YCGL - Minnesota - Day 0 - Friday, April 15

Friday - Here we go.  I've said all along that I needed to go to Minnesota soon after the Southwest trip. I had initially said the leaving date would be April 10th, but several factors made that not possible.  So April 17th is the day...I hope.  Still a ton of work to do, and a ton of packing, but, I have a schedule!

Day Date

1        4/17         North Platte, NE, a Harvest Host on the way out, at the Golden Spike Tower

2        4/18         Minden, NE, Harold Warp's Pioneer Village  (Finally fulfilling a promise to Fred Hawley)

3        4/19         Avoca, IA,  Who wouldn't want to stay at the Pottawattamie County Fairgrounds.

4        4/20         Palo, IA,  Actually county park in Cedar Rapids. 

5         4/21         Dubuque, IA,  One of the goals of the trip, Visit Wartburg Seminary and visit friends.

6         4/22         Spring Green, WI,  Another goal, Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's house.

7         4/23                                          Visit with college roommate, Neal Gruber.

8         4/24         Decorah, IA,  Luther College and the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum

9/10    4/25-26    Rochester, MN,  Visit relatives and the Mayo Clinic Museum

11       4/27          Hayfield, MN, Visit Dad's brother's families and visit Evanger Church and Cemetary..

                                                             (And celebrate Sally's birthday with some family)

12        4/28          Welcome, MN,  Visit Wibur's younger sister Carolyn and Wes.

13/14  4/29-30      Windom, MN,  Sally's hometown,  and visit Herm and some classmates.

15/17  5/1-3          Savage, MN.  Actually The Cities,  See relatives, classmates and friends.

18       5/4             St. Cloud, MN, Visit Merle and Tom, see friends, Walk campus.

19       5/5             Fergus Falls and Detroit Lakes, MN.  Visit a classmate and approach Fertile.

20-22  5/6-8         Fertile, MN,  Visit Cousins Bob, Grace and Joel and maybe a little genealogy.

23        5/9           Summit, SD,  Enjoy the mountain scenery (or not!)

24        5/10         Vermillion, SD, The Smithsonian National Music Instrument Museum, really.

25        5/11          Ansley, NE,  4 County Beef Ranch, a Harvest Host

26        5/12          Big Springs, NE,  I'm sure there is something here....

27        5/13          Laradice, WY!!!!   "Back home again, in Laramie!"

Why so many stops along the way.  Some are planned obviously, but Sally and I have always tried to shorten our days.  Only four days are over 200 miles driving, with the longest two days being the first and last days.  The other thing we kept trying to do right was stay at one place longer than one day.  I got a few in, but most stops are really in progress, so for the most part, I'll park, eat, sleep, try to wake up, and then pull out by 11:00am to the next stop.  This still would have been a 2-1/2 or 3 week trip if we drove it in a car, 

But there is also the concept of backroads versus interstate.  I can pull off the interstate and drive some of the older roads at speeds I'm comfortable driving, 60 mph max.  In Nebraska, I'll drive highways US20 and 30 as much as I can rather than go directly to the interstate.  (I'll refer back to one of my favorite movies, "Cars".  It's about Route 66, but is true of many of the older highways.  I still enjoy eating at cafes with a cardboard sign that says "Cafe" in the window or has "Eats" in neon tubes out in front, where they still slather the bun with butter and fry it on the grill next to the hamburger patty rather than a pair of golden arches.  And a Cherry Coke still has a real cherry in the bottom and the juice poured on top like a Tequila Sunrise.  And the fries may still have skin on the end because it was a real potato that got cut up.  And ketchup and mustard come in red and yellow plastic bottles instead of individual insufficient packets that won't open until it covers your shirt.  Most of them are airconditioned now, but may still have flyswatters close by during parts of the summer.  You know that kind of places I mean.  And  seeing that there is still life in small towns)

Where to start?  The first week back, I had a foot tall stack of mail to go through, which I did, and most of it is still sitting in the piles I put them in.  All the bills have been paid, but the requests for donations to organizations has been immense.  I'm sure that's true of all of us.  

