Willis Web

North to Alaska in 2004

2009-07-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

Vancouver, B.C.

On July 29, 2004, Claudia and I began a phenomenal trip that I wish everyone could experience. After flying to Seattle, renting a car, and spending a pleasant afternoon and evening with John and Megan Miller in Fall River, Washington, we drove to Vancouver, B.C. on Thursday, July 30 to begin our Alaskan cruise.

Vancouver, B.C.

My first view of our ship, the Celebrity Summit, took my breath away. It is approximately 900 feet long and twelve stories high – a massive, floating hotel. It has an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, a complete workout gym, a basketball court, a movie theater, an entertainment theater which holds about 1,000 people, many shops, bars, restaurants, a casino, a card room, an art auction area, etc., etc.

We had dinner nightly in the main dining hall, sharing a table for six with Hal and Martha Eddleman, our dear Livermore friends, and with Daniel and Bea Van Damme-Beke, a couple approximately our age from Ghent, Belgium.

Jim and Claudia, Daniel and Bea, Martha and Hal

Bea was shy at first, as she was a little unsure about her English, but Daniel was outgoing and charming right from the start, and we were all amazed at his vocabulary and at how hard he worked to understand what we were saying. His English and Bea’s English both improved dramatically during the seven days we spent with them aboard ship. They were very, very nice, and we all hope we can see them again sometime – either here in California or in Belgium.

Speaking of dinner time, our waiter, Osman, from the Honduras, was fantastic. About 24, he was very polite but also very fun, and he spoiled us royally. I kidded him regularly, and he “got even” by often bringing me a second entree. Darn! The food, by the way, was unbelievable. Each night, we had a menu, which included at least three choices of appetizers, soups and/or salads, entrees (lobster, duck, prime rib, etc.), and desserts. The food was cooked to perfection, and its presentation rivaled anything to be found at the very best of restaurants. Osman, always dressed in a tuxedo, waited on three tables of six, and he had an assistant, Jirasak (from Thailand), so one can imagine how much personal attention we received.

It struck me that the huge majority of workers on board were from “emerging countries” (our cabin attendant, Peter, was from India), and we came to learn that they are only paid about $50/month over and above their room and board (this ship is registered in Liberia, which probably has no minimum wage law), and so their main source of income is from tips. We were generous in that department, and I hope the rest of the 2,000 or so “cruisers” were likewise.

Which of these two is prettier?

As I mentioned earlier, the Summit sailed from Vancouver on July 30. The harbor of Vancouver is quite beautiful, and that is a city that I hope to someday return to and get to know.

We then sailed north from Vancouver through the Inland Passage, an area of stunning natural beauty.

The Inland Passage of Southeast Alaska

Our first stop was on August 1 in Ketchikan, a small city of about 4,000 on the thin arm of Southeast Alaska. Claudia had opted to go kayaking while in Ketchikan, and so Hal, Martha and I hired a driver of an old station wagon to drive us around town. He took us to the Saxman Native Totem Village (not particularly impressive) and then five or so miles outside of town to a place called Herring Gulch, where we saw salmon swimming up a narrow creek surrounded by dozens of bald eagles. The bay was filled with fishing boats, and I wished I could stay there at least a week or so.

Heron Gulch outside of Ketchikan

He then drove us to the Totem Bight State Park, which showcased many wonderful totems and included a ceremonial house used by the Tlingit Indians. Our stay there ended in a museum and shop, which had an impressive array of guns, including a civil war era Gatling gun.

Totem Bight Park near Ketchikan

Three things stick out in my mind from our tour of Ketchikan: an old run down house that once was the home of a chief and will therefore not be torn down but will eventually rot, or I should say, “recycle” back to the earth, the local school which is built on stilts so the children can have recess outside under the school during the snowy and rainy seasons, and the school playgrounds (including baseball and football fields) which are made of gravel, not grass, for drainage purposes.

When we returned to the ship, I met up with Claudia, who had had a wonderful time kayaking over to Whiskey Cove and had made a new friend, Catherine, her kayak mate from New Jersey. We then walked over to the famous Creek Street, which houses some charming shops and the famous Dolly’s Brothel from the gold rush days. During Prohibition, rum-runners, or bootleggers, used to come through Whiskey Cove into Creek Street and deposit their kegs up through a trapdoor in the floor of Dolly’s place.

Creek Street, Ketchikan

Midway into Creek Street, we took a funicular up a steep mountain to a restaurant where we enjoyed the view and our lattés (as in coffee).

View of Ketchikan from a restaurant above Creek Street

Our next stop (on August 2) was in Skagway, an extremely picturesque and quaint little town of probably only a few hundred inhabitants. The whole town basically covers about a four block downtown area with interesting shops on both sides of the street.

Hal and Jim joining forces with the prospecters of '98

The four of us then took a narrow gauge railroad trip up White Pass, one of the two routes that the miners used to go to the Yukon interior in ’98, the other being the Chilkoot Pass, the pass on which my great-grandfather, Michael McKanna died. The rail line was built, by the way, beginning in 1898. The ride was breathtaking and frightening at times, as we looked hundreds (if not thousands) of feet straight down or crossed wooden trestles that made us want to say our prayers. We had been advised to sit on the left side of the train, as all the views were on that side, but part way up the pass, Martha’s acrophobia acted up, and she opted to trade a very grateful right-side passenger seats. On the ride, we passed the cemetery which “houses” the bodies of Soapy Smith, an infamous con-man of the gold rush days, and Frank Reid, the lawman who shot and killed, and was shot and killed by, Soapy. Among Soapy’s famous cons was his telegram scam. He would charge miners $5 to send a telegram back down to the lower 48 and then would manufacture responses from their “loved ones,” often asking for money to be “wired home.” Yet, Soapy’s telegram wires disappeared into a lake and went no farther. Frank Reid was given a hero’s burial with the whole town turning out, while Soapy’s funeral was only attended by the minister, the grave digger, and a mysterious “woman in black” whom history has still been unable to identify.

The train ride was one of the highlights of the trip for me, although I am sorry it didn’t go quite all the way to Bennett Lake, where my great-grandfather is buried. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to visit his grave on my next trip to Alaska!

An old bridge as viewed from the White Pass train

Another point about the miners and their hardships going up the trail in 1898 amazed me. The Canadian government demanded that each prospector carry in 2,000 pounds (one ton) of supplies. There were no stores in the Yukon, and so the government figured each person needed that much to last a year up in the Wilderness. Thus, the prospectors used mules to help carry their supplies. However, thousands of mules died along the way, and so most of the prospectors had to carry whatever they could on their backs up to the top, leave it there, and go back down for the next load, over and over again. What a hardship! Their stashes were guarded, and if anyone stole from anyone else’s stash, they were immediately hanged – no trial, just execution!

Our train ride ended in Fraser, B.C., and so we had to bring our passports along to pass back into Alaska. We traveled from Fraser back down to Skagway by bus, and our driver regaled us with many interesting stories, including one about “Bruce the Moose.” Apparently, the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad used to guarantee that passengers would see “wildlife” or get their money refunded. Well, it turned out for some reason that such creatures were not so plentiful in that area for a while, so the company hired a big man named Bruce to dress up in a moose costume, and as a train approached, he would wander out near (but not too near) the rail line so the passengers could take pictures. One time, however, Bruce noticed that one of the tour guides was waving his arms frantically and pointing behind Bruce. When Bruce turned around, he saw a very large bear approaching quickly. He started to run (on two legs, not on all four) and was ready to jump out of his costume when the bear caught up with him. As they were wrestling on the ground, the bear suddenly said, “make it look real, or we’ll both get fired.” Groan!!!

Back down from Fraser, we stopped at a small encampment named Liarsville. The name originated from the fact that many of the newspaper reporters back in the gold rush days stayed there and did not continue the extremely arduous route up the mountains. They interviewed a few miners returning from the Klondike, but generally they manufactured their stories and sent them back to the lower 48. In Liarsville, we were entertained by an outdoor show that was quite amusing, and we panned for gold, each of us getting a few flakes.

