Chicago

May 9
We’ve spent the last week in Chicago where Thom attended the AWEA Wind Convention (American Wind Energy Assoc). Over 20,000 people attended the event held at McCormick Place. He spent 4 full days at the huge convention center where he listened to seminars, attended their job fair, and visited hundreds of exhibitors’ booths. Thom hopes to work in this growing field for his next career, now that he’s retired from the Army. In 2008, when most other industries took a huge hit due to the poor economy, this field continued to grow. Our country is finally waking up to realize we can capture wind energy through modern wind turbines, thereby generating electricity from our own backyards. The technology exists. Our government’s RES (renewable energy standard) has determined that we must produce 20% of our electricity from wind by the year 2030. After attending the conference, Thom believes our country can produce more than that, even sooner than 2030. The Midwest and Texas are the most promising wind areas.

Thom met many people and exchanged business cards. Now he’s following up by sending his resume to many of these contacts. Most companies aren’t hiring at the moment, but are poised to hire as soon as loans are available again. The general feeling is that within six months, they’ll be putting in machines (turbines) all over the country and hiring again. Thom learned much about home turbines as well, which is growing rapidly. Maybe we’ll have one in our backyard one day! Thom thinks many people will be interested in having them soon, and there may be a market for selling, installing, and maintaining them.

Our hopes are that NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) will hire Thom. They’re based in Golden, Colorado and have many job openings. It’s run by DOE (Dept of Energy) and is one of their several labs that work to make renewable energy more efficient, practical, and accessible. Thom met many people from NREL at the convention. So please keep us in your prayers as we continue our job search.

Photo: sunrise over Lake Michigan from our campground at Great Lakes Naval Station, north of Chicago.

While Thom was busy in Chicago, the boys and I did school, school, and more school (as they like to say). We’re now on lesson 134 of Calvert. There are 160 lessons, so the end of our school year isn’t too far off. I think we’ll finish near the end of June. I’m proud of all of them, because homeschooling is a lot of work and requires self-discipline. This, along with improved writing skills and all the knowledge they’ve acquired will benefit them throughout their lives.
I drove the boys into Chicago on the final day of the convention so we could attend the 2-hour opening to the public. Wow! The McCormick Place is huge, and the wind convention only took up a portion of the place. We met Thom who toured us up and down the aisles of exhibitors. The boys were impressed, and Robby in particular asked many questions. He enjoyed talking with the company reps about their products. The other boys quickly discovered that each booth had goodies, such as candy or pens, flashlights, nerf balls, etch-a-sketch, Japanese fans, measuring tapes, key chains, and all sorts of other things. Since it was the final day, most exhibitors were delighted to give out goodies even if we weren’t potential business clients. Everyone I spoke with sounded upbeat and positive that the convention had grown from 13,000 last year to 22,000 this year. One lady came by and “hired” the boys to haul out her 3 luggage pieces by paying them $2 each! While we exited, she told us that her company hauls freight, and she wrote up all kinds of new business here. She said everyone there builds huge things and needs to have them delivered from Point A to Point B. So she was thrilled. Our boys were thrilled when we arrived at the limo awaiting to take her to the airport, and she invited them in for a tour!

I also treated the boys to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. They just opened the Harry Potter Exhibit, which will run for four months. Here we saw hundreds of props used in the movies, of which we’re all big fans. We saw Snape’s potions, the marauder’s map, Prof Umbridge’s pink dress and shoes and detention quill, Harry’s wand and glasses, Tom Riddle’s diary, Creature and Dobby, Lord Voldemort’s robes and wand, along with moving pictures from the walls of Hogwarts, to name a few. The museum had an electric car, a huge pendulum, a German WWII submarine called the U-505, and the Idea Factory where the boys played with water toys. They also had an area called “Petroleum Planet” where I learned the average American uses 1000 gallons of crude oil/yr. I was disappointed to read a big sign that said enthusiastically, “Our National Reserve has 150 billions of barrels of crude oil – enough for another 70 years!” We need a new plan…like using wind energy!

Now we’re on our way back to Nappanee, IN to have some more work done on our motor coach. They ordered parts for satellite dish, bin doors which need smoothing and repainting, and a few minor things. After that, we don’t know our exact course. We’re hoping opportunities open up after this last week in Chicago, so we’ll keep you posted.

Nappanee, Indiana

May 2
Last summer on a day’s drive, we headed south from Wisconsin along Lake Michigan, through Chicago, briefly through Indiana, and up along the east shore of Lake Michigan to visit Cousin John and Laura. I’m so glad we returned this week, because now we’ve spent four days and discovered how beautiful Indiana is. We came to Nappanee, the RV capital of the world, to have work done on our motor coach by Newmar. Its headquarters are here so we’ve had a chance to meet other Newmar owners.

