Minneapolis

Cherie, Bill; Greg, Penny; Harley, Teresa, Keith and Suzanne

It's been a full several days, visiting several groups or families each day.

 

As we landed in the Minneapolis area, we parked in the driveway of Greg and Penny, a nephew by Gail’s sister and his wife.  We were also met by grandson Vincent who sends afternoons with grandma until his parents finish their workdays.  Greg has been a musician throughout his education, his early career and now in retirement.  There was a stretch when he worked IT security.  Now he plays bass with several groups and builds string instruments, most recently ukuleles.

 

The next morning, we stopped by for tea and bagels at my second cousin on my father’s side – Marlene Hoerauf and Don Walth.  We’ve been in contact periodically over the years regarding family history.  She has boxes of family data and stories.  Exciting!

 

That evening we drove a bit south for a meal with cousins Harley and Keith Saxowsky and their spouses Teresa and Suzanne.  Harley is retired IT.  Keith is retired as well and spent some of the winter in southern Arizona where he has engaged in creating stained glass windows and with the aid of a community kiln fused glass bowls.

 

Our final morning in the Twin Cities area was with Gail’s nephew and spouse, Bill and Cherie Cameron.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to see all the relatives in the area, eg Avis’ daughter Sharla and family, my brother David’s daughter Stacey and family, and Gail’s nephew Gerry.  I guess this is an opening for another trip.

 

Thursday we headed toward the South Dakota border stopping in Campbell to visiting college friends, Betty Jo and Al Kvidt.  She served as a bridesmaid at our wedding.  He with her support has always has had a strong interest in sports resulting in a collection of more than 400 signed baseballs and over 600 boggle-head statutes of pro athletes.  They have also visited every major league baseball stadium in the United States with a framed collage of all the games’ tickets to verify it.

 

From there we drove a couple hours north to Sebeka where plugged in the electric cord to the house of a niece and husband, Maureen and Jim Dragseth, a pair of lifelong teachers now retired.  Our visit was over breakfast.  They enjoyed traveling including camping around much of the USA and touring Alaska and parts of Central America.  The stories were invigorating and enticing.

Laura, Dick, Diane and David

 

After our trek across Canada we landed in Traverse City, Michigan, with Dick and Diane.  I wrote about them in the last blog.

We left Morrisons after a breakfast of aebleskiners - a new dish to us - made by Dick.  We arrived at a WalMart about an hour north of our designated meeting place with Laura.  We weren't certain what to expect with Laura as we have never met her before.  Our first shack was that the hotel where we would meet her for breakfast was in a pretty classy part of St Louis.  Second was that the hotel was one of the most beautiful we've ever been in.  Third was that Laura is beautiful intelligent well-liked member of the hotel staff.  We chatted for  a couple hours and shared information about our lives and the paths that crossed or almost crossed.  With a full belly and a warm heart, we exchanged hugs and slowly wandered up to our covered wagon.

After participating in the Marj Howard's Zoom Memorial Service we headed to visit Galletly - "David Galletly" as Bond would say.  We met at a Thai restaurant and joined by his son Aaron and his (Aaron's) girl friend Amanda.  Being that Aaron is a bartender with years of food service experience we entrusted him with the entrée selections which he did very well.  A couple hugs and good-byes with Aaron and Amanda and we were off following David to his abode at the end of a dead end street with a huge lawn and a railroad as the back boundary.  We added New York pages to his menu of a Country Western Omelette before some fond hugs and adieus.  We first met David when he came to Alaska with a mission team and stayed for the summer.  He later married our niece whom he met that summer, but alas, that didn't last.

The drive north to Millville, just north east of Rochester, Minnesota, was uneventful if you ignore the gusts of wind and the nap in the Love's parking lot.  We arrived to a warm welcome from Bill and Jill, Gail's niece, several hours of catching up on what's new and a delicious chicken meal.  After a couple rounds of playing with Charlie, a tour of the covered wagon, more chatting and starting the heater (it's forecasted to be 27˚tonight, we rolled out our bed rolls and settled in for the night.  Charlie had beat us to the draw as he had found a pillow on the floor in the house and claimed it as his own,  Now he's in the covered wagon exposed to the same elements of weather as we are.  Poor puppy.

Tomorrow we start the visiting in Minneapolis.

