Rose (Smith) Hall

After graduating from what was then WTSU Canyon in 1971, I taught in elementary schools in Pampa, El Paso and Bandera until retirement in 1997. The last few years took me out of the regular classroom and into special education for the gifted/talented program grades Kindergarten through fifth.

Since then I have been involved in church as usher, deacon, teacher, the Stephen Ministry and several social/service groups. There are many committees and projects where everything is done “in an orderly manner”.

I continue to enjoy travel and in the past two years have done so through a house exchange organization. My most recent travel was to Soldotna, Alaska where I visited Aunt Betty, Cousin Wizzy and her husband, Jim. He offered me a ride down to Coopers Landing on the back of his Harley where the four of us had lunch. It was cold but so much fun! Wizzy and Betty followed in a car, thank goodness, because I was happy to return those 75 miles in the warm car with them.

Another cousin, Regina, met me in Seattle where we shopped, saw Pike Street Market, visited the Museum of Flight, had lunch at Space City the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle and took a trip to Snoqualmie Falls visiting two wineries and a chocolate factory and shop en route. Finally we made the trip to Bellingham. From there we took our car on a ferry to Vancouver Island in order to see the Butchart Gardens which are so spectacular!

This was the fourth house exchange I have made. The others were to Milford, New Hampshire; Annapolis, Maryland, and Ophemert, Netherlands. I love traveling this way and recommend it to anyone who likes to travel leisurely and to make new friends all along the way.

I finally have a four-year-old granddaughter—Cierra Nicole—Pete and Angie’s daughter. It has been such fun and I really enjoy keeping her, taking her places and reading to her. I cannot wait until she is old enough to accompany me on the Elderhostel programs for grandparents and grandchildren. She should become a “traveling fool” like her grandmother, don’t you think. They live in Kansas City, Missouri so I do not see them as often as I would like. I see my older son Phil more often as he lives in Austin.