Phend-Fisher Family Reunion Ledger - 1911 & 1912

The 3rd reunion of the Phend - Fisher families met at Frank Wehrleys on June 24 - 1911
The A. M. was spent in a social way.
At noon a basket dinner was served under a tent, on the lawn.
There were about 45 present.
In the afternoon songs were sung and a prayer rendered by Rev. Spangler of the Evengelical church at Elkhart.
A talk by Wm Phend.
Other songs.
Remarks by Rev. Spangler then a storm prevented further pleasures.
It was decided to meet at Jacob Phends near Elkhart on June 29 - 1912.
Adjournment.Mrs. F. A. Wehrly, Secretary.= + = + = + = + = + =
There is no record of a family gathering in 1912. = + = + = + = + = + = The Phend-Fisher families gathered for a reunion in Elkhart County, Indiana almost annually from 1909 until 1943. Usually held at Nappanee, the events of the day were recorded in an old ledger book, now in my possession. Sadly, the fragile pages have turned brown, separated from the binding, and are, in effect, disintegrating. Some years more information was recorded than in others, but, for me, these pages provide a glimpse into the past. Spelling has been retained as it was in the original though some punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added. To view all articles in this series click on the "Phend-Fisher Reunion Ledger" label at the bottom of this post.

Back to Williamsburg Outdoor World

We headed back to the Outdoor World in Williamsburg today. This is the first and only Outdoor World we have visited so far. We think it's a very nice park. There is not much activity in the park, but it makes for a very peaceful experience.

Gary is the manager of this park and he seems very on top of things and very nice. There was not a pickleball court here, and I guess Diane talked to him about putting one in. I can't imagine anyone saying no to Diane, so thanks to her there is one here now. On top of him putting in the court, Gary has also become a fellow player and will come join us if we are playing!

We like it here. We're hoping this is a sign that we will enjoy Outdoor World parks as much as Thousand Trails.

Summer Fog, Pete's Island

We have had some pretty interesting fog in the past couple of weeks. This photo was made from the summit of the Mt. Rose Trail in Grand Portage National Monument. It was taken during a beautiful, sunny day on land but out over the lake the fog was pretty thick. Along the edge of Grand Portage Bay, warm air from land clashes with cold air from the lake. Combined withthe frequently shifting breezes the fog comes and goes frequently. I captured this photo during one of the times when the fog was receding and the island came into view. It was visible for a short while then the wind switched and blew the fog back in, once again completely blocking the island from view. I watched it change like this several times in the 30 minutes I sat on the summit.

Old fotos of Hong Kong

Over the weekend during a family party, we talked about Hong Kong, being one of the easiest cities to travel to for a whirlwind weekend getaway—the airport is conveniently linked with the metro (MTR) to the city and within minutes you are in downtown Kowloon amidst all the shops and restaurants while Hong Kong Island is just another metro stop or a few minutes ferry ride away. And I just realized that I have not really featured Hong Kong in my blog, and that is why I am posting this now to make up for the lack.







At the Victoria Peak in Hong Kong Island looking over Central District, taken with a pre-digital camera, roll of film developed and printed, scanned and then uploaded =)



I’d really love to visit this bustling city again. Would love to saunter on the busy streets, smell smoked peking ducks hanging from each restaurant’s window and watch the cooks shout at each other in shrilly Cantonese, try one of those Hongkong style tea with milk—an inheritance from the old British colonial days, shop, shop and shop (for culinary stuff!), then trek to Victoria Peak for the panoramic sunset.



Cantonese, they say is the hardest of all Chinese languages, and this is Hong Kong’s main language of instruction. The only achievement I have from my Chinese summer lessons in the 70’s is I am able to count in Fookien (struggling a bit though) and count in Mandarin as well, but just up to 10, haha. My sister though is way better, she may not be that fluent in speaking but she can understand Mandarin and write as well.



Dutchman was in Hongkong a few months back but he didn’t bring back new fotos with him so please bear with these very old pre-digital days fotos that managed to survive many laptop tragedies and migrations, taken some 8 years ago.



































I think it is time to visit Hongkong again.

Daisy

Ooops!

Seems like I made a wrong turn somewhere in Utah and 1700 miles later have ended up in Indiana!!

The journey isn't over, it has simply been detoured for a little while.

I'll be back...

Custer State Park :: Bighorn Sheep

Wednesday, August 24th - - After spending not quite five hours in Badlands National Park, and with temperatures into the 90s, I was hot and tired. Route 44 took me toward Rapid City but my destination for the night was a little to the south, Custer State Park.



As it turned out, all campsites in that park are by reservation only. However, you can call in when you get there to make a reservation. As a non-resident of South Dakota, I also had the privilege of paying an extra fee to make that reservation! In addition to that fee, the park charges $15 for an entrance pass, which is good for seven days. Most other South Dakota parks also have an entrance fee but much smaller and good for just one day. Custer Park “did away” with the daily pass last year.



Anyway, I was assigned a site at the Center Lake (I think it was) campground. It's a large park and I don't remember how many campgrounds there are, perhaps half a dozen or so. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon and I was driving on a hilly, curvy road to the campground, which was about ten miles from the entrance, when I came upon two cars stopped in the road. I could see several bighorn sheep right alongside the road and rather impatiently wished that the drivers ahead would move on so I could get close enough for a picture.



After a few minutes they did move on and I slowly drove up next to the sheep and stopped, having already put the passenger window down. I was able to get off one shot when several motorcycles came from the opposite direction and another shot as the bighorn sheep scrambled down the side of the hill and into the woods.







When I took this photo, I was a little disappointed that the sheep had turned away. However, I think it really shows the size of those horns rather nicely!





A cropped version of the above photo.

All in all, it was a rather incredible day! I'd like to return to the Badlands some time when it isn't quite so hot and take a few of the trails that I missed this time.