Summer ‘98

*Additional notes may appear in italics after my mom’s initial journal entries.
A ladybug means you should check the comments at the bottom of the page to see what Mom has chimed in on after reading these!

May 25, Monday

Let’s see if I can catch up on these last few busy days.

May 21 – We left San Carlos at 10 am after breakfast at Rosa’s. Tom rode with us up to Lakeside. We drove straight though, stopping in Tucson at Lucky Wishbone for dinner at 4 pm. We pulled up the trailer at 8:30. Quite a difference in temps from San Carlos where we slept with the hatches open and fans on. Well, here all the windows are shut and the heat is on low.
John and Maryanne stopped by for a minute. Goon and her boyfriend, Caleb stopped for a while. Tom stayed here tonight.

May 22 – We did all sorts of running around today – work, bank and insurance and Basha’s. Danielle and Schyler came up and stayed here. Samie went with Peg to Snowflake for Cammie’s graduation and spent the night with Peg.

May 23 – 8 am we went to Show Low to watch Rick (Chelle’s boyfriend)’s ball game. 11 am, drove to Taylor to Jo’s for a family BBQ. 3 pm, Show Low for family picture, all 27 of us. Schyler sat on my lap and was an angel. He has really grown up and mellowed out – such a different young man. Nice, quiet night at home.

May 24 - John has raked and mowed – looking good. I have cleaned and put things away. 2 pm, all the kids came over for a chicken BBQ.
John put the little TV in Sam’s room – Peg left her big one here – needless to say, she’s always in there now. Schyler spent the night here. He has bad dreams and cried in his sleep so much that I ended up sleeping in Sam’s bed with them.

May 25 – Vicky came to get Schyler at 9 am – she can’t seem to let him spend any real time with us! We went down to the Flores’ for a while, they have bought a pontoon boat and had it at Roosevelt. Samie went with Goon to the movie, Godzilla, then to “The Zoo.” She came home feeling really sick – I think she has had a way too busy 4 days – 2 hours later, she’s fine. John and I ate a great turkey dinner at John and Maryann’s. They’ll be up here all week.

*I loved being able to spend time with my sister during the summers. She was great about inviting me to go places with her and to have sleepovers at her dad’s house.
Poor Schyler with the bad dreams. I do vaguely remember that. I didn’t really know how to calm him down.
”The Zoo” was a fun arcade center that lasted maybe a few years, not sure why it went out of business, since it was the only one on the mountain at the time. Seems like it would have consistently done really well. Peg and Caleb both worked there and she would take me with her quite often.
Below are photos with Peg, Caleb and John the Muir’s cabin, and McLellan family photos from that summer.

June 7, Sunday

The last 2 weeks have been VERY boring – no one should have to work more than 3 days a week! It’s been cold and windy. Angie, Angela, called a couple days ago – nice to hear from her. I miss the times in Mazatlan.
Marion and Rick Garsha spent 4 days in San Carlos last week. They went out on Tres Marias (?) fishing and stayed in the condos at Marina Real.
Mom and Daddy came up Friday, the 5th and brought 5 of the 7 boxes we had in their attic. So Samie, myself and Goon have been going through all the photos of days long gone. Now, I’ll have to pack ‘em all up and put ‘em back before we leave. The kids have been going through and pulling out pictures that they want for the scrap books they want to put together.

June 23, Tuesday

Samie spent the last couple of days with the Jones’. Barbara’s husband, Sam Bass, died last Thursday of cancer. I think they were married 7 years or so. They only found the cancer 2 weeks ago.
I talked to Janice, Renegade, a while back, they are doing fine and working on the boat in San Francisco.
Bob and Cynthia, Miss Teak II, called, John is ordering a new hookah for them. They are going to San Diego to sell her – they bought a 43 foot power boat – her name is Storm Haven. It was really good to talk to them. Cynthia’s dad passed away the day before, 6-19.
Danielle and Ben came up for Father’s Day. Nice visit.

