Diane and I have been doing some traveling lately. April 8 through 15, we were in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Believe it or not, that was a central location for us to hold a mini-family reunion. Oh yeah, it had to be a beach location.

Diane had two of her three daughters there. The oldest, Tammy and her husband Brandon La Banca and their four children, nine-year-old Brandon, seven-year–old Brody, six–year-old Brylee and three-year-old Brielle were there. They live in West Orange, New Jersey.

Youngest daughter, Toni, her husband, Jason, Yenglin and three-year-old son, Camden, flew in from Las Vegas.

Middle daughter Dani could not get off work, which prevented her from being there.

Dani’s son, Hunter, did make the trip and he will graduate from high school this June. He is now 18. He brought his girlfriend, Julia, along with him.

Also coming in for the week was Tom Cordaro, the father of the three girls and Diane’s first husband. I knew Tom before I knew Diane. He served on the Fountain Hills School Board in the late 1970s and was a member of the Sheriff’s posse. We used to play golf together on occasion, not knowing what the future would bring. I met Diane many years after their divorce.

We lucked out on the weather during our week in South Carolina. The week before we arrived the area had freezing temperatures. In fact, the strawberry farmers lost most of their crops. It was still in the low the low 40s when we landed on Saturday evening. But it warmed up quite nicely and we had mid-70s the rest of the week, which was perfect for being at the beach. I think it’s funny how kids amuse themselves at the beach. Even if it’s their first time on a beach, they seem to instinctively know that kids like filling a bucket with sand and then dumping it all over again. The same goes for building sand castles or digging a hole for hours.

Both of my kids did it and all of the grandchildren seemed to enjoy these same things to do on the beach.

Myrtle Beach has become one of our favorite vacation spots, although it isn’t cheap to get there. The town has become a giant tourist attraction. Its main highway through town is called King’s Highway and is lined with restaurants, live-action theaters, amusement parks and miniature golf courses.

It was a fun week for all of us.

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Upon our return to Fountain Hills, I heard some sad news. Dave Dawkins, one of the original McCulloch white Jeep sales team, passed away.

He was 82. Dave liked to remain out of the limelight and that was true to the end. He did not want an obituary in the newspaper notifying people about his death. He, his wife, Marti, and their son Joe, operated Dave Dawkins Realty and Valley Land Company for many years in the community from a building known as Coplaz I on Saguaro Boulevard.

His original office was located in a modular building in Fountain Park. The building later served as the Chamber office and was the original location of the museum. Dawkins was the original owner of the adjacent property on which the Village Bazaar, the town’s first shopping center, was built. The Village Bazaar complex along with the modular building was torn down in 1999 to make way for the Plaza Fountainside center that is located there now.

Dave knew much about the early days of the community. He donated a travel bag for display in the museum that was given to each flight visitor who flew here to buy property.

He also donated a piece of metal that he found on the crash site of a mid-air collision of two B-24 bombers on a training mission in 1944 during World War II. The site is on an uninhabited area in the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

A pilot, he also was a member of the Commemorative Air Force, a group of former military pilots that restored old aircraft. He helped in the renovation of the “Sentimental Journey,” one of the few remaining B-17 bombers.