A Family Roots Vacation!

On our trip to Kansas this summer, we went by way of Waco, where we drove by the Branch-Davidian compound - which was really kind of creepy, but might as well see it while we're so close - and then we headed on up to Hillsboro, Texas, which is where my family is from. I spent many holidays and summer vacations as a kid in Hillsboro, Texas, to visit lots of family members who lived there. Since we had Otto with us on our trip, we couldn't go into a restaurant, so we found this old drive-in that was built in 1954 and had a great hamburger! That's older than me! They don't make drive-ins like this anymore! That's my husband Randy, Hunter and Haley, and our dog Otto. I wanted to take a picture of this menu because in Texas, you don't ask for a hamburger with mayonnaise - that's for sissies! We eat mustard on our hamburgers down here in Texas. I wanted to prove that to my husband, who insists that mayonnaise is much better on a hamburger. HE'S WRONG, but we got a good laugh out of it! He had to special-order his hamburger.

Going to my grandmom and grandad's old house was such a surreal feeling for me. I have tons of memories of their house as a little kid and just being there filled me with all kinds of emotions. I wish that I could have knocked on the front door and my grandmom would answer and invite me in. She and granddad would probably be watching As the World Turns, their favorite soap opera. My granddad would be drinking a Dr. Pepper (which he always had for breakfast, by the way), and I'd go to the fireplace mantel and play with some magnetic kissing dolls that they had there. We played with those dolls so much that their faces were missing, but we loved them. As you brought the dolls close together, their faces would engage in a kiss, and we played with those things for hours on end! My grandmother would be sitting in her favorite chair and she'd look up at me with her Coke-bottle glasses on, which made her eyes really big, but I loved those eyes and wish I could see them now. In the picture above, you can't see it very well, but at the end of the street is an old cemetery that my cousins and I would play in. We'd come home ridden with chigger bites that would keep us up all night scratching, but we'd more than likely go back the next day and play there again.

My grandmom and granddad had a big Pecan tree in their front yard, so there would constantly be pecans laying around everywhere in the front yard. I just had to bring some of those pecans home with me. It makes me feel like I have a part of my grandparents here with me. Just the way they smell brings back memories for me.

Here's that big old Pecan tree.

My grandparents, Lee and Virginia McClung (my father's parents), lived at 101 Smith Street in Hillsboro, Texas. As I walked up to the front door, I realized that the same old doorbell was there that was there all those years go - the kind you move back and forth to ring. I knocked on the door, but no one answered, even though there were two cars parked at the house. I just wanted to tell them that my grandparents used to live here and I just wanted to look through the front entrance - I wouldn't go in - but no one would answer the door! Darn! Being on the front porch flooded me with memories of how we all used to pose on the front steps for family pictures. There was also a swing on the front porch - and we had a ball swinging on that porch!

Here's 101 Smith Street - where my grandparents used to live. It has really deteriorated, but I love that house. I have lots of good memories here. When we were little, if we cried about something, my granddad would tell us to come cry in his pocket. He'd hold out his pocket so that your tears could fall into it. That was so confusing to a little kid that you'd stop crying just to think about it. Worked every time - you'd quit crying! One of his favorite terms was "ol' screench-onchie"! He'd say, "Well I'll be an ol' screench-onchie"! He'd also make an interesting sound with his tongue and his lower lip - which is hard to describe, so the next time you see me, ask me about it and I'll do it for you! I'll never forget it - it was so granddaddy! My grandmother used to make incredible meals for all of us. My mom says she still can't figure out how grandmom could make so many dishes and have them all on the table and still hot all at the same time with only one oven. That took talent! Wish I could ask her about that now!