Wandering Where We’ll Be

I will get to why they are mush in just a minute.
I better catch you all up.
The next place we stayed when we finally stopped was a roadside RV park.  They had laundry facilities.  We had dirty laundry….and so on and so on.
The RV Park is in a city called Berea.  Its claim to fame is its folk arts and crafts.  It also has a college that enrolls low income students that get a full scholarship when they go there.  The only requirement for them is a 10-15 hour workweek for the college itself.  It is a neat old-fashioned town.  We wandered a bit there. 

It is in the “Bible belt”.
NO BEER/WINE/LIQUOR!!!!

This very much explains the RV Park.  What does that mean you ask?  Well, the park had a hill.  On the hill are three life-size crucifixion crosses.  These crosses are also outlined in Christmas lights.  There is also a freshly dug up section almost exactly below the crosses…big enough for 2-3 people…yes, this looked very much like an unmarked grave.  There wasn’t a church or graveyard nearby.

Anyway, next day, up, packed all gear back in truck; moved on.

We drove to Cumberland Gap, Daniel Boone country.  We saw a short film at the visitor center about Boone.  Then we went to our campsite at Wilderness Trail Campground.  I had better tell you about the birds.  Every morning wherever we camp, they wake us up with all the chirping!  Crows “Craaww, Craaww, Craaww”, other birds “chickadeedeedee”; another sounds like “truditruditruditruditrudi”or “JudiJudiJudiJudi, and many more all trying to be a symphony of badgering, plaintive, belligerent, exuberant birds all trying their best to WAKE THE WORLD up.

Next day, (here comes the mush part) we hiked up half a mountain to “tri-state peak where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia all meet.  Beautiful flowers, almost fully “leaved” trees, skinks (Jake wanted them), a wild turkey and a lot of pretty sights along the trail there.  I was still doing great at this time.  No stops for rest or any pains yet.  Little did we know these would come on our next hike (the same day) at White Rocks look out.  We started up that trail thinking it was kind of steep.  It got steep.  We weren’t climbing or anything but going pretty sharply up for about 4ish miles is a workout.  Jake wasn’t even peppy when we were near the top (or even at the halfway point).  It was a great trail for sight seeing though.  There were many waterfalls going “through” the trail or beside it.  When we got to the top and looked out, we could see for miles!  We have pictures.  I am not sure when they will be loaded but it will be soon.  We went down the mountain.  Then we looked for WINE!  We have gone up 1 and a half mountains in a day (think Appalachian Mountains), we need a treat.  Tim made a pasta dish with sun-dried tomatoes and other yummy stuff.  We had our wine after a major search. Salad and Texas toast were the follow-up to the meal.  We sang songs while Tim played the guitar near our fire.  Then we went to bed.
We have since packed up and moved on.  My legs are mush.  Sitting while I’m driving is great.  Jake is “pooped”.  Tim is the passenger this round, normally he drives.  He has found our next camp site and is currently sitting outside in the sun with Jake on the sidewalk while I type this in a café called Outspoken in Asheville, North Carolina.  It is a nice place with good food.  I am going to go out and get Tim now so he can upload this. 

Blog you all later
Dan

It’s Monday morning, and we’re in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park near Middlesboro, KY.  It’s a beautiful day, with the clouds that were around earlier with the sunrise having moved out.  We’re going to stay in the park for another night, so we don’t have to break camp today.  We showered up, had oatmeal for breakfast, and we’ll soon be heading out to do some hiking in the park.

I thought I’d write a bit about how we packed for a long camping trip like this.  We have a small truck with a topper, and most of our gear/food is in plastic totes – each containing items that are – more or less – similar in function.

Well, Dan’s back from the shower, so I’ll have to finish this later.

Continuing while traveling between Cumberland Gap and Asheville, NC…

For example, we have the large “tent” tote.  This contains the tent and most of what goes in it once it’s set up: sleeping pads, sleeping bags.  There’s actually a second tent in this tote, as well.  The first tent is my Eureka Wind River, a 2-3 person tent that has room for our two sleeping bags, each of our clothes bags and Jake’s sleeping pad and sleeping bag, which is actually more like a square pita, with two open sides.  The other tent (an REI Half-Dome) is smaller and will be used when we want to do a backpacking trip, where we’ll be away from the truck for a couple nights or more.  Actually, we might have to use this tent before we do any backpacking.  The door zipper on my Wind River, which – I figured – is on its fourteenth year, is beginning to fail.  We might be able to replace the zipper pull, and all will be fine.  In the meantime, I think we’ll use the Half-Dome.  It has less floor space inside, but has vestibule areas – one on each side – that can be used to keep shoes, etc.  We’ve used this tent with Jake before, and it works fine.

