Update on us (Palm Desert, CA Oct.13--?)

Oct 19th, 2012
We are now in Palm Springs/Palm Desert staying about 40 min out of town. (In the middle of no where) We have been here a week.  When driving in we were all reminded of the roadrunner cartoons out in the desert.  Once off the main road of desert, you drive into a small community of its own, with mobile homes and rv slots.  The temps here are in the mid 90's, and rather quiet since its a snowbird destination and its still Oct. Seems things here pick up come November time. Nothing much new with our routine.  This place has mineral pools and hot tubs so we have all enjoyed our experience with those.  Rick is starting to work more now and the boys have settled in with their school routine.  Devin and I have gone through some homesick emotions and have been working through those.   Although Avery has become more active (riding bike and swimming and walking farther with walker) he still relies on his walker and his sunglasses.  Avery is still a challenge for Rick and I, but we continue to press on, giving him truth from God's Word.  Rick and I have been working on our communication skills and on our own weaknesses as parents.  Looking to God and giving Him thanks for every day.  Remembering we are here to learn about Him, love Him, and serve Him.

As for me, we were able to find a chiro in town who could scan my neck and sent me for an MRI.  It seems I have 3 protruding disks, along w quite the degeneration already happening. My neck is not curved, it is straight, the disks are protruding into the fluid that run to the nerves, narrowing the spine canal.  This could be what has been causing not just my pain, but the numbness, tingling and weakness in my arms and hands. Although he thinks steroid shots would help, is not recommending them due to the break out issue of contaminated batch.  So I will take a 6 day pill pack of steroids and continue on motrin.  I have had pre-exisiting issues with my neck and back for some years now but the fall I took 6 weeks ago in Pacific City just exasperated things and I haven't been the same, in constant pain and discomfort.  My lower back issues from before are showing their colors and looks like I will be going back in for an MRI on my lower back and sacrum area as well.  So that said, prayers for healing and for continued strength and wisdom as we continue our travels.  That I may find my joy, happiness, and contentment in Christ and not in this temporary life that is fading away.

Rick and I pondered the idea of going home immediately so that I could get set up with some doctors and whoever I needed to help.  But we have no insurance right now and we felt we could press forward and see how it goes. We have extended our stay here in Palm Desert another week due to my issues, and will be moving to an rv park in town come tomorrow.

Going from the coast to the desert was quite the change, but it has been nice to experience the differences.  We appreciate the sun and heat, but have mixed emotions on missing our "FALL" weather. :)  Or at least Devin and I do.  Fall is my favorite time of year; the crisp air, the changing colors, the smell of fireplaces, sweatshirts and hot tea.  All to say this is a new experience for us this fall, but we plan to soak up all the sun we can. :)

---Jenn

Pismo Beach!

As you may know, we just left Pismo Beach the other day. It has definitely been my favorite place we’ve stopped at so far. The beach was beautiful, sand was soft, pelicans were awesome, and we got the privilege to use our newly purchased body-boards. (When the name of Pismo was first mentioned I immediately thought of the Looney Tunes episode when Buggs and Daffy were trying to travel there for their clam festival :P) Onto their history...

                Pismo Beach, like almost everywhere else in America, was initially inhabited by Native Americans. These Natives were called the Chumash and they were the ones who unintentionally named the land Pismo. Their original name for the area was ‘pismu’, which was the term the Chumash used for the tar which was gathered from tar springs in the area. Over time, and after many name changes, the label ‘pismu’ evolved into Pismo Beach. The other resource that Pismo is known for is their clams. “The Pismo clam was named for the long wide beach where so many were once found. Once so abundant they were harvested with plows on the beach, giving the city the name "Clam Capitol of the World".” Today the clam numbers have decreased greatly. While we were there we didn’t spot any clams.

 “The first wharf at Pismo was built in 1882, followed by a full length pier built in 1924 that was financed and constructed by William Woodrow Ward who allowed full use of it by the public. After it suffered considerable storm damage, the pier was renovated again in 1985.” (A lot of our pictures were taken on that wharf.)

-Devin

History of the San Jose Lynching (by Devin)

 Instead of writing a historical essay on San Jose, I chose to write on a specific event that occurred. The one event in San José that caught my eye was the case of Brooke Hart’s kidnapping and murder. If you don’t like murder stories, I advise you don’t read this.

                The kidnapping happened on the afternoon of Thursday, November 9, 1933 as Brooke Hart was coming home from his job. While he was driving, his Studebaker was suddenly pushed to the side of the road by a long-hooded dark sedan with two figures inside. Twenty-two year old Brooke was forced to drive as the two men, Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes, got into his car. They made him drive to the San Mateo-Hay ward Bridge, and there they got out of the car. At this point different accounts tell different stories; some say that the two criminals knocked him out with a brick, had cement blocks fastened to his body, and threw him into the bay where he drowned. The more popular, yet gruesome, account given is that Hart was knocked unconscious, tied up with wire, and thrown into the bay. Soon after hitting the water he regained consciousness and started flailing about, yelling that he couldn’t swim.  Hart was then shot several times (by Thurmond) and sank into the bay. 