More Driving

We have become acutely aware that we have driven many a mile.  Last evening as we pulled up the driveway to Dick and Diane's we logged 10,000 miles on this driveabout.  That day we hustled from London, Canada to Traverse City, Michigan.  Last night we finalized details for meeting Laura Mathis in St Louis, 600 miles from Traverse City.  We did all but the last 60 miles which we will do in the morning.

One is wise to be concerned about driving around or near Chicago regarding heavy traffic and toll roads, and that includes Gary, Indiana.  Even with the automatic transformer that allows us to scoot through the toll booths, we think that we actually avoided all tolls.  If you travel in the east where toll highways are common, our advice is to get one of these transformers.  They reduce the stress to zero and the cost is typically half of what we would pay if we didn't have it.  There are no booths, or persons in the booths, or baskets to catch your quarters as you fly by.  It's either the transformer, which is an account you pay later, or they take a picture of your car's license and send you a bill for twice as much.  This is all new to us; we used to toss the quarters.

Dick and Diane were youth leaders in the church where we worshipped in Anchorage in the early 70's.  They were about our age, had adopted a biracial son like we had and then adopted an Alaskan native daughter as we had.  They returned to Michigan, the home of their roots, where both Dick and Diane served in the church, Dick as a pastor, an interim, an arbitrator (his doctorate thesis was in mediation) and finally as a district superintendent.  Upon retirement they built a log house on a pinnacle north of Traverse City overlooking a bay of Lake Michigan.  It reminded us of our efforts to build a home that fits our needs and decorate with personal touches.  Diane seemed to have taken a lead in the decorating and also worked on the construction.  It was cozy and so personal.

Our conversations included happenings in our lives over the past 40 years since we last saw them as well as many memories of our common experiences.  Dick just recently had a knee replacement and iis doing exercises to keep it supple and strong.  They had a dog who joined Charlie in running around the yard and also bumping Dick to the ground.  Dick was fine but I felt very bad for the incident.

Tomorrow morning we will have brunch with Laura Mathis, a half-sister of our adopted son Darron, whom we have never met.  We have talked on the phone from time to time.  We are very eager to meet her.  After that brunch we hope to find a good WiFi connection to participate in the memorial service for Marj Howard.  Then it's off to Kansas City to see a young friend who lived with us part of a summer many years back.  He's not so young anymore - like the rest of us.

Oh, by the way, the wind blew again today, about 40 MPH according to the Internet.  Driving was tough but walking to the restrooms at the rest stop was almost impossible against the wind.  The morning should be better.  This WalMart seems very safe and inviting.

Driving

 

One may wonder what gulls and driving have in common.  The answer is "wind."

The wind today wasn't the worst but during this day's journey across northwestern New York state and Canada west of the "Falls" I did had to hang onto the steering wheel quite firmly and my eyes on the road.  Often the van would zig and I would have to convince it to zag instead.

One might also ask what does one do while sitting in the covered wagon for hours on end.  While the routine may vary, some of the highlights remain constant.  Two tasks related to traveling are guiding the van down the road and determining which road to guide the van down.  I do the guiding and listening to Gail who determines the road.  We also listen to the young lady on the iPhone who can be very helpful but also at times very confusing.  We manage.

Another favorite activity is rehashing what just happened at the previous stopover.  This could get juicy but we tend to moderate the conversation to the many pleasntries we've just experienced.

We contact ahead to the next stop.  We watch for fueling stations and dump sites.  We stop for the dog.  We comment of the scenery, the history and the wind in the area.  In northern US and now Canada, the trees are bare and even berms of snow from the day before exist.  We discuss our menus, where we will sleep that night and sometimes we stop and take a nap.

Tonight we are in London, Canada, in our van in the driveway of our niece Toni who fed us a great chicken meal.  Her sister Heidi from Ohio decided to stay an extra day to visit with us and save us a stop around the other side of the lake in Ohio.  Her husband Robin has intrigued me with his stories of the history of the area and wars in general.

Tomorrow we will chat about this most recent visit and our hosts as we head to mid Michigan.

I'm not certain if the video will work.  So be it.

Maine

It’s not only tomorrow when we were in New York, it’s the day after tomorrow.  Between visiting and driving – and refueling and letting the dog out – I run out of time and mostly energy.

