Small Towns Podcast
Small Towns Podcast
E48 Dave and Jason Go to Grouse Creek! …er Crick.
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In what can only be referred to as one of the greatest road trips of all time, Jason takes Dave to Grouse Creek! Heather and Suzie joined as well. “The only problem was not being able to stay longer…” Dave was overheard saying. Join the guys as Jason shared all of his favorite haunts with Dave. Plus, Dave insisted that Jason recreate the pee your pants on school picture day. He of course obliged.
Note: We recorded this before we started to film our pods. But the audio version will still be up on our Youtube channel as well.
Click here to watch on YouTube.
Welcome millions upon millions, perhaps billions, of faithful podcast listeners. We are your hosts, Jason Kimber and Dave Stimmons. We'll bring you along with us as we share life stories from our experiences living in small towns, or in Jason's case, an unincorporated community.
SPEAKER_00That's true. Along with genius suggestions for solving world problems and a whole lot of. This is the Small Towns Podcast. Hello, once again, everyone. I'm Dave Stimmons, joined by Jason Kimber on the Small Towns Podcast. And folks, today, it's been a long time coming. We a good year and change that we've talked about making a journey out to Grouse Creek. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. To see Jason's old stomping grounds, to really get a feel for this place, this what I feel is almost mythical place. The Lake Wobegon of Jason's youth. So that I could really get a feel for the whole experience. And we did that this summer. And today is the day we're going to go through that journey. And uh really our you you're nostalgic, probably thoughts and feelings when you were there. Yes. And then my initial shock.
SPEAKER_01Yes, because it really was almost I think perhaps a better word, Dave, not to put words in your mouth, but a pilgrimage of sorts. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yes, a pilgrimage.
SPEAKER_01This was this was for me going back to a sacred spot.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Is that a pilgrimage? Yeah, I think so. Did you know a Haji? A Haji Dimitri uh a Haji is a that's look it up. Never mind. You can look it up. Exactly. I don't think it's a H-A-H-A-D-J-I, I think. H A D J I? A Haji? I mean, right now that is so tangi uh tangent.
SPEAKER_01Well that's what makes these things so great in my humble. I mean, look at me just saying that our podcast is great. Well, it is.
SPEAKER_00Look, yeah, Haji. A Muslim who has been to Mecca as a pilgrim. That is a pilgrimage. You're not Muslim. No, I'm not. We didn't go to Mecca. No. But you did make a pilgrimage to a sacred spot. So there, so in Bulgaria, they there's an area called Haji Demeter. Oh. Which is named after a guy named Demeter. Okay, makes sense. Made his trip to Mecca and he was Haji. So you're Haji Jason. See how we got there?
SPEAKER_01I think, yeah, actually, it's crystal clear. It's crystal clear. Thank you. Um you guys know this. Uh Dave has always questioned the validity of Grouse Creek.
SPEAKER_00Pretty much thought he was making it all up.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_00And and even an enormous ruse.
SPEAKER_01And and I would go to great lengths to keep up the ruse. And so we did decide that we'd make a tri uh a pilgrimage, a trip to Grouse Creek. And and this one was special for me because those of you who listen, many of you are familiar with Grouse Creek, but I went to school my kindergarten through ninth grade years, two-room schoolhouse. I'm gonna give a little bit of background, but then we're gonna have to back up to even how we left because it's a whole process. But but I uh the school district, the Box Auto School District, had decided that the time had come, the the beautiful sandstone structure had served its purpose and needed to come down because it just wasn't safe from earthquake standard and things of that nature, which is fine. I mean, I was heartbroken. I even tried in some effort to maybe raise a grassroots effort to save it and do some things, but save the clock tower.
SPEAKER_00Save the clock tower 14 years ago.
SPEAKER_01Nobody even put a nickel in my can for crying out loud. But um that did work out, and and that's fine. Uh they're building a new school out there, and it's gonna be wonderful for the kids that go there. It really is gonna be a nice structure, I have no doubt. But but I wanted to go out one last time and see this structure, and I wanted Dave and Susie to see it with Heather and I. And uh I felt sick about it because Jenny and Craig were supposed to go with this as well, but I think they had another trip, so anyways. Um and interestingly enough, we chose that Saturday because several of my um classmates from K39 uh met us there and we had a little bit of a reunion of sorts. But before we jump there, we need to talk about the process of getting to Grouse Creek. Now, do you remember what time we left?
