Road Trip to Manassa

Said goodbye to Taylor, Cole and Greta this morning.

In fact, we beat them out the door because we had a 2 1/2 hour drive

to Manassa for church. I thought it would be fun to see Manassa, where my Grandma

grew up, and may as well go on a Sunday.

We decided to do a loop, north through Wolf Creek and afterwards,

drive home south through Chama. We're so glad we did the loop. 

Both drives were gorgeous while in the mountains. 

Would you believe that the town of Manassa which only has 1,000 people, 362 households,

has three wards?! We chose to attend the 12:00 and it was big with a ton of youth.

The town was settled by Mormons, and has clearly kept a strong LDS population.

We left after Sacrament Meeting and a guy chased after us to say hello and welcome us.

What a friendly place. 

We went to the Old Manassa Cemetery but didn't know where to look for my relatives' graves.

Dan and I split up, each taking a row, but then I found a picture on "find a grave" that showed fence in the background and could narrow down the location. 

Meanwhile, Dan found it without using the internet!

We found my Grandma Adair's Grandpa, Christen Jensen. 

He was a bishop and patriarch and his grave is marked with "BP" and his wives' markers

all said "wife of Bishop Jensen."

He was a successful businessman and founded a flour mill, then a bank.

When he died it was said he was the oldest bank president in Colorado.

My grandma remembered him as very well-to-do and would give his grandkids spending money.

Carrie Jensen was his second wife and my Grandma's Grandma.

Christen's marker and those of three wives and a son, Israel Jensen, who died on his mission.

Then on to the second cemetery, the New Manassa Cemetery.

Here we found Christen Peter Jensen, Grandma Adair's father.

She loved her parents so much and always spoke fondly of them.

When we named Christopher "Christopher Jensen,"

she begged us to name him Christen, spelled like her father and grandfather.

I didn't want to name my son what now sounds like a girl's name.

But those men are still namesakes. My Grandma Adair was full of spunk and spirit

with a great sense of humor, just like my dad, me and Christopher.

We didn't know where to look for the graves here either,

but found the unique pictures on find-a-grave and once again,

Dan was first to find them.

I loved seeing names I recognized, like "Haynie" 

(I think someone with that last name had been a friend or cousin of my Grandma)

and "DePriest" who was the family of my Uncle Ray (husband of Aunt Ila, Grandma's sister.)

Sara Vilate Mortensen was my Grandma's Grandma.

She was a second wife and not close to her huband, Lars Mortensen.

But I love the Pioneer stories of the Mortensen family emigrating from Denmark.

(In fact, both of my Grandma's Great Grandparents are from Denmark.)

I love searching family search for family stories and memories that bring my ancestors to life.

Especially since I have such vivid memories of my Grandma talking so lovingly

of her siblings, parents and grandparents and her life in Manassa, Colorado.

We started our drive home and were surprised to see so many old homes preserved,

even though they'd lost roofs or walls.

We stopped for lunch at Dos Hermanas in the tiny town of Antonito.

It was a two-person crew--a waitress and a chef. The restaurant was busy

and the food absolutely delicious.

I wish I had better photos of the views from our drive. They were gorgeous.

But my phone had died.

We listened to a couple of excellent podcasts to pass the time.

(Andrea W. -- Dan's cousin's daughter, on "The Stick of Joseph"

and Margaret Barker, on the same podcast.)

At one point we had to pull over because it was raining so hard we couldn't see.

As we headed back into the mountains, we passed the Cumbres and Toltec train.

And when we got closer to Pagosa, we saw a bear on the side of the mountain!!

It sat down on the hill as we passed, then darted across the road behind us.

We arrived home about 5:00 p.m (thanks, Marty, for watching Kershaw all day),

and were welcomed by a herd of elk on the back hill.

What an exquisite place to spend time.

**BTW, I've added more photos to the past few days in Pagosa,

so if you want to see Michael's fish and more, scroll back through the last few days.**