Wille Nelson Concert

Today Nathan and I decided to head over to Sea World to use our passes. They are going to expire in April, so we are hoping to use them a lot before then. When we arrived, we noticed it was packed. So packed that we could not even park in the Priority Parking lot. I like parking in the Priority Parking lot. But more than that, I like going to Sea World when it isn't packed.



I couldn't figure out why so many people were there until we got inside. Well, I could have figured it out, had I listened to Nathan but instead I didn't figure it out until I got inside. I saw on a poster that they had special entertainment and food. When I saw who was there, I got OMG giddy about it. Giddy enough that I didn't even mind that so many people were there.



We headed over the stadium where the concert was at...about two hours early, and sat with all the other people already there waiting. Then I sent a text message to my sister. I said: Guess who I am about to see in concert? Hint: oh that lucky old sun ain't got nothing to do....but roll around heaven all day....

Once we established who in fact I was talking about, we discussed why I sent her a text message about it. We love music, but I had to let her know that I was going to see Willie Nelson live because of a childhood bonding experience over Willie.



When we were teens, my Mom left her regular music menu of all gospel, all the time, and went down the wild and wicked path of the likes of artists like Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. I'm still not sure what this was about, since this is the same woman that told me Nathan was not someone I should be dating because he took me a Billy Joel concert. Whatever the reason though, she would sit in her rocking chair at night while we were trying to go to sleep and listen to the records.



Picture three teenage girls lying in bed at night listening to Willie Nelson records. Against their will. What could we do...well, what we did do is take the attitude "if you can't beat them, join them". So we started to join in and sing at the top of our lungs with our best Southern drawls (those years in Texas paid off!) and sang right along with Willie. Which cracked my Mom up. Or maybe it was we girls who were cracking up. Either way, laughter replaced groans.



All of that came in quite handy today, because now I'm old enough to appreciate that Willie Nelson is a legend. And it's an honor to see him in concert. Especially when you still know all the songs!

Let me tell you, Nathan and I have been to a lot of concerts together. And this was one of the best ones we have been to. There are people who can sing.

There are people who can entertain.

A select few can do both. Willie is one of those people.

His voice is incredible for his age (77 years old) and he has so much expression in his face when singing.

Did I mention, he plays a mean guitar?He plays a seriously mean guitar.In honor of my sisters, I sang with all my heart. Oh, and Mom...he even played a couple of gospel songs for you! They were even old time country gospel songs. It was awesome!I am so grateful we got to see this legend while he is still with us. I loved seeing someone do what they love and do it well. My favorite shot and my Project 365 pick for today...thanks for rocking with us, Willie...then and now!Living the life in music filled Florida!

Heat wave and route condition updates

The temperatures at Paradise hovered in the high 70's all day today while Camp Muir fixated in the mid-50's. For the past couple of days it's been VERY warm, and those trends are going to continue. This sort of news is great for sunbathing but not so great for the snowpack.

There has been quite a bit of upper-mountain action over the past week. Dan McCann of UT recently ripped the Disappointment Cleaver on tele-boards (see that line in the lower center of this photo? It's his!). And rumor has it, some gnarly NW skiers are headed for the Mowich Face this weekend!

More climbing updates can be found on the Emmons, DC and Ptarmigan Ridge routes. As for the Emmons, there was some interesting action on the Inter Glacier approach, proving that you could be killed while hiking to high camp! In other words, be "heads up" for the possibility of massive rockfall and snowslides. [Ed.: stratovolcanoes are "geologic junkpiles]

In other photographic news, Eric Simonson, with Paul Baugher piloting the airplane, provided the aerial image of the upper DC , Ingraham and Emmons. Climbing ranger Stoney Richards took a number of GREAT route images on the following lines: Gib Ledges and Gib Chute, Ptarmigan Ridge, Mowich Face and South Tahoma Headwall. Check them out in the updated route reports!

Ida Joslin Dressler Lewis (1863-1937)

Before posting more letters from Ida, I thought perhaps a little background information might be helpful.

