A cold front dipping south brought very strong winds to Apache Junction, Arizona yesterday afternoon and evening. At our spot here in Pacific Manor, we are on an end site, with a six foot high block wall on one side and the rear, but even with that our old bus was rocking on its air bags so much it would have made a landlubber seasick! I told Miss Terry I wondered how much more we would have felt without the wall blocking the wind. I’m sure glad we weren’t out on the highway someplace.
We’ve been in some nasty winds while traveling, and the best thing to do is just find a safe place to get off the road and wait it out. We’ve done that many times, not only in high winds, but in other storms as well, and we’ve always been amazed at how many RVs we see still going down the highway.
We’ve also been in RV parks when the weather was dangerous, and seen RVs pulling out first thing in the morning. Why? Where do they have to get in such a hurry? I guess if you’re still working and have to get back to the job, it might be a reason. But I’ve seen fulltimers doing it too, and I just don’t understand it. I’m a dyed in the wool coward, and I avoid putting myself in dangerous situations any time I can. Life has enough hazards as it is, without driving into them.
Which reminds me – do you have a weather radio? If not, why not? They only cost a few bucks, and can save your life. Our CB radio has a weather channel feature on it also, and whenever we’re on the road and things start to look ugly, I turn it on to see what we’re heading into. I also monitor the CB to hear what the truckers say about the weather, and more than once we’ve heard about a bad situation up ahead and found a place to pull over and wait for things to clear up.
Our time here in Apache Junction is almost over, but we’ve enjoyed spending time with Terry’s family. Here is a photo I took earlier in the week of Terry sitting on the right, her sister Dani in the center and sister Lisa on the left, with her dad and mom, Pete and Bess Weber, standing behind them. That Weber family sure turns out some good looking women, doesn’t it?
A while back, my pal Judy Bayless discovered that I had about seventeen minutes a week that I was just wasting by doing things like sleeping and eating, so she turned me on to genealogy. Since then I’ve been playing around on the Ancestry.com website, and have found quite a few relatives, even a few that didn’t serve time in prison, much to my surprise.
The Mormon Church operates over 4,500 Family History Centers worldwide, with a tremendous amount of information on genealogy. You don’t have to be a member of the Mormon Church to research your family tree at these Centers, they are open to anybody free of charge. The staff at the Centers are happy to assist both new and experienced genealogists, and they do not promote church membership to visitors.
There is a large Family History Center in Mesa, and yesterday while Terry and her mom were out running some errands, I stopped by to see what they had to offer. Unfortunately, their computer system was down and I couldn’t get much done. But I can see that it is a great resource for anyone wanting to explore their roots. If you’re into genealogy and are spending some time in the Phoenix area, check it out.
Every week people ask me how Sandy Baleria is doing. Miss Terry and Sandy keep in contact by e-mail, and though it is a long and lonely journey she is on, she has managed to turn her grief over Dave’s loss into a positive thing to reach out to others who are suffering. You can read about it in my post on Sandy on my Todays Hero Blog.
Thought For The Day – Talk slowly but think quickly.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Geneaology is great fun, and informative, too. However, be very careful of taking data at face value. The LDS site is helpful but is also full of errors, as I found when checking out my ancestors. Cross-check everything and don’t accept anything as gospel (no pun intended) until you have documentation, real historical documentation, not hearsay.
The Weber’s certainly have three very pretty girls!
Well Nick, in all our visiting we never uncovered that you are interested in genealogy. It just so happens that is my MAIN hobby/passion. I was happy to see that you are giving a plug to the LDS Family History Centers. I was actually the director of the Aurora, CO FHC for several years. We had at least 30 volunteers on the staff. It was one of the busier FHC in the system. Although I haven’t done much research in the past few years, I do keep up with the latest resources etc. If you need any help or have any questions, feel free to contact me. The next best thing to discovering my own ancestry is helping someone else be successful in their search.
I agree with the first comment – don’t take anything at face value. ALL the resources out there are great helps in your research, but do your own checking on the sources. I don’t mean go to the courthouse and do research someone else has already done, but to do a spot check online etc. using information you personally know is correct and compare it with the new information you are receiving. Generally a good spot check will tell you if the sources cited are correct or bogus.
Unfortunatly – ANY online or printed information is frequently filled with mistakes. Since genealogy has become such a popular hobby, many people just copy someone else’s information without checking it out first. If there is one mistake, it can become magnified 100 times pretty quickly.
Good luck on your research. Will be looking for a report on your results.
I am looking into the purchase of a Tiffin Motor Home (Phaeton). A large part of my anticipated travel would be in the north during winter. How do I learn about operation in winter…doe’s and don’ts etc etc.
Thanks.