Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Missouri - Part 1
Two for the price of one!! Bob and I both had meetings in Missouri for our last trip. Since I was going there with him, I volunteered to attend the Missouri Leadership Conference in Warrensburg, MO on Fri, Sat, Sun. Bob had meetings in Springfield, MO Tues, Wed, Thurs, and we decided to see some shows in Branson Thurs, Fri., Sat & come home on Sunday. It made for 10 days away from home, but we had a good time.
We flew in to Springfield—which is a pretty small airport, so it didn’t take any time at all to get our luggage and pick up our car—we had a Pontiac G6—which is a pretty neat car. That night we drove to Clinton (birthplace of Harry S. Truman). Clinton has a beautiful historic downtown area. The county court house is in the middle of the square and there are lots of neat restored buildings all around the square. After supper we walked around the square. It was a beautiful evening.
In Warrensburg, we stayed in a dorm at the University there. It was a dorm—what more can I say? There were plastic mattresses that were too short for the bed, the drain in the shower didn’t work very well, so we had a foot of water to stand in by the end of the shower, and the food was college cafeteria food. One of the people commented that the bacon tasted like a greasy piece of paper.
After the retreat, we wandered back to Springfield and then went to a minor league baseball game. Take me out to the ball game! It was lots of fun—although the home team (Springfield Cardinals) got slaughtered 8-1. Everyone from the opposing team was hitting home runs off the pitcher. The John Q. Hammond Stadium is beautiful and was walking distance from our hotel. Again it was a beautiful night and we ate popcorn, hot dogs, and ice cream—really healthy eating.
The next day we went to a restaurant in their historic downtown area called Trolleys. It had some really unique things on the menu. I had a grilled portabella mushroom sandwich and sweet potato fries, but the fries had cinnamon and brown sugar on them rather than salt. They were really good! That area has a fountain and lots of neat old buildings, but a lot of them are in the renovation process.
Several people told us that we could have to visit Lambert’s Restaurant, so that evening we found the directions and drove out to it. First we had quite a wait—and it was on a Monday evening. Then our drinks came in these insulated 36 oz mugs. I ordered a ham steak and Bob ordered catfish. I had a 14-15” skillet that had this huge slab of ham on it. I’d ordered fried apples and beets as the sides—Bob had baked beans and cucumbers and onions. Then they have waiters come by with ‘pass arounds’—fried potatoes, fried okra, black-eyed peas, and macaroni and tomatoes. And then some guy comes out with a huge tray of rolls, fresh out of the oven, and starts throwing them to people. Well, we had to eat some bread—just because it was too much fun not to catch them. Way too much food—if we ever go back, I’ll order the veggie plate and Bob and I will share a meal. After we were about through—they came by and asked if we wanted any more fish or ham—I guess it’s all you can eat—although how anyone could eat any more than that is beyond me!
On Tuesday, Bob went to his meetings, which were all day and into the evening, and I meet with the local chapter. I got a tour of the college and met the college president and academic Vice President. Then I met with the two advisors and six officers. They had lots of questions and ideas. I think their chapter is really going to take off this year. I went over there at 1 pm and we met until almost 5 pm, so they asked if I wanted to go to dinner with them. Since Bob was at meetings, I was thrilled to have some people to eat with. A few said they would have to bring their children or spouses, so we ended up with almost 20 people who went out. We went to a neat restaurant in the historic downtown area (right across from Trolleys) called Riad’s. We had a room to ourselves and had a wonderful meal—I had a tuna steak and asparagus.
On Wed, Bob had more meetings all day and evening, but did get from 5-6 pm off, so we dashed to a Steak and Shake and ate supper. A couple of his colleagues came into the restaurant, so we visited with them. I bought the last Harry Potter book and ended up reading until midnight a couple nights.
We flew in to Springfield—which is a pretty small airport, so it didn’t take any time at all to get our luggage and pick up our car—we had a Pontiac G6—which is a pretty neat car. That night we drove to Clinton (birthplace of Harry S. Truman). Clinton has a beautiful historic downtown area. The county court house is in the middle of the square and there are lots of neat restored buildings all around the square. After supper we walked around the square. It was a beautiful evening.