SPEAKER_00It was a long stretch of road. It was early. Earlier than I'd like to get up on a Saturday.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And it's because it's a two-hour, two and a half hour uh trip one way. It felt longer. Well, it it felt you sure it wasn't longer. Listen, I know that road. I could drive that road with my eyes closed. Well, I prefer you didn't. Yeah, my grandpa did that one noise too.
SPEAKER_00All I know is that you have to pack a lunch. Yes, and he did. We did. There was a lot of food in that. You backed up. I don't want you, I you guys packed a fantastic lunch. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01I needed to I need it to be a good experience for you and Susie.
SPEAKER_00We we left early, got over to Tremont. Didn't we stop at a Macro?
SPEAKER_01We stopped at Maggie first, yeah, in Logan.
SPEAKER_00And then it couldn't have been an hour later. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Somebody needed to use the bathroom. Exactly. Well, because we had loaded up a lot of treats. Now, this was something that kind of came to me through um my marriage into the Swenson family because Heather and all Swenson's like, if you're gonna go on a trip that's longer than like 10 minutes, you gotta stop and get treats. Okay. So Maverick, if you'll recall, we we bought enough treats as if we were literally making the pilgrimage to Mecca. Yeah. But we shouldn't, but we've got a lot of treats. So maybe an hour later.
SPEAKER_00Hour and a half. Now, can I assume that restrooms were used before we left? Oh, without question. Okay, well, we were not that far, and all of a sudden, somebody needed to use the bathroom. Well, there's no bathrooms around. That somebody was not me, and it was not you. And the only other ones we have in there don't have a pointer.
SPEAKER_01So, I mean, it had to be done. It had to be done, and and I this took you off guard.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I was taken aback, if you will. But I was along for the ride and I understood that what must be done on the road to Grass Creek must be done. And what happens on the road to Grass Creek stays stays until you click on the podcast.
SPEAKER_01A worldwide podcast.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we are, yeah, just the worldwide web.
SPEAKER_01And you don't just listen, it's not just like a forgive the phrase, a willy-nilly operation. You you have to open up both doors. Hopefully, you're driving a four-door. Because by opening up both doors, it kind of gives you the uh the ruse of a stall.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_00So I just averted my eyes. I'll just look over here, but I could not avert my ears. I tried. I mean, I probably should have. You should have plugged them in plug. Somebody should have said, um, it's audible.
SPEAKER_01So you might want to plug your ears. And there's a lot of different, you know, um, there's a lot of different ways to do it. I remember driving to Oregon one time with my little girls and always stopping all the time. I my my brother-in-law Mark, I think he tells a story like similar drive from Oregon back here. They just opened up the van door, and their young, young, I think it was our youngest son, just stood there and just peed out as they drove slowly. He's got a pointer. It's a lot easier. It's a lot easier. A lot easier. But you can't listen, Dave. I don't know what I mean. I know that it took you off guard, but like what what what else are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_00Probably just risk euromycitisis poisoning. I don't know. Just made that up. It's just I think it's close. If you hold it too long, you might get uromycitis poisoning and die.
SPEAKER_01You can't hold it. It's two and a half hours.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, we were an hour, hour and a half in. That's true.
SPEAKER_01And then because once you pass Snowville, then that's the last bathroom break.
SPEAKER_00And we were past Snowville.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and so and so Snowville is one hour into the journey. We still were looking down the barrel of an hour and a half.
SPEAKER_00So we were probably an hour and a half in, which meant so which meant there was probably another hour left. Exactly. There's not a chance. No, she's she's not gonna make it.
SPEAKER_01No, and and then you get to the to the last 20 miles of dirt road. It's a little bumpy. That makes it doubly hard to hold that bladder in. That is true.
SPEAKER_00That that dirt road, although you guys claim it's a good dirt road. It's pretty good dirt road. My cheeks were still bouncing around. You lost a filling. Well, you we all know I don't have cavities. Yeah, there's a whole episode on that. Don't be ridiculous. But yeah, that's that road could not have ended soon enough for me. Yes, yes. I mean, yeah, I don't prefer to be jostled around like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. Now listen, and it depends. You know, sometimes the road's gonna be a little rough, buddy. And this is this could be an analogy to life. Sometimes the road gets a little rough. But there are other times, like right after a fresh rainstorm, where the county guy can grade that road because there's a little bit of moisture in it, and he can grade it and make it smooth.
SPEAKER_00Or you find the right track and you just stay on those ruts.
