Meeting the relatives – Cousin Gail and Michael

Anticipating a meeting and lunch with my American cousin, I wondered what we might have in common and if we would ‘click’. Gail is my mother’s cousin, my second cousin.

Gail and her husband, Michal, offered to come into San Leandro from San Jose and meet us Aussie relatives.  Gail is my Aunt Mavis’ second daughter.

So they arrived and were quickly in the door and being introduced. Gail took one look at me and said, “We have the same dimples. No-one in my father’s family has them so the dimples must come from my mum’s side of the family.”

I agreed and told her that many of our Australian relatives and my own nieces also have dimples. It pleased her to hear that.

Many other tit-bits of information were shared over an informal Mexican lunch at a local restaurant. Michael and Gail had given it much thought and decided that an introduction to authentic Mexican food would be an experience for us and it was. Tasty, spicy, hot!

Whilst Michael and Johno got to know each other, Gail was much more interested in knowing what I could share from my formative years and my memories of her grandparents (my great-grandmother and great grand-father). Although I was only a child when they passed on, we regularly visited their family home and I could recollect some distant memories.

Other things Gail was keen to know were about family ailments, habits, attitudes, and behavioural traits. She was excited and soaked up whatever we could tell her. I hadn’t realized what a big deal is was for Gail to get some sense of her Australian family until she said,  “You know, I’ve never met my Australian grandparents and don’t know very much about them.” Her words touched my heart as I realized that I took so much of my ancestry and heritage for granted. Memo to self - stay more in touch with extended family in future.

Anyway, our lunchtime chat set the milieu for the next seven days as we saw each other often. We visted Gail and Michael’s home, met their son Jeff and shared a couple more meals. We talked about our mutual faith in God, our jobs, our families, our lives.

Gail is newly retired and fortunately was able to spend lots of time with us as we went out on a mission to buy an RV, not that she knew anything about RV’s. However, she did some research and off we went to Gilroy to find the perfect one. We did, but that’s another story.

Gail became our public relations officer, our driver, our advisor, our advocate and our friend. She went out of her way to help us wherever she could, with Michael’s full support. Her advice, local knowledge, introductions and local contacts were invaluable and cut ‘red tape’ back to a minimum. She was sooooo supportive and so excited for us, and our RV journey across the USA.

We are now close relations and life-long friends. We look forward to hosting Gail and Michael when they come to Australia.

So, you want to buy an RV??

So, you want to buy an RV and you’re an Aussie??    Written by Johno

We had some ideas and did our research back home in Australia so we knew what we wanted to do and buy, or so we thought! Boom Boom!!! Once we got settled in Los Angeles we found that we did not have a clue about how to make local contact with local RV agents to achieve a solution to our dilemma. We checked on the internet again and found plenty of sites but where are these places????

We didn’t get too stressed, just a shrug of the shoulders - what the heck - had some prayer!!!. Then we hired no - rented; (rent things, hire people] a car and drove to San Francisco along Highway 1. We took our time and made a couple of night stops but it was a real experience….. white knuckles and prayerful challenge…..driving on other side of the road.

After meeting with Wendy’s relatives and explaining our desired wish list to them, Gail told us that she drove past several R.V. dealerships on her daily commute to work…so we got to work with phone book and Google and started to feel confident about a successful outcome. Gail was so excited and positive for us it was hard to be anything but optimistic. She lives in San Jose and worked in Gilroy----about 30 mile south …we had a few trips down there so over the next few days we really came to learn the way to San Jose.

Checking out several dealerships we entered into negotiations for a 1994 Ford Fleetwood Jamboree. It’s 27ft (feet over here, not metres) long, had all new tires,  and seemed to be in good condition but due to my ignorance of mechanics and lack of knowledge about all things technical, I decided to get a second opinion about the condition of the motor and it’s expected reliability... But how do you know who to ask if you are in another country and you don’t know anyone.

Well, to the rescue again comes cousin Gail, who happened to know of  a community garage in the area owned by  a family of a work colleague, to whom she introduced us. The ensuing report came back very favorable, so we moved to the next stage….getting insurance.