 

The drive to NewYork was adventurous and stimulating.  Cars were everywhere.  Google maps send us in circles but always with the correct results – evidently.  Roads, bridges, tunnels, lights, stop signs, pedestrians, skyscrapers, rivers, another bridge, several hundred more cars and no parking places.  Oops, I lied.  Dwight met us in the middle of the street lined on both sides with parked cars and enough driving room for one vehicle unless you pulled in your mirrors and said a prayer.  Gail jumped out.  I greeted Dwight.  Colleen appeared from the daylight basement rowhouse (Is that a good term?).  I pulled in the mirrors as Dwight and I watched a delivery truck finish his delivery and close his tailgate.  Moments later I slipped into his vacated spot and we paid the meter - $2 for one hour, $6 for two hours and two was the max. You do the math; it's crazy but logical - they want to discourage long time parking.  We’d come back in a couple hours and pay the meter again.

 

This visit was awesome.  I’ve always enjoyed Dwight and getting to know Colleen was wonderful.  We swapped stories about college – Dwight and I were in the same class, both math majors, Colleen was a year younger and Gail was three years younger.  So we had shared my senior in college but didn’t all interact back in those days.  We walked down the street for a omelet lunch and back to their house to compare some family history stories.  Dwight and I took a side trip to purchase some authentic New York bagels.

 

This is where the fun begins.  We pointed our covered wagon toward Boston with an ETA of about a bit after 6PM.  We spent many a mile going about 10-20 MPH along with several thousand of our closest chauffeur/soccer mother/commuter friends.  We rambled down David’s gravel road to his end-of-the-trail house as the clock approached 9PM.  We were so happy to make the arrival.

 

After the initial greetings and hearing the weather forecast for heavy wind and rain startng at midnight, Gail prepared the covered wagon and I chatted for a bit.  David is probably my best friend from grade school and high school.  He’s now a director of music at the United Church of Christ church in Boston, a great musician/composer and a gardener extraordinaire.  In the morning we walked through his exquisite yard which backed onto the Charles River.  While it’s not actually a greenhouse attached to the house, the one floor served that purpose well.

 

After a shared brunch we headed to the coast of Maine.  They say it’s beautiful and they – whoever they are – are right.  The wind and rain from the night before was still affecting the coast line and the waves were gorgeous with the waves and mist climbing high into the sunlight.  After having viewed the mandatory lighthouse for a Maine visitor, we had a Maine lobster and checked that off our bucket list.

 

Now we are now in the WalMart parking lot in Scarborough, Maine, recuperating from several wonderful days of visiting old friends .  We’ve reached our westernmost, southernmost and easternmost points on this journey.  Tomorrow we direct ourselves westward with a straight line like the teeth on saw.

Easter

Simon, Dan aka dad, Lucas, Jonah and Nicole aka mom

Most days of driving are central in the spectrum of good days and bad days.  Within the bad days – actually there are no bad days, only days that are not as good or are more challenging and exhausting – there are several reasons for this condition extremely diverse from one another.  For example there was that day we crossed Arkansas north to south along narrow winding country roads with hairpins posted speed limits of 10 MPH.  

 

Saturday was quite different as we crossed seven states and many major cities.  We started in Virginia, passed by or through DC – I know it’s not a state but we will count it as one, besides their license plates state “Taxation without representation” – passed by Balitmore in Maryland, slipped across Delaware into New Jersey and the infamous New Jersey Turnpike, nosed through the jungle leading up to and through New York City and state, and finally resting in Connecticut.  It was natural to think we’d be passing through Pennsylvania, but if you follow I95 or the NJ Turnpike, you’re just across the river.  So we missed Pennsylvania.

 

We arrived in New Haven, home of Dan and Nicole Allen, just as the three boys (Lucas, Jonah, and Simon, aged from 5 years to 20 months) were getting into their PJs, and Halloween costumes which served as robes and their bedtime story and prayer.  Nicole’s parents from Florence, Oregon were there also so we had a full house; we tried to minimize our impact as we try everywhere by slipping out into our covered wagon for the night.

 

Sunday morning, Easter morning, we tried our hand at French toast in the covered wagon before joining the family for tea and conversation.  Dan and Nicole attended the ecumenical Easter sunrise on a bridge while I just peeked through the blinds to watch the sun rise.  It was a nippy morning, around 47˚which is about how warm it got all day.