SPEAKER_01Or you just go at a speed high enough with enough velocity to maintain over top of the washboard. What's that speed, you think? I don't know. It's probably not the safest route to go that way. What's the speed limit on that road? Oh, I think the speed limit is probably like, gosh, 35-45 because I was going to leave 60.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, does anybody follow that? Has there ever been a police officer on that dirt road? Have you ever seen one?
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, oh yeah, I've seen one. I've I've passed a sheriff's deputy and whatnot. On that road? On that road. The dirt road. The dirt road. Who's he protecting? Well, uh, he's serving and protecting the good citizens of Grouse Creek and the surrounding neighbors. There's nobody around on that dirt road. That is a place that is just looking for trouble. I don't know. Max was our uh county uh like a sheriff's deputy. He's your Barney Field. Oh, yeah, all grown up. Great guy, great guy. Roscoe Pico train. I'm horrible with uh impersonations. Um, but but you're not gonna get in trouble for speeding when you see because when you see a car coming, did we pass a car? I don't know. Probably not remember. But when you see somebody coming, you do the gentlemanly thing and you slow down really slow because when you're passing somebody on a gravel road, you don't want to you're you're gonna throw a rock. Well, I I for one would appreciate that if you slowed down for me. Exactly. So you always slow down, you kind of get over, you know, make sure that you're not gonna when people don't slow down.
SPEAKER_00Do you just do you you sp spit out the window? Exactly. I mean, and you and you think to yourself, so mad, do I fly the bird?
SPEAKER_01I hope not, because it's probably your brother.
SPEAKER_00It probably might be a relative out there. I guarantee it's a relative. But they'd probably fly the bird at you.
SPEAKER_01Ah, probably, particularly because it's like maybe it's a truck they don't recognize anymore. Yeah, probably but we get to Groustrick and we're we're driving in.
SPEAKER_00Just real quick, how how long is that dirt road again? Like 30?
SPEAKER_01No, no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00It's actually like 17 miles. Felt longer. But 17 miles on a dirt road is 17 miles on a dirt road.
SPEAKER_01It feels probably like 30 miles.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it felt like on a regular road. It felt like 30.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I actually should say, uh, since I left, they've actually extended the pavement an additional like a mile outside of town. So it's like probably only 16 miles of dirt before you hit the pavement.
SPEAKER_00But the the houses are way more spread out than I I thought there would be. They would be. Yeah. So as we start seeing one or two, I'm like, well, our we must be close to town, but we weren't. No, no, because no those are spread out.
SPEAKER_01First of all, we see Curtis's house, first house we see. And yours was miles past that, right? Oh, yeah, about another uh, let's say another 12 miles. Because you're still on the dirt road. I am still on the dirt road. Double wide is still on the dirt road. Exactly. And it's down off a little lane, you know, to kind of keep the dust a little bit settled. But I am still three and a half miles from the center of town. Hence my address, my fictitious address of 3500 Wagon Wheel Drive.
SPEAKER_00And there were more than one fictitious address, weren't there?
SPEAKER_01Well, that's the only way that you can as a statute of limitations up. That's how I got like the BMG tapes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, buy seven or buy one, get seven free. Just use a different address. And refer your friend who was my brother that lives like on or Lisa's was like seven, seven, seven. You live in the same house. We live in the same house with different addresses. Yeah, that's called the system. Exactly. It might be called. Oh, I hope the statute of limitations is over. It's over. Don't worry about it. Um but then we do get into what we call the center of grouse.
SPEAKER_00There were more, there were more houses in the center, I will give you that. Yeah. But they s but everything did stretch out a little bigger than I expected it to.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, without question. I mean, you nothing like even here in Millville, where the where our slogan is country living at its finest. First of all, I may be so bold as to say nobody understands what country living at its finest is unless you come from a town of less than 100 people. That I would agree. Is country living. Yes. Off the land. Off the land. So, you know, because we had about 150 acres that my parents owned. We just lived kind of in the middle of that.
SPEAKER_00And 150 acres, folks. Did you catch that? That's a lot of land. That's your family land.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but nowhere near big enough to, you know, live off the land there, right?
