Jun 25, 2019
While
working at a print shop in Pasadena, news came though that the
government was giving homesteads to World War I veterans. After his
shift, Ann’s father Bill Underhill , got in his car with a shovel
and a sleeping bag and headed to 29 Palms to stake his claim. After
moving to the area permanently, he recognized he needed a job and
started The Desert
Trail newspaper.
After
her own jobs in the various Underhill family businesses - the
newspaper, movie theater, roller rink - Ann felt the urge to expand
her horizons beyond the desert. She shares memories being at the
home of a grade school friend, with immigrant parents, and being so
curious about the air mail letters she saw on their table. A trip
she took in an Airstream trailer across the country with fellow
homesteaders, the Hatch family (Liz Meyer Ep 40) really expanded her
horizons.
While
at Scripps College, Ann met her husband, Mike, who also had an
interest in traveling. Soon after marriage and they graduation,
moved to Washington DC, where Mike joined the State Department
Foreign Service, which took them to Belgrade (Yugoslavia),
returning to the states for a short time before they were off to
Vienna, Austria. As residents in these countries, they traveled to
many places in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as
Asia.
On
their return to the states, while working in graphic design, Ann
decided to change things up and go back to school for her Masters
in Architecture. With Mike’s work opportunity with the Air Force
Academy, Ann was able to study at University of Colorado in Denver.
After finishing her studies, she and Mike returned to Washington
DC.
A
number of years later, Ann found herself returning to 29Palms more
often as her mother, Prudie, was aging and still living in the home
they all grew up in, which is now an Airbnb called ‘Broadview’. Ann and Mike
have now retired in 29 Palms.
Back
in 29 Palms for fourteen years now, Ann is the President of
Sky’s the Limit Observatory and
very involved in all the activities and events that happen
including their Full Moon nights and Star Parties (which happen
every Saturday night that the moon is not full). The facility is
experiencing great popularity and the organization is always
looking for good volunteers, particularly those familiar with using
telescopes, and grant writers. The big fundraiser for the
observatory is the Night Sky
Festival, September 21, 2019. This event sells out, so
get your tickets early!
Ann
says, "29 Palms is a great place to be raised, it's a good place to
leave and it's the perfect place to end up."