Observations

[Diane Amberg]

That is super! You both must have some really wonderful stories to tell each other. Korea huh? Interesting.
   Right now I'm trying to find some "missing" high school classmates for our reunion in Oct. I'll not tell you which reunion because it makes me feel so old. You can guess, I'm sure. Our class wasn't really very big at 123.  A few we couldn't find for the last reunion and we're pulling out all the stops for this one. I'm hoping between siblings who would know where they are and hunting on the internet, we can finally track down the ones who are still alive. We lost several to Viet Nam ,and several to accidents and cancer. One who has already confirmed is coming from Australia! Of course a good handful are still in the area and we see each other often.

[larryJ]

My 50th reunion will be this year.  As I only attended that school one year, senior year, I don't really have much to do with the people there.  I did receive a notice of a reunion being planned, but I'm not going.  I happened to stumble into my 25th reunion by accident.  My son and I were headed to Howard for a family reunion and spent the night in the town where I graduated.  We found out the next morning that there was a reunion going on in the city park.  People had a hard time remembering me even though there was a year book there.  We stayed about two hours then continued on to Wichita to meet up with my brothers.

Yesterday, the weather was a little cool and a little windy, but we took the oldest granddaughters to Knott's Berry Farm.  Back in the 60's and 70's, Knott's was free (no entry fee).  You could walk in and go in all the shops and enjoy the wild west show, ride the train, ride the stagecoach and even pan for gold.  Lunch and dinner was served at Mrs. Knott's chicken restaurant for a moderate price.  It was a great place to go for the day.  Today, Knott's has all the thrill rides comparable to Disneyland or Six Flags Magic Mountain.  The park is divided so that you can still go through the shops, but to ride the rides or the train, etc., there is an entrance fee.  $29 for juniors and seniors.  So $116 for the four of us. 

I had a feeling before we left that the day was not going to be a good one.  My wife had her walker and we had a stroller for the 3-year-old, if needed.  It was busy for this time of the year and day of the week, but then a lot of kids were on Easter break.  We did have to park quite a ways from the entrance, but not too bad............going in.

Immediately, my wife and the oldest were going to ride the Sidewinder.  Of course, the little one wasn't big enough and wouldn't have gone anyway.  So she and I waited while the other two waited in line for almost an hour.  During this time the little one and I explored Camp Snoopy and met several characters such as Linus and Sally.  We saw Snoopy and Peanuts.  We went back to the Sidewinder and watched just as the other two were getting onto the ride.  I set the stopwatch on my phone.........almost 45 minutes in line for a.....................................................................................one minute, 22 second ride.  <shaking head>

So they (and the little one) did go on other rides which didn't require so much waiting.  The oldest went on the bumper cars by herself and we neglected to tell her about the gas pedal so she just turned circles and got bumped.  We flagged down one of the kids running the cars and told her and she let the kid go again with the instructions of working the gas pedal.

We stayed almost five hours until the last ride, the log ride, in which the riders ride the log through the mountain and then slide down the waterfall to the bottom...........getting wet.  That pretty much ended the day.  My wife decided that "we" needed season passes so she and the girls could go back again.  My job was to go get the car and come back around to the drop off zone and pick them up.  So I walked back to the car pushing an empty stroller.....................it was much farther.............going out.

By the time we started for home, the girls were worn out, wife was a little tired and I, who didn't ride anything and sat on my rear end most of the day, was exhausted.  I was cold, hungry, tired and generally in a bad mood.  We did stop for food and coffee.

The general consensus is:  The seven-year-old is good to go, the three-year-old is a maybe.  As we were getting into bed, my wife commented that she was a little disappointed that I hadn't gone on some of the attractions and just sat around.  I reminded her that someone had to wait with the stroller and the walker, her purse, the kids jackets, etc.

Sheeesh.

Larryj

[Ms Bear]

Wow, Knott's Berry Farm.  I could see the entrance from my hospital room when I gave birth to my 3rd child in 1967.  We had spent a day there before that and really enjoyed all the little shops and things.  I'm not much on the amusement park part.

[W. Gray]

Two years before--in 1965, I went to Knotts Berry Farm and was thrilled that the park had a Galloping Goose, number 3 to be exact, as a ride. It was the first ride that I got on.

