Radden/Clopton Roots Tour
 
Springview

May 27
May 28
May 29
May 30
May 31
June 1



Dean, Lorraine & LRH
Arms Length in the Airport

Thursday, May 27, 2004

7:00 am. Ismail arrives and loads me into the car. Ismail, from Morocco, is one of Ephraim Shem-Tov's drivers--and yes, we do the "Call me Ismail" joke. Across the park to pick up the Clopton's, who are waiting in their vestibule.

An easy ride to LaGuardia and time after getting luggage checked and through security to get a bagel and a cup of coffee.

It's a crowded flight. I try to jam my fat ass against the bulkhead to avoid squishing the nice young woman in the middle seat.

I manage to get reasonably comfortable and pass out--always helps to stay up the night before a flight and sleep through as much as possible. We have a slight delay taking off due to bad weather in Chicago or ducks on the runway or some damn thing, but the pilot makes up for it and we are only a few minutes late.

Time for a snack at the airport in Chicago and then we're off again. No wait! We have a delay. The on-board computer needs to be replaced and tested. Oh, that's not a bit encouraging.

But this flight is not full and I have the luxury of the open middle seat and then I find a broadcast channel playing Beethoven and I am content to start a new book.

Finally, we are off. I enjoy the contour farming pattern as we fly over Iowa. Glad to see everything looking so green and good. Omaha is Omaha. How many times have I been through here? It doesn't take Dean long to do the paperwork for the car for Lorraine to confirm reservations at the hotel for our return trip.

It is HOT in Omaha--no surprise. We trundle all our myriad belongings over to the Thrifty lot and find our car. Luckily it has a nice big trunk. Off we go up the interstate to almost Sioux City and then over to Highway 12. Smooth road and no truck traffic and that beautiful Niobrara River. We stop at a gas station in Ponca for some pizza and snacks and then back down the road. Eventually, the twin turbines appear on the horizon and we are in Springview just at sunset. We have been traveling for 12 1/2 hours. See some pictures of Springview. Here's a map. Pictures of old Springview.

There is time for a little conversation before Dean and Lorraine are on their way over to Long Pine for the night. We enjoy an article that Betty Hermsmeyer has written in the Springview Herald that week about the folks.

I sort out my belongings. No matter how much I plan, I never get everything organized to suit me. Except for those nasty stairs, I love being up in that bedroom.

  



Bed Buddies
LRH with her Daddy and Mommy

 



Dean & Lorraine
Dressed for the Alumni Banquet

 

Friday, May 28, 2004

A great night's sleep after the nap of the night before. Breakfast, shower and in the car (Yes, Dad is still driving.) to drive around town taking pictures of various points of interest for Aunt Helen. She wants a photo record for her sister Ruth's birthday.

It's poppy day and we dutifully wear our poppies around town. A stop in the library (home of the former Niobrara movie theatre) to see what's new. Very nice, but still strange. I used to think it was a huge building. A stop at the bench outside the bank in memoriam--Lawrence and Audrey Gibson.

Home for dinner and naptime. Lots of little naptimes. Mom and I sort through some papers for a couple of hours. We enjoy the fish supper at Flynn's and to out to the cemetery. It's a beautiful evening, still and warm. It seems like an ideal time to take out the flowers. Every year the folks decorate the graves of our friends Grace and MC Rees, Rees' daughters Mary Ellen and Velda, and Velda's baby, Grace's parents, Grampa and Gramma Newsham, Dad's cousins Homer and Pearl Shattuck, and Dean's folks, Ray and Manila Clopton.

Up to the mulit-purpose room at the grade school for the Old Fiddler's Concert. I have a very good conversation with Janet and Tom Schiffern. Unfortunately, the news about their brother and my classmate, Dick is not good. He has developed Alzheimer's.He was a physicist at a nuclear facility in Idaho. So sad. He was the smartest of us all.

The Kenaston family and friends are playing lots of tunes and the crowd is having a good time, but Dad has had his skinny butt on a metal chair for two hours, and they are ready to go home and hit the hay. (That's a rural expression--it means go to bed.)

