Sandra Cantu Case: Defense Drops Bid to Exhume Sandra's Body

(04-21) 14:37 PDT TRACY -- The attorney for murder suspect Melissa Huckaby is no longer seeking to exhume the body of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu from a Tracy mausoleum in order to conduct independent tests to determine whether she was raped, San Joaquin County's public defender said today.

The defense will withdraw its request, which Huckaby's attorney made to a judge Thursday just a day after Sandra was laid to rest, Public Defender Peter Fox said.

He said the deputy public defender handling the case, Sam Behar, learned this morning from the county's chief medical examiner, Bennett Omalu, that "the relevant samples were preserved" and had not been interred.

"It will not be necessary to disturb the child's remains," Fox said in an interview. "From a human point of view, certainly it's nice not to have to do that."

Huckaby, a 28-year-old Sunday school teacher who is the mother of one of Sandra's playmates in a Tracy mobile home park, was arrested April 10 and charged with her murder. Prosecutors alleged that the murder was accompanied by special circumstances, including rape, that would make Huckaby eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Sandra was last seen near her home March 27. Her body was found in a suitcase April 6 in a dairy farm's irrigation pond 2 miles from the mobile home park.

The defense was concerned that prosecutors were basing the rape allegation solely on the findings of the medical examiner's autopsy. Fox said his office has not been given the autopsy results or any other evidence in the case, including recordings or transcripts from a long interview Huckaby gave to police before her arrest.

In his motion to exhume Sandra's body, Behar wrote that a second autopsy, which would have been conducted by a forensic pathologist hired by the defense, was "extremely crucial and material to Ms. Huckaby's defense."

The defense team, Behar wrote, "should be allowed to examine Ms. Cantu's body to discern alternative explanation for the assigned coroner's observation of alleged genital trauma, so that Ms. Huckaby can defend herself against those allegations."

Now, Fox said, Behar has learned that tissue samples will be available for testing by the defense pathologist.

The county medical examiner has not released Sandra's cause of death or the results of toxicology tests.

Angie Chavez, Sandra's aunt, said today that the family did not wish to comment on the withdrawal of the defense motion.

Source: SFGate
Author: Demian Bulwa at dbulwa@sfchronicle.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't know about the rest of you, but this is great news. In reading a lot of the articles and the comments about those articles, I know a lot of people were up in arms over the possibility of the defense taking Sandra's body from her resting place at the Tracy Mausoleum. This must also ease the minds of her family to know that a 2nd autopsy doesn't have to be done.

There has to be so much more information about this case that the investigators and the prosecutors are holding close. We get bits of information from here and there and I have to wonder how much of it is truth and how much of it is speculation or just plain errors on the parts of the different reporters who are covering this case.

I've been watching TV off and on today and the latest uproar is over another incident that happened in January. Another child in the same mobile home park where Sandra's family and the Huckaby families live was reportly missing for a few hours. From what the reports are saying, Melissa Huckaby took that child to a park, either with or without the knowledge of the child's family (Depending on which report you read.). Sometime during the time Melissa had the child at a park (No clue what park or even if they did go to a "park".) the child's mother returned home and discovered her 7 year old daughter was not there. It was apparently reported to the police, but Melissa returned the child to the family's home either while the police were there or shortly before the police got there or shortly after the police left. (Again, it depends on which report you read!) The child's older sister has told reporters that when her little sister arrived home she was very disoriented, dizzy, slurring her speech and falling down. The family took the child to the hospital and lab tests revealed that she had benzodiazepines in her blood.

I googled benzodiazepines and found an interesting definition of them on the University of Maryland's website.

Benzodiazepines are among the most commonly prescribed depressant medications in the United States today. More than 15 different types of benzodiazepine medications exist to treat a wide array of both psychological and physical maladies based on dosage and implications. To be characterized as such, each benzodiazepine displays one or more of the following drug actions: anxiety relief, hypnotic, muscle relaxant, anti-convulsant, or an amnesiatic (mild memory-loss inducer). Due to their sedative properties, benzodiazepines have a high potential for abuse, especially when used with other depressants such as alcohol or opiates. Benzodiazepines are classified as Schedule IV in the Controlled Substances Act.

Commonly prescribed benzodiazepines include Xanax© (alprazolam), Librium© (chlordiazepoxide), Valium© (diazepam), and Ativan© (lorazepam). Another benzodiazepine that has been the focus of a great deal of media attention is flunitrazepam, trade name Rohypnol©, which is known widely as "the date-rape drug" due to its involvement in many sexual assault cases in recent years.

I don't know about the rest of you, but that last sentence really bothers me.............

(Here's a link to one of the reports about the incident with the other child that Melissa was involved with in January: The Tracy Press)

2009 Kacie's Ride For Hope

To all my readers who happen to own a motorcycle, Here's an event that is well worth joining! If you want more information, go to Kacie's Ride For Hope and then mark your calendar for September 12th! The preparation and planning for this year's ride is under way, so you can expect a great ride in the mountains and contribute to a great cause! Just ask my brother, ChaplainLimeyGene! lol

A Trucker's Lament...

Today I'm not going to report on crimes or tragedies. At least not for now. We'll have to wait and see what the day brings, tough. Anyway, my trucker friend sent me a series of text messages a while back. I saved them and thought I'd share... (With a bit of editing to put them all together into a readable format.) Think Willie Nelson here... And no, my trucker friend is not a big fan of Willie.. Just ask him.. He'll tell you!

On the road again,
Going to places I have already been,
Seeing things I never want to see again,
Oh god help me, I am on the road again.

Dealing with people that are a pain in the end,
Doing things I wish I didn't have to do again,
Oh lord, I think I am going to cry again,
Damn it, I am on the road again.

All eighteen wheels are turning once again,
Stopping at places all over again,
My route seems to never end,
All I do is work and sleep before I start again,
Please someone help me I am on the road again.

Will I ever see my wife and kids again,
Will spend the holidays alone again,
Some day soon, will have to play the lottery or I will never win,
Oh man, its four am, time to get on the road again.
Do I have to die before this will end,
Oh god, I am on the road again

The "purty" big red truck above is one of the trucks I drove back in the 90's. If you look real close at the windshield, you can see a very vague image of the driver. That's me! My trucker friend was out freezing his butt off in the snow taking the picture.. We're in a rest area on I70 near Aspen... The weather was very nice in Denver, but it was blizzard time in Aspen... lol

And now I'll close with a little more humor that I just can't resist this morning:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Cesar Laurean Extradited!