Then, we have three “food” totes.  The first contains the larger dry and canned food items (e.g. pasta, rice, pancake mix, vegetable oil, syrup, etc.).  The second contains smaller items, like canned soup, baked beans, quick noodle/rice dishes (mostly for backpacking), lentils and other small dried beans, nuts, raisins, etc.  The third tote is a smaller tote we’re using for our beverage mixes (instant coffee, teas, and hot chocolate), snacks and bread/buns.  We also have a small container filled with the most commonly used herbs and spices; it hasn’t found a permanent home, yet, but I hope to find room for it in one of the food totes soon.

The “kitchen” tote holds all of our cookware, small cutting boards, cooking utensils, plates, bowls, cups, silverware, kitchen towels and wash cloths, dish soap and extra ziploc bags.

The “equipment” tote contains a real mix of camping gear, including the larger griddle that doesn’t fit in the kitchen tote, popcorn popper for over the campfire, gas lantern, kitchen tarp and rope, backpacking stoves and fuel bottles, and hat and mittens for possible cold weather in the mountains.

Another, un-named tote holds each of our backpacks, two different sizes of day-packs and our lightweight sleeping bags.

We also have a small tote with all kinds of car repair stuff.

Then, for gear that is not in totes, we have our clothes bags – one each; Jake’s bag with leashes, cable, food and water dishes and dog treats; dog food; two-burner stove and propane tank; firewood and extra drinking water.

In the truck cab, we have maps, campground guide, books, journals, snacks, water, CDs, laptop and camera.

Well, we’re almost to Asheville, NC, so I’ll end here.

Tim

Yes, we are 39 miles from Louisville as I begin this blog entry.

Now, where did we leave off? Last blog entry, we were in Indianapolis and it was afternoon. Later that evening, we met up with Dave at his apartment complex. We went out for dinner at a place called Bourbon Street. Dave explained that this place has undergone several makeovers since it is in an out-of-the-way place. It is a corner building on the eastern side of the city on Indiana Ave. It seems to have only off-street parking. It has good food. I (Dan) had a Reuben with fries. Tim had an oyster po-boy with fries. Dave had a nacho plate. We all had iced tea to drink. I normally hate iced tea but it sounded good because we sat outside on the ground floor and had southwest exposure to a very bright sun with almost no shade. Bourbon Street had inside bar seating and an upper floor with outdoor seating as well as indoor seating. I didn’t go up to look to see the “ambience” of the place but I’m sure it had a New Orleans “feel” to it. When we first sat down, there wasn’t anyone outside with us and only a few inside. The second story outdoor seating was loaded. As we ate, the place became jammed with people. This place may have had makeovers, but the current incarnation seems to be a “hit”.

After dinner, we went for a walk along the canal. This was very pretty. There were flowers, artwork, waterfalls, trees, a lot of people, ducks that teased Jake until he barked at them and wanted to dive into the canal to teach them a lesson. This was a long walk. A lot of it was in the shade but we were still hot (and I was sunburned-what a surprise given my ghostlike skin which fries first and then tans later. Tim had a sunburned nose but 3 days later it is gone and not even peeling. unfair). We were all tired afterwards. We went back to Justin and Jennifer’s place and hung out ‘til bedtime. A big thanks to Justin and Jennifer for letting us camp out in their backyard. Also, a big thanks to Dave for hosting us about Indianapolis. He had a big job since he had to have “dog friendly” places for Jake.

Next day, we drove south. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at Cascades Park where the bumblebees were hovering “still-in-the-air” near us. It was strange. It must have been mating season for them since they would wait for another bumblebee to “meet” them in the air and then they would fly off together to be back separately after at short time. After that, we drove through campus in Bloomington, Indiana. It was a very pretty campus to drive through…and very busy. There were a lot of students.