  



Gary and Kathy

Saturday, May 29, 2004

L & D arrive before we have gotten out of our jammies. Most of the day is spent in preparation for the Alumni Banquet.

Dave Clopton (Dean's brother) and Kenny Rinehart (Dave's classmate) come around after nap time to show off grandchildren pictures.

I give Mom a manicure and work on my own paws. It is warm today. I will be dying in that black sweater tonight. Seemed like a good idea when I bought it in March.

Gary and Kathy Tuton (my brother-in-law and his wife) drive up as we are getting ready. Kathy looks stunning in a beautiful black dress, but my mom takes the cake in her black outfit and crystal jewelry to match her hair.

We are a little late in getting to the high school. There is no time to shuffle place cards, but luckily I am sitting next to Doris Patterson Eichenberger (My only classmate in attendance.) Across from me is Willie and Carol Lawrence and on my left is Kristi Frew. Bob Jamison and his wife and Mick Zink are cattycorner.

My orange jello has melted into a pool, but I lap it up with my spoon. The baked potatoes are always good, but the roast beef has the consistency of shoe leather and the green beans with bacon are the color of sage brush.

There is good conversation and laughter throughout dinner. The program begins with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer. The first honored class is the class of '34. Doug Sheppard (Larry and Carol's son) is the MC for the evening. The classes of '54 and '64 are well-represented, but after that the classes got to be very small. Also there is that general ennui about reunions with people who do not have the grim reaper tight on their tail like we do.

There is some visiting and picture-taking in the multi-purpose room at the grade school across the parking lot, but we leave shortly thereafter followed by Dean & Lorraine and Gary & Kathy to visit at home.

Soon they are off to the Comfort Inn and we are asleep.

  



Lee & Nettie



LRH

Sunday, May 30, 2004

Mom has had a bad night with very little sleep due to a sore neck and the day is miserable--cold, windy and rainy. We loll about for the day and visit, enjoying tomato and baked bean soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Cabin fever forces me to take a short walk around town when the weather finally calms down after supper.

We have waffles and sausages for supper. They are good!

    

Monday, May 31, 2004 -- Memorial Day

We don't get it together to do the Legion program at the high school, but we drive out to the cemetery. The wind is as strong as I have ever seen it without being a tornado. Amazingly, the flowers are still mostly intact.

The crew heads to Flynn's afterwards for barbecue beef sandwiches, potato salad and pie. We drive around town to check up on everything and try to identify who lives where and with whom.

A nap, load of laundry and some old picture albums fill up the afternoon hours.

Kaye Carr has brought cookies over to enjoy with our afternoon tea and invited everyone for dinner tonight. Mom & Dad beg off, but Lorraine, Dean and I go.

We have a nice dinner with Kaye and Pat Fitzgerald (nee Mock) and her husband Tom. He's a piece of work and she seems more than a little odd, but all things considered, a pleasant evening.

Home to pack.

  



Avenue of Flags at Mount Hope Cemetery

Tuesday, June 1, 2004

Lorraine and Dean and I leave Springview at 8:30 am. We stop to take pictures of the bank in Valentine with its brick frieze mural. It is by a Lincoln artist, Jack Curran. My friend Dean's brother Jay Tschetter also does brick work out of Lincoln. But his work seems much more detailed than this. It is an interesting effect, nonetheless.

We stop for homemade cinnamon rolls in Merriman, gas in Chadron, lunch at the Outpost Cafe in Lusk and arrive at Aunt Myrtle's in Casper about 4:30 pm. Myrt looks great. 91. I should be in such good shape. She has a refrigerator full of food and we have a great supper. A short walk around the neighborhood and early to bed. We are pooped. Riding in a car is hard work!

A Typical Wyoming Garden

Lorraine and LRH Examine the Flora and Fauna
in Myrtle's Neighborhood

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LRH on Main Street of Valentine


Brick Mural on the Valentine Bank

An Arms-Length Shot with Cinnamon Rolls in Merriman
(Yes, the locals thought we were crazy)