My Heritage and Adventure Day 30

Blog prompt: Today is Ellis Island Family History Day. Tell about your ancestors and where did they start out from before it led to where you are today.

My father’s parents and my mother’s father came from China. My father said that my grandfathers came to the US and worked on the railroad. I really am sorry that I don’t know more about them and their family history.

My father’s father came over here and left his two wives in China. He worked in restaurants most of his life. Eventually he owned a restaurant in New Jersey. I never met my grandmother because she died in China but my parents lived with her when they first got married and both of my sisters were born in China. Then in 1949, they had to escape China and come back to the US when the Communists arrived. My father was the first to find out that the Communists were coming and saved the village by warning them about it before he escaped with his family.

My mother’s father met my grandmother in Georgia. Then they ran a laundry in Jacksonville, FL and my mother was born there. My grandparents had 7 children and lived most of their lives in Chinatown in New York City.

My father came alone to the US as a young boy (about 13 years old). First he arrived by ship in Vancouver, Canada and then took the train to Boston to meet up with some relatives and then he lived alone above their restaurant for a few years. Later he joined his father in New York City before he enlisted in the US army. My parents were pen pals during WWII and when they met, they fell in love.

Travel Notes:

Today we left Reno (after taking a photo of the courthouse for a friend) and headed towards Wendover. It was a long drive but the scenery was awesome. It was amazing as we headed into snow covered mountains along I-80. We stopped in some of the small towns along the way. Then we arrived in Wendover and after finding a hotel room, we went to Wendover Air Field. There was an air museum that was free of charge and we watched an 8 minute video. Then the man told us that we could go up the big tower and watch a 737 land. That was pretty cool! After that we went to the Bonneville Salt Flats to see where the Speedway is. Because of the storm most of the salt flats were under water. Before we returned to the hotel, we had dinner and I took a picture of Wendover Willie. When we got back to the hotel we walked around the casino and Don even won some money from the slot machine. Tomorrow we will head to the Great Basin National Park.