Home for New Years

Our 3200 mile Christmas Trek is complete. We got home yesterday after an eight hour drive from Billings. We had great weather on Friday as well...although the first 60 miles outside of Mitchell, SoDak where a little sketchy. The skies were clearish but the wind was still blowing and it was already really REALLY cold.

Once we got to Chamberlain and crossed the Missouri river, the conditions changed. We could travel at 80 again and we made the nine hour drive to Billings.

We even got in early enough to go to Jake's Montana Steak House and watch the Cougars defeat Iowa State in the AlamoBowl.

While it is great to be home, we are sick. Today is day se7en of this cold I've complained about and Susan is stricken with a pretty severe case of flu. 

We are staying in and staying Quiet. It looks like a great New Years Eve for us.

Corn Palace

The alarm went off at 6:55 and we were on the road by 8:30.

The day started in Des Moines where it rained all night. It was wet out but it was warm. We loaded up the car, double checked the house for anything we left behind and hit the road. Susan drove first and got us to Souix Falls in three hours and seven minutes. I took over and the weather turned frosty. 

When we got to Sioux City and Interstate 90, it was near white out conditions and snow blowing across the freeway. The visibility was horrible and I think I made a top speed of 50 for a little while. I drove for almost 3 hours and we turned off at Mitchell. It's about one third of the way across the state. The forecast for tomorrow looks more promising than the current conditions so at 3PM, we got a room and went to dinner. 

I don't remember the name of the local joint we went to but it was a nice little Bar and Grill in downtown...right by the Corn Palace.

I enjoyed a local dish I never heard of before that consisted of Bits of steak dropped into a deep fat fryer. I got em rare and they were tastey. 

We then looked for a store and got some supplies. Brandy and cough drops for me and beer for Susan.

The nice thing about this detour is we finally got to see the World's Only Corn Palace.

The poor quality of the pictures is an indication of how cold it was out there. The pictures and columns and most of the building are all decorated with thousands of ears of corn.

Iowa - Day Six

Today is our last full day in Iowa. We are going to lunch with the cousins and then going to see a play tonight.

Last night's news was talking about snow advisories in South Dakota. I looked on some SoDak traffic cameras just now and they definitely have snow. It's not a lot at this point and I don't know what the forecast calls for.

We had already decided to make the trip back a three day affair. That will make it easier on us and the drive. The plan for tomorrow is to make it to Rapid City. That's 626 miles. On Friday, we plan to reach Bozeman. That is a distance of 458 miles. 

The Washington State Football Cougars are playing Iowa State in the AlamoBowl. It looks like the game is at 7:00. We should be able to make Bozeman in time for us to find a bar and watch the game. If we are doing really well, I'm going to try and make it to Butte. That's only another 90 miles, but we will be crossing the Continental Divide in the dark.

On top of everything, I have developed a cold, with a sore throat and stuffed up head. It's not keeping me down but I'm not feeling terribly perky.

11:06PM: We had a delightful lunch with the cousins. I had a nice French Dip sandwich which gave me trouble when we returned home and I laid down for a nap.

I napped until 6 and then we went downtown to a play called "Triple Espresso". It was a community theater offering and it was hilarious. I enjoyed myself in spite of how I feel...which is not great.

When next you hear from us, we'll be in snowy Rapid City, SoDak.

Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings to the two or three people who visit this blog. I hope you are having as wonderful a time as we are!

Another Night of Blues

We are pretty much Bloozed Out. We've been to three shows in three days.

Last night was the All-Star Reunion show for Blues on Grand, a defunct Blues Bar that everyone in the Blues Community seems to revere here. The bar is still functioning and lots of Blues bands play there, but now it is called "The Gas Lamp".

They played for over three hours straight with a variety of performers getting up and playing. Nephew Neil is to the far right on his keyboards. The venue was a funky little bar called "Lefty's", named after a three legged dog.

Our schedule for today is pretty low key. I need to find some ZiCam as I feel just a tinge of a sore throat. I don't want it to get any worse than a tinge.

