A Tiny Chapel, Old Cemeteries, an Old Schoolhouse and a Bird!

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I hope all of my readers who are Moms, Grandmas or Moms-to-be had a lovely day. Mine was very nice... We (my daughter, son-in-law and my youngest grandson) took a spur of the moment drive around the area where we live. My daughter and I had been talking about unique things or places that are close by and I mentioned the tiny chapel that is in the county across the river from where we live. She hadn't ever seen it for some reason, so I was trying to describe it to her. Her husband spoke up and said that he knew exactly where it was and asked if we wanted to go for a ride. Naturally, my daughter and I said "Yes!". We both grabbed our cameras, put the grandson in his booster seat in the car and off we went.

The first stop was the Grand Island Shrine over in Colusa County. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, it's also a California Point of Historical Interest. The inscription on the plaque for the California Point of Historical Interest says:

"Site of the first Catholic mass to be said in Colusa County, May 1856. In 1864, a Catholic mission was conducted and a large wooden cross erected to commemorate the occasion. Masses, pilgrimages and visits were made here continuously thereafter. In order to preserve the identity of the place, Father Michael Wallrath secured a deed from Mrs. Anna Myers to this parcel of land and constructed a small shrine from hand kilned bricks in 1883."

As you can see in the photos, the chapel or shrine is small. There is only room for maybe 4 people inside the building if they stand close together. The chapel doors are unlocked and it's available for people to go in and light candles and pray. There were fresh flowers in vases on the altar and one candle was burning. In the picture to the right, I am standing just outside the door, no zoom on the camera, no special effects or flash was used. So you can see how small the shrine is. We didn't spend a lot of time at the chapel, but we were there long enough for my 5 year old grandson to spot a lizard sunning himself on the wall. Naturally, being a 5 year old little boy, he had to do some investigating of the lizard.. lol.. My daughter tried to get a picture of it, but I'm not sure that she caught it. I'll be honest. I didn't even see the lizard. I was on the wrong side of the chapel when they saw it and by the time I got around to that side, the lizard had climbed up the wall to one of the ledges. Oh well. No lizard picture for me! lol

When we left there, my daughter and started talking about other places in the area that we had been to or heard about in the past and one of the places we both remembered stories about was what was known as the "witches grave" at one of the old cemeteries in the area. I don't remember how the stories went, it's been too many years, so I won't be spinning the tale of the witch that is buried in a cemetery near the Sutter Buttes. I will say that the stories of the witch's grave center around two different cemeteries and your guess is as good as mine about which one was the source of the stories. One cemetery is on the north side of the Buttes, the "Pennington" or "North Butte" cemetery and one on the west side, the Noyesburg cemetery. We drove around the Buttes and found the northern cemetery. We parked and wandered around the old cemetery, reading the headstones as best we could. The earliest marker is from 1859 and the latest is from last year. The McMurtry monument shown in the picture to the left is one of the most complete and the most striking one that is left. There are a more than a few that have been so weathered that you can barely read the inscriptions and there are also some that have suffered vandalism. Some are laying in pieces and some have whole chunks missing. There are also a few that look like they were recently placed, perhaps to replace the ruined or vandalized marker of a family ancestor. The one new grave in this small cemetery had an epitaph that puzzled us, so I looked it up when we got back home. The epitaph said "The char-à-banc doesn't stop here anymore." I didn't know what "char-à-banc" meant! According to dictionary.com, it means "a large bus used on sightseeing tour". And I looked up the name of the man buried there. He was from Sacramento, but his family/ancestors were some of the early settlers who farmed and ranched around the Sutter Buttes in the 1800's, so he is buried here in this small, old cemetery with his ancestors.

The other old cemetery we visited was on the south side of the Buttes. It's called the Stohlman Cemetery. Apparently it is a family cemetery and the earliest marker there is from 1859. The markers there have been vandalized as well. I will never understand what the "thrill" is for idiots to go into a cemetery and destroy the memorials. We wandered around reading the markers that remain while noting that a lot of the memorials had silk flowers placed nearby, we replaced a few of the flowers that had blown over. My grandson saw my daughter and I replace a couple and then he decided that was his job. Every time he saw a flower that wasn't where it should be, he picked it up and put it near one of the head stones.

