Exploring Newport

We took off in the morning and went back to Magor where we got some photocopying done. As we walked back to the car, we peered into the Ebenezer Baptist Church window and a woman asked if we'd like to see inside. Val got the key to the church and gave us a complete tour. She explained that the Llanvaches church was the Mother Church to their church. She also told us of satellite churches, one in Undy. Evidently, church members could opt to be buried at the Bethany Cemetery, at one of the satellite church cemetery or at the Magor cemetery next to the Church of St. Mary. She mentioned that in order to be legal, everyone needed to be married in the Church of Wales.

After our unexpected tour of the church, we hurried back to Cardiff to meet with Geoff and Kate. Kate opted to stay home while we made our way to Newport to look at the various Pearce properties.

We attempted to find the properties sequentially, but the streets of Newport were an absolute maze. We found a number of the old family homes. One was close to a cattle market- the smells would have made life there quite interesting.

We drove to Church Street to locate one of the two foundries of Britannia Works of Pearce and Richards, We found the building and it is currently in use. The former owner was GKN and had used it as a foundry.

After driving through the maze of one way streets, we finally found Graham Street and located 45 Graham Street. Parked in front of the house was a van, "Stephanie Roberts Mosaic artist". Stephanie and her husband and two children rent the property and were happy to take us into the house. This house, in the 1861 census, showed Joseph (46), Susannah (42, Elizabeth (21), James (20), Edwin (16), Charles (13), Josiah (9), Anne (4), Albert (2). It was hard to imagine 9 people living in this tiny house (made all the more difficult by Stephanie's 'housekeeping' – the house was filled to capacity with stuff, piled on the floors, running up the steps.

It was a bit like a huge scavenger hunt and we actually did pretty well. At last, it was back to Cardiff to pick up Kate and head for dinner. We drove to 'the mountains' to a thatched roof restaurant called Traveler’s Rest. We had a hearty Welsh dinner – a beef and Guiness pot pie with mashed potatoes and gravy and the traditional English peas. No need to eat more than one meal a day with this cuisine.

Llanvaches and Magor

The next morning, we were off to Llanvaches Baptist churchyard. Thank goodness for Geoff -this small church (Bethany Baptist Church) and cemetery would be impossible to find -driving down one lane roads with high hedgerows, hoping not to meet an oncoming car. The small church had just been whitewashed. We found the graves of Joseph and Susannah (after removing the overgrowth of ivy). Next to their graves were Albert, Edna (the daughter of Albert who died young) and Katherine (Albert's wife). In the same section were the graves of the Davies, Albert's in-laws. Albert was the only one of the Pearce's to stay in Wales- marrying Reverend Davies daughter, Katherine.

We drove into Magor and stopped at the Post Office, shopping at their little gift shop. We had a peek into the Ebenezer Baptist Church, but the doors were locked. This was the church of Reverend Davies and where Albert married Katherine Davies. The original church showed a date of Est. 1816, Restored 1906.

Just a short drive from Magor was the Undy Pill Farm, the home of Joseph and Susannah. The couple, Nicola and Sean, who bought the farm were charming. They are renovating the house and it's obviously a labor of love. Sean (named after Sean Connery) had a huge shed with all sorts of equipment and appeared to know every inch of the house. Nicola has created a beautiful garden, incorporating much of the original orchard. They live in the house with three foster children.

Sean pointed out the Magor Pill Farm, Mill Reen runs between the two farms. He also told us of a sister who died in the reen.

We stopped for a "cup of tea and a bun" or a "cup of coffee and a cake" and met Geoff and Kate's youngest daughter, Joanne, her husband Mark and their 11 month old son, Alexander.

That night, we walked into Cardiff city centre and had dinner on our own at Bella Italia- lasagna and a bottle of wine.

UK Route

Off to Jolly Old England

We arrived at Heathrow at 5:30 AM. We picked up our car from National Car and headed out on the M4 for Wales.

We called cousin, Geoff and arranged to meet him at the Magor First Services (the services off the motorway for Magor. We got a latte and knew Geoff immediately when he walked in. He gave us a preview of our Pearce Family History agenda before following him to his house in Cardiff. There, we met his wife, Kate and their adorable cat, Tess.

Geoff dropped us off at our hotel about 2 PM and we had a chance to get a few hours of sleep before our pickup for dinner. On the way to Usk, we stopped at the Caerleon Roman Fortress on the banks of the River Usk.

Our first stop in Usk was at the Usk Parish Church where Joseph Pearce married Susannah Rosser on November 14, 1837 and where Josiah was baptized. The church was closed, but we were able to wander through the cemetery locating several Pearce graves.

