I think there must be something about getting to your mid40s...I feel the same way about things. About 10 yrs ago, my mom and I took a road trip to Nebraska to see where she was born, and then to see her grandparents' farm (way out in the middle of the corn fields). We saw the cemetery where they were buried, the little general store where she used to go...stuff like that. I "look in on it" every now and then via Google Maps satellite view. It's just amazing.
The other thing I did was to Google Maps the house I lived in when I was 3-4 yrs old...in Denver. I remember so much about that house (very specific things) and I've missed seeing it (it's been probably 25 yrs since we've driven by). To my utter surprise, not only did I find it on the satellite view...my street was a "street view" street!! I could "walk" right down the street, pivot around, look at the front of the house, the side of the house (we were on a corner), the detached garage, etc., etc...and that little neighborhood is still as cute and pristine as when we lived there. I was beyond thrilled!

...I forgot the garden-related content (heehee)...I can tell you exactly where my dad had his bed of irises; where the tiny violas were around the garage; where the daisies were along the fence (I had a skin allergy and didn't play with those at all!!); where the cherry trees were; where the lilac bush was back around on the one side; and there were the garden beds my dad would soak so he and I could go nightcrawler hunting with a flashlight...don't ever think that children are too young to be influenced by the wonder of nature. We literally lived there for 2 years of my young life and it had to have profoundly instilled in me a love of the outdoors and of gardening.

Sharon: I lived in Denver too!!! We lived on Gilpin Street until I was five and then we moved to the "country". It's not country any more! The toll road is a 1/4 mile from the house now.

About all I remember from the Gilpin house is boys smashing worms on our driveway and sidewalk. I sorta remember the daycare kids (mom babysat) making rose perfume, so there must have been rose bushes, and that's about it.

Lisa

Well, I do genealogy, so suffice it to say I have been in my share of cemeteries! We have found, and I know you're going to think this is real strange, that we get "guidance" in finding the graves. Many times we have gone to a cemetery we have never gone to before, we drive around and finally decide to pull over, and wham! The headstones we're looking for are within a few steps! But this story is one I just have to tell:

DH's grandfather had a brother who just kind of "disappeared" from records. He was last seen on the Edna, KS census with his wife and daughter, and then the next census year I found Martha, his wife, married to another man. I don't know if he died or if they divorced. I think I found him in Missouri, with a new wife, living next door to one of his married sisters. But I'm not sure. The reason is that his name was James Jones, and there are a lot of people named that. So, I found the probate records of when James and DH's grandfather's father, Tom Jones (eeek! See what I'm working with here?) died. It said that James was deceased and left one heir and that she, Effie Jane, had married a man named James VanAusdal. Through some detective work, I found that James VanAusdal was a druggist, and he ran a drugstore in Welch, OK. Curious to find out what had happened to James Jones, and hoping to find a descendant who could tell me, We went to Welch and found the place where the VanAusdals had had their drug store. We found a local who called his dad, who remembered James and Effie Jane's son, but not them, and didn't know where they were buried or anything. So, we went home with little more than we'd started out with. They did give me the name of the local undertaker, though, so I wrote to him and got a reply saying that the eldest son had been buried in Chetopa, KS. Well, that's just a hop, skip and a jump from Welch, OK, but a little further when you start out from Dewey. So on one Saturday we got in the pick-up and headed for Chetopa. Halfway there it began to get colder and started to rain. Icy rain. We forged ahead. After stopping at a Quick-Trip for directions, we easily found the cemetery, and it had a directory but the VanAusdals were not listed on it. And, modern stones were all mixed up with the old-fashioned ones so we really had no clue where to start. I finally decided to start at the back. DH would NOT get out of the truck! With an umbrella in one hand, I started walking the cemetery. My feet got wet. My jeans legs got wet. I was cold and starting to get tired. I said, out loud, "OK, Effie Jane, if you want me to find you, you better guide me to you cause I'm getting ready to head for the truck!" I turned to walk towards the truck and there, right in front of me, was a huge maroon granite stone with "VanAusdal" engraved on it in big letters! Behind the big stone were several smaller ones all lined up. Effie and her husband, their three grown children (who I found out never married and therefore that line died out with them) and Effie's mother, Martha Rodgers Jones Bonham. I guess I'll probably never find out what happened to James, except that he was deceased by the time his father died.

