Minnesota 2012--Day 8

Lotta food but not much else.

This has been a fairly slow day.  Spent most of the time today sitting around the coach entering uploading data to the Find A Grave website.  As previously mentioned I went out last Tuesday and photographed the entire Solway Cemetery, where Joanne's uncle and aunt are buried.  I've spent some time this week resizing the photos and uploading them to the website.  This requires setting up a separate page for each person buried there.  (The link attached to the name above in blue is to the Find A Grave section for this cemetery.  Any entry there entered by TheOldChief is my work.)

I did take some time to walk into the downtown area for lunch.  One of the places that Joanne and I always stopped for lunch, at least once, each time we came to Duluth was the Original Coney Island.  This place has been in business since 1921 and has a neat atmosphere.  This is across the bridge, through Canal Park, across I-35 and down to Superior Street, a little over a half mile from where the RV is parked.  On the way back through Canal Park I took some time to do a little shopping.  There is no way I can take a trip of this length and not have some stuff for the grand kids back home.  So, to all those little ones that might be reading this:  "Yes, I got you something."

In the afternoon, after getting the dogs out for some exercise the three of us just relaxed and took a nap.  The RV park is full this weekend due to a huge blues music festival that is going on in town.  Each time the dogs see someone walk by the coach, which is most of the day, they start barking so it was best to take them to the back for nap time.

This evening, after the dogs got fed, I walked back over to Canal Park for dinner.  Went to a national chain place this time, Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que.  This chain is based in Georgia so they have the southern food thing down pretty good.  Also, they serve "sweet tea" which is unusual up north.  (Up here most places think sweet tea is tea mixed with fruit juice.  True southern sweet tea is tea sweetened with sugar and plenty of it.  The sugar must be mixed in while the tea is still hot so it will dissolve.  Sugar will not dissolve once ice has been added and the tea is cold.)  Anyway, had a good bar-b-que dinner and did a little more shopping before coming back to the coach.

Of course, both times I ventured out today the bridge was up, letting one of the Vista Fleet boats (the local tour boats) and small craft either in or out of the harbor.  That backs up traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian.  I did learn about the schedule for the bridge.  Of course it will go up anytime one of the large ships that work the lakes enters or departs the harbor.  Otherwise, the bridge only goes up every half hour.  The Vista Fleet and all small craft must enter or depart at those times only.  This knowledge will assist me in scheduling my departures anytime I need to head into town.

Minnesota 2012--Day 7

A little maintenance and a brother-in-law visit.

Not much happening yesterday.  Mostly spent the day doing maintenance on the coach.  Due to a hail storm this past June in Oklahoma City the windshield is cracked and has a small gap between the top of the windshield and the front of the coach.  This allows rain water to come in.  Apparently a large hailstone chipped the windshield up high on the passenger side and I did not notice it before leaving on this trip.  On some of the rough roads (I-35) coming up several large cracks appeared and caused part of the windshield to separate from the coach.  Went to Home Depot and got some blue painters tape and covered over the gap.  That should take care of it until I get back to Oklahoma, contact my insurance company and get a new windshield put in.  Also, my outside driver's side rearview mirror had worked lose so I had to disassemble it and tighten it back down.  There always seems to be something that needs to be done to keep these things operating smoothly.

Today was time to go "up on the hill" to visit with Joanne's brother, Roger, and his wife Marilyn.  Duluth is laid out around the tip of Lake Superior and is surrounded by a very steep hill.  The city grew up that hill and the newer areas are on the back side of the hill.  That area is where the large shopping mall, newer chain restaurants, auto dealerships and most businesses that require a lot of room are located.  Roger and Marilyn live up in that area.  Roger has a lawn mower/snow blower repair business he runs out of his backyard and I caught him working on a couple of mowers when I arrived.

It seems like driving almost straight up when going "up on the hill".  This was taken from the top of the hill looking back down toward town and Park Point.  That long island area just past the bridge is Park Point, an upscale part of town.  The area just past the bridge, on the right, is The Lakehead Boat Basin, where my RV is parked. 

This next picture is from the top of the hill looking down Lake Avenue.  This is the street I use coming back down the hill.  This is fun this time of year.  Not sure I'd care to be driving around here in the winter.  This street ends down in Canal Park at the foot of the bridge.

 

Minnesota 2012--Day 5

An early start for a change.

Rolled out really early, at least for me, when I got up at 6:00 AM.  Got the dogs fed and walked and got myself ready and then headed out for Superior, Wisconsin.  Two of the best friends anyone could have, Ron & Kay Rivoli, were going to be in Superior for an 8:30 AM campaign rally.  They are with the Tea Party Express on a tour of Wisconsin campaigning for a U.S. Senate candidate.  For several years now anytime we were anywhere near where Ron & Kay were performing we made every effort to catch up with them.  We had a good visit, although fairly short, over donuts and coffee.  All too soon it was time for them to climb back on their bus and head out to their next campaign stop.  (Long term readers of this blog will remember that these two drove 1,600 miles, round trip, last November to sing at Joanne's memorial service.  Also, they furnished me a place to park my motor home for a week this past January at their winter home in Daytona Beach, Florida.)