SPEAKER_00How much, how many acres is somebody like a farmer trying to take care of out there?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think if you start talking about grazing land for cattle, like that's in the mountains, or if we're talking about land that they're growing alfalfa, but you're you're talking thousands of acres.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I I mean, that's a pretty big operation. And um when we talk about a farming operation, I mean, this is nothing, of course, like the like the the Midwest, where there's thousands and tens of thousands of acres of corn as far as the eye can see. No, this isn't that. This is high desert.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01But we get up into Grouse Creek, we're on a paved road. The first official building we see is the post office. Okay. And then we saw the store. The co the co-op. The co-op. That growing up it was always the co-op. I think now they just call it. So it was the co-op, and then it the co- and that was owned by all the community members, and then they sold it to an individual, and they called it Grouse Creek Supply.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01And then they sold it again to my aunt and uncle at the time, and they called it Gone Country. Huh. There you go. I think that's still the name. I should double check it out.
SPEAKER_00Like Gone G-O-N-E.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Gone Country. Maybe Gone Country. Gone Country on it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Did we stop and get a treat? We did on the way out. On the way out. We had already been in town on the way out. There were some expired items in there. Still delicious. Too bad there wasn't a zinger. I think the one I saw was the hostess, and it had been there a while.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Well, that's okay. Those listen, those are going to make it through the zombie apocalypse, so we're going to be fine.
SPEAKER_00That's probably true. That didn't have the suppleness that you would think from a between that you're that we're used to.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. We go up to the school, and of course, we're running into a couple of my friends. I'm happy to name drop Audra, my sister Lisa, uh Cammy, Cody, Cade, three siblings that I grew up with.
SPEAKER_00It was a fun group.
SPEAKER_01It was a fun group.
SPEAKER_00You introduced me, and I could see how you had a fun childhood.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was a great group. Um, and then the the current school teacher out there, he was very nice to let us in uh because uh again, this was right before they're getting ready to demolish it. What did you think when you first saw it?
SPEAKER_00Um honestly, it was a little this is gonna sound crazy, but a little bigger than I expected. Okay, I get that. I didn't expect the gym size that you had. Yeah. And then we went up into the the two rooms that you had talked about. Yeah, the big room and the little room. And they and it was just a little bit bigger than I expected. But um I mean, it probably is time for a refresher.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean it it it was built in 19. I want to say they actually had to add on to it. I want to say it was built in 1902. I'm gonna have to look at I'm gonna have to fact check this. See, we always talk about putting pictures on Instagram. I think we're doing a little bit better with that. So I'll do that, but they actually built just two school rooms first. Um and then is I think in 1912, they added on the front two rooms. So it really was kind of like a I think they call that a four-square. Okay, not just the crazy game recess. Yeah, but um four main rooms where you've got the little room, which was K through fourth, all in that room. Then you had the library or the media center. Now, when I was really little, that was actually the gymnasium before they built the big one out the back.
SPEAKER_00Oh. Okay. So you so the gym I saw was not something you ever were there with it?
SPEAKER_01Oh, for sure, because it was built in 1980. So I grew up in, but I remember as a very young kid going, speaking of that cakewalk and the Halbing Carnival in that room. And then there was the kitchen where my mom worked for almost 30 years.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I got to see the kitchen.
SPEAKER_01It's the kitchen, and then lunch room connected, and then the big room, which was which was five through nine, or sometimes ten.
SPEAKER_00So at any given time, you were probably around what twenty kids?
SPEAKER_01For me, yes. I think we hovered between 20 and 30 kids at any given point. But it is interesting as you read some of the histories of Grasswick, that school at one point housed, I I'm so ashamed that I don't know these numbers off the top of my head. But at least 100 kids. Wow, yeah 100 in that little school. That would have been a lot. That would have been tight. But again, at that point, I don't know how they would have divvied up those classes. I bet there was probably three rooms. I bet they weren't using it as a media center or a gym.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know what I mean? Yeah. So I bet there were three rooms with the kids. And and we didn't even talk about this, but just across, you know, maybe you know, 10 miles to the to the further to the west, you've got Aetna, and they had their own school there as well. Now they all just go how far is Aetna? Maybe 10 miles west. Yeah, so not not far. And now if you live in Aetna or Grouse Crick, it's just all kind of one area and they all go to the same school. There's very few kids there now. I think there's like seven or there's less than ten, I believe.
SPEAKER_00And they cut even if you're in Aetna, you'll come to the Grasscrick school. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_00But it was fun when we got in there. Jason was able to kind of reminisce with with your old schoolmates. Um, and they recreated that picture that we posted on the gram of when Jason had peed his pants. How old were you in that one? I was in first grade. So what does that make you? Like seven?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, I was young, I was young for my grade, so I was six.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So he's standing front and center. It's on the gram, right?
