: Torrey Yucca," Kinexxions, posted March 10, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-bend-revisited-torrey-yucca.html : accessed [access date])

Big Bend Revisited :: Boquillas Overlook

2013-03-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

Thursday, February 28th - - It was late afternoon when I drove out to Boquillas Overlook on the east side of Big Bend National Park. The road to Boguillas Canyon is a mile or so from Rio Grande Village. It is a short but somewhat "challenging" drive with lots of twists and turns along the way.

Signs are posted in certain areas of the park regarding Mexicans coming across the river to sell trinkets and craft items "for the support of the Boquillas school." The signs warn you that purchasing these items is illegal. However, there is apparently enough income gained that they continue to present their wares for sale.

At Boquillas Overlook there were several boulders used for displaying the goods for sale. The sign reads "Art, Craft, for Sale please purchase to Help Boquillas Mexico school kids Donations are aseptable. Walking Sticks - 6, Scokoypions - 6, Road runner - , Ocotillos - 5..."

All of the displays were selling similar items... walking sticks, and scorpions and road runners made from wire and beads.

When I arrived at the overlook, there was a Mexican walking away from the area. He waved, said hello and something else that I didn't understand, then walked down the hill and away toward the river.

I nonchalantly started taking pictures... Looking to the East...

Looking to the West...

And the view to the south... Oh, my - Across the river a boat sits on the shore and to the right, under a clump of trees was a group of men...

A close-up of the men lounging in the shade of the trees. I didn't mention earlier, that another sign at the turn-off to Boquillas Canyon warned of numerous recent vehicle break-ins. We were told to make sure our vehicles were locked and that valuable items were hidden away. I wondered if these were simply men lounging about or were they bandidos? Ah, the mind can take you off into some strange places...

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Becky Wiseman, "Big Bend Revisited :: Boquillas Overlook," Kinexxions, posted March 9, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-bend-revisited-boquillas-overlook.html : accessed [access date])

Big Bend Revisited :: Chisos Basin

2013-03-08T13:20:00.000-06:00

Thursday, February 28th - - It was about 180 miles from Seminole Canyon State Park to the northern entrance of Big Bend National Park. At 10:30 when I finally left Seminole Canyon, the temperature was 57 degrees with a few clouds, lots of blue skies and sunshine.

Once you get to the entrance of Big Bend, it is another 30 miles to the visitor center at Panther Junction, then another 24 miles to the Rio Grande Village area in the eastern side of the park. The road to Rio Grande Village is mostly downhill - it takes you into the "lower" portion of the park - and the temperature went from a cool 60 degrees to a much warmer 69. Yeah, that was nice!

I picked out my campsite, which was to be "home" for the next four nights. The campground was not full by any means and there were plenty of sites to choose from whether you wanted one "out in the open" or more secluded along the southern section (as I did). As usual in most National Parks there are no hookups for electricity or water in the "main" campground. However, Big Bend does have an "RV" area with hookups but it is pretty much a parking lot.

Friday, March 1st - - It got quite cold during the night, as expected, and it sure would have been nice to have a little heater to take the chill out of the air. Instead, I just stayed in the sleeping bag a little longer than usual...

It was still chilly when I finally got up, but it was quite comfortable sitting in the sunshine and eating my breakfast. I decided to drive up to the Chisos Basin area, stopping along the way for some photos...

Looking to the West, from about 5 miles east of the Panther Junction visitors center.

Somewhere along the lower portion of the road to Chisos Basin. It's about 8 miles once you turn off the main road to Chisos Basin. The road goes uphill, winding its way through the mountains, gaining several thousand feet in elevation, and making several hairpin turns. The road is not recommended for vehicles pulling trailers longer than 20 feet or for RVs more than 24 feet long.

I don't think there have been any recent bear sightings, but mountain lions were seen in several areas earlier in February. One was even sighted along the Window View Trail not far from the visitors center and the Chisos Lodge.

Once you get to the highest point along the highway, you then start going down into the basin area. Hidden out of view are the campground and Chisos Mountain Lodge.

Traveling a little further along the road, the campground area comes into view. I stayed there for five nights on my visit in February 2010. The vehicles look so tiny compared to the mountains surrounding them.

The view through the "window" from the Window View Trail near the visitor center and Chisos Mountain Lodge.

