 |
| Drive down a quiet street in Henderson. |
Yesterday when Tom planned to visit my sister Susan with me, he knew it was essential to bring along his laptop. Over these past years of world travel, he’s pieced together many exciting facts about my family’s ancestry and, of course, including ongoing information on his own family.
As a long-time member of Ancestry.com, paying the annual fees of approximately $300 per year since March 2006, he’s considered a heavy user. However, during idle times, while living in various countries throughout the world, he’s continued to research records of his ancestors, my ancestors, and the ancestors of other family members, including in-laws and others who may not be directly related via bloodline.
Many records seem to have begun once the ancestor(s) immigrated to the US in the 19th and 20th centuries. Unfortunately, many countries, due to wars and strife, don’t have public records available online that an enthusiastic amateur genealogist would be able to add to their repertoire of facts.
 |
| It’s hard to believe that pine trees can grow in the desert. |
A few years ago, Tom and I both had our DNA profiles done via Ancestry.com, resulting in a few surprises for each of us. This added further to Tom’s interest in continuing his research for both of us. In addition, seeing one’s actual history via a DNA report further verifies that which one may have assumed about their heritage, including many new morsels of information that may be surprising.
In many cases, traveling to the country of origin may be the only recourse to extending the quality of the information going back many generations. Tom and I continue to discuss the prospect of spending time in Ireland furthering the search for his ancestors. But, unfortunately, my family history is more scattered and would present more incredible difficulty in finding information.
For myself, I have less interest in the topic. After all, it’s Tom’s hobby, not mine. Besides, once I’ve completed the post each day, I prefer not to spend much time on my computer to research future travel-related topics and others.
 |
| Scene along the highway on our way to the Centennial area of North Las Vegas. |
As we’ve discovered in many conversations with people, we’ve met over the years, some have little interest in pursuing information about their ancestors, while others are fascinated and curious.
My sister Susan has been intrigued by the prospect of learning more about hers and my ancestry. As a result, Tom joined me yesterday in visiting her, bringing along his laptop and HDMI cord so she could watch the data on her TV monitor rather than on the small laptop monitor.
Susan couldn’t have been more thrilled to see what Tom had discovered over these past years about our family history. It was delightful to see her enthusiasm and interest in the data he’d collected, including copies of documents, photos, and permanent public records.
 |
| Dust storm gathering in the desert. |
When we headed out later in the day, in hopes of beating rush hour traffic, we drove directly to our mailing service located halfway between Susan’s home and Henderson.
With two tasks to be accomplished at the mailing service; one, pick up all of our mail, including supplies we’d recently ordered and: two, mail the bins of Christmas memorabilia to son Greg, Camille, and three grandchildren in Minnesota, we were able to get out the door and back on the highway within 30 minutes.
The cost to ship the five large totes of decorations to Minnesota totaled $178, less than I’d expected. We collected about 20 packages, along with some long-standing paper mail of no significant signs that we’d left in our mail slot until our arrival this month.
 |
| New styles of homes, condos, and apartments have cropped up in the Las Vegas area. |
After we left the mailing service, we ran into inclement weather while on Highway 215 heading toward Henderson. Winds above 60 MPH, with wafting sand and debris, covered the freeway. For a short period, it rained in buckets, resulting in flash flooding in certain areas, which we later watched on the evening news.
Today, we’re working on unpacking our mail, taking care of more business-related and financial tasks, and continue to gear up, once again, for leaving the USA for an extended period.
Last night, we cooked dinner on the grill for the second evening in a row, finished watching the Netflix series El Chapo, and enjoyed a quiet evening. Tonight, we’re dining out with Richard, and no doubt, will once again have a pleasant evening.
May you have a pleasant day and evening today and always.
Photo from one year ago today, July 18, 2016:
There was no post one year ago today due to a poor signal aboard the Mekong River ship.