Bye, Mom

Beautiful day today, just like the last few days here.  Promises to be a bit cooler.  We took a walk in the morning and then gathered for the burial at 10am.  We gathered around the burial site and the grandsons carried the casket to the location beside my dad’s grave.  It has been nearly 10 years since Dad passed away.

Cousin Calvin did a great job with a eulogy and then we were all given the opportunity to lay a flower on the casket.  The result was more beautiful than an arranged spray.  Lots and lots of pink and white peonies from cousin Nick’s farm.

Then it was on to the church where the memorial service was held. In spite of a few technical difficulties (the words to the songs we were supposed to sing remained stubbornly off the screen until the last song), this was a beautiful service and testified to God’s faithfulness in Mom’s life.  Calvin gave a message from Psalm 27, Mom’s favorite Psalm and I read a few of her underlined verses from her Bible.  Just a few.  If I would have read all the underlined passages, we would have been there a very long time.  Mom’s Bible was precious to her and it was well used and well loved.

The ladies of the church put on a luncheon after the funeral in the lobby of the church.  We packed the place--this was a well-attended funeral.  Instead of the usual CRC luncheon of ham buns and green jello with pears, we had ham buns and red jello with marshmallows, quite a daring deviation from the formula. We had Mom’s recipe of Texas sheet cake for dessert.

Here at last we had a chance to enter into some conversations with some of the cousins and aunties and uncles.  Several relatives I have not seen in decades were present, several coming from Lynden, some from Colorado, Montana, California, and others from Michigan, among other places.  There was some conversation yesterday at the visitation, but the arrangement of the room--all full of pews and narrow aisles--forced everyone to face forward or crowd the aisles, and this coming together had a far different feel than today.  If I were to come in as an outsider and hazard a guess as to what was going on , I would probably say that the visitation is a coming together to acknowledge the death, and the funeral service is a coming together to celebrate the life.  

We took a picture of all the cousins on Mom's side present at the funeral. It took a bit to get everyone together because everyone was involved in conversations, but we finally did it.

Once the church was cleaned up and put back in order, we all headed back to Cheryl’s house to hang out for the afternoon. A dinner was provided by the Friend cousins, so we were well taken care of.  We are grateful to the extended family for providing meals for yesterday and today, and to the church for the luncheon.

Part of the afternoon was spent going through the stuff left over from Mom’s room.  The siblings picked out what we wanted, then the grandchildren looked it all over and put their names on what they wanted.  The stuff was arranged on folding tables in the garage, so it appeared exactly like a garage sale.  Ever the cut-up, David put his little sticky notes on the pen that everyone was using to write their names on the sticky notes, and on Cheryl’s van sitting just outside the garage.

The last two days, especially yesterday, have been very emotionally draining, even for a rather unemotional person like me.  In that sense, it was good to have the visitation and funeral behind us, and to be able to just visit for a while.  The kids have been connecting well, playing games and sitting around talking to each other.  That’s been great to see: cousins who haven’t seen each other in a long time coming together and having a good time.  I suppose for them, it’s a little more removed.  For them it’s a grandma that passed away, a grandma that lived far away. For me, it’s Mom.  The distance doesn't matter.

Visitation Day

Visitation was held from 5pm to 7pm, with a family dinner afterwards.  It was good to see friends and relatives, some of whom I haven't seen in decades.  The dinner afterwards was put on by some of the Friend cousins and was a nice spread of lasagna, mac & cheese, salads, and desserts.  It was a good time of catching up.

Family Day

Mostly a family day today as more family arrives in town.  Maybe it's the Memorial Day holiday but we seem to have more flight delays than usual.  So far, all the family that is traveling here will make it, although one of the nieces had to be rerouted to Seattle, requiring a 3-hour drive, one-way, late at night to pick her up.

Funeral arrangements are coming together.  One of the nephews did a nice memorial slide show with photos that we collected.  

The funeral will also be livestreamed for those relatives that cannot make it due to conflicts or distance.  That livestream is here:

https://youtube.com/live/WuLYLJDjLY8?feature=share

In Zillah

Now that we are at the eastern side of a time zone, the day starts really early.  The sun was up by about 5:20am, Duluth time, but I was up at 5.