SPEAKER_01It is on the gram, and there's actually even a like a graphic that highlights the area.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love it. I mean, he's standing front and center, and he'd peed his pants. Oh, that's right.
SPEAKER_01And I we recreated.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and so Jason was a great sport. That I might have actually said, I'm gonna need you to pretend you peed your pants. But he stood straight and said he got some water in the drinking fountain and went ahead and put it in the correct area and stood up there. You have to put that picture.
SPEAKER_01I promise I will. I'm gonna put them side by side. Yeah, it's great. Um, the only difference is like 40 years.
SPEAKER_00That's true, and probably a few less people. A few less people. But you were definitely front and center, and that was those people.
SPEAKER_01Let's see, who would have been in that picture? I mean, myself, my sister Lisa, I don't think Audra had moved there yet, but Cammy would have been in that picture. Um, my cousin Camille was there too, but she wouldn't have moved there yet either. Anyways, there was a lot of people there, but uh yeah, we were I forgot that we did that.
SPEAKER_00We reenacted that, and then there was a little high jump thing there, and Jason went ahead and tried to high jump. And then you got you got over it. I did barely, barely. But what concerned me was the amount of what what was it that was poofing out of that mat that we were landing on?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, so because probably growing up, we had like a big mat that you would land on, but it was green and it was kind of like nylon-y, nylon-esque, and it was just a big, it was just full of like you kind of see through big chunks of foam, right? Yeah, but this one was an upgrade, but mind you, uh, and listen, budgets are tight, so I'm not criticizing, but I remember getting this new blue mat.
SPEAKER_00Was that the one we were jumping on when I was still there?
SPEAKER_01So I think we got that when I was in the eighth grade, actually. I remember that because that school teacher used to sleep on it, but that's another story. I think we should get into that story. New teacher, no place to live, who actually lived in the school for a short time. Weird. I think he slept on the mat, but I squatter. Exactly. I don't know if there was a fitted sheet. Oh, that's a big fitted sheet. That would be a big fitted sheet.
SPEAKER_00All I know is for a few weeks after that I kept checking myself for ticks and weevils.
SPEAKER_01You should have, because you did a couple lights. Yeah, I did it. Yeah, you did it.
SPEAKER_00I thought for sure I was gonna get something.
SPEAKER_01When I was in the ninth grade, I could clear a lot higher. I would imagine. A lot higher. But this 40 now 45-year-old body, it took all that I had.
SPEAKER_00You look fantastic. Plus, I was sweating up a storm, and you had water on your crouch. I mean, that's I just fake peed my pants. There, that's an extra couple pounds.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. We're gonna, uh these are small town podcast stories for sure, but you think about the high jump because that was always part of our annual track meet that we had with the neighboring arch rival Park Valley.
SPEAKER_00How far is Park Valley?
SPEAKER_01Uh 60 miles. Yeah, we drove through Park Valley to get to Grouse Record, but it was like 60 miles.
SPEAKER_00Is there a shortcut or is that the only way to get there?
SPEAKER_01There is another road that is shorter, but it comes straight up over top of the mountains, a lot more dirt road. Come up over Dove Creek, what do you call that?
SPEAKER_00Dove Creek? Yeah. And but you probably can't kick do that in the winter time.
SPEAKER_01We could have.
SPEAKER_00Interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And so, you know, we'd have the high jump, we'd have um, of course, all the outside races, the the the relays, four by one. Four by one though in Grassford, because there's not a track, you have to just run back and forth. That makes sense. Can you picture that? Yeah, so you're you're you're you've got the baton, you're Holding, but you're you can't get a head start on the track, you know what I mean? No, you gotta just pass it and then you run. So it's it definitely a disadvantage. That's probably why they don't do it at the Olympics that way.
SPEAKER_00It's well, it's kind of like a switch like the four by one hundred swimming. Exactly. And you have to, and you gotta you gotta be able to hit that kick flip thing, you gotta be able to make that turn, yeah, and go back.
SPEAKER_01And go back.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_01So we did that.
SPEAKER_00I bet were you good?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's pretty good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's probably the pretty good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's probably the best it ever was. I think I actually held a record that for a ribbon. I think it was uh it was it was a it was a pink ribbon. A lot of times people think that those are for grand champion, but those are usually seventh place ribbons.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would imagine. Pink doesn't seem to be the top one.
SPEAKER_01They don't give a lot of those out, actually.
SPEAKER_00No, they really don't.