Martha gets "excited" over about 2 cents worth of gold

Actually, when I thought about what “Liarsville” was commemorating, I became angry, as the journalists’ deception probably led to many broken dreams and even lost lives, possibly including even that of my great-grandfather. Hardly a laughing matter!

On the morning of August 3, we disembarked in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. By the way, “ju know the capital of Alaska? No, ju know?” (a dumb joke, I am quite aware.) It was drizzly that morning, the only example of even questionable weather we encountered on the trip. Martha, Hal, Claudia, and I opted for a bus ride to Mendenhall Glacier, about 13 miles out of town. The glacier is about 1 ½ miles wide and 30+ miles long. Because of global warming, however, it is losing a considerable amount of its mass continually. In the visitors’ center, we were informed that about 30 years ago, the glacier extended to that particular point of the visitors’ center, but now it is about ¼ of a mile away. That is a sad and frightening thought! The bay in front of the glacier was filled with small icebergs that were filled with a beautiful, transparent, light-blue color.

Claudia in front of Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier

We returned to Juneau and decided to “walk the town.” The two ladies, of course, stopped at at least every other shop, and so Hal and I decided to proceed ahead to the famous (or “infamous”) Red Dog Saloon. What a kick that place is! With its sawdust floor and its piano player (a total character!), I felt as if we were stepping back into the Old West days. Claudia and I then went alone to the city museum to do a little family research. My dad was born in Douglas (across the bridge from Juneau) in 1904, Aunt Tat was born in Juneau in 1909, and their mother, “Lizzy” McKanna Willis, was the postmistress of Douglas at the turn of the century. In the archives at the state building, I was able to locate four family references in “The Douglas Island News,” a weekly newspaper: the announcement of the engagement of Elizabeth McKanna to Robert J. Willis, including who was present at the announcement and what was served; the announcement of my dad’s birth, another of his christening, and an announcement of Katherine’s (Tat’s) birth. Back in the city museum, we found a picture of about 100 individual photos of Pioneers of Alaska (1887-1907), and in the top row were my great-grandmother, Mrs. Katherine A. McKanna (whom Aunt Tat has always referred to as Grandma McKanna), and four of her children - my grandmother, Lizzy Willis, and her three brothers, E. J. McKanna, P. F. McKanna, and James A. McKanna, three of my great-uncles. It was quite a thrill to see pictures of five relatives, four of whom I had never even met (E.J., or Emmett, lived in Yakima when I was a young boy).

Five of Jim's relatives in the top row

But what happened next was unbelievable! As Claudia and I were starting to leave the museum, the lady at the desk asked us to sign the guest book. As I was preparing to sign, my jaw dropped as I saw that the last name above mine was that of Elizabeth Willis! My first thought was that someone was playing a joke on me, my next thought was that my grandmother, who died before I was born, was “checking up” on me, and my third thought was that this was a coincidence befitting Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! I noticed that next to Elizabeth Willis’ name was “Tallahassee, Florida.” I thus assumed that she was probably on one of the four ships docked at Juneau that day. On our return to the ship, I went to the office on the third deck to ask if there was an Elizabeth Willis on board, and there was! The clerk dialed her room, handed me the phone, and I shared the story with her. Elizabeth, Claudia, and I later met on board, and, of course, we were not related. She was part of a group of Florida lawyers making the cruise, having a few short seminars aboard, and, of course, thus writing off the trip. That whole experience reminded me of the show, “The Twilight Zone”!

The morning of August 4 found us anchored in a beautiful bay outside the village of Hoonah in an area called Icy Strait Point. This is a new stop on the Celebrity Cruise tour, but I am glad they have added it. We boarded a tender, a “small” boat that can carry up to 150 passengers, for the short ride to the dock at Hoonah.

Note the size of the tenders, which hold 150 people, compared to the ship

I left earlier in the morning than my three fellow-travelers because I was scheduled to go salmon fishing. The captain of the fishing boat, a full-blooded Tlingit Indian, his young aide (an “at risk” youth whom he was mentoring), and we four fishermen went to an area about three miles distant where we all limited (three fish) on salmon. I caught two pink salmon and one silver, all of which I had smoked and shipped back home. By the way, the captain wanted to make sure that one pole wasn’t catching all the fish, so we watched all four poles and took turns as a fish struck. The person before me (the only one of us to lose a fish, and he lost at least three) had a small (6-7 pound pink) on the line and lost it right at the boat. Thus, he was still the one to catch the next fish, and, wouldn’t you know it, the next fish was a 20+ pound King! That should have been my fish, dangit!

While I fished, Claudia, Martha, and Hal went to the Native Heritage Center Theater for a dance ceremony by the local Tlingit Dancers, an amateur group in native costumes. Through interpretive song and dance, they told the story of their culture, emphasizing the role of the Eagle and the Raven. Claudia loved the experience.

Tlingit Dancers at Hoonah

One of the most stunning sights I’ve ever seen greeted us the next morning. Our massive ship entered a bay that ended with the Hubbard Glacier, a glacier more than six miles wide and considerably taller than our twelve-story ship! The bay was filled with icebergs (again, not particularly large), and every so often we would hear a roar reminiscent of a dynamite blast, and we would then see a section of the glacier fall into the bay, a phenomenon called “calving.” When the ice hit the water, it would, of course, create quite a wave. Considering that these chunks were the size of houses falling about 20 stories, the roar is quite understandable. Some of the icebergs were dotted with seals – also quite a sight!

The Hubbard Glacier

Our cruise ended the next morning, August 6, in Seward, and we then boarded a luxury bus for the approximate 2 ½ hour ride to Anchorage along one of the most scenic highways in America. On the ride, we passed through a town of about 40 people named Moose Pass. Our tour guide for the rest of the trip, Nicole, a young, vibrant woman of about 25, told us that at one time, an oil company considered putting a service station there but decided against it, as they chose to reject the title of “Moose Pass Gas.”

We had about an hour or so in downtown Anchorage until we had to leave for the airport for our flight to Fairbanks, so “we four” went to a local art gallery and then to lunch at the Snow Goose Restaurant, where we thoroughly enjoyed the best halibut I have ever tasted! Anchorage, by the way, is the largest city in Alaska (about 240,000). Fairbanks and Juneau are second and third in size, with both having a population of around 40,000. In fact, there are only about 600,000 Alaskans, even though it is twice the size of Texas! If the weather in Alaska were always like the weather we enjoyed, the population would be about 600,000,000!

The flight to Fairbanks was short, about an hour or so. The highlight was when we saw Mt. McKinley (I will from now on refer to it as Mt. Denali, an Indian name meaning “The Tall One” because, as someone told us, why name a mountain after a second-hand politician who never even visited the state!). Even the Alaska Airlines pilot was so excited by how clear the view was that he circled the mountain and tipped the plane so both sides could get equal views. It was spectacular! Mount Denali is the tallest mountain in North America, 20,390 feet (I think), but it has the highest vertical rise of any mountain on Earth – about 16,000 feet. It also is extremely broad. What a sight it was!

When we got off the plane in Fairbanks, we were met by an unexpected surprise. The temperature was about 85 degrees – in Alaska, no less! We came to learn that the temperature in Fairbanks ranges from the mid 90’s to around 60 below zero. I’d hate to have to pay for utility bills if we lived there!

At the airport, Nicole and her entourage of about 45 travelers were met by Will, the bus driver for the rest of our Alaskan stay. He drove us to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where we spent an hour (too short a time) in the university museum, an extremely fascinating place. The exhibits were very informative and very well put together. We then had lunch at the Fudge Factory in downtown Fairbanks, a rather unimpressive city. One interesting detail – all the local cars have extension cords sticking out of the front grill. When they park at the university or downtown, for that matter, they plug into electric outlets to keep their radiators from freezing and their engine blocks from being destroyed.

Our next stop was Pikes Waterfront Lodge on the outskirts of Fairbanks. After a pleasant dinner on the outdoor deck of the restaurant next door, overlooking the Chena River, we walked to a nearby tent and saw a short video on Susan Butcher, a four time winner of the Iditarod, the 1,036 mile yearly dog race starting near Wasilla and ending near Nome. The race, unbelievably, is covered in about ten days! Susan won in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990. She then married one of her rival mushers, David Monson, and the two of them train dogs but no longer race. One interesting story from the video – before her string of victories, one year she was racing along when she encountered a bull moose that attacked her team, killing two and severely injuring 13 of her dogs. Of course, that ended her race.

