Donner Museum

A bit of hiking and a trip to the Donner Museum too!

I think we finally made it to the top! 

And after a day of hiking ... it's time for good eats!

I think this trip was the beginning of stretch of years

that we decided camping would be "our thing"!!!

Donner State Park

Donner Memorial State Park is a state park of California, 

preserving the site of the Donner Camp, where members of 

the ill-fated Donner Party were trapped by weather 

during the winter of 1846–1847. 

Caught without shelter or adequate supplies, 

members of the group resorted to cannibalism to survive. 

A pretty waterfall along our trail

The mountains seem to go on forever here in Truckee, Calif

And David doing a little rock climbing on this hike!

Camping Again!

Beautiful lake up in "gold country"

where we've headed camping again with the Albin family.

We must be hiking up to the top with Buffy and David in the lead!

David and Lori at water's edge.

Water, logs, rocks, hiking, balancing .... 

We were an adventurous family!

Family Reunion, pt 2

Handsome bunch o' fellas! 

Barbara and family

Diddle (Donald) and family

Good times all around!

The entire family made it for this family reunion

that brought Ed and Mabel out from Minnesota.

“Family is like branches on a tree; 

we all grow in different directions, 

yet our roots remain as one.” 

-Unknown

Birthdays and Puppy Tricks

Happy 9th Birthday to Lori!  

and another fun shaped cake!

Looks like it was a garage party!  

And another Easter Cross at St John's Lutheran Church.

Still orchards out there, we aren't sharing facilities

with another church yet.

Teaching a new dog new tricks!  Shake, Buffy, Shake!

Looks like we cemented some rocks into place around

the little garden area.  And we still have those flamingos!

Potatoes!

Just for perspective: Things sure have improved. 

Grandpa Pape hauled potatoes in his big red truck. 

But borrowing from the Library of Congress, 

here's a truck loaded with potatoes in 1937. 

And a young boy picks potatoes near EGF, 1937. 

He's filling a basket, each potato bag holds two baskets, 

and weighs about 70 pounds when loaded. 

(1937 Photos by Russell Lee)

Family Reunion

With Ed and Mabel visiting, it looks like we're having

a good old fashioned family reunion!

Mom will have to correct me if I'm wrong

but I believe this is George and Vanessa.

Vanessa would be Grandma Myrtle's niece,

her brother John's daughter.

 

This might be the Donald Liden family then

This is the Bob Liden family:  

Kathleen, Shirley, Bob, Colleen, Shirleen and Dan.

Doing some guesswork here:

Donald, Vivian, Vanessa, Blanche (mom) Barbara and Bob.

Those other two men in the back I don't recognize

and my family tree might be incomplete ... 

one could be John.  

Please chime in and help me out!  Thanks!

Welcome to Fall

When it came to chores around the house,

Dad was OK with just about any kind of help!!

It's Spirit Week at Cabrillo Jr High

and it must be "Western Day"!!

The family in front of the house.  Looks like Dad has done

some work here.... punched out the dining room wall a bit.

Did we have a built in window seat here now??

Ohhh, I like the 70s dress and vest I'm wearing... in purple of course!

Look how little the hedges are ..... they get big enough to hide behind

in a few years!!

And we've got company... Ed and Mabel Liden.

Ed one of Grandma Myrtle's brothers.

Another Sunny Sunday!

Here we are again, must be another Sunday, we're all dressed up.

We're standing in front of these heather bushes

that were in the front of the house.

They were pretty, but too much maintenance

and way too many bees!!!

Lori and her friend, Donna Martin in matching dresses.

That's some really big flower print!

Ah, the way the kitchen looked in the old days!

All that honey wood cabinets and the linoleum!

Did Buffy the dog crawl in there for a nap?

or is she hiding before/after a bath??

Buffy was content to sit in the bike basket

while I rode around town.

I rode miles on Dad's bike!

Winter Beach

Looks like a winter trip to the beach ... 

long pants, sweaters, Mom's wearing a coat

and a scarf to keep the wind out of her ears!

A little bit of rock climbing ....

And we're somewhere with a pier, but this doesn't look like

Santa Cruz.  Love the way we're reflected in the wet sand!

We must be hunting sea shells .....

There's something magical about the beach

how it's always the same, and different, every time you go.

"Every time I stand before a beautiful beach, 

its waves seem to whisper to me:

If you choose the simple things and find joy in nature's simple treasures, 

life and living need not be so hard."

-Psyche Roxas-Mendoza

Dad

My Dad, Oliver.

He was probably 17 or 18 in this photo, so 1956 perhaps.

No idea where he is, maybe someone will recognize

what looks to me like a little bridge? Or maybe its a trailer.

With that lock of hair falling down his brow, 

it gives him "the Elvis look", don't you think?

Wonderful Christmas

Ahh, the Holidays once again.

Here's our Christmas Tree, things must be good,

loads of presents!  (And always tinsel, of course!)

Such a big smile with her little baby doll..... 

Dad and David, one of my fav pictures

building with the Thing-a-ma-Jigs!

And I have to laugh, they built it on mom's

"Trim Twist Executive Exerciser" by Jack Lalanne

(I remember watching his TV show in black and white.)

And an oh so fun farm set! 

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,

and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."

-Norman Vincent Peale

Feel the Fall!

Here's David in front of the orange tree ... 

looks like we got our first harvest!

A jack-o-lantern .... and the new pup, Buffy

She was cute, all dark and fluffy

I see we still have those pink pelicans .... 

Buffy in a pile of leaves.

The fruitless Mulberry tree in the backyard sheds a LOT of leaves.

In later years, we learned we could trim the tree

right before the leaves turned .... 

they didn't fall, but stayed attached to the limbs.

A yearly chore in late October!

Expose'd!!

Uncle Carl Kringsberg.  

This is Grandpa Charley's Uncle, his mother's brother,

a definite family resemblance, in my opinion! 

And one with a fascinating background. 

American mentalist and performer on the Redpath Chautauqua circuit 

in the 1920s with his wife, billed as 

"Miss Esmeralda Martin, the Girl With the Radio Mind". 

Their show was mainly an exposure of spirit mediums and their methods.

"So much has been written and said about Spiritualism, both for and against it, 

that Mr Kringsberg has undertaken to expose its fallacies.  

This he does by performing many of the thrilling spooky tricks 

employed by the leading mediums of America and Europe, 

and then taking the lid off  and explaining how it's done, 

proving that in spite of appearances there is nothing supernatural in it."

"Assisted by Miss Esmeralda Martin, 

he gives a programme of music, magic, mystification and myrth, 

that is not only highly amusing and entertaining, 

but it also educational and greatly worth while." 

 

I am so tickled when I find out something about our family!

Found one last poster!