We eventually camped at a site on Hardin Ridge in Hoosier National Forest, a beautiful place. Almost as soon as we set up the tent, It began to rain…hard. We went into the tent. It continued to rain. Tim left the tent to set up a rain fly so we could make dinner and such. It continued to rain. By the time Tim was done (it didn’t take that long), he was soaked. Dinner, dishes washed after dinner, doggy fed; the rain eventually stopped. We went for a hike. It was pleasant but wet. We came back to sit outside a bit and set a fire and found our fire pit was about 4 inches deep with water. Tim set the fire on a grate “over” the fire pit. Eventually we went to bed after reading a bit. We woke up to an overcast day. After pancakes, we went for a hike. We had hiked to an outdoor amphitheater yesterday and had seen some trails leading from it but didn’t use them. Today, we did. Two of them went to Lake Monroe (kind of the “back end” of the lake). Some of the first trail was washed out or “being used” by a “new” stream. We had to go around these areas but that wasn’t very hard. We eventually got to the lake. It was over its banks-very high. The second trail was a way back to almost where we entered the first trail…like a big “U”. We hiked to the main part of Lake Monroe where a beach was. It was covered by lots of water. We made our way back to our campsite. We then went on a road trip that eventually led to T.C. Steele’s house (a historic site with extensive grounds). He was a major landscape painter. His house was on the top of a big hill. It has many trees, flowers, stone walkways, buildings with artwork, an old log home in back, wisteria (stunning flowers). We got a tour while Jake waited (and barked) in the truck. We headed back to home on a very curvy road. It took awhile. We had dinner, set up a fire in a 2 inch deep pond in our fire pit by stacking fire logs high. Eventually we went to bed.

We woke to a sunny day. We got ready. We set down the tent and left. We are on the road now; and we just crossed the Kentucky River as I end this blog.

That’s it for now.

Write to you all later, Dan

It’s Tuesday as I type this.  We’re heading east on Interstate 74, 50 miles outside of Indianapolis.  We’re listening to the Eurythmics’ “Here Comes the Rain Again”.   We’ll be giving our friend, Dave, a call once we get a little closer to Indianapolis to arrange to meet him.  We just stopped at a wayside rest near Hillsboro, IN to use the restroom and to give Jake a chance to “find a spot.”  While walking Jake behind the wayside rest building, we spotted a few different kinds of wild flowers – very pretty.  And, there are many flowering (cherry and crab apple, maybe?) trees along the highway.

We spent last night in Rock Falls, IL, visiting my grandma.  My real grandma on my mom’s side passed away when I was about 4 years old, and my grandpa re-married a couple years later to this grandma (Nadine) that we visited.  She’s 95 years old, and is doing pretty darn well for her age.  Her memory is slipping, but she remembered both me and Dan.  We last saw her in 2001 when we visited her on our way home from our trip to southeast United States (Indianapolis to visit Dave, Great Smoky Mountains, Florida, New Orleans, St. Louis, MO).  She did seem a bit more frail and less talkative than what we remembered, but we did see quite a few moments of the usual joking and kidding grandma.  For example, she apparently doesn’t like taking her pills, so she stalls, re-arranging them on the table.  Then, she says, “You mean I have to take all of these?” and looks my way to give me a wink.

We had a fun time visiting with Grandma and her daughter, Barb, and son-in-law, John.  Since Barb is allergic to dogs, we set up our tent next to their driveway on the side of their house.  We had originally planned to pitch the tent in their back yard, but it was too wet from the heavy rain they had last Sunday.

It’s now Wednesday, and we’re sitting outside a Panera Bread in Indianapolis.  Both yesterday and today have been beautiful days, weather-wise.  Jake’s near the table, soaking in the sun and — I’m sure — enjoying being out of the truck for awhile.  After we got into Indianapolis yesterday, we went with Dave to a restaurant with an outdoor patio so that Jake could hang out under/near our table.  After having dinner and a few beers, we drove out to Dave’s friends, Jennifer and Justin, who live about 20 minutes from downtown Indianapolis.  We hung out in their back yard, drinking wine for awhile and, then, went inside and watched the movie, “Walk the Line”.  Jennifer and Justin seem like really fun people and are very generous to let us camp in their backyard.  We’ll be staying one more night in Indianapolis and then be continuing on tomorrow morning.

Church, choir practice several times, gaming, picking up things at several places, taking care of insurance, getting ready for Easter, seeing friends, biking to places, walking the dog, watched a movie, celebrated my mom’s birthday, drawing, watching bull-riding… sounds like we are really busy doesn’t it. Honestly, this has been one of the most relaxing weeks I’ve ever had. I don’t know if Tim can say the same since he’s the details person on this trip. He is also the main planner. I often ask him what I can do so I feel I’m contributing.

He said “Why don’t you write a blog entry before we leave?”
So here it is.

Blank.

These are a few thoughts running through my mind.