After leaving here, my son-in-law took us by one of the old one room schools in this area that is still standing. From what I've heard, there are a few of the old school houses still standing in the county. It would be interesting to do some hunting and see how many I could find. I have no idea of the history of the Slough School building, since I haven't found much information about it on google yet. Ah well.. Another day. And another tour of the area. lol...

The last stops we made on our little tour yesterday were near the Sutter Bypass. As we slowly drove along the levee road and then down onto a bridge over the channel that had a locked gate at the other end, I spotted a cormorant sitting on a log in the middle of the channel sunning himself. Since we were stopped in the middle of that bridge anyway, I got out and took a couple pictures of the bird. This log was just downstream from the old bridge that people used to drive over. The roadbed leading to the bridge is long gone and the bridge itself is rusting away. Further across the bypass, there is still a portion of the raised roadbed standing, but it's not connected to this bridge anymore either... I'd like to add one more picture to this blog entry, but I didn't take it. It was one that my daughter caught of the cormorant taking off. And since she's at work right now, I can't even ask her for the picture. I'll have to give her a call later tonight and perhaps add the picture then...

Anyway.. I hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday! I sure did!

Tiger Meets Toddler?

I was using the "StumbleUpon" tool bar a bit this afternoon and stumbled upon these images. They are in yesterday's images of the day from The Telegraph UK website. Needless to say, the images stopped me in mid click from going on to the next site...

These breathtaking pictures appear to show a little girl seconds away from becoming a hungry tiger's lunch. Little Avery Thompson seems oblivious to the 370lb Royal White Bengal Tiger as he stretches out a massive paw in an attempt to touch her...

...But, despite appearances, the toddler is perfectly safe - she and Almos the tiger are separated by a thick pane of glass. Keen amateur wildlife photographer Dyrk Daniels photographed the encounter at Cougar Mountain Zoo, in Washington
Picture: DYRK DANIELS / SOLENT NEWS

I'd say that photographer was in the right place at just the right moment to catch an unforgettable moment!

Drew Peterson Arrest Video

This is the "Raw" video from the MyFox Chicago site.... It appears Drew's smirk is gone... For now.

Drew Peterson Arrested!

I just heard the news on Headline News! State police have arrested Drew Peterson for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio! His fourth wife, Stacy Peterson is still missing and Drew is the only suspect in her disappearance. Investigators have presumed that Stacy was murdered by Drew, but no arrest in that case has happened. Yet.

Here's what the Herald News in Chicago says:

BOLINGBROOK – Authorities arrested Drew Peterson on Thursday near his Bolingbrook home for the murder of his third wife Kathleen Savio, according to police sources.

“I guess I should have returned those library books,” a hand-cuffed Peterson said Thursday evening as he was being led into state police headquarters.

Police took Peterson into custody at Weber and Lilly Cache roads.

“The charge right now is the murder of Kathleen Savio,” said Lt. Carl Anderson of the state police.

Savio, 40, was found dead in a dry bathtub in her Bolingbrook home in March 2004.
At the time, Illinois State Police failed to find anything suspicious and her death was ruled an accidental drowning by a coroner’s jury.
After Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, then 23, disappeared in October 2007, officials reclassified Savio’s death as a homicide and gave the state police another opportunity to figure out who did her in.
Savio’s body was exhumed from its grave. An autopsy conducted in November 2007 determined Savio was the victim of a homicide.

State police have called Stacy Peterson's disappearance is a "potential homicide" and say Peterson is also a suspect in that case.

Just think, my last post included a little blurb about Drew being considered for a role on the HBO reality show that is filed in a brothel in Nevada. Hilarious.. I just found more information about that too... The Associated Press is reporting this:

CHICAGO (AP) — HBO says there's no chance Drew Peterson will appear on a reality television show set in a Nevada brothel.

In fact, HBO spokeswoman Tobe (TOH'-bee) Becker says the network would cancel "Cathouse" before allowing the former suburban Chicago police officer to appear.

Peterson is a suspect in the October 2007 disappearance of his wife, Stacy.

Peterson publicist Glenn Selig (SEH'-lig) said Wednesday that his client was weighing an offer from the owner of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch outside Carson City.

Becker calls that a "stunt" that HBO does not condone.

Brothel owner Dennis Hof (HOFF') said Thursday he's still talking to Peterson about a possible job, even though Peterson can't be on the show. Selig says Peterson is interested.