- Brooke Hart

                After some time had passed, Alex Hart (Brooke’s father) received a phone call from a man (Thurmond) telling him that he had kidnapped Brooke and was demanding $40,000 for his return. Along with the ransom notice, he gave a warning telling Hart not to contact the police. Hart called the police. The authorities assumed that Brooke and his friends were probably just playing a prank, so they did nothing.

                Several ransom notes later, they came to the clever conclusion that Brooke Hart had truly been kidnapped. One of the ransom notes had told Alex Hart to drive to a set location so that he could pay the ransom money, and if he agreed to do so, he was supposed to leave an ‘L’ in his department store window. Well, Hart left the ‘L’ on the window, but he never drove to the set location. The next day Hart got a call from the baddies and they asked why he hadn’t showed. Hart’s answer was simple; “I don’t drive.” After a drawn out pause Thurmond replied; “We’ll call you back.”


                The next time Hart was called, he was ready, and while he was stalling Thurmond with location details, the police were tracking Thurmond’s phone. When they located Thurmond, he was “near a pay phone in a parking garage 150 feet from the San Jose Police station”. (Doesn’t seem like that was the smartest place to be..) After arrestment and interrogation, Thomas Thurmond gave up the location of his partner. Jack Holmes was arrested shortly after in his room at the California Hotel. They were both put behind bars at the San José county jail. Further interrogation revealed that they had killed Brooke an hour after he was kidnapped.


            After two weeks of searching, two duck hunters unintentionally found a mass of floating clothes and flesh that had been eaten at by crabs and eels. Examination from a family doctor and one of Brooke’s closest friends proved that the body was in fact Brooke’s. Once everything had been settled regarding Brooke’s body, many tears were shed (from the Harts and the rest of the town) and people started talking about dishing out justice to the two criminals.


                By that time, the whole Santa Clara County had heard about what had happened and were growing increasingly mad about the death of the innocent boy. Since his death there had been rumors of high school students and others that had known Brooke, who were planning to avenge their friend’s death.


“By 6:00 p.m. on November 26, hundreds of men [were] gathered by the county jail in San Jose.”

                Soon the mass of men started shouting and throwing rocks at the prison doors and windows. The police inside didn’t really have a choice; so out came the tear gas. Instead of intimidating the mob, the blinding spray made the now 5,000+ men even more infuriated.
“’Turn them over! Hang those illegitimate children!’ they yelled”

                Along with throwing things, the adrenaline filled mob cut the telephone wires going to and from the police station so that the cops couldn’t call in for backup. Soon another mob had grown around the backside of the jail and, to the displeasure of the poor officers inside, they started throwing glass bottles and other sharp/heavy objects through the back windows. Near 11:00p.m. the sheriff ordered the officers inside to hide all of the weapons on the third story because the mob would undoubtedly break in soon.
 
               After grabbing a large metal pole from the nearby post office, dozens of passionate men started using it as a battering ram against the heavy front door. After five minutes of ramming had passed, the large metal doors caved in. From there all hell broke loose, or in this case it broke in.

-Battering Ram

                The unfortunate police men put up a fight but were greatly outnumbered and tossed aside by the furious mob. The head sheriff ended up being “trampled to the floor and suffered a skull fracture... [and] the jail keeper was knocked unconscious and his keys were ripped from his leather belt.” As the horde came to the cell of the two murderers, they found the two men literally frozen with terror. The two soon came to their senses. The crowd broke in, and grabbed Holms and another unknown criminal. After much screaming from the second chap, his captors realized that they had the wrong man. They tossed him down the jail house steps and raced back up the steps to grab Thurmond. 


                Once they had found and taken Thurmond, the multitude of enraged citizens (now at numbers of 10,000+) beat and tormented the two criminals while dragging them all the way to St. James Park. By the time they had arrived at their destination, Thurmond was already unconscious and Holms was putting up the fight of his life. Soon a boy from one of the nearby farms was hurriedly hanging up two ropes on two separate trees.


                Thurmond was still unconscious at the time, so he was easy, and soon his neck was in a noose, body swaying in the breeze, illuminated by the torches of his abductors. Holms on the other hand, was a large man, and still capable of putting up a fight. After pulling the noose off from around his neck once, his captors made sure it didn't happen again. They stripped him of his clothes, broke his arms and lynched him without any more struggles. A couple of men held their torches underneath the feet of the swaying men, and as a sock caught fire, part of the throng started yelling, “Burn! Burn!” A few women fainted.