We took a walk down the nearby bike trail, which follows the shore of Lake Superior.  As we were walking, I spotted an animal crossing the path ahead of us.  It was dragging something behind it.  When we approached that location, we could see a beaver right next to the trail, munching on some leaves on a branch he had gnawed off a tree.  He was sitting in a little pool of water created by the dam he was building near the output of a culvert.  It was fun to watch him for a little while.  All around the area, there was evidence of the beaver’s work, as many of the small trees were chewed off, leaving stumps about a foot high.

Back at the RV, we did some final packing and then drove the 15 minutes to the Duluth Airport. Lots of surface parking available, so I parked the RV in the most level spot I could find and we closed it all up and left the roof vent fan running to keep it cool during the day

Our flights were not exactly non-eventful.  For all the gory details, read the post on Small Airports.

Arriving in Zillah, we had dinner at Duane/Cheryl’s, along with siblings and nieces and nephews.  It was good to catch up with them again.  Family is coming together.  More will arrive tomorrow, then a few more on Tuesday.

Small Airports

I have never found air travel to be a particularly pleasant experience. The lines, the waiting, having to partially undress to get through the TSA security checks, all this stuff contributes to the unpleasantness of flying.  One way to reduce the unpleasantness of flying is to start from a small airport.  The TSA lines are shorter, the parking is easier, and the agents are usually in a better mood. 

Grand Rapids is on the small side and is usually pretty benign.  I have usually not had many problems flying out of Grand Rapids.

The Duluth Airport is definitely on the small side.  It takes three minutes to walk from the far side of the long-term parking lot to the check-in counter.  There are only four gates.  I noticed that the woman who was at the ticket counter also was outside loading baggage and worked at the gate counter also.  She actually smiled and wished us a good day when checking in.

The TSA line took five minutes.  It was the usual take-the-shoes-off routine, but with only six people in line, it went quickly.

I love small airports.

Until I don’t.

Looking at the monitor, Delta had exactly one flight departing to Minneapolis today.  United Airlines had one flight.  That’s two total.  So if something happens, there aren’t a lot of other options.

Something happened.  And there wasn’t a lot of options.

There was an announcement made that there was a mechanical issue with the aircraft. They were waiting for a call back from the maintenance guy and they would keep us updated.  “This is a simple issue, should be an easy fix” was the statement.

A half-hour later, another announcement, similar to the first.

A little while later, I got a text saying that the new flight time was 4pm.  Many others got the same text because suddenly there was a big line at the gate counter.  Apparently the contractor they use for repairs was MIA and they were now driving a maintenance crew down from Minneapolis, which is two and a half hours away.  Looks like we will be missing our connection in Minneapolis.

When I reached the front of the line, I got us rescheduled for flights into Pasco at 8:42pm.  Original time was 4:58pm.  Not terrible, but still inconvenient.

Not wanting to spend lots of time sitting in the airport, we walked the three minutes back to the RV and made some lunch.  While we were there, I received an email from the airline saying that the new departure time was 1:30.  If that was correct, then we can still make our original connections.

We finished lunch rather hurriedly, went back through the TSA security, and I confirmed at the gate that we were back on the original schedule.  Seems that they were able to connect with the contractor and he was out there working on it now.

Looking out the window, I could see a guy working on one of the engines.  Simple issue?  Maybe.  The captain stood there watching him for a while.  It almost appeared that this guy was consulting a thick book while he squatted next to the  open engine panel. I hope he knows what he is doing.

So now we’re back waiting in the airport for a flight that *might* leave at 1:30.  Stay tuned...

UP Travel

Early Summer days Up North can be amazing.  The days are warm and super long and the nights are cool.  Yesterday was one of those, today promises to be another one.  Just after 6am the sun was already peeking above the horizon, and it didn't get totally dark until after 10:30 last night.  We had a cross breeze coming through the open windows of the RV that caused goose bumps--perfect sleeping conditions.

Unfortunately, sleep didn't come easy.  Somehow, the first night on the road is always problematic.  Doesn't matter where or when, I just never sleep well on the first night, even in perfect sleeping conditions. Looking forward to night two and some better rest.

