The Finale is Just the Beginning

I would say "we're home" except as they say "home is where the heart is" and we've been home these past two months even though we were in different places.  More accurately, and probably philosophically more pragmatic, we're back where the grass needs to be mowed and the weeds pulled.  And there are dozens of appointments and engagements to be met.

In short, this was trip was everything we hoped for and more.  Our visits were uplifting and inspiring, filling our hearts and minds with wealth.  We drove just short of 15,000 miles, visited with about 150 individuals not including clerks, cashiers and other service oriented persons, and passed through 39 states in sixty-one days..  Regrettably we missed many friends and family for a variety of reasons such as we've seen them recently, we see them routinely, we will see them in the near future, we ran out of time or energy, we didn't make adequate contact, or our timing was off as the persons we were to visit were out of town.

The weather varied from a couple days in the 90's in Arizona and many other days when the morning temperatures dipped below freezing.  Fortunately the heater in the van worked well once we figured out how to use it we were quite comfortable.  There was a bit of rain but mostly storm clouds and almost constant wind.

Now we are mowing, gardening, quilting and crocheting, reconnecting with tasks and friends in Oregon and looking forward to the next adventure which probably won't involve so much driving.  New energy levels require new tasks.  We'll wait and see what's next.  For now blogging is on hiatus.

PS - There's an awesome camper van, aka coverage wagon, available for purchase.  It's comfortable, quite carefree and great for a traveling couple.

 

It's Time

It's time!

Yes, it's time that we express our appreciation to everyone and for everyone that is making this adventure so meaningful.  As we approach the final days of this moment in time, we feel this overwhelming gratitude to all who made it possible.

There's no one in particular to whom we owe the greatest gratitude so the order with which we write this is random.

There are those whom we see on our security camera as they come to check on the house and water the plants.  These folks make us feel secure about what earthly possessions we left behind.  Thank you.  We look forward to returning to the beginning and end of this adventure.

One of the reasons for this trip, the initial and primary reason, is to visit family and friends.  That we have done, unfortunately not everyone we call friend or family have seen us.  Those whom we have seen so far have gone beyond any of our fondest expectations in making us feel welcome and in sharing with us this snapshot in time.  We know that there are those whom we will never see again.  There are those whom we have not seen for a long time, those whom we see routinely, and those whom we had never seen before this trip.  There has been and will be a great deal of reflection on each and every person we have encountered on this trip.  Thank you for taking a moment in time to share your lives with us.

Certainly we wish to thank all of you at home who have stepped up to the plate to take on the tasks we would normally do around the community.  We know that these tasks will be cared for long into the future.  Thank you.

And we need to thank Charlie, our four-legged companion, who keeps us on our toes and brings us smiles with his enthusiasm, energy and playful quirks.  Charlie, you will certainly be happy to be home with the leash to be replaced with unfettered acreage for romping.

 

Montana

Alas!  The scenery is becoming more Denvy-like, or at least the scenery is the type with which Denvy really feels comfortable.  There are vast open spaces, mountains that dominate the horizon with white, and black, and blue, brown and green, and rivers that run clear and wide, streams that bounce down the mountains deep in narrow gouges, clouds that sparkling white among the blue and others that loom dark with rain, lakes that reflect the vanishing horizon or ripple white with random wind tossed waves, and broad farmed valleys with mountains on each side.

 

I don’t know where or when the seed for that attraction happened, I just know it’s in my being.

 

And there’s lots of this scenery, which you know if you’ve ever crossed Montana from side to side.  We entered Montana from the south near Billings and overnighted in Bozeman.  Apparently WalMart in Bozeman is popular, needed and well used.  It had it’s own section for campers.  There were many RV’s in the apparent designated corner.

 

Out of Bozeman we drove to the south edge of Whitefish or the north edge of Kalispell (your choice) to visit nephew Rory Cameron and his wife Tricia.  They moved to this acreage from southern California several years ago.  She does legal work from her home computer and he expresses this love of the outdoors, nature and animals with his horses, his manicured garden and construction projects.  One son graduated from high school last year and the other will graduate in June.  Both were off doing their thing so we didn't see them.