Ida Blanch Joslin, the 11th child of Lysander and Lydia Robison Joslin, was born on July 11, 1863 in Whitley County, Indiana. She was three years old when the family moved to Jefferson County, Iowa. In August 1868 they returned to Whitley County then in 1877, Lysander and Lydia moved to Barton County, Kansas taking with them their four youngest children: 17 year old Andrew; Ida, 13; Della, 10; and Elmus, age 8.

Now, a bit of a mystery develops. Among those listed in the household of Lysander in the 1880 federal census for Cheyenne township, Barton County, Kansas was a one year old son, Charles Joslin. It is not likely that Charles is actually a son of Lysander and Lydia as Lydia would have been about 54 years old when Charles was born. It is more likely that Charles was a son of their daughter Ida, who would have been about 15 years old when he was born. Charles lived with Lysander and Lydia. He is listed in the 1885 and 1895 Kansas state census records with them. There is a transcription of "Father's Bible" which lists all of the children and their dates of birth. Charles is not among those listed. We (Joslin researchers) had not had any success in locating Charles until recently.

In December I decided to check the World War I Draft Registration Cards on ancestry.com and found the record for Charley Sylvester Joslin. Dated September 12, 1918, his permanent home address was given as the National Military Home in Kansas. He was 39 years old, born March 4th 1879. But what was most interesting was the name of his nearest relative: Mrs. S. T. Lewis. The name of Ida's second husband was Sam Lewis. In the 1930 census for the National Military Home, Delaware Township, Leavenworth, Kansas (page 136) is a Charley S. Joslin, male, white, 51, single, born Kansas, parents born Indiana, no occupation, veteran of Sp [Spanish-American War].

Another researcher then found a record of burial for Charley in the Leavenworth National Cemetery, he died April 25, 1934. Next step will be to see if we can get a copy of his death record and/or obituary. I also found a military pension card for a Charley S. Joslin. The card shows he served in Co. "I" 17 Reg't U.S. Inf., Enlisted Sept. 27, 1902, Discharged Sept. 26, 1905. The dates of service don't coincide with the Spanish-American War so I'm not sure if it is worth spending $75 for a copy of his record to satisfy my curiosity to find out if this is "our" Charley.

Okay, now, back to Ida. On July 20, 1882 Ida was married to John G. Dressler at Oden, Barton County, Kansas. John was about 15 years older than Ida. In December 1883 their daughter Elnora was born, followed on February 24, 1885 by the birth of their son, Joseph. The 1900 census shows John Dressler living with his second wife. They had been married 3 years, so we know that John and Ida were divorced before 1897. Joseph was living with his father in Russell County, Kansas and Elnora was with her mother living in a boarding house on McGee Street in Kansas City, Missouri.

Ida has not been located in the 1910 census yet. But we know from the draft registration card of Charles Joslin that she was married to Sam Lewis prior to September 1918. In 1920, Sam and Ida were living on East 9th Street Kansas City, Missouri and in 1930 they were living on Wabash Street, Kansas City, Missouri.

We haven't discovered when Elnora Dressler died. She has a marker with no dates next to that of her mother and Sam Lewis in Mt. Washington Cemetery, Kansas City.

The only clue we had regarding the whereabouts of Joseph Dressler was in Ida's obituary which stated that a son, Joseph, lived in New Mexico. Once the census indexes became available online it was a relatively simple task to locate him. To make a long story short, in September .., I made contact with a grandson of Joseph Dressler. Joe had married Belva Roe about 1904 in Kansas and had three children (Arthur born 1905, Lola born 1907, and Chester born 1910) before moving to Torrance County, New Mexico sometime between 1910 and 1920. Joe didn't have any contact with his mother until after his father passed away. He did visit her several times and took care of settling her estate.

I sent the information that I had on John and Ida to Joseph's grandson along with some of the information on Lysander and Lydia. I also included some blank family group sheets, hoping he'd fill them out with the missing information, but alas, I never heard from him and having gotten off onto other things, never followed up.

