Marc and I left Sedona around 08:30AM. While driving through northern Arizona we received the sad news that our Uncle Tom passed away. We had seen him on our June visit to Louisiana, and his health had declined pretty rapidly after that. We were grateful that we got a chance to see him while he was still able to enjoy our visit.
We enjoyed a relatively peaceful drive (considering the bad news about Uncle Tom that we received) to Ridgecrest the rest of the way. After arriving in Ridgecrest and checking into our hotel, we then drove over to the THE GRAPE LEAF and met Uncle Bill and Lynne for dinner. Sadly, the THE GRAPE LEAF removed the Calamari appetizer from the menu, but I adapted. We caught up on various events and enjoyed our dinner. Our server made sure Lynne's Senior Steak was prepared to her liking (medium rare). Then we drove over to Uncle Bill and Lynne's house to visit some more. Tom and Hunter came by a little while later and joined us. We visited until about 09:00PM, when we said our goodbyes and returned to our hotel.
Among the topics covered that night: we reviewed the slides that Dad shot in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Uncle Bill said that Dad brought Mom to visit in Fall 1962, not December 1961. In December 1961 Dad picked up Uncle Dick in El Paso and came alone. Uncle Bill shot the Chena Hot Springs slides; not sure how Dad got a hold of those slides.
Uncle Bill recalled visiting us for Thanksgiving 1980 and listening to Mom speak French with Uncle Dallas, some Uncle (I am guessing Uncle Dallas) making moonshine, and the house on Kimball Drive. Uncle Bill recognized several of the cars in Dad's slides. Quite a trip down memory lane; even Tom recognized a few of the cars.
According to Uncle Bill, Aunt Pat has many of Uncle Bill's photographs. Curiously, Uncle Dick did not take any photographs. Kind of puzzling when you think about how many photos Dad and Uncle Bill took over the years...
Tom inherited Uncle Dick's white pickup truck, which he still has. In fact, he is currently working on it to get it driveable again. Something about the engine needing work... David inherited Uncle Dick's SATURN, which sadly died in traffic a few years ago.
Lynne scored an awesome classic BERNINA sewing machine, minus the power cord, along with 5 boxes of comics. David's partner Marc helped her load everything into her car.
I got up at 06:53AM feeling completely rested. Marc and I drove to LUGO'S for our usual breakfast with Aunt Pat and MarLyn. We saw Aunt Pat outside, where she guided us to our table after introducing us to a couple that she knew. MarLyn, along with David and Marc, Mike, and Tom and Hunter were already sitting at the table visiting. Everybody looked great and was in good spirits. I stretched a little bit on my diet, eating eggs and bacon. Fortunately, my stomach did fine with that. I visited with MarLyn for a while, learning more about her children. She has 3 children: Don (the oldest), Ken, and Annette. She also has a few grandchildren to keep her busy :-)
We finally got to meet David's partner Marc, who is a great guy and lots of fun. Marc is an architect currently designing interiors, which he really enjoys. Marc is also a fellow escaped Southerner (miss our fmaily and the food, not much else), originally from Mississippi.
According to Aunt Pat, Dad came to Ridgecrest with Uncle Dick (not Mom) in December 1961. Uncle Dick went across the border from El Paso and bought 10 bottles of Kahlua for Aunt Pat, who was pregnant with David at the time. David was born the following month.
Aunt Pat and MarLyn participate in a Cancer Walk every year in Ridgecrest, where they remember family and friends who passed away from cancer. They very kindly remember our Mom and Dad along with Uncle Dick every year. This year they gave us 1 of the bags that they made for the Walk remembering Mom and Dad and Uncle Dick. We were very grateful for their gift.
Getting current with David and his job situation: he quit SAM'S CLUB to work for an independent contractor for a while. That did not work out, so now he is working for a non-profit corporation that donates end-of-life medical equipment to people and countries that need it. Sounds like a cool job, and David is happy with it.
After a couple of hours, we were all visited out. So we walked outside for a few family photos and then said our goodbyes.
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