ON TO TUCSON - 6/9/2019

Tuesday’s Start

The dawn broke in Omaha with a short rain, the temperature still moderate, but threatening to soar. Deb and I rousted out and I started preparing the car. Deb stepped out of the shower to the ringing phone. Clients wanting to go ahead and book the huge cruise they had discussed the day before. She talked them through it, sitting in her bathrobe, contacted the cruise line, booked the trip and then called the client back to explain the necessary info, along the way explaining to one of the couples how she needed to get her passport updated immediately. Directions to the passport office were given.

Before she could finish the phone rang again with another client wanting to book their cruise. That done, she finished up and got dressed, two major bookings completed and another small crisis solved.

We loaded the sleek Toyota Avalon sedan that was the purpose of this trip, and headed out at 10:30, about 2 hours behind our intended departure. We texted our traveling partners, Tom, Kevin & Liam (TKL) to let them know of our late departure. They were only about 15 minutes ahead of us so not so bad. (By the way, Liam is the wonderful black Scotty Terrier who is the third person of this trio moving to Tucson.)

As we reached Kearney on I-80, traffic slowed to a crawl and we learned that Kearney received 8.5 inches of rain overnight, causing the Platte to overflow, flood parts of the city, and cause the closing of the main exit into Kearney. The flooded banks of the Platte continued on, past Lexington and further as we traveled west.

We passed TKL just west of Kearney and agreed to stop for gas, a stretch and driver change in Gothenburg.

After Gothenburg, with Deb now in our driver’s seat, we continued our western run. Just west of Ogallala, we dropped onto I-76 for the run towards Denver. Having made this trip before, and given the time of day, we opted to avoid the traffic around Denver, getting off the freeway at Ft. Morgan, dropping due south on US 71, then at Limon to US 24 on our run into Colorado Springs. Tom had told us in Gothenburg that he had booked at LaQuinta in Colorado Springs, so we made the call and secured a room. Who knew there were multiple LaQuinta hotels in Colorado Springs?

We arrived around 6:30 (7:30 body time due to time change) and settled into our room after a 9 hour drive. We texted TKL and learned they were still 30 minutes out. Not sure if they stayed on the freeway the entire way or made a second Liam stop. 

As we had polished off our sandwiches for dinner, we opted to stay in and dine on a snack of goldfish crackers and red wine. How haute cuisine we are. We walked around the hotel grounds a bit to stretch our legs, marvelled at the 14% humidity and fell into bed around 10:00, tired but glad to be on the road again.

Tomorrow we separate from TKL as they continue direct to Tucson and we head across Colorado towards Mesa Verde National Park for a look see.

Phoenix Journey - 2018 - Saturday, January 27, 2018

18F this morning in Santa Fe; standard forecast of sunshine and a high near 50F.  We are a bit slow getting moving after our enjoyable Friday evening.  But we slept soundly (passed out?)

The Luxx Boutique Hotel houses a wonderful bakery/sandwich shop and after showering and packing, we stopped in for a wonderful omelette, a huge breakfast burrito and good coffee and spiced potatoes.

Leaving around 10:30, we head out for a full day of travel.  The mountains surrounding Santa Fe are stunning as we head north towards Colorado.  Something about the mountains brings out the joy in us - perhaps because we have spent our lives as flatlanders!

Unfortunately, once into Colorado, although we can see the high ranges and snow-topped peaks to the west, we are traveling the rolling plains of the front range.  Boring, but the huge installations of power windmills did break up the scenery as we cut across the corner along non-freeways to avoid the cluster of Denver and its traffic.

We set our sights on Ogallala Nebraska and arrived at 7:00 for our last night on the road to stay at the Lonesome Dove Lounge.  We set up in our room, opened our wine, and polished off the last of our sandwiches, crackers and fig Newton cookies - a regal repast for these two intrepid travelers.  

Home by tomorrow afternoon as we cross the Nebraska plains. This week has flown by, we saw good friends, relaxed totally, and enjoyed visiting some new places and seeing sites we wish to explore more fully on some future trip.  All in all a great 8 days, but we are truly looking forward to falling into our own bed, surrounded as we are by friends and family.  Also missing deaf blind Harry P. Covert and the always aloof yet needy Sushi the cat.

The Great American Eclipse - Tuesday, August 22, 2017

What a difference a mattress makes! Wonderful sleep after an exciting day.  Up this morning at 6:00, joined Dick and the dogs for some coffee and packed up the car.  Around 8:30 I said my goodbyes and thank you to Beth and Dick, bid farewell to Karen and Dell, and headed out of Kearney (actually Riverdale) and headed back towards Omaha.