My visit this year would be very different than it was in 2010, and shorter. My legs can't handle the long hikes as well as they did three years ago and I am pitifully out of shape. Nevertheless, the visit this year was very enjoyable and more relaxing, and of course, there will be more posts/photos to come. Below is a list of the posts from the 2010 visit I thought you might enjoy reading again (or perhaps, for the first time) - I was far more adventurous then!

February 20, 2010 - Chisos Basin (posted March 10th)
February 21, 2010 - Lost Mine Trail (posted March 11th)
February 22, 2010 - Laguna Meadows Trail (posted March 12th)
February 23, 2010 - Snow in the Chisos (posted March 13th)
February 24, 2010 - The Window Trail (posted March 14th)
February 25, 2010 - Rio Grande Village (posted March 15th)
February 26, 2010 - Down by the River (posted March 16th)
February 27, 2010 - Hot Springs Trail (posted March 17th)
March 1 & 2, 2010 - Cerro Castellan (posted March 19th)
March 1 & 2, 2010 - Castolon Homesteads (posted March 20th)
March 1 & 2, 2010 - Santa Elena Canyon (posted March 21st)

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Becky Wiseman, "Big Bend Revisited :: Chisos Basin," Kinexxions, posted March 8, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-bend-revisited-chisos-basin.html : accessed [access date])

Seminole Canyon :: Revisited

2013-03-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, February 27th - - If you are going to Big Bend, and I was, the last "large" town is about six hours away - Del Rio, Texas is the place you want to stock up on supplies and fill up the gas tank! Del Rio is the home of the Amistad National Recreation Area with a large reservoir that was startlingly low compared to the last time I came through the area, three years ago. There are a few little towns and ranches west along highway 90 but once you get through Del Rio, it appears barren and desolate. Actually, it was pretty much the same from Junction to Del Rio!

About 60 miles west of Del Rio is Seminole Canyon State Park, near Comstock, where I spent the night, as I had done nearly three years ago on February 19th and February 20th.

Private property borders the park and the two are separated by a rather flimsy fence that extends for miles. In-between the metal posts were these "stick" posts that helped support the sagging fence.

The posts were connected very loosely to the fencing with twisted strips of wire.

It wasn't a "spectacular" sunset, but 'twas very nice.

There was more color, and clouds, in northwestern sky.

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Becky Wiseman, "Seminole Canyon :: Revisited," Kinexxions, posted March 7, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/seminole-canyon-revisited.html : accessed [access date])

Their Roots are Showing

2013-03-06T15:30:00.000-06:00

Friday, February 15th - - Today was a travel day. I left Big Lagoon State Park in Florida and ended up in Monroe, Louisiana by late afternoon. There I would spend the weekend visiting with my distant Joslin cousins, Sue and Joann (with whom I have traveled in the past), as well as their sisters Missy and Sally, and of course, their mother Ruth. Joann's son, Matt and his two children were also visiting so I had the chance to meet them. Sue wrote about their visit to the cabin - she has some really nice photos of the kids. It was great to see them all again! Thank you, once again, for your hospitality.

Monday, February 18th - - Departed Monroe, Louisiana and traveled westward on Interstate 20 then south to the Martin Dies Jr. State Park a few miles west of Jasper, Texas. The forecast called for rain, and that is what Mother Nature delivered, with intensity at times.

The sky brightened up a bit as the sun was going down, but the break didn't last long - it rained throughout the night.

By morning, the rain and clouds were gone and blue skies were all around. There are two rivers that join together at Martin Dies Jr. State Park. I don't know which one this is but the water was low - perhaps because of the extended drought in Texas the last few years.

If you've ever wondered what the root system of a Cypress tree looked like, now you know! I'm guessing that there is one large "tap-root" that extends further down into the ground that supports each clump of trees.

I traveled further westward and south a bit to South Llano River State Park. Located a few miles south of Junction in central Texas, along Interstate 10. I had picked up a "bug" just before getting to Monroe that got worse as time went on. It started as a sore throat, then coughing, and then a headache and sinus pressure. I finally gave in after five days and went to a medical clinic in Junction where I was prescribed an antibiotic and cough syrup. Within two days I was feeling much better. Thank you very much!