In Warrensburg, we stayed in a dorm at the University there. It was a dorm—what more can I say? There were plastic mattresses that were too short for the bed, the drain in the shower didn’t work very well, so we had a foot of water to stand in by the end of the shower, and the food was college cafeteria food. One of the people commented that the bacon tasted like a greasy piece of paper.
After the retreat, we wandered back to Springfield and then went to a minor league baseball game. Take me out to the ball game! It was lots of fun—although the home team (Springfield Cardinals) got slaughtered 8-1. Everyone from the opposing team was hitting home runs off the pitcher. The John Q. Hammond Stadium is beautiful and was walking distance from our hotel. Again it was a beautiful night and we ate popcorn, hot dogs, and ice cream—really healthy eating. The next day we went to a restaurant in their historic downtown area called Trolleys. It had some really unique things on the menu. I had a grilled portabella mushroom sandwich and sweet potato fries, but the fries had cinnamon and brown sugar on them rather than salt. They were really good! That area has a fountain and lots of neat old buildings, but a lot of them are in the renovation process.
Several people told us that we could have to visit Lambert’s Restaurant, so that evening we found the directions and drove out to it. First we had quite a wait—and it was on a Monday evening. Then our drinks came in these insulated 36 oz mugs. I ordered a ham steak and Bob ordered catfish. I had a 14-15” skillet that had this huge slab of ham on it. I’d ordered fried apples and beets as the sides—Bob had baked beans and cucumbers and onions. Then they have waiters come by with ‘pass arounds’—fried potatoes, fried okra, black-eyed peas, and macaroni and tomatoes. And then some guy comes out with a huge tray of rolls, fresh out of the oven, and starts throwing them to people. Well, we had to eat some bread—just because it was too much fun not to catch them. Way too much food—if we ever go back, I’ll order the veggie plate and Bob and I will share a meal. After we were about through—they came by and asked if we wanted any more fish or ham—I guess it’s all you can eat—although how anyone could eat any more than that is beyond me! On Tuesday, Bob went to his meetings, which were all day and into the evening, and I meet with the local chapter. I got a tour of the college and met the college president and academic Vice President. Then I met with the two advisors and six officers. They had lots of questions and ideas. I think their chapter is really going to take off this year. I went over there at 1 pm and we met until almost 5 pm, so they asked if I wanted to go to dinner with them. Since Bob was at meetings, I was thrilled to have some people to eat with. A few said they would have to bring their children or spouses, so we ended up with almost 20 people who went out. We went to a neat restaurant in the historic downtown area (right across from Trolleys) called Riad’s. We had a room to ourselves and had a wonderful meal—I had a tuna steak and asparagus.
On Wed, Bob had more meetings all day and evening, but did get from 5-6 pm off, so we dashed to a Steak and Shake and ate supper. A couple of his colleagues came into the restaurant, so we visited with them. I bought the last Harry Potter book and ended up reading until midnight a couple nights.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Eight (or nine) Random Facts
Ross, my son, put out the challenge to give eight random facts about myself. I knew all of his, except that he has to have his ear covered when he sleeps. I’m not in to ‘passing things on’, so I’ll just post my answers.
1. My mother and I both ‘graduated’ from high school in 1969. She got her GED and I graduated—and this was the same high school that both of my kids graduated from.
2. I once set the forest on fire and accidentally burned down an outhouse. My kids will remember this very well and I think they still have a couple of “I told you so”s left!
3. But on the other hand…I once saved a mansion (the white one) from burning down (and no, I didn’t set the fire!) When I was coordinating an Elderhostel program, the city administrators from Little Falls asked us about hosting programs in the two ‘Mansions on the Mississippi’ that had recently been deeded to the City. These two neighboring homes were built in 1898 by Charles A. Weyerhaeuser and Richard "Drew" Musser, who were lumber men and are furnished with antiques and original heirlooms. A friend and I were touring through the homes with two women from the city when there was a loud crackling sound in the basement—two women immediately ran outside, one went for the phone to call the fire department. I peeked around the corner and saw a huge electric panel that had flames all over on it and the wall. I ran up, got the fire extinguisher, figured out how to use it, and sprayed the wall and put out the fire.
4. I use to be able to outrun all the boys in my class in the long distance race we did every year while I was in elementary school.