UPDATED Below

Almost a year ago, I mentioned in a blog post that Cesar Laurean who is accused of murdering Maria Lauterbach and her unborn son, burning the bodies and burying them in his back yard had been captured and jailed in Mexico. Here is what I wrote back then:

Cesar Laurean; He's still in Mexico awaiting extradition, but law enforcement have released a lot of court documents relating to the murder of Maria Lauterbach. Go here and check out the list of documents. One news site details some phone calls and such from the Laurean home the day he took off for Mexico. Another one (This link has been removed because it led to a dead end.) writes about how Cesar was researching things in Mexico before he left. Things like buying property and finding jobs in Mexico. I couldn't find anything in the articles about how the extradition process is going, so we wait.

On the 15th, an item hit the news from a TV station in Ohio that said Laurean was expected back in the U.S. on Friday. Today is Friday and that station was right. Laurean is on his way to North Carolina right now as I type. Someone on the InSessions message boards said they saw/heard on the news that he had landed in Miami. I haven't heard any of the reports yet, but there are a number of news items coming up with a google search now.

• "Laurean returns to U.S. to face charges" (News 14 in North Carolina)
• Cpl. Cesar Laurean, the Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague in 2007, returned to the United States on Friday. He landed in Miami around 11:30 a.m.
• "Suspect in pregnant Marine's death on way to U.S." (CNN International)
• Investigators were accompanying Laurean, who fled to Mexico, to the United States on Friday morning, two law enforcement sources said. The FBI said Thursday that Laurean would be extradited to the United States on Friday.

There are more, but why "flood" my blog with all the items that come in the Google news search? I do have to say that I love the title of one of the items that popped up in the search.. It's from a blog in Kansas City:

• "Welcome home, Cesar Laurean" (Crime Scene KC)
• Well, he's not quite home yet. But Laurean, a Marine corporal accused of murdering a fellow officer, has exhausted his extradition appeals and could be shipped back from Mexico soon. (He won't be facing the death penalty, though -- one of the conditions for Mexico to hand him over.)

So finally, the wait is over. Cesar is on his way back to North Carolina to stand trial for murdering Maria and her unborn son. They had to take the death penalty off the table in order to even begin the extradition process, so the heaviest penalty he's facing is life in prison without the possibility of parole. From all reports, Cesar's wife, Marine Cpl. Christina Laurean is still standing by her "man". According to one of the first articles I read concerning the extradition stated that she had just returned from a period of leave, which included a visit to see her husband in a Mexican jail.

The trial for Laurean won't be soon, though. It could take a year or more before he sits in a courtroom with a jury watching him.

The sad part is that while Laurean is "coming home", Maria Lauterbach's father is leaving next week on his way to Iraq for a 4 month deployment. (See this link.) Victor Lauterbach is an Air Force Reserve master sergeant in the 87th Aerial Port Squadron, which is part of the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The squadron is responsible for the on- and off-loading of equipment, cargo and personnel onto aircraft. This has to be a difficult deployment for Maria's father. I'm sure he would like to be there, in North Carolina, to face down the murderer of his daughter and grandson in the hearings in preparation for the trial.

I wonder how much media attention this case will get now... It's been almost a year and a half since Maria disappeared back in December of 2007 and her body found in that firepit in Laurean's back yard in mid-January of 2008. It's time to bring justice to Maria and Gabriel Lauterbach. It's time for Cesar to pay for what he did.

UPDATE

Cesar Laurean is back in North Carolina. He was booked into the Onlslow County Jail in Jacksonville about 8pm EST and is scheduled for his first court appearance on Monday. They're saying he'll be in court shortly after noon.

The photo to the left is his new booking photo. I guess the Mexican jailers treated him well enough. He doesn't look to happy to be back in the U.S. though. His wife isn't commenting to any of the media on the subject of her husband's return to face the charges against him. An Onslow County grand jury indicted him in January 2008 on charges of first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, obtaining property by false pretenses, financial transaction card theft and financial transaction card fraud.

Source: JDNews.com

Celebration of Life for Sandra Cantu

I didn't make the drive down to Tracy today for the memorial service.. But a few thousand others did show up at the high school in Tracy to say good by to "Tracy's Angel", Sandra Cantu. From what I've read on the news sites, people started lining up at the doors of the gymnasium at 6:30am this morning. I stayed home and watched the memorial on my TV. When they started playing the song "Somewhere out there", I had tears running down my cheek. That song has always choked me up a bit but today it wasn't just a bit. I cried for that beautiful little girl with the big smile. My heart goes out to all of Sandra's family and friends in this time of terrible grief.

Channel 10 in Sacramento has posted a video of the entire service. I tried embedding it to the page, but it doesn't work like the YouTube ones. It begins playing automatically. So, I've removed the embedded video and left the link.

Channel 30 (I'm not quite sure where they are) also has video up showing the service.

I can only hope that the authorities can put her murderer away for the rest of her life. The community of Tracy and all those who's hearts broke the day they found that suitcase need to have justice. Sandra's family need justice. And that is all I'm going to say... Today.

Rest in Peace, little angel...

Sandra Cantu Laid to Rest Today

Horse drawn carriage/hearse enroute to the cemetary carrying Sandra Cantu to her final resting place.
Image Source: KCRA Channel 3 News

Sandra Cantu buried today during private service

by Jennifer Wadsworth

Family, friends and city leaders gathered for a private burial today for slain 8-year-old Tracy girl Sandra Cantu.

A horse-drawn carriage brought her tiny body from Fry Memorial Chapel to the Tracy Mausoleum shortly after noon today.

Sandra’s mother was “like a rock” during the service, said Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman after the burial. TV news crews gathered outside the cemetery grounds to film as much of the service as they could from a distance.

A few dozen people attended, including several police officers who last week arrested a 28-year-old Sunday school teacher on suspicion of killing the little girl.

Melissa Chantel Huckaby was arraigned Tuesday on charges that she kidnapped, raped and then murdered Sandra on March 27.

Sandra lived in the same mobile home park as Huckaby with her mother, three older siblings and her grandparents. Surveillance footage that captures the girl’s last moments alive shows her skipping playfully toward Huckaby’s house, five doors away from her own home.

It was the last anyone ever saw of her, before her body was found 10 days later stuffed in a suitcase someone dumped in a manure-filled pond on a north Tracy dairy.

“She became an angel to the community,” said Tracy Unified School District Superintendent James Franco of Sandra, a Jacobsen Elementary School second-grader.

Her disappearance drew hundreds of volunteer searchers and nearly 20 agencies on the case. Photos of the blonde-haired brown-eyed girl were plastered on utility poles, car windows and bulletin boards all over Northern California.

It became a familiar face, especially to Tracy.

The national interest in her search brought and the sordid fascination sparked by recent charges against Huckaby of murder and rape likely mean a crowd of thousands will show up for her public memorial service on Thursday.