All I can say is that it's about time they arrested that sick, sick man!!!! And I think it's extremely funny that Drew's PR guy is busted on that reality show story.. I do believe I'll pour a glass of wine and celebrate! lol

Sources:
Arrest story: Herald News
Reality Show: The Associated Press

Update:
I found an image of Drew with cuffs on.. although you can't see the cuffs..

Illinois State police Lt. Carl Anderson (left) and another investigator escort Drew Peterson into District 5 State Police headquarters Thursday. Peterson was arrested in the 2004 murder of his third wife Kathleen Savio. (Michael R. Schmidt/Sun-Times News Group)

Picture source: The Sun-Times





Another Update:

I watched the press conference about the arrest on CNN. They have indicted Drew on two counts of murder 1, and the judge signed off on a $20 million bond. So, Drew will be sitting in jail for a while. I'm hoping that he hasn't got access to enough money to bond out. I honestly believe he would be a flight risk. I'm still looking for more information online since I didn't take any notes while listening to them! lol...

Just couldn't resist....

UPDATES below....


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This lolcat was just too cute, I couldn't resist bringing it here....

In the News

There are a couple items in the news that have me shaking my head this morning. One is about Drew Peterson, the ex-cop in the Chicago area who is the only suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Stacey Peterson. Drew's publicist put out a press release saying that Drew is in talks about appearing in a role on an HBO reality show set in a Nevada brothel. Apparently the owner of the brothel originally wanted to get former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich to be on the "reality show", but I guess the former Gov. turned it down. And, since both Drew and Blogo have the same PR guy, the PR guy is pushing Drew at the brothel. I've never seen this "reality show" since I don't have HBO, but I have a hunch that Drew would fit right in. If I did have HBO, I doubt if I'd be interested in watching it. I'd never even heard of the show before reading that press release! lol

The other item that has me shaking my head is in the local newspaper this morning, the Appeal Democrat. The story's title is "Accused poachers bagged" with a sub-title of "Illegal, 'sickening' hunts left 5 wounded deer to die". The titles are bad enough, but check out the article itself:

A Nicolaus man and two juveniles are facing felony animal cruelty charges for wounding deer with .22-caliber guns and leaving the animals to die "a slow and agonizing death," a California Department of Fish and Game official said Tuesday.

Jeremy Lee Harkins, 19, was arrested Monday at a Shasta Street apartment in Yuba City along with an alleged accessory, Kayla Marie Williams, 18. Harkins was being held Tuesday in Sutter County Jail on $20,000 bail.

The illegal hunting, long past the end of deer season, allegedly occurred in early December near Nicolaus. Charges were filed by the Sutter County District Attorney's Office after a lengthy investigation, said Game Warden Nate Stebbins.

Harkins and the juveniles shot at deer from a car with a .22-caliber rifle, and apparently a stolen handgun, using rimfire ammunition that is prohibited for hunting deer, said Stebbins.

Small-caliber weapons and rimfire cartridges, instead of centerfire cartridges, are likely only to wound deer, he said.

In one case, the suspects shot a deer at night. Realizing they had only wounded the animal, they returned the next morning "and brutally tried to finish it off" by stabbing or slitting its throat, said Stebbins, who found the carcass.

Two deer carcasses were found. As many as three other animals were wounded, said Stebbins, who called the shootings "sickening."

The juveniles were cited and released to their parents. They will appear in Sutter County Juvenile Court, he said.

Williams allegedly helped Harkins conceal evidence. A fifth suspect, who allegedly provided the handgun is being sought, said Stebbins.

Besides cruelty to animals, charges against Harkins and the juveniles include shooting from a car, wasting game and receiving known stolen property.

The suspects had plastic bags in their car and supposedly planned to salvage meat from the deer with the slashed throat, Stebbins said.

After word of what the suspects were doing got around the small town of Nicolaus, a number of witnesses were found during the "complex" investigation, said Stebbins.