Thom pulled our RV right up into the “campground” at Newmar where they provide free electric and water hookups. At least 20 other Newmars were already parked. Everyone camps in their RVs and then the workmen arrive at 6am to drive the RVs to their work areas. They work on the rigs until 2pm, and then have them back by 2:30. So we visited in the waiting area with many other owners, comparing notes on RVs, the economy, good places in town to eat, and this is when we learned that Nappanee is the third largest population base in the US for the Amish and Mennonite communities.

So three days in a row, we woke the boys up at 5:30am, went inside to say hello to our neighbors, and then headed into town for a hearty breakfast at the Corner Café. Our waitress was Amanda, a sweet teenage Amish girl who has 5 siblings, rides her bike the 7 miles from home, wakes up each morning at 4:30, and treated us like family. She told us her family makes all their own clothes and she made the dress she was wearing. She wore a small, white bonnet which is part of their daily attire.

From there, we went to the public library three days in a row, hauling quite a few books along with us to do our home schooling. Nappanee has taken an especially hard hit with the economy since it is the RV capital of the world. Many RV companies have closed their doors, and their supply companies in the area have struggled as well. The unemployment rate in these small towns ranges from 18 to 25%. Many people were in the library using computers to job search, including many Amish men. Over 50% of the local Amish men had worked in the RV industry, so they’re especially feeling this downturn.

While we were there, we visited my high school friend, Sheryl Walsh and her family in South Bend, IN. It was great seeing her after 22 years! We went out for pizza together with her husband, Ron, and daughter, Lindsay. Lindsay is a sophomore in college studying to be a teacher. We caught up on family, the past, and the present. They’re doing well, and have a son who is engaged to be married this summer. We said our goodbye’s, and then made a small tour of Notre Dame University since we were in the neighborhood. We walked past the famous football field, and then drove around campus, stopping in to browse through the huge bookstore.

Now, back to studies at the Nappanee Library. As we read and did our schoolwork, I enjoyed hearing the “clip-clop, clip-clop” of horses’ hooves out on the streets. The Amish travel by horse and buggy, and we saw them everywhere, even at nighttime. We decided to visit Shipshewana, about a half hour away. There we visited Mennohof, a big house open to visitors to teach about the history and customs of the Amish, Mennonites, and Hetterites. It was informative! The three religions can be traced back to the Anabaptists from the 1500’s in Switzerland. Much like Martin Luther, they were dissatisfied with the Catholic Church and wanted to start their own church. They met resistance, which caused their people great suffering and torture. Years later, they came to America in search of religious freedom, and settled initially in Pennsylvania. Oh, here comes a horse and buggy pulling a small open cart right in front of where our RV is parked! What a lovely sight on a sunny, Saturday morning.

William Penn welcomed many religions to Pennsylvania centuries ago. When we lived in Maryland, we visited Lancaster, PA in order to see and learn about the Amish people. The boys don’t remember, so I’m glad we’re here now where they too are learning so much.
There aren’t any remaining Anabaptist religions to speak of in Switzerland and other parts of Europe today, but their communities have grown in the US.

On our way back from Mennohof, we stopped in the cute little town of Emma at an old fashioned soda bar. We sat at the soda bar speaking with Colleen after she’d served us huge waffle cones, which turned out to be our dinner that night (true story!). She introduced us to her husband, Ron who runs a dairy farm nearby. Wouldn’t you know it….they invited us to come visit! Ron showed us the small barn with 10 calves, 2 of which loved sucking on the fingers of our boys! This reminded us of our visit to a dairy farm in South Dakota with Marchell DeLange’s family last June.

Ron then showed us 100 dairy cows, and the milking area. He gets up at 3:15 every morning for the morning milking, and then they’re milked again in the afternoon. Our boys think this is so cool, and would love to live on a farm. We keep reminding them of the early mornings, and extensive chores, but they still claim this is what they want to do! The highlight of the tour came with the tractor ride. His tractor is enormous, with tires taller than me! The boys all squeezed in there and headed out for a 10 minute ride. They each had a turn driving. We thanked Colleen and Ron and headed home.

Yesterday was really special. I was at a laundromat in Nappanee and noticed an Amish woman talking with the female manager. By and by, I meandered over and introduced myself. Sara, the Amish woman introduced herself and the three of us had a lovely conversation. I told her about our visit to Mennohof and how we enjoyed learning about the Amish and Mennonite people. Ben and Sam were helping me, and she invited us over for a buggy ride! I was thrilled. She said they had an appointment with the local Ferrier, a man who shoes horses.