Hurdles appeared - no USA licence; no permanent address within USA, no insurance cover. So back to research again feeling a little despondent, but lo & behold a company came to the fore that would take us on. Same company that Gail uses. The quote came back at  $1400.00 for six months insurance but when we questioned them, they said they would see what they could do. Aida, now our life long friend and US insurance agent, called to say that if we could prove we had a good driving record in Australia, we could save some money.

We were the first Australian customers she had ever had. When we visited her office, we were treated like ‘stars’ with all the other staff coming by to say ‘hello’. So we emailed to Caitlin with a request to contact the RTA to see if they would supply a history of licence and driving records to the insurance company.  Sure, the RTA could do that for a cost which we deemed to be good value, and we jumped through the hoops required, resulting in a saving of several hundred dollars.

That settled, it was time to go back to the dealership and talk ‘turkey’ with Rick. We negotiated and got a fair price, considering all the taxes we had to pay and the red tape we had to work through.

We took delivery of the RV on Saturday, they gave us a one hour ‘introduction’ to the vehicle and then our first port of call was Walmart to kit it out for the next six months. We had already purchased a GPS unit from Cosco using Gail’s card earlier in the week. As you would appreciate she has been invaluable in our quest for a home on wheels in the USA.

So now we had kitchen supplies, sheets,  pillows, etc and it was back to San Leandro for one more night….I took Mavis for a drive…then she proceeded to supply any shortfall of our set-up. She too was so excited for us but it was hard not to feel a little overwhelmed and apprehensive about our journey.

But it’s too late now. We are the proud owners of Freddie the Fleetwood RV and tomorrow we are off to Yosemite.       Johno

Hi  there! Wendy here – if you want to know more about our new home, I’ve got all the really important details like:-

Coffee Machine

Full size fridge/separate freezer

Full size gas stove

Full size sink

Full size shower

Separate toilet

Two single beds at back, and

Double bed over the cab

Dining Table and two bench seats

Two very comfy lounge chairs plus front passenger seat becomes lounge as well

Microwave

Airconditioning

Heaps of storage

Oh! Did I mention the coffee machine??

And the other thing that’s really important is that Johno has mastered the whole driving thing really well. We have driven about 800 miles now over hill and dale; no! make that mountain ranges and ravines alongside deep raging rivers; and he has kept the vehicle on the right, yes right side of the road, without any trouble at all. So proud of himJJ.

Here’s some pics. By the way, we've got 24 more weeks over here if anyone wants to join us...

Meet Freddie the Fleetwood

Kitchen 1 - note coffee machine

fridge & door to shower

kitchen no 2

toilet/vanity

shower

lounge

eating area

wendy's chair - front cab

view from johno's seat - front cab

long view

Meeting the relatives - Great-aunt Mavis

We followed the instructions of the GPS and pulled up in front of a lovely Californian bungalow with neat manicured gardens. Tentatively, I knocked.

The door opened wide and there she stood with bright eyes and a big smile. “Well,” she said, “You’re here. Welcome.” We were hugged, more than once and then she stood back and looked me over. “You don’t look like anybody I know but I just know you’re one of mine,” she said.

That was our welcome to San Leandro and the home of my great-aunt Mavis.

We had written a couple of letters over the past few months and visiting Mavis was something I had been anticipating for some time. You see, she is old and we didn’t know if she was well, or able to host us even though she had written and said it was OK to visit.

Tall, fit, slender, graceful with a head of beautiful white hair, this lady is sister to my grandfather and one of only two still living from a family of eleven. Nancy, the baby of the family, lives in Queensland.

Mavis is widowed now but came to the States as a war-bride in 1944.

There aren’t that many Australian war-brides still living and I was keen to get her story. Whilst we chatted for hours and hours, I’m still not totally clear on all the details but here’s what I found.

Mavis and another sister, Edna, had moved from the family farm at Texas on the Queensland border, to Brisbane. They were about 16 and 17 years old – Edna is older by 19 months. They worked at a school – I think they were housekeepers and also looked after the schoolgirls - and then got jobs sewing at a clothing factory.  They worked hard but still had time for a little fun, going to the local dances.

