Road Trip! Our first excursion out of Omaha since July 31, 2020 when we traveled to Red Cloud Nebraska, hometown of Willa Cather and now home to the National Willa Cather Center. This trip was not just a lark, but a purposeful sojourn to celebrate a birthday - the 90th birthday of Deb’s Uncle Bud (Gilbert) Picken. Bud is the only sibling of Deb’s father and is still living by himself, together with his trusty long-haired Dachshund Sara. We departed Omaha on Friday morning at 10:50 AM, getting only three blocks away before turning around to pick up a forgotten item. We finally hit the road at 11:03, headed for I-80 and then I-29 north to Missouri Valley via Crescent Iowa. Our first delay is encountered in MoValley; the Union Pacific mainline runs through this town, and there are three sets of tracks. Just as we pull into the outskirts, the signal arm drops and two trains, both headed the same direction, pull across the road and grind to a stop. No way around. After 10 minutes or so, Deb realizes that she may have consumed too much coffee prior to our departure from home. Nowhere to go and a crisis impending. Next to the road is Mike’s Automotive Repair store, a two bay steel building with vehicles in front. We pull out of the train wait line and into the parking lot. Deb hustles in, pleading a urinary emergency and they grant her access to the facilities. Back on the road, we wait another 10 minutes for the signal arm to lift and we are on our way.
We are not good Interstate Highway travelers, much preferring the “blue roads” of rural America. A slower way to travel, but much more scenic, flavorful, and no harassing semi-trailer vehicles to wear us down. Our first stop was our guilty pleasure of a McDoanld’s Restaurant in Denison, Iowa. We only eat McDonald’s when we are on the road. This first taste in 2021 was of a Quarter-Pounder with Cheese and a double burger, no cheese. The obligatory french fries were topped off with good hot coffee. Then back on the road headed to our destination of Fairmont Minnesota. The town is just north of the Iowa-Minnesota border, midway across Minnesota on I-90. We had told the relatives we would arrive around 4:00 PM, and we pulled up at 3:57! Great navigating and driving.
As noted, Bud lives independently in a small cottage home in the middle of Fairmont, but for the birthday event, his daughter and son-in-law Denise and Scott Posner traveled in from their home in Wisconsin. As Denise spent her teenage years in Fairmont, coming in to visit Dad is a regular event. It gives her a chance to attend his various doctor’s appointments and also to see her brother Dan, who lives in nearby Mankato, Minnesota. Dan was not able to join us for the birthday celebration, although he was scheduled to come visiting the next day. We are sorry we missed seeing him, as Deb has not seen him sine they were kids.
Diane had made a wild blueberry pie for dessert, so we stuck some candles in it, sang Happy Birthday, and enjoyed the delicious pie with some ice cream. We finally headed out to our hotel room shortly after 9:00, well after Bud’s normal bedtime, but we so enjoyed the visit and hope he did too.
Saturday morning we rousted out, packed up our bags and stopped at McDonald’s for a breakfast egg and biscuit breakfast with more coffee and headed to Minneapolis along the blue roads. We arrived at our destination, the IKEA store next to the Mall of America. We have just spent months clearing the lower level of detritus, so why are we stopping at this Mecca of consumerism? We love the design sense of IKEA and almost always find some small stuff to carry home. This trip, our largest purchase is floor lamp intended for the new lower level library, together with some other small stuff, stopper bottles for wine, a small wastebasket, a couple of packs of frozen meatballs.
Speaking of IKEA’s famous Swedish meatball dinner in the cafeteria, the cafeteria is open. there is a sign we scan in order to secure a time to eat at the cafeteria - no time slots available! Hence we are left with picking up a few packs at the market at check-out. We had planned ahead and brought a cold bag for just such an eventuality.
We finished at the store and moved on to our evening’s hotel, arriving around 4:00 PM. We refreshed, had a glass of wine and then arranged to meet our friend April Dillon at a nearby parking lot. There is major construction around her new neighborhood, occasioned by the light rail coming through the area and it would have been impossible for us to find her new home on our own. She drove us the few winding blocks to her new apartment building and we elevatored to the 5th floor for a tour of her new home. She has done a marvelous job of picking just the right unit in the right place in the building, affording a sweeping view with no chance of another building impeding her view, north light and plenty of windows. She has had to edit her belongings as we all have when we downsize, but she has done a masterful job of editing and display. Her new home is lovely and inviting.