So two hours later, all six of us drove to her farm south of town and met her husband, John. Once again the boys enjoyed being on a farm. John asked them to let the chickens out, which Will happily did. Sam hung out with the baby calf, and the boys all noticed the many dogs and cats as well. We watched as John and Sara harnessed up their horse, Boots. Soon, the four boys and I climbed into the buggy with Sara and off we went! She drove Boots along the lush green back roads and waved at many neighbors. The familiar clip-clop, clip-clop was rhythmic and musical as we went. Sara happily told us about their lifestyle, and we all asked many questions. This was like a dream come true!

Thom joined us 4 miles away at the Ferrier’s home and we all observed as he adeptly changed out Boots’ horse shoes. Jonas was the ferrier’s name, and he lives there with Rosemary and their 7 children (ages 13 to 1). Our boys were soon running all around the farm with their kids. Ben rode a pony, and the boys visited the goats. Will went to our car, grabbed his Wave (his funky new skateboard), and taught their 8-year old how to ride it! Jonas finished the job on Boots just as the next customer pulled up in his buggy. Jonas shoes 10 or 11 horses a day.

We said our farewells, and this time I drove while Thom rode in the back seat of the buggy. We all stopped at an Amish store on the way home and met the owner, Marlene Burkholder. She sold everything from shoes, to hats, to toys, to books, to intricate clocks. This is where the ladies come to buy their fabric and sewing materials since they all make most of their clothes. As a gift, we asked if we could buy a new bonnet for Sara. She was surprised and very grateful, and accepted politely. We told them how happy we were to share this afternoon together, and then mentioned we’ll be back in about 10 days for parts on our RV. Marlene invited our two families to dinner upon our return trip. We gladly accepted….something to look forward to!

Back at the farmhouse, John served us his freshly baked cinnamon muffins, and homemade red wine! We exchanged addresses, and Sara packed up fresh eggs, muffins, and wine to go. I shared with them the boys’ comments from the Mennohof. As we learned about their religious beliefs regarding Jesus Christ, baptism, and his resurrection, the boys said, “Well those are all the same things we believe.” Sara loved it. The more we talked, the more we realized how similar we all are. We look forward to meeting the Hochstetler Family again soon for dinner!

Before we arrived in Indiana, we visited Abraham Lincoln’s Museum in Springfield, IL. It’s one of our favorites. Ben is standing next to Tad Lincoln in the picture! There are two outstanding presentations, one of which took place in the Ghost Library and still has us guessing as to how they did it. Our beloved 16th president was quite a man, a humble leader who accomplished great things. What struck me as I toured the museum was the minimal support he had. He obviously was despised by the South, and surprisingly, the North was never happy with most of his actions and decisions either. They either felt he wasn’t doing enough to stop slavery, or they didn’t think it was worth going to war over. Many said, “Let the South go and start their own country. Who needs them?” I was glad to see the museum was packed with school kids on field trips. Our youth especially need to learn this important part of our history, and this was the ideal place for it.

Nashville, TN and St. Louis, MO

We said Goodbye to Cousin Tucker last week, and Thom took him to the Nashville airport where he flew home to NY. Our week together with Tucker was wonderful. He helped with chores whenever asked, and had a great time playing with his cousins. These are memories the boys will all cherish, and although we’ve never lived close by, they have a very close bond. We hope they’ll grow up keeping in touch and being good friends as Thom is with his cousins. Thanks Tucker for being a roadie with us for a week!

From Nashville, we headed northwest to Ft. Campbell, KY where we camped for 3 nights. It was a quiet, picturesque place along a rivulet that had swelled from recent rains. The rapid current carried lots of dirt, and went over 3 waterfalls nearby. Across the water hung a suspension bridge, where the Besch Boys loved to jump up and down. Within walking distance was the skeet range. Thom took the boys over on two occasions for shooting practice. They haven’t done this since our days at Ft. Greely. Robby and Will loved it, shooting many clay pigeons. Ben and Sam tried, and Sam shot down one clay pigeon! I’m impressed, since I have a hard enough time hitting a stationary target. Our time spent shooting at the Gargulinski’s range has the boys motivated again to improve their gun skills.

We made three solid days’ worth of progress in school. Robby and Will each have a challenging research project to complete, spanning 30 lessons (about 1.5 months). Robby chose the topic of Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFV’s), while Will is learning all about Australia’s Kangaroos. The Calvert curriculum does a tremendous job teaching about research, note taking, bibliographies, formal outlines, rough drafts, and the final paper. Ben also has written many compositions for school, which require the outline, rough draft, and final. Their writing skills have improved remarkably this year! Sam’s now starting his 2nd grade curriculum and doing very well.

We departed KY, and drove through Illinois to St. Louis, MO to visit our friends, the Piatak’s. John and Thom went to West Point together. Our boys now say, “Dad has so many friends from college!” There truly is a special bond between alumni from that traditional military academy. Thom says they’re all friends for life because they shared such a difficult and challenging four years together.