That’s where Mavis met Bill – “in a dancehall at some big place down by the river.” They met on July 30, 1942. Mavis was 18 years old.

Mavis is widowed now but came to the States as a war-bride in 1944. 

Bill (Willis) was with the US Navy, a cook on the US Fulton which was stationed in Brisbane. Their courtship was short and only two weeks after meeting, on August 14, 1942, Mavis and Bill declared their love at Victoria Park, Brisbane. They then had to get out to Texas so Bill could be introduced to the parents, and on September 29, 1942 they were engaged.

Many young couples were trying to marry during this wartime period and restrictions were introduced so they didn’t marry too quickly. Much to Mavis and Bill’s dismay they too had to wait for permission to marry. However, on June 10, 1943 Mavis married her betrothed. “He was the one, always the only one for me and I knew it right away.’

Mavis' front garden

Whilst her parents and family could not get to Brisbane to attend the wedding, her sister Edna was her bridesmaid.

Mavis was a beautiful bride, and her dress was a three/quarter length powder blue crepe made in the style of the day and she wore a hat. Edna’s frock was made to match. They both carried lovely colourful bouquets of flowers. Bill complemented the wedding party, very handsome wearing his Navy uniform.  In my opinion, Bill has always looked like the typical ‘all-American guy’ – fair skinned, light coloured hair, blue eyes and presented in neat and tidy good casual clothing.

Four months after they were married, Bill was shipped out, back to the USA. In Mavis’ words, “They didn’t tell us ahead of time, it was terrible, he was just gone!”

It was another six months before they saw each other again. Mavis left Australia on the US Lurline on 5 April 1944. She shared her cabin with other young women who also had married US sailors and were travelling to meet their husbands and start new lives in a new country.

I asked Mavis how it felt to sail away, not knowing the future.

“Well, I was going to be with Bill so it was OK. I didn’t think about leaving my mum and dad or anything like that.”

Mavis went quiet then and said,”I don’t want to talk about it. I still get emotional, I used to get emotional back then too but I kept it to myself. I was too busy getting on with my life with Bill and the children.”

After moving around a bit, Mavis and Bill settled down into family life in San Leandro in San Francisco. They had twins – a boy, Jim and a girl, Jennifer on July 6, 1945 and another daughter Gail on September 4, 1948.

Bill eventually got out of service and later joined United Airlines. He worked there in administration til he retired. That was a stroke of genius as it meant they were eligible for discounted airfares, which made coming ‘home’ a little easier.

Their first trip back to Australia was in 1964 – 20 years after leaving.  They spent time reconnecting with many of her family, both immediate and extended, then Mavis stayed on for a couple of months to visit with her mother, my great-grandmother, Priscilla. Mavis’s father had passed away by then and she helped her mother settle in Texas township from the family property, Bloomfield Park.

Mavis and Bill made many more trips back to Australia to visit her family in 1969, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1986 and 1990. They also travelled extensively in the USA, Europe and Korea.

They bought their home before it was finished in San Leandro “back when there was nothing here.” Mavis kept the house and gardens while Bill provided for his family.

Sadly, Bill died a couple of years ago and dear Mavis still weeps when talking about him. Jennifer, Mavis and Bill’s twin daughter, died from an asthma attack at the age of 42 and this has always weighed heavily of their hearts.

She is not lonely, nor does she sit home home twiddling her thumbs. She has her garden and still mows her own lawn (at 87), a good neighbor to go walking with, and her children, Gail and Jim, live close by. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren love and respect her and she often chats with them on the phone.

Mavis was a good sewer and made clothing, curtains and even upholstered her lounges. Like many of her Belford family, including my own mother, she would put her hand to anything and most times, it worked out really well.

memories of Australia
her homeland

Many of the Belford clan are very sentimental and typically nesters. We like to create a home (not a house), displaying our treasures and sharing our memories. Mavis is no different, even though she lives on the other side of the world. She is a true blue Aussie and has never taken up US citizenship, although she has become a permanent resident. It was important to her to remain faithful to her birthplace.