Next to the video tent was a second tent with memorabilia about the Iditarod. There was even a handful of young Alaskan Huskies there, dogs in training for upcoming races. They were very attractive and friendly mutts!

On August 7, we got aboard a sternwheeler paddleboat for a ride down the Chena River.

Sternwheeler on the Chena River

To be honest, I wasn’t too excited about the trip and thought it would be rather boring. Boy, was I wrong! Highlights of the trip included watching a bush pilot land and take off on a short field of grass alongside the river, the many beautiful homes along the river, including one where Ronald and Nancy Reagan stayed while greeting the Pope and especially the stop at Susan Butcher’s kennel. From shore (with a microphone), she talked about her dogs and even put on an incredible athletic display for us. She had the rope halters, with places for about ten dogs, attached to a tractor with its brakes on. As she brought individual dogs out to place them in position with the halters, the dogs started quite a racket that seemed to say, “take me; take me.” After the dogs were haltered, they would jump up and forward as if to say, “let’s go!” Susan then got on the tractor, released the brake, yelled some command, and those dogs took off at breakneck speed. We then watched her run them around a lake and back to the starting point. It was some sight, believe me!

Susan Butcher, four time Iditarod winner at her kennel

A few miles downriver, the Chena emptied into the Tanana River, a glacial river. Where the two rivers met was most interesting. The Chena is crystal clear, while the Tanana is filled with silt from the glacier and is milky (or almost muddy white) in color. Where they met was a dramatic line showing the difference.

The clear Chena River meets the glacial Tanana River

A short distance down the Tanana, we stopped at a village used by the Athabascan Indians. We went ashore and visited four sites: a display of furs and lodges, an area with Alaskan Huskies and a short seminar on the dogs, an area with a handful of caribou (reindeer), and a final area with a display of native clothing.

A Caribou at Chena Village

A young Athabascan woman wearing a tribal coat

At the end of the river cruise, we proceeded by bus to the town of Denali. Shortly after leaving Fairbanks, we stopped briefly at a point of the Alaskan pipeline. En route to Denali, Nicole pointed out the perma-frost forests. Part of the soil is permanently frozen, so the trees’ roots can only go down a short distance, and thus they can’t grow very tall. It was strange to see such midget forests. Also en route, we crossed a bridge into a small town whose name I can’t recall. Every year, there is a lottery as to when the river under the bridge unfreezes. At that point, a pole in the river breaks loose and sets off an alarm. The lottery ticket, costing $2, which is closest to the exact second, wins the pool, and last year’s pool was over $600,000.

Claudia and the Alaskan pipeline

In late afternoon, we entered the town of Denali and proceeded to the Grande Denali Lodge, high on the mountain above town and with a spectacular vista.

The Grande Denali Lodge, high above the town of Denali

After checking in, the four of us went to town for what was termed a “Cabin Nite Dinner.” The fare included barbecued ribs, salmon, corn, bread, and beans, mixed with a music/drama presentation given by our waiters and waitresses. It was a little melodramatic but fun. The performance included audience participation, and Claudia was singled out at least twice for such. When the dinner ended, and we went outside to return to the lodge, we were amazed that it was still daylight even though it was past 11:00 p.m.!

Fairly early in the morning of August 8, we boarded a school-type bus for a trip into the spectacular Denali National Park. Along the road, we stopped at a foresters’ cabin, saw a bull moose, weighing approximately a ton, and in the hills above, we saw Dall sheep and caribou.

A bull moose as seen from our tour bus window

At our turn-around point, an Athabascan woman with an American name of Shirley told us about her people’s culture and traditions. She was beautiful, graceful, deeply spiritual, and filled with gentle strength. The backdrop to her presentation was Mt. Denali in all its splendor. Also, at that spot, we saw a group of ptarmigans, Alaska’s state bird, and I even saw an arctic hare. The park, by the way, covers over six million acres, larger than some of the smaller American states. The driver of our bus, Brian Gross, was a young man who was very passionate about the park and very well versed in its geology, zoology, and “plant” and “tree” ology. By the way, before her ceremonial dance, Shirley invited Brian to join in and then presented him with a scarf she uses in the dance, and he was visibly moved by that.

We were then dropped off at the Denali train station for our train ride to Talkeetna. Will drove our bus, with all our luggage, passenger less ahead of us.

Relaxing on the train

The train ride, along with the river cruise on the Chena River, were two very unexpected and very pleasant extras of the vacation. Celebrity Tours had two cars of its own on the train, and we definitely traveled in style through some very spectacular scenery. Our car had a glass ceiling, a bar, and on the floor below, a dining car, where we had a lunch that rivaled the meals on board the Summit.

Around dinner time, we arrived in Talkeetna, probably the funkiest town I have even seen. About three blocks long, it had a definite Bohemian feel.

In the funky town of Talkeetna

A mile or so outside of town was our hotel, Talkeetna Lodge. What a beautiful place and setting! We had dinner that night on the back deck of the lodge, with Mt. Denali clear as could be in the distance. We had been told that the chance of seeing the mountain was 5%, and there it was in all its glory. How fortunate we were! The lodge was so wonderful that I was curious about the cost of staying there. I learned that a room with the view of the mountain was $360 per night, while a non mountain-view room was $260. I’m glad the price was included in our overall package, but I would definitely say it is worth it.

Early the next morning, I took off on my second fishing adventure. Nine of us (two families of four and yours truly) went by speed boat with two guides about six or seven miles up the milky, glacial Talkeetna River. When we reached the confluence of the Talkeetna and Clear Creek, there were so many anglers there that our guides chose to go another quarter mile or so upstream, where we went ashore, hiked across an island, and fished in an isolated, magnificently picturesque spot on Clear Creek. We fished from the bank with spinners, and even though it was only about 20 yards wide at the spot, the creek was teeming with salmon. I caught the most among the group – 15 salmon, including three silvers (Coho), six pinks (Humpbacks or Humpies), and six Chum (Dog Salmon). Our guides told us to only keep silvers and reds (Sockeye). Among the nine of us, there were three silvers and one red caught, and so I caught three of the four keepers. I gave one of my three silvers to the family that was skunked. I have never had a fishing experience to even remotely rival that one!

When we arrived back in town, I met up with Claudia and the Eddlemans, who had arranged with a woman named Heidi to smoke and mail home the fish they apparently assumed I would catch. The four of us are sharing the salmon, and we will probably use much of it as gifts.

By midafternoon, we were back on the train for the two-three hour ride to Anchorage. Though not as spectacular as the first leg of the train ride, it was still very beautiful. Along the way, we passed through Wasilla (“all I saw” backwards), the usual starting point of the Iditarod, and we had a scrumptious prime rib dinner in the dining car.

That night, we stayed at the Anchorage Marriott, and Tuesday morning, August 10, we began our last day in Alaska with a breakfast at the hotel. We then walked to the Alaska Art and History Museum in the heart of town. It was a first-class museum, with wonderful native art.

An Athabascan mask in Anchorage's Art and History Museum

Martha and Hal had to leave us early as they had a 2:00 transfer time to the airport, while we had an additional two hours before our departure. And so, Claudia and I “hit” a few shops and returned to the Snow Goose Restaurant for lunch. This time, I opted for the clams, which rivaled the halibut, and Claudia had some wonderful fish tacos. One point about Anchorage that has to be made – there were flowers everywhere downtown, and they were extremely vibrant in their colors. I guess the long summer days are the reason for that.

As it turned out, we were the only passengers on the 4:00 bus to the airport. Our driver was a 26 year old first-year teacher who graduated from South Dakota State, where he played basketball. We quizzed him about his job, as we are going to try to talk Kenon into getting such a job in the upcoming summers.

On our flight from Anchorage to Seattle, we sat next to a very large teenager, an Alaskan Samoan who was the defensive high school football player of the year in Alaska. His name is Junior Aumavae (spelling is questionable here), and he was offered half scholarships to Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, and USC, among others. He comes from a very poor family of 13 kids, and so he chose instead a full-ride to Western Washington State College in Bellingham. Among other D2 schools, they play UC Davis, and he said he’d send us tickets. He was fun, cocky, and quite naïve. It will be fun to try to follow his football career.