There were seven Galloping Gooses made by the Rio Grand Southern narrow gauge RR in Colorado as an answer to the high cost of running steam passenger and freight trains on their lines high in the Rocky Mountains. All were home made and one consisted of a Pierce Arrow body. Another consisted of a Buick body.

Number 3 was the largest Goose.

The line started business in the 1890s as a normal narrow gauge railroad but lost its mail contract and abandoned right of way in 1952.

Apparently, the Galloping Goose was Knotts Berry Farm's answer to the Disney monorail.
NUMBER 3:

[larryJ]

The Galloping Goose is no longer there, or at least I didn't see it.  The train used now is a regular old, scaled down somewhat, steam engine with cars with open windows which goes around the park in about a five, or so, minute ride.  They still have the same stagecoaches and they still do the melodramatic old West shootout in the streets. 

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

As many places as we've seen, Knot's Berry Farm isn't one of them. My parents went when they took a trip to CA.when Daddy  gave a paper at a conference. I always wondered about the place. Thanks for sharing all that.

[larryJ]

IT HAS HAPPENED AGAIN!!!  i CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE!!!!

Yesterday, I had to take a couple of boxes to UPS for shipment.  UPS is directly across the street from Kaiser Hospital and I had a couple of prescriptions to pick up so it worked out really well.  Prior to going, my wife and I had a conversation that included discussing going to the local Target store for some items we needed.  When I returned, I asked her when we were going and she said she wanted to try and take a nap.  So here is the thought going through my head.  Should I just go or wait and go with her?  I decided to wait.............bad choice............

Since we have become the caretakers of a stray cat (well, it shows up for food twice a day), she decided we needed to get him a collar and a name tag.  Right next door to the local Target store is a Pets Mart.  We went into Pets Mart and started looking at cat doors for the back door of the garage so the cat can come and go as it pleases.  Then she proceeded down the aisle in one direction and I headed over to the cat section looking for the collars.  After a few minutes, she hadn't shown up, so I went looking for her.  When I found her she was talking to a couple by the pooper scoopers telling them which one is the best one.  The older guy was a black man and the younger woman was Hispanic.  After 25 minutes, we now know they are not married, just friends, but they have a child together.  She has a boyfriend whom she is going to marry.  We now know the ages of all of the children both his and hers.  We now know he is a drummer and a guitar player for some local band.  As I was not present for most of the conversation, my wife probably knows their birthdays and much more.  25 minutes!  And, in a large urban area such as this, we will probably never see them again.

We finally got to Target and got the shopping out of the way.  We had left the house around 5 PM and by the time we got home it was 8 PM.  My back was killing me from all the standing and walking around with the O2 tank on my back.  She always gets an electric scooter in the store so she rides the whole time.  She was happy we got these things done.........I was exhausted.  I should have just gone right after I got back from UPS.

Sheesh.......

On a sadder note, my wife had an aunt who lived in Chicago.  She was 87 years old.  She was one of the funniest people I know.  She had a subscription to People Magazine and always worked the crossword puzzle.  Every Friday she would call me for help with the crossword.  I am pretty sure she probably already had it done, but just called me in pretense just to talk.  I would give her the answers to some simple clue and she would respond, "Oh, s...t!"  What a wonderful lady she was despite her ability to talk like a sailor.  Sometimes it was like I was her family member rather than my wife.  She loved See's Chocolates which were not available in Chicago, so on occasion my wife would send her a box or two.  That really made her day when the mailman dropped off the box of chocolates. 

She passed away last Tuesday.  I thought she might be sick or something because she hadn't called last week.  Sometimes I feel as if she was my blood relative rather than my wife's.  At the end of our long conversations, we always said, "I love you."  I will miss her a great deal.  God truly has another angel now.

Larryj

[larryJ]

A correction to the last story.......Aunty M went into the hospital on Tuesday and passed away yesterday.  Initially we were told she passed on Tuesday. 

Larryj

[Judy Harder]

Larry, I am sorry for your loss. It doesn't matter which side of the family tree they are on, but those who are special to us.......makes the relationship so blessed.

And the lady had good taste. My friend Bonnieb sent me some See chocolates once, and they are to DIE for. Wonder if they would whet my chocolate tooth. Seems after getting fried with the cancer my chocolate tooth isn't quite the same.
No, I have not given up choco.........but sure find I can pass it up anymore. sigh!.......~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Diane Amberg]

Larry, our condolences on the lost of your Aunty M.  Sounds like she was a very special lady.