South Llano River State Park is a nice park. The campground was great, one of the nicer ones in the Texas State park system (in my opinion). The sites are large with lots of space in-between each site. You pick your own site so can select a shaded or sunny site, whichever you desire. It was a good place to simply lounge around and recover from a minor illness. I did take advantage of some of the shorter trails and took a walk most every day. The weather couldn't have been better - well, except for the one day (Monday, the 25th) when the temperature dropped into the 50s and the wind gusted up to 50 mph! That day was mostly spent at the library!

Wednesday, February 27th - - Another travel day. Finally feeling well enough to move on... heading further south.

Wednesday, March 6th - - I know you are wondering - Where am I now? I will say this - I'm still in Texas, just not as far south as I was this past week!

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Their Roots are Showing," Kinexxions, posted March 6, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/their-roots-are-showing.html : accessed [access date])

Shore Birds

2013-02-26T06:00:00.000-06:00

One of the pleasures of strolling along the beach is watching the birds. They move in and out quickly with the ebb and flow of the waves. It is fascinating to see how they can time their movements so that they don't get drenched by the waves.

The least bit of movement on my part and they take flight.

This fella (or lady) graciously posed for me, though not for long...

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Becky Wiseman, "Shore Birds," Kinexxions, posted February 26, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/02/shore-birds.html : accessed [access date])

Designs by Nature... Digital Souvenirs

2013-02-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

Thursday, February 14th - - Since I have limited space available for collecting souvenirs of my travels, I prefer to think of my photographs as my souvenirs - they are much easier to keep and store and often bring back the memories better than any object could.

So, while strolling along the beach, as I find "those shiny objects" or interesting patterns, I simply take a photo...

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Designs by Nature... Digital Souvenirs," Kinexxions, posted February 25, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/02/designs-by-nature-digital-souvenirs.html : accessed [access date])

From One Beach to Another

2013-02-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monday, February 11th - - After leaving the St. Augustine area, I headed west toward Pensacola. It was a beautiful day - with sunshine and temperatures nearing 80 degrees - at least until I got a few miles west of Tallahassee!

Driving along Interstate 10, I could see a dark wall ahead. It was rather ominous looking so I started slowing down. Thankfully, other vehicles did the same and a few minutes later I entered the darkness. The wind buffeted poor Van Dora and the rain pelted the windshield. In a matter of seconds, the bright sun disappeared and the temperature dropped from 80 to 65 degrees.

I've driven in a lot of different weather conditions but this is the first time, I think, that I literally drove into a cold front. It was both fascinating and frightening at the same time! Thankfully, the worst of it only lasted about 10 minutes. But the colder temperatures remained, as did the rain (off and on), for the next 3 days. I stopped for the night before reaching my destination. Florida has some very nice State Parks along the I-10 corridor between Tallahassee and Pensacola.

Tuesday, February 12th - - I continued on my way to Pensacola and checked in at one of my favorite campgrounds - Big Lagoon State Park. A few errands that needed taking care of took up the remainder of the day and I settled in with the laptop for a few hours before turning in for the night.

Thursday, February 14th - - Yesterday was a mostly rainy day and was spent in the library, which just happens to be across the road from Big Lagoon. How convenient is that! This morning it was also extremely cloudy and drizzling rain but after noon I noticed that the sky had started clearing - the sun had come out and with it blue skies. I closed up the laptop and headed for the beach.

Part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore is just a short drive from Big Lagoon - cross over a bridge onto Perdido Key and make a left turn after a few blocks and there you have a pristine, undeveloped, beautiful shore that extends for several miles. There were few people wandering the beaches. It was still rather cool, only 55 degrees, but there was very little wind and the sun felt quite warm.

The sand alongside the road was 5-6 feet high. This pattern, made by the wind and bits of grass, reminded me of a sun dial. I strolled along the shore for several hours, savoring the sunshine and the sound of the waves.

Looking westward, the sun glimmering on a receding wave.

To the east, the shimmering white sands seem to go on forever.

The wind, weather, and waves had cut into the shoreline in several places, creating drop-offs of 12-18 inches.

In other areas, little valleys had formed along the shore. It made for interesting walking!