Thought #1: Tim and I celebrated mom’s birthday at their house on Thursday even though on this year her birthday falls on Easter Sunday. Tim had made these cedar outdoor candle holders with citronella candles so that was our gift. But I got to thinking about my parents basement. It has had the furniture and knick knacks in the same place for many years and I knew they would likely remain in those places for quite some time longer unless I offered to rearrange. Both mom and dad liked the idea. So Tim and I changed it around. It took awhile but it looks great. It was a lot of fun to see my parent’s faces after the change. They really liked it.

Thought #2: On Thursday night, it was my last gaming night. Jon had come up with an Aberrant game at my request because I was leaving and I’ve had the game for years and have never played it. To fill people in on what an “aberrant game” is, I’m going to have to use an analogy because unless you play a “paper ‘role-playing-game’”, you will never understand it.

Imagine going to an acting class and the teacher hands you a piece of paper that says a famous actors name on it (let’s say Brad Pitt). Then the teacher says “This is a script for a scene in Brad’s life where he is in an airplane that is being hijacked. Brad is in the 1st class section of the plane, 3rd seat in, next to the window. Brad is not acting in a movie, he is being his normal self in his real life. He has a wallet with $300.00 dollars in it; a cell-phone, and lots of credit cards. There is a screaming/crying woman next to him. The seat next to her is empty. The aisle runs down the middle of the plane; then 3 more seats on the other side with people in them. There are people seated in front of him and in back. The person in back of him is nervously talking quietly into his own cell-phone. One of the hijackers, with an AK-47 automatic assault rifle, is walking up and down the aisle of the 1st class section. The pilots and stewards are tied up sitting in the first 2 rows of the plane.”

“What does Brad do?” the teacher asks you.

At that point, you, who are playing Brad Pitt, look at your script to find out what you are supposed to do or say next. The paper is blank except for Brad’s name. This is free-form impromptu acting. No “official” script. So it is up to you to put yourself in Brad’s shoes and decide what he would likely do in this situation. Does he tell the crying woman to shut-up and then move to the seat next to her so he can tackle the hijacker next time he walks by? Or does he pick up his own cell-phone and call his agent to ask how popular he would be if he just sat there and did nothing? Or does he try to move closer to where a body of hijackers are (he would have to do other things to get to this point) and try to over hear their plans? Or… whatever else you decide he would likely do. Since this is like a script reading, you are not actually getting up and doing any of the things you say Brad Pitt is doing. You are merely telling the teacher what Brad would do. Then the teacher adjusts what the hijacker or hijackers or anyone else involved would do as a response or consequences of Brad’s actions. (if Brad tackled the hijacker, the hijacker wouldn’t just let Brad have his way, he would beat Brad into submission or worse, the screaming woman might faint, the other passengers would move away or maybe even help Brad depending on what the teacher had in mind for the likely end result of this script which could be anything depending on what Brad or some other “actor” does) You, the teacher, and anyone else who has another “actor/actress” on their page would be writing the script as you went along — free-form storytelling or script writing.

A ‘paper’ role-playing-game (not an online role-playing-game which is similar but in my view somewhat limited since I can’t fly my Pegasus to where ever I please [lets say into the upper atmosphere next to the ozone layer] or change him into a tank with my wizard spell abilities [after I create the spell].and run over several of the World of War Craft monsters that stand in my way)is a little more complicated than free-form acting and involves some rules and dice but it is very similar; Social problem solving at its best.

An Aberrant Game is a superhero game that is slightly more sinister than the normal superhero comic book. Jon came up this the storyline (the teacher who creates the scene) and controls what all the non-player-characters (the hijackers, crying woman, cell-phone backseat guy) do before, during, and after whatever we do with our player characters (PCs) (Brad Pitt). The rules state what kind of player characters we can create. With those “PCs”, we can do whatever we want within the scene Jon comes up with.
More than you ever wanted to know about role-playing-games.(smirk;)

Thought #3: Choir practice. I’m a “tenor”. That doesn’t mean I can hit a high “G” in the Halleluiah Chorus and make it sound “good”. As practice goes on, I become a baritone unless I gobble down every Ricola throat lozenge I can find.

Thought #4: Jake, our dog, loves wall to wall carpet. When we had an apartment, we had big rugs and he liked those because it gives his paws and claws something to grip when he lunged after a tennis ball (his favorite toy). We sold the big rugs last fall. He lived and played on the small rugs that were left. Now, at Tim’s parents’ house, he has carpet all over the place. He lounges around in the sunbeam, unless a squirrel, bird, dog or some other event captures his attention out on the back porch which has big windows and a sliding glass door. He can look out all windows, barking at small animals, in a sunny area on carpet, surrounded by no less than 2 tennis balls…DOGGY DREAMS COME TRUE!!!

