New England in Pacific Northwest

The two times we've driven to the Olympic Peninsula, we've commented on a little town along the way. "It looks just like a New England village," we've said as we drove through. The end of March we had a meeting with someone in Hansville, at the tip of the Kitsap Peninsula. We resolved to stop in the small town on this trip.

To orient you - start on the right (east) side of the map. Kirkland, where we live, is about half way up. You can see Seattle across Lake Washington. We drove to Edmonds (about half way between the two logos for I-5) and took a ferry across Puget Sound to Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula. We drove up to Hansville, just above the blue and white marker in the upper middle of the map, had our meeting and then went to Port Gamble, where the blue and white marker is. The Olympic Peninsula is to the west of the blue & white marker, across Hood Canal. 

This adventure involved a 30 minute ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston. It was a very foggy and drizzly day. Normally you'd be able to see Puget Sound and the mountains. 

I thought it was fun that the GPS showed us on the water 

and told us to turn in 1.8 miles

 We stopped to explore the tiny town of Port Gamble. The reason it looks like a New England town is that it's a company town settled by men from Maine. They built a sawmill, company housing, and town here about 1850.  

We had lunch in a cafe in the General Store

downtown Port Gamble (about a block long)

The Port Gamble Historical Museum is in the basement of the General Store. The museum was great - very interesting - all about the lumber company that built the town and still owns the town. The sawmill part of the company went out of business in the 1990s but the company still owns all the land and buildings. 

 One of the rooms in the museum displayed family mementoes – just like the stuff that’s in the bins we’re going through. We could open our own museum! Click here for an interesting article about Port Gamble. 

We took these pictures from the car on our way out of town. Click on any of the images for a larger picture. 

 A little piece of New England here in the Pacific Northwest

Joe's Birthday - More

Joe enjoys his musical birthday cards

Birthday balloons & toads

"You are my sunshine" balloon - Joe's beloved Grandmother Neely, Mamaw, 

often sang "You are my sunshine" to Joe. 

On April 24, Joe's birthday, we continued the celebrating by heading into the big city.

These pictures are taken at Kerry Park. 

This tiny park offers a great view of downtown Seattle.

The light was spectacular

panoramic view of downtown Seattle & Elliott Bay

Changing Form sculpture by Doris Chase provides an interesting frame

Birthday dinner at the 5 Spot restaurant in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle

About 5 times a year the restaurant's decor and menu are changed 

to reflect an American city. 

St. Louis is the current theme. 

Posters feature St. Louis landmarks. A large replica of Lindbergh's plane, "Spirit of St. Louis" hung from the ceiling. Cardinals pennants abounded.  The Statue of Liberty sports different items, depending on the theme. Here the blue ribbon represents the Mississippi River. The river continued around the walls to the left of the statue. 

Even the bathrooms are decorated!

Joe had meatloaf, mashed potatoes & carrots

We split a chocolate milkshake for dessert

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Friday night the eating and celebrating continued.

One of Joe's favorite places is Ivar's. 

He alternates between fish and chips and the grilled salmon. Great food!

Happy Birthday Joe!

Click here for more of Joe & his birthday

Celebrating Joe & His Birthday

This was Joe's BIG 8-0 Birthday. 

We celebrated him and his birthday all week.

The Kings came over Sunday for dinner. We celebrated Joe and Easter. 

The children made a wonderful poster birthday card 

with a message that included the names of candy.

Joe with his birthday cherry pie* - his request

Michael took us out for a birthday lunch on Wednesday

Click here to see what we did on the day of his birthday

* Our daughter and her son prefer cherry pie for their birthdays also

Living Christ

 " ... we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, ..."  2Nephi 25: 26

I grew up knowing about Christ but not giving much thought about Him. He didn't have much relevance in my everyday life. My thinking, studying, pondering about Christ didn't begin until 1981 when the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints knocked on our door and said they had a message to deliver. They asked questions, read the Bible with us, introduced us to the Book of Mormon, counseled us to pray, and showed us how important it is to think often and deeply about God and His Son - and then act on what we've learned and felt. 

Around Easter we hear much about Christ. The challenge is to keep Christ in our thoughts and actions throughout the year. 

"... Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son." (From "The Living Christ - The Testimony of the Apostles" Click here for the entire testimony)

Indeed - God be thanked. 

Get the Boy Another Cream!