Treasures make a home

Her lovely home is filled with photos of family and memorabilia from Australia and other places. 

We felt right a home visiting her and she looked after us like we were her own.

She is a little forgetful these days, but keeps up with the news, is strongly opinioned and is “very grateful for the wonderful life she has had.” Her favourite saying is “why should I worry and what the hell do I care? I’m an old lady and I’ll say and do as I please.”

I’d say that’s just a bit of Belford attitude coming to the fore in her latter years.

After only eight days, I feel like I’ve known Aunt Mavis my whole life instead of intermittent letters and messages from my mother.  Johno and I just love her to pieces and are both thankful and honoured to have her share her memories with us. Our USA trip is much richer for having taken some time out with a ‘lovely old lady’.

 

Bucket List for USA Trip - updated September 25, 2011

things to see and do in the USA

1)    Go to a music festival

2)    Watch a baseball game

3)    Drive thru the Rocky Mountains

4)    Take a cruise thru the Inside Passage, Alaska

5)    Visit relatives

6)    See the colours of the fall

7)    Check out a rodeo

8)    Take a trip thru Canadian Rockies – Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise

9)    Walk thru Central Park, New York

10) Drive Route 66

11) Take a cable car in San Francisco

12) Eat Gumbo

13) Bryce Canyon

14) Yosemite National Park

15) Monument Valley

16) Niagara Falls

17) Know the way to San Jose

18) Ryman Theatre, Nashville

19) Visit an old friend

20) Charlie Daniels Museum

21) Grand Ol’ Opry

22) Listen to the blues in New Orleans

23) Take a Blues Cruise

24) Taste Clam Chowder

25) Look up Gypsy Carns

26) Yellowstone National Park

27) Go to a grid iron or ice hockey game (maybe both)

28) Walk down Rodeo Drive

29) Celebrate 4 July with the locals

30) Join in Thanksgiving celebrations (hopefully with a local family)

31) Attend gospel church where they sing like the mean it

32) Check out Gibson Guitar Museum

33) Drive Ventura Highway

34) Visit Bethel Church, Redding

35) Drive thru Redwood Forest

36) Get up close to the Glaciers

37) Take a trip down the Mississippi

38) See the Bears, Elk, Whales, Sea Lions

39) Visit San Diego Zoo

40) Grand Canyon

41) See a show in New York

42) Empire State Building

43) Broadway, Times Square, Rockefeller Centre, Trump Tower

44) Take a trip on NY subway

45) Visit the White House

46) Visit Amish Community

47) Learn about Native Americans

48) Smithsonian Institute  

49) Art galleries in New York

50) Sunset at Santa Monica Pier

51) Drive thru Death Valley

52) Shopping - everywhere

53) Take the Staten Island Ferry

54) Sears Tower, Chicago

55) Sit on the dock of the bay – San Francisco

56) Go the markets at Pike Place, Seattle

57) Camp in National Parks

58) Go to Walmart

59) Gaslight Quarter in San Diego

60) Statue of Liberty

61) Buy an RV

62) Shop at Macys

63) Travel around Great Lakes

64) Go to Ole Sac in Sacramento

65) Check out Fern Valley (thanks Ranger Robert)

66) Be entertained at Buskers Festival, Victoria, BC

67) Get up close to glaciers

68) Make new friends

69) Go to the top of Seattle Space Needle

70) Trace history of guitars at EMP

71) Visit the Experience Music Project, Seattle

72) Drink good coffee

73) Take a ferry

74) Eat s’mores

75) Check out Mt Rushmore and Chief Crazy Horse mountain scupltures

76) Share campfires with the locals

77) Investigate Mammoth Cave (largest cave system in the world)

78) Boondock in RV

79) Yuma

80) Boat ride in a swamp

81) BBQ in Memphis

82) See the ducks at Peabody Hotel, Memphis

83) Eat po’boy

84) See a musical

      89 )Check out live music in Austin, Texas

suggestions welcome....

If You're Going To San Francisco.....

 It's a week since we last wrote so there's lots to tell you and probably lots we've already forgotten to share.