Ida Joslin Dressler Lewis passed away on March 4, 1937 in Kansas City "of pneumonia which followed influenza. Mrs. Lewis and her husband were stricken with illness some weeks ago and were taken to the hospital. Mr. Lewis passed away four weeks ago. Mrs. Lewis died of shock when told of her husband's death last Friday by a friend who visited her at the hospital." She was 73 years old.

The letters from Ida being posted were written to her sister, Malissa Joslin Brubaker Bower, who passed away at the age of 88 on September 30, 1937 - just six months after Ida's death. The other two sisters mentioned in the letters were Roxie Parkison, who died March 5, 1941 aged 87 in Ottawa County, Oklahoma and Della Quillen who died February 7, 1943 in Darlington County, South Carolina, age 76.



Ida Blanch Joslin Dressler Lewis and her husband Sam Lewis



Caption on back of the photo:
back yard under the Peach Trees the building is out in the ally
an old Garage of neighbor it spoiles the Picture he is an old ___

Upside down text was written by Malissa:
Sister Ida Lewis & hubby Sam Lewis Kansas City MO

Those Pennsylvania Ancestors...

Back in March, when "The Journey" came to an official end, I mentioned there were several research trips that I wanted to take, one of which was to Pennsylvania.When I went to Pittsburgh to attend GRIP in July, I thought about staying the following week for research. But I hadn't really taken the time to properly prepare and returned to Indiana instead.



Coming up, the second week of September, I'm planning on meeting a friend at Acadia National Park in Maine for a week. I thought perhaps I could do a little research on the way, but that's probably not going to happen since, due to other commitments, I can't leave here until the 5th. So maybe, I can spend some time in Pennsylvania afterward.



Anyway, I started looking at those Pennsylvania ancestors, most of whom are "Pennsylvania Dutch" with the odd migrant from Connecticut (Sprague) and several Scotch-Irish (Dunfee & Hazlett) that came in through Maryland.



I made a list of the known ancestors and several "persons of interest" noting where they had lived and when. Then decided to map it out to visually "see" the various locations. I had done something similar back in .., but with a map that included all of the eastern states. Comparing this map to the earlier one shows that more ancestors have been found in Pennsylvania, more than I thought.






Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania, is in Dauphin County.

Double-click on the image to view a larger version.


It's a bit overwhelming when I think about researching in all of these locations! Back in 1986, on-site research was done in Fayette, Westmoreland, Adams, and York counties. And, of course, quite a few records were found on several visits to Salt Lake City last year. Perhaps I should just spend what time I have at the State Archives in Harrisburg?



Research plans for some of the ancestors are in progress - listing what is known about them, the documents that I already have, and what I'd like to find. Of course, the amount of information known varies considerably, dependent mostly upon how much research time has been devoted to them in the past.



Below is the list of locations and ancestors (or persons of interest) in Pennsylvania. Some people are listed in multiple counties. Alexander, Schuder, Sprague and Stoever are in my Dad's lineage. All others are in Mom's lines. Some of them I don't know where they were prior to where I found them. And, of course, there are the ancestors that were "born in Pennsylvania" with locations unknown, such as James Neal, Peter Wise and Conrad Stem...The number in front of the county name refers to the numbers on the map, going from the east side of the state to the west side.



1 - Northampton (part of Bucks until 1752)

• Bayer/Boyer, Adam - Williams Twp (1733-1754)


• Brinker, Andreas & Regula Herter - Lower Saucon (1735-1764)


• Brinker, Ulrich (married Apolonia Bayer/Boyer, d/o of Adam) - Lower Saucon (1735-1785)


• Brinker, Andrew (With wife Barbara Lederman, moved to Westmoreland shortly after marriage in 1785.) Lower Saucon (1760-1785)

2 - Lehigh (Philadelphia until 1758, Northampton until 1812)

• Williams (Willems), Johannes & Margaretha - Whitehall - (1736-????)