As it turned out, our United flight from Seattle to San Francisco was overbooked, and Claudia and I chose to spend two more hours at the Seattle airport in exchange for two free flights to anywhere in the lower 48 to be booked in the next year. That was probably worth about $200/hour for both of us. Also, we were rewarded with first-class seats on the subsequent flight. And thus ended our marvelous trip North to Alaska.

London Trip, 1997

2009-07-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Claudia and I just returned from a trip to London, and, oh, what a time we had. I hope you enjoy this rather long and I hope, interesting, account. On June 13, the day after school got out, we flew separately out of San Francisco - I to L.A. and then to London - she to Portland, then to Vancouver and finally to London. We were met at the airport by Bob Drach, a Livermore friend who has been on loan from the Livermore Lab to a lab in Wokingham, England for a year. We spent the next 9 nights at his and his wife, Carolyn's house, a house they share with their son, Eric (a 6th grader) and Corinne (a 2nd grader). They were, truly, the best of hosts.

On four different days, we caught an early morning train in Wokingham for the one-hour ride to the Waterloo Station in London, and we generally returned back about 11:30 p.m. Those days gave us a pretty good feel of the city, although there is much, of course, we didn't see. On our first "London day," we got an overview of the city on a bus tour (The Big Bus Company), and that gave us many ideas of where to concentrate our limited time.

A Thames waterfront view of London

On the second London day, we took a short bus tour through another area, and then took in a free concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields near Trafalgar Square (the church got its name when it was once, almost unbelievably, "way out in the country"). The performance was by an excellent choir called the Hickory Choral Group from, believe it or not, North Carolina. We then visited St. Paul's Cathedral, a beautiful Anglican church where Lord Nelson, Christopher Wren, and the first Duke of Wellington are buried, where Winston Churchill's funeral service was held, and where Prince Charles and Lady Di were married - not one of the Cathedral's successes. We climbed up 236 steps to a gallery about half way up the dome (another gallery was another 300 or so steps up, but I declined). The gallery is called the "Whispering Gallery," and it contains the "whispering wall." Claudia and I stood about 150 feet apart, and we could easily hear soft whispers, as if we were only inches apart. The sounds actually seemed as if they were coming through the wall. It was amazing! Claudia carried on quite a conversation with a German gentleman by "talking to the wall."

St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Trafalgar Square

St. Paul's Cathedral

After St. Paul's, we went by the Underground to Leicester Square to purchase "cheap" (well, at least "cheaper") theater (British spelling = "theatre") tickets for two plays. That night we saw "Jesus Christ Superstar" which was phenomenal. It was playing at the Lyceum, a recently restored, beautiful theater near Covent Gardens. The actors who played (sang) Jesus, Caiphas, Herod, Mary Magdalene, and Pilate were especially outstanding. After the play, we decided not to take the Underground but walk across the Thames to the Waterloo Station. On the way, Claudia spotted a construction dumpster, and she insisted on taking a brick out of it for our garden back home. Zounds! By the way, the London Underground is fantastic - at least as good as, and probably even better than, the Metro in Paris. London is a huge city (over 11 million people, I think), and we could get anywhere within about 15-20 minutes! The traffic "up above" is awful, and I couldn't get used to the left-side-of-the-road driving and the fast way everyone seems to drive. The Underground is easy to learn, and I don't think we ever waited more than about 5 minutes for a train. And to think it was built in the last century! Why don't we catch on in California - especially in L.A.? I suppose the threat of earthquakes must have something to do with it, but the above ground railway system in England (and throughout Europe) is also extremely efficient, and ours "sucks" - to use a crude teenage expression.

Our third day in London took us to the Tower of London where we were led on a tour by a Beefeater in full costume. We saw the spot where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard (Henry VIII's "lucky" wives #2 and #5) were beheaded for high treason because they had (or supposedly had) affairs. The chapel of Saint Peter's ad Vincula (in chains) has hundreds of bodies buried beneath it, including that of St. Thomas More, one of my favorite historical characters.

Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England under Henry VIII

He was beheaded on Tower Hill (just outside the moated Tower of London), and his head, which was on display on a spike on London Bridge and which was stolen one night by his daughter, Margaret, is "at rest" in Canterbury (I think). The contradiction of the "religious" chapel with its headless bodies underneath was pretty stark! Also within the Tower, we saw "Traitors' Gate" where many famous doomed prisoners entered the Tower via boat, the museum housing the Crown Jewels, and we even saw a few of the famous ravens of the Tower. Apparently, because of some king's superstition, there are always 8 male, "clipped" ravens within the walls. A curious superstition dating from the time of Charles II prophesied that when there were no longer ravens in the Tower, both the White Tower and the British Commonwealth would fall. The Beefeater also told us an interesting story about some Scottish lord prisoner whose wife was allowed to visit him daily, along with a few of her maidservants. Every day, she would bring the Beefeater guard a bottle of wine, and, on the day before her husband's planned execution, she managed to get him drunk, and her husband snuck (or is that "sneaked") out (full red beard and all) in women's clothing, got on a boat on the Thames, and escaped to France where they lived together another 38 years! Our guide didn't tell us what happened to the drunk Beefeater, but I have a pretty good idea! We learned that other famous prisoners held at the Tower included Sir Walter Raleigh, various English kings and queens, the Jesuit martyr, Edmund Campion, and one of the Tower's last prisoners - the Nazi, Rudolph Hess. There were many other individual towers and museums within the Tower, including one displaying all the torture instruments, but we ran out of time to see them all.

The Tower of London

A yeoman warder (beefeater) and a Tower raven

The site where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were beheaded

The royal crown

The Tower Bridge

Traitor's Gate

On the same day, we also visited the Tate Gallery, housed in a beautiful old building. When we arrived there, unfortunately, it was closed down because of some power failure. We eventually were allowed in, but we only had about two hours, and so we saw just a portion of the great art displayed there. There was a wonderful exhibit of the works of J.M.W. Turner which I enjoyed because of the many pieces with mythological themes. Claudia was thrilled to see a small exhibit of works by Anselm Kiefer, an artist she recently studied and wrote a paper on in one of her art classes at Cal. State, Hayward. My favorite work by far, though, was one by Salvador Dali, entitled "The Metamorphosis of Narcissus." I hope to find a print of it someday for purchase.

Dali's "The Metamorphosis of Narcissus"

That night, we saw our second London production - Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Starlight Express" at the Apollo Victoria across from the very busy Victoria Train and Underground Station. It's a skater musical, with the actors/singers racing on roller skates at high speeds around the stage and throughout the audience. At first, I didn't like it at all, but I finally was impressed by the staging, some of the music, and its high energy. Junior high aged kids would absolutely love it.

Our fourth and final day in London took us to Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Harrods department store, Leicester Square, and Piccadilly Circus. At Parliament, we stood in line for about 20 minutes to enter the House of Commons and then another 10 minutes to be seated in Strangers' Gallery to watch a session of the House. The discussion was not particularly interesting, and the speakers were being quite civil to each other, as opposed to the shouting and name calling I have heard often goes on there. Just within the entrance to the House of Commons is Westminster Hall, a large cement floored room where many historic events, including some very famous trials, have taken place. Claudia was especially impressed with its ceiling; I can't even recall it!

