Jim & Alice LaPeer
We are Jim & Alice LaPeer, longtime residents of Cannon Township, MI. For non-Michiganders, this places us a little North of Grand Rapids, and about 30 miles inland from Lake Michigan. We raised our children here, Mary Opal & Tom… Mary now being Mrs. Joel Owen and Tom now being Staff Sergeant Thomas LaPeer, Air Force Meteorologist.
In late 2012, Alice and I decided to retire after having worked for over 40 years. I was the Treasurer of Cannon Township, prior to that, 30+ years of IT Computer Technical Management for the two largest firms in West Michigan. Alice worked 22 years in banking, holding positions from Customer Service Representative to Branch Management for a large Statewide Bank. In January 2013 we left home in our new (to us) Motorhome… following our long-held dreams to extensively travel the Western United States. We retained our home base in Michigan (Click to see Home) located in the Bear Creek valley along Cannonsburg Rd.
On this Web Site, we talk a little about ourselves, share our travels, and record a little on our interesting Family History. You are welcome to peruse our site, and enjoy whatever you may find here. We update travels on a regular basis.
From our very first days together as a young couple dating in Texarkana, Texas, Alice and I have enjoyed traveling, hiking, camping, and seeing as much of God’s Country as we could. In those days (1972) we would drive up to Narrows Dam (Lake Greeson) in Southwest Arkansas, and spend a long day. Later, as newlyweds, came weekend camping trips to Lake Ouachita State Park and Crystal Springs (Charlton Recreation Area) close to Hot Springs, AR; Later yet, when the kids came along we would pack them up and head to Texas for a visit with Mamaw & Papaw. And when the kids became a little older, we would pack the van… and head West to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California and then to Texas… taking 3-weeks to drive 5,000 miles.
How it all started…
It started here, in California… on June 18, 1971, at this pull-out along the San Luis Reservoir on CA 152… That morning I had just been discharged from the Marines (DLIWC – Monterey, CA) and was driving back home to Michigan. I was 21 years old, and it felt good to have my Marine Corps Service completed. I stopped for a driving break, a map check, and then… I had to make a decision on just ‘how’ to drive back to Michigan. I flipped a quarter here – Heads go South on I-5 (Seen in distance of picture), to AZ, I-40, then to Texarkana, TX to briefly visit my Grandmother Morgan before continuing… or Tails go North to San Francisco, I-80/70 then back to Michigan via Kansas City. The coin toss came up Heads… Texas… where 5 days later I met Alice Ann Ragsdell of Nash, Texas… and hung around there until I convinced her to marry me. (She said yes!)