Genealogical Humor

A number of years ago, I attended a class on humor. My brother was with me and the teacher told a story of an individual who found a 'character' in his family history and decided to make him seem a bit more 'upstanding'. I remember Adam and I laughing a lot and talking about it for days.

I ran across it and had to share.

The original story, written on the back of a photograph:
Remus Starr: horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison, 1885. Escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton Detectives, convicted, and hanged, 1889.

The Rewritten story:
Remus Starr was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1885, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renown Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Uncle Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.

And, because I think every post should have a picture, here is my neighbor's car, with a mustache.

Final Days in Florida

It doesn't seem possible that my Florida adventure is drawing to a close. Here is a brief synopsis of exploring I wanted to post about but simply don't have the time to do it justice and probably won't but I want to get it down.

I visited St. Augustine, the Nation's oldest city, about a month ago. It was spectacular. Again, another trip that I didn't have near enough time to do and see everything I wanted to.

I started my day at Fort Matanzas. I took the ferry across the intercoastal waterway and got to climb all over the fort. This fort guarded the backdoor of St. Augustine. It was here that I learned that the initial momentum of a fired cannon is faster than the speed of sound!

I had to see the St. Augustine lighthouse since it is the sister lighthouse to Cape Hatteras. I climbed, of course, and decided that I like Hatteras better. Hatteras' view is better and it's taller. I sweet talked my way into the Castillo de San Marcos for free and attended an absolutely fabulous ranger talk and got to see them fire the cannon. Awesome!
I took an afternoon and drove up to the Okefenokee Swamp in GA. I saw more alligators here than I did in the Everglades and Big Cypress combined! I took the boat tour and loved it. Next time though, I'm kayaking.
I was able to take a couple days and head to Florida's Space Coast. My first stop was the Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, then up the beach to Cape Canaveral National Seashore. There are limited campsites here and all but two are accessible by canoe only.

I loaded up my canoe and started out. It didn't take long to discover my canoe had a leak. It wasn't bad, but by the time I paddled the bathtub up to my campsite, everything was soaked (yeah, waterproof bags aren't waterproof when immersed for two hours in a canoe) and it made for a somewhat soggy evening. I had an island in the intercoastal waterway almost all to myself. The only other campsite on the island was a half mile east of me. The next morning as I was paddling back to the ranger station, I found myself surrounded by a pod of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. I'm in an environment that is as pristine and untrammeled as it gets, I can hear the waves from the Atlantic, not a soul in sight, shore birds hanging out, fish jumping out of the water, water as smooth as glass, me, my sinking canoe, and dolphins coming to investigate... does it get much better than that?!

It was off to NASA the next day. My only complaint was that it seemed like they were going for the Disney effect and I wasn't too impressed with that, especially growing up with Space Center Houston. Oh, and the bathroom was atrocious. However, my admission let me see a 3-D IMAX about the ISS, take a bus out to the launch pads, learn about some of the really cool stuff they're developing, take the simulated shuttle launch experience, and...

coolest thing ever, I got to meet a real astronaut!!! This is me with Mark Lee, who has been on four space shuttle missions! It was pretty awesome. He gave me a challenge and I have until the end of the summer to complete it. It's no small feat, but I'm up for it. How can I let a real, been up in space, floated around in 0-Gs, done unteathered spacewalks, astronaut down!?
Finally, I acquired a running buddy when I arrived in Florida and we set a goal to run to the Georgia border. This last Saturday, we did it. When we started, it was raining and thunder was booming all around us and I thought it was rather stupid to be running in this weather when we could get struck by lightning.

Here is a picture of me and Micah C., tired and sweaty, but at the border!

Next stop, Great Basin National Park, Baker, NV. (By way of Houston, TX for a few days.)

The Appetizer Trip

I took a trip last week. I left early, early Wednesday morning, and didn't get back until Sunday night. I put almost 1300 miles on my car. I went a lot of places, saw a lot of new things, but didn't even scratch the surface of what was available. What I was originally calling my Trip South, has been renamed the Appetizer Trip.

I started with a stop at DeSoto National Memorial. Yes, as in Hernando. (Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth was the week before in St. Augustine. Hoping to post on that soon.) I went to a ranger talk on fire making and uses of fire and found it fascinating. I'm trying to figure out how to talk about fire this summer at Great Basin.
I headed farther south into Big Cypress National Preserve. I've got to go back and rent a canoe and explore that area. I camped the night at Monument Lake and it was beautiful. I walked through the campground chatting with those that were out and had to capture this guy fishing, at sunset, on the lake.

My little tent, it's first time out of my trunk in a long time!

Thursday morning I was up early and headed for Everglades National Park. Everglades!! Oh my gosh, I was so excited. This was definitely a place where I need at least a week to do and see everything. Plus, I really wanted to take an airboat ride but wasn't able to. I did, however, see plenty of these guys to last me a while.

My campsite in the Everglades. I was basically on the southern-most point of the Florida mainland. I went to a ranger campfire program titled Salt: The only rock we eat. It was so-so.

In the morning, I finally was able to break out the trekking poles I got for Christmas (!!!) and did a hike all the way to the top of Rock Reef Pass. It was a hard climb, the elevation down there can really get to you!

From the Everglades I set my sites on the southern-most point in the USA, Key West. I stopped on Marathon Key for lunch with old friends from Montana days. It was great to see them and get caught up while eating fabulous seafood!

I checked into my campground on Big Pine Key and got my tent pitched, then drove a few more miles to Key West. I walked almost that entire town. I saw Ernest Hemingway's house, traversed the historic district, and much more, but still have a list of things I wasn't able to get to, like a museum that has Spanish gallion ship loot; I hear you get to heft a gold bar!

I joined the mob of tourists, and with ice cream in hand (it was in the upper 80s/lower 90s the whole trip) I enjoyed sunset from Key West. It was spectacular! There was a wedding reception going on a little way down the boardwalk and they had a steel-drum band playing which only enhanced the atmosphere of the evening.

After a major fight between my tent and the wind (in which the wind won and my tent went rolling across the campground in defeat, with me in it no less...but that's another story) I did a few laps in the pool at the campground and called it a night.

This is what I woke up to the next morning. Big Pine Key has Key Deer; basically they are really stunted white-tail and they are free to roam around. This little one got really close to my tent.

I left the Keys and the prettiest water I have ever seen in my life and headed for Biscayne. I got my book stamped, watched the park film, and chatted with the rangers. Another park I've got to explore with a snorkel and fins, for sure!

I made my way north through Miami and took a slight detour. Anyone recognize this house? Don't be jealous, but I got a picture of the loft too!I headed north and drove until I couldn't drive anymore. I got a room (with a shower!!) and woke up early and drove the rest of the way to Jacksonville to attend my church meetings. I drove back to Macclenny after church and my roommates had welcome home signs up all over the house. It made me feel pretty special.

Life is good.