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "From One Beach to Another," Kinexxions, posted February 24, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/02/from-one-beach-to-another.html : accessed [access date])

Anastasia in the Morning

2013-02-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monday, February 11th - - After 5 days in the Saint Augustine area my stay at Anastasia State Park came to an end. It had been a wonderful few days with a little rain and gloomy weather along with a few days of sunshine and blue skies, but the warmer temperatures were great. I awoke early this morning and headed to the beach before the sun rose above the horizon. It was windy and the surf was from 3-5 feet high. The beach was nearly deserted with just a few other folks wandering the shore.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Anastasia in the Morning," Kinexxions, posted February 22, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/02/anastasia-in-morning.html : accessed [access date])

The Manatees of Blue Spring

2013-02-20T13:40:00.000-06:00

Sunday, February 3rd - - Located north of Orlando, Florida along the St. Johns River, Blue Spring State Park is the winter home of a small population of West Indian Manatees. Perhaps a dozen or so were within the viewing area provided by the park on the day I visited. For more information on the Manatees, see the Save the Manatee website.

The shallow, crystal-clear water is ideal for viewing the Manatees.

A little one coming up for air.

A group of four youngsters heading upstream.

This one was feeding on the algae at the bottom of the stairs. It was there for quite a while and it was one of the larger manatees in the area that day.

Another large one meandering upstream. They seemed to like to hang out beneath the viewing platform.

A more mature manatee.

A psychedelic version, compliments of a little wind and some sunshine.

There was a lot of pushing going on around a tree that had fallen into the stream.

The green leaves must have been the best tasting...

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "The Manatees of Blue Spring," Kinexxions, posted February 20, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-manatees-of-blue-spring.html : accessed [access date])

Georgia Sunrise

2013-02-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

Funny thing about how the world turns... for every sunset there is a sunrise. Though ordinary they might be, each one is a sight to behold. I don't often get up early enough to catch the sunrise but on this particular day I was camped along the northern shore of a little inlet on Lake Blackshear in Georgia Veterans State Park and I was awakened by the early morning light. The colors in the sky were magnificent. But, of course, by the time I had gotten around and outside some of the awesome color had dissipated somewhat, but it was still quite nice.

February 1, 2013 at 7:16 am Central Standard Time.

Taken at 7:29 am.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the light changes and the dramatic effects, especially during the times of a sunrise or sunset.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Georgia Sunrise," Kinexxions, posted February 13, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/02/georgia-sunrise.html: accessed [access date])

Georgia Sunset :: On The Road Again

2013-02-11T08:09:00.002-06:00

Reflection in the side window of Van Dora. Taken January 31, 2013 at the Georgia Veteran's Memorial State Park southeast of Americus, Georgia.

A few minutes later, the colors are more muted.

You may have guessed by now that I am no longer in Indiana! I was ready to leave the cold weather behind in November, but for a variety of reasons was unable to get away until the end of January. After a short stop in Alabama to spend a few days with my friend and distant cousins, Babs, I've been enjoying the much warmer temperatures and very pleasant weather in Florida for the last week (in spite of several rainy days). As an added bonus, I was able to meet-up (separately) with two geneablogger-real-life friends, Charley aka Apple, and Denise Barrett Olson. I thank them both for their hospitality and for the time spent with them.

Even though I am now traveling, work continues on that monster Database Cleanup that was started in December. Once the sun goes down I have several hours before turning in for the night - and those rainy days are put to good use too. It's actually kind of fun - I'm getting "reacquainted" with some of the families that I haven't worked on for a long time and seeing a lot of "data holes" that need to be filled. It is awfully tempting to go searching for the "missing" information but I'm trying really hard to stay on track!

Registration for G.R.I.P. was last week and as much as I really wanted to attend (particularly the new tract with Tom Jones) I decided to forgo that opportunity this year. To be honest, I haven't fully absorbed everything from last year. The syllabus and my notes are traveling with me so when I get tired of working on the database they are available to peruse. I also felt that it was important to get the database straightened up a bit as well as getting all those documents reviewed that I obtained at Salt Lake City in 2010 and 2011 - I have barely even scratched the surface with them. Perhaps G.R.I.P. or one of the other institutes will be on the agenda in 2014.

I'm not sure how long I'll be traveling this time around, or even where all I'll be going. There are a few places on the "definite" list, mostly in The West, but this journey will be taken at a much slower pace than was done previously, with more time spent at each stop along the way.