The story is bad enough, but the comments on the article are something else. Apparently the mom of one of the "kids" arrested has been on the paper's site "defending" her daughter. Here is her first comment:

NotJudgeorJury wrote:

You people that have already "Convicted" my daughter and her boyfriend for what this article says, need to slow down and make an effort to find out what the TRUTH is. Does the TRUTH matter to any of you, or are you so excited to be able to have someone to talk about and make judgements when Im sure none or almost none of you are Judges! Thank GOD for that! The two adults mentioned in this article were driver and front seat passenger in the vehicle. The minors in the back of the vehicle are the one(s) that shot the deer! When the adults heard shots they thought they were being shot at and FLED the scene. They did not realize until the GAME WARDEN came that a deer had been shot. They were not involved at all with the next day actions of the minors after the fact! So you people need to get a life and stop judging because I am sure that if it was one of your children written about in the paper you would be outraged when the ignorant people make their ignorant comments about something that they don't even know SH** about!

Uhm... Ok, "Mom"... They didn't realize a deer had been shot? Excuse me, but in the article above, it states that 5 deer had been shot.. On different occasions! I guess she has no feelings for the deer that were wounded during these kid's quest for "fun". For crying out loud, the one deer was shot and wounded at night, then left to suffer until the next morning when the idiot kids went back out there to "end it's suffering"!

The other folks commenting on that article didn't take her attack very well as you can imagine so later, "Mom" comes back and fires another shot:

NotJudgeorJury wrote:

To everyone who wishes they were the judges and jury's: I guess being judge and jury of a space where you are allowed to make comments is all you were capable of "aspiring to" in your miserable lives! I never said that they were not guilty of something, Did I??? I absolutely agree that they MUST be guilty of something, otherwise they would not be in this mess to begin with. I am not as ignorant as many of you though, because I am not talking about How I BELEIVE THEY ARE INNOCENT! I don't think that for a minute.... I don't think that they did nothing. I don't believe what they are being charged with, is appropriate! So dont be too disappointed if they just happen to beat these specific charges. I wouldn't be surprised if they are found guilty of something. And my daughter is well aware of taking responsibility for her own actions and living with consequences of choices she has made... And I am sure that she is being charged at all because she is NOT going to tell on anyone involved, even if she has to go down for the entire incident! It doesn't make the story true! So, I guess I would be more than f***ing happy to see any animal killed, because I don't like animals! Does that mean I am guilty of doing such a thing! No. But it really doesn't bother me at all that the animal was killed. So there is something for you hypocritical people to discuss untill your hearts desires! I love it, when I am the center of any conversation! Negative or positive, really doesn't make a difference to me. I am just happy knowing I got under someones skin today!

Oh boy... This woman is something else, isn't she? Yes, she's defending her daughter and I can understand that, but I don't think she's doing it very well. I think she hits the nail on the head when she says "I love it, when I am the center of any conversation!" I'm going to check back with the paper's site later today and see how the "discussion" is going...

I'd be interested to see what my readers here think about the poacher story... And about the comments.... Follow this LINK and see what's being said...

UPDATE:
Thursday AM: I checked on the comments for the poacher/arrest article this morning and I found one more post from the Mom I quoted yesterday. It seems she's backing off her attitude from early yesterday.. She's still defending her daughter, but it appears that she had a little chat with her daughter and the boyfriend and found out that they aren't quite as innocent as she thought.

notjudgeorjury wrote:

To all of the people posting about this article. I stopped reading ALL comments at my last post, so whatever you have to say about these two adults or myself is really falling on deaf ears. I have absolutely no patience for people that are judgemetal when I am sure that each and every one here has broken the law in some way or another, at some time or another committing crime anywhere from taking office supplies at work, to molesting the neighbors kids and/or worse. Any how, they are not the ones being accused, nor are they the ones on trial. After a very lengthy conversation with the two adults here, I have to apologize to all of you for sticking up for them, because it seems there is more truth to the article than I would like to beleive and after they seen the lengths that I am willing to go to protect them, they felt that I needed to be told the truth. I did not have to come here and apologize to you guys, but I am a woman and I cant admit when I am wrong. While there is some truth to the article, there is also circumstances that are not mentioned in the article. I still stand by my daughters innocence, and I will leave my explanations at that!

