Seeing America

Judy. After a three-month stay in Georgia, complete with cataract surgery (fantastic!) and precious time with family, I admit I was ready to leave. We decided this summer on a stay in the US, so we booked an airbnb in Missoula, Montana, and planned a two-week road trip to get there, thinking it would be a leisurely drive. Well, not so much. Beautiful, but definitely NOT leisurely.

The last time I drove cross-country was when my friend Terry moved to Las Vegas and asked three of us to help him move and get settled. I had forgotten how magnificent this country is, and how much the landscape changes from one region to another. We took the middle of the country route, across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and on up to Nevada, and each state took us by delight. (Except the barbequed baloney in Oklahoma. That was not a delight.)

Ted and I headed north on this trip before heading west, driving long hours—to Tennessee to see Murray, up through the Cumberland Mountains and into Bluegrass Country, and on to, as Ted pointed out, the flooded farms in Ohio. There we got to spend a couple of days with the same Terry who invited me to ride out to Las Vegas.

Isn’t it wonderful to visit friends you haven’t seen in awhile and just pick up where you left off? Terry, a theatre teacher and costume designer, now works scheduling events in the John Legend Theatre at the Dome in Springfield, Ohio. If you haven’t heard of the Dome, look it up. They have amazing arts opportunities for kids in a city that’s struggling to maintain itself in a changing world. Although Terry retired from teaching a couple of years ago, the bug is still with him, and he’s going back to teaching part time, a blessing for him and for the kids there. 

Ice cream to top off a rainy day

As a costumer, Terry taught me a lot about thrift store shopping, and we hit them all when we get together. He can look at the oddest pieces of clothing and see a costume that will knock your socks off.  We were able to get a visit in just before he headed to Nebraska for the International Thespian Festival.

So we headed to Chicago. The original plan was to visit with my brother, who is working there for a few days, but our timing was just off, and, anyway, the cost of the hotel rooms in Chi-town was too rich for us to wait around, so we drove through the city to the far side, where we spent the night in Elgin. 

Foggy Chicago

Chicago was dealing with some strange weather. It was cold with a lake fog. We love the city, but the weather and cost had us moving on. Once we hit Elgin, we holed up in our hotel room, had snacks and wine for dinner, and played some gin rummy. Definitely the relaxing night we needed after a long day.

 

Gin rummy

While the next day started off with heavy rains, once we got into Wisconsin the skies cleared and we had a lovely ride through farm country. And the minute we crossed into Minnesota, we hit another deluge!  

Now we’re in Minneapolis, a city we enjoyed very much on our last visit several years ago. We did a lot of sightseeing then, but now are just enjoying our airbnb and lovely Seward neighborhood. We’re back to walking in this cool weather, and walked along the Mississippi River to a restaurant where we met up with Clark and Cindy. 

Clark and Cindy

I went to grad school with Clark, and it’s always great to get together. Clark knows a lot about craft beer, so he suggested a brewpub where he and Ted drank smoked porters, and Cindy and I had “Minneapolis Mules.” And the food was as good as the conversation.

Bigos and Polish sausage

No visit to Minneapolis is complete without a visit to Kramarczuk's, a Ukrainian restaurant and butcher shop. Closest thing to Polish soul food!

Another day we had breakfast with another of my theatre buddies, Rich, and his wife Keeley. Rich is directing a show I’d really love to see, but it opens next week, when we’ll be well on our way west. The two of them also love travel, so there’s always lots to talk about. In fact, they had some great suggestions for our trip through South Dakota—and more on that later. 

With Keeley and Rich

I was very aware in the Seward area of the number of people who have chosen to have “prairie lawns” instead of grass and shrubs. I’ve heard of this trend to attract honeybees, but had not seen it before. 

 

Prairie yard

On a cloudy afternoon we visited the Minneapolis Art Institute, or MIA. Wow! We were surprised by the variety of the collection. I think we could have gone every day for a week and still not seen it all.

Still, Clark and Cindy and Keeley and Rich had some great suggestions of more things to do in Minneapolis. Sigh. Next time.