 

After a brief 15-minute drive south, still between Whitefish and Kalispell, we supped a stew and sourdough bread with great-nephew Peter (son of Bill and Cherie), his wife Sarah (also the cook) and their two elementary school daughters.  I had a great deal of fun with the girls as they were eager to share their newfound activity of crocheting.  They had learned to chain and so they were creating long chains.  Someday they will learn from their mother how to crochet and double crochet and turn and increase and maybe even a magic circle.  I hope to follow their progress.  Oh, by the way, this is a family of serious hikers which works well with Glacier National Park and many mountain trails just minutes away.

 

Really Good Old High School Friends

Ree, Tim, Melodie, Al

 

We're now a full eight weeks into this experiment, this trek, this adventure, this road trip.  As expected we're starting to feel the urge to get back to the home pastures.  But there's more to do and we will do it before the lawn gets mowed at home.

This may be a bit out of chronological order but here is the latest.  It’s a long haul between the last visit and the next so we split this drive into two shorter jaunts allowing a bit of time for napping, checking emails, getting some paperwork done and writing two entries into the blog.

 

Our hope Monday morning as we left Rapid City was to see the Custer State Park bison.  We swooped south, followed the “backest” of back road and only saw one by the road and four or five up a ravine in the distance.  We’ll settle for a prairie dog town, a scattering of deer, some prone horned antelope, a singleton wild turkey and lots of rocks that camouflaged as wannabe wildlife.  Despite the lack of bison the drive was so much like home.

 

Late midday we arrived at the home of a dear high school friend of mine, Tim, and his sweet wife, Ree.  Even though we’ve driven by Belle Fourche a time or two before, times that were rushed for one reason or another, this was the first visit in this home after about 50 years since we saw them in the earlier home in Hebron.  Ree is a music major and has three keyboard instruments – an upright piano, a harpsichord, and a “new one on me,” a butterfly grand.  It’s smaller than a baby grand; it’s symmetric with two covers that open for louder sounds on both sides making it look like a butterfly.  Who would have known?

 

I needed to call ahead to another classmate (Melodie) adjusting the next day’s schedule who was a good friend of Tim’s but had not seen or heard from Tim since graduation.  I put the phone on the table with the speaker on and told them who was on the phone.  What a delight it was to hear them reconnect after 60 years.  This will be a highlight in this trip.

 

We drove three hours, one hour from Melodie and Al’s home, and found a parking spot with our favorite truckers and fellow RVers in a WalMart lot in Sheridan, Wyoming.  Melodie was a classmate in high school.  I remember Tim’s father taking him, myself and Melodie to see a movie in the neighboring town when we were in high school.  It was El Cid.  Melodie went on to college and married Al whom she met there.  She continues to teach as a substitute while Al who operates a radio station has recently purchased an old vacated Ben Franklin store which they are remodeling to house a half dozen boutiques.  Their dream is to revitalize the old downtown of Hardin, Montana.

We swung back a few miles from Hardin to tour the Little Big Horn Battlefield, a National Park.  We love our old-person free National Park passes!  This park was very nicely laid out and displayed with headstones scattered throughout the hillsides where soldiers and warriors died. It was a major clash of cultures and so many young men on both sides died.

 

Now we are soaking in the sun after several more hours of driving, parked in our favorite chain of camp sites – WalMart.

 

South Dakota

 

Today, among other things, was a day of clouds.  The morning was routine, overcast and blah.  Midday was sunny and quite pleasant.  We spent early afternoon with friends and as we were about to leave we could hear heavy rain which included a few moments of hail.  

 

And then it started.  

 

As we drove west out of South Dakota, the clouds to the north were dark as night.  To the southwest big fluffy white ones were set off by a dark backdrop of  threatening clouds.  We were headed northwest and it looked bright.