I also noticed that more than a few posts were "removed" due to violations of the user agreement for the paper's website. Plus a couple of the posters who were there yesterday are completely gone, posts and all... I guess I missed a "lively" discussion over there.. lol

Another UPDATE:
Thursday PM: Another post from the mom of the girl that was arrested left another post this afternoon... She sounds a bit upset, wouldn't you say? The funny thing is that I just finished reading the rest of the comments and didn't see any posts referring to her being in trouble with the law, nor anything referring to "snitches". This lady needs to calm down and talk to her daughter, the boy friend and the other kids that were arrested instead of ranting and raving on the newspaper's website!

notjudgeorjury wrote:
I hear there has been a few assumptions made about me so let me clear that up for you folks! First of all, NO, I have never been in trouble with the law.(Just because we are not snitches, doesn't mean that the entire family is on the other side of the law). We are not snitches, because someone very close to us was a snitch, and guess what? They was killed for snitching, so we won't snitch! We like being alive! Secondly, someone seems to think I sound crazy, because I ramble...Well when I am furious, I ramble. And you are absolutely right about me being crazy, thats how I get when someone is attacking one of my children, regardless of the reason. You might just know how crazy I can be, if I only knew any of you or where any of you live! We would definately being having this discussion face to face.

Or did I read this wrong? She is making threats, isn't she?

Brianna Denison Case: 1 Trial Ordered for Biela!

Well, James Biela lost his bid to have three separate trials for abducting, raping and murdering Brianna Denison and assaulting two other women there in Reno. He will be facing all the charges for all three attacks in one trial in February, 2010. Good for the judge!
From The Reno Gazette Journal:

The Reno man accused of raping and killing Brianna Denison and sexually assaulting two other female college students more than a year ago will be tried on charges involving all three attacks at the same time.

Washoe District Judge Robert Perry denied a request by public defenders for James Michael Biela to severe the three cases for fear he wouldn't receive a fair trial if they were combined.

Biela is scheduled to go to trial in February on charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the abduction and murder of the 19-year-old Denison last January.

Under Perry's ruling Monday, he also will face at that time the two additional counts of sexual assault in the attacks on the two other women on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno.

Brianna Denison Case: Lawyer for Biela argues for 3 separate trials

I missed seeing this article about the accused murderer of Brianna Denison in the news yesterday...  I found it this morning while surfing through a few of the old links I have for newpapers and stations that have an online presence.  Believe it or not, I was looking for articles about fires and the preparations for the upcoming fire season.   I feel bad that I hadn't been keeping up with the case over the last few months since James Biela was charged with Brianna's murder.   To be honest, I wasn't even aware that they had combined Brianna's case with the other two cases.  And that makes me feel even worse!  I need to keep this one on my list of active cases to watch.  When Brianna first disappeared in January of last year, I was watching the news for information like crazy, as well as keeping my eyes open for her when I was out and about.  After all, I live only 3 or so hours away from Reno where she disappeared from.  In my eyes, it was entirely possible that a kidnapper could have headed down through the mountains and into Northern California.   Sadly, Brianna never actually left Reno.  She was kidnapped, raped, murdered and then dumped right there in Reno.  I'll keep an eye on the Reno paper in the future to see what the judge rules....
From the Reno Gazette Journal:

The strangulation of Brianna Denison, the rape of another woman at gunpoint in a parking garage and the abduction and sexual assault of a third woman were all distinctly different crimes, and each should be tried separately, a lawyer for James Biela argued Friday.
"They would like the court to believe there was a similar attack pattern," Deputy Public Defender Jay Slocum said of the prosecutors. "Our contention was there is not."
But Deputy District Attorney Elliott Sattler cited a list of similarities among the three cases -- they occurred near the university, late at night, against women who had similar builds -- and asked Washoe District Judge Robert Perry to keep the cases together.
"What we have here is a man who basically is a predator," Sattler said.
Sattler said Biela conducted "sexually motivated attacks on unsuspecting
college-aged girls. The facts, they all point to the same person committing all of these acts one month after the other."
Perry said he would announce his decision on the request on Monday or Tuesday. At present, the trial is set for Feb. 22, 2010. If Perry separated the three charges, Sattler said he would keep that date for the Denison trial, and hold the two others sooner, in chronological order.
Denison, a Reno native, was a 19-year-old student at Santa Barbara City College when she disappeared from a friend's house near the University of Nevada, Reno campus early on Jan. 20, 2008. Her body was found on Feb. 15, 2008, in a field in southeast Reno.
Biela also is charged with raping a UNR student on about 10 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2007, as she headed toward her car. She testified at Biela's preliminary hearing that she was grabbed from behind and raped on the ground. She did not report the attack until January, and no DNA evidence was saved.
Another woman told police she was at her car outside her apartment about 2 a.m. on
Dec. 17, 2007, when she was grabbed from behind, taken away in a car and forced to have oral sex. The attacker then returned her to her car and left.
Connecting the two sexual assaults with the highly publicized Denison case would be unfairly prejudicial against Biela, Slocum told the judge.
"The jury may likely use evidence of the publicity and unfairly apply that to the other cases," he said. The jury also might see stronger evidence in one case and "piggyback the weaker case on the stronger one and convict."
He also said each attack was different.
The attacker used a firearm when he raped the woman in the parking garage, and she later told police that she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from the attack. The attacker didn't have a gun during the December attack, he took the woman away, then returned her, Slocum said.
And in the Denison case, she was abducted, raped and strangled, he said.
"The difference is pretty marked between all three situations," he said.
But Sattler said the attacks shared a common scheme.
"They were all conducted within that 400-foot radius on North Virginia Street," he said. The two rapes were "basically across the street from each other. That's how close these are. I would suggest that you could throw a rock from one place to the other.
"They are crimes of opportunity in that he puts himself there," Sattler said. "He's waiting for somebody to come by, so he can attack them. And he attacks in a similar way."

