Friday, October 29

We were in the truck by 7:30, the thermometer reading 24 degrees. I took my pen out of the glove box to record this and it was too cold to write--had to warm the tip in my hand (hot water bottle already in place on my lap). We were treated to a glorious pre-sunrise deep orange streaked sky on our way out of town.

--the roadside grasses were frosted and the plowed field furrows white
--more wind farms plus some new ones being assembled

new propeller blade in transit

--flock after flock of tiny black birds undulated across the sky with the flock alternately bunching up and stretching out and occasionally plunging en mass into the grasses or harvested fields
--by 9 it was 33 degrees but at the rest stop the outside drinking fountain was already winterized, well wrapped in yellow plastic secured with duct tape
--we saw our first sign for Wall Drug--a mere 355 miles ahead
--by 11 AM we were in South Dakota and the temp was 45 degrees; blue skies and the ever present wind
--at noon we exited in Mitchell to make and eat lunch and take a quick gander at the Corn Palace--yearly redecorated with 12 different corn colors, each cob cut in half and nailed in place--how is it we never stopped here with the kids??

all made out of corn cobs

--in mid afternoon we crossed the Missouri River with the temperature continuing to climb
--signs welcoming pheasant hunters, droopy-headed fields of dried sunflowers, some 20 miles of mounded snow lingering along fence lines
--we finally notice that the plowed fields are gone and we are in the midst of grasslands with distant sprinkles of cattle
--A new sign proclaims: “WEAR FUR: Hunting and Trapping Keep Animal Populations in Balance”

Late in the afternoon we spy jagged sawtooth (with a few broken teeth, says Mark) mountains popping up out of the prairie--the Badlands. Somehow on our other car treks to Michigan, we had never stopped here either. There is a 40 mile loop off and back on to I-90. We almost thought we were in Bryce or Kodachrome again. Chiseled and eroding, bare and grass-topped, white with dusty rose stripes or yellow with deep pink streaks, the rock formations spread in a winding line across the landscape. Even spied a large herd of grazing deer and a threesome of bighorn sheep. We pushed on in the waning light for Rapid City.

29. South Dakota--Under God the people rule/Mount Rushmore State, Coyote State, or the newest catchy phrase: Great Faces, Great Places

Thursday, October 28

We left Terre Haute under gray skies. It was 45 degrees. The highway was lined with brown-leafed or bare-limbed trees and the wind was fierce. Snaking our way north towards I-90, we passed the 7,000 mile mark on the odometer. Our newest book-on-CD was Ivan Doig’s The Whistling Season. Although set in Montana, the prose fit our traveling conditions perfectly: “The wind was practicing for winter…the pewter sky….” We entered Illinois and miles of flat, flat farmland broken only by the occasional farmhouse surrounded by clumps of trees. A large sign along the highway proclaimed: Guns Save Life.

After checking long range weather outlooks for snow, Mark’s incurable wanderlust had ruled out taking the more southern I-80 to Salt Lake City since at that point we would encounter roads already traveled this trip--Horrors!

We rolled on into Wisconsin. My sister Teri had suggested a couple of interesting stops but we were bent on racking up some miles. We cruised by the rocky pinnacles and over the rolling hills near The Dells and continued on northwest towards Tomah (home to many of my step mom’s clansmen) and finally picked up I-90. Some 40 miles later, we crossed several miles of bridge over the mighty Mississippi River and entered Minnesota. A setting sun cast an orange glow on the riverside hills and bathed in eerie light fields of bright pumpkins left unpicked.

We arrived in Rochester in the dark. After an abortive attempt to find one campground, we called the KOA campground in town. The man told us that he could give us electricity but no water. The predicted temperature overnight was 22 degrees. With another call we discovered that a nearby Motel 6 would only be $10 more than the KOA. We quickly abandoned the camper!

26. Illinois--State sovereignty, national union/Land of Lincoln, Prairie State

27. Wisconsin--Forward/Badger State

28. Minnesota--The star of the North/North Star State, Land of 10,000 Lakes

Terre Haute

Tuesday afternoon we did push our way out of Grand Rapids south towards the Indiana border. We battled 25-30 mph winds with occasional strong gusts and watched our already meager miles per gallon plummet into single digits. Angry gray clouds flew by overhead. (We later learned that we had experienced a "weather bomb" where there is an intense low pressure system that generates tremendous winds, rain/snow!) 