Anyway, for those that have read this, 2 days left and our trip starts. What a change this is going to be.

Blog you all later,
Dan

OK, here’s a quick post to get caught up on what we’ve been doing this past week.  We’ve been keeping busy with last minute preparations and getting together with friends and family, but I’m getting anxious to hit the road.  I’m sure this last week will fly by, and we’ll be on the road before we know it.

Last Monday, Dan went to the dentist to have a root canal finished.  Everything seemed to go fine; his mouth was a little sore initially, but he hasn’t complained of any pain lately.

On Tuesday, Dan and I (and Jake) went up to my parents’ cabin in northern Minnesota with both my parents and Dan’s parents.  The cabin was finished late last year, and we thought it would be fun to go up there with our folks since we had some free time before we left.  We lucked out by picking the best day of the week, weather-wise.  It was a beautiful, sunny, spring day, in the mid-50’s.

We made the three-hour trip in the morning, stopping once at a wayside rest north of Milaca.  Arriving at the cabin around lunchtime, we gave Dan’s mom and dad a quick tour of the cabin and, then, had soup and sandwiches for lunch.  After lunch, we lingered around the table for a bit before going outside and showing Dan’s mom and dad around the rest of the lot, walking down to the lake and showing them the “porch” down by the lake and the garage/bunkhouse near the cabin.  We also walked down the road to the public boat access.

When we returned to the cabin, I – with Dan’s assistance – assembled a Spinach-Potato Pie for supper.  While it was baking, we hung out in the cabin and visited some more.  After dinner, Dan’s parents took off for home; they had planned on staying just for the day, and had to get home to take care of their dog.  We had a great time that day, spending some time with our parents away from the normal bustle of our everyday lives in/near the city.

Dan and I and my parents stayed overnight and returned home after lunch the next day (Wednesday).  We arrived home in time for Dan to go to his weekly role-play gaming in St. Paul.  We had hosted the group at our place until a week before we moved out of our apartment.

On Thursday, we drove out to the small town of Brownton, MN (west of the Twin Cities) to have lunch with our friend, Liz.  Jake has twice stayed with Liz when we were out of town for long weekends.  We ate at Cactus Jack’s in the nearby small town of Stewart.  Dan first met Liz when they both worked in the flooring department at the Home Depot in northeast Minneapolis – the “Quarry” store, so they were critiquing the tile installation job at Cactus Jack’s.  We also heard from Liz about all the drama that goes on in a small, rural town in central Minnesota.

Thursday evening was choir practice.  I sing and play guitar with the St. Mary’s choir that sings for the Saturday afternoon (5:15 pm) mass.  My mom also sings in the choir, and – since we’re staying in Shakopee and Dan isn’t working – Dan is singing with the choir for these last few masses (Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil).

On Friday, we met our friend, Shawn, for lunch at Big Bowl in Edina, MN.  Shawn is in the midst of his own transition, having just left his long-time job at American Express (now Ameriprise Financial) for a job with YMCA.  We ran a couple errands and stopped at Panera Bread to check email and get a few things done online.  For dinner, we went to a Fish “Fry” at the local KC Hall with my parents.  Even the Knights of Columbus have become more health-conscious, offering several different kinds of fish, including oven-baked.  After the fish fry, we watched a movie that my mom and dad had picked up at a garage sale earlier in the day, “The Rookie.”

On Saturday, Dan and I took our bikes to run some errands in Shakopee – Target, Dan’s bank and my bank.  Then, we rode through the old part of Shakopee, including stops at the house that I grew up in until I was 9 years old, the pet store in downtown Shakopee, and a gazebo overlooking the Minnesota River, threatening to flow beyond its banks from the spring snowmelt.

After attending and singing at Palm “Sunday” mass in the afternoon, we went to Panzanella restaurant in Shakopee with many of the other choir members and their spouses for a “farewell” gathering for us.  We had a lot of fun having dinner and visiting with our friends in the choir.  We received a very nice card, along with $200 that had been contributed by choir members!  A great big, heartfelt THANK YOU to the choir!!