This 'n That

I'm still around, still watching the news on the net and on TV. Yes, I'm still keeping track of what is going on with the cases I've posted about in the past. My brain is having trouble coming up with posts for the blog though. The story behind that is that I got fed up with the new tax hikes the federal and state governments put on cigarettes and have decided to quit smoking. Instead of buying a carton of cigarettes this last time, I bought the patches. (Dummy me, I found out after buying them that I could have gotten them for free if I had signed up for a class at a local hospital! LOL) I started using the patches when I had gotten down to the last pack of cigarettes in the last carton I bought. I managed to make that pack last for 4 days and now I'm on day 2 of having no cigarettes at all. Ugh. I still would love to have a smoke! lol...

So, anyway today's post (which is probably going to be all over the place.) is going to start off with one of the LOL Cats that I thought were really cute yesterday.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Now for the rest of the "news"....

I've been adding a few posts to the other blog I post on, California Fire News. The posts have been mostly earthquake reports that measure over 3.0, but occasionally I find another item of interest. As for the earthquakes, one yesterday was a 4.4 on the Richter scale and it was centered near Malibu. There have been a number of small quakes in the Los Angeles area in the last week or so Hopefully this isn't a buildup to a bigger one.

As for the cases I am watching, a couple of them have been really hard to get news about them because of gag orders that the judges in the individual cases have ordered.

Sandra Cantu (victim) and Melissa Huckaby (accused murderer)
The Sandra Cantu case is one of those that have virtually disappeared from the local and national news broadcasts. The latest hearing for Melissa Huckaby was a very brief one with the defense postponing a plea from the accused and the judge, Linda Lofthus, ordering that the autopsy findings be sealed to "prevent public outrage", plus she ordered a gag order on everyone involved in the case. The next hearing will be May 22nd in the San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton. There have been a couple articles recently though. These articles are about the reward that had been offered when poor little Sandra disappeared.

Apparently there is a psychic in the Los Angeles area who thinks she deserves to get some of the reward money even though her "vision" wasn't exactly accurate and the investigators used none of the information provided by any psychics when they were searching for the child. This woman said she predicted the little girl would be found in a "barranca (A Spanish word for canyon or ravine.) and that she was killed in a church, and the killer was someone in the trailer park the little girl called home. Ok, she managed to get 2 out of 3, supposedly. But, since the Tracy police didn't use psychic predictions during the investigation, how much actual "good" did this woman do? I'd say "none".

The other article I found this morning is about the man who did do something to help the Tracy police find Sandra. This guy is the man who found that suitcase floating in that pond on the dairy. The original news reports that came out when Sandra's body was found in that suitcase said that the farm hand(s) who found it had refused the reward. Back then, the reporters said that the cops would be talking to the men. And apparently they did. The man who is receiving the reward money is Jose Luis Franco, and he'll be the recipient of a little more than $20,000. He says he'll be putting the money into a trust account to pay for the education of his four children. He's hoping that they will be able to go to college. Good for him! And good for his family!

The Public Information Officer with the Tracy Police Department, Sgt. Tony Sheneman says that the reward will be going only to Mr. Franco. Not to the supposed psychics who are trying to claim part of that reward. (Can you tell that I don't believe in a lot of the supposed psychics who claim they "solve murders"?)