John and Robin lived in Austin, TX for many years, which is where we last visited 4 years ago. They have four beautiful daughters to include Mary (14), Catherine (13), Nicole (11), and Kelly (9). They moved to St. Louis almost 2 years ago, and have a lovely home. All the kids are having a great time hanging out. Will got a “wave” for his birthday last week, which is similar to the rip stick they learned to skate on a few weeks back at the skate park in FL. The girls hadn’t tried it before, but our boys gave them lessons. Catherine and Nicole picked it up right away, while Sam or Ben zipped around them on a scooter. The favorite room inside is the basement rec room, complete with big screen TV, games, computers, ping pong and air hockey! The boys have spent 2 nights down there, and I know won’t want to leave tomorrow.

Yesterday, we had a perfect day in St. Louis with John, Mary, Catherine, and Nicole. We visited the world-famous Gateway Arch. First we toured the museum and watched a fascinating movie about how the arch was constructed back in the 1960’s. Amazing! It’s built out of huge, steel triangles stacked on each other. Each leg was built independently, and then joined at the top with one final triangle only a few feet in width. Then they built an elevator to go to the top on each side of the arch.

Yep, we rode to the top! There are 9 connected cars which make up an elevator. The cars are attached but shift position as they go up and across. Only 5 people can fit in each car. Then you get out of the car, climb the last steps to the top and look out through small windows at the incredible view from 660 feet up! There was a Cardinals baseball game going on at the Busche Stadium, and we could see the buildings, Mississippi River, river boats, and tiny people.
From there, John took us to “The Hill” which is like the Little Italy of St. Louis. We had dinner at the well-known Cunneto's where we indulged in huge plates of pasta. After that we visited the City Museum. The boys now call it their favorite museum because it’s so much fun.

It’s an indoor-outdoor 7-story play area with slides, airplanes, a giant pencil, caves, ball pit, and funky places like Beatnik Bob’s where the kids played old pinball games and drank soda. It opened in 1998 and is called a museum because it’s chock full of antiques and old steel and cables which have been welded and sautered together. We didn’t leave until close to 11pm!
Today Robin and Kelly returned from a 2-day soccer tournament, and the kids are playing kickball, football, washing cars, and having a blast. I’ve enjoyed talking with Robin about schools, moving, home projects, and job changes. Seeing their home once again gives me great ideas about our future home. I especially love her kitchen!

John recently changed jobs, and loves his new position at Labarge. His advice to Thom is invaluable as they discuss Thom’s ongoing job search. We’re on our way to Chicago, where next week Thom will attend the annual wind convention hosted by AWEA (American Wind Energy Assoc).

Thom has always been interested in renewable energy, and would love to work in this promising field. Our country, as well as the rest of the world must find other ways to meet our energy needs than simply using fossil fuels and coal (dirty fuels, per Thomas Friedman). Over 15,000 participants are expected at the convention, and Thom’s eager to visit with exhibitors and listen to speakers. They’re coming from all around the world. We’re praying that he’ll have the opportunity to interview soon with NREL (Natl. Renewable Energy Laboratory) in Golden, CO. Jim Galvin, a friend who’s soon retiring from the Army, has long been interested in wind energy. He had the chance to interview with NREL recently, and was offered a job last week! Jim recommended Thom to NREL, so keep us in your prayers. All six of us love the idea of living in the foothills of the Rockies, just west of Denver.

Huntsville, Alabama and Nashville, TN

April 19, 2009
The last four days have been like old home week! We had the good fortune to visit so many people in Huntsville. They each travel so often that we were lucky to find them all in town. Bill, Penny, and Megan Lamb had us over for dinner on our first night in Huntsville. What a lovely home, and the boys enjoyed their huge back yard where they played tag for the first hour. We saw Bill in Alaska, but the four of us haven’t been together since our days in Austin, TX when Thom and Bill attended UT together. We had a good time catching up and getting to know Megan who is a senior in high school. The boys ate burgers, brownies, and watched King Kong….heaven for Besch Boys!

The next day we headed for Space Camp. Robby was our tour guide, since he attended a week-long class there back when he was 10. Tucker and his cousins loved the museum, the rocket garden, the space shot ride, watching the artist spray paint cool planetary art, and shopping at the gift shop. The new Davidson Building which houses Saturn V was awesome! We watched an exhilarating IMAX movie called Magnificent Desolation narrated by Tom Hanks which showed what it’s like to walk on the moon. John Fellows stopped in for a visit while we had lunch, and Thom and I enjoyed talking with him.