Once again I started up the Donna Leon audio book and cruised down the highway.  I took a detour in Lincoln and found the Backyard Farmer Garden.  My initial impression is that it is much smaller than it appears on TV.  The All American Selection (AAS) area was very interesting, showing all the wonderful selections that grow well in the area.  The vegetable plot is small and includes a lot of produce in a very small area.

I then wandered around East Campus a bit and headed back to my car.  As this was the second day of classes, parking was impossible.  I ended up parking across Holdredge Street and walking from the pizza restaurant.

Back on the road, I spent the last hour of my trip listening to the novel and watching out for trucks.  A pleasant day with nice weather.  I was home shortly after 1:00 for a lovely trip to see the great eclipse. 

My overall impression was that it was well worth the time and trouble, it was great to meet new people and it is something I will never see again in my lifetime.  My only regret is that Deb was not able to join me. 

The Great American Eclipse - Monday August 21, 2017

Well, Today is the day!   Camping is different from what I remember, or perhaps it is the body changes and memory lapses I have experienced since my halcyon camping days.  Slept like a rock the first two hours, tossed and turned for the next three hours, then dozed fitfully, changing sides and readjusting my makeshift pillow each 30 minutes for the next three hours.  At 6:00 I deemed that I had experienced enough, not to mention the call of nature that was frantically demanding my attention.  There is nothing elegant about a stiff old man crawling out of a one-person tent and trying to stand up on dew soaked grass!

Once upright and relieved, I strolled to the house and started the coffee.   Caffeine deprivation relief in sight, I enjoyed the sunrise over the plains.  There is nothing like a clear sky over the open fields of corn and beans to stimulate a morning sunrise.  Coffee made, the household is beginning to stir.  The three resident dogs, Markey, Henry and Denali "Dolly" are all old, or blind, or deaf, or lame, or all of the above but adorable and demanding of attention.  Markey particularly reminds me of our own Harry in his need to be right next to someone and finely attuned to any activity in the kitchen, staring up at you waiting for something to drop, ever hopeful of human "error."

As both Dick and Beth have to work today (it really isn't a holiday) Karen, Dell and I are left to mind the dogs and fend for ourselves.  I prepare some poached eggs and toast as we chatter over the plans for the day.  Dell and I head out for a walk after breakfast, walking a couple of miles on the gravel roads, marveling at the height of the corn, the greenness of the beans, and the terrifying speed of the occasional vehicle (almost always a pick-up) speeding down the road past us.  It is warm already and we quickly work up a sweat.

Returning, we set up the gazebo tent to be used for viewing the day's event.  Grandson Logan arrived around 10:00 and daughter Amy pulled in around 10:30.  Research revealed that we would begin to see some eclipse activity in front of the sun around 11:30. Dick returned around 11:00 and Beth retuned about 11:30.  It seems all local businesses were closing for the eclipse, and traffic on the highways was increasing as sun tourists were streaming north to gain some time headed to the prime line of the eclipse. Those viewers on the main line would have about 10 seconds more totality than we at our location.

Much talk this morning about clouds, but they were wispy and clearing as time approached.  We spent the next hour checking on the sun through our eclipse safe eyewear and greeting various relatives who arrived and congregated for the event.  Food was brought in, roast pork for sandwiches, beef and noodles, more pasta salad, chips, etc.  A feast.  At 12:57 CDT, the sun disappeared, darkening the landscape and we all whipped off our glasses.  I dialed Deb on FaceTime and shared my view with her while she sat at breakfast in Alaska.

During the 3 minutes of totality there was so much ongoing change.  Sunset of 360 degrees around the horizon, stars shining brightly, exclamations of wonder, the sun's corona like a bright diamond - and then the bright spot showing as we quickly slip our glasses back on.  We toast the event with what ever is at hand - Dell opted for Glenfiddich, Karen a glass of sweet white wine, I opted for a fizzy Redd's Blueberry Ale.  Some picked beer, some a Jameson's, but all enjoyed the once in lifetime (for most of us) event. 

In the afternoon, Dell, Karen, Amy, Logan and I traveled to CottonMill City park with a pair of kayak and we floated around the lake for a bit.  Very hot out on the water, but we made it with no spills into the drink. 

Back at the house, George and then I, showered and cleaned up. The two of us traveled back into town and did some grocery shopping, stopping on the way and  ordering 4 extra-large pizzas from Papa John's. We journeyed on to HyVee for additional provisions and returned for the hot pizza.  We arrived back at the house, loaded with provisions and Karen made a salad from our supplies; the family again began converging for the end of the day's festivities with the the all American pizza, salad and beer (or wine) to end the Great American Eclipse event.