On Sunday, evening we went out to dinner with my sister, Brenda, her husband, John (Anderson), my other sister, Jackie, and her husband, John (Aldritt).  We went to Machu Picchu restaurant near Lake St. and Lyndale Ave. in Minneapolis.  A couple years ago, Brenda and her daughter, Amanda, traveled to Chimbote, Peru with others from their parish, St. Michael’s in Prior Lake, to visit and help out their sister-parish.  While they were in Peru, Brenda and Amanda visited the real Machu Picchu, and Brenda had wanted to go to the Minneapolis restaurant ever since she returned from Peru.  None of us had been to the restaurant before, but we were eager to try it.  Both the food and the drinks were great!  Brenda had had and enjoyed Pisco Sours when she was in Peru, so that’s what she (and I) had to drink.  We all ordered various Peruvian stir fries, called Saltados (I think).  I had the vegetarian one, with broccoli, red bell peppers, carrots, red onions and french fries – yes, that’s right, French Fries!  We all thought that including french fries in a stir fry was rather odd, but it was very tasty.  I want to do some research to see if adding french fries to a stir fry is really authentic Peruvian cooking.  It was fun to try a new restaurant and spend some time with my sisters and their husbands before we leave.  Thanks to all of you!

It’s daylight savings time so everyone has lost an hour of sleep and it’s a dreary day; perfect for laying down on a sofa, turning off the lights and watching an old movie with hot chocolate and a huge warm poofy blanket.
  Where am I?
  Working my last day at Home Depot and sleeping on my feet!
Kinda reminds me why I am going with Tim on this trip.

My orange apron is highlighted spectacularly against the blue pants and grey shirt I am wearing….not that anyone is noticing since all the customers are still in bed at home.  Home Depot tunes play softly in the background until interrupted by the blaring ads punctuated with the home depot theme music that strikes fear into my brain when I relive my day in dreams that night.  Fellow co-workers are milling around trying to look busy since they have to/wish to keep their jobs.  I am sitting at the desk in a warm stupor waiting for the caffeine to kick in.  Some customers begin to trickle in and they are in a bad mood from sleep deprivation and from having to come here on a day better fit for hibernation than for fix it duty.  Time, the snooty trollop, doesn’t seem to move at all.

It’s 3pm and I have 3 hours left.  If I wasn’t going on this trip, I’d ask one of my nasty customers to shoot me in the foot so I could leave the building early.
Why do I stay if it’s my last day you ask?
Because tomorrow I am having a root canal done on a traitorous tooth (2 years from now, I will have its head cut off [crowned]) and insurance will die if I “quit”.

Enter Susie, a fun coworker, who, behind my back, gets donations from all of the floor and wall department to go and get Tiramasu and specialty brownies for a SECRET MEETING in the break room.  I was just wondering in my somnambulant state why they would require me to be there since I am leaving in less than 3 hours.  I figure it out just before I get to the break room. Management has been very leniently liberal in my goodbye week.  Cupcakes on the sales floor (thanks Carey).   Bar-B-Que chicken wings in the training room (thanks Geri). Gifts and Cards (thanks all of you) and now a feeding frenzy. We must have spent a good 1 ½ hours of work time celebrating my imminent departure.
Wait a minute….Why is everyone celebrating my leaving?!!
Just kidding.
They have all said they want me to stay.  Even management gave me an “outstanding” review just before I left.  I asked the human resources guy if that was just a manipulation to get me to stay.  He said “no, it is an acknowledgement of your work at the home and patio show (I was on stage teaching 4 hours a day) and your work on our sales floor.”
Now I know why I considered this one of my favorite jobs and why I stayed so long.
Miss you coworkers.
See you later.
Dan

That’s what Dan exclaimed as he closed the door to the storage area, slid the door latch into place and secured the latch with our combination lock. I ran out of the storage building, closed the tailgate and back and driver-side topper windows, jumped into and started the truck. Dan was close behind, closing the main, storage building door, as well as the passenger-side topper window, before jumping into the truck. The clock on the truck radio read “8:57”; if the clock was accurate, we had 3 minutes to drive to the main, storage facility gate and punch in the code that would open the door. After 9 p.m., we’d be locked into the storage facility and would need to call the police to let us out. We reached the gate; Dan jumped out of the truck with the gate-code card in hand, ran over to the keypad and punched in the code. The gate opened!

We both had the last three days of the month off from work. I was done with work, and Dan was using his last three personal days from work so we could finish packing, moving and cleaning. Then, he just had to work Saturday and Sunday, and he would be done with work, as well. Three days would certainly be plenty of time to accomplish this task, we thought. As I mentioned before, we sold a lot of our stuff at a garage sale we had at my parent’s place last fall. And, now, we already had quite a few boxes packed and ready to go in our basement storage area. For the most part, the wall hangings and things we don’t use on a daily basis, like our better dishes, glasses and serving trays, were all packed. Besides, our two-bedroom apartment was beginning to look rather empty. We had our piano moved to our friend, Shawn’s apartment, where he will be keeping it for us and, hopefully, getting some use out of it. And, my parents stopped by Wednesday morning to pick up our bed (now theirs) to bring up to their cabin in northern Minnesota.