That evening, we were delighted to host dinner for Jack Clouse, Lin Beckem, and Ronda Raiford, who we know from our Alaska days in Missile Defense. Thom especially was interested in how people are doing, after 10 months of being away from work. We enjoyed hearing about Ronda’s family, with Gene coming soon to join her in Alabama. Her two infant grandsons, Leo and Tyler are now home from the hospital – yahoo! Leo’s birth weight was only about 1 ½ lbs and his twin Tyler weighed in at a miniscule 13 oz!! God is watching over them.

Another exciting day followed when Scott and Faye Campbell invited us to join them at their cabin on Lake Smith, about 1 ½ hours south of Huntsville. Before we departed Huntsville, we got a chance to see their beautiful home and Japanese tea garden. Faye especially has worked hard on a complete kitchen remodel. (What a great collection of ideas I have for our next home from all these visits!). As we drove to the lake, we noticed the dogwood trees in full bloom and just how green everything is here in April. I had to call Tina Jenkins in Alaska to find out where she grew up in Alabama, which turned out to be about 100 miles northwest. It’s just so gorgeous here. Faye stopped to buy freshly picked strawberries at a roadside fruit stand, and soon after we stopped to walk across Alabama’s longest covered bridge. We picked up Alabama BBQ (pulled pork) and headed for the cabin.

What a peaceful place it is sitting on their porch overlooking Smith Lake! The limestone rocks are a natural platform to dive into the deep lake, which is a reservoir. All five boys, including cousin Tucker were soon swimming in the chilly water. After a tasty lunch of BBQ and fresh strawberries, Scott and Faye treated us to a boat ride down the lake. I couldn’t believe all the enormous, expensive homes, many of which are weekend getaway homes! Their daughter, Shana was married in a beautiful mansion overlooking the lake last July, which they pointed out to us. We stopped at the marina where the boys fed crackers to the mammoth carp…about 3 feet in length! There must have been 10 fish with huge mouths, and the boys were able to pet their slow moving bodies. Will water-skied on a slalom ski, which was a great way to end the boat ride. On the way home, Faye showed us an old civil war jail which was tiny yet held as many as 100 prisoners. She told us that this Alabama county actually seceded from the Confederacy to be part of the Union during the Civil War! Although Faye is a retired elementary school teacher, she still enjoys educating children at every opportunity.

Thom joined Bill Lamb and about 10 others for breakfast on Saturday morning, while I went to a local laundromat to do 6 loads of laundry! It adds up quickly when you have 5 boys who love to play in the mud! Soon after we returned to the RV, General and Mrs. Campbell bicycled over to visit us! They came to Ft. Greely together a couple years back, and we very much enjoyed our time with them. General Campbell played quite a bit of hockey growing up in Massachusetts, so he came over and skated on the Besch hockey rink behind our home at Ft. Greely. The boys still talk about playing hockey with him! Kathy told us to let them know if we were coming to Huntsville, and we’re glad we did! They toured our “home on wheels” and every minute spent in conversation was a delight.

Another terrific visit was with the Armstrong Family. Scott Armstrong and Thom worked together in Alaska, but this was our first complete family visit (except for the oldest son, Taylor). Scott and Donna invited us a small lake right on Redstone Arsenal. We had the place to ourselves since the main road was blocked by fallen trees from a recent storm, and the alternate route had one deadly mud bog. We gunned it, sprayed the SUV with mud, and didn’t get stuck! Our car no longer has 4-wheel drive, since Thom altered it in order to be towed behind the motor coach.

Scott, Donna, Trevor, and Robert are true outdoorsmen and throw a great BBQ, complete with grill, table, and delicious food. The kids headed for the lake with two inflatable boats and fishing poles. Nobody caught a thing except minnows, but we all enjoyed a nice afternoon listening to bull frogs and cicadas (loud, chirping insects). Their dog, Rygel kept the boys entertained as he played fetch for hours. Our boys can’t wait to have a dog.

Today was our last day in the Huntsville area. On our way north, we visited Patty and Tom Gargulinski along with their sons Chris and Tony. Thom worked for Patty in missile defense, and she visited many times over the years at Ft. Greely. It was our first time seeing their home on 40 awesome acres. This is what our boys would love. They have two ponds for fishing and swimming, and although the weather was lugubrious and rainy, Sam and Ben swung off the rope swing into the water! The highlight was when all seven boys had their air soft pistols firing away on their target range. Will was thrilled to shoot his 22 at the ten steel plate targets from about 40 yards. Even when the rain poured, he refused to come in or even put on a coat! It was really great to see Patty and get to know her family.

