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Mount Rushmore Road Trip Part 2

28 Oct

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 2 Thursday 

9/10/2020

I started today’s activities by visiting the “Cars Remember When” restoration center located in Littleton, CO.  The center consists of a relatively small working shop with lots of active restoration projects in progress.  There is a display room where some 30+ beautifully restored cars are rotated.   There were Mini cars, Muscle cars, Sport cars, and family cars.  I especially enjoyed seeing a beautiful 1955 Buick Roadmaster hardtop just like the one our family had when I was a teenager (except ours was red & white).

Just up the street a short way I visited the Littleton Museum.  This 40-acre museum site consists of artifacts and memorabilia representing local farm life from the 1860s to the 19890s.  There is also a living farm with a 1880s cabin, farm implements, and farm animals including cattle, sheep, pigs, and turkeys.   Museum staff, dressed in period costumes, are available to help guests re-live mid-1800s farm life in Littleton and the South Platte Valley of Colorado.

Next I visited the Vehicle Vault Auto Gallery located in Parker, CO.  This unique building houses a museum that displays some 40+ beautifully restored rare and exotic automobiles from all over the world.  New finds are continually being restored and the inventory is rotated periodically to give guests a fresh view of the history of the auto industry.  The building is also available and used for special events and conferences.

On my way to visit the Mining Museum I stopped in Monument, CO to check-out the Greater European Missions (GEM) facility.  I have relatives that work for GEM as missionary training counselors and wanted to see where the facility was located.  My nephew, Brian, and his wife Karen are based in the Chicago area, but travel to Monument periodically during the year for training sessions.  They were not there today, but were scheduled to arrive there later in the week and we had made plans to get together for dinner then.

A few miles south on I-25 I visited the Western Museum of Mining & Industry located in Colorado Springs, CO.  This museum displays antique drilling and mining equipment, such as pneumatic machines, and steam engines used for mining gold and silver in central Colorado in the mid-1800s.  The museum also has a recreation of an old miners assay office inside, with examples of a stamp mill and steam shovel outside.

The USAF Academy was just a few miles on south on I-25 and I was looking forward to visiting the famous Academy grounds and their aviation museum.  However, when I got to the gate, the guard told me the museum (located on the base) was closed to the public until after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were lifted.  What a Bumber!  So, I headed south on I-25 a few miles to visit the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum located just east of the interstate.  This museum has a great collection of vintage motorcycles of all types, and I enjoyed the thrill of revisiting my teenage motorcycle past.

Now I took a couple of back-roads over to visit the Garden of the Gods Park located on US-24.  This is an amazing place!  It is said that the mysterious red rock formations were formed as a result of a geological upheaval that took place along a natural fault line millions of years ago.  The resulting rock formations had many different shapes; some toppled, there were some that got overturned, while some were pushed upright and others were pushed around and ended up slanted.  

While I was in the area I drove on over to check out the Miramont Castle Museum located in Manitou Springs, CO.    The 14,000 sq. ft. Victorian-era castle that houses the museum was built in 1895 as the private home for the French-born Catholic priest Father Jean Baptist Francolon.  Around that same time the Sisters of Mercy were allowed to use a part of the castle, for the private Montcalm Sanitarium that they operated, with the blessing of Father Francolon.  Museum visitors can tour some 42 of the castle’s lavishly furnished rooms when the museum is open.

On the way to the motel, in Colorado Springs, I picked up a three-piece chicken dinner from KFC and enjoyed a delicious meal with the Colonel in my motel room.  Then I recorded the day’s activities and finally put my tired and aching body to bed for the night.

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Mount Rushmore Road Trip Part 1

21 Oct

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 1 Wednesday

9/09/2020

I packed a wool vest and a lined jacket and headed for the Orlando airport.  The Southwest flight to Denver was uneventful as it was cloud cover the whole way.  But the passengers were rewarded with fresh mini-pretzels, small cinnamon cookies and ice-cold water.  It was 39 degrees in Denver when I arrived with snow on the surrounding mountains.  I was witness to an unusual sight after picking up my rental car.  As I headed for the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum I noticed that all the houses in the sub-divisions were covered with snow, but there was no snow on the driveways or on the streets.  I guess the sun baked road surfaces had melted the snow as soon as it hit the pavement.  

The Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum is located within the former Lowry AFB, and displays some 40+ beautifully restored aircraft and lots of aviation related memorabilia.  I am always glad to see the history of aviation restored and displayed in this manner.  I believe it helps to preserve the evolvelution of aviation in our country for future generations

Next I headed a few miles west to visit the Denver Firefighters Museum.  The Volunteer Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 was formed in 1866 and was the first in the Colorado Territory.  This museum is located in the former Fire Station No. 1 built in 1909.  The four-gallery museum displays over 30,000 artifacts and memorabilia.  Beautifully restored displays include fire fighting apparatus such as early 1800s hand-pulled & pumped fire fighting equipment as well as modern day fire engines and trucks, covering the history of Denver firefighters dating from mid-1800s.

Now I drove another few more miles to visit the Forney Museum of Transportation located in historic downtown Denver.  Established by J. D. Forney in 1964 with a single 1921 Kissel Tourister the museum has expanded, over the years, to cover the history of transportation.  This museum’s collection is absolutely amazing.  It consists of over 600 artifacts which include all types of transportation devices such as bicycles, buggies, wagons, motorcycles, firetrucks, automobiles, steam engines and the Fornair airplane.  

After experiencing that amazing collection, I found the Molly Brown House Museum located in downtown Denver.  The museum was closed, but Wikipedia informs me that the house that now houses the museum was built in 1887 for Isaac and Mary Large.  It was sold to James and Margaret Brown in 1894.  In 1902 it was used by the Governer of Colorado  while the Governer’’s mansion was being remodeled.  Margaret became known as The Unsinkable Molly Brown after surviving the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.  The house was purchased in 1970 by Historic Denver, Inc and restored to its original Queen Ann style architecture and opened as a museum.  I took a photo and moved on to the visit the Cussler Museum.

The Cussler Museum is located in Arvada, CO and displays some 100+ beautifully restored classic cars collected by the novelest Clive Cussler.  I had the opportunity to talk to the Curator of the museum, and he told me that the Denver collection was only part of the  Cussler collection, as there are more cars in a museum in Arizona near the Cussler home.  I was thrilled to get a chance to see a few of the classic cars mentioned in the Clive Cussler novels I have read over the years.

As I made my way toward the motel, I stopped at a local Walmart for a styrofoam cooler, water,  and morning breakfast supplies.   I also picked up a couple of pre-packaged “Heat & Serve” dinner meals to enjoy in my motel room.  I was tired and hungry from the day’s activities, so I just crashed in the room and recorded the day’s activities.  Then I watched some TV while I enjoyed a good hot ready-made meal.

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Mount Rushmore Road Trip Prolog

14 Oct

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Prolog:

As you might have guessed from the title, the main reason for this road trip was to visit the Mount Rushmore Memorial which I had never visited.  During my North Country Road Trip in 2017 I visited various northern museums from Fargo, ND west to Missoula, MT (mostly along the I-94 corridor).  Then after heading south I visited many museums from Idaho Falls, ID to Omaha, NE (mostly along the I-80 corridor).  That was a great trip, but I completely missed a lot of the major points of interest in the middle of South Dakota.  A lot of those points of interest, for me, were located around the Rapid City, SD area, which included Mount Rushmore and much of the Great Plains history in and around the Black Hills National Forest.  That left a big hole in my knowledge of the central South Dakota area, and I wanted to rectify that situation.   For these road trips I try to see as much of our beautiful country as I can while visiting museums of all types along the way, but I can’t see it all in one trip.  So as a result, I plan my trips for a maximum of 14 to 16 days duration.