Big Ben on a tower of Parliament

We walked across the street to Westminster Abbey, definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me, although Claudia found it to be too cluttered. It is a huge church and is mainly famous for all the well-known people buried there - Henry III, Henry V (Prince Hal of Shakespeare fame), Edward the Confessor, Edward VI (Henry VIII's only son, a hemophiliac who died as king at age 16, and one of the two major characters in "The Prince and the Pauper"), Henry VII, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Bloody Mary (Mary Tudor - the first reigning queen of England), Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, and many more. I found it interesting that Mary and Elizabeth (half-sisters and bitter enemies in life) are "united" in death, buried right next to each other. Also buried there in Poets' Corner are Chaucer, Dickens, Tennyson, Kipling, Dryden, Robert Browning, the composer Handel, and (the most recent burial) Sir Lawrence Olivier. There are memorials to many other famous writers, including GeorgeEliot, T.S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins (I was a little surprised to find a tribute to him, a Jesuit priest, in this Anglican church), and D.H. Lawrence. When I expressed surprise to one of the guards about the memorial to Lawrence because of some of his "racy" writings ("Lady Chatterley's Lover," "Sons and Lovers," "Women in Love"), he said, "That's nothing. Look at the stained glass window." There I saw a memorial to Oscar Wilde! Another famous poet buried there (but not in Poets' Corner) is Ben Jonson. Apparently, before Jonson died, the dean of Westminster told Jonson that he deserved to be buried with the other famous writers in Poets' Corner, but apparently Jonson was almost penniless and couldn't afford a "2'x6'." When he did die, he was, however, given a "2'x2'." He is buried standing up! As you can tell, I loved Westminster Abbey, with all its history. Claudia also loved it, although she correctly pointed out that it seems so cluttered. By the way, 38 of the 40 monarchs of England since 1066 (the Norman Invasion) have been crowned at Westminster, the last being Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953. One of the 2 not crowned there was Edward VIII who abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry the divorced American, Wallis Simpson. The other was Edward V, one of the nephews of Richard III, whom Richard had killed in the London Tower.

Queen (Bloody) Mary Tudor
Queen Elizabeth I

The tombs of Queen (Bloody) Mary and her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I

Westminster Abbey

The tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots

The Chapel of King Henry VII

Geoffrey Chaucer's tomb

We left Westminster and went to Harrods department store, a store that was about 5 or 6 stories high and covered a few city blocks. Claudia wasn't allowed to go in with her backpack, and so we had to check it at a place across the street for 1 pound, the equivalent of $1.70. The "luxury" bathrooms also cost a pound to use, and Claudia told me that, as soon as she had "done her thing," a lady went into the stall immediately afterwards to clean it. I especially enjoyed the "food markets" in Harrods, and they had everything - including quail eggs in a jar. We ate a pizza (the most expensive pizza of my life), but it was great fun. The prices in general were astronomical though.

From Harrods, we went to Leicester Square and, near it, to Piccadilly Circus. Both are very busy, very crowded, very exciting sections of London with a lot of theaters and a lot of night life. People-watching in both places was really fun. All of our kids would have a blast hanging out there and at Covent Gardens, a similar kind of area, with many pubs, street performers, and outside markets. When we were in Covent Gardens (it has nothing to do with actual gardens, by the way), we witnessed a large group of young men hanging from a second story balcony of the "Punch and Judy Public House," most with beers in hand, having fun usually at the expense of those passing below. At least two of those passers-by responded by flashing BAs - and that was with hundreds of spectators around! A group of three young men, their bodies painted black, wearing only grass skirts, and carrying spears, walked by us, drinking beers, and they seemed to fit in perfectly! What a city!

There are, of course, many things we didn't have time to do with only four days in London. We didn't go to the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, with its daily changing-of-the-guard, Madame Tussauds (there was always a huge line waiting to get in there), the Torture Museum (more long lines), Soho (similar to North Beach in San Francisco with its "sexy" nightlife), and speakers' corner in Hyde Park (we especially wanted to go there, but much of our time in London it was raining). On the bus tours, we went by all those places, including Big Ben, which was named after Benjamin Hall. I guess it's a good thing his name wasn't Richard! We also talked about going to Windsor Palace, Queen Elizabeth II's "country" residence about 30 miles outside of London, but we didn't find time. Also on the bus tours, we saw the store where the queen buys her underwear, the shop where George III, the mad king and the last king of America, got his tobacco, a pub frequented by Oscar Wilde and J.B. Priestly, one of Dicken's many homes, John Adam's home, the HQ of General Eisenhower during the European Campaign (WWII), the home where Thomas de Quincy wrote "The Confessions of an English Opium Eater," the home where the queen was born, the home of the guitarist, Jimi Hendrix (just down the street from Adams' home), the American Embassy (the largest in the world), Scotland Yard, the address on Baker Street where Sherlock Holmes "lived," etc. That Baker Street address gets about 10 letters daily from people around the world asking Holmes to help solve some mystery. We missed so much of London that I guess we'll just have to go back again someday!

Windsor Palace, Queen Elizabeth II's "country" residence

There were 4 other days when we didn't go into London at all. The first of those was my favorite day of the whole trip - the day we went to Hampton Court, the summer palace of Henry VIII. We caught a boat at Richmond for the approximate 1 1/2 hour ride to Hampton. On the way, we passed homes owned by Mick Jagger, Peter Townsend, Twiggy, Alexander Pope, and saw the spot on some island where both The Stones and The Who got their starts in a since burned-down hotel. We also passed the home of Trevor Bayliss who invented the clockwork radio, a radio that poor people in third world countries use to send out distress signals in emergencies, a sort of poor people's 911. As we passed his home, he happened to be out on his deck, and he waved to us. According to our pilot/guide, the first floor of Bayliss' house is entirely a swimming pool with a bar in the middle. We passed through the Teddington Locks, raising about 16 feet and were told that a particular seat on the boat was taken daily by a man who never paid, who always had a gin and tonic in hand, who entertained the other passengers, and who died about 3 years ago. The freeloader - Benny Hill!

At Hampton Court, we toured the ancient kitchens. In one kitchen room there were large spits where young boys had to turn the boars or hogs over the very hot fires. Guards were in the room to make sure those boys kept their clothes on and didn't urinate in the fire! After the kitchen tour, we toured the royal apartments of William and Mary (rulers of England in the late 1600s). The apartments were exquisite but not gaudy like those of the French kings at Versailles. Our third tour at Hampton Court was the Henry VIII tour, and we were led by a young lady dressed for those times. We saw the Great Hall where he fed 600 or so landed gentry daily and threw great parties and his chapel where lucky petitioners were actually allowed to talk to him. I already knew a great deal about Henry, but I was surprised to learn that Hampton Court first belonged to Cardinal Wolsey, Henry's Lord Chancellor who died on his way to the Tower because of his inability to persuade the Pope to approve of Henry's desired divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. At that time, Henry confiscated Hampton Court, as he also did the home of Thomas More (Wolsey's successor) at Chelsea. I also learned that Catherine Paar (Henry's sixth and final wife - the one who outlived him) lived at Thomas More's place in Chelsea after Henry's death and there tutored Henry's only son, Edward VI. Here's a little riddle to help you remember Henry's wives:

divorced, beheaded, died,

divorced, beheaded, survived.

He DIVORCED wife 1, Catherine of Aragon (after 23 years of marriage) because she failed to give him a son, only giving him a daughter, Bloody Mary. Catherine was the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain and the aunt of King Charles of Spain. He BEHEADED wife 2, Anne Boleyn, because of an affair. She was the mother of Elizabeth I. Wife 3, Jane Seymour, DIED in childbirth, giving birth to Edward VI. Henry officially considered her his first wife, illegitimizing the first two marriages, and he is buried next to her. He DIVORCED wife4, Anne of Cleaves, and, in fact, he never consummated the marriage because he considered her ugly. The marriage was a political union, as Anne was of royal German blood. He BEHEADED Catherine Howard, wife 5, who was about 30 years younger than he, for an affair she had. She only lived to age 21. Henry's 6th and final wife, Catherine Paar, SURVIVED him, as he died in 1547. Henry considered her his 2nd wife.

Hampton Court Palace was built in 1514. Five of Henry's wives lived here, and the ghosts of two (Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard) supposedly haunt it. It has the world's largest grape vine, the famous Hampton Court maze, (which we didn't have time to see), an astronomical clock, and Henry VIII's tennis court. I hope to go back there some day.

Hampton Court

The Georgian rooms at Hampton Court

Some of the gardens at Hampton Court

Henry VIII who lived at Hampton Court with 5 of his 6 wives

Oh, on leaving Hampton Court, we walked a few blocks to catch a bus back to Richmond. On the way to the bus stop, we passed a home once occupied by the great architect, Christopher Wren, and right next door, one once occupied by the great scientist, Michael Farraday, of the mid 19th century. I was stunned. When we got back to Richmond, we were walking down a side street, and we passed a house where Virginia Woolf lived early this century. Where in Livermore...?