Christmas Shopping

Including today, there are three shopping days left before Christmas. That seems like a good time for me to start. And so I did. I would love to tell you about it, but I have to go downstairs and decorate Christmas Cookies. It's a treasured Christmas tradition.

Okay! That cherished tradition is in the books for another year.

I managed to get just about everything I wanted on my shopping sojourn, plus I came up with a couple of good added presents. It's a cold cloudy day in Des Moines and the shoppers are definitely out. I wasn't in any big hurry and especially because I'm unfamiliar with the city, I bided my time.

We went to Phil and Margaret's church tonight for their Saturday evening service. It was nice but frustrating to see a church that is doing well when we attend a church that is barely hanging on.

After the service, we went to a local bar to hear another band that Neil plays in, the Soul Searchers. They are a very tight bluesy band and really a joy to listen to.

It's now about 10 pm and time to wind down the day. I have one more thing I need to get tomorrow and I think I know where to get it. Let's see how I do.

Christmas in Iowa-Days One and Two

We are spending Christmas in Des Moines this year. We arrived last night after a two day driving adventure across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dak and finally, Iowa.

We made it to Sheridan, Wyoming the first day. 690 miles! The weather was great for the drive. The only place it was a little bit sketchy was at Lookout Pass on the Idaho-Montana border. It was slushy for about 25 miles. 

Then we got directed off the freeway at Superior, Montana because of some wreck on the Freeway. We drove down this two lane country road for 15 miles until they got us back on the main road. 

At one point, the road went right along side the freeway and west bound semi trucks were backed up for miles. They had to sit there for however long it took to clear the accident. 

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Speed Limits in Eastern Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota are 80 MPH which means I set it at 85 with no concern for getting pulled over.

Unfortunately, we traveled on the shortest day of the year so we had to drive in the dark a lot. Here's a nice sunset from two thirds of the way across SoDak.

Here are some other pictures from the road,

Here is a shot of the Devils Tower in Wyoming. This is as close as we got.

We always have books to listen to on the road, which really helps pass the time. We started with a book called "Circe" by Madeline Miller. Unless you are really in to mythology and fantasy, do not get this book.

We listened for four hours, waiting for some sort of story to begin. We finally gave up and turned to "The Reckoning" by John Grisham. This was much better and captured our interest immediately.

I'm going to return "Circe" to Audible. I got it because it was recommended by the Audible Editors as one of the best fiction books of the year. I shall not put much stock in their recommendations in the future.

We are here now and Winter has officially arrivened although it doesn't look like it in Des Moines. It looks like Fall. But it feels like Winter.

We are off to shop and wash the car.

Snow Blow One

We had overnight what I consider to be our first official snow fall. 

It falls into that category because I had to break out the snow blower. I covered my regular territory of the driveway, the alley next to the driveway, the sidewalk on Wall, and the sidewalk on Waverly Place. I also did a little on Cleaveland. 

Since it was my day off, I got to do it at a leisurely pace. 

The snow blower ran great at first, but started acting up and surging as I finished up the alley. The snow there was really wet and I had to stop and clear the barrel several times. I'm going to go get some STP or other such gasoline additive to help blow out the junk and super fortify my existing old gas.

Out With One Season and On to the Next

It's December now so we are tearing down Thanksgiving and Autumn and proceeding directly to Christmas.

We have been painting sky walks for the last two weeks so we needed to take a day to relax and regroup. Susan isn't getting a lot of that. Even today, she had to go to the Arena at 4:00 to work a Metalica concert.

The local C.O.P.S. shops sponsored a Carriage ride around the park today. It was to go from noon to 2 but so many people showed up that they went until 3:30.

I was putting up lights outside and watching the crowds come and go. I listened from the balcony as a young mother and her friend walked by complaining that they had planned the whole thing all wrong, not having more horses so she and her son could ride. The whole time she liberally used the "f" word as a noun, verb, adjective, as her son held her hand. With a mother like that, he doesn't have a chance.

I finally got the lights up and Susan got a good start on Mantleville. It's a good start on the Christmas Season.