Organizers have prepared for as many as 8,000 guests, but there’s only enough parking for 500 cars.

The public service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday at the West High School gym, 1775 W. Lowell Ave.

For information, call the memorial chapel at 836-1970

Source: Tracy Press
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't often post whole articles on this blog, but this case just plain sucks my brain dry of rational things to say. Earlier on TV, I watched as they first played the video of Sandra skipping across the street looking like just what she was; a carefree child. Then they played a video of that horse drawn hearse carrying the child's body to her final resting place. To see both those videos one right after another brings home the tragedy and the anger towards the murderer who stole this beautiful child's future and life.

For the past week, I've considered driving down to Tracy tomorrow for the public memorial service for Sanda. I've gone back and forth a number of times already and probably will change my mind a few more times before tomorrow. I don't know if I can do it. Tomorrow will tell. I'll have to wait and see what I'm feeling in the morning.

One feeling that will not change though; I want this beautiful little girl's murderer brought to justice. And I know I'm not alone.

My deepest condolences to Sandra's family and friends. Sandra's memory will stay alive in a lot of people's hearts.................. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥



Surveillance video of Sandra Cantu (Tracy Press on YouTube)

Phil Spector ~ Guilty of Murder 2

Yesterday the second Phil Spector murder trial finally ended. After more than 6 long years and 2 trials, Phil Spector was on the spot. The jury buzzed 3 times a few minutes before noon which was the signal for a verdict. He had been accused of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in the early morning hours of February 3, 2003 by a gunshot in the mouth as she sat in the foyer of Spector's "castle" in Alhambra, CA. The first trial ended in a mistrial due to the foreman of the jury not being willing to deliberate.

I watched most of the first trial and as luck would have it, I was out of town, traveling with my Mom and Stepdad, when it went to the jury and when the mistrial was declared. For the retrial, I followed the trial on Sprocket's Trials and Tribulations blog (Thank you Sprocket!) and on the InSessions message boards. It was frustrating not to be able to watch the testimony and presentation of the evidence this time, but we all made it through. And again, when the case went to the jury, I left on another trip with my Mom and Stepdad. Only this time, I came home before the jury finished deliberating. So yesterday I was able to sit here in my chair and read when Sprocket posted the "Buzz buzz buzz" when it happened. She posted the message that a verdict had been reached a few minutes before noon and then posted that it would be 1:30pm or 2pm before the verdict would be read. Those 2 hours between the buzz, buzz, buzz and the actual reading of the verdict seemed to take forever. Then, it came... Guilty of Murder in the second degree and guilty of the added "use of a gun". The minimum sentencing Phil will recieve, if I've read the right things, is 18 years to life. Now we wait until May 29th for the sentencing hearing to see what the judge will hand down. I wonder if the main stream media will show up in time to get a camera inside that courtroom this time. Yesterday, they had a camera in the courtroom, but they couldn't get the live feed working before the verdict was read. Disappointing, yes. But, at least there are videos available on the net where the reading of the verdict and Phil's reaction (or non-reaction!) can be seen. In my opinion, Phil's attorney, Mr. Weinberg, had more of a reaction than Phil did.

My thoughts went out to Lana's family and friends, hoping that this verdict would finally bring them some peace. I'm sure it doesn't bring "closure", whatever that is, but it has to give them some peace of mind knowing that Phil will be going to prison to pay for what he did. My thoughts also went out to the sons and daughter of Phil Spector. Two of whom had been posting on the InSessions boards for the last few years, Gary and Louis. I have a lot of respect for those two young men for their patient and reasonable postings on the message boards. I also have a "job" to do for Gary, now. He's a fan of the SR71 Blackbird as am I. Somewhere among all the boxes that have been packed up and moved around for the last 15 to 20 years I have some photos of that beautiful plane and I've promised Gary I would try to find them, scan them and email them to him.

Anyway, back to Phil Spector. The years of Phil's "freedom" over the last 6 years haven't been kind to Phil. He didn't look that great in the first mugshot, taken the day of the murder, with the wet hair, evil stare and the quality of the photo. Now we have a new mugshot of him, taken yesterday after he was led out of the courtroom and off to the jail where he will wait for his sentencing hearing. His attorney, Mr. Weinberg argued fiercely for the court to allow Phil to remain free on bond while he waits for the sentencing. The prosecutor, Alan Jackson, argued that Phil was a dangerous man and need to wait it out in jail. He cited the other incidents after Lana was murdered, where Phil threatened people with a gun or threatened to get a gun and shoot them. Judge Fidler agreed with the prosecutors. Phil had had enough freedom in the 6 years since Lana was murdered. The new mugshot is even more spooky looking than the first one. The wide-eyed stare completely creeps me out! When the verdict was read, Phil looked like he was heavily medicated, and he looks medicated in this mugshot as well. There will be another mugshot of him after the sentencing and he is taken to one of the California Corrections Intake units and I hope that TMZ or The Smoking Gun manages to get a hold of it so we can see what changes a jail cell and fewer self-medicating drugs makes in the man.

So the next date to watch for will be the sentencing hearing for Phil, which is scheduled for May 29th at 11:00am if Phil and his attorney don't request a hearing sooner. I'm sure we'll hear from Lana's mother during the impact statements, and perhaps from her sister. But will we hear anything from anyone on Phil's side? His "wife", Rachelle? His sons? His daughter?

I've got my calendar marked. Do you?

12:00pm Curiosity
I just looked at my stat counter and I'm stunned by how many people/readers are coming in looking at the photo of Rachelle Spector with a gun in a post that I did months ago. Odd.. I hadn't done that many posts about Phil Spector, but for some reason that one with the photo of Rachelle seems to be generating a lot of interest yesterday and today... Hmm...

Holiday wishes to all!

I'd like to wish all the readers of my blog a happy Easter! I found a couple cute LOLCats to share for the day... Enjoy!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'll have to work on some more posts about the news, crimes and trials I'm following soon. So, be assured, I'm not gone.... I've just been taking a few days off from typing... lol

Home Again! Hurray for Wireless Broadband! LOL

I'm home from my trip to Southern California and I'm so happy to be able to pick up my computer and have the internet available whenever I want it! lol... The trip was fun with the sightseeing and visiting, but I sure missed being able to just open up the laptop and connect whenever I wanted. I'll add a few more photos that were taken on one of the days we went driving around. After leaving Barstow, we headed to Riverside where my Aunt and some of my cousins live. One day while we were there, we took a drive out to Joshua Tree National Monument hoping to see wildflowers and cactus in bloom but were pretty disappointed. There were wildflowers in bloom, but they were rather scattered. I saw some cactus in bloom, but those, too, were very scattered and scarce. Plus, most were out off the road a distance and our driver at that time just drove on by. **sigh** (Our driver that day was my Aunt's hubby... Just love teasing him.. But I sure wish we had stopped a few more times...)