On our second "non-London" day, we went to Ascot to the famous horse race track. Luckily, we were there during the week known as "Royal Ascot," as the queen attends the races daily, coming from nearby Windsor Palace. And even more luckily, we went there on "Ladies' Day," which, along with the Kentucky Derby, is probably the most famous racing day in the world. The women all wear hats and very expensive outfits, the men wear morning coats and top hats, and "anybody who is anybody" is there that day. Of course, we weren't allowed into the main area (which includes the royal box), but for 10 pounds ($17 apiece), we could have gone into the Silver Circle, a very crowded, standing area with not the best view of the track. And so we walked down past the race track to an area that borders the one-mile track that heads into the grandstand area. There we saw the queen, Prince Phillip, and other royal family members, as they passed about 100 feet in front of us in the royal coaches. It was exciting! We also saw the start of one of the one-mile races. Claudia was standing up on a gate next to a hedge row to take pictures when a BBC truck, filming the race, crashed into the hedge. Fortunately, Claudia wasn't hurt. Carolyn accompanied us that day and said that Claudia should fake a neck injury and sue BBC. But the real attraction of the day was the hats, and I wish I had the capability now to include some of the pictures she took of them. One funny incident - a group of reporters suddenly ran to a certain area to film and interview someone, and, of course, we were curious. Claudia managed to get a picture of the celebrity who turned out to be Tracy Rose, a London fashion designer. One of the reporters told me she shows up every day during Royal Ascot to be photographed in some outlandish costume. He also told me that she usually wore much less than she was wearing that day (it was raining), and my response was, "Oh, damn!"

Joan Collins

Jackie St. Claire

Tracy Rose

Jackie St. Claire and Maria Rice Mundy

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Ascot in 1995

The royal procession enters Ascot

Our third "non-London" day took us to Oxford, the great university city about 2 hours south of London. We took a bus tour to get an overall view, and then we ate lunch at a great pub called "The King's Arm." Unfortunately for us, it was the last day of the school term, and so all the colleges (there are 38 colleges that make up Oxford University) were closed. In the pub, we struck up a conversation with 4 young people seated at the next table. There was Greg, an army captain and graduate of Oxford's St. John's College, his girlfriend, Pipa, a graduate of Oxford's Wadham College and presently a med. school student, her brother, Tom, a literature major at Oxford's Hertford College, and Elpy, Pipa's and Tom's cousin from Australia. When they learned how disappointed we were about not being able to tour one of the colleges, Greg invited us to go with them to St. John's, the richest of all the colleges, as he was sure he could "pull strings" and get us in. That he did! We went with him into St. John's library, looking at books dating back into the 1400s, toured the gardens (beautiful!), and saw the dining hall with its oak tables and impressive art work. It was a great day!

Oxford skyline

St. John's College, Oxford

St. John's College, Oxford

Our fourth and last "non-London" day was a day of relaxation, sort of. We slept in, Claudia and Carolyn shopped at a local Wokingham outdoor market, we took Bob, Carolyn, and Corinne to lunch at a very nice pub ("The Crooked Billet") in a beautiful rural setting, walked through the beautiful little town of Marlow along the Thames (in Marlow, we saw the home, in the early 1800s, of Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley, a home where they were visited by Lord Byron), picked up Eric from his play practice at his school, and had a dessert back at Carolyn's and Bob's and met their next-door neighbors, Bridget and David.

Then, on June 23, the time came to leave that "Merry Old" place, and that day turned out to be the only sour experience of the entire trip. We took a train from Wokingham to Reading and then a bus from Reading to London's Heathrow Airport. The airport was a disaster! We stood in line for an hour and a half just to show our ticket, had to then get in another line to get a boarding pass, a third line to turn in our baggage, and a fourth line to show our passports and have our carry-ons inspected. Finally, two and a half hours after our arrival at Heathrow, we entered the "inner sanctum," only to learn that our 3:55 flight was now delayed to 6:00. When we finally boarded about 6:00, the air-conditioning on the plane was non-functional, and we had another 2 hour
delay. We finally left at 8:20 - almost 4 1/2 hours late. Of course that meant we arrived in L.A. at 11:30 p.m (instead of 7:00), and we had arranged to rent a car from there and visit my Aunt Tat and Kathleen in Irvine. We arrived at Irvine at 1:30 a.m. and then had to catch a 5:00 p.m. plane back to San Francisco. You can bet we weren't too happy with British Airways, and I strongly suggest, if you ever go to London, fly into Gatwick not Heathrow.

By the way, I've always heard that English food is terrible. Well, I wasn't thrilled with the food, but we both loved their fish & chips, their tea is far superior to ours, and I really like their beers. Everything is very expensive (especially in London), but the best food and prices were at the pubs, not at the restaurants. We also found the people to be very friendly (not "stuffy," as advertised), they love scandal (especially concerning the royal family), and they do have dry senses of humor. One example of humor - a train station attendant named David at Wokingham made it his daily task to put cheer into people's lives. For instance, one morning there was a lady with 2 heavy pieces of luggage starting to board the train. He said, "Love, let me help you." He took the 2 suitcases (supposedly to carry them on the train), put them down, and then picked her up like a gunny sack over his shoulder to carry her on the train! Another time, he got down in a push-up position and shouted, "The train from Richmond will be here in exactly 2 and 1/2 minutes; it has 47 people aboard, and 18 of those haven't paid!" He saw a young man across the tracks in a plaid, stripped shirt, and he quipped, "Nice shirt, mate. I have a table cloth just like it at home." He also sang songs and announced the series of train station stops in a very funny, rhythmic fashion. What a character!

We were also fascinated by some of the English words and expressions. Here are a few that I can remember:

All in all, 'twas quite an adventure!

Love,

Jim

More London Images

1. A beefeater
2. Big Ben 3. Buckingham Palace 4. A London tour bus 5. Leicester Square 6. A London phone booth 7. Piccadilly Circus 8. Piccadilly Square 9. St. Paul's 10. The Tower Bridge 11. Trafalgar Square 12. Westminster Abbey
13. Westminster Abbey 14. Windsor Palace 15. The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace 16. A London pub 17. Haymarket Theatre, built in 1821 18. Queen Elizabeth II 19. Speakers' Corner at Hyde Park 20. Thomas More Building 21. Harrods Department Store

More Ascot "Hats"

Avril Tildsley

Christa Hutter

Deborah Brett

Helen Fairbrother

Isabella Christenson

Nicola Stuart

Willis Family

2009-06-30T18:16:00.001-07:00

Three Willis Weddings

Rob, Jim, Erin, Steve, Claudia, Kenon, Corrigan
Erin's and Steve's wedding (December 31, 1994)

Rob, Kenon, Dee, Corrigan, Joshua, Claudia, Jim, Erin, Noah, Will, Steve
Cor's and Dee's wedding at Bass Lake (July 29, 2006)

Dee, Cor, Erin, Steve (holding Noah)
Jim, Claudia, Krissy, Kenon, Rob
Will and Joshua
Kenon's and Krissy's Wedding, (August 4, 2007)

Two family Thanksgivings in Oregon

Claudia, Robert, Steve, Jim
Corrigan, Kenon, Tat, Will, Erin, Joshua
River Meadows, Oregon (Thanksgiving, 2002)

Steve (son-in-law), Kenon, Robert, Jim, Corrigan
Erin, Claudia
Joshua, 2 years old
River Meadows, Oregon (Thanksgiving, 2001)

THE FAMILY (in order of age, not of importance):

THE PARENTS:

JIM - the DAD

(Last modified on July 1, 2009)

On June 13, 2003, Jim finished his 35th year of teaching English at Granada High School and decided to retire after a long and very happy career. As of July 1, 2009, he has finished his twenty-sixth year of teaching English a few hours weekly at Las Positas Community College. By the way, he was named the Livermore School District Teacher of the Year for 1996 and the part-time Teacher of the Year at Las Positas in 2004.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in November of 2001, and, after losing 70 pounds, he began eight weeks of radiation treatment at the East Bay Cancer Center in Hayward, CA in September of 2002 and finished his treatments just before Thankssgiving. He then underwent cancer surgery on April 20, 2009 and is feeling fine at this date.

