If you want to read strict genealogy, punch the delete button now. In years past, I called this a trip report. Some folks enjoyed reading it, and some complained that it has no right or reason to be on a genealogy mailing list. I was told that since my trips do have some genealogical and historical reasoning, it is welcome on the lists. So here goes. My wife Elizabeth and I left Guthrie, Oklahoma early morning Saturday, May 20. Stopped overnight in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. Didn't make it to West Liberty, Kentucky until late Sunday afternoon. We always spend our time there with my dad's cousin Ruie Nickell. She has very few written records, but she is a walking, talking genealogy library. On Monday the 21st, we spent much of the day at the library in West Liberty. Found a lot of marriage dates I had wanted for ages, mostly on my Jones and Nickell families and one of the Lemaster marriages I had wanted. Also copied some very interesting information from "Selections From Morgan County History." That book contains a lot of stuff I had never heard about. Fascinating book!!! I got Xerox copies of quite a few of the marriage records at the courthouse after I finished at the library. Tuesday evening in Cannonsburg, we attended the viewing for Tara Potter, 42 year old daughter of my cousin Billie Jean McGuire Stephens. Billie Jean has been in very bad health for more than a year, and this death was very hard for her. Wednesday afternoon, we drove to Huntington, West Virginia and visited with Leroy and Dee Caudill. Surprisingly, Dee and my wife are more closely related than Leroy and I are. Liz and Dee are descended from Chloe Flynn Ballard whom Daniel Boone had rescued from an Indian camp. We had a great visit, and Dee served a delicious dinner. Wednesday evening after we got home, I got to meet another cousin I'd never met before. Bruce McLin, who now lives at Lacy Creek, came to Ruie's to meet us and visit a while. Bruce's grandmother and my grand father were brother and sister. His grandmother was Carrie Caudle Howard. Bruce sure reminded me of my grand dad. Later that evening I talked on the phone with Joyce Blackburn Nickell. Joyce is an antebellum historian and really studies the Civil War. We talked quite a lot about John DeSha and Priscilla Jones Nickell and of Joseph DeSha and Freelove Jones Nickell - brothers married sisters. These Jones women were sisters to my great great grandfather Uriah Jones whose wife Matilda Jane Nickell was sister to John and Joseph. Jane and Uriah are buried in Oklahoma. John and Priscilla are buried in the Canada Nickell Cemetery at Matthew. I wouldn't find Joseph and Freelove's graves until the next day. The wonderful wife of another wonderful cousin there gave me a copy of the Morgan County Cemetery Listings. Wish I had a free full year to find some of those cemeteries. I definitely wanted to find the one in which Joseph and Freelove Jones Nickell were buried. I had obtained a county map at the court house and was sure I could find it if I didn't get permanently lost. I figured ( and I did it) I could drive down Jones Creek road to see the area in which old Ambrose and Martha Craig Jones had settled and come out a little south of the South Fork Church near Index. That worked out great. I really enjoyed the drive through there. It's all such beautiful country. We went south to Walnut Grove Church and turned off on state road 844. I went to two cemeteries before I realized that somplace we missed the one we wanted. I finally did what men are not well know for doing. I stopped and asked directions. A very nice lady with some of the most beautiful flower beds I've ever seen came to the door before I even got near enough to knock. I asked if she could tell me where the Nickell cemetery was. She said "which one?" I told her I was looking for the graves of Joseph DeSha and Freelove Nickell. She told me she thought she knew where it was but wanted to call her mother first to make sure. Didn't take long, and she gave us directions. We had just not seen the road. Drove right past it again, but didn't go far. The road was very steep and wet, so I walked up. Wasn't very far though. This old "smoker" only had to stop once for breath. The cemetery was well cared for and absolutely beautiful. And, surprisingly, not my usual luck, but Joseph and Freelove's stone was the first one inside the gate. Joseph DeSha Nickell, April 15, 1831 - August 23, 1913. Freelove J. Nickell, August 17, 1830 - September 23, 1878. I don't know if the J. stood for Jones or if it was her middle initial. Some one had told me her name was Patience Freelove. Does anyone out there know for sure? That evening after getting back to Ruie's, Joyce Lewis Lemaster came to visit. Wonderful lady!!! She writes the Lacy Creek news for the Licking Valley Courier. Not long after she left, I talked again on the phone with Joyce Nickell about Joseph and Freelove's grave. she wants to go see it, too. Friday evening we went to the Canada Nickell cemetery at Matthew. I got some pictures of Big Joe and Matilda Lindel Nickell's graves and of John and Priscilla