==+==+==

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Georgia Sunset :: On The Road Again," Kinexxions, posted February 11, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/02/georgia-sunset-on-road-again.html : accessed [access date])

Foster Family :: Index to Posts

2013-02-05T15:13:00.001-06:00

An Index Post is how I keep track of all of the blog posts that have been written on a family line. It helps keep me organized and allows visitors to easily find information on that family. This post will be updated as new blog posts are written on the family.

It is not known when William Foster (my 5th great-grandfather) who was born Wilhelm Georg Forster about 1749 somewhere in the area now called Germany, came to this country but it is presumed by some researchers to be about 1765. What is known is that he married Magdalene Daniel, daughter of Adam Daniel, on April 19, 1774 at Christ Lutheran Church, Tulpehocken Valley, Bethel Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. About 1796 he purchased 190 acres of land on the "drains of Bauman Mill Run" outside of Strasburg, Virginia.

By that time he had become a Lutheran minister and served two small congregations - one in neighboring Hampshire County (now in West Virginia) from 1797 to 1803 and the other - then known as the "Hawksbiel" church in Page County from 1798-1806.

About 1805, he began a stint as a traveling preacher in the wilderness of what would become Perry county, Ohio. He moved his family to Ohio in 1808 and lived there until his death on July 11, 1815. During that time, he organized at least three Lutheran congregations in what is now Perry County, Ohio. In addition to being a Lutheran minister, William became a large landowner. When he died in 1815 his bequest to each of his 12 children was 160 acres.

My line of descent is through his 10th child, Benjamin Foster (1791-1879). His daughter, Sarah Foster (1818-1904) had a son, William Brubaker (1843-1912), who was born out of wedlock. William's son, Charles Romain Brubaker (1871-1945), had a daughter, Hazlette Aileen Brubaker (1902-1984). She married Rolland Victor Phend (1893-1991) and they are my mother's parents.

The Search for Hawksbill Church - - November 11, 2009 - - Located in Shenandoah County, Virginia the Hawksbill Church was the pastorate for three of my ancestors - the first two pastors of the church were Johann Caspar Stoever Sr. (1733-34) and Johann Caspar Stoever Jr. (1734-42). They were my 6th and 5th great-grandfathers, respectively. The eighth pastor of the Hawksbill Church was my 5th great-grandfather, Wilhelm Georg Forster, who served from 1798-1806.
Help Wanted! A gift received from a Genea-Angel! - - December 31, 2011 - - A reader sent a "Letter of Recommendation" for Wilhelm George Forster that was signed by two of the reader's ancestors. The letter is undated but written while Forster was still pastor of the Hawksbill Church, which he left in 1806.

Benjamin Foster (1791-1879) had two children by his first wife, Margaret "Peggy" Myers (abt 1797-abt 1821): Sarah and Eli. In 1821, Benjamin married Margaret's sister Anna Maria, known as Mary Myers and had 11 children with her. Benjamin lived in Perry County, Ohio and is buried in Zion Ridge Cemetery in Thorn Township.

Sarah Foster (1818-1904), whose first child, William Brubaker was born out of wedlock in 1843 was married on March 28, 1849 to George Thomas Parkison. About 1851, they moved to Thorncreek Township, Whitley County, Indiana. Sarah's brother, Eli, as well as several of their half-siblings also moved to Whitley County at about the same time or shortly thereafter. John Brubaker, the father of William, had settled in Rock Creek Township, Huntington County, Indiana prior to 1850.

Tombstone Tuesday :: Parkison Family - - November 4, 2008 - - Sarah and her husband George, as well as their son Benjamin are buried in the Masonic Section of Greenhill Cemetery in Columbia City, Indiana.
See Brubaker Family - Index to Posts for information on the Brubaker Family.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Foster Family :: Index to Posts," Kinexxions, posted February 5, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/02/foster-family-index-to-posts.html : accessed [access date])

Now It's Six

2013-01-12T03:00:00.000-06:00

Six years. It seems like a lifetime in some respects. Yes, Kinexxions is now six years old. It was a nerve-wracking decision to join a very small group of people writing about their family history and genealogy. They inspired me to start blogging. But I wondered - Would anyone read what I wrote? Would they like what I wrote? Would they even care? And if they did, why?