Jim was born on May 21, 1944 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Yakima, Washington. He was the youngest child of Winnifred (better known as "Mike") and Judge Robert Willis, his brother also being named Robert and his sister Lynn.

Jim on an anthropological dig

Jim attended St. Paul's Grade School and was the valedictorian of the 1962 graduating class at Marquette High School. He played basketball for two years and baseball for four years while at Marquette. He was also named the Exchange Club 1962 "boy of the year" - an award given to the one outstanding scholar-athlete of the four Yakima high schools.

He entered the Jesuits in 1962 and left the Order in November of 1967. He graduated from Gonzaga University in 1968 with majors in Latin and philosophy and minors in Greek and English, and he was a pitcher on the 1968 Gonzaga team.

Jim and Claudia Foltz married on August 24, 1968 and moved to Livermore the week after their wedding.

From left: Cor, Erin, Steve, Jim, Kenon, Robert, Aunt Tat - at Michael and Molly McAleer's wedding in Seatlle in 1999. (Claudia took the picture.)

Jim's Aunt Tat on her 90th birthday!

Claudia and Jim are "for the birds" at Paradise Cove, Oahu, Hawaii in June, 2002. Notice Claudia's tatoo!

Jim, winning a Northern California Outstanding Teacher award, with the students who nominated him (Travis Newton, class of 2002; Wendy Robson, class of 1996; Merlin Newton, class of 2001)

Jim's e-mail address is jimwillisca@comcast.net

CLAUDIA - the MOM

(Last modified on July 1, 2009)

In September of 2003, Claudia began her first year as a teacher, teaching art two days per week at All Saints' Catholic Elementary in Hayward. After that first year, she decided to, instead, teach private students in Livermore, as well as a few art classes through the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District. She is thoroughly enjoying the experience.

Claudia and Dee in the summer of 2005

Claudia was formerly in charge of religious education at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, in Livermore, and in June of 1999, she finished up her degree in art from California State University. For the past few years, she has consistently had various art pieces accepted into student shows at Cal State, and she has won numerous juried awards, including ones from the Hayward Art Council and the Northern California Watercolor Association, as well as from the University. She has also been commissioned to do a series of bronze pieces for St. Andre's Home in Maine. She was granted, in May of 1998, a $500 scholarship by the Cal State Art Department, one of only two such scholarships given.

As regards her work at St. Charles, the program of family catechesis she developed was recognized in 1997 as one of the best in the U.S., and St. Charles was thus one of five parishes in the country to be given the prestigious Mustard Seed Award. Claudia was presented that award at a national convention in early 1997 in Minneapolis.

In October of 1998, Claudia had a one-person art show (her senior project) at Cal State, Hayward. The theme of the show was breast cancer, and the response to the show was phenomenal. The Oakland Tribune ran a large article, with a picture, about the show, and the San Francisco Chronicle ran a picture.

She was born as Claudia Foltz on May 17, 1948 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington. She was the oldest of the eight Foltz children born to Lorraine and Leo Foltz, the others being Greg, Mike, Mo, Megan, Kik, Colleen, and Richard.

Claudia and Goddaughter, Samantha Whalen in June of 1997

She attended school through the fifth grade at St. Aloysius Grade School in Spokane, and then the family moved to Portland, Oregon so her father, Leo, could obtain his doctoral degree in education from the University of Portland.

Her high school years were spent at St. Mary's Academy in Portland, and she attended two years at Gonzaga University in Spokane before marrying Jim Willis on August 24, 1968 at the Jesuit Retreat House chapel in Portland.

Claudia and Jim have lived in Livermore, California since 1968 and have raised their five children there.

Her e-mail address is claudiawillis@comcast.net

Claudia, Erin and Steve in August, 1997

Grandson Josh and Grandma in 2000

Diana Morisoli, Donna Swenson and Claudia enjoying the new year and new millenium

Claudia and Jim in 2000

THE CHILDREN:

ERIN - 39 year-old DAUGHTER

(Last modified on July 1, 2009)

Erin, the oldest Willis child, finished her sixteenth year of teaching Spanish at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon in June of 2009, and, in the summer of 1998, she completed a Master's Degree in Higher Education Administration from Portland State University in June. She is married to Steve DeKlotz, the Dean of Student Life at Concordia University in Portland. They became proud parents of Joshua DeKlotz on August 19, 1999, of Will DeKlotz on June 2, 2002, and of Noah DeKlotz on June 29, 2005! (Look for pictures on Joshua's, Will's and Noah's pages.)

Steve and Erin in 1996

Erin, like all the other Willis children, was born at Kaiser Hospital in Walnut Creek, California. Her day of birth was March 16, 1970.

She attended Portola Elementary, Sunset Elementary, Mendenhall Middle School, and Granada High School, all in Livermore, California. She graduated from Granada in 1988 with a g.p.a. of about 3.9.

Erin graduated from Gonzaga University, where she majored in Spanish, and was given the Alumni Award as the Outstanding Graduate of the Class of 1992.

She and Steve have been blessed with three sons, Joshua, Will, and Noah. Look for information about them in the Grandchildren section.

Erin and her husband, Steve, have the following e-mail address: deklotz@aol.com

Claudia, Erin and Steve in August, 1997

Joshua, Mom, and Uncle Kenon in 2000

ROBERT - 37 year-old SON

(Last modified on July 1, 2009)

Son #1, Robert, has been working with autistic children in the Bay Area since 1994. In 1998, he was accepted into PhD programs in psychology at Columbia, the University of Oregon, and Santa Barbara State College, but he chose to put that "on hold." He completed a Master's degree in 2008.

At present (July of 2006), he works for Stepping Stones in San Mateo as a trainer of teachers of autistic children. He lives in San Francisco.

Robert was born on November 2, 1971 at Kaiser Hospital in Walnut Creek, California. He attended Sunset Elementary in Livermore, as well as Mendenhall Middle School, and he graduated from Granada High School in 1990. While a freshman at Granada, he played football, basketball, and baseball, but after that year, he concentrated on basketball alone.

Like his parents and sister before him, he then attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, from which he graduated in 1994, having majored in Special Education and having the highest college g.p.a. of all the Willis children.

Rob and nephew, Connor Nielsen, in July of '95

Rob and his future "employment"

Rob as a senior at Gonzaga

Rob and his "little" brothers in 1994

Rob's e-mail address is: willis_rob@hotmail.com

CORRIGAN - 31 year-old SON

Corrigan, named to the Babe Ruth World Series
all-star team in North Carolina (Aug. '96)

(Last modified on July 1, 2009)

In May of 2001, Corrigan, son #2, graduated from Metropolitan State College of Denver with a Bachelor's degree in Journalism. He recently finished his fifth year of teaching P.E. (in his first year, he also taught psychology) at Granada High School in Livermore, having completed his teaching credential in an online program through National University during the summer of 2003. He was a student teacher at Granada in the Spring of 2004, was the assistant freshmen baseball coach at Granada in 2002, the head J.V. coach in 2003, the Varsity pitching coach in 2004-2008, and the Varsity head coach in 2009.

In June of 1998, Corrigan finished his sophomore year at Ohlone College in Fremont, California where he was one of the pitchers on their baseball team. He had a 7-1 record that year and was named first-team all-conference as well as Ohlone's Pitcher of the Year.

In September of 1999, he began his second year at Metropolitan State College of Denver, from whom he has received a 2/3 scholarship, totalling about $9,300 per year. His pitching record at Metro in 1999 was 6-4. His g.p.a. at Ohlone, by the way, was 3.4, and he had a 3.6 in his first year at Metro State.

Corrigan was born at Kaiser Hospital, Walnut Creek, California on October 24, 1977. He attended Sunset Elementary School, Mendenhall Middle School, and Granada High School, all in Livermore. He graduated from Granada in 1996 and was the star pitcher on the Matador baseball team his senior year, with an 8-2 record. He also played basketball as a freshman. He was one of two pitchers named to the national all-star team at the Babe Ruth World Series in North Carolina in August of 1996. For more exciting details of that, see the Christmas letter found elsewhere on this blog site.

