Road Trip 2014: Family in Cottonwood

July1/2, 2014

After a few nights on the road it was nice to pull into my uncle and aunt's home in Cottonwood, Arizona where we would spend a couple of nights to get rested for our Grand Canyon trip and the road home. As I mentioned in an earlier post we hit some stormy weather leaving Winslow. It was a little windy but no rain in Cottonwood.

Our stomping grounds for a few days

We had big plans for our 1 day off the road: Montezuma's Castle, Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, maybe Jerome. But when the morning dawned we decided we had been in the car enough and cut back our plans. High on our list was Montezuma's Castle over my Campe Verde, about 20 miles east of Cottonwood. It was going to be a hot day, topping 100˚ so we decided we'd better get to Montezuma's Castle early. After retiring from his job as assistant superintendent of schools in Cottonwood, my uncle worked as a guide at the Montezuma Castle National Monument; he left that job in the 80s and was interested in revisiting the area.  

Neither part of "Montezuma's Castle" is correct. Spaniard explorers in the mid 1800's  thought this abandoned site was related to Aztec sites so ascribed the famous emperor's name (Montezuma) to the abandoned site. In fact this site, and others nearby were inhabited by the Sinagua (without water) people. Neither was it a castle; rather it was a community for farmers who may have moved up to the cliffs to provide more room for their crops. Naturally, though, these were well protected from assault. Not much is known of the people or why they vanished. Both the Navajo and Hopi peoples consider this an ancestral home and trace their lineage here. 

We took a short hike on a well paved road to the base of the site. We sat in the shade and listened to a docent talk about the place and the people. 

Montezuma Castle National Monument; Camp Verde, AZ

We headed back to Cottonwood for a quick, delicious lunch Carla, Jeanette and I decided we did want to see the red hills of Sedona. So off we went on the 30 or so mile jaunt northeast. I drove up on the neighborhoods on the west side of town and stopped a few times for Jeanette to get a nice view of places like Coffee Pot rock. Being busy navigating the road I didn't get a picture myself. Here is one taken from east of town looking west last spring on our retirement road trip.

Red Rocks of Sedona, Arizona

Uncle Jake's birthday was coming up so Carla, Jeanette, and I went hunting for a cake to celebrate. We got a large cupcake and a bunch of smaller donut-hole like cakes. After getting back and cleaning up we wen to the Verde Valley Schoolhouse Restaurant where we had a delightful meal.  We came back to the cake and took a few pictures to commemorate our visit.

Aunt Sally, Uncle Jake, Howard, Carla and Jeanette

Crazy pose: Aunt Sally, Uncle Jacob, Howard, Carla, and Jeanette

I really love my uncle. My mom and dad are gone and I have such wonderful memories of him when we would go visit Winslow as a child. He had a great standup radio with many different bands in his room that he'd let me tune and play with. He also drove my mom and sisters and me back home to Palmdale one summer after a visit when we travelled to Winslow by train. When I was very young, I had my heart set on a toy 30-30 rifle I saw in a Western Auto store. I worked at pulling weeds at my grandparents' house to try to earn some money; and was just simply delighted when he gave it to me. Finally, I recall going for a walk with him to a small drug store with fountain where we had cokes served in those paper cones (like snow cones are served in) stabilized in a little metal frame. He is such a warm, caring person. I try to get down to see him and Sally at least once a year. I was so happy and proud to introduce Jeanette to them.

My favorite uncle, Jacob, celebrating his birthday

 We slept in a little on July 3 and dawdled before our trip up to the Grand Canyon. We caught Jeanette in a mischievous moment.

Jeanette and Jacob and Sally's home.

Next stop, the Grand Canyon and then home.

Jurgen's Family

June 26, 2014

Jurgen is 15 days old today and we finally got everyone's schedules synchronized in order to grab a group photo.

Jurgen, Jeanette, Henriët, Howard, Andrew, Carla

Jurgen, Henriët, Andrew

Jurgen, Henriët, Andrew

Carla and I have been married 38 years today; we can't think of a better way to spend our anniversary.

Road Trip 2014 - Jurgen's Room

Henriët's mother, Jeanette, is an artist; we have some of her work on our walls at home. She arrived in Chicago from Johannesburg a few weeks before Jurgen was due. Her first mission on arriving was to paint and decorate Jurgen's room to remind him of his heritage. Henriët and Andrew are also taking a bilingual approach with Jurgen. Henriët speaks to him in Afrikaans, while Andrew uses English.