And while there have been some things I wanted to do with the  motorhome, it's been cold and windy in Laramie (I know many of you will find that hard to believe, but living at the same elevation as Estes Park, CO and at the end of long valley where the Bureau of Reclamation installed their first two windmills in the 70's might give you an idea.)  So, I vegged.  Surprise.  At 72, its good to have some down time so I can get up for these trips. :)  

[“- Sam: Why is it what you just said strikes me as a massive rationalization?

- Michael (Jeff Goldblum): Don't knock rationalization; where would we be without it? I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations."}  The Big Chill

And then I volunteered to do readings at Palm Sunday and Good Friday Services.  Palm Sunday, I had two lines to give in the reading, and blew it.  I read the line above it!  And I had the two lines circled on the page.  Oh well, I don't think I changed anyone's theology.  

Then, I saw the dentist this past Wednesday at 10:00 and she recommended that I have my upper left wisdom tooth pulled and get a crown on another molar.  We were able to get it scheduled for the next day, Thursday, at 3:20.

(Spoiler alert, read to the end.)  Then, I was working on finalizing the last reservations for the trip after I got home from the dentist and I got a phone call from my urologist's nurse.  It's generally not good news when Pam calls.  She informed me that the results of my last PSA test came back high and there is a 50/50 chance that the cancer has come back again.  I had to have a special MRI done to evaluate it, and the nearest machine is in Loveland at Medical Center of the Rockies.  She is going to try and schedule that for Friday or Saturday and would  call back when she has an answer.  So, in the space of one hour, I'm looking at some major dental work and possible re-occurrence of cancer.  It kind of took the wind out of the sails.  I was thinking of quitting the trip at this point. 

She didn't call back after 1:00 like she said, but I held off calling until 3:30.  In the mean time, I figured out that I could skip the first four days of the trip and not leave until Thursday, when the results would have a chance to come back.  If they come back positive, I just cancel the whole trip; if negative, I'll just go directly to Rochester and continue my trip from there. 

When I got hold of her, she started talking about my prescriptions which were filled before the Southwest trip.  She was a little confused about them because I've been taking them more often than insurance will allow, and now they agreed to accept that.  

I finally stopped her and asked about setting up the MRI for Friday or Saturday.  She stopped, mumbled a little, rattled some papers and finally said, 

"You don't have an MRI scheduled."  

"I know, you were going to set one up for me."  

"Why would I do that?"  

"Because when you called this morning, you said my PSA was 7.6, but the last time I checked it, it was below detection level."  

 "Thom, I never called you this morning."  

"Yes you did. You told me I had a 50/50 chance of the prostate cancer being back again and that I had to go MCR to get an MRI." 

"Oh, Tom, that wasn't you.  That was another patient."  

"Well, you'd better call and tell him then."  

"I did, and told him that MCR could not do the MRI on Friday or Saturday and he had to call MCR next Monday to check scheduling.  And he was very confused." 

"I bet he was!  Now you can tell him the rest of the story."  

"Yeah, I'll have to...."

I was so happy by then, I was dancing in the kitchen.  I only had to worry about the Wisdom tooth and I can go on the trip!!  The extraction the next day went as smoothly as one could wish for, it was out in 30-40 seconds.  I've been following the rules and things are going well.  However, I've been knocked out today, so packing hasn't gone well.  

But there is still tomorrow.  

Saturday - Well, today is tomorrow, barely.  Almost midnight.  Just a few things left to pack, all of which could be covered by a Walmart stop if necessary.  I had a busy day, prepping and maintenance.  Friends Larry and Chris had me over for Pre-Easter dinner, thank you, since mine will probably be out of a package, or if I get really inspired, I'll have "camping food", Hamburger Stroganoff, Sally and my traditional first night out meal.  

So, goodnight and good luck.  (Edward R. Murrow)  See you on the road!  (Charles Kuralt)

Happy Easter, God Påske alle sammen!

Happy Passover,  Chag Pesach Samech!