We finished the day by driving north to Nashville, where Tucker will fly home tomorrow morning to New York. Since Will’s birthday is April 21, we decided to celebrate it today before Tucker leaves. He’s become a huge fan of western writer Will Johnstone, so we headed to the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville. The place is huge with 3 floors all focused on the stage and dance floor. We arrived just in time for a dance lesson, and I was really pleased that all the boys were brave and came out on the dance floor. A dance instructor taught us to line dance with all the steps, kicks, turns, claps, heel-ins, and heel-outs. I’m sure most people were wondering why these five young men were in a saloon on a school night at 8:30! We had a ball. Then a band played for an hour while the boys shot pool. I enjoyed watching the dancing, which included couples doing the 2-step as well as more line dancing. Thom and I even kicked up our heels a bit more.

We returned to the motor coach where Will blew out the candles to his home made cake (yes, everything is possible in this RV!). Did I mention that we camped out in Sam’s Club’s parking lot? We wanted Tucker to have the full Besch RV experience!

Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee

April 15, 2009
Now we’re back to chilly weather where we wake up to 48 deg weather in the morning. Time to put away the shorts, and get out the long pants and sweatshirts! How strange when we were melting a week and a half ago in the Keys.

Cousin Tucker flew in from New York two days ago, and is spending his week-long spring break with us! Tucker is 10, and fits in with our boys like peas in a pod. We picked him up in Nashville, in the middle of a spectacular lightening storm. It was his first time flying solo, but he didn’t seem bothered by the storm nor fears of being alone. Robby, Will, Ben and Sam were excited to meet him at the airport, and have been playing with Tucker nonstop.

So now there are 7 Besches living in the motor coach! We try to wear the kids out during the day so they go right to sleep at bedtime. Yesterday we drove to Chattanooga where we explored Look Out Mountain. In 1863, Confederate soldiers tried to cut supplies to the Union soldiers in this Tennessee city. The Confederate generals watched from the towering Look Out Mtn. Union General Hooker was ordered to take the mountain, which was quite a mission. Union soldiers climbed the steep mountain while being shot at from above. In the end, the Confederates retreated and the Union took the mountain.

So Thom and the boys hiked up 1.5 miles to reach Point Park, while I drove! What an incredible view we experienced from the top, overlooking the winding Tennessee River through Chattanooga. Tucker’s never been to TN, so this Civil War introduction was educational. On our way down, we spotted a daring hang glider braving the strong winds up in the clouds. We then walked the streets of Chattanooga and had a yummy dinner of 6 different flavors of wings.

Today we headed south, and it was Tucker’s first time driving in our rig. At one point, we had 5 Besch boys in the back bedroom reading or playing their gameboys and DS’s. It was kind of amusing. I enjoyed sitting up in the Queen’s Throne, reading undisturbed. For the past few months, I usually worked with one of the boys on school while Thom drove.

Now we’re in Huntsville, AL to see many friends from Thom’s missile defense days. This is the headquarters. Also, Robby attended Space Camp here 3 years ago, so we hope to visit there as well.

Madison, FL

Happy Easter! We’ve spent the past 3 days at a terrific campground in northern Florida. It reminds us of last summer when we camped because there are loads of families and kids. Everyone’s on spring break. Our boys have made friends while swimming, playing kickball, shooting pool, and especially at the small skateboard park. The latest thing seems to be the skateboards that wiggle, called ripsticks and waves. Will, Ben, and Sam have caught on pretty quickly. For the last six months at campgrounds, most of our neighbors have been retirees. Kids have been in school, so the boys haven’t had friends to play with.

We’ve been busy at school, with Robby, Will, and Ben taking their green tests #120. Sam finished First Grade today by completing his green test #160! When we were in MD, we visited Calvert and met the staff. At that time, we knew Sam was progressing quickly, so we purchased the 2nd Grade curriculum. Now he’ll start 2nd grade, and we’ll see how far he gets. Once school starts in the fall, he’ll register as a 2nd grader.

Tomorrow morning we’ll attend an early morning church service right here at the campground. We’ll celebrate Jesus’ resurrection in the beautiful outdoors overlooking the lake and peaceful campground. Then we’ll depart Florida, drive through Georgia, and end up near Huntsville, AL. Cousin Tucker flies in to spend his spring break with us on Monday. The boys have worked hard to finish their tests before Tucker’s arrival. We’re all ready for a spring break!

We left Key West over a week ago, as the temps headed into the mid-90’s with high humidity. It was sad to leave after so many beautiful sunsets, great snorkeling, and walks down Duval Street to Mallory Square. Before we left, we visited Ernest Hemmingway’s home with all the cats. He lived an interesting life, having been married 4 times and earning the reputation as one of our country’s greatest short story novelists. We bought Old Man and the Sea, which three of us have since read. Sam painted a coconut to resemble one of the colorful local fish, which is a popular thing to do here. On our way out, we bought a conch shell which is quite loud when the boys give it a blast.