We stopped at one of the official visitors centers in the park and I found one particularly spectacular cactus in bloom in the "gardens" that surrounded the visitor's center building. Gorgeous, isn't it? That was the only one around the center that had such a spectacular display.This image is not edited in any way, either. The colors were just as vivid in person, if not even more. They almost glowed in the sunlight! I love the contrast between the cactus blooms and the red flowers in the back and the bright yellow flowers in the forground.

As I wandered around the outside of the building I did spot one of the many barrel cacti in bloom and got a shot of it. There were a number of barrel cacti in the planters around the building, but only one had flowers open, while the others all had buds that looked like they were ready to open at any moment.

After leaving the visitor's center, we drove through the park looking for other cacti and wildflowers in bloom. When we came across the "Cholla Cactus Garden", my Mom, Aunt and I hollered for a stop so we could look around. This was a huge patch of Cholla cactus (It's pronounced "choy-ya"). Another name for these cacti is "Teddy Bear Cactus". Anyone who runs across these cacti out in the deserts will remember them. Especially if they were unlucky enough to get too near or to brush up against one will remember them for a long, long time. The top or end pieces of them will "jump" off the cacti and stick to whoever the unlucky person was. (And yes, I was one of those unlucky people when I was a kid! LOL) It doesn't take much for the spines on those pieces to penetrate skin and stick tight. Since there is sort of a little "hook" on the ends of the spines, they're quite painful when they are being removed from their victim. Believe me, I stayed well back from the garden when I took my pictures... After heading further south through the desert, we ended up at a casino near the Salton Sea. We played the penny machines for a while and then headed back through Palm Desert and Indio to Riverside. My big regret is that we didn't stop at one of the roadside stands that are common down there. I would have loved to buy some "fresh" dates to bring home. I really wanted to get a date shake too... Oh well. Maybe the next time I head to Southern California.

It was a good trip, but I am very glad to be home sitting in my recliner listening to the rain on my windows... I really do need to finish unpacking and do my laundry... lol, maybe tomorrow.

Sightseeing in Barstow

3/30/09 (Still no internet access.. lol) ~ My Step-dad finally got to meet up with that old childhood friend of his here in Barstow. He had given me 3 names of men that he had grown up with and one of them is still living here in Barstow. (Of the other two, one passed away last year and the other is living in Washington state in the same town as my Great-Aunt. Sequim, Washington. We'll have to try to meet up with that fellow if we make another trip up there.) We met him and his wife for breakfast and they had a great time reminiscing about all the people and places they remembered. After breakfast my Mom, Step-dad and I took off to do some sightseeing in and around Barstow.

First stop after leaving the restaurant was the house that my Step-dad grew up in. My daughter wanted us to take a picture of the house so she could see if it looked like what she remembered. My Mom and Step-dad say that the house is still the same color as it was back then, but that a lot of the trees and shrubs that used to be around the house are gone. The driveway is still sandy and the area where my daughter used to play in the sand still looks like the sand is deep enough for a kid to play in, just as it was when they brought her up here when she was a little girl. I know my brother will be interested in seeing the pictures of the house as well.

After driving around in the city of Barstow checking out different buildings my Step-dad remembered, we headed out towards Calico Ghost town in the hills north of town. Back when I was a kid, we used to go camping in the canyon next to the ghost town. So, we headed out there and found the entrance to the canyon and drove back in there until my Mom and I spotted a familiar area. Of course, I had to take a couple pictures to send to my brothers. The one to the left shows part of that area of the canyon where we think we used to camp. I can remember my brothers and I exploring all the mine shafts and tunnels in the hills around this canyon. Oh, what memories.. lol...

We drove up in the canyon where the ghost town is but my Step-dad didn't want to get out and walk around the town, so we just talked our way past the gate so we could get into the paved area below the ghost town so I could take one picture. **sigh** We also tried to visit the Route 66 museum and the Railroad museum at the old Barstow train depot since we were nearby, but they were both closed. They're only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and of course, we were there on Monday. So we wandered through the Chamber of Commerce section of the depot and looked at all the old photos and read some of the information about the depot. Then we wandered down the length of the building peering into windows, admiring the architecture. Apparently it's one of the last (and best preserved) of the Fred Harvey Houses left in the country. They've done a beautiful job of keeping the building up. Dummy me, I didn't take any pictures of it.

One last picture for this entry, and that is of a motel we spotted across the street from the building that used to be the Barstow Garage (It's now a church!) back when my Step-dad's father owned it. The Route 66 Motel... The old cars parked in the courtyard was what drew our attention. My Step-dad went inside the Barstow Garage/church and wandered around while my Mom and I wandered up and down the sidewalk outside looking at the cars across the street. Mom and I even spotted an old Nash Rambler that looked sort of like the one she had when I was a kid.

Update (4/4/09) I'm sitting with my cousin in a Starbucks in Riverside so I can get a connection to the net... This trip has been fun, but trying to get online has been frustrating to say the least! I think I will probably just upload any addition blogs articles and photos when I get home. We're scheduled to leave early Monday morning to head back north... So, Tuesday will be "upload" day... lol...

Man Bellies and Hairy Backs...

Hey Sis and readers.



Last year I posted about a Car wash we did for Kacie's Ride for Hope. See First annual Man-bellies and Hairy-backs Carwash? I've been asking Pat to post some of the pictures. As I've told friends and family about it, everyone enjoyed the story and wished they could have seen it. Finally, as we are starting to meet and plan this years run I reminded Pat about the want for pictures. So here they are, on the website for the run: http://www.kaciesrideforhope.com/





Look on the right side of the page and click on the Man Bellies and Hairy Backs Carwash to see the pictures. There were a lot more pics taken but these will give you a good idea of how much fun we had that day. We have decided to do it twice this year, more often might loose it's uniqueness. Pat said he will post the date and location on the site.





I'm looking forward to helping again to benefit "Kacie's Ride" and the "Center for Violence Free Relationships" it supports. The bonus for me is the fun I'll have and memories I'll gain. I , no we all, need to remember to use LOTS more sunscreen this year! Last year we were having so much fun we didn't think about re-screening. It was intense for a couple days. But every time the burn hurt, I'd just grin and remember the good time we had.




Hope some of you readers will be close enough to come to the carwash and enjoy the show!



Untill next post, God Bless, have fun and share it.

Chaplainlimeygene.

We Arrived in Barstow and I hope we don't blow away!