• Williams (Willems), Thomas [Daughter Margaret married George Yerion about 1770. Both families to Westmoreland by 1785.] - Whitehall - (1736-1785)

3 - Lehigh (Philadelphia until 1758, Northampton until 1812)

• Yerion (Jerian), Mathias - Lynn - (1732-1761)

4 - Montgomery (Philadelphia until 1784)

• Hoffman, Burckhard [Person of Interest] - Upper Hanover - (1727-1770)


• Hoffman, Michael - Upper Hanover - (mid 1700s)

5 - Berks (Philadelphia until 1752)

• Hoffman, Michael - Douglas - (mid 1700s)

6 - Berks (Philadelphia until 1752)

• Hoffman, Michael - Alsace - (died 1777)


• Schädler, Dietrich [Person of Interest. Baptism sponsor of Dietrich Hoffman in July 1751.]


• Schedler, Engel [Person of Interest. Did she marry "my" Michael Hoffman? Is she the mother of Dietrich Hoffman?] - (1740s-1780s)


• Alter, Georg Henrich [Person of Interest. Possible father of Susanna Alder/Alter who married Dietrich Hoffman] - (1750s-1780s)

7 - Berks (Philadelphia until 1752)

• Daniel/Daniels, Adam - Bethel - (1738-1777)


• Forster, Wilhelm Georg (aka William Foster) md Magdalena Daniel in 1774 - Bethel - (1764-1780s)


• Leatherman (Lederman), Jacob - Tulpehocken - (1740s-1762)


• Leatherman (Lederman), Peter - Tulpehocken - (1740s-1801)


• Leatherman, Barbara, d/o Peter md Andrew Brinker - Tulpehocken - (1785)

8 - Lebanon (Lancaster until 1785, Dauphin until 1813)

• Stoever, John Caspar III - Bethel - (1785-1805 to Ohio)

9 - Lebanon (Lancaster until 1785, Dauphin until 1813)

• Stoever, John Caspar II - Lebanon - (1742-1779)

10 - Northumberland (Southern portion of county was part of Lancaster until 1772.)

• Schuder, Nicolaus - Mahonoy & Washington - (1772-????)


• Schuder, Christian & Christina Stoever - Mahonoy & Washington - (1772-1803 to Ohio)


• Forster, Wilhelm Georg (aka William Foster) - Mahonoy - (1780s-1798 to Shenandoah, Virginia then Ohio about 1807)

11 - Lancaster (Chester until 1729)

• Steinweg/Stoneroad, George -Lancaster - (1754-???? married Veronica Danner 1763)


• Danner/Tanner, Veronica - Lancaster - (married George Steinweg 1763)

12 - Lancaster (Chester until 1729. In 1853, part of Martic where the Brubakers had lived became Providence Township)

• Brubaker, Hans Jacob 1st - Martic - (1730-1755)


• Brubaker, Hans Jacob 2nd - Martic - (1730-1802)


• Brubaker, Hans Jacob 3rd - Martic - (about 1760-1817. Married Elizabeth Steinweg about 1788, to Ohio about 1817.)

13 - York (Lancaster until 1749)

• Berlin, Jacob & Ann Margaretha Euler - Codorus - (1740s)

14 - Adams (York until 1800)

• Berlin, Jacob & Ann Margaretha Euler - Berwick - (1750-1790)


• Berlin, Frederick Sr. - Berwick & Hamilton - (1750-1836) - Susan [Wagner ?]


• Berlin, Frederick Jr. - Berwick & Hamilton - (1771-1843) - married Juliana [Dietzler ?]


• [Dietzler ?], Juliana -


• [Wagner ?], Susan -

15 - Adams (York until 1800)

• Rupert, John, Barbara [baptism of Eva 1787] - Latimore - (????-1787)

16 - Adams (York until 1800)

• Dunfee, George & Mary - Cumberland - (1790-1800)


• Dunfee, George & Mary - Liberty - (1800-1830)


• Dunfee, James & Sophia (Hazlett) - Liberty - (1800-1830)


• Hazlett, Jonathan & Elizabeth - Liberty - (1810-1830)

17 - Franklin (Cumberland until 1784)

• Cow, Henery (aka Henry Coy) - Montgomery - (1790-1804)