Jones Nickell's graves. We put up a new flag at the grave of Thomas Nickell, Ruie's husband. When we got back to the house, there was a message that Ruie's brother Paul B. Gullett had been taken to Morehead to the hospital. Paul B. has been undergoing cancer treatments. His white blood count had gotten too low and they were going to keep him over the weekend. I haven't heard yet, but I sure am praying that he's doing okay. Saturday was the Wesley Caudle family reunion. We usually hold the reunion at the top of Trace Fork at the old home place, but this year the rains had made the trail too muddy. We had our dinner at the Lacy Creek Church pavilion, then went to Elk Fork Church for a baby shower. The new baby will be Ruie's first great grandchild. Of course, it wasn't really a baby shower. It was a surprise (Really was, too) 80th birthday celebration for Ruie. I'm sure there were at least 100 people there to help her celebrate. We all had a really great time. Quite a few people came to Ruie's house that evening for more visiting. Early Sunday morning, Georgia Lindon came by and showed me her genealogy and family history albums. Sure wish I was so organized. I hear from Georgia fairly often by e-mail as she researches quite a few of my family lines, including the McGuires. We left Ruie's about 9:15 a.m. Sunday morning to head for home with delays in several places in Kentucky for sight seeing. We drove through Beattieville, Ravenna, and Irvine just to see that part of the state where my great great great grandparents Ambrose Jones and Martha Newton were married and lived. If I had planned that part of the trip ahead of time, there were some good folks I would have contacted ahead of time so I could perhaps have met them - at least Joretta Newton Estes. Sorry I couldn't remember her last name, so I couldn't even call her. Would love to have met some of the Newton family. We had lunch at Hardee's in Irvine. Couldn't find a regular restaurant. Joretta and her sister Pat Newton Brown had told me about the pottery factory at Bybee. Their description made me decide I wanted to go see that place - family business since 1809, hand thrown pottery!!!! It was Sunday, so we stopped long enough for me to take some pictures, then went on into Richmond for the night. Monday morning we went back to the Bybee pottery store and stood in line in the rain for about 15 minutes before the doors opened. And just like Pat and Joretta had explained, I believe the shelves were emptied in about 15 or 20 minutes. We did manage to grab up 4 nice small pieces without getting our arms broken. I've never seen anything like it other than in the movies when women during world war II fought over silk stockings when the store got them in. In fact, I saw it happen in Stillwater, Oklahoma. I watched through the big store window. Had breakfast back in Richmond, then walked some on Main Street taking pictures. Being a holiday, everything was closed. After a few pictures, we drove out to see what we thought was a cabin in which Kit Carson was born. What we found was just a sign marking that he was born in that area. Then we went to Fort Boonesboro. Very interesting place. I was happy to get some good pictures of the memorial marker showing my ancestral names of Ambrose and Jesse Coffey and one of the Hammonds family. After Boonesboro, we went to Harrodsburg and old For Harrod. That was another very interesting piece of Kentucky and American history. From there we went to Bardstown for the night. Naturally, we stayed at the "My Old Kentucky Home" Motel. I think Bardstown owes its very life to Stephen Foster. We ate breakfast at "My Old Kentucky Home" restaurant. We did a lot of site seeing on Stephen Foster Drive. Took a lot of pictures. The Mason County Courthouse and Saint Joseph's Proto-Cathedral!! Toured "My Old Kentucky Home" where Stephen Foster wrote the song of that same name. It's a beautiful home and was a very interesting tour. From there, we went to the best Civil War Museum I've ever seen. We then drove down to New Hampton and toured the Kentucky Railroad Museum. Liz's father was a railroad man, so it was especially interesting for her. Of course, I enjoyed it, too. After that, we went on to Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home, then to his birthplace. Both were really interesting. It's hard to believe that someone who had lived like that would ever become president. That ended our site seeing. Had to head for home then. Made it as far as Goodlettsville, TN again for the night. On Wednesday 31, we didn't do any site seeing either except for the middle of the interstate. Over nighted at Russellville, Arkansas. Came on home Thursday, arriving about 2:30 p.m. after driving a total of 2701 miles. It was a great vacation, lots of wonderful visiting, lots of genealogy and history finds, lots of good site seeing, and lots of fun. I'm almost ready to go again, but would miss my computer and e-mail too much to go this soon. LOL. I hope I haven't bored any one too much. I love to tell about my trips and would like for others to tell about theirs, too. Bud Caudle Guthrie, Oklahoma