The further south we went, the sunnier the skies became. About 80 miles out from Terre Haute, the long, straight, flat highway was encompassed by a vast, circular wind farm of huge, graceful, three-armed, white windmills steadily turning in the wind.

We arrived at Mandeville’s house after dark. They had even waited dinner for us!

Wednesday was a relaxed day with Teri. Saw a bit of Terre Haute again and walked the bike path where Peter’s memorial bench swing and plaque are located. It was a long wonderful walk with Lucy the dog straining out front of us in the autumn sunshine.

25. Indiana--The Crossroads of America/Hoosier State

From the internet….Where does the name Hoosier come from? The origins of Hoosier are rather obscure, but the most likely possibility is that the term is an alteration of hoozer, an English dialect word used to refer to anything unusually large. The first recorded instance of Hoosier meaning "Indiana resident" is dated 1826. Senses of the word recorded later in the Dictionary of Americanisms, included "a big, burly, uncouth specimen or individual; a frontiersman, countryman, rustic”. As a nickname, Hoosier was but one of a variety of disparaging terms arising in the early 19th century for the inhabitants of particular states. For example, Texans were called Beetheads, Alabamans were Lizards, Nebraskans were Bug-eaters, South Carolinians were Weasels, and Pennsylvanians were Leatherheads. People in Missouri might have had it worst of all-they were called Pukes. Originally, these names were probably taken up by people living in neighboring states, but belittled residents adopted them in a spirit of defiant pride, much as American colonists turned the derisive term Yankee into a moniker for their spirit of rebellion. Today, most of these frontier nicknames have disappeared from the landscape. A few like Okie still exist with much of their original animus. Others survive as nicknames for the sports teams of state universities-the North Carolina Tarheels, the Ohio Buckeyes, and so on-fighting words only on the playing field or court.      Well, I found it interesting..............

Saturday-Tuesday, October 23-26

Oops, I forgot my ongoing tally of states:
22. Massachusetts--By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty/Bay State, Old Colony State

23. Ohio--With God, all things are possible/Buckeye State

24. Michigan--If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you/Wolverine State, Great Lakes State

On Saturday morning, we visited the Calvin College campus. We saw the newly remodeled and enlarged and just dedicated Covenant Fine Arts Center, as the old FAC is now called. We also wandered through the indoor 362,000 sq. ft. fieldhouse complex--500 spectator aquatic center with Olympic size pool, climbing rock, state-of-the-art 5000 seat arena, 10,000 sq. ft. fitness center, dance center, indoor track and tennis courts….OH,MY!

It was Homecoming weekend so there were extra activities going on. We were intrigued by a talk given by the two main perpetrators of The Bananer back in 1970. If you know what that is, ask us about it. We now have the inside scoop and lots of fun stories! Saw Larry VanGenderen at the talk as well!

Other fun times:
--dinner at Blickleys with the Koks and Joyce, too



--church in Holland at the Hope College Chapel where Lydia’s choir was singing (got to meet Lydia’s boyfriend, Dave, too)


 

 --wine, munchies, and hours of conversation on Sunday evening with our long time friends Bob and Thea Leunk
--I relished Monday morning chat time at Ani’s house, just the two of us catching up
--lunch out with HS-and-beyond friend Mary Gates VanGoor
--dinner at 750 with Mark and Isabella



--Tuesday morning breakfast out with 8 of Mark’s aunts and uncles


The plan was to leave Grand Rapids for Terre Haute, IN immediately after breakfast. However, the winds are raging and a tornado warning is in effect. We’ll wait to see. Will probably leave now after lunch.....

Thursday-Friday, October 21-22

Goodbye, Lou!

On Thursday morning after one last cup of coffee, we pulled out leaving Anneke and Lou sitting on the front steps. We would be driving east on I-80 through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and mostly Pennsylvania. The route provided us the most wonderful fall color tour. Even with mostly overcast skies, the colors were magnificent. The hills rolled before us in a patchwork of fire-like reds, oranges and yellows with accents of maroon, lime, coral, burnished gold, and brown. Awesome!