We've been taking notes but sometimes things just happen...like driving out of Monterey when we got a little lost. We followed the most amazing road right along the edge of the coast. It was a residential area, not extremely flash or pretentious, just lovely old traditional American homes but their location was amazing - right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean  near cliffs and rocks. We could only drive at 25mphr and the road continued for about 10 miles, winding around the coastline. When we got to the end we had no idea where we were but one stop, one question and a one mile backtrack and we were right back where we needed to be. That's what we are already enjoying about our journey - the unexpected moments and meetings that are making so fun.

As we travelled towards San Francisco, we continued along Highway 1 up to another beautiful little coastal town called romantically, Half Moon Bay. We stopped for a look at the shops and lunch. It's a cultural hub - lots of art galleries, craft shops (pottery, jewellery, paintings, etc), beautiful, quaint homes and old buildings - very upmarket but very liveable area. Just georgeous!!

From Half Moon Bay we drove over the ranges and headed into San Leandro, a suburb just south of San Francisco, where my Great-aunt Mavis lives. On the way, we crossed the San Mateo Bridge. Now that was really something - it is 7 miles long and consists of a  Steel Girder Span (Highrise) 1.9 miles and a lower  Trestle portion of 5.1 mile. You engineer-type people might like to google it -very interesting.


Then we joined the freeway system in San Francisco and relied heavily on the Navman to guide us to our next adventure - meeting faraway relatives for the first time in over 40 years.


But that's another story. Sorry, no pic's with this blog, but should have more next time - maybe tomorrow. Keep checking, we've got lots of exciting stuff to tell you!


By the way, if you are reading our story, would you please become followers, then we will know who is    with us on our journey.

Leaving LA

On Wednesday, after negotiating with AVIS we rented a car and hit the road - taking Highway 1 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with a couple of stops along the way. We chose the coast road which makes it a much longer trip, but OH MY, the scenery is amazing. Places we drove thru that you Aussies might recognise include Santa Monica, Malibu, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

We've travelled along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, but this is truly awesome. The road runs right alongside the beach and for those of you who know my 'road safety' background I have been gobsmacked at the lack of 'forgiveness' of the highways - basically if you leave the road then too bad - no guard rails unless the drop is more than 2 - 3 metres (about 10 foot). The highways are really good, even the secondary one that we were on - mostly dual lanes in each direction - speed limit 65 - 70 mphr.

taken from the Ventura Highway

On the way to Big Sur

When we left the coast much of the vista is stark, but absolutely beautiful - The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. We truly have an awesome God - we rejoice in His handiwork. I have taken photos but they don't do justice to what we have seen. Everywhere that it's possible (flat enough) the land is cultivated. We've seen acres and acres of lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries, and grape vines growing right up to the highway. Some of the properties we passed by - Hidden Valley ranch, Jack Creek Homestead and Fat Cat Farm - just to get you in the zone.

Last night we stayed at Santa Maria and today, Thursday, drove to Hearst Castle then backtracked a little because of landslips and drove about 200 miles thru Carmel, Monterey and back out onto the coast for an even more amazing scenic drive to Big Sur. google this - it's worth a look.

Here's Johno, the road and the beach!

not a great shot - but the roads goes right round that mountain

This morning we had coffee at Starbucks and met Rich & Mike who told us that Big Sur was sure to give us the WOW factor. They were right - WOW WOW WOW. Mountains, ocean, rocks, wild flowers, rushing rivers, trickling streams, huge brudges, wild waves crashing, amazing eagles soaring - Oh, and did I mention we were trying to remain on the right, yes the right and the correct, side of the road as well. Johno has done all the driving so far and has adapted to the 'left to right' thing really well.

We stopped to take some photos near Big Sur and could hear the sea lions down on the rocks. Tonight we are staying at Monterey and have just had 'clam chowder' at the Fisherman's Wharf. Fantastic!! We sampled the chowder from almost every restaurant on the block before settling on a place to eat, yum! have to get the recipe....After dinner we walked along the borrdwalk and came across a HUGE sea lion resting on the wharf.  They are so big! We were able to get quite close - about 1 metre away - he was very noisy and smelled fishy.