SPEAKER_01They really don't. I did I think we actually had a uh a made-up yardage. Like you don't ever hear any 75-yard dashes, but we did do that.
SPEAKER_00It was probably around about.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think I like I held that record with my Uncle Eldon for a long time. You and Eldon? Yeah, Eldon, Uncle Eldon, you you've met him.
SPEAKER_00I don't think we've met, but I've got stories, exactly. So wait a minute, you're running the sprint, coming back, giving it to Elden, and then he's running the sprint?
SPEAKER_01Just when he was a student at Grouse Kirk. Oh he set a record. So you were never running with him. No, no, no, no. I think that ship has selled for him. I would imagine. It's selled for you. Yeah, well, exactly. Like I can't run a race. I mean, I run a race, I am tired. He's got a bad back.
SPEAKER_00I'd like to see you and Eldon in a three-legged race. You know, it would probably be a pretty good match.
SPEAKER_01A potato sack race. A potato sack race. Uh it was interesting to go there and be back there with my with my classmates, though, because we would we would reminisce about the little room, which was K through four. I remember clearly trying to learn my multiplication tables, and Carol Warburton, who was just I had two teachers named Carol Warburton.
SPEAKER_00I know you've told me that before, and that still blows my mind. That you would have two teachers at Grass Creek, both with the same name.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. But we had Carol without an E and Carol with an E.
SPEAKER_00Were they related?
SPEAKER_01Yes. But sisters? No. No, you have two sisters named Carol. Might and Grass Creek. One with an E, one without an E. Uh, I could probably get there if I had a whiteboard tell you how they're related, but it'd take me some time. Same as you and Cousin Mo's. Exactly. We're related, it just it's distant. Yeah. But I remember uh Carol, she was my teacher uh K through four, and I remember trying to learn the multiplication tables. And boy, my classmate, there's three of us, Heather and Curtis. No, sorry, not Heather and Wes and myself. Wes got it, got it like that. Heather and I were just the multiplication? Yeah, she he did, but it was I can still remember it. And she eventually at one point, she had kind of like uh a permed, and she had white hair. And I just remember she just finally she kind of put both of her hands into her hair and kind of like like out of a uh a sign of frustration and kind of put her head down and she's like, you know what? Go back to your desks, we'll try again tomorrow. She was a great. I could have used her.
SPEAKER_00I don't think I still have my 12 times tables down.
SPEAKER_01I couldn't memorize them, no way. No.
SPEAKER_00Some of the I mean, even some of the eighth and the nines, I'm gonna have to think about it a little bit. We were probably just realizing that someday there would actually be a calculator in every pocket with our cell phones. Exactly. We're just forward thinking.
SPEAKER_01We you we are like that one.
SPEAKER_00Yep, yep, trailblazers.
SPEAKER_01Um, yeah, it it's a it's a great school, you know, it's a great school, and I'm sad that it's gone. So I, much to nobody's surprise that knows me for 10 minutes, I'm sentimental enough that when they did start the demolition process, I of course drove right out there and I was able to um salvage or scavage, I'm not sure what the court word is here, some big blocks of sandstone that it was core that it was made from out of a local quarry out there. And I have got them and I've got big plans. They're sitting in the world. What are you gonna do with those?
SPEAKER_00I don't know, but it's going to be spectacular. I guarantee it's gonna be in the garage.
SPEAKER_01Probably for years. Years in the garage. No, I got I got big plans. I'm thinking some rock features, but it's sandstone, and because I know it sounds crazy because it's it lasted on that building for almost a hundred years, but you you can't just have a chunk of sandstone sit out in your lawn because the elements will it'll just it'll corrode. It'll corrode and and and disappear. I don't think it'd take too much. Well, I don't know. What did Heather say when you came home with a cup?
SPEAKER_00Was it just one bigger option? No, I came home with like 10.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, my truck was from a weight perspective fully loaded, and I had to drive slow all the way home. Some of these were in fact, one of them I couldn't even lift by myself. I had to have my friend.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for not calling me. That's that's on, you know, we were gonna do a podcast one time of things I don't want to do again. Lifting heavy things is on that.
SPEAKER_01That's definitely it's not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna have to lift heavy things at certain points. I'm gonna try not to. I'm gonna call you when I get ready to build this feature. Call me like third or fourth. There's other guys that like to lift heavy stuff.