Lisa...we lived at around 2800 S. Madison; almost straight south of you a few miles. You were right by City Park...I loved to go there! I remember feeding the ducks and I remember the museum, especially the butterfly exhibit. Wild stuff! I still need to come by and meet you (so we can sing "It's a Small World After All", haha)

Lisa, What a fascinating trip you had and I'm glad to hear you achieved your objective. One thing that simply amazes me is that the Dairy Bar is still there! I mean, what were the odds? The house's current resemblance to the house you remembered was amazing as well, because it certainly could have had a major remodeling or addition somewhere along the way, but it didn't.

It was kind of too bad you couldn't plant something (another gardening-related reference) on the graves, but that's how it goes nowadays.

About 8 or 10 years ago we made a similar trip back to the cemetary where my dad's folks are buried in Spanish Fort, Texas, which is pretty much a ghost town now. (Officially, it was in a book of Texas Ghost Towns in the 1980s or 1990s and my dad was NOT amused when I bought him that book.) Little old towns sometimes die, or get absorbed by bigger towns, but the cemetaries always remain.

Ilene, What a fascinating geneological journey you've been on!

Sharon, It is astonishing how your life and Lisa's have intersected. Life is amazing each and every day.

And, y'all, we have to talk about SOMETHING today, 'cause it is too hot (in my part of OK) and probably too wet elsewhere in OK to be out in the yard and garden this afternoon. DH and I just watched Tiger Woods win a 19-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open, which isn't gardening-related, except I kept looking at all those golf greens, trying to imagine what their upkeep requires!

Dawn

Sharon: I called Dad to get the address, he said we lived in 2400 block of S. Gilpin. We were close. It would have been in the 60's. We moved in the early 70's.

Ilene: I love your story! I certainly thought about asking for guidance. Fortunately I had a cell phone....and cell reception! I really would have like to take the time to look at the other graves. I saw some family names I recognized, but nobody I truly knew. But what I really like is the old, old headstones. I think it would be fun to help with some of the cemetery projects for the genealogy programs.

My brother in law had a relative that "disappeared" too. He had to do quite a bit of detective work to try to find him. He thinks he finally did. It looked like he just up and left one family and then started another one in a different place.

I did a little bit of genealogy work on our family. The censuses were so interesting. I found Mom's family roots in Arkansas (just over the line). Grandpa and mom's biological mom were next door neighbors. It didn't take too much detective work to figure out their story :)

Dawn: I was so grateful for the cool weather that blew in this afternoon. I was finally able to mow. The lawn was looking quite ragged!

Lisa

Lisa,

I grew up in a small town called Lincoln, AR - it's just to the east of Westville in AR. My mom worked at a school in a very tiny town called Watts, OK which is just north of Westville on OK hwy 59. Sometimes, we used to stop at the Dairy Bar you mentioned across from the high school and get the best chocolate malts on our way home. BTW, I recognized all the places in your pictures, but I rode with my mom to work for 2 yrs of elementary school before she enrolled me in the district were we lived. You brought back some really fond memories - thanks.

Jill

Lisa,

Ooooh! Cool weather is such a lovely break from the hot, windy conditions so prevalent lately.

It started cooling off here last night and is very pleasant this morning, so I will mow today as well. Of course, no moisture has fallen here, although we had some lightning to our west between 4 and 5 a.m.

Dawn

I love your little house! That little car sure looks familiar, too :)
I wanted to copy a Google maps picture over here, but it's not mine...so I can't. BUT...if you have nothing better to do (on this drippy day!), go to Google maps, put in 2870 S. Madison, Denver, CO...once you get there, click "street view" on the pop-up....and then you'll have to click the right "pivot" arrow 3-4 times to look across the street. It's the little house on the corner with the red car parked in front of it...you can "walk" south two arrows' worth and then turn on Bates and "walk" west 2 arrows (hit the right "pivot" arrow 3 times) and you'll see the side of the house with the garage...they have a picket fence now; I think we had a white rail fence.
Ok...now that the world knows where I lived when I was 3-4...haha...may everyone that has rain keep dry, and may Dawn actually GET some rain today!! If we turn toward the south and blow really hard, maybe we can push it down there :)

I have a photo of that quaint little church you posted. On returning from a trip to Branson, my son asked if I minded taking a detour, he had something he wanted me to see. It was that historic church. He had attended a revival service there and just loved it and the town. I feel in love with it too.
Cooper