*This was the first funeral I ever attended, to my knowledge. I didn’t know Sam very well, I hadn’t spent much time with him, so I don’t remember being emotional at all, but I remember feeling a bit bad that I wasn’t, since the others certainly were. I remember seeing him in the casket and being sort of confused about the whole thing. I think I understood death pretty well, but it was certainly bizarre to see him lying there, lifeless. Maybe that was the confusing part to me - the viewing in itself. Otherwise, I seem to remember having had a definite recognition that he wasn’t there, and that it wasn’t him - if that makes sense? Later, I remember going to the grave site and listening to my family share stories of him and also of my biological grandfather, Louis Jones. I remember being bummed that I didn’t have any memories of him, as he had passed when I was only 2 years old.

*Oh goodness! I certainly remember being so excited that Ryan was my boyfriend, I had always thought he was so cute. The 11-year-old “I love you’s” are adorable. I remember picking out “our song” at some point - You’re Still The One by Shania Twain. 🤣 Maybe because we were still “dating” the next summer, I think? I remember we tried to (did?) sneak a little kiss - a peck on the lips - behind a tree in the school yard during recess one day.

July 19, Sunday

This has been a long, hard week. Last Saturday, 7-11, Barb and Richard’s son, Justin was in a car wreck and killed. He and Scooter Sprotte were on their way up from Tucson to spend the week with family and friends at Lake Powell. Justin was driving and ran off the road. He was killed instantly – Scooter survived with only scratches. James Justin Flores was 22 years young.
Family and friends surrounded Barb, Richard, and Jeremy for the week in helping with anything and everything. The funeral service was Wednesday and beautiful. It was such a sad tragedy and really hard to watch Barb and Richard suffer so.

*Such a tragic loss for our dear friends, I’m glad they had such a great community to come through for them. I didn’t know Justin, but I remember the weight around this loss, much like two summers previous, when Danielle had been in a rollover accident in which the driver, Brian, also lost his life. 💔

*More fun with Schyler here, playing ball! I LOVED when we told him once to keep his eye on the ball and he put the ball up to his eye and said “eye on ball?”. 🤣
A little photo update of me with a fresh haircut and style, and one of Arne and Janice we received through the mail.
I loved spending my summers with Caris, we always had the most fun entertaining ourselves. And my excitement and impatience for school is quite comical - sometimes you just have to break things down for yourself!

September 13, Sunday

It’s been a long time since I wrote in here.
Chelle and Rick are expecting a baby in April. Pretty exciting. We had Schyler over Labor Day week and had a ball with him!
Samie is enjoying public school. She is getting A’s in everything. She got 110% on a science project where she had to draw an island, give it elevations, a history and all. She got 5% extra on the climate and also an extra 5% on neatness and creativity. She was really proud of her work – as were we. John bought her the movie, Titanic for all her good work.
John and I are both getting anxious to get home to the Wandrin’ Star.

*This was a fun year at school. I remember this project well and how proud I was of my grade, I remember beaming in class when my teacher (Mrs. Hall) presented it to me. It was a fun project and I enjoyed using the things I’d learned about maps while traveling. And wow, what a treat to get Titanic as my “ ‘atta boy! ” reward. I remember being real stoked about that, too. I still have that VHS copy (2 tapes, due to the length of it).

September 24, Thursday

Three more weeks to go before we finally get to go home. I’m really anxious to get back to the Wandrin’ Star and our wonderful way of life. Thank you, John for sharing your dream with me. The ocean is where I’m really at home now. I feel very fortunate that I had the chance to live and raise Samie in this unique way. Many adventures and experiences that are not everyday “normal.” I have learned how to enjoy life out of the “modern” world. Slow down and smell the flowers.

*Me too, Momma, me too! 😭
As of the time of posting this, Mom and I are planning our second trip to San Diego for this year. We went earlier this year with my sister and niece to celebrate my 39th birthday. It had been years since Mom had been to the beach and she’d kind of forgotten how much she loved and missed it. We have made a pact to make sure to go together at least once a year from here forward.

October 2, Friday

Chelle had a miscarriage today – they did a D&C at the hospital, it’s really sad.

October 13, Tuesday

Samie is making straight A’s – last week she was student of the week.
The kids came up for the weekend. Danielle and Ben stayed here, and Schyler. Chelle and Rick stayed in Snowflake.
Happy Birthday, Goon, on the 11th – big 20.