Dinner was at the Three Salmons, a beautiful old restaurant (with hefty dinner prices)

Note:
* Speed cameras are everywhere.
* Cost of gas - $8/gallon
* Dollar vs Pound exchange

Summer in Minnesota - The Perils of Lyme Disease

We left SLC for the long drive to Minnesota. Nothing can make that drive interesting…especially once you hit Nebraska. Miles and miles and miles of nothingness.

Our stay here is always relaxing – and a chance for me to reconnect with old friends. I had my annual girl’s lunch with Kathy and Jane in White Bear Lake. It’s great to get together and catch up on what’s new in their lives.

Mom and I had a wonderful lunch with some old and very dear friends, Judy and Delores. This goes WAY back. Mom and Delores were best of friends when we were living in Duluth (my years 1-3). Judy, Delores’ daughter, is only 12 days younger than me and we were inseparable when we were young. With one family upstairs and one downstairs in a beautiful old duplex in Duluth, we had a lot of great memories and it was fun to reminisce over lunch at Judy’s house in Minneapolis.

At Mom’s house on the lake –it was time to get the basement “resorted”. We spent days sorting through cabinets, drawers – rearranging and donating. Cases of wine and sherry from YEARS ago--- we even found small mini-bottles of Scotch from my trip to Scotland – in 1977!!! This was very well aged scotch.

After some convincing—I went back to Mom’s to paint the basement, leaving John at the motorhome in St. Paul. We finished the job after 12 hour days….exhausted. I drove with Mom to Minneapolis for her 5 year post-cancer checkup—all was well. But, she left and headed home, very exhausted. Something was wrong. We left Minneapolis and were heading toward Indiana. Something was not feeling right so we stopped outside Eau Claire, unhooked and I went back to Mom’s to take her to the doctor. The local doctor took blood work and did a general exam. He assured us that “It’s not Lyme disease”. Two days later- the blood work came back- with Mom’s white blood count way up. Knowing that something was off, Mom went to her regular doctor—one look and he diagnosed Lyme disease. He immediately put her on antibiotics—but it would still takes a month to get back to normal.

This whole experience gives you a new perspective on Lyme Disease. It’s certainly nothing to be casual about. Left untreated, infection can spread to the joints, the heart, and the nervous system. Living in Minnesota, we had always been warned to look for the “bulls-eye” indicating a tick bite. Well, in my mom’s case, the rash was everywhere. The good news- she got treated early – but only because of her persistence. I hate to think what could have happened if she had listened to the first diagnosis!

Mormon Immersion

A Sunday departure out of SFO at 5 AM– even at 5 AM, the traffic was going strong. It seemed like a never-ending drive on 1-80. People were so bored that they had pulled off by the side of the road and created words and messages with rocks. It was a bit like the old Burma Shave ads. At long last, we arrived in Salt Lake City.

This year, we had arrived in time for the Mormon History Conference. After getting our badges and conference packet, we were ready for our first session. John’s cousin, Claudia’s husband Richard was presenting his paper, “The Spencer Brothers in Nauvoo”. We sat in the row with Claudia, Ed and Cindy and Claudia’s sister. The presentation style is not what we were accustomed to after years of corporate presentations filled with animations and interactivity. Papers are read and the Q&A sessions after could be heated. History is “contested ground” for these Mormon historians. Even the smallest detail could cause a discussion.

In addition to the 3 day conference, we had signed on for a post conference session on the Utah War. We were surprised to see the crowds waiting outside Temple Square for the 2 post conference tours. Prevost buses showed up and we got started at 8:30. On the drive to Fort Bridger, everyone took the mike and introduced themselves. To amuse myself, I gave them names; “Chapel Lady”, “Really old guy”, “Polka dot lady”. There were lots of retirees, many of them working as docents at the Church Museum of History and Art. There were descendants of Orson Spencer, John Tanner, and George Q. Cannon.

We drove to Fort Bridger and had a picnic lunch. The church ladies showed up and set up huge pots of barbequed beef and beans. After a hearty Mormon lunch, we did a walking tour around the site.

From Fort Bridger, we drove to Fort Supply. After walking a “path”, avoiding the cow pies, we arrived at the remnants of the site – a few wooden posts in the ground.

At this point, I was struggling to imagine how much more excitement I could stand. I started to read the itinerary to John. When I saw a 6:30 AM breakfast, I said, ****(expletive). John turned to me in amazement and we both burst out laughing. I guess polka dot lady in front of us knew for certain that she had the “gentiles” seated behind her.

At the end of Day 1, we arrived at the Comfort Inn in Evanston, Wyoming. We got our room, got a bucket full of ice and opened our bottle of wine (smuggled in our luggage). We had an hour before dinner. At dinner, John snagged a couple to join us, the grandson of George Q. Cannon and his wife. They were a charming older couple. He must have been in his 90s and had great stories of his father and grandfather.

