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Sep. 9th, 2003 07:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jdmkleinDid what Sister and i do best yesterday, got in the car and went on an adventure. We had some trouble getting out of Cedar Falls, she forgot the phone and we had to go back after it. We had some essential shopping to do at Sam's club, it's amazing what you don't know you just have to have until you see it. Then we went to Best Buy for Daughter's B'day present. She is getting a combo vcr/dvd player. i think we had $7.36 between the two of us the time we were finished shopping, which meant a stop at the bank. Once we had replenished our cash supplies we couldn't seem to find our way out of Waterloo, she missed the exit east. We had to drive about 10 miles totally to get back on the right road, and by that time we decided it was time for lunch. We finally hit the pavement about 12:45.We ended up in Marquette on the boat for a bit of slot machine time by way of Dubuque, through Wisconsin and Gays Mills for apples.
The drive to Dubuque was nice, but nothing spectacular. That road is quite flat until you near the city, and is four-lane all the way. There really isn't much time to enjoy the farms because you are travelling so fast. We really tried not to gamble, on the trip over we had discussed the option of taking Mother and Daughter to the river today for a bit of fun. Dubuque has changed so much since i was last there. i didn't recognize a thing, so we just drove over the Ol' Muddy into Wisconsin and on north. We took a wrong jog in the road, "a happy little accident." (Bob Ross) and toured Platteville, Wisconsin the home of one campus of the University of Wisconsin and the training camp of the Chicago Bears. We kept seeing piercing shops too late. Auntie Nurse is looking for new nose jewelery. Never did get that done. We got ourselves at least pointed in the right direction by finally looking at a map. I saw Gays Mills and that's where we headed.
We got to the apple orchards about 4:30. The first one we stopped at was not the one i remembered from when the kids were young, but we bought some Courtlands and those tasted exactly as i remembered. We drove on a bit further and came to the orchard we had shopped at years ago. And there we went a bit wild. No more apples, but we did buy cheese curds, some Amish candy, some apple cider and mixes for special dips and sauces and such. The owner was closing up shop as we were checking out. i'm glad we made it in time. i'm also glad she was closing because we were headed for a spending spree of major proportions if we'd have had more time.
The drive back was along the river. i can't believe how low it was. i don't remember ever seeing it that low before. i'm not even sure if the barges could navigate this stretch anymore. The lock and dams are off-limits to the public now because of the fear of terrorism. Such a shame, there is going to be a whole generation of children who never get to marvel at how the Mississippi River is raised and lowered so those barges can be part of the process of moving goods from the Gulf of Mexico north to Canada. That made me sad. i have happy memories of watching the lock master directing the boats and the barges into place. The lock doesn't look so big when a barge is in it, but when a pleasure boat or fishing boat goes through it seems monstrous.
We drove on down to Prairie du Chein, passing Frenchman's Landing where i spent many many happy days of my childhood. The cottage is gone. It has probably been gone for lots of years. Auntie Nurse said the flooding in the 90s wiped all that kind of stuff out and even though the owners are the same, everything is new. Another bittersweet moment, but i must admit the new facility looks very clean and tidy and nice. That land is now a campground and i believe the new owners love what they have as much as i did when it was mine.
We toured through Prairie, another place i barely recognized i love the old military hospital on the river, and the Villa Louis. Both represent an amazing part of U.S. history to me. We sat and watched the river a bit, got into the car and then headed back over the bridge and into Iowa. By this time we decided we would just go to the casino and offer our $20 to the gaming commission. i think we both expected it to take only a few minutes or so, but it seems to be a necessary ritual in my family to offer up money to the slot machine god any time we are near one. Last night it wasn't meant to be. Sis was losing fast, but i hit it big time on my first machine. i won 67$. Not big time to some, but considering i was playing nickles, and was only down 3.50 from my 20 when i won, i'd say i was doing pretty good. i cashed in, hid my stash and went to another machine. i only get to do this during summer vacation, and then usually only once. i was playing another nickle machine. i put my 20 in the slot and played twice and won again. This time i had $77 in dollar tokens falling into the tray. i was flabbergasted. i cashed those in, gave Sis a 20, to one for me and went back to play again. And again i hit it big. The last money i won was $71. We played some more, and between the two of us, lost 40$ more, but for all practical purposes our little adventure had been paid for. i will probably never have that kind of luck again. Tonight's b'day dinner is on me.