We stopped for a memorable barbeque dinner at Pascal and Judy’s house in Miami. They were nice enough to let us camp out front for the night, after the kids swam all evening. Lea and Luc shared all their toys once again. We headed out the next morning in the direction of the Everglades. Sure enough, driving along we spotted many alligators on the canal next to the road. Thom picked out a cool stop, where we all went for an airboat ride through the Everglades. We spotted a few alligators, plentiful birds, and turtles. Then our tour guide sped along the shallow water for an ultra-smooth ride. It’s strange going right over the grass and mud without getting stuck.
Next we sat in for an alligator show. The host asked for a volunteer, and although Thom raised his hand, the man instead picked me. The host had me going. He told me very seriously to pay attention as he demonstrated how to place a hand in an alligator’s open mouth. The gator was 7 years old, and about 10 ft long! He then demonstrated how to jump on this alligator’s back from behind, pull up the gator’s mouth to your chest, and hold the alligator’s head with your chin! Yes, he told me I had to do all those things! Then of course he brought out a much smaller alligator named Larry. Larry was much smaller, at only about 4 ft. So I got to hold Larry, and his mouth strap was even removed for about 30 seconds! I didn’t take my eyes off him. Thom said he knew all along the guy was pulling my leg. The boys then each took turns holding Larry. Another adventure!

We spent a day in Brandon, just east of Tampa, checking out schools and neighborhoods. Thom’s had one good job offer here. It’s a nice area, but we’re really hoping to settle down in the northeast, closer to family and the cottage in Canada. We’re keeping all options open at this point.

Jim and Ann Clifford invited us over for a scrumptious dinner. They’re friends from my single days in Southern Calif, who came to visit us at Disney World back in Feb. The boys enjoyed a swim in their pool before we all settled down for chicken, mashed potatoes, wine, and key-lime pie. Mike Landers drove all the way from Orlando to join us for dinner, and he brought us our recent packages/mail. Thanks Mike, Ann and Jim!

Dry Tortugas

Camping at Dry Tortugas National Park definitely goes on our “Top 10 List” of adventures this year. It’s the most remote national park, located 70 miles west of Key West on Garden Key. Back in the 1840’s, the US decided to build a state of the art fortress called Fort Jefferson, and it would serve as the watchdog of the area for ships going to and from the Mississippi River. They built it from brick, and I imagine slaves did most of the hard labor. It’s a large, hexagon-shaped structure that’s 3 stories high, and you can spot it from miles away.

Most people sign up for the day trip, which includes a 2 ½ hour boat ride out, breakfast, lunch, 4 hours to explore the site, and then of course the return trip. We found out that camping is available, so we chose to spend the night! Robby and Will, our Boy Scouts, planned the whole trip, including meals, water, tents, snorkel gear, etc. We headed for the boat at 6am with loads of gear, and boarded the Yankee Freedom II, a beautiful catamaran.

On the boat, we read books, explored the upper and lower decks, played Sudoku, talked with other tourists, and studied the fish identification guides. We heard the snorkeling off Dry Tortugas is like swimming in an aquarium.

Ponce de Leon named the key back in the 1500’s when he and his crew discovered turtles everywhere, and hauled them onboard for food and oil. “Turtles” translate to Las Tortugas. “Dry” was later added to the name because the key has no fresh water.

We arrived and set up camp, with the Besch boys taking charge. I stepped back and took pictures while they erected 3 tents. We couldn’t wait to explore. The water color changed from turquoise to teal to navy blue as we looked out to sea. Incredible! The moat surrounding Ft. Jefferson was built to defend against enemies and also against hurricanes. A low exterior wall surrounds the moat, and we decided to start by walking the full perimeter on the wall. Sea life thrives on both sides of the wall, and we saw urchins, colorful fish, small barracuda, sea cucumbers, upside-down jellyfish, and hermit crabs. On the outside of the wall, coral grows well, which brings multitudes of fish and other life with it.

The imposing fort takes up the entire key, except for a very small offshoot which is where we camped. We learned that the fort became a prison, and had terrible living conditions. With ships came rats and yellow fever. Although this was paradise for us to visit, it was lonely and miserable here for the prisoners and soldiers. During the Civil War, they had over 500 people here, which is hard to imagine given that Dry Tortugas has no fresh water. Dr. Mudd was the most famous prisoner, and the boys were fascinated to see his prison cell. He set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Lincoln, after Booth escaped. Dr. Mudd was sent to Dry Tortugas as a prisoner where he lived from 1865-69. During that time, he helped many sick people, especially with the yellow fever epidemic. He was pardoned in 1869 and returned to his family in MD. Due to yellow fever and multiple hurricanes, Ft. Jefferson was abandoned in 1875.