We turned west down M-28 again and headed into Marquette, hoping to take in a couple things before the five-hour drive to Duluth.

First stop was Presque Isle, or so we thought.  We got there too early as the drive around the island opened at 10am and it was only 8:30.  So we headed over to the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse to check it out and take a walk on the pier.  This lighthouse looks more like a schoolhouse than a lighthouse as it doesn’t have the familiar tall tower and it has the distinction of being the oldest significant structure in Marquette, having been built in 1853.  Tours are given but we were too early for that also.

We took a walk on the adjoining pier, must have been a half mile long.  A nice walk on a pleasant day and it offered a great offshore view of the city of Marquette and one of the large iron ore loading docks in the bay.

Back to Presque Isle, now we were only 15 minutes early so we hung out in the parking lot and watched the *other* iron ore loading dock next to the park. This one was still active and had a freighter moored next to it.  The freighter was taking on ore from a series of railroad cars parked on top of the dock.  When a chute was lowered over the ship’s hold, it took less than 30 seconds for the entire contents of the railroad car to slide down into the hold, with a whooshing noise that could be heard for quite a distance.  Fascinating to watch.

The drive around the Preque Isle opened promptly at 10am and we drove the 2 miles on the narrow road to the Black Rocks on the far side of the island.  I don’t think they had RVs in mind when they put this road in, or at least they don’t trim the trees for a vehicle almost 12 feet tall.  We could hear limbs scraping the roof and hitting the kayaks sticking up on the back.

We were early enough to get a parking space in this small parking lot.  We talked to a couple who live in the UP and were commenting on the unusually warm weather.  They told us they have been here many times and they have seen ice floating in the lake at this time of the year.  This time, however, we saw two guys jumping off the rocks into the water.  Still cold and not swimmable for most normal people; after all, this is Lake Superior, but the warmth is rather unusual.  We are enjoying it, however.  We scrambled around on the moonscape of black rocks before heading on.

Near this area is something we were able to add to our *World’s Largest* collection.  Northern Michigan University has an athletic stadium which is housed in the world’s largest wooden dome.  143 feet tall and a diameter of 536 feet, this dome covers just over 5 acres and can be seen from quite a distance away.  It’s kind of a defining feature of this area.

Next stop was Sugar Loaf Mountain, which has a couple observation platforms offering a 360-degree view of Lake Superior and the surrounding area around Marquette.  Just a short hike up a bunch of stairs to the top and you are above it all.  Beautiful views and a great hike before driving for hours.

We had lunch here and then it was time to get some miles in.  We’ll have to come back to Marquette sometime.  There is a lot more to do here.

Now it was time to drive.  Five hours to Duluth.  As we drove away from the lake, it began to get hot.  Pleasant, shirt-sleeve weather on the shores of Lake Superior turned into nearly ninety-degree heat in the interior and we were driving a tin can that traps heat, even with the windows open.

We stopped in Ironwood, hoping for something to do.  The Stormy Kromer hat factory, which offers free tours, was closed on Saturday, so we ended up at another ​*World’s Largest*​, a tiny park which had some iron ore displays and the world’s largest Indian.  This is a fiberglass statue of Hiawatha, standing 52 feet high.  We took the obligatory picture.

The remainder of the drive would probably qualify for the World’s Hottest RV, but I don’t think there is such a category.

We knew we were approaching Lake Superior again near Duluth when the temperature suddenly dropped twenty degrees.  It was deliciously cool for the rest of the drive, and we made it to our destination, a 24-hour municipal parking lot at just before 7pm, local time.  We used this parking lot the last time we came through here last October, so we already knew this was a good boondocking spot in Duluth, Minnesota. We took a walk down the bike trail, having to don long pants and hoodies due to the chill in the air.  Being next to a lake makes a huge difference in temperature. 

We covered 313 miles covered today.

On The Road Again

The events of the last few days have made for a lot of plan changes and a departure several days earlier than originally planned. Of course, who knew we would have to squeeze a funeral just ahead of a major road trip.  In order to make all the timing work out, we had to create a bit of a travel house-of-cards.  If everything works, we will still make it to the houseboat at Voyageurs National Park at the same time, having gone across the country and back in the mean time.