SPEAKER_01I listen, a huge, a huge stone that I gathered up over my years out of grouse. But I left it at my old house. You know, we just moved up to this house a few years ago, but it's still in the same neighborhood. There's three of us. We we we put that stone, this rock, flagstone, huge piece, on a dolly, and it was it maxed out the weight of that dolly, but I couldn't pull it by myself, so I had the three of us. One pulling, two pushing. Uh, it was oh who helped you with that? Myself, uh Jason Alred, and uh James Ferry, the guy that bought my opening.
SPEAKER_00I gotta believe in my head, they're thinking, why on earth would this guy want this rock? It's a rock.
SPEAKER_01It is a rock, but they are. I'm gonna go ahead and say it, even though you are one of my dearest friends. They're good dudes. Yeah, nicer than you. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Doesn't hurt my feelings.
SPEAKER_01But but when the time comes for this this uh feature to be built, for sure I'm calling you to help me lift it into place because it's gonna be symbolic. It's gonna be symbolic, it's like a capstone.
SPEAKER_00Can I supervise?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure you can. Get yourself a laser pointer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I will. I'm in the world.
SPEAKER_01I miss that school. I've driven out there, buddy, since, and it's it's completely. So is it down? It's demolished. It's demolished, and they're they're in the process, as I understand it, of building you know, a new school. They, of course, they kept the gym because that was relatively new since 1980.
SPEAKER_00Where are the kids going right now then?
SPEAKER_01They actually retrofitted the gym, and so they're actually meeting inside the gym right now, as I understand it. And when this when the school gets completed, then they'll be able to But you said right now there's only eight or nine kids. Yeah, uh less than ten. Less than ten.
SPEAKER_00So after the school, we went to your old house, didn't we? No, we went to the co-op, we went to the gym.
SPEAKER_01Got ourselves a treat.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, realized that things were expired. What got we did get a treat. Yeah, I mean, coke never expires, it's delicious.
SPEAKER_01I might be diet for sure, but I don't touch the stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's disgusting. And then we went down to your old stomp at your old house. That's right. That's right. And I'm telling you, the first thing that shocked me was the amount of vehicles that are just, I guess, rotting for all intents and cure purposes. No. Jason, I counted. You probably're not gonna believe me, but I think I counted over 20.
SPEAKER_01Oh no, I believe you. That's probably you might have missed a couple. There was actually two, it was inside the shop that you probably didn't see.
SPEAKER_00There were are there balers?
SPEAKER_01Oh, listen, we had we got manure spreaders jet nuts on the Santa Ana. We do have a manure spreader. Well, it's there.
SPEAKER_00I saw more things than I thought. Well, and what are you gonna do with those now?
SPEAKER_01Well, listen, my brother now, because since my parents both passed away, my brother, he his dream is to retire out there, and he is very good at restoring farm implements and old cars. So I I think that's gonna be his hobby. That's how he's gonna spend his retirement restoring these things. And and it may be like my project with the sandstone, they may still be there in 30 years. We'll see.
SPEAKER_00Can you could he sell those then? Oh, he could, but he never would. Because if you're gonna restore something like that, at that point, it's probably a collector's item.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so like he's my dad had a 54 uh Ford Fairlane that is almost it, it is pretty much all restored. My brother has a gosh, is it a 28? Um, 1928 Chevy. It's an old truck and it's awesome. Talking like the wooden spokes on the wheels.
SPEAKER_00I mean, it's it's beautiful, all that stuff out there. Oh, yeah, and and tons of farming equipment. And I just I couldn't get over how much if just looking around the 150 acres, how many vehicles and tools there were just sitting there with weeds growing up through them.
SPEAKER_01I know, and it is it feels that way. I mean, those those those cars have always been there, of course. My dad had them, but but it definitely feels a little bit more overgrown. You know, my now my cousin Cody, he leases the place now because you know, so he takes care of it and he's always there and and he's able to watch over things and and um he grows off alpha and and whatnot. So it's nice to have the somebody still at the place running it. And he's doing a great job with it. But but yeah, my brother's gonna retire there, and and at one point we'll see all those farm implements up and running, I have no doubt. And his So it's staying in the family. It's staying in the family, and uh, and I'm glad for that. Because it's interesting, I've I've lived outside of Grouse Creek way longer than I ever lived in there. You know what I mean. Yeah, I know what you mean. And um and that's fine. That's fine. It's it it'll it'll be a place that is you know, Grouse Creek Mill Millville feels like home because I'm I'm here and I'm raising my family here and whatnot, but Grouse Creek will always be home from a sense of of fond memories. So but it's changing, it's changing, buddy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you don't probably know nearly as many people out there now as the no, but still, it's home is still your home.