We're staying at a Marine base near Barstow. Would you believe that the only way I can get Internet access here is to go find the library? And of course, since it's Sunday, the library is closed. So, I'm going to go ahead and write this up and try uploading tomorrow if I can find a WiFi hotspot. Maybe I can pull into one of the truck stops near town and catch their hotspot long enough to upload this post and see what is going on.

The weather in Death Valley this morning was really nice. There were some high thin clouds and it was cool, but not enough to have to wear a jacket. After breakfast, we came out of the restaurant in time to see a motorcycle club lining up for their run through Death Valley today. There were at least 24 or 25 bikes. Some of the bikes were absolutely gorgeous and I know my brother would have drooled all over them. I spoke to one of the women with the group and found out that they are with a club in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada. The whole time we were there in Death Valley, we saw dozens and dozens of motorcycles of all kinds. From dirt bikes to choppers, from full dressers to stripped down off road bikes, you name it, they were all over the valley. But then the weather this weekend was perfect for enjoying a ride....

We decided to visit one more place in Death Valley before heading down the highway. The place is called Dante's View. And oh what a view you get from there! It's about a 13 mile drive off the highway on a semi-narrow 2 lane paved road and you go from about 1500 feet above sea level to about 5600 feet with the really "stiff" climb in the last mile of the drive. Once you get up to the view point, they've leveled off an area that gives you a 360 degree view. Part of the view is of the valley floor below and the Panamint mountains on the other side. Check out these pictures:

	This one looks North towards the area where Furnace Creek is. The air is kind of hazy because there was a bit of a breeze kicking up some of the alkali dust.
	This is looking across the valley towards Telescope Peak. (That's the one with the snow on top of it.) Down below, invisible behind the bushes and hills is Badwater, the lowest point in the United States.
	And this one is looking towards the South end of the valley.

Once we left Death Valley it was a fairly uneventful drive across the desert until we got to Baker, California. Then it got windy and we got on I15 and joined all the traffic heading towards the LA area. I'm guessing that a lot of them had been in Vegas and were heading home... Speed up, slow down, speed up, put the brakes on and come to a stop. Why? Well, someone was on the side of the road changing a tire and there was a Highway Patrol car sitting behind them. **sigh** Oh yeah... About half-way to Baker, my cell phone suddenly started beeping... And beeping... All the text and voice messages that had come in while we were out of cell range in Death Valley caught up to me. lol

Once we got closer to Barstow, we took a shortcut south and got on I40. Much better! No traffic! LOL! So now we're all settled in to a little 2 bedroom guest unit here on the Marine Base. We've had our dinner and my Mom and Stepdad are watching TV. The wind is howling outside. The closer we got to Barstow, the stronger the wind was blowing. I sure hope it calms down some tomorrow! Hmm... I think I'll go watch TV and snooze a while... lol

Update:
The library on the Marine base has internet access, but only if you use their computers. So we found a truckstop that has a WiFi hotspot, so I'm uploading yesterday's blog entry... Who knows when I'll get back on the net.... LOL... By the way, the wind isn't trying to blow us away today! Hurray!

Death Valley ~ Day 2

Today's travels in Death Valley took us to quite a few places... This morning, we started by driving north to Salt Creek so we could see some of the pupfish that live in that salty creek. Check the picture out... See the white stuff on the hills and on the ground? It's essentially salts that coat everything.

The stream is apparently very salty , so very few things live in it. The pupfish though, have adapted to the salty and arid conditions of Death Valley. There is a boardwalk that circles out around the area where the creek runs above ground, and in several areas, we could see the pupfish swimming around. This is spring and that means it's spawning season so it was pretty interesting to watch how territorial the little fish were. (They're about the size of minnows!) The males stake a "claim" to a section of the stream and then chase all other males out of that area while welcoming the females in... From what we read on the information signs posted around the area, the pupfish thrive when there is water in the creekbed. Everything is hurried though. They have to grow, mate and spawn while the water is present. Once the water dries up, the tiny little fish bury themselves in the sand and go dormant until the next rain storm fills the creekbed with water again.

Next stop was the Harmony Borax Works which is just north of Furnace Creek. Back around the turn of the century (and earlier) they used to scrape the "raw" borax off the salt flats that you see in the distance behind the wagons in this picture and then process the stuff into borax in the processing "plant" that was up on the hill sort of behind where I was standing when I took this picture. Those wagons are what the 20 mule teams hauled the borax in... Something like 36 tons worth of borax and water (1,200 gallons of drinking water!). Back then it took 20 mules to move the 36 tons.. Today one semi truck can move 40 tons.. What a comparison, huh? We visited the Borax Museum that is on the grounds of the Furnace Creek Ranch after leaving the site of the Harmony Borax Works. Then off to lunch at the ranch...

After lunch, we headed south and then followed a graded dirt road a ways down to the Devil's Golf Course. Mom and I got out to take some pictures while my Stepdad sat in the van (with both back doors open so the breeze could blow through.). Mom and I walked out onto the "golf course" a little ways so I could show her how hard those bumps of salt and dirt were. The peak you see in the background is Telegraph Peak. It's the highest peak in the Panamint mountain range at a bit over 11,000 feet. By contrast, Furnace Creek is at about 190 feet below sea level and Scotty's Castle is at about 3,000 feet above sea level!

Next stop was Badwater. The lowest point in the United States. It's 282 feet below sea level! When (and if!) you hear the weather man tell you how hot is was in Death Valley, they got the temperature from the weather station next to the cliffs here at Badwater. If I remember right, one of the signboards here said that the record high temperature was 137 degrees! Luckily, today it was in the mid-eighties with a light breeze blowing. lol... There is a pool of water at Badwater that is so salty it is undrinkable. The story goes that one of the early miners tried to get his mule to take a drink from the pool, but naturally the mule wasn't cooperating. So the miner tasted the water and proclaimed it "bad".. Hence the name Badwater and it stuck...

On our way back towards Furnace Creek, we decided to take a detour on the "Artist Drive".... It's a narrow one-way road that winds up through a number of canyons that takes you past incredibly colored hill/mountain sides... Reds, greens, purples, golds and browns all swirl around on some of the hillsides. Almost like huge buckets of paint got splashed all over the hills. It's well worth the time to take that detour.. And the plus is that the whole route was paved! (I'm already catching heck from my stepdad for getting his car all dirty and dusty from some of the dirt roads we've traveled.. lol)

Last picture for today is one of a rock that we spotted alongside the road on our way back. I haveno clue what kind of rock it is nor why it's shaped so strangely. the thing stands there well over 6 feet tall. The base of it looks almost melted. The top of it has roundish depressions in it. (I don't know if you can really tell from the pictures I took.. lol) The rock stands about 20 or 30 feet off the road and there are no signs or anything around that tells what it is and why it's there. It almost looks like some really strange modern art sculpture, but after getting up there next to the thing, I'm sure it's natural. A lot of the other rocks on the slope around it have a similar texture and some of them even have the roundish depressions in them. If anyone spots this entry on my blog and knows what the heck the thing is, please leave a comment! LOL, Mom and I are curious about it!! Hmm.. Maybe we'll have to stop by the Visitor's Center and ask a ranger before we head out of the valley tomorrow morning....
Oh yeah.. Tomorrow we're headed for the Barstow, California area.... I'll try to take some more cool pictures to share on our way down there....