My mind worked on possible ways to describe what we were seeing…hill upon hill of brightly hued colors like a tightly hooked rug of varying lengths which, flung across the landscape, falls in gentle folds…or hill upon hill of brightly hued colors like an embroidery done in tightly packed knobby French knots…. You get the picture.

Connecticut greeted us with winds and rain and colors blurred by windshield wipers. We passed the 6,000 mile mark on the odometer. We joined endless trucks on the route and encountered two lengthy tiresome backups. We wondered if I-90, a toll road, might actually have been the better route to go. We called ahead to a tiny rural RV park and finally pulled in about 7:30 PM to find a little white-haired lady in the office awaiting our arrival. Ah, thank you!

Friday morning we breakfasted on hot cereal while eyeing the thermometer reading 36 degrees. Once in the cab we both eagerly turned on the seat warmers. There was little traffic and the day was sunny with fluffy clouds. Entering Ohio, we lost the lovely hills and most of the colorful woods. The landscape went flat and was covered in brown and stubbly cornfields. We left the clouds behind, entered Michigan, and were shortly greeted by signs saying, “Prison Area: Do Not Pick Up Hitch Hikers.” Hmmmm….

We happily arrived at Nancy’s house about 4:30 in the afternoon. Yeah!

An aside: We have loved listening to different books-on-CD during our travels. Especially wonderful have been Anne Rice’s books Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana. We highly recommend them.

Monday-Wednesday, October 18-20

Hyde Park is its own well integrated neighborhood community within greater Boston. Within easy walking distance from the Stasson’s house are the library, the post office, a hardware store, a large grocery store, a pharmacy, Ron’s Gourmet Homemade Ice Cream Store and Small Pin Bowling Alley (!), small parks, plus several small restaurants and many other businesses. Anneke can even walk to her doctor’s office. We enjoyed daily walks all over town with Lou in the stroller. We had a great time at one of the parks.

Wednesday morning, I accompanied Anneke and Lou to a kids’ group. Anneke and I along with another mom where on duty for the 2.5 hour playgroup time for about 9-10 kids from 8 months to four years of age. It is held at one mom’s house (she has five kids and a great playroom). I was quite pleased to be able to use some of the songs from my preschool and Sunday School repertoire for a short singing time. Anneke reports that Lou totally has “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” down now!

Wednesday afternoon Mark and I took Lou to the Franklin Park (Boston) Zoo. The lion was roaring, the gorilla was curious, and the peacocks were wandering everywhere. The best way to see a zoo is with a child.

Saturday-Sunday, October 16-17

On Saturday we all ran errands and enjoyed a lovely fall walk in the woods very near the Stasson’s house--Steve’s cross country kids practice run in these woods.

On Sunday we all attended church. This is always interesting since Stassons attend a “high” Anglican church--lots of liturgy plus wonderful organ music and a men and boys choir. In the afternoon, we went back to church for an organ concert featuring good musical variety down through the ages--from Bach to a current Dutch composer named Ad Wammes! Charlotte, Zhiyong, Shuzhen and Yongshin met us for the concert and a dinner out afterwards.  Great day, fun dinner out!

Tuesday-Friday, October 12-15

Back again in Boston, Mark has been doing some house projects for the Stassons and I have been helping Anneke around the house as well as tending Lou so that Anneke can work on her PhD prospectus.

Friday afternoon, Mark and I took mass transit buses and trains into town to get a campus tour (we were met and accompanied by Zhiyong Wang) and also to go to the MIT Energy Night. Charlotte was the managing director for the night--a big job and a huge honor. (She said around a thousand people were in attendance for the event.) Such enthusiasm and energy! We were impressed. The free food and drink was good, too!

all of us at MIT Energy Night

One hysterical moment I forgot to blog about: Last Friday night, we arrived late out at the Cape and were trying to quickly and quietly transfer the sleeping Lou into the room. Grabbing a few other bags to carry in as well, we must have jostled the toy bag. Suddenly, an electronic voice said, “Park the red car!” (it is a talking truck with various buttons you can push). Lou slept on and we all breathed a sigh of relief. However, 15-20 seconds later, the voice loudly announced, “See you soon on the road!” I was positively convulsed with giggles.