So, we did some more packing and cleaning Wednesday morning and early afternoon. Then, we walked to a nearby coffee shop to test the Wi-Fi on our laptop, check email and do a few last-minute address changes. I had called our Internet Service Provider the previous day to cancel our service. After providing my name, I heard the woman at Pixius looking up my account in the system. I verified my name and address, and was expecting her to ask me when I wanted our service cancelled when she said matter-of-factly, “OK, it’s all taken care of.” “So, it’s effective immediately?” I asked. “Yep.” “OK, thanks.” We only had three days left, so I just let it go. Plus, it would give us a chance to test our Wi-Fi. While it took a few failed attempts and learning how the JiWire software I had downloaded worked, we eventually got connected and took care of our business.

Wednesday evening, Dan went to his weekly role-play gaming session, and I worked on packing our food for our upcoming camping trip. This was much more difficult than packing for previous — and, much shorter — trips we have done. For shorter trips, I can plan for a handful of main meals and fill in with basic breakfast foods and sandwiches and snacks for lunches. But, for this trip, I had to make sure that I had all of the basic staples, such as — among many others– sugar, oil, rice, flour, as well as some prepared foods, like soups and easy rice/noodle dishes, for quicker meals. I had also put together last weekend a small container of the most commonly used herbs and spices, such as salt, pepper, basil, oregano, chili powder, cumin, curry, cinnamon, etc. My thinking was that we’d be on the road for about two and a half months, so we should be prepared to make a variety of meals. I would certainly get bored eating the same soup or rice dish everyday. And, to make our money last as long as possible, we’re planning on eating out as little as possible. We definitely want to sample the local fare in the areas through which we’ll be traveling, but it won’t be an everyday affair.

On Thursday, we made one trip out to my parents’ place in Shakopee and a trip to the 5′ x 10′ storage unit we rented in Burnsville. We also stopped in Eagan to visit Dan’s mom. She was having some problems with her computer and I also needed to install a memory upgrade that she had purchased. I think we got the computer issues resolved; we had lunch and I received a birthday present from Dan’s mom and dad — a nice fleece jacket.

Friday morning, we took another load out to Shakopee, including Jake. When we’re packing and loading things into the truck, he just gets all nervous, worrying that he’ll be left behind. So, we decided that he would stay in Shakopee for the rest of the day. We went back to the apartment and got the bulk of the cleaning done — me, in the kitchen, and Dan, in the bathroom and bedrooms. Then, we made another trip to the storage area, but we hit afternoon “rush-hour” traffic on the way back to the apartment. We knew we had two more loads for the storage unit and then one last one for Shakopee. I would bring a load to the storage unit while Dan did some of the final cleaning. This worked out fine, but by the time I had returned to the apartment, it was getting to be almost 8.

We loaded the futon, our only large piece of furniture that we kept, and several other small items and headed for the storage unit, arriving with about twenty-five minutes to go before 9, when the gates would automatically lock us in. That should be plenty of time. But, we apparently weren’t the only late movers that evening. Two women were loading things into the unit directly across from ours and some of their belongings were in the aisle blocking the door to our unit. After we told them that we needed to get into our unit, they shifted their stuff around and we began to carry the smaller items we had into the facility. Now, our unit was beginning to get pretty full, so we had to pull out some things and rearrange to make room for the futon. Our boxes were on a couple of pallets that we had from our storage area at the apartment, but there was a strip along the long side of the unit with bare concrete, and we wanted to put something under the futon, which we would be standing on end. I knew I had tarps in the tote that contained the camping items that we wouldn’t be bringing with us on the trip. I went to find them, but ran across something better — one of the old “Ridge Rest” sleeping pads. I put the pad in place and we maneuvered the futon frame and pad into the storage unit. It fit! But, we’re running out of time and we have to get a few things back in; the last item — a LONG box of Dan’s comics. I tried a spot; no, it won’t fit there. Dan had an idea; great, that works. Let’s get out of here!

After getting out of the main, storage area gate just in time, we went back to the apartment to do the final cleaning and get most of the last items. But, the bikes weren’t going to fit and we still needed to fill nail holes. We knew that the landlord didn’t have new tenants to move in immediately, so we called him and he OK’d having us come back on Saturday to pick up the bikes and fill the nail holes. We made our last trip of the day back to Shakopee, where we fed a hungry dog and went to bed.