5. When I was in 6th grade, I was playing in a fort that my sister and I had built. I was standing on a branch that broke and as I fell to the ground, my leg was ripped open by a nail. I needed 33 stitches on the outside, plus three layers on the inside to sew my leg up. I discovered then that I have keloids which make my scars get larger than they should—so I’ve always had a big scar on my leg.
6. I moved eight or nine times (and several thousand miles) before I was eight years old, but have only moved once (15 miles) in the last 34 years. (Mom, correct me if I’m wrong.)
7. I love violent thunderstorms with lots of lightning and loud, booming thunder. I like to sit in our solarium during thunderstorms and watch them and the rain pour down.
8. I love to travel and have visited all the US states except Alaska and Hawaii (and am going to Alaska in August). I’ve also been on three continents and would like to visit them all. We love traveling with our kids—so have decided to spend any inheritance they may get now, rather than after we’re dead!
OK—one more—you all know this one, but it’s probably my biggest accomplishment!
9. I once thru-hiked the Superior Hiking trail (about 230 miles) in 18 days in 2001, carrying a pack that weighed between 35-45 lbs.
1. My mother and I both ‘graduated’ from high school in 1969. She got her GED and I graduated—and this was the same high school that both of my kids graduated from.
2. I once set the forest on fire and accidentally burned down an outhouse. My kids will remember this very well and I think they still have a couple of “I told you so”s left!
3. But on the other hand…I once saved a mansion (the white one) from burning down (and no, I didn’t set the fire!) When I was coordinating an Elderhostel program, the city administrators from Little Falls asked us about hosting programs in the two ‘Mansions on the Mississippi’ that had recently been deeded to the City. These two neighboring homes were built in 1898 by Charles A. Weyerhaeuser and Richard "Drew" Musser, who were lumber men and are furnished with antiques and original heirlooms. A friend and I were touring through the homes with two women from the city when there was a loud crackling sound in the basement—two women immediately ran outside, one went for the phone to call the fire department. I peeked around the corner and saw a huge electric panel that had flames all over on it and the wall. I ran up, got the fire extinguisher, figured out how to use it, and sprayed the wall and put out the fire.4. I use to be able to outrun all the boys in my class in the long distance race we did every year while I was in elementary school.
5. When I was in 6th grade, I was playing in a fort that my sister and I had built. I was standing on a branch that broke and as I fell to the ground, my leg was ripped open by a nail. I needed 33 stitches on the outside, plus three layers on the inside to sew my leg up. I discovered then that I have keloids which make my scars get larger than they should—so I’ve always had a big scar on my leg.
6. I moved eight or nine times (and several thousand miles) before I was eight years old, but have only moved once (15 miles) in the last 34 years. (Mom, correct me if I’m wrong.)
7. I love violent thunderstorms with lots of lightning and loud, booming thunder. I like to sit in our solarium during thunderstorms and watch them and the rain pour down.
8. I love to travel and have visited all the US states except Alaska and Hawaii (and am going to Alaska in August). I’ve also been on three continents and would like to visit them all. We love traveling with our kids—so have decided to spend any inheritance they may get now, rather than after we’re dead!
OK—one more—you all know this one, but it’s probably my biggest accomplishment!
9. I once thru-hiked the Superior Hiking trail (about 230 miles) in 18 days in 2001, carrying a pack that weighed between 35-45 lbs.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Chicago, Chicago, It’s My Kind of Town
The organization I work for has a weeklong Institute every year. It’s held on the campus of a major university. This year that university was near Chicago. I flew directly from Jackson to O’Hare and Bob drove from home, so he was able to pick me (and a couple of my colleagues) up at the airport. We have a GPS in our car, so Bob hadn’t brought a map of Chicago along, thinking that he could set the GPS and it would route us to the college. When he put the CD in for that area—the readout said the CD wasn’t working. So we were in the city without knowing where we were going. Luckily, one of the women with us had the directions—so we found the college. I guess it goes to prove that you can’t always trust technology.
The Institute was wonderful, with some really interesting speakers who make you think about things from a completely different angle. One of the best speakers was Reza Aslan. He is an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is a regular commentator for NPR’s Marketplace and Middle East Analyst for CBS News. He is the author of ‘No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam’, and the soon to be published ‘How to Win a Cosmic War: Why We’re Losing the War on Terror’.