After dinner, we all met in the Comfort Inn for Richard’s talk. He spent the first part of his talk talking about history and its interpretations. He introduced and acknowledged us- as “non-LDS”. Now, everyone knew.

Monday AM – Breakfast at 7:30. We were the only ones filling up coffee cups. We drove through Echo Canyon, making frequent stops to gaze at old Mormon camps, fortifications from the Utah War, old “billboards” from the Pioneer days. Cameras were flashing, video cameras were rolling. We called it the “Mo-gasm”, the Mormon orgasm. We called the Utah War “the war with no clothes”.

We got back to Salt Lake City and had some great times with Matt and Jay (the guys who bought John’s mother’s childhood home)

and with Bear and Robin. We’re still amazed at the absolute creative genius behind the cakes at Bear’s Bakery – Mrs. Backers Pastry Shop. The custom molds and cake decorating tools created by Bear’s father allow them to create cakes that look like spring gardens.

Richard and Claudia really outdid themselves with an all day tour of the Mormon Trail. With a van borrowed from Weber State, eight of us took off for a day of exploration. The story of the pioneer trek is well known to the Mormons. From 1846 to 1869, more than 70,000 Mormons traveled west along the Mormon Pioneer Trail. The trail started in Nauvoo, Illinois, traveled across Iowa, connected with the Great Platte River Road at the Missouri River, and ended near the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The final 116 miles, from Fort Bridger to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, were the most difficult. After after almost 1,000 miles of walking, the pioneers were exhausted, their wagons worn and their livestock weak. They had to travel through narrow canyons and over rocky ridges of the Wasatch Range, at time, lowering their wagons and livestock on ropes down jagged cliffs.

Richard and Claudia made history come real –taking us to the trails and painting a picture so real that you could truly imagine the hardships and dedication it took for these pioneers to finally make it to Salt Lake.

Spring in San Francisco

We finally made the trek back to San Francisco. The drive from L.A. was uneventful (of course, we did our patented Sunday travel – especially helpful when you’re traveling through cities. Something about 70’ of motorhome driving through busy rush hour traffic brings out the worst in those drivers trying to get to work.

We got settled and drove to the marina to see “The Boat”. Bob and Camille sold their house in Oakland and (like father, like son) decided to downsize and move into something that moves. They opted for a “land yacht”- a Grand Banks cruiser. We ended up spending many an afternoon on the boat, drinking Corona’s and noshing on Bob’s amazing concoctions. (Where that boy learned how to cook is a puzzle – John is incapable of boiling water- and Bob has become one of those remarkably creative chefs! Lucky Camille!)






Bruiser, Bob and Camille’s 85 pound Olde English Bulldog had just come back from the vet after getting “fixed”. Poor dog, but lucky us – he was a bit less rambunctious than normal. In addition to the dog, they have two beautiful cats, Frank and Guiness. The dog (and cats) enjoy fishing off the boat with Bob.

When we weren’t relaxing on the boat, Bob and Camille were introducing us to the best dives in SFO. No one understands our love of dives as much as these two and they continually astonish us with the quantity and quality of their finds. One afternoon, we were sitting with the bike messengers at the outside picnic tables at Zeitgeist (corner of Duboce and Valencia). There was the motorcycle bar, Rickenbackers, with antique motorcycles everywhere- hanging on the walls, from the ceiling. Our favorite was Malloy’s Irish Pub in Colma.
Colma was founded as a necropolis in 1924. Land in SFO was becoming too valuable to use for cemeteries, so they selected the town of Colma for future burials. In fact, the city of San Francisco sent out eviction notices to their cemeteries to remove their bodies and monuments. Colma inherited hundreds of thousands of bodies. Many of them went into mass graves as there were no relatives to pay the $10.00 for removal. Today, they have 1,500 above ground residents and 1.5 million underground. Their motto is “It’s Great to Be Alive in Colma!”

While Bob and Camille were working, we entertained ourselves – taking a food tour of SFO. With stops at the Ferry Building for coffee, Acme Bakery for sourdough bread, Chinatown for a huge tasting, North Beach for cannoli and a tacqueria at Market & 6th, we successfully ate our way through the city. We ended the tour at the Buena Vista for Irish coffee. Bob and Camille joined us and cousin Sarah (in town for the weekend) stopped by.

With all of his family research, John was able to track down a long-lost cousin and we took a drive to Portola Valley to meet with Burt, his wife, Ellen and son, Eric. Their house, deep in the redwoods, was a labor of love for them. They had built most of it themselves. It was a great day, giving John and Burt a chance to catch up over many years.