My wife, DiVoran, has a grade school friend in Pueblo, CO that she keeps in touch with, and she also has cousins in Canon City, CO near where she grew up.  So for this trip, I made plans to start by flying into Denver, CO.  This would put me in the relatively close proximity for a visit with friends and relatives.  Southwest Airlines cooperated with that plan by having roundtrip non-stop flights from Orlando to Denver and return (free) with my Rewards Points.  DiVoran says, “I love it when Bill travels. It is not my passion and I couldn’t withstand the pace of visiting multiple museums in a day and all that daily driving for two weeks. The thing I like best is that Bill sees to it that everything in the house and with my car is in topnotch condition before he departs.  It’s kind of like a deal between us.  I enjoy just drifting along in my everyday routine.  He calls every evening from his motel and we catch up on our days activities and before I know it, he’s home again.“

As I planned this trip, I had been keeping a close eye on the weather.  I was concerned that the temperatures in the higher elevations and northern states would be getting cold anytime now.  Once a route had been established and reservations had been confirmed, I was pretty much committed to the plan.  However, as the day for my trip drew closer, I became a little apprehensive about what the weather was going to be like.  The southwest part of the country had been dealing with record high temperatures, but now there was a freak cold front heading southeast out of Canada.  Then I got the bad news.  The weather in Denver was forecast for 90 degrees on Monday and 35 degrees (with snow) on Tuesday.  And here I was flying into Denver on Wednesday.  How was this Floridian going to handle the cold weather?

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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How I Met the Love of My Life Part 7

7 Oct

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Did I mention it was the middle of the night on New Year’s Eve, and we were on Route 66 somewhere in the Chihuahuan Desert?  Have I mentioned recently that it was freezing cold outside, and that the only thing we had passed for miles, was an occasional car going the other way?  They weren’t going to be any help.  Every time the temperature gage came off of the “Cold” peg, and started creeping toward the “Normal” peg, I would hold my breath.  That would mean the engine water level was getting low and we better start looking for another one of those “Stations.”  God was watching over these foolish young people that night, and we were able to limp from one station to the next, or use our water bags, and actually made it into Albuquerque around 4:00 pm on New Year’s Eve.  I didn’t have to worry about falling asleep at the wheel that night. Whew!  Was that ever a stressful trip!

Wouldn’t you know it, our friend Leon, thinking we would get into Albuquerque in plenty of time for some rest, had set us up to attend a New Year’s Eve party that evening.  Remember, we had not had any sleep for over 30 hours.  But, we got cleaned up, left the Mercury dripping in DiVoran’s folks’ driveway and went to the party in Leon’s car.  DiVoran’s aunt commented as we walked out the door to our last party for a long time, “Oh, I’m so glad I’m not young anymore.”  We managed to stay awake until the stroke of midnight, and had a great time, but then we slept until almost noon before DiVoran’s dad, Ivan, woke us. 

I had guessed right, the water leak was coming from one of the two water pumps.  That afternoon, after a diligent search for an open auto parts store, we found one, and Ivan helped me replace the leaking water pump.  Then we added antifreeze to the cooling system, since night time temperatures were going to be near or below freezing in Albuquerque for a while.  After I drove the Mercury around several blocks to make sure everything was working right, we discovered the antifreeze had eaten thru the old seals in the second water pump, and we had to drain the system and replace that pump too.  That finally took care of the leaking water pump problem, and we installed the proper thermostats, so DiVoran would have a working heater during the winter.

The rest of my leave was spent having a great visit with my folks, my aunt Jessie and Granny.  DiVoran and I had a T-bone steak dinner, with all the trimmings, at our favorite Mom & Pop restaurant in downtown Albuquerque.  On another evening, we had a superb lobster dinner at our favorite seafood restaurant uptown, in the Nob Hill area.  When my leave was up, it was really hard to say goodbye to friends and family.  Finally, on the last day, DiVoran and I said our long and tearful goodbyes, and I left her with her folks.  I took the Santa Fe, El Capitan, train back to San Diego, to join the crew of the USS Hector for its voyage to Japan for duty.  That was a lonely train trip, but as usual the U.S. Navy found lots of things to keep me busy, for the next eight months, before I would once again see my lovely wife.