At any rate, Jeanette did a fantastic job of painting the nursery. She did some special work on the ceiling and drew many South African animals on the walls.

Jurgen's room from the door.

Jurgen's crib. He's not sleeping here yet; he is in a basinet in his parents' room.

You can see the crocodile ("krokodil" in Afrikaans) above the crib; each wall has one or more animals sketched. My photography skills are not adequate to capture the beautiful work Jeannette did.

The ceiling is made up of various angles and planes. Jeanette did a great job of bringing it to life by painting a beautiful set of lines that makes it look like a colorful tent.

Looking up at the ceiling

Jurgen has a beautiful room that he will enjoy and that will remind him of his South African heritage.

Road Trip 2014 - June 24-25 Jurgen, Henriët, and Andrew

Let's take a break for a moment from the sites on our road trip, and the trains I've seen to focus on why we headed to Chicago in the first place - our little grandson Jurgen - born to Henriët and Andrew. As most of you know, Henriët is from South Africa; she was very close to her grandfather Jurgen; she also has an uncle in Dubai and a cousin in Australia named Jurgen. His initials also provide us with four out of five generations of "JTs". My dad, his dad, my older son, and now Jurgen.

He's just turning two weeks old today (June 25) and it has been simply amazing to watch him grow so much in the last week. I've forgotten how intense those first few weeks are; it's been wonderful watching Henriët and Andrew stepping up to the challenge and figuring it all out on the fly - as we all do.

There are also so many more gadgets than 30+ years ago. Andrew and I, but mostly Andrew, worked through how to use the baby carrier. On Jurgen's day 13, Andrew strapped Jurgen in and off they went for a walk through the hood.

Jurgen checking out his dad, Andrew

Jurgen and Andrew pose.

Henriët, Jurgen, and Andrew; the family has grown by 50%!

If you are aware of the rule for clothing babies - "one more layer than the adults" -  you're probably thinking the rest of us are standing around naked. I assure you we are not. We are all at comfortable and appropriate levels of dress.

"Dag 14" is Afrikaans for  "Day 14". Jurgen's two week birthday celebration.

Baby Jurgen

Carla and I drove from Portland (Oregon)  to Chicago to visit our son, Andrew, daughter-in-law, Henriët, co-mother-in-law Jeanette (visiting from South Africa), and our new grandson Jurgen!

I took some pictures along the way and will post some accounts of our travels, but today I held klein Jurgentjie (baby Jurgen) for about half-an-hour while Andrew worked on a class he was taking and Henriët grabbed a quick nap. I can't remember a better 30 minutes since Andrew and Jeff were babies.

After 30 or 40 minutes he'd had enough of Oupa's charms and wanted his Mama.

Visit to Glenn and Carolyn's in Tacoma

As we did last winter, Carla, her sisters and I went up to Tacoma to visit their brother Glenn and his wife Carolyn. We had an extra bonus this year when Jim, Starr's husband, decided to join us. He has roots in Washington and wanted to explore Vashon Island. He is interested in finding his grandparents grave sites so he can add his parents' ashes to the family site.

We took the three hour drive from Portland to Tacoma on Saturday morning December 28.

Vashon Island; just north of Tacoma

When we arrived, Glenn and Carolyn had the fire going, with their mild tempered dog, Daisy, in her spot.

Daisy sitting in front of the fire.

Glenn, Carla, and Linda in the kitchen

 They had a nice evening planned for us; family friends Tomoka and Sumit, who live about an hour way in the Seattle area came to dinner as did Glenn and Carolyn's delightful neighbors Linda and Michael. Carolyn fixed a delicious Mexican food dinner; for dessert we had some of Carolyn's Christmas cookies and Jim's chocolate chip cookies. Carolyn is a master of design; she makes beautiful decorations of wreaths and holly leaves on the cookie icing. They are almost too pretty to eat; notice I said almost.

Linda, Tomoka, Sumit, Linda and Michael

After a fun evening filled with margaritas, wine, and conversation we headed down the hill to the Silver Cloud Inn to get some sleep.

When we woke up Sunday morning there was a misty fog covering Puget Sound; Carla and I headed out for a brief walk before breakfast.

Silver Cloud Inn of Tacoma; our room was on the 3rd floor at the far left end.

Posts from a long-abandoned pier.

A sea bird stretching its wings

 After a walk we enjoyed a nice breakfast. Carla and I are veterans of hotel breakfasts; this was pretty good compared with other morning fare we've had.