 

The drive was some two hundred miles and the conditions changed by the moment.  The road tended to the west and the southwest clouds slipped behind us.  Then to the northwest and the west the skies darkened as the northern ones had a dash of white amid the appearance of rain; it was snow.  Minutes became hours and the road turned wet but our windshield remained dry.  Over the next ridge the edges of the road were white; possibly hail or snow.  Now the threatening clouds cautiously slipped behind us while others grew in the north, then the south, and even in the west.  Whenever we drove directly toward clouds, the route changed and we skirted between the showers.  Still no need for wipers.  However, Gail was constantly taking pictures as the clouds morphed in color, shape, tone, height, and threatening appearance.  It rained the entire evening and we enjoyed the displays without hardly a drip on the windows.

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Sunday started with a quick breakfast in a café with my lifelong friend John.  Our parents were friends and we were born months apart so we probably played with each other in our cribs.  We attended six years of grade school together and after six years apart as his father followed his teaching career we landed in the same college.  While his career followed time in Viet Nam and teaching, he now gathers plant and soil samples for a ranching experiment for NDSU; going strong at 77 he is.

 

After a four-hour drive from Dickinson along the North/South Dakota border we spent a couple hours on the ranch/farm of the Scarboroughs.  Mrs. Pam Scarborough was my 51-year old niece who died just three months ago.  This day was pleasant allowing us an opportunity to chat outside on the deck while throwing the ball for our dogs  Their two-year old golden lab likes to fetch as much as Charlie.  Charlie also enjoyed the freedom of the open fields, the cattle and a peer who could match his athletic abilities.  Pam’s sister Sharla came by for Mother’s Day along with three of her five children, so there were a total of six great nephews and nieces roaming the yard and sharing stories about school and stuff.

 

After another three-hour drive we shared our evening meal with Samantha, an adopted daughter of Gail’s brother Stuart.  Sam is a traveling nurse and is just about to complete her contract in Rapid City.  She shared many stories about her nursing here and there but also threw in a few about raising a post-secondary school son back in Florida.  It sometimes seems like a miracle that we get through raising our families.

 

Overnight was in another WalMart in Rapid City.

Ken, Joyce, Jim, Jane, Denvy, Darlys

While there have been numerous surprises or unexpected events on this journey, last evening was notable.  We expected to park in some vacant lot in Hebron last night, however, we received an unexpected phone call inviting us to stay in this lady’s mother’s yard, a farm yard.  The lady, Kerry, was a student when I worked at the University of Jamestown, actually she worked for me, and we discovered not only that we came from the same home town but that we were remotely related.  Now she’s the town banker.  

 

Her mother, Pam, was a classmate in Hebron but about six years younger than I.  After we identified ourselves and plugged in the covered wagon, they asked if we wanted to see her quilting.  This was unbelievable.  Her entire basement was filled with shelves of fabrics, and boxes of fabrics, and a couple sewing machines.  Her main floor had quilts of all sizes hanging and lying around; the patterns and colors were quite varied.  Apparently she has done shows and exhibits with as many as a hundred quilts.  The tour was like going through a museum. (We forgot to take pictures.)

 

This morning we met for brunch with some high school classmates who lived in the area (Jane, Joyce, Jim, Darlys and Ken).  I’ve been to school reunions before but like so many times during this trek, the conversations became quite detailed and reached into the depths of our lives.  There were stories of being discipled in school, working the first cafeteria, after school activities; stories of first jobs and starting families as well as those about classmates who are no longer with us.  We reviewed old pictures and discussed where we sat in the classroom.  Some of us even remembered that we sat alphabetically our senior year.

 

Finally we took a picture with the six of us who came together and quickly reminisced the classmates who weren’t with us, about 11 out of 30.  Our hugs had the underlining theme that this may be the last time we share stories and hugs.  The official 60^th class reunion is this summer but this was a gift from these five to meet us during our time passing through.  This trip is so important to all of us.

