Driving Mister and Mrs. Johansen

I left Rice Lake on Tuesday, 11/10. Gus and Lois drove me to Albert Lea, MN to meet Dad & Ev. After a good lunch at the TA Travel Center Restaurant, I headed to Belmond with Dad & Ev. We needed to finish the packing of their car in preparation for leaving the next morning for Texas. Of course, we had to stop all activity to watch DWTS too.

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Wednesday morning we got on the road heading South. Our first stop was Des Moines to visit Aunt Johanne & Uncle Thorvald and Uncle Chris. We had lunch at the apartments where Johanne & Thorvald live, then went back to their apartment for some visit time. It was late afternoon when we got back in the car, so we spent the night not too many miles down the road at Betheny, MO.

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Okay, Thursday was the first full day of driving. We fooled around on some state highways, made a couple of mistakes when we thought the GPS was wrong, and generally made pretty bad time. But, we had coffee at J&J's diner in some little town in MO that was quite the unique spot, not necessarily in a good way. The local farmers were sitting around having coffee in their overalls. The waitress needs a good dental program, and the bathroom was pretty frightening! But, we had our coffee and enjoyed the 'local color'. The locals were friendly, even though we were 'strangers'. We spent the night in Wichita, KA.

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Friday we headed towards Oklahoma City. We planned to see the National Memorial, and I am very glad we did. The museum was very well done and I was very touched by many of the displays from the part of the building that was preserved as it was the day of the explosion, the room of photographs of all the victims, the live recordings of news during the aftermath, as well as the small displays of keys, coffee mugs, shoes, etc. that were found in the rubble. The reflection pool and memorial chairs were also impressive.

The time of the explosion is at one end of the reflection pool.

One of the gates at the reflection pool.

Dad and Ev were glad to sit down after walking all the way through the museum. We all got some steps that day.

It was hard to imagine the devastation that Tim McVey, et al, caused on that day.

Each chair bears the name of a victim.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial is well done. I know I felt bad when this happened in Oklahoma City, but after having visited this Museum / Memorial, I know...

I did not feel bad enough.

http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/

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Friday evening we arrived at my cousin Barb's house in Fort Worth, TX. Barb and Larry have a beautiful home and graciously invited us to come and stay 2 nights. We enjoyed the view and sitting by the pool.

Larry was explaining the landscaping to Dad.

This is a sweet spot, with waterfall into the pool and full kitchen pool house.

The view from the upper deck.

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Sunday we headed for Rockport. It was another full day of driving but we arrived during daylight. We unloaded most of the essentials into the folks' winter home at Surfside Inn & Suites, had a happy hour and then ate pizza for supper.

Their motel is located on Little Bay in Rockport, TX

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Monday was a nice day, I was in shorts and tee shirt and it was a very nice day. We were all pretty worn out from the drive, so we took it pretty easy. Dad & Ev had lots of organizing to do in their room so I did the grocery run to H.E.B. (I've nicknamed it HeeBeeJeebies). Surfside is a nice enough place, my room was pretty inexpensive, and the it was very quiet as most of the snowbirds won't arrive until December. We made sure to watch DWTS.

The warm climate wildlife is pretty.

This little sandpiper was lame on one leg, but got around just fine.

The fishing business is good here.

There is something charming about living on the water.

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Tuesday we took a drive around town and then out to see John & Fay, some friends of Dad & Ev's who are from the UP. They are living in an RV park in a sweet spot. On the way back we had lunch at the folks' favorite spot, Maria's Vallarta Cantina. Good fajitas. We had a little happy hour in the evening and then watched DWTS before having some leftovers for supper.

Little Bay out in front of Surfside is a pretty spot with some large houses on the opposite side.

Dad is relaxing in the 'dining room'.

Ev is working on the Blackberry is the 'living room'.

Wednesday I flew to MPLS from Corpus Christi. Gus and Lois picked me up at the airport, we stopped for dinner on the way home and I stayed overnight at their house. Lois ran me over to Rice Lake on Thursday morning. I am tired and happy to be back home, but the trip with the folks was fun. They are doing very well adapting to their new cellphone / Blackberry. Dad is wearing shorts again, they are happy to be South for the winter.

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Life is Good.