Corrigan married Dee Midtaune on July 29, 2006 at Bass Lake in central California. They were blessed with the arrival of Bryce Colin Willis on May 7, 2008.

Corrigan's high school graduation picture (taken in late 1995)

Cor in his first year at Metro

Dee and Cor in 1999

At Corrigan's graduation in Denver

Dee as a senior at UOP

Cor and Dee in 2002 at the Morisolis.

Uncle Cor and Will, Thanksgiving 2002

Corrigan's e-mail address is corriganwillis@hotmail.com

KENON - 29 year-old SON

(Last modified on July 1, 2009)

Kenon was Granada's MVP in basketball in 1998 and was the MVP in baseball in both 2007 and 2008.

Kenon graduated from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, did his student teaching at Rogers High School in Spokane, and began his teaching career, teaching Math, at Douglas High School in Minden, Nevada in the Fall of 2003, where he was also the head J.V. basketball and head J.V. baseball coach. In September of 2005, he began teaching Math at San Ramon High School, was the J.V. basketball coach for two years, and has been the head Freshmen basketball coach since 2007.

Kenon, on his college graduation day

During his freshman year, he pitched for the "Zags" and had the second lowest E.R.A. on the staff. Gonzaga is a member of the WCC, along with the University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, St. Mary's College, the University of Portland, Loyola Marymount University, the University of San Diego, and Pepperdine University. He decided, after much serious thought, to give up his college baseball career to more fully appreciate the "total college experience."

He was elected Sophomore Class Senator and spent his junior year at Gonzaga in Florence (Italy), a tremendous experience. He was an R.A. in a Gonzaga dorm during his senior year.

In June of 1998, Kenon graduated from Granada High School, where he was an honor student and a starting guard on the varsity basketball team. At the end of the '98 season, he was voted the MVP by his basketball teammates and was also given the Greg Gomes Matador award, the coach- picked award given to the one player who demonstrates team spirit, hard work, good sportsmanship, and selflessness. Traditionally, the recipient has been a non-starter. He was also the ace pitcher on the varsity baseball team, was voted by the players as the team's MVP his junior year and again during his senior year, and made the TCAL all- league team both years in baseball and one year in basketball. He was also privileged to be the only sophomore called up to the varsity basketball team in 1996 - a team that won Granada's first NCS (North Coast Section) championship and got all the way to the Northern California state championship game at the Oakland Coliseum, losing by one point to Grant of Sacramento.

Kenon and Robert enjoy the N.C.S. championship (Feb. '96)

In May of 1998, Kenon won the prestigious Livermore -Granada Boosters' Olympian Award given to the outstanding scholar-athlete from the two high schools . The Award includes a $1,000 scholarship. He also won the Boosters' Essay Scholarship of $500, the Sue Galles Scholarship ($1,000), the George P. Scotlan Award ($5,000 over four years, presented by the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum) and numerous academic scholarships from Gonzaga University, totalling $9,500 per year. His high school g.p.a. was 3.84, and his SAT score was 1400.

Kenon's high school graduation picture

Kenon was born on October 26, 1979 at Kaiser Hospital in Walnut Creek, California. Following in the footsteps of his three older siblings, he attended Sunset Elementary in Livermore, as well as Mendenhall Middle School, and then Granada.

On August 4, 2007, Kenon and Krissy Darrell were married in a beautiful wedding ceremony at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Livermore. They even rode around town in a horse-drawn carriage after the ceremony!

Kenon (left) winning the Olympian award. The second from right is Louis Aguilar, the Kansas City Chief's punter

Kenon, Erin, Mom and Dad celebrating Granada's NCS championship during Kenon's sophomore year

Cor and Kenon clowning around in 1999

Kenon and Erin celebrating Kenon's high school graduation in 1998

Kenon pitched for Gonzaga as a freshman in 1998-9

Krissy and her "second favorite animal" - second only to Kenon, of course

Krissy and Kenon on the night of their engagement

Kenon's email address is williskenon@hotmail.com

COLIN - our SON who passed away at age 6. Be sure to read "Lest We Forget" which can be found on this same blogsite.

THE GRANDCHILDREN:

JOSHUA - the first GRANDSON

Steve and Erin DeKlotz are very proud to announce the birth of their first child, Joshua Patrick DeKlotz. Joshua was born on August 19, 1999 in Portland, Oregon. He weighed in at 7 lbs., 10 oz. and was 20 inches long. Welcome to the world, Joshua!

What a smile! (with Aunt Thu)

Visiting Great Uncle Robert and Great Aunt Pat in Connecticut

Josh (about 2 1/2) and Papa Steve

Josh at age 2 years and 9 months

Joshua (Thanksgiving, 2001), enjoying the snow with Mom and Grandma Claudia (Maia)!

Joshua questions one of Tat's moves!

WILL - the second GRANDSON

Our Newborn Grandson

Will,

We are thrilled that you, William James DeKlotz, were born in Portland, Oregon on June 2, 2002 at 6:30 a.m. You weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces and were joyously welcomed into life by your mother, Erin, your father, Steve, and your two-year old, big brother, Joshua.

By the way, your grandparents and your three uncles are very happy and proud of you also. I was told that you have dark hair and are already very curious about your new environment. I know you are very handsome and very smart!

I think you will soon start studying Latin and calculus and reading plays by Eugene O'Neill and novels by Graham Greene, as well as throwing a baseball about 85 m.p.h. (Uncle Corrigan is eager to work with you as a pitcher.) Not much to ask from a proud grandpa.

Pictures of you will soon be at this site, believe me! So please tell your dad to get that camera rolling. Welcome into the world, Will.

We love you,

Grandma and Grandpa Willis, Uncle Robert, Uncle Corrigan and Uncle Kenon

Isn't Will a handsome young boy?

Mother and Child

Loving brothers!

Will and Uncle Cor

Will catching "a few winks"

(on Thanksgiving, 2002, with his Great-Great Aunt Tat, age 93!)

NOAH - #3 GRANDSON, born on June 29, 2005!

Steve and Erin DeKlotz are very proud to announce the birth of their third child (and third son!), Noah Michael DeKlotz. Noah was born on June 29, 2005 in Portland, Oregon. He weighed in at 7 lbs., 12 oz. and was 22 inches long. Welcome to the world, Noah!

Noah's birth announcement

Noah, Mom, and Cousin Bryce

Noah and Daddy

Noah with his cousin, Bryce

Noah at the Deschutes River

Noah and big brother, Will

Noah and Mom

A handsome little boy!

BRYCE - #4 GRANDSON, as a newborn with his dad and uncle

Dad Corrigan and Uncle Kenon admiring newborn Bryce

Bryce with Mom and Dad

Go ahead, Bryce. Empty the dishwasher!

Bryce and Maia at the park

Bryce and Grampa Jim at the park

Bryce with Aunt Krissy and Uncle Kenon at the Oakland Colliseum

Literature: Essays, Parables, Letters

The following can all be found on the "Willis Web" blogsite:

"LEST WE FORGET" - a tale of love and loss.

Jim's 1996 CHRISTMAS LETTER - detailing the fantastic year the family had in 1996 and featuring Corrigan's unbelievable success at the Babe Ruth World Series in North Carolina.

Jim's and Claudia's 1993 EUROPEAN VACATION to France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Belgium.

LONDON is one of the world's greatest cities. Relive Claudia's and Jim's 1997 trip!

ALASKA is one of the world's most picturesque locations. Relive Claudia's and Jim's 2004 trip!

SPAIN is a phenomenal country. Relive Claudia's and Jim's 2008 trip!

Photoshows (pictures only) of our 2004 trip to Maine and our 2005 trip to the Southwest.

Photoshow of Dee and Corrigan (prepared for their wedding)

Photoshow with pictures of our River Meadows home.

Jim's brother, Robert, has written three books you might enjoy. His book, The Democracy of God: An American Catholicism, is an important work that should be read by every Catholic and especially by every Catholic bishop.

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