Joe's grandfather, Dr. Alonzo Solon Neely, Trapper to Joe, was a major part of Joe's childhood. We recently came across several of Dr. Neely's prescription pads from the early to mid1950s (based on a printed note on the back of the front cover). 

Dr. Neely's office was in the Fountain Square Theatre Building about 1.5 miles from downtown Indianapolis - office hours were 10-3 and 7-9 pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (more about Fountain Square here)  Phone #s - Office ME 7-0397 and Home ME 9 - 1670  Registry No. 824 (this is probably his license #)

pictures - Alonzo Neely, about 1936   Joe - 1940 at age 6.  I am sitting on the steps of my house on Bolton Avenue in Irvington (Indianapolis), Indiana.  Mamaw [Grandmother Neely] and I took the bus to Grosse Pointe, (Detroit) Michigan the next morning where my parents had just moved. I was NOT happy about moving.

This Google map shows that Wade's Pharmacy was a 1 minute walk from Dr. Neely's office in the Fountain Square Theatre Building.

                          

Click here for a picture of the corner with Wade's Pharmacy in the 1950s

Seeing Wade's Pharmacy reminded Joe of a story he likes to tell about his grandfather and Mr. Wade. 

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Get the Boy Another Cream!

 I spent a lot of time with my grandparents Dr. Alonzo Solon and Elizabeth Gilmore Neely prior to the sixth grade and then after that during the summers. - Every once in a while Trapper & Mamaw used to take me to Trapper's  office in the early evening. Once in a while Trapper would take me by himself. They would park me in his outer office and I would interact with the patients waiting. Once when I was about 4, I stood right outside the waiting room and motioned everyone who passed by to come in. Everyone in the surrounding offices thought it was funny. Trapper was not so sure. Once in a while they would send me up to the top floor to watch the bowling alley or elsewhere in  the building to a movie theater. I liked best talking to people in waiting room. 

Also,  on those occasions when it was just Trapper and myself, upon closing the office, he and I would stop by Wade's Pharmacy which essentially was just across the street. I remember one such occasion he set me up at the soda fountain counter and ordered me a "cream," ice cream. He then went back to the pharmacy itself to do business - which was to have a shot of whiskey. On this occasion I finished my ice cream treat and wandered back to the pharmacy office where he and Mr. Wade were conducting "business" and they apparently were not finished. Trapper rapidly escorted me back to the soda fountain and said to the clerk, "Get the boy another cream" and said to me, "Stay here until Mr. Wade and I are finished with business." - I began to wonder how many "creams" I was going to have to eat before we could leave and go home.

Muddled Middle

"You can have clear faith in the ultimate outcomes at the end of the trail but still find vexing uncertainties in the steps immediately ahead. The Lord knows the end from the beginning and everything in between. You, however, function in the muddled, mortal middle." Neal A. Maxwell

"The muddled, mortal middle" -  The "muddledness of this earth life can be frustrating, confusing, and stressful. It's not always clear how to navigate the terrain between where we are now and our ultimate destination of life with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. When writing this, I thought of the handcart statue in Temple Square in Salt Lake City - the handcart load got heavier as a family member had to be carried - and then it snowed! Have you ever had days, months, or maybe years like this? The muddled middle. 

This brings to mind another way to think of our journey - the three act play. Act I is our life before we come to earth. Act II is our time on earth. Act III is life after death. When we come to earth, we forget most of what happened in our premortal life. It's like walking in on the second act of a play. It can be very confusing and we often can't figure out what's going on and why. Act III, life after death, is where the complexities and challenges of Act II get worked out and explained.

So - we're now in Act II  or the "muddled, mortal middle." I am thankful for scriptures, prayer, the guidance of the Spirit, and knowledge of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. They help us with our journey here on earth. 

Visit From Friends

Clay, Emma, Joseph & Amy

Our friends drove from Idaho for a full few days in this area - visit with family in Redmond, ballet in Seattle, and an evening with us. The whole family agrees with us that Sirena gelato is the best and it's become part of their visits with us. We asked another customer at Sirena to take a picture of our group. Amy explained that our friendship has spanned the country - we knew each other in Ohio. They moved to Idaho and we moved here - and we continue our friendship. Turns out the customer/photographer's son goes to college in the town where our friends live. On one of their visits here, Joseph remarked that Kirkland is a "happy place." indeed it is. 

The Hansens lived in Columbus while Clay was in dental school at OSU. They left Columbus about 11 years ago.  

Emma & Joseph at North Street 2001

Joseph & Emma at North Street 2002

See pictures from previous visits here and here