-Dead bods

       One of the most surprising parts of this story is that the next day “Governor James Rolph, expressed his approval of the double murder at St. James Park; ‘If anyone is arrested for this good job, I'll pardon them all. The aroused people of that fine city of San Jose were so enraged...it was only natural that peaceful and law abiding as they are, they should rise and mete out swift justice to these two murderers and kidnappers.’”  Later on in the day Governor Rolph also said that he wouldn’t mind seeing all of the other murderers/kidnappers in the jail handed over to the "patriotic San Jose citizens who know how to handle such a situation." He was later dubbed "Governor Lynch".

Ironically Brooke, Thurmond, and Holm’s bodies were laid next to each other at the mortuary.
No one in the mob was imprisoned or convicted of the two killings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Hart#Kidnapping_and_murder
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/classics/brooke_hart/index.html
http://www.crimerack.com/2012/05/kidnap-murder-of-brooke-hart-case-file/
               

-Devin

San Jose, CA (Sept.27-Oct.6)

On our way into the bay area from Vacaville our bike rack lost a bolt and we unfortunately drug our bikes on the freeway for a bit before being yelled at by onlookers to get off the road.  Thankful there was not more damage done, we unloaded the mess into the trailer and finished our drive. We drove into San Jose early afternoon on Sept 27th to a very thick layer of smog!  And immediately remembered it was one of the things we did NOT miss about living here. :)  The first two days here Rick had to drive to the HP building in Palo Alto to get his computer fixed, roughly an hour away.  So between that, and driving to see family and friends from here, we wished we had rented a car for the week. Our initial plan was to stay for at least 2 weeks in the bay area, but the price to stay here (rv park prices plus commuting to see people) is very expensive so we will be leaving after our week is up.

On a happier note, we have been able to visit with family and friends we haven't seen in awhile. Amazed at how things have changed in the last 7 years in certain areas and yet stayed the same in others.  Many new restaurants (which we are missing out on up north) that we have never heard of and old buildings and shops that were once there have now changed or are torn down.  We didn't think it could get much busier then when we lived here, but we were wrong.  Even more people and still very fast paced!

Although brief, we have enjoyed seeing our friends and family thus far.  We had dinner with one of my friends since Kindergarten (Jeanine) and her husband Cole and daughter Jane.  It was fun to meet her little girl for the first time.  For Ricks birthday on the 29th we went to his all time favorite restaurant "Bill of Fare" and ended our afternoon with a bbq at the Chapmans, (family friends).  It was great to visit with them again and see their kids and how much they have all grown.  We thank them for their hospitality.  Devin went out that night with their son Cameron and his friends to Great America (theme park) and we picked him up in the morning for church.  After enjoying our morning at church with my Aunt and Uncle we had lunch afterwards at their house with cousins.  Celebrated Ricks bday again with some delicious cake from Dicks Bakery and ended our evening with a trip to the movie theater to see Bourne Legacy.  

Rick has still been training with his job and hasn't started working full time yet.  There is a praise and an appreciation for the time we have been able to get with him.  He has spent his time (when not training) fixing our bikes and small things around here that have already broken, and was even able to meet up with an old friend for lunch.

A new experience for us is a salt water pool.  Have heard of them but never swam in one till our stay here.  

The other evening we went to Loni's (our cousin) volleyball game at Presentation HS.  It was fun to experience the teams and watch her play.  

Aunt Sharon is blessing us with another meal tonight (Thursday) and then Sat.(Oct.6) we are heading to a KOA in Salinas for a 2 nights stop.  While there we will go to church and then drive the kids over to Santa Cruz boardwalk and Capitola area for the day.

Although our most expensive stop so far, we have enjoyed our visits with family and friends very much!  It has been a little over a month since we have left CDA area.  Traveling definitely has its pros and cons, but so far (minus a few bumps) we are enjoying the unique experience and opportunity.  We are thankful for God's provisions and for the time we are being given to spend as a family.

Updates:  Avery is walking more and more, but still hasn't given up his walker. He is riding his bike a lot now as well, and swimming in all the pools. He is still using sunglasses for light.  He turns 13 on Monday (Oct 8th)   and our prayer for him is to be free of these things.  Both boys are getting in a better rhythm with school, but still a small struggle there. My back is still trying to heal, seems to be a long process.  Have seen a chiro and therapist in town here twice and that seems to have helped me a bit.  Rick is doing great and is just plugging away at his training and being a strong husband and father for us.  We continue to work through our communications book and work on our weaknesses.  Devin has struggled with emotions of missing home and wanting to go back, so prayer for him and all of us as we move forward through our trip.  That all our hearts and attitudes would be glorifying to God as we take this day by day.

All our love to family and friends here in San Jose, it was great to see you, thank you for having us over.  And all our love to family and friends in Idaho, we miss you and hope all is going well!

---Jenn

Hey.

So we figured out how to let people comment without having to have a Google account/blogger profile. Now, if you want, you can comment either using just your name or as an anonymous user. Hope that helps all of you that were having problems!

-Devin