As heavy rain was threatening, I made the executive decision to break camp and opt for a real mattress and bedding that Beth thoughtfully made up for me in the basement.  As I laid back in the darkness, I looked at my watch - 9:12 PM and I was promptly out like the lights.

The Great American Eclipse - Sunday, August 20, 2017

Deb has headed off to Alaska in order to avoid the darkness of the great American eclipse.  I, on the other hand, am going to embrace it by heading out into the great expanse that is Nebraska, traveling to Kearney to see what I can see.

Since today is Sunday, I slept in until almost 7:00 AM.  Up to feed my housemates Sushi and Harry P. Covert and then to leisurely read the paper.  Not to be.  Abby called to give me a play by play of the wonderful Lady Gaga concert she attended last night.  From all reports, it was an amazing show.  Then Jake checked in to give me an update on his family adventures.  Ed then called to report on Avery's first days of college at Towson and to confirm that he is arriving for Thanksgiving this year.  Ed also announced he intends to bring Avery and Spenser to Omaha for Christmas - looks like a busy time at 6208 this fall.

Although I intended to be out of town around 9:00, I finally filled the tank and pulled away from 60th & Center at 10:45, headed onto I-80 to join all the other 500,000 estimated eclipse watchers flooding into the state.

I checked out an audible book for the first time in my life and listened to a Donna Leon mystery, one of the Brunetti series, all the way into Kearney.  It was so engrossing that I pulled into the shopping center once I arrived in order to get to the end of a chapter.  This looks like a new way to travel.

I arrived at Beth and Dick Loeffelholz' home around 1:15 in the afternoon.  Beth is the daughter of Dell and Karen Sennentz; they have built a lovely new home about 10 miles north of Kearney on a rise from which you can see almost 20 miles in all directions.  They have agreed to allow me to pitch my tent in their backyard.  Dell and Karen flew in on Friday and are staying in the guest room.  Dick's grandson is celebrating his first birthday so great grandma and grandpa had to celebrate!

Since I didn't exercise this morning, I erected the tent and then set out for a  3-mile walk in the 90 F heat (I am not too bright in my old age). Dell got nervous when I was gone over an hour so he struck out searching for me.  I did get my 10,000 steps in.

Dick's parents and uncle came over for dinner, along with a nephew and his girlfriend in from Omaha, and Dick's son, daughter in law and baby Braxton all arrived for hamburgers, brats and sundry other items on the grill.  Wine and beer was available and we enjoyed the evening. 

I crawled into the tent around 10:30 for my attempt at a great camp-out.

Minneapolis - 8/23/14

Half of the dynamic duo was awake and stirring at 6:35 - the other closer to 8:30.  All are feeling fairly rested with very little sign of the prior evenings troubles.  Embassy Suites breakfast rocks - however, this writer would suggest staying away from such a family friendly place on the weekend before school starts.  Swarming with children on one last fling into the City for a "special" weekend before heading back to the mines!  Great way to have a curmudgeon start his day.

We headed out to IKEA, a quick 6 minute trip down the street.  We arrived around 10:30 and began the "walk."  We finished the showroom walk around 11:30 and found ourselves in front of the cafeteria just in time for lunch - what planning. After a long study of the 5 item menu, we decided on the Swedish meatball special.  We tempered this indulgence with a shared salad.

Then down to the marketplace/warehouse where we loaded up on all the crap we had spotted upstairs and a few things we hadn't known existed.  We were out of there at 1:30 and under $300.00 poorer than when we went in.  Not bad.

On to downtown Minneapolis for a search for the Birchbark Book Store, owned by Louise Erdrich.  After a few wrong turns on and off the freeway system, we found ourselves in the lovely Kenwood neighborhood, filled with older homes, a park, large lake, etc.  Walked into the Birchbark Book Store, which specializes in Native American literature.  A lovely small store where we scored a few books and a few signed copies of Erdrich's work.

Back into the chariot and off to St. Paul in search of the Common Good Books bookstore, this one owned by Garrison Keillor.  Now this is a book store! Just across the street from Macaelster College, this store was jammed with a wide collection of books, books, and more books.  We left with only 7 books, a membership in the frequent buyers club, which gives the member a 13th book after a purchase of 12, and a sign up to the email list.  The shop is located on a block that includes a juice shop, a wine and munch bar, a coffee shop, a cheese shop and all offering outside seating and a place to eat and chat - plus free parking and on-street parking.  The area was crawling with students and other liberal types  Very charming and bewitching.