• Hoffman, Detrick (2 sons married daughters of Henry Coy) - Montgomery - (1790s-1804)

18 - Bedford (Cumberland until 1771)

• Helm, Conrad - Bedford - (1804)

19 - Bedford (Cumberland until 1771)

• Helm, Conrad - Londonderry - (1807-1811)

20 - Somerset (Cumberland until 1771, Bedford until 1795)

• Stoever, John Caspar III - Milford - (1802-1805 to Ohio)

21 - Westmoreland (Cumberland until 1771, Bedford until 1773)

• Yerion, George - Mount Pleasant - (1773-1804) - wife Margaretha Williams


• Brinker, Andrew & Barbara Lederman - Mount Pleasant - (1785-1805)

22 - Fayette (Westmoreland until 1783)

• Sisley, Lewis & Margaret Ellis - Washington - (1790-1826)


• Stem, Conrad - Washington - (1820-1840s) - married Indiana Sisley before 1833, to Ohio before 1850. He was born "in Pennsylvania" in 1804.

23 - Washington (Westmoreland until 1781)

• Ellis, James - Fallowfield - (1780-1803)


• Ellis, Nathan Fallowfield - (1780-late 1790s to Ohio)

24 - Erie (Allegheny until 1800)

• Sprague, Thomas Sr. - Springfield - (1800-1805) - Came from Connecticut, went to Montgomery County, Ohio.


• Alexander, William - Springfield - (1800-1805 to Ohio) - Married Lucy Sprague.

Bucks, Philadelphia, and Dauphin counties are colored-in because they were the "parent" counties for the areas in which ancestors settled. Depending upon the time frame involved, research may be required in those counties.



I hesitated in posting this since it may turn out that I don't get to Pennsylvania for research this year, but thought I'd post it anyway since I spent so much time on it and also in the hopes of hearing from anyone researching these lines or with ties to these people - leave a comment below or send me an email at kinexxions "at" gmail "dot" com.

Spring Weather

Small pockets of sunshine followed by waves of snowy/rainy weather have been passing over the park the last couple of weeks. Winter conditions still persist on the mountain: climbers are still choosing to climb the Ingraham Direct instead of the Disappointment Cleaver, eighteen feet of snow still remains at Paradise, and the snow plows are still hard at work clearing the roads.

Please continue to check back to the Access and Roads thread for the most up to date information regarding White River and Stevens Canyon opening dates.

With Memorial Day Weekend just around the corner, the climbing season is getting into full swing. The Climbing Information Center will be open daily from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm starting Friday, May 27th. Come on up and enjoy the start of the season!

Bike Fit: A Case of Evolving Preferences?

Last weekend we finally picked up my Francesco Moser fixed gear roadbike from Harris Cyclery, where it sat most of the winter after getting its bottom bracket replaced. I haven't been on this bicycle since December, riding the slightly-too-big-for-me Bianchi instead. And now that the Moser is back, guess what? It feels small! I was warned that this would happen once I got used to a larger frame, but it's still hard to believe. How can I feel cramped on a bike that felt "perfect" last year?



In addition to having a shorter top tube than the Bianchi, the Moser is also set up with a shorter stem. The difference between thetotal distance from the seat post to the handlebars on the two bikes is 3cm - which seems like a small number, but feels quite otherwise, at least to me. The handlebars on the Moser are also set quite a bit lower, which I think contributes to the cramped sensation. Combined with the lower bottom bracket, I almost feel like an adult on a miniature pony when I mount the smaller bike after the larger one.Would a longer stem alone solve this, or have I "outgrown" the frame itself?At the moment, both myBianchi(with a 55cm top tube and 8mm stem) and myRivendell(with a 57.5cm top tube and 6mm stem) feel just right, but how can I trust that "just right" feeling when it keeps changing?



It is said that preferences in bike fit "evolve" over time. But does there eventually come a point when they stabilise? How many times in your cycling history has your idea of comfortable bike fit changed?

Jordanian Breakfast and Camel Traffic

My modest Jordanian breakfast at the hotel camp.