 

We drove to their church, First Presbyterian of New Haven, to watch the children hunt eggs, split a Dunkin’Donut and join in some fellowship.  Worship started at 10:45 with an oboist and organist offering a duet.  I suspect there were about 120-150 in attendance, all wearing masks including the choir even as they sang several songs.  The minister, a young lady, was energetic and energizing, offering many “Christ is Risen” greetings echoed by "He is indeed."  The highlight for many of us was singing Handel’s Messiah’s Hallelujah chorus in all its glory.  I don’t think I have even seen or heard a lay congregation sing that song and with such enthusiasm.

 

We shared a simple but delightful meal and some conversation with all including their friends Zach and Amanda and two children before heading out to find sister Betty’s former Connecticut home where Gail babysat in the early ‘60’s.

 

Upon our return in the evening we took Charlie into the back yard where he could play catch and offer the boys a delightful time of throwing the ball and frisbee.  Bedtime came soon and the boys hit the hay while we continued some additional enlightening conversation about what Dan and Nicole are doing.  Dan as a private practice is serving as a recreational therapist for about two dozen clients primarily in the autism spectrum.  Nicole works for Yale and is administering a grant to work with groups in Liberia to upgrade their training and teaching of medical personnel.  She has worked in Africa several times including her time in the Peace Corps when Dan was with her.

 

Tomorrow we’re back to New York City to visit Dwight and family, a classmate and friend from our college days.  Then it’s off to Boston to visit a great high school friend.  More on them later.

 

Addendum

There have been some whispers from little birds that there a developing competition to decide who is getting the best reviews in this blog.  Everyone, or at least almost everyone, thinks they are the best.  So to settle this once and for all, here is a list of the rankings of those in the competition.  

            #1 – “They”

 

Two hundred and Some Years Ago

It's been a good day and it's been Friday so I believe that it qualifies as Good Friday.

As I reported in the previous entry, we camped in a legitimate camping site last night, and I reported that it was raining as I wrote.  Today was clear and mildly warm; perfect as weather goes including no wind.

After the morning routine which included a shower, scrambled eggs and walking the dog, aka walking Charlie, after all he thinks he's more people than dog, we set our iPhone on the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center and aimed our covered wagon in that direction.  Like a deer in the headlights, even after reading all the literature on the place, we moved forward on faith.

There's really nothing at the Visitor Center other than a gift shop, restrooms, money takers and wise information booth volunteers.  Oh, and the start of a mile or more long hike to the attractions.  So we mounted the shuttle for the downtown colonial Williamsburg.  Our first stop after dismounting our trusty bus, was the millinary shop.  At that point we were the first and only visitors. (Our plan to beat the heat and the crowds was working.)  The seamstress, in her colonial role, was very informative and knowledgeable, as was the silversmith lady next door.

After a bit more wandering we noticed a crowd gathering by the Raleigh Tavern, so I purchased several cookies and we watched as colonists argued and discussed the events in Boston that year - seventeen and seventy-five (1775).  Some thought the British could do no wrong while the rebel rousing young feller felt the British were systematically slowly taking the freedoms from the colonists.  It all sounded too much like our current political discussions and the reports from Ukraine.

Now that it was near 11:30 and we'd been advised to watch out for the appearance of George and Martha Washington, we gathered appropriately with another gathering crowd.  George and Martha stepped out of history in the year 1769, if I recall it correctly.  They canme to say good-bye to their 650 closest friends gathered in the arena, but quickly slipped into a husband wife conversation about buying two new slaves.  She didn't think that they needed two but it finally came out that George didn't want the two teenaged brother slaves to be separated.  When asked after the scripted dialogue, what he thought about owning slaves he said that's the culture he grew up in but if you asked him 20 later he said he might have a different answer.  He said he was seeing human rights differently.  When asked if he thought about a political career, he said he's happy farmer.

Our old age caught up with us so we shuttled back to see Charlie and put our feet up before returning for an afternoon foray into blacksmithing, tin smithing, gardening, joinery and a bit of tailoring.  The most profound event of the afternoon was watching the horse draw carriages of tourists around the town.  They didn't need much guidance as they had done this probably hundreds of times.

Now we're up the road giving us a two-hour head start on our trek to Connecticut tomorrow.