4:20 and time to get on the road again, heading to our ultimate destination of the day, Redwing Minnesota.  We had a lovely drive along the Mississippi River, along the Wisconsin side, crossing back over into Minnesota at Redwing.  Redwing is an historic little town with some charming downtown stores and homes, 7 churches within a three block stretch, and trains tooting through town along the river.

We dined at the Bayside Tap and Restaurant, which turned out to be a little bar and grill with excellent steaks.  Nothing pretentious, but very friendly.  Good food and good pinot noir by the glass.

We were back in our hotel room at 7:00, reading and watching TV.  Your humble scribe reawakened at 8:15 PM from his reading chair and crawled into bed.  His mate already dozing between scenes from "Friends."  A long and very pleasant day including all of our favorite things: shopping, dining, good books, good wine, traveling the countryside, and companionship. 

Tomorrow it is up and out, traveling south to Iowa and then cutting across the state, westward, taking in Deb's ancestral area around Winterset and Madison County.

Minneapolis - 8/22/14

Up at 6:30 to shower, coffee and face the day.  The Baymont Suites beds were OK, the pillows not, the shower surprisingly competent. We stepped out of the room and were nasally assaulted by the stench of either sewer gas or someone's backed up toilet. Ew.

The free breakfast comprised of some fruit, a waffle machine, biscuits and gravy, and assorted pastries.  Acceptable, but the downer was that the coffee machine was out of order.  We had b&g and a waffle, downed some juice and grabbed extra coffee packets from the front desk.  We brewed new coffee in our room and headed out - left LeMars at 8:30, headed for Minneapolis along highway 60. This was a great dual carriageway for most of the trip.

We took a side trip to Iowa's highest point, the middle of a cornfield in north central Iowa, just south of the Minnesota border.  Corn towering over the  car, and grasshoppers flying into the windshield.

Around 11:30, we stopped at a McDonald's for our obligatory road trip fast food break and pressed on to our destination. Road construction detours delayed our arrival at MSP until 2:00.  We pulled into Terminal 2, parked in the garage, and walked right into the Customs office for our appointment.  Surprise!  Their office moved on July 1 to Terminal 1, so on to the Metro train, then to the tram then to the moving walkways to travel over to Terminal 1.  We arrived at the check-in for our 2:45 appointment at 2:25.  They were running behind due to staff vacations and we finally got in around 3:15.  I was photoed and fingerprinted. They told me I passed and my card would be in the mail.  I am now Global Entry qualified. Woo-hoo!

On to Embassy suites.  We checked in and dropped our bags, calling April Dillon to confirm we had arrived.  At 5:15, we headed over to April's to pick up our chair and have dinner.  The chair was more than we had hoped - just perfect. April prepared sea bass on the grill, a couscous and current salad, and a cold tomato and watermelon salad dressed with a mild vinaigrette.  All was delicious and was followed by a warmed peach and brandy dessert over ice cream.  A wonderful meal and great company.  April's hospitality was perfect, her home lovely, her new kitchen remodeling enviable.

We headed back to the hotel and arrived around 9:30.   We read and Deb crawled into bed to watch TV.  By 10:30, she was moaning and groaning with stomach distress.  Needless to say after a few hours of worshiping the porcelain deity, she finally dozed off and slept fitfully.  Mark was fine, so it wasn't the food (or his iron gut overcame the enemy.)  Hope Saturday's planned activities are not impacted.

Minneapolis - 8/21/14

Left Omaha at 7:00 PM (expected departure time of 5:30) and made one stop at the USPS to drop off a return package.  Then on to I-80 headed to I-29 and north. 

Pleasant drive, and a gorgeous, quilted pillow sunset.  We departed I-29 at Sioux City and joined US 75 headed to Le Mars, IA, the "ice cream capital of the world."  Deb logged on to the hotel app and booked us a room with king-sized bed at the Baymont Suites, at under $100 for the night.

After a slight detour (wrong turn) we arrived at 9:15.  No king sized room, except smoking, so we settled for a double set of queen beds.  Settled in, cracked a bottle of wine and finished our sandwiches and pretzels.  Turned on the TV and ended up watching a rerun of "Friends" and International House Hunters - just like home but much less comfortable. 

Abby called to break the bad news that new cat Benjamin Mittensyahou had evidently escaped in the morning when the girls were leaving the garage.  No where to be found.  Both Abby and Darcy are heartbroken at the loss.  They reported the loss to the Humane Society, as the missing feline was "chipped" but no collar.  Hopeful but also facing the possibility of permanent loss.  Sad.

Turned in after 10:00 and slept fitfully.  Up at 6:30 on Friday to face a day of travel.