Bragg Family South

We just arrived back in Monticello after two weeks of adventures in the North...  Our first stop on this year's summer vacation trip was Big Bone Lick State Park (http://parks.ky.gov/parks/recreationparks/big-bone-lick/default.aspx) in Kentucky (just south of Cincinnati, Ohio).  The picture above encapsulates the reason for the existence of this state park--it was the discovery of fossilized bones of Ice Age mammals at this site very early in American history (circa 1740) helped spur on the new science of paleontology.  We planned this year's trip around a couple weddings and some camping, so we decided to camp this first night at Big Bone Lick State Park, which also had a small (if dated) miniature golf course: The most intriguing thing about this course was that it was immediately adjacent to a small family cemetery that dated from the 1800s: We arrived the next day at Hope's parents' house near Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the next day went into the Detroit ...

All too soon my brief stint at this year's summer archeology dig has wrapped up...  The picture above shows part of the dig site on the first morning of excavation.  The 2012 summer dig is again being held at Historic Washington State Park (http://www.historicwashingtonstatepark.com/) near Hope, Arkansas.  We are on a city block that is now empty, but for much of the 1800s was the commercial district of the village of Washington.  For much of the early to mid-1800s, Washington was the major commercial and political center of this part of Arkansas, and was really on the frontier--until Texas joined the United States in 1845, southwestern Arkansas bordered a foreign nation...  Washington is about 30 miles from Texas, and until the railroads came to the region and shifted the commercial interests of the area to nearby Hope, it dominated the region.  In fact, when the Civil War raged in Arkansas and the Union Army captured the state capitol (Little Rock), th...

This blog will be dedicated to Susan Hurlburt, the lovely young lady (white shirt, on right) in the photograph above (these pix are from my sister Laurie's wedding in 2004), and the bridesmaid holding the flowers in the picture below: Susan is the step-daughter of my sister Lisa.  We have had the privilege of watching her grow from a spirited 7-year-old (when we first met her) through her teen years, then off to college, and soon to her next big adventure in life--her upcoming nuptials in mid-June.  Susan's pleasant personality, warmth, and grace have charmed us over the years, as has her hard work and determination.  Her fiance Jay also seems to be a wonderful person, and we are so excited for them! Now that the kids are out of school, we have moved on to our summertime fun activities.  I know y'all in the Great Northwoods will be jealous, but we are already enjoying the bounty of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables.  Below are ripe peaches we p...