Reza Aslan’s presentation was about the recent poll by Foreign Policy Magazine which indicated that nearly 90% of US foreign policy analysts on both the left and the right believe the United States is losing the so-called “War on Terror.” In his book, Reza argues that America’s poor performance in this conflict is due not only to the decisions made by the Bush Administration, but more importantly to the very way in which the struggle against Islamic extremists has been framed as a “cosmic war” between the forces of good and evil.
Another speaker, Dr. David M. Oshinsky, talked about the polio epidemic and how horrible it was, primarily striking children. The race for a vaccine led to the largest public health experiment in American history involving nearly two million school-age volunteers. When Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was declared “safe, effective, and potent,” in 1955, the nation celebrated as if a war had ended - and, indeed, one had. The crusade against polio not only prevented future cases of this horrific disease, it also revolutionized the ways in which medical research, charitable fundraising, and government drug testing would be done in the United States. This united effort produced The March of Dimes, one of the greatest scientific and philanthropic achievements on record.
On the R & R day of the Institute, everyone received a “Go Chicago” Pass and two train tickets so they could go into downtown Chicago. We caught the train to Union Station and then walked to Navy Pier (probably between 1 & 2 miles). We took a boat architectural tour of the city, which was really interesting. We wandered around Navy Pier for a while--rode the ferris wheel and found the Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream stand. Then we took a hop-on-hop-off bus tour—and hopped off right near Gino’s Pizza. Gino’s is one of the original places that has deep dish pizza—yum! It’s also an interesting place—they encourage people to do graffiti on the walls—so every square inch is covered. But the pizza was delicious. We also went up to the observation deck on the John Hancock building.
Saturday when everything was done, we drove back to Mpls and stayed at our son’s on Sunday, our daughter came to the cities and we went to “Les Miserable” at Chanhassen. What a wonderful play! And Chanhassen is a wonderful dinner theatre! That night we went to our daughter’s and spent one night in St Cloud, then we drove up to Brimson and spent a night at her place there. While there, we did a ‘Harry Potter’ movie marathon and watched all four movies.Another fun trip!
Friday, July 06, 2007
Hot, Humid Mississippi
I work from my home—which is in northern Minnesota, but I’m actually employed by an organization that is based in Jackson, Mississippi. Every so often, I need to go to the office in Jackson. I don’t know why, but the majority of the times that I end up there, is in the middle of the summer.There is a perfectly good reason why I live in MN—I DO NOT like hot weather. In fact, a brisk fall day or warm (45 degrees) sunny winter day are perfect for me. Anyway, I found myself in 100 degree and high humidity a few weeks ago—and I was miserable! Bob didn’t go with me, so I didn’t feel like driving around too much by myself. The pool at the hotel is outside in the sun and it was so hot during the day that you couldn’t swim. Even at night, the temperature only cooled down to the mid 70’s.
Most of the time while I was down there, I was too busy to even notice that it was hot outside—and I was inside the office, car, restaurant, or hotel. I had a really neat car—it’s so much fun to rent cars a lot, because you get to drive different kinds. Even though I had reserved a compact—they upgraded me to a HHR. This is the Chevy Crossover. I’m not sure if I liked it—it had a lot of room and looked really big from the outside, but from the inside—it seemed small. There was a huge blind spot that made me nervous. But I made 10 trips to and from the airport—so I got to know my way around that part of town, very well.On Saturday, we had a dedication service for a brick that was purchased by the region for my good friend Dennis. It was very nice with about 25 of his family members from MN and Alabama there. About eight of our staff were there. It was a really nice memorial. Dennis was a wonderful man who was very active—doing tai chi, running, gardening, and climbing the steps of the IDS building. Suddenly he had a massive heart attack and passed away at age 61. I still can’t believe it and I still miss him.
The rest of the week consisted of meetings and going out to dinner every evening. I was the driver for the guests because we were staying in the same hotel. So, other than seeing the hotel, the office, the airport, several restaurants, and the road in between them—it was a pretty uneventful trip.
And then, I left, but not for home—instead I went to Chicago….