It was lightly raining this morning so after visiting with Ron & Kay I came back to the coach and relaxed with the dogs.  It did rain most of the day but in the afternoon it cleared off and the sun came out.  The temperature here in Duluth got all the way to 69 degrees.  This is great compared to the 100+ temps that are still happening back home.  During the evening I walked over the bridge to Canal Park for dinner.  The most well known, and one of the oldest restaurants in the area is Grandma's.  It is traditional to have at least one meal there each time we are up here.  Grandma's is in the shadow of the Duluth "World Famous" Lift Bridge that spans the shipping canal between Lake Superior and the inner harbor.  (Of course, as usual, it just started to go to the raised position as I was approaching it, both going over and coming back.)

Minnesota 2012--Day 4

Some relaxing and some grave walking.

The dogs and I spent the morning just relaxing around the coach after spending three days on the road.  They seemed to enjoy having me all to themselves for awhile.

In the afternoon I headed up past Proctor, Minnesota, to a small cemetery where an Uncle and Aunt of Joanne are buried.  This is her Dad's younger brother, Bud, and his wife Dorothy.  We drove out there last year when we were here to take a picture of their grave marker for the Find A Grave memorial page I had set up.  At the time we estimated there were about 200 or so graves there.  (This is the Solway Cemetery in the Solway community in the Lammers, Minnesota area.)  After taking another look at the memorials on Find A Grave for that cemetery I found that there had only been 22 documented, including the two I set up last year.  So, today I went out and took pictures of all the headstones, all 265 of them.  I've spent this evening copying the information off each picture to make a list so that I can start entering them on the website.  (This may take awhile because I still have about 1,000 to get entered from Resurrection Memorial Cemetery in Oklahoma City where Joanne's Dad is buried.)

Minnesota 2012--Day 3

Back on the road and then to our destination.

We left out of Faribault around 8:30 and headed toward Minneapolis.  Was hoping to miss their morning rush hour traffic and pretty much did.  Traffic was medium but it is always interesting to heard one of these big rigs through the down town area of any major city.  After a stop for fuel we were on to Hinckley and Tobie's Restaurant.  This has pretty much become a stopping place on our trips up north.  The place has been there for many years and some of the waitresses seem to have been there since it opened.

 Arrived in Duluth early afternoon and checked in at The Lakehead Boat Basin.  This is a working boat yard and marina that has RV sites in the summer months.  We have stayed here several times over the years and always enjoy it.  It is located almost downtown and within walking distance to most of the attractions in the area.  It also helps that the owners, Joel and his daughter, Jody, remember us and are always welcoming.  After getting the coach all set up I called Joanne's Aunt Pat to let her know I'd made it into town.  Went out to dinner with Aunt Pat and Uncle Dennis tonight at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant then back to their place for a good visit.  Being this is my first trip to Joanne's hometown without her this will be my first time to visit with most of her relatives since her passing.

I'll be spending the next two weeks here visiting with folks and attending her families annual reunion picnic.

The picture to the left is the view from the front of my coach.  Just past the marina is Duluth Harbor.

Minnesota 2012--Day 2

Another travel day.

We left Liberty, Missouri, after breakfast this morning and headed north.  Fairly uneventful day with a stop for fuel in Missouri and lunch in Iowa.  Traveled up through Des Moines and then across the state line into Minnesota.  Stopped for lunch at Boondocks, a cafe/motel/truckstop that lists it's location as Middle of Nowhere, Iowa.  (Good food but lousy service.)  After getting into Minnesota one of our primary stops was the Cabela's store just south of Faribault.  I love to shop at Cabela's.  Since we don't have their stores in Oklahoma I usually buy from them via their online catalog.  They have some of the lowest prices on ammunition.   Since I do a lot of target shooting I like to buy ammo in bulk.  Picked up a couple of cases of shells for two of my firearms.

We are now encamped at the Camp Faribo Campground in Faribault, Minnesota.  The plan is to leave here in the morning and arrive in Duluth sometime tomorrow afternoon.  So far the traffic has been fairly light, which is to be expected when traveling on Saturday and Sunday.  Tomorrow may be very different, especially since Interstate 35 goes right through the heart of Minneapolis.  Since we are only about 40 miles south of there I'll wait until after morning rush hour before heading that way.  We should be well past there by the time the noon rush starts.

Minnesota 2012--Day 1

Another adventure, another solo trip.

Left Oklahoma City around 9:00 this morning, heading north.  After we got into Kansas noticed the engine in the coach was running a little hot.  Checked the gage on the dash and it showed the engine was at 211 to 212 degrees.  This engine usually runs at around 197 to 202 degrees.  Stopped in Emporia, Kansas, and bought a gallon of coolant pre-mixed for diesel engines and poured the whole thing into the resovoir.  That did the trick because when I got back out on the road she was running right at 200 degrees.