We were back in the hotel by 9:30, quickly into bed and sleeping fitfully through the night. On Sunday morning, we met April again at another nearby breakfast place for some eggs, toast and other goodies, together with coffee. We said our goodbyes, and headed south toward home, on the road by shortly after 10:30. It was cloudy and 48ºF when we left Edina. As we headed south the temperature slowly started to drop. By the time we were just south of Mankato, it started to spit and we soon found ourselves in a snowstorm with limited visibility. the snow wasn’t sticking to the pavement, but the fields were turning white. By the time we crossed into Iowa, the temperature was down to 34ºF. We stopped for a bathroom break and to fuel the car and continued south. (If you look closely at the photo, right, you will see that the town name is Frost, Minnesota!)
At 28 miles south of the gas station, our low tire indicator light came on and we pulled over near the intersection of U.S. 169 and Iowa 9, just outside of Logan Iowa, A quick inspection showed a rear driver- side flat tire. We unloaded all of our IKEA purchases into the rear seat and pulled the spare tire and jack from its storage position. The snow had stopped, the pavement was dry, but the winds were stiff. Mark, in his sandals and no gloves, began the tire changing process. One lug nut would not come loose, neither tightening nor loosening. Obviously cross threaded. We called AAA and learned that it would be up to 3 hours before they could reach us. True to their word, at 3:30 the truck pulled up. It was a guy from Fairmont Minnesota, the same town we had visited for the Picken birthday party. He had the tire off and the spare on and inflated properly within 30 minutes. Although we were covered by AAA, we let loose another $40 tip for the help we were so grateful for. That was two $40 tips in one weekend for the residents of Fairmont! We hope they remember us the next time we come through.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, but we did stop at a Dairy Queen for the other obligatory pleasure of a road trip - no, not a Blizzard, but a Sundae, topped with chocolate and peanuts. We arrived home at 8:00 and unloaded the car, had a bite to eat and a glass of wine and then rolled into bed, tired but really glad to be home. We had noted that when we passed into Omaha, the temperature had climbed to 78ºF, a 44º swing in less than two hundred miles.
Monday was the 12th wedding anniversary of Claire Covert Bybee and James Bybee. Congrats to these two youngsters! We took the blue chariot in for repair and learned that the damaged tire was unrepairable and needed replacement, the second in two weeks, and also that all the lug nuts on the wheel were now cross threaded, requiring them all to be broken off, the hub pulled and five new ones installed. New tire, $250, repair $185, tip to AAA $40. All in all, an expensive trip, automotive-wise.
Tuesday afternoon, Deb met Abigail at Lowe’s to pick out plants and generally wander the store getting ideas for the garden. That evening, Deb enjoyed a Zoom meeting with her book club; the book was Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. All enjoyed it.
Wednesday Mark traveled to Master Gardeners to supervise installation of the flagstone he had ordered for a path in a new garden area they were constructing, followed by a coffee hour hosted by the staff of Hospice, thanking the crew for all their annual work. While Mark was working away, Deb walked over to the Highland neighbors for coffee and some time with Esmè, Zoë and Garth. Iris was in class. Wednesday evening, was Girls Drinks Night, again at our house so Mark was forced into the lower level library to watch PBS Newshour and his latest binge, Balthazar, a French murder series.
Thursday noon, Deb’s Girls Lunch group, Mary Carter, Deb Duggan and Lee Needelman arrived, each with their own lunch to dine on the patio, the weather rising to a perfect 74ºF. Thursday evening was a time for relaxation, a home-grilled hamburger and en evening watching Backyard Farmer and catching up on Jack Irish. So ends another extremely busy week. When do we have time to relax? Not this week.
Again, if you haven’t been vaccinated, get to it please. Now we can be outside without masks but caution is still the watch word. By the way, Sushi the cat lived through the weekend and into the week, still struggling but “not dead yet!” Thanks for following our adventures!
