Travels with The Rayman

Yesterday a.m. I pulled myself out of bed, grabbed some coffee, and decided to work on my book.  It was just this last Thursday that my writing class critiqued my first 20 pages, double spaced of my budding masterpiece of a book about my family history.  This gave me a push to work on the book as many of the people thought kindly of my efforts.

When I finally took a break it was 1:20 and we decided that was enough writing for the day.  We needed to take a ride.  And  because I had my mind on history, I suggested we blaze over to Paso Robles so that I could take a few pictures of the house my Grandparents lived in at one time. 

The house itself, was built in 1914 out at our family ranch.  It had no foundation, no insulation, no sewer then.  But I had a few pictures of my Grandparents there, so I wanted an up to date photo to verify that it was the house I was mentioning in my book.

 

 

Anyway, we drove out so I could snap my photos and as I was walking on the main road in front of the house, I espied a man on a tractor coming down the hill toward the house.  In my befriending him (as I was trespassing), I was delighted to meet Mr. Bernie Tyner.  His wife, Joan, lived in that house from 1958 until she left for college.  Many years.  

In visiting, to my dismay, he told me that they had just sold their house which sits above this house.  It is all one parcel.  Our family essentially gave the property to Mr. and Mrs. Thimm, his wife’s parents, as a retirement gift for all the years the Thimms lived there and for his service as foreman.   Several of Joan’s stories will be in my book.  

I could not have arranged a better meeting if I tried.  We had a great visit and spent some time reminiscing as Rayman and Beau waited in the car.  He also confirmed to me that the barn is the original as is the bunk house.  

The property was just sold and will close escrow shortly.  Oh, this is sad news for history.  Because of the history, I contacted the Pioneer Museum and the Paso Robles Area Historical Society to alert them in case there was any interest in preserving anything.  Because Bernie took me inside for a look around, I saw some fun wallpaper, a sink or two, a toilet, a bathtub, and other small things.  Perhaps something can be saved.  The bunk house which sits to

 

 

the right of the house  had many uses over the years including holding tools, saddles, and seasonal workers that my Grandmother cooked for during the 30s.

 

At any rate, serendipity is alive and well and helped me immensely in my quest for family history.