We just returned from Jim's family reunion at Ice Lakes Lodge in Soda Springs (near Donner Lake). It was a great time! The highlights were a hike to Roller Pass, which is way up in the Sierra's, where the early settlers came thru on wagon trains (the wildflowers were amazing), a day at Donnor Lake and a presentation about family history.
We learned a lot on this trip:
* Jim's great, great, great, great grandmother was Sonora Bethena Hughes and walked to California from Independence, Missouri in 1849. That makes her a VERY early settler of California - especially for a woman. (This must be where Gracie's girl power comes from!!!)
* Oxen have 3 stomachs which makes them hardy on the trail
* On their trip to California, they had set up camp to rest. The men went out to hunt and the women were in camp doing laundry. Along comes a bunch of indians on horseback. The women were terrified. The Indians approached and gave the women their loin cloths. The women washed them, returned them to the Indians and the Indians left!
* Gracie's freakishly long tongue comes from Jim's side of the family (see pic). With Gracie is Jim's cousin Bean and cousin Bronwyn.
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