We retired in 1999, sold our home in the California desert, and moved to Texas. In May of 2000 we gave up our apartment, hit the road in our pickup truck and began to travel full-time. Until the Spring of 2007 we spent about 10 months in Europe, 58 months in the U. S., and 16 months in Canada, where we like to avoid the summer heat. We've visited all the states but Hawaii, and all the Canadian provinces. Recently we've made our home in Alameda, California, but we're talking about hitting the road again.
About a year into our travels we began to study our family history - or rather the families of our grandchildren, nephews and nieces. We started in Kansas, and eventually found ancestors and relatives in dozens of states and foreign countries (including Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, England, Germany, Slovakia, Ireland, Scotland, and Russia.
We've worked on genealogy in Europe, too. In 2003 we spent five months in Cornwall, Yorkshire, Durham and London, and in 2006 we visited Slovakia and Poland. Always we have found wonderful new relatives. Inspired by Steichen's 1955 exhibit, The Family of Man. we have come to believe that by revealing family relationships, genealogy serves to unite the people of the world. We have also learned to be most proud of our country as the magnet for immigrants from all over the world. America's freedom is unparalleled, and we are privileged to enjoy it.
This website is under development; we upload and correct old essays and write new ones. Readers' comments are always appreciated.
- Bob and Elsa Pendleton