Tomorrow we will get into San Francisco where we will meet up with my great-aunt Mavis. She came to the States as a war-bride. I am soooo looking forward to hearing her story and sharing it with you.

Thanks for following us, be sure to leave a message and pass our address on to those who might want to join us on our trip.

These are for our grandbabes, and any other little ones who might visit us....

Poppa nono's new friend

Some more things we've learned:

• we rent things and hire services (people)
• you can get botox at a sidewalk vendor
• you can buy alcohol at a pharmacy (not that we tried), and 
• you pay for your fuel before you fill up.

The Journey Begins....

Well, we left Brisbane at 10.20am on Sunday and arrived in Los Angeles at 6.00am the same day, having crossed the Pacific in 'unusual moderate turbulence' for about four hours. It really just rocked us into a sleepy zone and there we remained for the duration of the flight. Our first experience with USA Homeland Security was very uneventful and we were through customs without delay. So too, the taxi experience - the driver just packed up our luggage, took note of the address and drove us direct to Venice Beach Suites at Venice Beach.

So we had arrived......Our hotel was still locked up, the streets were nearly deserted and the promenade was alive with homeless people and street vendors getting ready for a big day. This is Memorial Day Weekend (like our ANZAC Day) and visitors are expected to swarm to Venice as it is affectionately known to enjoy the markets, the beach (wide as a football field), and skatepark (huge), the surf (yes - there is surf), the sounds, smells and absolute atmosphere of this place. There is everything here from freak shows to drug deals, from ventriloquists to vagabonds, the very rich and the very poor.

A little bit Byron, a little bit Mullum, a little bit Nimbin (read Mardigrass) and a big bit Surfers Paradise/Gold Coast.

This is the home of 'handbag puppies and dogs' - every breed, every colour, little dogs being carried, cuddled and cared for like little people and sadly we have noticed many people living on the streets and beaches in conditions worse than some dogs. They try so hard not to beg and will do anything for a quarter or a dime. How's that ! I'm finally working out the coin; paper money was easy - a bit like our old paper currency $1 & $2 notes but the dimes, quarters & cents are very similar.

extra wide beaches

Yesterday, Monday, was the public holiday and again there were even more people at Venice Beach. We took a walk 2.5 miles along the promenade to Santa Monica. We walked along the pier (jostling amongst the thousands of others trying to do the same) then headed into Santa Monica Mall. It was fantastic, again people everywhere but so much to see and do - live music (all genres), street theatre, cafes with good coffee, shops open and 'on sale for Memorial Day', arts galleries, public art everywhere - beautiful bronzes and fountains. There were beautiful kites flying (all red/white/blue) and the Navy Band came and performed in the local beachfront park.

Today, we took on the public transport system and were very successful and yes, we are proud of ourselves. Living in Northern NSW is to be  'public transport' challenged so taking buses AND the subway were both new experiences. Excellent service, clean buses and trains, the subway system is very simple and easy to use. We first went to Hollywood, walked the streets, saw the stars on the sidewalk, checked out lots of studios, etc then took a tour of the area. We felt a bit uncomfortable hanging outside 'famous peoples' homes - won't do that again.

Johno met Shrek and we spent some time admiring the music displays at the Hollywood Hard Rock Cafe. Sounds a bit too touristy for the Johno's, doesn't it?? After lunch we took the subway into Downtown for a quick visit. We will go back there towards the end of our trip. Tomorrow we are off on our first road trip - taking three days for drive to San Francisco. We plan to take to coast road and stop a night or two along the way.

Now for some things I 've discovered:
you can get medically approved for marijuana use and then buy at local kiosks
butchers shop is called a meat mart
soft drink is called soda
take-away is take-out
graffiti permits allow you to spray paint on public walls
everyone lines up on the beaches - all along the two mile stretch

Well dear readers, forgive my ramblings on this my first attempt. I'm sure to get better, and will add photos as my skills improve and time permits. Please let me know what you want to hear about and what I can do to make this more interesting for you. Please send this on to others who may wish to follow us.
Next stop - San Francisco......