Bismarck

Deona, Payton's future business, Steve

Polly retold her story about her uncle and newlywed bride who were mauled by a bear when they were hiking in Alaska.  Gail related again her story of picking up a couple in Alaska who were mauled by a bear and the man was too tall (long) to fit in the ambulance.  We first shared these stories 26 years ago while Polly and I worked for Jamestown College, now the University of Jamestown, as we sat at a Homecoming banquet.  The small world connection was that these were the same persons.  Polly was director of development those years ago; today she is the university president.

 

We talked candidly as friends do and she shared that the worst day of life was when she had to decide what to do regarding COVID.  She said she knew that if she closed the college staff and facility would have to be laid off.  She couldn’t bear that thought and chose to rearrange the college and keep it going.  She cited only one case of serious illness.  She truly loves her students, faculty and staff.

 

We had been invited by the assistant development director (she has other titles also) to breakfast that morning at the college cafeteria.  In line waiting for an omelet we met a coworker (coach) from those 26-plus years ago.  We chatted, exchanged stories and went our ways.  

 

We were a bit early for our meeting with our granddaughter Payton so we stopped at the RV shop to ask a question which they couldn’t resolve.  They discovered that the mystery motor was a fan under Gail’s chair but couldn’t find a way to turn it off.  I checked the iPad manual and learned there’s a switch which was accidentally bumped on.  We switched it off and the purring and draining of the battery quit.

 

We finished using up the extra hour at my brother George’s where we would spend the night.

 

We met Payton at the Cracker Barrel where we got an earful from a young lady trying to make her way in life.  She surprised us with the news that she was going to buy a one-person nutritional drink shop in downtown Mandan.  It’s called Impact Nutrition.  We stopped by the next evening, took some pictures and recognized that it was a very neat clean establishment.  We wish her well.

 

After an evening with George and Karen, and a warm overnight in the covered wagon, we shared breakfast with Payton’s sister Deona, whose birthday is today (May 6).  We had the same young waitress as the day before and enjoyed some bantering back and forth including the acquired taste for grits which Deona had never tasted.  It was unanimous that none of us had acquired the taste for grits.  Deona has a new puppy, still works for Starbucks and is looking for an opportunity to move on to another location, possibly with her boyfriend to Virginia.  Grandma and grandpa are a bit cautious about this decision, but it’s not ours to make.

 

The afternoon was spent with a Hebron graduate who is a distant relative and who manages the Hebron Historical Society site on Facebook.  It was an informative conversation getting both information about the big picture of the family and specific details.  The evening was spent sharing a meal at the Pizza Ranch with George’s son Glendon and family.

Austin, Glendon, Penny, George, Sheldon, Karen

The Alms

Brad, David (inset), Judy, Gail, Norma, Brad (again), Becky, Gail (again), Steve

Brad walked in with a small stuffed toy, a horse.  “Ellen made this for me.  When I knew I was meeting you today, I got it out to bring along.”  The Ellen Brad was referring to is Gail’s mother.  Gail remembers helping her mother make these stuffed animals, mainly stuffing them, this one given to Brad probably when he was quite young and his father died.  This particular horse was a patterned corduroy with a large white fluffy mane and tail.

 

We are exhausted this evening as we pull into the campus of the University of Jamestown.  I quipped, “I don’t know why I’m so exhausted this evening.”  

 

“Sure you do,” replied Gail.  “We just spent the afternoon reminiscing and philosophizing non-stop with six exuberant former classmates and neighbors of mine.”

 

The two families of Alm cousins lived about a couple miles from Gail’s family farm.  Today we were at the home of Norma Alm who married Gail’s classmate David Warrey.  Judy is Norma’s sister.  

 

The other family was represented by Steve, Becky and Brad.  They have one other sister Nancy who is in Oregon visiting her daughter, her husband and their son.  Both parents work at WOU.

 

Norma and David served coffee and lemonade, and banana bread, nuts, fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies and a coffee cake made just for us from a recipe given to them by Ellen.

 

Get the picture?  There was a lot to talk about regarding the mixing and mingling of stories.  Becky commented once that I looked a bit glazed over with all the stories with which I had no connection.  Actually I loved them especially at the end of the visit when Becky said I get the award for patiently listening.