SPEAKER_01Still my home. I mean, I I can't go there to reference another podcast. I can't go there and get a Rice Krispie uh rice puff ball from Naomi for Halloween. No, but uh but but dear friends, dear family members that still live there and I love them. And I quite frankly, Dave, I just can't wait to take you back.
SPEAKER_00Oh, well, I hey, I can wait. Hey, but before we wrap this up, yeah, we also then but we went out the other way. I made it, that's right. We went out the other direction. So instead of coming back or going out the 17-mile dirt road, we took another route, more scenic route, up through the mountains. Yeah, but we stopped at the cemetery.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's right.
SPEAKER_00And the cemetery, folks, is well, there's no grass. Like if you're expecting like a nicely manicured cemetery, like a lot of people around here would expect. Yeah, I mean, there are headstones. I was expecting a couple sticks that in in the form of a cross. In the form of a cross. Yeah. Yeah. Here lies cowboy Joe. Exactly. But um, it seems like did you say annually? There's a annual cemetery cleanup.
SPEAKER_01Cemetery cleanup. It's usually like two Saturdays before Memorial Day. And we all get out there, you know, and and at this point you're you're knocking down the weeds, you're you're just cleaning it up in order to put. I mean, you really are just knocking the weeds down and and raking the dirt, and and some have decorative rock and things of that nature on them, but you want to make it pretty so that when people do come to put flowers out, then it is and and it it's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00Well, it was cool because you we you could walk around there with Jason and so many relatives, lots of Kimbers out there, and and then you you have the upper level and the lower level, yeah, above the ditch and below the ditch.
SPEAKER_01Is that what we call it? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, and it's cool because you can see dates that date back hundreds of years. Oh, yeah. And then um even Native American areas.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we had some really cool that that uh the local native Indians that live there and whatnot. It is cool. Um and and you don't have to go to even your Millville, buddy. I mean, spoiler alert, uh, we've dropped his name before, Bret Hatfield. I mean, he's got relatives out there, those are his people.
SPEAKER_00That's it's interesting how small the world can be and how big the world can be.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But it is a different, it's a different uh pace out there.
SPEAKER_01Speaking of the cemetery, and maybe we talked about this before, but like I remember part of uh a cemetery cleanup one time, not uh maybe maybe 15 years ago. I was out helping my dad, and we went up to my great-grandfather, so his grandfather's grave, who was who died in I think maybe the 50s or 60s, anyways, he he was not he was buried in just a coffin. There's no vault. Okay, so there's I would bet a lot of them are that way. Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, I don't think vaults were a commonplace thing. I think by now it's law, you have to, of course. But I mean, we're talking this is a pioneer cemetery, and so what happens as you know, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, you know, when those coffins and whatnot disintegrate, the grave sinks like four feet. And I remember going up there one time in preparation for uh uh cemetery cleanup and that grave had and it it happens here too. I mean, you can go to the Millville cemetery and find graves that are just that old, but you know, there's a sextant, I think that's what his name that takes care of cemeteries. Okay, they they you you probably don't ever know it as a as a as a as a normal person, but but that is a very common place. We just had to fill it back up and it's interesting.
SPEAKER_00It's uh when you can get into some of those really small towns, and I really think it'd be fun for this podcast if we ever had the time to be able to like pick different small towns that maybe most people haven't ever heard of. Yes, and make a phone call to that mayor and go to those places with the podcast, if we can figure out a way to take it on the road, we can and interview those people. We're going to. Um, because I've had multiple people that have listened to our podcast and say, you need to talk about this place, or you need to go to this place. To me, that is the that could be the future of this podcast if we wanted to take it there.
SPEAKER_01I think it's a perfect idea because I I think everybody has a story. Yep. And and there's just some unique ones, particularly in this part of the world, these these small towns that that you get traditions and and and cultures that that that are unique and beautiful.
SPEAKER_00Yep, and grass creek. Um as as as long as the drive was, the lunch was wonderful. Thank you. Thanks for packing the what was it, ham and turkey. We did ham, turkey, uh, chips, fruijon. Yeah, I just want to really make that nice for you. Yeah, you really did. We ate it in the double yet, and then we drove the 14 hours back home. Grass creek, we love you. Thanks again, folks, for listening to another episode of the Small Towns Podcast. We're pretty sure we've changed your life for the better. If not, well, we'll try again next time.