We left the boat just about dark and drove south down the Great River Road until it was time to head west and back to home and family. The night road was almost as beautiful as the day trip. The moon was nearly full, and as we went through McGregor it was laying a brilliant path on the water. It took my breath away. i love looking in the windows of the farm houses we passed. People who live in the country do not worry about peeping toms or other issues of privacy. We didn't actually see anyone in the homes, but the feeling of good country living showed in each window i saw. The air was redolent with the scents of new mown alfalfa and freshly turned earth. Iowa soil has a rich scent of its own that can be duplicated no where else on earth. The smell of the cow barns was comforting to me, bringing back memories of my childhood. At the beginning of the trip i actually didn't even mind the smell of pigs. As the day went on, their smell became more and more offensive to me.
When i was a child, farms had pigs and cows and horses and the farmer planted and tended his crops. Today some farmers raise pigs feedlot style for big meat packing houses. They were told the method used was good for the land, the hog manure could be put back into the soil for fertilizer after first being cleansed of any smell. Someone was lying, you can smell one of the big hog farms miles before you get to it. i don't know how those farmers can stand the smell. i guess it is true, pigs are the smell of money, why else would anyone put up with that smell?
We got back home about 10:30 last night. Mother and Daughter were upstairs getting ready for bed, but came down so i could show off our booty. i didn't mention the time spent on the gambling boat. Maybe that will come out at dinner tonight because i think we have decided not to take them today. i know Daughter gets frustrated because she can't see the screen on the machines, and the noise and crowd of people make her nervous. Plus i'm not sure Mother could sit comfortably in the car for that long a trip. i think the gambling boat will have to be a pass for them this year.
Today is Daughter's b'day. My baby girl is 32. How did she ever get that age? It is her day culminating with dinner with her grandmother, aunt and uncle and i at one of the nicest restaurants in town, because she said that is where she wants to go. She and mother had a good day together yesterday. It seems now that my time home is nearly at an end, the three of us have settled down into a relationship we can live with. Coming back each year is difficult and i know that. i just forget in the anticipation of being back in the bosom of my family.
The drive to Dubuque was nice, but nothing spectacular. That road is quite flat until you near the city, and is four-lane all the way. There really isn't much time to enjoy the farms because you are travelling so fast. We really tried not to gamble, on the trip over we had discussed the option of taking Mother and Daughter to the river today for a bit of fun. Dubuque has changed so much since i was last there. i didn't recognize a thing, so we just drove over the Ol' Muddy into Wisconsin and on north. We took a wrong jog in the road, "a happy little accident." (Bob Ross) and toured Platteville, Wisconsin the home of one campus of the University of Wisconsin and the training camp of the Chicago Bears. We kept seeing piercing shops too late. Auntie Nurse is looking for new nose jewelery. Never did get that done. We got ourselves at least pointed in the right direction by finally looking at a map. I saw Gays Mills and that's where we headed.
We got to the apple orchards about 4:30. The first one we stopped at was not the one i remembered from when the kids were young, but we bought some Courtlands and those tasted exactly as i remembered. We drove on a bit further and came to the orchard we had shopped at years ago. And there we went a bit wild. No more apples, but we did buy cheese curds, some Amish candy, some apple cider and mixes for special dips and sauces and such. The owner was closing up shop as we were checking out. i'm glad we made it in time. i'm also glad she was closing because we were headed for a spending spree of major proportions if we'd have had more time.