P.S. Tomorrow sometime we'll actually get to use our cell phones again! I am sure I'm going to have a bunch of messages from my trucker friend... lol

Death Valley ~ Day 1

Ok, I'm back with a continuation of yesterday's story of our travels. I left off last night with the picture of the sign at the entrance to death valley. (And the picture of the coyote! LOL) After heading down the road from the sign, we came across an area that had a lot of wildflowers in bloom and of course we had to stop and take a look. There were lots of purple, yellow and white flowers blooming on both sides of the road. I looked at one of the wildflower books in the Visitor's Center, but I couldn't really identify what kind of flowers they are. They sure were pretty to look at as we drove down the highway. We got a few glimpses of the dunes and salt flats on the floor of the valley. The speed limit along here was 45mph, so I had plenty of chances to admire the scenery!

Next stop was Scotty's Castle in the north end of the valley. I took the tour of the inside of the house and was bowled over by the beauty of the place. The docent that was conducting the tour was great. She gave us lots of stories of Death Valley Scotty and the Johnsons (Who really owned the "castle".) Before taking the tour, we (I should say Mom and I, because my stepdad found a shady spot and stayed put for the most part.. lol) wandered around some of the other buildings and followed one of the "waterways" that runs between the Castle and the Stables. We ended up spending most of the afternoon there wandering around and exploring. As the afternoon wore on, we figured we'd better head down to Furnace Creek and get checked into our room. About halfway between the castle and the cutoff that we had come into the valley is where we spotted that coyote. As we crested a little hill and spotted a car sitting still in the opposing lane. Then we spotted a "critter" in the middle of the road behind them. It looked as though someone had dumped a bunch of chips or something all over the road, perhaps thinking the coyote would eat the stuff. Doh.. Coyotes are meat eaters, I don't think they like chips that much. I took the one shot from back near where the other car was and then started driving slowly towards the coyote. He didn't want to move out of the way and I was starting to wonder if maybe I should honk the horn. He finally moved when we were about 6 or 7 feet from him. We drove past, then it dawned on me that I should have zoomed in and gotten a closeup of him! lol... So, I stopped again and stepped out of the car. He was about 20 yards or so behind us, but when I stopped, he started walking towards us. Step by step, slowly, never taking his eyes off me. I zoomed the camera in and snapped off one shot and watched him approach closer. Then, when he was about 10 feet or so behind the car, I snapped another shot and climbed back into the drivers seat. He slowly walked along side the car, looked mournfully up at the window where I was, walked out in front of the van, stared at it, then moved back onto the yellow line... And we moved off down towards Furnace Creek and the Ranch where we are staying.

More later tonight, my Stepdad has decided we are going to dinner...... Now. LOL

We're back!

Now, on with the story... After checking in at the Furnace Creek Ranch and then getting some dinner, we headed over to the Death Valley Visitor Center. They had a program scheduled that sounded interesting. "Heroes, Hermits and Villians" was the title of the program and the description says: "A variety of fascinating characters lived in and around Death Valley and helped create an iconic image of the West." It was a pretty interesting program all about some of the early pioneers, miners and characters that lived and worked in this place.

We Made it to Death Valley!

We left my folk's house yesterday morning about 7am, give or take a few minutes and headed east into the mountains. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground up in the pass, but the roads were good. I got messages from my trucker friend letting us know what the weather was up on Donner Pass. Threatening clouds and a drizzle or two. No snow!

We stopped for breakfast at a little cafe in downtown Truckee. Food was pretty good and their bakery stuff looked yummy. My stepdad bought 2 Apple crisps and presented them to Mom and I. Since we were pretty full from breakfast, we carefully placed them in the car so we wouldn't lose them.. lol.. The weather there in Truckee was pretty good. We could see the threatening clouds that my trucker friend warned us about, but we didn't get any of the drizzles until we got closer to Reno. We stayed on I80 until we got to Fernley and then headed south on Highway 95. The drive down to Tonopah wasn't bad, if you don't count the wind we had to fight almost all the way there. We pulled into Tonopah about 3:30 or so and decided to stay for the night instead of heading down closer to Death Valley. There are a lot more choices of places to stay in Tonopah than there are down in Beatty or one of the other small towns along the highway. Tonopah is in the high desert. 6000 feet above sea level! The wind was still blowing hard last night, but this morning, it had calmed down. So, after having a lovely breakfast at the Tonopah Station, off we went.... Southbound on Highway 95. By the way, those apple crisps that my step-dad bought in Truckee yesterday morning made a lovely snack last night..

This is one of the views out the windshield as we headed south.. Long straight road, desert, mountains and blue skies...

Our original plan was to drive down 95 to Scotty's Junction and then head west into Death Valley. One of the concerns my stepdad had was buying fuel here in Death Valley, so we planned on fueling up before heading west. Well, when we got to Scotty's Junction our plans changed. Scotty's Junction consists of a turn-off towards Death Valley, an abandoned building that looked like it might have once been a store/gas station and a brothel off the road to one side... Plan change! lol, We headed further down to Beatty and fueled up there and headed west into Death Valley.

Here's the first indication that we've reached the park... One lonely sign and nothing else for miles.. lol.. Scotty's Castle was the first stop here in the Valley (Fabulous place!), then we headed to Furnace Creek and got a room at the Furnace Creek Ranch...

I've got a lot more photos to share, but It's late, I'm tired and I'll have to do some more writing tomorrow when I get a chance.. But I'll leave you with a "teaser" and I'll tell the story of the encounter and the picture when I get back online... Yes, it's a coyote and yes, he's walking straight towards me on the road between Scotty's Castle and Furnace Creek. And yes.. I was out of the car... lol

More tomorrow... I hope! After all, it's now after 10pm and I just know my stepdad is going to be up and ready to go with the sun in the morning... LOL

Saturday Morning:

I forgot to mention in the post above that if any of my family are trying to get a hold of me on my cell phone, I'm sorry... My cell phone has NO signal here in Death Valley... lol.. The ranger we listened to last night told us that there are only about 3 or 4 spots in the valley where you can use a cell phone and none of them are here in Furnace Creek...

Something Different ~ Extreme Sheep LED Art?