When I look back at some of the things we did as Young Adults, it’s hard to believe we had the nerve to strike out on adventures like those.  It seems as though we were thinking nothing of the possible dangers and challenges we might come up against.   I thank God for watching over us back then, when we were young and thought we were indestructible.  And that’s the short version of the story of “How I Met the Love of My Life.”  I remember those times (63 years ago) like they were just yesterday, and I will never forget them.

—–The End—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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How I Met the Love of My Life-Part 6

30 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

On December 30, 1957 we loaded up the Mercury with everything we owned and headed east.  I had two weeks leave before the USS Hector sailed for Japan, and I was taking DiVoran to Albuquerque to stay with her parents while I was gone.  I had thought, at the time, that she was going to finish some of her collage classes.  We had planned to leave first thing in the morning, but you know how it is when you are trying to get ready for a trip; there are always those last minute things, you have to finish, that keep popping up.  That’s the way it was that day, we were trying to make sure we didn’t leave anything in the apartment.  We were both hot and sweaty as we locked up the apartment and gave the keys to our landlady.  As it turned out, we didn’t get away until late afternoon, and I wasn’t looking forward to driving the 800+ miles, across the desert at night.  And just as I had predicted, the afternoon desert heat was scorching (no air-conditioning).

As we got into the Arizona Mountains, the terribly hot desert temperature began to drop and we were so relieved.  That is, until I turned on the heater and nothing but cold air came out.  In all of our excitement about the trip, we had not thought about it being “Winter” outside the San Diego area.  The next thing I knew, the engine temperature gage pegged out on “COLD” and we were scrambling for something warm to put on.  As we came down out of the mountains onto the high-plains desert, I was hoping the temperatures would be warmer, but that was not to be.  Even though we were bundled up in everything we could find, and the heater off, we were still freezing for the next few hours.  In hindsight, a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator that night would have helped.  Oh well, as the old saying goes, you live and learn.

Then, after a while, I noticed the temperature gage begin to swing back toward “Normal” and then on over toward “Hot.”  What was going on, I wondered?  Back in those days, on the old two-lane Route 66, the “Trading Post/Filling Stations” were very popular and were usually spaced several miles apart.  The first of many miracles that night was that we were just coming up on one of those “Stations” right now.  We pulled into the station, but of course, they were closed (New Year’s Eve).  I looked under the car, and could see water dripping from one of the water pumps.  Another miracle; they had left a water hose by the gas pumps, and I was able to fill the radiator.  I made sure our two “Desert Water Bags” (Don’t drive in the desert without them!) I had hanging on the front bumper were full.  I jumped in the car, and we headed down the road, as fast as the old flathead Mercury “V-8” would take us, all the time watching the temperature gage closely.  If we didn’t come to one of those (few) “Stations” before the temperature gage got near “Hot” again, we would pull over and pour the two bags of water into the radiator and take off again.

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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How I Met the Love of My Life-Part 5

23 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

On the following Tuesday morning, I headed back to the ship and DiVoran began looking thru the “Want Ads” for a job.  Her first interview was for a receptionist position with a local funeral home.  They liked her, but told her they couldn’t hire her because she was too young, too cute, and too cheerful.  That didn’t bother DiVoran at all!  After several phone calls and interviews, she finally found a job as a waitress in the San Diego area, where she could start right-a-way.  DiVoran says she realized that the waitress job was just the kind of job her parents were trying to protect her from, by encouraging her to finish her education.  However, she knew she would much rather be doing that, and being with her Bill, than she would be languishing away in Albuquerque without him.