It was used as a coal refueling point around 1900 by our naval ships, because it’s one of the few deep-water channels where big ships can get in. There were 2 areas on the key which used to be the coal storage areas, with huge pilings going down into the water. Now all that’s left are the pilings, with the sun pouring down through them into the water. The coral thrive there, supporting a huge ecosystem and food chain. So we snorkeled with the kids through these two areas, seeing a whole myriad of fish and coral. Unfortunately, Will touched some fire coral and his leg is now really itchy.


On the cat, we met a nice family from FL who has a 10-year old son named Eric. Ben and Eric were like two peas in a pod, going everywhere together. His family stayed overnight as well, although they were inside the fort as a guest of a friend! We had a nice time talking, and Eric’s Mom, Kathy snorkeled with us. She showed us some great coral heads off the sandy beach. Ben and Eric had fun collecting hermit crabs, as did Will and Sam. We discovered a "Chug" which is a Cuban refugee boat. Over the years, many Cubans attempt to cross the 90 miles of water to land on American soil. If they touch foot on soil, we let them stay. If we find them en route by boat, we take them back to Cuba. This photo shows a Chug that probably brought 16 Cubans here!

When the boats left in the afternoon, it was like we had the whole island to ourselves. Including park rangers and other campers, there were only about 40 or 50 people left. We enjoyed a tour inside the fort, hotdogs and a pasta salad dinner, followed by a dazzling sunset.


Then we headed for our tents. Will, Ben, and Sam decided to go out after dark with flashlights in search of lobsters on the moat wall. They spotted a huge spider crab. The boys, including Thom, camp all the time with Boy Scouts and also just for fun. I think the last time I slept in a tent was when Sam was a baby, and we literally got rained out in West Virginia. That must have been about 6 years ago. It was fun, but I sure missed my bed! Thom and I awoke to watch the sunrise, by simply walking a few feet from where we’d just watched the sunset the night before! We walked the moat at 7am, and saw two enormous lobsters. After a quick breakfast with the boys, we all headed out for a morning snorkel. What a great way to start the day. The sky was clear and blue, not cloudy like the day before. The colors underwater were supernatural with the sun flooding down through the blue. Will’s taken to snorkeling the most, and is the last to get out of the water. He studied all types of fish ahead of time, so he could identify the different fish. Sam is a natural snorkel boy too, and is quite courageous. It’s great watching them all dive down to swim with the fish and explore up close. Ben finally got comfortable after being a bit nervous. He said his snorkel and mask didn’t fit well, so he constantly pulled them off, refitting the mask. Robby swims and snorkels well, but once he’s chilly, wants to go in. So usually it’s Thom, Will, and me who continue snorkeling after the others exit the water.

That was the case at Dry Tortugas after our initial morning swim. The three of us walked over to the main boat dock and decided to go in before the boats arrived with the day tourists. Little did we know that the area was off limits for swimming. We’d spotted a huge, mammoth Grouper the evening before. Also, a fisherman caught one which was massive. So in we went. We cautiously snorkeled along the pylons, seeing small groups of fish. Then I heard Thom’s guttural voice through his snorkel. He spotted the Grouper!! And it was colossal!! He was looking up at Thom from about 15 ft down, and slowly moving closer! The three of us kept our wide eyes on him as we slowly swam backwards towards the beach. I’ll bet the Grouper weighed over 500 lbs! When he opened his mouth, I could have fit half my body in there! Once near the beach, he turned and swam away. I got out of the water! Thom and Will swam back and watched from a distance. Wow. Even scuba diving, I’ve never been that close to such a large fish. We talked with the park rangers later, who were surprised we snorkeled there, since it’s off limits. Anyway, they told us about 6 or 7 Grouper live here and get so huge because they’re protected. The one we swam with is nicknamed Otis.

Knowing we were leaving in a few hours, we savored every minute. I took loads of pictures. The boys had fun with Eric, and then we said Goodbye to his Mom and Dad. We boarded the Yankee Freedom II and headed out past Bush Key where thousands of birds were nesting in preparation for their migration north. The sky above the island was a moving, screeching, cloud of birds. Amazing.

The boys enjoyed standing at the bow of the catamaran on the 2 ½ hour boat ride home. They could look down and see the rushing water zoom between the two blades. We visited the bridge and talked with Cpt. Cory. He pointed out the location of the Atocha, the sunken Spanish treasure ship I talked about in an earlier blog. The ship carried $400 million of silver, gold, and emeralds, as well as thousands of artifacts. It sank in 1622, and was finally discovered in 1985 after years of searching. They’re still diving the site bringing up new treasures regularly. We saw some turtles on the surface, and before we knew it, we were back in Key West, just in time for another striking sunset.

We’ll stay a few more days in Key West, and then head north. The boys are working hard at school, and our goal is to finish the green test 120 for the three older boys, before Cousin Tucker arrives on April 13th. We can’t wait to have Tucker spend his Spring Break with us for a week!