I stumbled upon this video while surfing around the internet using the Stumbleupon tool and I just had to share this video that the tool took me to... What I want to know is how they managed to come up with the idea of putting LED lights on sheep and then herding them around! lol...

Stuff in the News ~ Local and Otherwise

I know I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately... But it's hard to keep blogging about the same things all the time without constantly repeating myself. Casey Anthony is still in jail awaiting trial for murdering her daughter, Caylee in Orlando, Florida. Phil Spector is still on trial (retrial) for murdering Lana Clarkson in Los Angeles, California. Drew Peterson is still out and about shopping for a new wife while his 4th wife, Stacy Peterson is still missing and presumed dead. So, this morning, I'll do some minor updates and opinions on the above cases before moving on to some other things that have been in the local papers.

Casey Anthony; It's her birthday today. I'll bet she's really feeling the loss of her freedom today having to "celebrate" her birthday alone behind bars. On her menu for the day was a nice breakfast of a cup of oatmeal, gravy and potatoes and and a lovely dinner of smoked sausage, rice and mixed vegetable. Oh yeah, she might have either a cookie or a small piece of cake since that is what is already on the menu at the Orange County Jail. No partying at the Fusion Lounge or getting drunk with friends for her birthday this year. From what most of the news sources are saying, her family aren't even scheduled to visit her today. There are lots of rumors around the web about the "missing" pages of Casey's diary having been "found", including Nancy Grace mentioning it on her show last night. I haven't seen anything substantial in the way of confirmation of the existence of the missing pages yet. I'd love to see them and see if they, in any way, resemble the diary page that I posted about before.

Phil Spector; The main stream media still only occasionally report anything about the retrial. But, both the prosecution and the defense have rested and the closing arguments are scheduled for next week. This week, they are reportedly finalizing the jury instructions and going through the evidence, deciding what can go into the jury room and what can't. It's kind of ironic that the case will go to the jury next week. When the first trial got to the closings and the jury got the case, I was away from my computer for a month, driving my Mom and Stepdad up to the Seattle area and then back south visiting friends and family. This time, we have closings coming up and I'm going to be leaving on another trip, this time driving my Mom and Stepdad to Southern California. At least this time I will have a computer with me so I can keep checking in with news sites and blogs to see if a verdict has been reached. I hope that there will be cameras in the courtroom for the verdict!

Drew Peterson; He's been in the news again recently because his step-brother, Tom Morphey, has been speaking out about the day that Stacey disappeared. Tom Morphey says that Drew asked him "How much do you love me? Enough to kill for me?" Morphey is also talking about renting a storage locker for Drew and talkng more about helping Drew move that blue barrel from the bedroom of the Peterson home down to the back of Drew's SUV. Of course Drew is denying everything that Mr. Morphey is saying. Oh yeah... And Drew is planning a wedding for his 5th marriage. Ugh.. That woman is out of her mind!

Local News

One of the local stories that the area news media are making a "big deal' out of is the closure of a run-down trailer park in the county to the east of me, Yuba County. Apparently the owners of the park gave up on fixing all the problems in the park quite a while back, let it go into foreclosure, then went into bankruptcy over a year ago. The people still living in the park stopped paying rent a year ago, but stayed put. In other words, they've been living there for free for a year, only having to pay for their utilities. So when the county shut the place down yesterday the 11 or 12 families still living there began crying about how they have no place to live now and no way to move to another place. I understand about being "broke" and having a hard time getting into a new place to live, but for crying out loud, these people have been living there rent free for a year! I guess none of them thought about putting some of their rent money aside for the time that they would have to either start paying rent again or have to move into another home. So now, the tax payers get to foot the bill for these people who thought they could live there for free forever. The county is paying for hotel rooms for these people! The videos I've seen on TV and on websites show a really rundown trailer park, the common buildings are dilapidated, vandalized and dangerous looking, and the individual trailer lots look almost as bad. The county is planning on leveling the place. It needs it.

~

Another story in yesterday's local paper had me scratching my head and wondering "What the heck??". A man in the town of Arbuckle had a nasty habit of standing in his front window exposing and fondling himself every Wednesday for the last several weeks. The sheriff's department received quite a few complaints from neighbors but had never gotten proof of what the guy was doing. Finally, the sheriff's department stationed an undercover officer near the man's house yesterday. And yep, it was Wednesday. And yep, the officer saw the guy do his "thing" in front of his window. And yep, the guy is under arrest. No one has figured out why the guy only did his thing on Wednesdays. And the guy, Andrew Sweet, isn't answering any questions from the authorities... Weird!

"Otherwise"

In the South Pacific, a new island is being born near Tonga. Tonga is part of the ''ring of fire,” an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones in the Pacific. The Associated Press has a spectacular raw video of the eruption. Check it out:

I don't know about the rest of you, but volcanos fascinate me. They are spectacular and tangible proof to me that our Earth is still "alive".....

Update on the Highway 166 Accident & Yesterday's Rant

The investigators have released name of the truck driver who died in that horrible accident Friday night. The driver was identified as 27-year-old Ricardo Zamora of Bakersfield.Mr. Zamora died when his rig caught on fire. The authorities had to use dental records to identify the poor man. My condolences go out to his family and friends.

And the "impatient" idiot of a man who caused the tragedy passed away yesterday. A CHP spokesman says 41-year-old Wayne Delangie of Santa Maria passed away at Cottage Hospital in Santa Maria Sunday night. Delangie's family says he is an organ donor and that his body is being kept on life support until the organ donation process is complete.

So now there are two families who've lost someone due to the impatience of one man. One man who just had to get in front of a couple of trucks. One man who was in such a hurry to get where he was going that he did something incredibly stupid. He tried to pass those trucks on a right-hand curve with a double yellow line. He failed. Spectacularly. Tragically.

If any of my readers out there get out on the highway and end up behind a truck that is going slower than you, please don't get impatient and pass unsafely. I don't care how big of a hurry you think you are, wait for a safe area to pass. A passing lane. A long straight stretch of road with no oncoming traffic. Trucks go slower than cars by law. Especially here in California. The maximum a truck is allowed is 55 miles per hour. Even on the highways where cars are allowed to go faster, those trucks are not allowed to go faster than 55.

Be safe out there folks. I don't want to have to read more reports of tragic accidents caused by impatient drivers.

Source: KSBY Channel 6

Another Rant about "Impatient Drivers"

Last year in May I posted a rant about impatient drivers (Look here for the post.) and this morning, I'm going to do it again. Yesterday morning, I read about a bad accident on highway 166 down near San Luis Obispo/Santa Maria involving two big rigs (according to the original article) that happened Friday evening. There weren't many details yesterday, but this morning the San Luis Obispo newspaper has another article on their web site about the accident which gives a lot more details. Another article on the KSBY Channel 6 web site gives even more. The accident was caused by an impatient driver trying to pass a couple of trucks.

