3 posts tagged “cemeteries”

Weston Cemetery - Anna Sears

I did not geocache today. I started, but my first stop was a "pile of sticks" micro and I lost interest in 30°F weather after two minutes at ground zero. So, let's save it for a day when my heart's in it. From that point, I crossed the Iroquois River into Weston Cemetery to seek out the two remaining zinc headstones for waymarking. I found them easily. Both are marked with Detroit Bronze Co. Detroit Mich. text in the rear righthand corner of the monument. The morning light was gorgeous in the cemetery!

Then I took a nap! This cold is still kicking my butt. I've stayed inside for the rest of the day, venturing out to get dinner. I'd like to be healthy for the drive home so if I don't get as much done during these days, it'll be fine as long as I'm good as new on Sunday.

St. Joseph's Chapel - life

Today was gorgeous weather! I went back down to St. Joseph's College and took a proper shoot of the Chapel and grounds. The Welcome Center/Admissions Office gave me advice and a map, and the Dean's Office was very helpful and friendly. I also captured images of the old Drexel Hall, now it's been renovated and repurposed for the Rensselaer Adult Learning Center. I suppose there goes all the claims that it's haunted and priests become "furious" if you mention the chapel within the hall.

On the way back, I stopped at the Jasper County Airport and got a few shots of the field.

Wanting to know if there were any zinc headstones in the local cemeteries without having to walk them for hours on end, I stopped by Rensselaer Monument, just down the road from my hotel. If anyone should know what I'm talking about, it will be the people who work in the industry. Rensselaer Monument has been owned and operated by the Woolley family since 1976. They were an incredible family who operated a very friendly and professional shop. Ross Woolley cited knowing of a zinc headstone in a nearby town. His son thought that there might be one in Weston Cemetery, which is near downtown, so I headed off to Weston Cemetery right away. Sure enough, I found it.

Weston Cemetery - Zinc gravemarker - Julia King

What worried me was that the groundskeeper didn't know what a zinc headstone was and outright said, "I wouldn't know one if I saw one." How can you properly clean one if you don't know what you've got? Well, that aside, it's a beautiful cemetery. Both the new and old sections are well-kept. The old section has platts that are erratically scattered, which is typical, but the shade provided by the towering fir trees made a beautiful landscape on the hill. The zinc headstone is marking the grave of two people: a Julia M. King and her infant son, Charles F. King.

I returned to my room after that to start organising photos and make phone calls. I have an appointment with Assistant Chief Kenny Haun of the Rensselaer Volunteer Fire Department at 9:30 tomorrow morning to photograph the vehicles. It shouldn't take too long.

Here are more images from Day 4:

Guntown Mountain, y'all

We left Cave City, KY at 8am and arrived in Rensselaer at 1pm. The time zone fluctuated between Central and Eastern so my times are all Eastern.

We had time to run back to Sayler Makeever Cemetery to get the micro geocache hidden there, run some audio and take photos. It was cold and the wind made it worse, but the road was solid and the ground was firm enough. The cemetery is amazing.

Sayler Makeever Cemetery - Patrick Makeever

We got to McDonald's at the same time as my mother and she bought us lunch. She's also giving me $100 when she brings the boys back so I can make it home. I said I was short. I won't worry about getting home now but I look forward to losing some weight this week!

My room in Rensselaer, Indiana

The hotel I'm staying at is a small, family-run operation that's clean and reasonably priced. I'm across from the big cemetery and a mile down the road from Rensselaer's historic district. I didn't feel like doing anything today after I'd done the Sayler Makeever Cemetery. I want to rest and I'll get to waymarking and photography tomorrow after Mass. I have until Friday.

My mother is taking Michael and Eddie to see Horton Hears a Who and she's spoiling them as usual. I told them not to take advantage of my parents since my kids tend to ask for the moon and, being proper grandparents, my parents will give it to them. Their father should pick them up tomorrow at noon and drop them back to my parents' house on Friday at noon. Here's hoping it's all uneventful.

My father-in-law is a piece of work. That's all I'll really say about that since his huffing and puffing doesn't change anything, but it's just irritating. I'm thankful that Tom is handling all that now.

The totals for this leg of the trip:

Yesterday's total of hotel, food and fuel: $187

Today's expenses: food - $8, fuel - $25; Total travel expenses for today: $33

Total northbound trip: $220

My six-day hotel stay cost $285 and food will average $25. I've already eaten today at 0 cost, thanks to my mother.