The neighborhood and lovely Betty lost a true treasure this month - Maurice deVerteuil - born in Paris, June 29,
1930 and died in
Ft Lauderdale May 7,
2013. Maurice and wife, Betty have led an eventful life full of delightful tales. Here is just one that we published in the Croissant Park News back in 2008. Enjoy.
The Travels of the DeVerteuils
Dear Friends:
We have just returned from a 7500 mile jaunt which took us to 13 states and 3 provinces. We left Fort Lauderdale on June 2nd and promptly rant into a hailstorm around Fort Pierce. So we started off with a nice clean van that we call Inertia, bound for Fort Benton, Montana.
As we arrived in Pensacola, my wife, Betty, driving, Inertia suddenly stopped sparking and Betty, with her usual presence of mind, coasted on to the grass verge thus avoiding completely blocking the road. We have been members of AAA for many years but never had a road emergency before. So we called them on the cell phone that our late son Rupert had given us for just such an occasion. The Pensacola Police arrived and were most courteous, competent and helpful. The Chief of Police should be proud of his staff. Soon a tow truck arrived and for the first time in her 20 year life, Inertia was lifted off and taken to be repaired.
As Inertia is not amphibian, we avoided the flooded Midwestern states and arrived in New Mexico via Raton Pass (8000 ft) where we were surrounded by snow capped mountain peaks.
In Shreveport we visited the Norton Art Gallery. Its locality and contents are the best we have seen.
In Lyttleton, Colorado we found and photographed a mural painted by our friend Christine.
50 years ago, when living in Australia we used to listen to WWV, Fort Collins, Colorado, a station which continually broadcasts the correct time. WWV is still there, still broadcasting Co-ordinated Universal Time to all the world.
Though we saw many hundreds of motor cycles, we only saw one with a side car.
Every night we stayed in motels. Mostly they look alike, but in Boulder we were guests at the Foot of the Mountain motel, an attractive collection of wooden rustic cottages located at the base of the Rockies.
Travelling into Wyoming, we came to Sheridan. At King’s Saddlery, where Queen Elizabeth personally comes to buy her side saddles which she uses when reviewing her regiments, Maurice enjoyed showing off the belt he engraved from a strip of leather he had bought from King’s three years previously.
Spending a couple of days at Great Falls, Montana, we toured the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center where we were befriended by two Newfoundland therapy dogs. We also admired the Falls and the Russell Museum of Western Art.
The afternoon of Sunday, June 29th we arrived at Fort Benton, our planned destination. That evening we celebrated Maurice’s 78th birthday at the Grand
From Fort Benton we drove to the Lands of the Queen, crossing the border into Saskatchewan where the Canadian Customs officers, having queried us as to our possession of fire arms, commented when we told him we had none, “that’s strange, I heard everybody in Florida has a gun”.
We passed through Grasslands National Park which shows how the prairie used to be in ancient times. Though we saw some of the buffalo which roam the area, none came to hem us in as they did a few years ago in the Bison National Refuge in Montana.
In the capital, Regina, we spent the morning inspecting the Royal Saskatchewan museum, possibly the best of its kind. A treat was in store for us in the afternoon which we spent at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Center, part museum and part headquarters. The show portrays the history and achievement of the force. Of special interest is that in our youth both Betty and I were familiar with the force, having heard that “The Mountie always gets his man”. We doubt whether it is still so these days. As seamen, it was interesting to read that the Mounties transited the Northwest Passage both ways in the early 1940’s in their small wooden ship St Roch.
From Regina, we drove along the Trans-Canada Highway, probably the longest road in the world as it extends from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland. We, however, only used a small section which took us from grain elevator to grain elevator. These old wooden structures are
dying out, being replaced by giant concrete silos.
We bypassed Winnipeg, arriving at Kenora on Lake of the Woods where we stayed at the Kenora Inn. Our motel room was paneled with blond natural woods and guarded by a personable Labrador retrieve named Buster. He much resembled our friend Merlyn’s dog, Simba and was just as friendly. That evening we dined on the waterfront at Haps and found the local fresh walleye very tasty. Kenora is also home of a fleet of Beaver floatplanes, but it was so windy that none were flying.
From Kenora we drove to Fort Francis on the Canadian/US border. Highway 71 was up hill, down dale and very windy. We passed many lakes and were accosted by another hail storm, the second one this trip, but Inertia needed another wash.
The following day we crossed the border back into the US. Apart from answering questions about some fruit Betty had on board, there were no formalities.
At Lake Kabetogama in Voyageur National park we met a sailing family (father and four children) taking off for a four day cruise in their Flying Scot, a 19ft day sailer. We were most impressed as, though we saw many sailboats, they were all tied to the dock, their owners undoubtedly home and watching TV.
In Duluth, Minnesota, the temperature dropped to about the 50’s but we did see a large “Laker”, James Barker, leaving the harbour. Duluth is the farthest inland port. Ships from Europe, known as Saltys, regularly steam up the St Lawrence Seaway, right to the western end of Lake Superior.
As we left Duluth and entered into Wisconsin, the temperature rose 20 degrees in a few minutes. It must be that Lake Superior has a cooling effect on its shores.
Oshkosh is the home of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Their museum is well worth visiting even for those who have little interest in aviation.
Driving south, we started encountering huge wind generator farms. These extended right into Illinois. There were several of the farms with 100 or more tall windmills.
We crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky. That evening we had drinks at sunset sitting on the levee of the City of Paducah whose floodwalls are adorned by a set of historical murals, reflecting the past history of the town.
Then on to Tennessee and Mississippi and at Selma, Alabama we dined at Tallyho, a romantic restaurant we had visited some 20 years earlier while retracing the 1540 expedition of Hernando do Soto.
From Selma, we were home in three days, spending a little time in Mount Dora, just north of Orlando. Unlike the rest of Florida, Mount Dora is hilly.
We dined at the Gables restaurant. We met with the proprietor who was originally from Glasgow. Maurice and he were able to reminisce about the old Locarno dance hall in Sauchiehall Street, which in its heyday had a rotating stage and two bands. The music never stopped.
When we drove into our own driveway, thankful to Inertia which had taken us so far, so well, we had visited 46 motels and about eighty museums. The chances are we will see more motels and more museums but we doubt if ever again we will be surrounded by snow clad mountaintops or a herd of buffalo.
Maurice and Betty
He will be missed
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