My plan was to wake up early the next day to catch the breath taking, the Bedouins claim it is, sunrise in Wadi Rum. However, peeling myself off the bed proved an impossible task. I did manage to wake up early but it was too late for the magical sunrise. The sun has risen already.

When I got out of our bungalow hut to take a peek, I saw a few hotel guests sitting up the boulder of the camp. Ugh, die-hards, I told myself. I wish I have their discipline.

For breakfast I had a simple Jordanian fare: pita bread, humus and yoghurt dip, cucumber, tomatoes, goat’s cheese, black olives and a boiled egg. Their orange juice tasted like concentrate with lots of sugar, yuck.

After breakfast we climbed up the rock boulder to take a foto of the hotel camp. It looked so surreal. A camp that is a hotel with a swimming pool and an amphitheatre in the middle of nowhere in the Jordanian desert. It’s one of a kind and we were glad to have stayed here.

There was light already when I woke up. If I was not wrong it was 6am, perhaps even earlier.

I was not able to catch the beautiful desert sunrise but these people on top of the boulder did.

Blondine was keen on doing the hot air balloon while I am hesitant.

Our breakfast table.

We climbed the boulder and this is the view of our hotel camp.

Now, our agenda for the day is to drive north to Madaba (Moab) and then follow the Biblical Trails.

The drive will be a loooooong drive as we will be taking the exhilarating snaky King’s Highway. We are excited! But before exiting Wadi Rum area we came across a prevalent desert road obstruction: camel traffic. A family of camels!


Please forgive my poor filming skills, here is the camel traffic video:


Notice that the camel’s legs are tied with a rope? Nothing to do with abuse to animals. This is done so they won’t be able to wander very far.

Next: Looking for a tank station on the desert highway

A foodie’s haven in Copenhagen: Torvehallerne KBH

With Noma recently taking the spotlight as the best restaurant in the world, Denmark is seriously becoming a foodie paradise. Before the Copenhagen trip, which was before Noma was again selected as the best restaurant for , I earnestly checked out my options of having dinner at Noma but later on realised that my chances are regrettably very slim, i.e. getting a table at Noma is like getting invited to a presidential dinner, and secondly, since when is it nice to dine alone in a Michelen starred restaurant?

So while in Copenhagen I backtracked at the idea and concentrated on finding my way to Torvehallerne KBH instead, a showcase of culinaire slash farmer’s market haven.

My hotel’s concierge informed me the night before that there will be snow flurries in the morning, however he said that after 10AM it will stop and then we will have sunshine.

It is now past 10AM and I have just finished dressing up and now watching TV in my hotel room but outside is grey and I can still see snow falling down. This spring long weekend trip has turned into a last hurrah winter trip. Nevertheless, it was getting late for my breakfast so I decided to just wing it to Torvehallerne KBH. I am hungry, and I have a map and a sturdy hat anyway.

The Torvehallerne KBH is a great place for first timers in Copenhagen (foodies or not) to sample Danish cuisine, as well as other popular international cuisines, i.e. Spanish, Italian and French. It is actually a farmer’s market with the usual raw produce of vegetables, fruits and meat available, as well as stalls selling gourmet charcuterie and cheeses. Moreover, there were cafés, restaurants and bakery stands offering ready-to-eat foods.

The market is housed in 2 separate galleries that resembles a greenhouse. You have to physically go out to go to the other hall. When in Copenhagen, DO NOT MISS THIS.

Here are my pictures when I toured the place:






This stand called ‘Ma Poule’ (french cuisine) has a long queue of customers. It is selling duck confit sandwiches. Here are the guys busy tearing the meat into pieces before serving them on a sandwich.


Here is the fish section:




Cheese and charcuterie, my favourite by the way, and more:




I had a very nice smushi breakfast here. A smushi is a smaller and more artistic version of the smorrebrod (Danish open-faced sandwiches). It was a very pleasant respite as well to be sitting inside with a warm cup of coffee while outside is snowing.

Their website in Danish: Torvehallerne KBH. The market is located on Frederiksborggade.