Carla catching up with the news over coffee.

One of the things I like about the  Silver Cloud Inn is the BNSF mainline between Seattle and Portland runs right across the street. On the way to  Glenn's we caught an idling consist of Union Pacific locomotives waiting for the way to clear.

UP locomotives waiting for traffic to clear.

It's a short 10-15 minute drive from Glenn and Carolyn's place to the ferry terminal to make our way to Vashon island. We parked on the lower deck and headed upstairs for a look at the view.

Jim watching the coast slip away in the fog as we depart Tacoma

Carla, Starr, and Linda huddling together for some warmth on the upper deck.

 Once we hit Vashon island we took the western road up the island and cut across where Jim and Starr had identified a cemetery. We didn't drop in since there were not caretakers there on a Sunday. This was just a reconnaissance mission; they will return later to visit this and other cemeteries to find the ancestral spots.

We then headed towards town and perused the shops.

Treasure Island where we saw some interesting things

A vintage Peugeot scooter outside of Treasure Island. 

Scary snake mask at Treasure Island; I wonder what the nose used to look like.

By now it was getting on towards noon and we looked for a place to eat. December is definitely off season here and most places were closed for the winter.

What a character looking out at us.

Close-up of Perry's Vashon Burgers mascot.

 We ended up having a cup of clam chowder at Zombies. They serve the chowder in paper coffee cups in case you need to depart quickly to avert zombies.

On the ferry ride back to Tacoma we saw birds resting on anything that rose above the water's surface.

Birds making themselves at home on some old pier posts.

A bird stretching its wings on a Puget Sound buoy

Tacoma comes into view

We made our way back to the freeway and headed home. It was a great weekend.

Family Barbecue - June 30, 2013

Andrew and Henriët were coming out west (how odd that sounds) for a wedding in Couer d'Alene over the 4th of July. Anytime they come home we try to get a party organized; I finally feel confident enough in my brisket to share with a group and this would be the best chance of the summer.

They were due to arrive at 6:00 on Friday evening June 28; my favorite butcher, Gartner's Meats, is close to the airport, about an hour from home. It seemed like a perfect plan; pick up the meat, then the kids and home in one trip. As the poet Robert Burns observed in his poem "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough"

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,

or

The best laid schemes of mice and menGo often awry 

(and people told me my English Literature major was a waste).

 Andrew called me from the airport to tell me the plane would be a few hours late. Since Gartner's closes at 5:00 it meant I'd need to make two trips. No big deal; I have Fridays off now that I'm semi-retired and it was a nice warm day for a drive to the DES (Dreaded East Side). Oh, except it was Friday before a holiday weekend and there was road construction on one of the freeways resulting in backed up freeways all over town. A 45 minute drive out to Gartner's took two hours; followed by another hour back. And I had that trip to look forward to later that night when Henriët and Andrew arrived at 9:30. Oh well, it was an inconvenience but didn't rise to the level of  "grief and pain" Burns referred to. And the results of the two trips were well worth it; kids at home and good barbecue.

I rubbed the brisket with Meathead's Big Bad Beef Rub. My recipe showing ingredients and measurementgs is here.

Rub ingredients

It went on the smoker at 8:35 on Saturday night. A few laters I went out to check on it.

Brisket on the smoker for a few hours

Andrew caught me in action.

It finished in about 12 hours - much faster than I planned for. I separated the point from the flat, cut the point into chucks, dusted with more rub and put it back on the grill for an two and a half hours (one hour would have bee great).

Burnt ends. The real treat of brisket. Almost as good as bacon

I wrapped the flat in foil, and put in a Coleman cooler wrapped in towels where it stayed toasty warm for 4 hours.

The flat cut across the grain. Decent smoke ring.

Dinner is served. It tasted better than it looks here.

I used the Cook's Illustrated barbecue sauce recipe which is my go-to. Simply the best barbecue sauce I've had. I'm not bragging; credit goes to Cook's Illustrated, not me. 

Barbecue sauce ingredients

I smoked this on a Mak 2 Star Grill. If you'd like to see the details of the cook, check here. (10/5 corrected the link). 

Later in the afternoon the family arrived bringing side dishes and what-not. 

Andrew, Linda, and Sarah

It was a hot day so we jammed one table right next to the house to get some shade.

Sarah, Andrew, and Henriët. We are blessed to have these two wonderful women in our family.

 This picture captures a very rare image of Jeff in the wild.

Starr, Charlie, Jeff, and Jim