But that decision to "just do it" has proven to be one of the best things I ever did.

That group of genea-bloggers became friends that I cherish. Friends whose opinions I value. And friends that I enjoy meeting and spending time with when possible. The number of genea-bloggers has grown tremendously in the last few years as has the number of my blogging friends. It's been a real pleasure getting to know y'all through your blogs and even more fun when we can get together in person.

It was a real thrill when I got my first comment - left by my (now) friend Apple, on my fourth blog post. Once upon a time, we were strangers in blogger-land but then we became friends. We've even met several times. Thank You, Apple!

I was also extremely flattered and honored to be asked by footnoteMaven to contribute A Moment in Time as the first post in her series "Friday From The Collectors" on Shades of the Departed. Dear fM has had a rough time of it this past year (to say the least!) with complications from knee surgery. Now that she is on the road to recovery, I hope we "see" her back on Shades very soon.

At the end of every year a recap post is done that highlights what is thought to be the 'best' blog posts, or the most popular, or whatever, for that year. These 'year-end' posts do provide a sampling of what has been published here, for better or for worse.

2007 ~ ~ 2008 ~ ~ 2009 ~ ~ 2010 ~ ~ 2011 ~ ~ 2012

Favorite Places 2009-2010 ~ ~ Where I went in 2011

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Now It's Six," Kinexxions, posted January 12, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/01/now-its-six.html : accessed [access date])

A Good Idea Gone Wrong :: But, I've Done It Before...

2013-01-11T19:25:00.000-06:00

If you don't publish a Blog and you don't use Blogger you may want to skip this post... I'm venting...

I did what I've done for the past couple of years. But this time a change made to Blogger (probably when "New Blogger" came on the scene) has caused extra work as well as a little frustration on my part.

A group of posts was created a few years ago that I call "Index Posts" and they list the blog posts that have been published for a given surname. As new stories are posted for a surname, the Index Post gets updated with links to the new post and periodically the date of the post will be changed. The date is changed so that when someone does a search on the blog for a specific surname or clicks on a surname label at the bottom of a post the Index Post will be displayed near the top of the search results.

Maybe I should have known better, but, in the past, doing what I've done did not cause any problems. But what I learned today means I won't be doing the same thing again!

You know that thing called a permalink, aka the url for a post? Well, contrary to it's name, it isn't a permanent link. At least, not if you click on the button that says "Revert to Draft" while you are editing a blog post AND you change the publication date of the post. If you've done that and you then re-publish the post or page, the permalink (url) could change. That's not good. Especially if you have linked to that post within other posts. It's now a broken link.

So, I had updated all of the surname Index Posts (19 of them!) before I discovered the error of my ways. And then it was too late. I tried to change the url by using the "custom url" but that didn't work. It only allowed me to enter the last portion of the url (the part after "kinexxions.blogspot.com/2012/12"). If a post had previously been published, say in July 2011, the beginning portion of the url would have been "kinexxions.blogspot.com/2011/07". When I changed the date, Blogger changed the date portion of the url to "2012/12". And therein lies the problem.

After a few choice words, and thinking about it for a while, I edited the "Master" Index Post to update it with the new links. And then edited the two "Pages" for my Maternal Ancestors and Paternal Ancestors, as well as the links along the sidebar that list the surnames that I am researching. Those are the obvious links.

The "problem" now is that I know there have been times when I've linked to an Index Post from a another blog post. I don't think I've done it very often but, in my opinion, one broken link is one too many. For one thing, it leaves a bad impression. And for another, it's irritating to the reader.

If I had thought about it, and if I had kept track of the date the posts were last published, I could have edited all of the posts a second time and then reverted back to that publication date. I think that would have worked and I wouldn't have the broken link problem. Each of the Index Posts does have the date it was last updated, but that isn't necessarily the date of last publication. In other words, I may not have changed the date when the post was updated.

I've spent all afternoon and evening working on this. I'm irritated. I'm frustrated. Mostly at myself but also with Blogger. So, I'm going to "sit" on this for a few days and think about it some more, then decide if it is important enough to go looking for broken links to the various Index Posts. In the meantime, if anyone has any great ideas regarding this, please let me know. Oh, and if you come across a broken link, please notify me. I won't yell at you. I promise.