Tannie's wedding, Honey relatives trip

Our granddaughter Tannie had her wedding June 11, 1999 in the Dallas Temple to Dan Smith. It is always a privilege to attend these weddings. We drove directly to Dallas, spent the night, then met everyone at the temple. There Tannie and Trent, who had received his mission call, received their endowments. The next day, or two, was the wedding. It is about a four hour drive from Austin to Dallas but back we all came. Mark and Sharon and family, and Alan and Peggy were there; Alan, of course, taking pictures. Alan sister Julie decorated the beautiful cake. It was a very hot afternoon for the garden wedding reception and the cake tilted in the heat!
Tricia and Alan drove Trent to Utah and Ryan Barlow also had received his mission call. It was great to have these two cousins enter the MTC the same day. We had a nice family reunion beforehand.
July 17, 1999, Gina married John Black in the Mesa temple. Fred, Mary and Greg, Sonia and LaMar and Leon and I were able to attend. We are so happy that Gina has found a great companion.
Leon had been corresponding with Honey relatives via e-mail and so we decided we would go and visit them. So, another trip for us. On Monday, August 30, 1999, we drove to Orem and dropped off Mom at Fred and Carol’s. We were driving the camper. We took I-80 from Salt Lake City west and encountered very strong winds. At one time, the freeway was closed and we sat in the camper and had our supper. It was funny to see the other freeway lanes, the ones going to the east, empty of cars. We only got 9 miles to the gallon with that wind. All the way from SLC to Winnemucca, NV we fought the wind and rain and finally stopped at a motel in Winnemucca. Gas prices in Nevada were higher than in Utah and even higher in California. We had to fill up about every 150 miles.
Tuesday, 8-31. It was a breeze coming down the west side of the mountains to Sacramento. There we visited Leon’s cousin Janet Cox and her husband. They are 3rd cousins once removed. She reminded us a lot of Leon’s sister Joan,; some of the same mannerisms and appearance but taller and slimmer. She gave us copies of information and pictures. We then proceeded north, stopping in Redding, CA. The atmosphere was very smoky because of forest fires burning to the north near Mt Shasta.
Wednesday, 9-1. The drive north of Redding was very beautiful though mountainous and curvy. We arrived at Portland, at our RV Park located on Hayden Island in the Columbia River in the afternoon. That evening we visited Yvonne and Dave Cummings, my niece, who lives in Gresham, a suburb of Portland. The have a lovely family of five children.
Thursday, 9-2. That morning we had a beautiful walk along the edge of the Columbia River and realized how huge that river is. We then visited Marcia Staunton, who lives in the same park but in a different section. She was married to a Honey and had done lots of research which she shared with us. After a lovely luncheon, and more visiting, we drove to Seaside, OR where Leon had lived as a boy. His father was stationed at Ft. Stevens nearby. Although we had addresses of two of the houses they had lived in, they had either been torn down or renumbered and we were unable to find them. Seaside is a lovely resort town; no street along the beach but a promenade where people can walk and enjoy the views of the ocean. We spent the night in a nearby KOA campground.
Friday 9-3. That morning we visited Ft. Stevens, seeing the old gun emplacements, minus the guns and were impressed with the concrete structures that remained. It was here that a Japanese submarine shelled the coast. The town was startled but no damage was done. Leon’s Dad had told us earlier that he was disgusted that the Japanese sub had more powerful guns than the fort. We continued on into Astoria and visited the Columbia River Museum than on to the Bonneville Dam. Leon’s father had helped install the second phase of the generators while he worked for GE, just before WW II, about 1939-40. The dam was built in three parts, the spillway, the powerhouse and a lock which permitted navigation on the river past the dam. It is possible for freighters to sail all the way into Idaho on this river by using the locks. This was the first of many dams built on the river. We spent the night in the town of Dufer, at the home of ny nephew Fred Williams and his wife Karen and son Granger. They live in an old three-story farm house which originally had been a stop on a stagecoach line.
Saturday, 9-4. We drove to Boise, ID where we met with Bruce Honey and members of his family. They are descended from Aden Honey, BV’s son. We also visited with Leon’s niece, Cindi Floyd Peterson and her husband David and family. Afterwards we drove to Twin Falls where we spent the night.
Sunday, 9-5. Before leaving the RV park we decided to return home and park the mini camper and take the Buick. It goes faster and uses much less gas! We had so far still to go we thought it would be better to travel faster for about the same amount of money. We came back home to Mt. Pleasant and traded vehicles, then drove to Grand Junction to spend the night.
Monday and Tuesday, 9/6-7. Two driving days which ended in Hays, KS, then in to St. Louis, MO at the home of our son Mark and his wife Sharon. They have four little children with one more on the way. Mark works for IBM as a project manager and takes full responsibility for my being introduced to the Internet.