 

David did show me his collection of sports and military memorabilia and other antique collectibles.  As I stepped into the room I was completely reminded of the collection of sports memorabilia that Al Kvidt has that we saw last week.

 

In contrast to so many previous days, the sun is bright and warm and the wind is almost calm.  It’s a fantastic evening as we drift off to sleep.

 

Fargo - North Dakota

Karl - Beth - Mary

The wind has died down, the temperature has crept up a bit, the skies are overcast but there’s not rain and the forecast is for continued important reaching into the 70’s but the end of the week.  There’s hope for the farmers to get into the fields and plant their corps.  In the Red River Valley of North Dakota there’s very little drainage because the countryside is essentially flat vying with a calm ocean surface for flattest place on earth, so we have to wait for the moist to soak into the ground.

The day is calm.  Mary fixed us a scrambled egg and gooey sweet roll breakfast after which we watched more game shows on TV as we crocheted and did needlepoint  and chatted about life and death.  Mary’s husband, my brother, died last September.  Midday we grabbed a few groceries and visited with Beth Moore, a Cameron but ironically a second cousin to Gail by the McLean side of the family.  She has lived well with MS most of her life, now in a assistant living facility.  She served us snickerdoodles and brownies and thought we were lying when we said we didn’t drink coffee.

Evening was spent over a lasagna, salad and sponge cake with a strawberry whipped cream topping, conversation and a bit of a game show on TV.  It’s hard to think that my baby brother David is no longer with us.  Mary however seems to be doing well.  Her son Karl was here for the evening and shared stories about his work as a electrician, continuing to remodel portions of his house and his new trees that he will plant this week.

This morning we’re off to Casselton to visit a collection of Gail’s high school classmates and do some basic household chores in the covered wagon.  Yes, house cleaning doesn’t end just because you’re away from home but still in a mobile home.  The wind is very mild, the temperatures are pleasant and the skies are blue.  It's another great day.  Hopefully this will lead to the farmers getting into the fields.

Weekend

Maureen and Jim - Avis and Gary //  Christy and Cam

"Would you like to go to a local high school presentation of the 'Sound of Music'?"  

"Sure," we said, after all it was 1966 when my sisters invited me to the movie on May 7.  That's almost exactly 56 years ago.  My sisters were a freshman and a sophomore in college where I was a senior.  They each had a date and suggested I do the same.  I invited Gail.  Eventually we all married our dates.  The one making the invitation was my sister and her husband, Avis and Gary in Volga, South Dakota.

There's more to this story.  We drove to the high school and found a note on the door stating that the performance was cancelled because there was illness among the cast.  We repeated the process the next night and the note read "Postponed until May 20 and 21."  No "Sound of Music" this week for us.  Instead we spread out a jigsaw puzzle on the dining table.

Enroute to Volga, near Brookings, South Dakota, we drove through fog and rain.  Gail awoke from a short nap and said that things looked worse.  My reply was "You missed the bad stuff.  I won't have been able to see that car in front of us just moments ago."  Today the local news is with regard to local flooding.  Last week the news was about the snow storm that has a small town in northwest North Dakota with no power for about two weeks.  And yes, we have seen snow in the shadows along the roads - in North Dakota in May.

Just miles before reaching Brookings there is the town of Clear Lake.  My records indicate that our daughter Becky's grandmother's headstone is there.  The Internet identified her block, lot and site, but without a map that would be useless.  Fortunately as we rounded the corner into the cemetery there was a map and within moments we found her headstone (Nona), her father's headstone (Becky's great-grandfather) and Nona's brother.  Another check-off the bucket list.

Now we're in West Fargo with our sister-in-law Mary after a Italian meal at Olive Garden with Gail's niece Christy and her daughter Cam.  They live near Ayr, the motherlode of the Cameron family, and were able to fill us in on all the local events.  They had brought with themselves a picture album of last year's Cameron reunion on the farm.