Friday-Monday, October 8-11

Boston, here we come! We cruised on by signs for Yale in New Haven, enjoyed fall colors on the way up to Hartford, and even more red and orange and brilliant yellow in the rolling forests as we entered Massachusetts. The sun was bright and it was a crisp 58 degrees. Lovely! Did have to pay even more tolls though on the highway to Boston--not used to that.

We arrived around lunchtime at the Stasson’s’ house. Mary Lou was a bit wary of us and observed us quite solemnly. Was fun to see the seven month pregnant Anneke in the flesh instead of in pictures like last time. Was even better when Steve arrived home from school.

After dinner, we packed up food and stuff in their “new-to-them” cranberry colored minivan and headed east to Cape Cod. Mark and I had reserved a couple of 1-bedroom condos through our Vacation Internationale timeshare for the long weekend.

We had wonderful weather--sunny and 60s. We picnicked and walked on the beach, swam in the indoor pool, bought and ate fresh lobster, did a nature walk and just relaxed. Lou and I especially connected by blowing bubbles in the pool. It was lovely. Oh, and Mark decided to shave off his beard.

Thursday, October 7

We arrived early at the Gettysburg visitors center in order to see the well done movie, cyclorama, and Civil War Museum. From there we set out in our car for a self guided tour of the actual battlegrounds. The day was sunny but windy. A few things which struck me:

-the whole battle was a chance meeting at Gettysburg of the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of General Robert E. Lee and the Union Army of the Potomac under the command of Major General George G. Meade

--the gruesome sequence of the three day battle on July 1-3, 1863 resulted in 51,000 combined casualties of war (dead, wounded or missing)

--the beautifully restored 360 degree “cyclorama” painting of Pickett’s Charge done by Paul Philippoteaux in 1884, complete with sound and light show, was a walk back in history by itself; the artist interviewed actual participants and included them in the painting

--Pickett’s Charge cost Lee 5,000 soldiers in one hour!

--the 24 mile car tour travels from behind confederate lines to behind union lines and is strewn with hundreds of statues and plaques commemorating different companies, regiments, brigades, etc. both north and south

--the North Carolina Memorial, a very large statue, was created by Gutzon Borglum who is famous for creating Mount Rushmore as well as carving the scene on Stone Mountain in Atlanta (which we saw last time we were there); the signboard near the statue reads, “North Carolina sacrificed more sons for the Confederacy than any other state…at Gettysburg more than 6100 were killed, wounded, or missing”

--two observation towers (one had 118 steps) allow views of the entire area

an area known as The Valley of Death

--here also, of course, is the site of Lincoln’s memorable Gettysburg address delivered in November of 1863 as “a few appropriate remarks” after the 2 hour oration of the main speaker at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg

--we walked solemnly through endless small markers in the cemetery chiseled with either “Unknown” or simply a number

We could have lingered but we still had 8 hours of driving ahead in order to get to Boston, and we had promised to arrive by noon on Friday. We sadly cruised right on by signs for Hershey, PA, “the sweetest place on earth”. There were trucks everywhere. In fact, the highway had signs stating, “Be Alert--Heavy Truck Traffic”.

We entered New Jersey and paid our money to take the NJ Turnpike towards New York City. The drive through NYC and across the lower level of the George Washington Bridge ($8 fee just for that) was accomplished somewhat miraculously at about 7 PM. The views down the Hudson River of a twinkling Manhattan were short and for my eyes only--traffic was too heavy for Mark to even glance.

Once through NYC we started looking for a place to crash for the night. No campgrounds or RV parks seemed even remotely possible in this heavily populated area. We finally pulled into a hotel near Bridgeport, Connecticut. Boston would be just a three hour drive away in the morning.

19. New Jersey--Liberty and prosperity/Garden State

20. New York--Ever upward/Empire State

21. Connecticut--He who transplanted still sustains/Constitution State, Nutmeg State, Provisions State, Land of Steady Habits (wow--there’s a list for you!)