So the plan originally was to slow-travel through the Upper Peninsula to Voyageurs, meeting our friends there for some time on a houseboat in the National Park.  Now that my Mom has passed away, a whole bunch of stuff got inserted into that slow-travel time.  Now it’s not-so-slow travel in the RV to the Duluth Airport.  Leave the RV in long-term parking there and fly out to Pasco, Washington and rent a car to drive the hour or so to Zillah, where the funeral will be held. Attend the funeral on May 31 and then fly back to Duluth on June 2, arriving at midnight. Pick up the RV, continuing to drive to the National Park for our houseboat departure on June 4.  We chose Duluth because it was on the original route to Voyageurs. And it was a place where they had ample surface parking for an RV over Memorial Day weekend.  Try that in Chicago.  Score one for small airports.

We had already been packing the RV so we just had to pack it just a bit differently.  Like putting enough clothing in a suitcase for the trip to Washington and stowing the two suitcases under the bed.  When we reach the airport, we’ll pull them out, stow some toiletries in them, and be on our way.  Fortunately, we will probably not be needing much cool weather clothing so it won’t be so bulky.

We left around 9 this morning.  Since we had a little time we made a side trip to Ebel’s General Store in Falmouth.  We’ve seen signs for this place and Deb read about it online so we took the 15-minute detour.

Ebel’s did not disappoint.  Their meat department was extensive and there were some very good prices on some meats.  Too bad our refrigerator was full and we are on the road for over two weeks.  That limited our purchase to two smoked whole chickens.  Otherwise we would probably have bought out the store.  The Alligator Sirloin Fillets looked amazing.  And only $18.99/lb.  We’ll have to come back here some time.

Deb spotted another sign for a discount grocery store on the way to Ebel’s.  So we made the two-mile detour to check that one out also.  This is Amish country and this store was an Amish store.  Complete with the battery-operated lighting and the large bulk food section.  I wonder how the charge all those DeWalt batteries at the end of the day...

This store is quite a bit smaller than the gold standard Amish grocery store, which is E&S Sales in Shipshewana.  We came away with a box of crackers, some inexpensive cereal, and a half-gallon of chocolate milk.  We really can’t fit much more.

We stopped in Lake City at a tiny park along Lake Missaukee to make lunch.  We were parked right on the water and had a great view of the lake.  Sunny day, mid-70’s, super pleasant with the windows open.  We cut into one of the smoked chickens and made sandwiches with bacon and cheese.  Great sandwich. Looking forward to more of this stuff.=

Who can resist taking a picture of the Mighty Mac bridge when crossing it?

Traffic seemed heavier than normal, but this would make sense because this is the Friday before Memorial Day.

US Highway 2 along the north side of Lake Michigan is always a great drive and we looked for a place to stop and walk the beach for a while.  We found that place at the Cut River Bridge.  We’ve come by here a few times and last time wanted to check it out a little more, but we got there after dark.  This time it was mid-afternoon on a beautiful day.  This is a nice parking area with a trail that leads down along the Cut River to the Lake, and then loops back up a flight of 280 steps.  Looking online, a lot of people have commented that the trail offers a unique view of the bridge.  Indeed the view from underneath is rather unique and photo-worthy.

The beach walk was pleasant also.  Just what was needed for someone who has been driving for several hours.

We linked up with M-28 through Munising and enjoyed the views of Lake Superior along this route.  Like US-2, it is right on the shoreline at times and offers great views of the lake while driving.  We stopped at one of the many parking areas along this route and walked the beach for a while.  It’s not often that you can touch two Great Lakes in a single day.

The weather was perfect for beach walking.  Sunny and probably just a bit hot, but the breeze coming off the lake envelops you with a delicious coolness and the sound of the gentle lapping of the water just adds to the pleasure.  We didn’t really want to leave, but we are not on slow travel mode right now.

We finally stopped for the night in the parking lot of the Ojibwa Casino just east of Marquette.  We joined three other RV’s boondocking here for the night.  We covered 441 miles today.