I got permission to spend the nights “on the beach” as long as I was back on the ship in time for roll-call each morning.  DiVoran rode the bus to and from work at the restaurant, and when I didn’t have “the duty” on the ship, we would have the weekends free. But, going places was not a lot of fun for DiVoran at first because the car I owned, at the time, was a 1932 Ford five-window coupe.  I had bought the “Hot Rod” (A Bucket List Item) from a guy who had stripped it down to use for drag-racing. The interior had been completely gutted, with only a plywood seat bolted to the frame for the driver, and plywood sheeting for all the rest of the car’s interior flooring (no seat for a passenger). I had started restoring the car with the engine (of course) and had not bothered to do anything about the interior until now, because nobody ever rode with me.  DiVoran had to sit on the hard plywood and hang on to the window frame, to keep from sliding under the dash during turns.  To say she was not happy with that arrangement would be an understatement.

I finally found a guy on my ship that wanted that Hot Rod real bad.  I traded it to him for a really nice 1950 Mercury four-door sedan, plus, he gave me $300 dollars in cash (what I had originally had paid for the Hot Rod).  DiVoran was thrilled, and it was a great deal for us.  The engine ran good, it was quiet, and it rode so much smoother than the Hot Rod.  That was really great, because now we could both ride in comfort where ever we went.  That was the day I said goodbye to my “Dream Car.”  But, I have to say, that Mercury was one of the best cars I ever owned, and it did well by us for a long time.

——To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

  • Bill

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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How I Met the Love of My Life Part 4

16 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

A month or so later, when my mother’s friends were on vacation, they stopped in Albuquerque to visit my mother.  DiVoran was introduced to them, and at some point during their visit, they invited her to accompany them back to their home in La Mesa.  Divoran was thrilled at the chance for a free trip to San Diego (even if it was in their noisy VW bus), for a short visit to see me.

Her mother and dad agreed to let her go, and said they would pay for her return train ticket.  She would be staying with mother’s friends there in La Mesa, so she wouldn’t have to worry about her room and board. The last thing her mother had said to her before she left was, “DiVoran, please don’t do anything foolish while you are out there.”   Dream on Dora!  We had been so glad to be together again, that we didn’t even want to think about being separated again.

Because La Mesa was a short drive from the Naval Base, I could see DiVoran any time I could get leave from the ship.  The days passed, and we had a wonderful time running all over the San Diego area, visiting things like the Embarcadero, where we went on board the historic Star of India sailing ship, Balboa Park, and the famous San Diego Zoo.  We went to the movies, drove across the Coronado Bay Bridge to check out the resort city of Coronado’s car show, and wondered thru the historic downtown San Diego Gaslamp Quarter. 

Toward the end of her stay, DiVoran started talking to me about getting married. I found out later (many years later) that on the trip from Albuquerque, my mother’s friend, Joan, had asked her when we were going to get married.  Joan was excited about the possibility of helping with a wedding, and DiVoran got caught up in the idea.  They talked about it during the entire trip.  DiVoran and I had been so close and such good friends, before, and the six-month separation had been very hard for both of us.  So, it wasn’t surprising that with only a little encouragement from Joan, we decided to “tie the knot” right then and there.  That would give us at least four months of “Marital Bliss” before the USS Hector sailed for Japan.  

Joan went to work making all the wedding arrangements with the pastor of her church, while DiVoran and I got our blood tests and marriage license.  We called our mothers to give them the “Good News.”  When DiVoran told her mother we were getting married, she moaned, “Oh!  DiVoran!  What about your college classes?”  And DiVoran said, “Don’t worry mother, everything is going to be alright.  Both mothers knew marriage was in our plans, just not this soon, and so far away.  Both of our fathers were away from home, on business trips, and could not make it to the wedding.  Both of our mothers pulled themselves together and came to California.  One of Joan’s friends (who just happened to be the same size as DiVoran) let her wear her wedding dress for the occasion, and my mother had brought my black suit from Albuquerque.   Everyone worked together really hard, and we were married on Friday September 6, 1957 in the small local La Mesa Community Church.  We had found a small furnished one-room efficiency apartment (that we could afford) in the North Park area, overlooking a portion of Balboa Park, and that was where we spent our wonderful Labor Day weekend “Honeymoon.”