The drive back was along the river. i can't believe how low it was. i don't remember ever seeing it that low before. i'm not even sure if the barges could navigate this stretch anymore. The lock and dams are off-limits to the public now because of the fear of terrorism. Such a shame, there is going to be a whole generation of children who never get to marvel at how the Mississippi River is raised and lowered so those barges can be part of the process of moving goods from the Gulf of Mexico north to Canada. That made me sad. i have happy memories of watching the lock master directing the boats and the barges into place. The lock doesn't look so big when a barge is in it, but when a pleasure boat or fishing boat goes through it seems monstrous.
We drove on down to Prairie du Chein, passing Frenchman's Landing where i spent many many happy days of my childhood. The cottage is gone. It has probably been gone for lots of years. Auntie Nurse said the flooding in the 90s wiped all that kind of stuff out and even though the owners are the same, everything is new. Another bittersweet moment, but i must admit the new facility looks very clean and tidy and nice. That land is now a campground and i believe the new owners love what they have as much as i did when it was mine.
We toured through Prairie, another place i barely recognized i love the old military hospital on the river, and the Villa Louis. Both represent an amazing part of U.S. history to me. We sat and watched the river a bit, got into the car and then headed back over the bridge and into Iowa. By this time we decided we would just go to the casino and offer our $20 to the gaming commission. i think we both expected it to take only a few minutes or so, but it seems to be a necessary ritual in my family to offer up money to the slot machine god any time we are near one. Last night it wasn't meant to be. Sis was losing fast, but i hit it big time on my first machine. i won 67$. Not big time to some, but considering i was playing nickles, and was only down 3.50 from my 20 when i won, i'd say i was doing pretty good. i cashed in, hid my stash and went to another machine. i only get to do this during summer vacation, and then usually only once. i was playing another nickle machine. i put my 20 in the slot and played twice and won again. This time i had $77 in dollar tokens falling into the tray. i was flabbergasted. i cashed those in, gave Sis a 20, to one for me and went back to play again. And again i hit it big. The last money i won was $71. We played some more, and between the two of us, lost 40$ more, but for all practical purposes our little adventure had been paid for. i will probably never have that kind of luck again. Tonight's b'day dinner is on me.
We left the boat just about dark and drove south down the Great River Road until it was time to head west and back to home and family. The night road was almost as beautiful as the day trip. The moon was nearly full, and as we went through McGregor it was laying a brilliant path on the water. It took my breath away. i love looking in the windows of the farm houses we passed. People who live in the country do not worry about peeping toms or other issues of privacy. We didn't actually see anyone in the homes, but the feeling of good country living showed in each window i saw. The air was redolent with the scents of new mown alfalfa and freshly turned earth. Iowa soil has a rich scent of its own that can be duplicated no where else on earth. The smell of the cow barns was comforting to me, bringing back memories of my childhood. At the beginning of the trip i actually didn't even mind the smell of pigs. As the day went on, their smell became more and more offensive to me.
When i was a child, farms had pigs and cows and horses and the farmer planted and tended his crops. Today some farmers raise pigs feedlot style for big meat packing houses. They were told the method used was good for the land, the hog manure could be put back into the soil for fertilizer after first being cleansed of any smell. Someone was lying, you can smell one of the big hog farms miles before you get to it. i don't know how those farmers can stand the smell. i guess it is true, pigs are the smell of money, why else would anyone put up with that smell?
We got back home about 10:30 last night. Mother and Daughter were upstairs getting ready for bed, but came down so i could show off our booty. i didn't mention the time spent on the gambling boat. Maybe that will come out at dinner tonight because i think we have decided not to take them today. i know Daughter gets frustrated because she can't see the screen on the machines, and the noise and crowd of people make her nervous. Plus i'm not sure Mother could sit comfortably in the car for that long a trip. i think the gambling boat will have to be a pass for them this year.
Today is Daughter's b'day. My baby girl is 32. How did she ever get that age? It is her day culminating with dinner with her grandmother, aunt and uncle and i at one of the nicest restaurants in town, because she said that is where she wants to go. She and mother had a good day together yesterday. It seems now that my time home is nearly at an end, the three of us have settled down into a relationship we can live with. Coming back each year is difficult and i know that. i just forget in the anticipation of being back in the bosom of my family.
