I am at Starbucks in Ames, where I spend a lot of time on the computer, uploading pictures, and putting pictures on Ancestry,com. And of course drinking coffee!!! Today is rainy and much cooler than it has been. For the past four days, it has been in the high 90's. Way to early for August weather.

On the 6th, I drove up to Fort Dodge, and meet Alan Schaefer,the Fort Museum Director, and Al Nelson, a historian, who has done a great deal of work on Major William Williams. We went over to the Fort building housing all the Williams' pictures and memorabilia and I took pictures with my digital camera, which was so much easier than with my point and shoot which I used last year. Technology! But I still don't know much about my digital!!!! We then walked over to another Fort building, where there was a war exhibit about my father, John Rawlins Atwell, who was a pow of the Japanese during WWII. I took more pictures there, and then made a proposal to Alan, which I hope his board will accept. An oil painting of the Major's first wife, Judith Lloyd McConnell for our father's mess kit, which has great value to us, and to Dick and John especially. On it, my dad scratched names, places, etc. while a prisoner. Dick has the canteen holder, which also has a lot of information etched into it. We would like them together. And I think it is going to be a distinct possibility. I won't know until after the Board meeting which Alan told me was next Tuesday.

From there, I followed Al Nelson down to the new public library, which is really nice. I used to haunt the old library as a kid. He showed me where the historical archives are and showed me several boxes of files on Major Williams and other relatives. He then took me over to a spot right next to the old Wahkonsa School, where my mother was principal. Here is where the fort really was, and a memorial has been placed there, with the lay out and some other pictures which the Major had drawn.

I then proceeded to the Oakland Cemetery to wash off my father and mother's gravestones, and my sister Judy's. It must have been nearly 100 degrees out. After I got them done, I started cutting branches off a bush which was covering the gravestones of my Grandfather and Grandmother Atwell. I had a very hard time, and realized finally that I needed to stop. It was more work than I was prepared for and I hadn't had anything to drink since I arrived in Fort Dodge. Not very smart, especially in the heat. So I packed up, but did stop at some other family grave locations and took pictures, and then dripping and red faced and hot as hell, I drove to the Village Inn, the former site of Treloar's, a restaurant we used to go to once in a while. I ordered breakfast (they serve it all day), and water and iced tea, and drank both of them immediately, and ordered more. I felt much better.

The next day I came back up to Fort Dodge, and went to the library and tried to use the microfilm machine. Have you ever done that. First of all it was frustrating as hell, because most of the newspaper I was trying to find, weren't included, and the print is so small, that I just said, "Screw this!" I got back in Matilda, and we drove up Main Street, very sad looking now. But when I was a teenager, it was vibrant and active. We would endlessly "shag the drag" which meant we would drive up and down it, and around the square, looking for others shagging the drag!

I went by my grandparent Hawley's house and took pictures, and then went to 1859 8th Avenue North, where I lived from 1939 to 1947. It looked so small!

I then drove back to Nevada and Dick's. In among running up and down the highway, I have been upstairs at Dick's going through pictures and papers and letters. I had disks made of a number of pictures, and some documents, and yesterday and today, here at Starbucks, posted them on my Ancestry site.

This afternoon around three or so, I am driving down to Des Moines to my friend Louise's home, where I will stay for a week or so. Dick's kids are all going to be in Nevada on Sunday and I will definitely come up for that. It has been a long time since they have all been together.

That's it for now. I am going back to Nevada and pack up Matilda.

A hui hou,
Sally