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

  • Bill

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

Tags: ,

How I Met the Love of My Life Part 3

9 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

My friend, Bud, and I had joined the U.S. Navy Reserves in the middle of our senior year (big mistake).  We did this to impress the girls (before I met DiVoran) when we wore our uniforms around town, on Friday nights, after our reserve meetings.  But after graduation, I realized what a foolish thing I had done, and I wanted to get my “active duty” over with so I could go to college.  Some of you may remember that back in those days, when you signed on the dotted line to serve in the military, there was no getting out of your commitment.  You were in for the length of your service time, and that was all there was to it.  I had asked DiVoran to marry me, gave her a diamond engagement ring, and asked her to wait for me until I got back from my active duty.  She wanted to get married right then.  After talking it over, I finally agreed to us getting married as soon as we could, and she agreed to wait for a while.  We also promised to write each other every day I was away, and we did.  

After boot camp I shipped out on the USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) for a Med Cruise.  That was a wonderful experience for this 18-year old swabby.  I got to visit most of the countries that ring the Mediterranean.  When the ship’s tour of duty was over, we were relieved, on station, by our sister carrier the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42).   The voyage our ship made across the north Atlantic, returning to the United States, was one of the roughest I was ever on during my time in the Navy.  We ran into one of those historical nor’easter storms, that sailors have talked about for centuries, and believe me it was brutal.  We docked at Norfolk, VA to off-load the air group, non-essential personnel and equipment.  

The ship was scheduled for a major two-year overhaul which would include the addition of a canted flight deck.  There were no dry-docks available on the east coast, so the ship made the trip around South America (the ship was too wide to go thru the Panama Canal).  We visited cities on the east coast of Brazil, made our way round Cape Horn and stopped at Valparaiso on the west coast of Chili. We also stopped at Panama City, on the west coast of Panama, and finally at San Francisco, CA as we made our way north to Bremerton, WA.

I was able to watch the “Yard Birds” work on the ship for a month while I waited for my transfer orders.  That was an amazing experience and I learned a lot about the ship I had never knewn.  I finally received my orders transferring me to the USS Hector (AR-7) in San Diego, CA.  The Hector was going to be tied up to Pier 1, at the San Diego Naval Base for about six months.  It was during this time that I was able to attend a Diesel Engine Mechanic School and obtain my rating as an Engineman.  My mother had good friends living in La Mesa (not far from the Naval Base), and they invited me to their home for dinner several times.

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

  • Bill

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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How I Met the Love of My Life-Part 2

2 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

The way I remember it, over time I kinda lost some of my interest in Rita, and found Divoran to be a lot more interesting and easier to talk to.  Soon, we were talking to each other, on the phone, almost every evening.  I believe she was losing interest in Bud at the same time.  One day I told DiVoran I had something I wanted to ask her, and could I come over to her house.

When I got there, DiVoran remembers, I seemed a little nervous, so her mother offered me a basket of potatoe chips.  I set the basket of chips on the footstool in front of the chair I was sitting in.  As we talked and I munched away, I dropped some crumbs on my pants.  In a nervous jester to brush the crumbs off my pants, I inadvertently knocked the basket of chips over, and the chips spilled all over the living room rug.  Divoran burst out laughing.  Boy was I embarrassed!  But then we were both laughing, and she assured me that it wasn’t a problem and helped me pick up the chips.  The reason I had gone to see DiVoran was to ask her if she would go out with me.  When I asked her, she said, “What?  I thought we’re just good friends!”  “We are.” I said.  Then she said, “But I’ve never flirted with you!  You are the only boy I haven’t flirted with.”  She was surprised, and didn’t know what to say.  But then, after she got over the shock, she said, “Yes, I’ll go out with you, but what about Rita?”  I told her that I didn’t think Rita was really very interested in me anymore, and that she had all but told me so.