According to the articles, a man from Santa Maria (who's identity hasn't been disclosed) in a F-150 pickup crossed a double yellow line and attempted to pass two big rigs. When he pulled out into the opposing (westbound) lane, he sideswiped a Honda being driven by a woman from Bakersfield, then sideswiped another pickup truck (A Chevy) driven by a man from Bakersfield. He then hit another big rig head on. That rig went on into the eastbound lane and crashed into another big rig, causing it to roll over. Then both rigs caught on fire. The pickup then hit another eastbound big rig, then sideswiped another westbound car (A Saturn) driven by another woman from Bakersfield.

The driver of the rig that was hit head on died, either in the initial crash or in the fire. That driver could not be identified yet. The driver of the rig that rolled over luckily only suffered minor injuries. The woman in the Honda also suffered minor injuries and the man in the other pickup, the man in the 3rd big rig and the woman in the Saturn were truly lucky, they weren't injured at all. The impatient man is in the hospital with "major" injuries. The accident scene covered over 2,000 feet of the highway and the wreckage, cleanup and investigation had the highway closed for nearly a full day.

One idiot who thought he was going to get where he was going just a little sooner by passing a couple trucks on a curve with double yellow lines didn't get where he was going that night. He got a trip to the hospital and probably will have a long convalescence from his injuries. He killed a man. He injured two other people. He wrecked 7 vehicles, including his own. (I think the photo to the left is the F150, or what's left of it.) His impatience and stupidity closed a highway for a day, causing other drivers to take long detours in order to get from one side of the coastal range to the other.

Amazingly, or maybe it's not that amazing, the first comment below the article in the San Luis Obispo paper blames the trucks for the accidents.

"croberts wrote on 03/07/2009 08:31:05 PM:

To repeat: As a regular 'user' of 166 I can say without hesitation that 166 is unsafe due to overuse by large truck/trailer combos. This should NOT be allowed as a 'truck-route', used by commercial and semi-tractor trailer rigs looking for the sort-cut to I-5/99. The combination of hills, curves, one-lane each way, bad passing areas, motor-homes, pickups towing trailers, U-Hauls, and autos driven by the unskilled and impatient result in deadly accidents. Add to the mix an obvious lack of law enforcement. (Never seen a Chippy)."

As I look at a Google map showing the highway this accident happened on, I see that Highway 166 isn't a "shortcut". I see that it is the most direct route between Santa Maria and Bakersfield. Perhaps this guy who wrote this comment is one of those guys who do stupid things to get around trucks? Blame it all on the trucks... Sheesh!

View Larger Map

Sources:
San Luis Obispo Tribune
KSBY Channel 6 (Also has a video and more photos)
Original article about the crash; San Luis Obispo Tribune

Google Searches = Detective Work? Fun!

The end of this month, I'll be driving my Mom and Step-dad down to Southern California. We'll be spending a couple days in Death Valley, then heading for Barstow, the city my Step-dad grew up and then we'll go to Riverside to visit with family. My Step-dad expressed a wish to get in touch with some of the fellows he grew up with, so one evening last week I badgered him into giving me some names so I could try to find any information about them. He gave me three names. George H., Rex D. and Alfred W. (For privacy's sake, I'm not going to publish the men's full names.)

So, when I got home I started doing some Google searches on the three names. Naturally, the searches produced thousands of "hits" for the names. So I started narrowing the search parameters a bit by including the name of the city with the men's names. I got one good solid "hit" on one of the names! Rex D. had been one of the "pioneers" of the Fire Department in that city (back when it wasn't even a real city!) and his name appeared on the history page on the Fire Department's web page. I saved the page to a word document with Rex D.'s name highlighted and emailed it to my Step-dad so that he could read it. The other two men's names still brought up too many entries. So, I thought about trying to find the web site for the high school that my Step-dad and his buddies attended. Unfortunately, I found one of the names on a memorial page, George H.. He passed away in May of last year.

So, one down and two to go. I looked up the phone number for the Fire Department and gave them a call. I explained to the woman who answered my phone what I was trying to do. I wanted to get in contact with Rex D. and was hoping that someone there at the Fire Department would know him. I left my name and phone number with her so she could ask around and pass the information along that my Step-dad was going to be in town and would very much like to get in touch.

Days passed and I didn't hear anything from Rex D. and I started thinking about it. This man wouldn't know who the heck I am! Why didn't I leave my Step-dad's number? lol.. One of those "Doh!" moments, I guess. So, I called the Fire Department again on Tuesday and spoke to the same woman. I gave her my Step-dad's phone number to add to the message to Rex D., if and when someone could contact him. Yesterday, my Step-dad got a phone call from Rex! We'll be meeting up with him once we get there... My Step-dad is really happy that he'll be able to reminisce with his childhood friend.

Rex also gave us some information about the third fellow, Alfred W. He apparently is living in North West Washington... Oddly enough, he lives in the same town as my great-aunt! Last night, I did a little more googling and came up with a phone number for Alfred. My Step-dad has the number now. I'm not sure what he's going to do with it... Perhaps wait until he meets up with Rex.

When we get together with Rex, I'm going to ask him and my Step-dad if they were involved in an incident that I stumbled upon while searching for information on the three men's names.. It seems that out in the Southern California desert there are a number of extinct volcanoes. Apparently one of them, the Pisgah Crater, is fairly near Barstow. The story is that the kids from the high school spent months hauling trash and burnable stuff out to the crater. Tires, old lumber, creosoted railroad ties and lots of other stuff. Then after building a huge mound of stuff, they lit the pile of junk on fire. Apparently the smoke column rising from the crater alarmed enough people that they shut down the highway (Highway 66) that runs near the crater, stopped the trains from coming past the crater and even evacuated the town! The hoax was exposed when the Los Angeles Times hired a pilot and plane to take a reporter and a photographer out to fly around the crater and the burning pile of junk was discovered. Hmm.. Maybe I'll print out that story and slide it across the table to my Step-dad and his childhood chum and see what their reactions are. lol...

It was fun tracking down my Step-dad's childhood buddies. And what made it best was the fact that I had located them and that we'll be meeting up with one of them in a few weeks. I'll be taking this laptop with me on the trip and I'll try to post some photos and travel stuff whenever I can get an Internet connection. This trip (and others like it in the future) is one of the big reasons I bought the laptop. I won't be so completely out of touch while traveling like I was when we've done the other excursions we've taken. Plus, I've loaded some of my Step-dad's favorite games on here and my Mom and I can leave him with the games and go window shopping or whatever... lol