This is another trip out with just me and the dogs.  It gets lonely driving all alone.  It is almost impossible to get an AM or FM radio signal when traveling cross country.  (My car is equipped with XM Sattelite Radio but I don't have that up here in the coach.)  There is a whole shelf of music CD's but it is almost impossible to mess with them while hearding 30,000 pounds of vehicle down the road.

We made it past Kansas City today and are in a nice RV park in Liberty, Missouri.  This is normally the place we stop on our trips north and the lady in the office remembered me from last year.  Got the dogs fed and me fed and have settled in for the evening.  Several years ago, before our RV days, Joanne and I stopped here in Liberty on our way to Duluth.  We had seen the roadside signs many times advertising the attractions in Liberty so on that trip we decided to stop and take a look.  One attraction is the first bank that Jesse James and his gang ever robbed.  Also, not far out of town is the house that was owned my Jesse and Frank James mother.  We took the tour of both.  The other attraction is the Liberty Jail.  This is where the Mormons were help prisoner when they met up with trouble while attempting to establish a Mormon community.  After the death of their leader, Joseph Smith, they moved on to Utah and established themselves there.  This trip I think I'll just be content in relaxing in the coach for the night before moving on in the morning.

A happy birthday for Emma

Yesterday was the seventh birthday of my granddaughter, Emma.  Although I claim five little girls as my granddaughters only three are biological and Emma is the oldest of those three.

Her mother had a small party at a place called Cactus Jack's.  (When my sons were younger this place was mostly a teen club but is pretty much now just a arcade full of video games for anyone to enjoy.) 

Emma had a good time visiting with friends and family and playing the video games.

A morning at home on the range

A few rounds and then lunch.

This morning I was invited to join my favorite niece, Carrie, and her husband at the local shooting range.  John is an avid devotee of firearms just like myself.  He was introducing a couple of friends to the shooting sport along with giving Carrie a chance to practice.  Carrie and the other couple are scheduled to take the Concealed Carry Class in a couple of weeks.  That class is required by the state in order to apply for a Concealed Carry Permit.  I have been encouraging Carrie to get her permit for some time due to the parts of town she has to transit daily in her commute to and from work.

We met up at H&H Shooting Sports Complex around 9:30 this morning.  They have a very large indoor range.  I brought a couple of my favorite firearms and John brought a pretty good assortment of his.  He also brought along his fully automatic machine pistol that spews out projectiles at a very rapid clip.  In addition to being a reserve Oklahoma County Deputy Sheriff he also has a Class 3 license that allows him to own and fire full automatic weapons (read that to mean "machine guns").

 Carrie spent much of her time loading the magazines for the various firearms that John had brought.  John acted as instructor, teaching the other couple the proper handling and firing of the weapons. 

I had brought both of my Glocks, a 9mm and a .40 caliber.  These are my two favorite weapons to shoot.  Here is Carrie trying out my 9mm.  She fired both weapons but decided she liked the smaller 9mm the best.  That is also my most favorite and seems to be the one I'm most accurate using.

After about three hours of shooting the other couple had to leave to go pick up their kids.  Carrie, John and I headed over to the other side of the Interstate for lunch at Cracker Barrel Restaurant.  All in all, a good time was had by everyone and some new folks were introduced into the fun of sport shooting.

A good time on a sad day

To celebrate or to grieve, that was the question.

Today would have been Joanne's 68th birthday had she survived.  This being the first birthday since her death I was at a bit of a quandry as to what to do with myself.  First inclination was to make the 65 mile drive down to the cemetery to put new flowers on her grave.  (I'll do that tomorrow.)  The more I thought about it she would have preferred a more joyous time than that.  So, I decided to surround myself with family and have a cookout at the house.  All three of my kids with their families came together today along with Joanne's mom.

With everyones busy schedules it is hard to get all of them together at one time.  As it was I had all of them except for one granddaughter so we had a good crowd.  Cooked hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill and had potato salad and cole slaw.  Plenty of food to go around with enough left over for me to eat for a few days.  (Since I'm really not much of a kitchen person I relied on the local deli for the salads.)  For desert Carrie and her grandmother (Jo's Mom) brought a cake.  Everything was pretty much ready when they all arrived and afterwards the kids jumped in and cleaned everything up. 

The adults:

Alex and his girlfriend Cristie; Alan and his partner Cathy; Carrie and her husband John; Mardell and me.

The Grands:

Catlin and Madison

JJ, Aurora and Cadence

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, Alex and Alan are my biological children.  Carrie is my child by choice.  (She is biologically Joanne's niece but she is just as much mine as the boys are.)  Mardell is Joanne's Mom.  Catlin and Madison are Alan's stepchildren, JJ is Carrie and John's son, Aurora is Alan's daughter from a previous relationship, and Cadence is Alan and Cathy's daughter.  The only one missing was Emma, Alan's other daughter from a previous relationship.  (Got all that firgured out?)  We are not the most typical of families but we are family and I enjoy each and everyone of them.  Filling the house with these people was the best thing I could have done to make a potentially sad day into a celebration.