The next thing I remember, we were enjoying running around together all over town, on my motorcycle or in my 1940 Chevy; going to movies, roller skating, playing miniature golf and going to the local A&W Drive-in for hamburgers and malts.  One night we were parked, in the Chevy, on a high ridge overlooking the city lights, and one of the local radio stations was signing-off (midnight).  Their theme song was the beautiful “Canadian Sunset” instrumental softly playing in the background.  The announcer said, “At this time we are closing out our day’s activities with the beautiful “Canadian Substitute.  Join us tomorrow at 6:00 AM…” by then we were both laughing our heads off.  To this day, we still laugh every time we hear that song played.  I asked DiVoran to go steady with me that night.  I gave her my class ring to wear around her neck on a gold chain.  She said it was too big and too expensive, and gave it back to me.  I was so upset by her rejection that I threw the ring out the car window.  She was shocked!  Then we both got serious and got out to look for it.  She finally realized how serious I was about her having my ring, that she took it and wore it.  We finished out the school year having a great time going places, talking and laughing our way together.  

–—-To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

Bill

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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How I Met the Love of My Life Part 1

26 Aug

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

I bought my first car during my senior year of high school.  A 1940 Chevrolet Coupe that cost me $50.  It wasn’t much of a car when I bought it, but I spent a lot of time and elbow-grease restoring it.  As it turned out, all that work was well worth the effort, because I managed to finish fixing it up just in time to use it when I happened to meet, DiVoran, “The Love of My Life” (of course I didn’t know it at the time).

I knew DiVoran’s brother, David, from working with him at Furr’s Super Market.  When he told her he knew this guy named Bill Lites at work who had a car and a motorcycle, she said, “I know a Bill Lites from school.  He’s in my English class.  He seems like a nice guy, except that he’s a clown, and drives our teacher, Miss Miller, to distraction.  One day, he came to English class wearing a pair of bright red corduroy pants and a matching red corduroy “Ike” Jacket.  Boy did that disrupt the class.  Miss Miller was beside herself.  She was walking sideways, back and forth across the room (like a crab), rubbing her hands together.  He is also in the typing class before me, and uses the same desk and typewriter I do.”

Until then I didn’t know DiVoran was David’s sister, and she didn’t know that I knew her brother.  She also didn’t know my best friend, Bud, who I also worked with at Furr’s.  Somehow I discovered she knew this girl, Rita, I was interested in.  So one day, after English class, I asked her if I could walk her to her locker.  I took her books, and we talked about surface things until we got to her locker.  She exchanged her books, and when we were ready to head to our next class, I said, “Can I ask you a question?”  She said, “Yes.” And I asked her if she thought Rita would go out with me.  She hesitated for a second, and with a startled look said, “I guess so, but you’ll have to ask her.”  She told me later (many years later) that she was impressed that I asked to carry her books, as no one had ever carried her books before.  She also told me she thought, at the time, that I was interested in her, and was going to ask her out.  I guess that was the reason for the slight hesitation and startled look, after I asked her about Rita.  

At some point after that my friend, Bud, said he saw me talking to DiVoran, and wanted to know if I thought she would go out with him.  I told him to ask her, and see what she said.  By this time I had gotten up the courage to ask Rita out.  So, when Bud asked DiVoran out, and to make her feel more at ease, he suggested that since she knew Rita, maybe he and DiVoran could go on a double-date with Rita and me.  Everyone agreed to that arrangement, and things seemed to work out, and the four of us started running around together.  After a while, for some reason, DiVoran and I got to the point where we felt more comfortable around each other than we did with our partners.  I began calling her to find out how Rita felt about me.  When I did, she would ask me about Bud’s feelings for her.  This turned into a regular thing, and over time the two of us became good friends.

——To Be Continued—–

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

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