Imagine driving 215 miles to visit a cemetery! We did just that. But first........
We left Andra and David's in Petaluma and headed east across the Richmond-San Rafael bridge. Trip was rather dull crossing very brown, mostly flat countryside.
Got to the Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno just after 1:00. Lee's family on his mother's side, the Thiele clan, settled in the Fresno area in the late 1800's. The tribe was Swedish, the head of this group emigrating to California in 1870 at age 20. He had seven children, most of whom stayed in the Fresno area to be fruit farmers. One went to Chicago where he became superintendent of education in 1921, and Lee's grandfather got into mining.
We entered the cemetery at an entry point just off the highway going through Fresno. We had the location information for the site but not a clue where it was. We took two turns and Toni spotted the sign marking the general area. We walked no more than 20 yard and there it was. It was kinda spooky that in this enormous cemetery, we went right to it. Zowie! Cue Twilight Zone!
Both of Lee's grandparents were killed in a car crash on December 27, 1959. Henry died December 28 and Eva died shortly later in early January, 1960. Several of the family members are buried in the family plot in this Fresno cemetery, a VERY large affair.
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| Family plot stone |
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| Lee's grandparent |
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| Great grandmother |
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| Great grandfather |
After lunch in the cemetery (kinda macabre), we contacted Best Western in Oakhurst, just outside Yosemite. We booked a room and drove toward the town. We passed the hotel and drove the additional 25 minutes into the park just to see what was to be in store for tomorrow. We will spend the day in the park tomorrow and may extend it to two days as we feel the need.
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| The cloud is natural, the smoke is from Calif. fires--not natural |
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| Lobby of the Best Western |
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| Very nice room. |
Then...........on to Sequoia National Park!
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