Saturday, June 19, 2010

Where am I , Part Two

Where am I now ? Part two! If you have not read the first part do so now.
To continue my sage of where I am now I must go back to staying in the little sleepy town. I slept well and actually slept in. I knew the last leg of my trip would not take as long as the first leg, so I just took my time. It was breakfast time and I knew the place I wanted to eat was about 16 miles away. I made the pleasant drive on the curvy road taking in the scenery. Cows with calves, newly planted soil, various shades of green in the leaves of the trees and lots of “weeds” blooming. I love the terrain in this part of the county, because the hills must be planted in curved rows and the farmers will plant corn, soy beans and wheat in groupings of rows around the hills. It kind of reminds me of a quilt with curved rows.
The reason for the beautiful terrain in this area happened during the last glacial period when the ice was retreating; no excess materials were left behind. So ridges are deep due to lack of fill. I will describe more of this area later.
I walked into my favorite bakery in even a smaller town then I had stayed the previous night. I was greeting warmly. I told the owner “Bill kicked me out” and she laughed, because she was telling Bill the last time he was there to send me up to see and he stay home. Breakfast was wonderful as usual then I bought some bread and cookies and was on my way again. I had a little business to take care of in this town then left using the same road again heading north. I knew as long as I was either going north or west I would eventually reach my destination.
I went through many small towns. Almost all of the towns were near the river I was following. It was nice to see the pride the people took to keep the towns clean, manicured and pretty. Many of these old river towns have lots of history including some of the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories from The Little House on the Prairie books. Yes, the Ingalls did live in this part of the country when she was a very young child.
The cumulus clouds above were bright white with the background of a vivid blue. The sky was very different from the previous day on another part of my trip. I spotted a strawberry patch just a few feet down a side road, so I stopped. I didn’t want to take the time to pick berries, so I just bought some along with some blueberries and a few tomatoes.
As I was traveling I again was taking in the terrain. Some parts of the landscape just seemed to jute out of the ground into a very high plateau. These areas would allow a person to see miles and miles if you were atop the giant structure.
Historical markers were about every 10 or 15 miles. I didn’t stop to read many, but I notice some marked where previous Forts had been located right along the river.
When I was getting close to the end of my journey I had to again cross a “mighty” river that didn’t look so mighty at this location. The weather is cool and the humidity is reasonable. I am a little north of two cities that the mighty river divides. Have you guessed where I am located?
I actually am just north of St Paul MN at the edge of Hugo. Yesterday I visited the town of White Bear Lake where I spent some time in two very different from each other Quilt Shops. I have had a great time, rested and am now ready for my trip home. I plan to go south via the Mississippi River road but this time in MN instead of WI like I traveled on the way up. I will take my time traveling and will stop at a few towns along the way. When I arrive home I am sure I will wish I was back north as I have heard the weather in KY is very hot and equally humid. I am not looking forward to the hot weather, but am looking forward to being again with Bill, Dad, Mom and friends.
Until next time,
Peggy

Where am I?

Where am I? Right now I am sitting in my friends Debby and Mark’s dining room. I was looking at my mail, but the wireless connection I was using is no longer available. Debby has not come home from work and Mark is busy doing other things, so I decided to write in word until I can post.
As you may or may not know my dear husband, Bill, and I watch after my parents. One of the things we do is to make sure my Dad is taken to town every day so he can spend about 4 hours every day with my Mom in the Nursing Home where she resides. This is kind of wearing at times, but we would have it no other way. Bill and I usually take turns providing the transportation, but since Tuesday afternoon Bill has been doing all the transportation. I am sure he is wore out by now, because we have other duties to do, the weather at home is really hot and humid and that also means 4 hours in town for the one providing the transportation. So where am I????? Well as I say “Bill kicked me out!!!!!!!!” Not really, but he did tell me I needed a break and decided I should leave home for a few days.
I took Dad into town Tuesday morning. Then I went directly to the DR for my 6 month checkup. My appointment was scheduled for 9:45 am. I was hoping to leave town by 11:00am, but as you know, DR’s run on a different schedule. Sometimes it is a patient’s fault, but more often than not the DR has over scheduled, took a phone call or did something else to delay the people waiting. I left the office at 11:30 or so. Went to two banks and met Bill at our favorite restaurant. We ate a quick meal and I was on my way……heading north!
As many of you know we have many relatives north of KY. We also have several friends north of KY, but I choose to visit the friends farthest away. They graciously welcomed me. It did take me two traveling days to get here. The first day I was delayed by the DR, spent more than an hour in a Truck Stop waiting for the bad storms to pass. The rain was actually travelling parallel to the ground. I did get wet running from the van to the door of the Truck Stop, but some nice man opened the door for me…..Thank You!
After the wait at the Truck Stop I continued my journey. I had a goal to reach a certain destination, but was not sure I would make it. My journey was to soon take me down unfamiliar roads. The weather had cleared, traffic was not bad and since I had a bit of a rest I was feeling good. I made it through my first “city” with no problems. It would be a long time before I see another city of any size. My journey has now taken me a little west by northwest. It was about 10:30pm when I realized I was going to be travelling near a friend’s home. I had also earlier passed another friend’s home, but my destination for the night was still in mind. The sky was clear. In fact there was a beautiful crescent moon that seemed to be setting changing color from a shocking white to a fall harvest orange color.
Construction signs everywhere….all directions, so I just followed a recently created ”one lane road” that took me into a new state and around a cluster of 4 cities than eventually a new direction, North. My destination for the evening was now doable, but I would arrive late, about midnight. I really took a chance that a room would be available in the motel in the little town I was aiming to reach before I sleep.
As I entered the sleepy town I pulled over and called the motel to be sure a room was available. One was waiting for me when I arrived. Now, time to rest…….more hints to be posted at a later time.