Sources:
The Tracy Press (hearing and gag orders)
The Mercury News (psychic claim)
The Tracy Press (reward money awarded)

Maria Lauterbach (victim) and Cesar Laurean (accused murderer)
Now that Cesar Laurean has been extradited from Mexico and brought back to North Carolina, he's had his first hearing and an Onslow County judge issued a gag order in the case. The order states that to ensure Laurean's right to a fair trial, prosecutors, law enforcement officials and Laurean's defense attorney are not to release any information to the news media or the public that would "have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter." (Click here to read the gag order.) So, we'll get very little, if any, information about the case before it comes to trial. Whenever that will be. A date has not been set yet.

Sources:
jdnews.com
Investigation Discovery, The Criminal Report Daily (A very good overview of the case.)

Stacy Peterson (missing/murdered) and Drew Peterson (primary suspect)
Drew Peterson has been making himself seen and heard again. He was on a local morning show there in Chicago and he had the nerve to take his two teenage sons with him and put them on camera to defend their father. I suppose he thought this would be a "good move" to defend himself from the wrongful death suit that has been filed by the family of Kathleen Savio, Drew's 3rd wife who was found dead in her bathtub during a contentious divorce. As far as I'm concerned, he is exploiting those boys. They should not have been on TV defending Drew.

More news about Drew is that the authorities have not given up on searching for Stacy. The divers were out in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal again searching the other day. The searchers weren't commenting on what they were looking for nor on what they found, but they're out there... And from all the sources I've read so far, the searching has to do with the Stacy Peterson case. Plus, apparently Drew was on a talk-radio show this past week and Stacy's sister, Cassandra Cales called in and "lit into Drew". Interesting conversation... lol

Sources:
ABC 7 Chicago
The Herald News
Chicago Sun-Times (Be sure to check out the recording of the radio show and Cassandra's call.)

Caylee Anthony (victim) and Casey Anthony (accused murderer and mom of victim)
The Orlando authorities released a bunch of new documents about the case against Casey Anthony this week. Some of them are fascinating to read and have generated quite a few comments on the InSession message boards. I'm still trying to read through them, so I'll reserve any comment from me for now.. lol

George and Cindy Anthony are still trying desperately to defend their daughter, but the attorneys for Zenaida Gonzalez are asking a judge to force George and Cindy Anthony to respond to certain questions they would not answer during recent depositions. It should be interesting to see if the judge can force those two to behave themselves during a deposition. I've never seen behavior like theirs in a deposition! But then, I haven't been in that many of them.. lol..

Then we have Jose Baez giving an interview to an Orlando TV station where he says that Casey had "very compelling reasons" for her actions when referring to her partying for the 31 days that her child was missing before Cindy Anthony reported her missing. Uhm.. Yeah, right. Baez actually has the nerve to compare Casey's case to Cynthia Sommer's case. (And I'm not even going to link anything to that! Go google!) The "ugly coping" thing that Baez is trying to put out isn't going to work unless he puts Casey on the stand, in my opinion. And how many people think the guy would actually do that?

Sources:
WFTV (List of links to documents)
Orlando Sentinel (also about the documents released)
WESH (Article about the motion to compel the Anthony's to answer questions)
WESH (Article about Jose Baez interview)

Lana Clarkson (victim) and Phil Spector (convicted murderer)
The sentencing hearing for Phil will be on the 29th of this month. The only thing that I've heard since his conviction is that Rachelle and the rest of the "Phil is innocent" groupies are trying to circulate a petition to make the powers that be let him go free. Uhhh... Rachelle, do you really think that a petition is going to let your "dear hubby" out of prison? If so, I think you should sit down and think some more. I don't think it's going to happen.. Phil was convicted of 2nd degree murder and there's the added use of a gun that will extend his sentence. Rachelle, just keep up your comedy act.. You might need it one of these days to earn a living for yourself instead of living off Phil's royalties. Those just might be going to the Clarkson family when they win the wrongful death suit.

~~~~~~~~~~

I think I'll stop for now... Have I given you enough links and stuff to follow? lol... I think I'll go find some carrot sticks to munch on to take my mind off wanting a cigarette.............

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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:

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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!

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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.