On Saturday, Dan worked his second-to-last shift at Home Depot and I finished up at the apartment. My parents returned from the cabin in the afternoon, and we went to mass at 5:15, where my mom and I sing in the choir and I play guitar. After waiting for Dan to get home from work, my mom and dad and Dan and I went to eat at Panzanella in Shakopee — a great little soup/sandwich/pizza/pasta place. We ran into Joy, our choir director, and her husband, Kent, who were also there for dinner, and had a fun chat with them. It was nice not to have to hurry back to Minneapolis to either pick Dan up from work or let out and feed Jake. We were already home — at our temporary home in Shakopee.

In a previous post, I had mentioned that two of my photos from my Flickr.com site had been shortlisted for inclusion in Schmap’s New York online guide.  Well, one of the two made it into the guide!

The photo that made the cut is the one of the scrolling message board in the Staten Island Ferry terminal.  To see it, go to Schmap.com and download the New York guide.  Then, from the New York guide’s home page, click on the magnifying glass in the lower, left-hand corner to do a search for “staten island ferry.”  This will pull up a listing in the Directory on the left-hand side.  Click on “Staten Island Ferry,” and you will see a rotation of three photos — one of which is mine — in the upper, right-hand corner.  Clicking on the photo takes you to my Flickr site.

Also, I am — or, I should say, my flickr name (TimDan2) is — listed in the credits.  From the home page, click on “Photo credits” under “Credits.”

I spent most of this past weekend doing boring things around the house, like cleaning and storing our humidifier, cleaning the oven, and moving the boxes we have packed, to date, all to one location.  The quest to sort through, consolidate, pack and — sometimes — get rid of our stuff continues.  My mind is in the mode of grouping everything I see into one of five categories: 1) pack for storage, 2) pack to bring with, 3) give to my parent’s (they bought some of our furniture, etc. for their new cabin), 4) bring to Goodwill, or 5) set out for the trash collector to take (or anyone else who wanders by).

I also gave our dog, Jake, a bath.  He HATES baths and, so, we haven’t given him one in a long time.  In the past, we have practically had to pin him down to pour a little water on him, soap him up and, then, rinse him off.  He squirms around, with all four of his legs flailing about in an effort to get away, and makes this sad crying/screaming noise that — if the neighbors heard — they would think that we were torturing the poor thing!  One time when Dan was giving him a bath years ago, Jake got Dan in the eyelid with one of his (Jake’s, of course) claws, and I had to take Dan to the emergency room!  I decided to give Jake a bath on Saturday after having run across — while recently cleaning out a cabinet in the bathroom — the shampoo for dogs that we use.  It reminded me that he hadn’t had a bath in a long time, and I figured that he probably should have one before we hit the road.  So, I put on my shorts and t-shirt (You WILL get wet on this ride!), grabbed a tupperware pitcher from the kitchen, found an old beach towel, got the shampoo out of the cabinet, ran the water to warm it up and filled the pitcher with the warm water.  Jake was watching all this, but I think he just thought I was going to take a shower.  Then, I called him over, scooped him up in my arms, stepped into the tub, and squatted with Jake between my knees.  Then, I poured some of the warm water over his back; no, he still doesn’t like baths!  He tried to leap out of my arms, but I set the pitcher down and pulled him back into the confines of my legs and arms.  Well, he was partially wet, so I squirted some shampoo into the wet fur and lathered up that area.  I repeated this — with Jake trying to leap away every time I poured water on him — until he was fully lathered.  I avoided his head altogether because Dan and I conjectured that the worst part for him is getting water in his eyes.  He didn’t mind the actual lathering part because it’s just as if I was petting or scratching him.  A few good dumps of warm water over the soapy areas and we were done.  He did still make the crying/screaming noise, but it seemed to be more subdued than I had remembered.  Maybe it’s his age; he’s eight years old, now.  Or, maybe he’s getting used to being constrained by me each month when I trim his nails.  He doesn’t care for that, either, but has become accustomed to the routine and hardly tries to squirm away anymore.  In any case, the hard part was over, and I just needed to towel him off and give him a treat — yea!!
 
Both of our jobs now know that we will be leaving.  I put in my notice a month ago.  I hadn’t planned on announcing my leaving that early, but my boss — the manager of our area (Guest Research) — left in mid-February to work at a marketing firm.  This meant that after I left, the Research area would consist of one person (Ben, the Guest Relations and Research Assistant), so I wanted to give my boss’s boss (Terry) enough time to plan for my departure.  I’ve been working on passing key information on to Ben, updating documentation of the workings of the Research area, and generally tying up any loose ends.