The Second Half of Our Midwest Tour...Better Late Than Never!!!

Bemidji, MN to Fairview, IL                                                                 September 2015

Tuesday, September  1 (our 47^th anniversary) we bid good-bye to “Do-loot” and headed for Bemidji, MN.  We found a delightful restaurant right on Lake Bemidje to have dinner and plot out our next 47 years

You might wonder why we chose to go to Bemidje, since it wasn’t exactly on a major route.  We had a couple of reasons:  Jerry visited Lake Itasca and the headwaters of the Mississippi River near Bemidje when he was 7 years old, and our longtime Visalia friend, Judee Berg grew up in Blackduck, 20 miles north.  Jerry posed by the old Black Duck, in the middle of “downtown”.  Of course the new one was out on the highway…three blocks away!

Zion Lutheran Church was Judee’s home church and where she and Doug were married.  Sadly it was all locked up and we couldn’t go inside.  Judee’s childhood home was certainly within walking distance…of course most of Blackduck was withing walking distance!  Quite modern looking for northern Minnesota, though.

We toured all the landmarks of Blackduck…Judee’s dad’s lumber yard, the golf course, the Duck Inn Restaurant, and drove by the house Judee’s family lived in.  While I was in the fabric outlet store wishing I owned a sewing machine, Jerry found a Northlander Gift Shop across the street to explore.  It turned out that the owner, Rob, was a classmate of Judee’s, and another shopper in the store, Nita, knew Judee too.  What a small world!  Soon Jerry was texting pictures back and forth with Judee (who was in California) and being the go-between in this little mini reunion.  What fun!

After lunch we were off to Itasca State Park and the headwaters of the Mississippi River, half an hour SW of Bemidji.  Jerry came here with his aunt, uncle, and cousin as a 7 year old and remembered walking across the Missisisspi.  Of course we had to replicate the event.  He also remembered being fascinated with all the birch trees and I’m sure had visions of making a birch bark canoe.  After all, Jerry grew up in the Davy Crockett era.

A visit to Bemidji would not be complete without a visit with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.  The parking lot at the visitors center where they reside was being redone, but we perservered.  Yep, they both are really big!

Thursday, September 3, was a travel day as we made our way to our Labaor Day destination.  As we travelled, I always kept watch for the quirky and funny.  Near Bemidji I saw a sign advertising a lake resort which touted all of the resort’s great features, including “a plowed ice road!”  We don’t see that kind of advertising every day! 

We found River Terrace RV Park in Monticello, MN, after a bit of wandering through the neighborhoods.  This park was well worth the trouble, as our site was right on the banks of the Missisippi River.  The river had grown considerably since we saw it at Lake Itasca.  Staying in RV parks was always a bit of a roll of the dice, and no research can tell me who our neighbors might be.  This night, we were parked next to a big fifth wheel and a couple who rescued miniature pinschers.  Yikes!!  We had visions of little yappy dogs…we counted 5 in the dog run next to the RV…keeping us awake all night.  Fortunately, they were well behaved but it was an evening Smokey opted to stay inside.

We didn’t know anyone in Monticello, so no one to visit.  Monticello had a hardware store and a Target, so we caught up on some shopping for the bus.  Later in the afternoon we found yet another microbrewery, Lulupin.  Delicious 2 Nut Brown (yes, I know, but that was the brew’s name).  Jerry had quite a conversation with a fella on the next bar stool who was a nuclear physicist…really!  Intersting conversations.  In the photo, Jerry is conversing the the server, a man who works here as a second job and worked as a printer during the day.  I gathered he was single!

Thursday September 3 we pulled in to Camp Faribo, just south of Faribault, MN, and our parking spot for the next four nights.  We had made these reservations quite awhile ago, knowing that the Labor Day weekend would be busy at every campground we might choose.  We weren’t wrong.  This place was packed with coaches like ours, campers, tent trailers, fifth wheels…you name it!  The campground was very family oriented with a pool, low slung tricycles for the kids to ride, and a rec center.  To add to the chaos the weather had turned hot and muggy and we appreciated our air conditioning. 

Our primary purpose for staying here over the holiday weekend was to see old friends we knew in Visalia who had returned to Kenyon, MN, many years ago, Dave and Linda Hellstern.  Their daughter Siri was our baby-sitter and we had not seen her since she graduated from high school  She was now a 40 year old nurse practitioner and a mother of three.  

We went to church with Dave and Linda at the church Linda’s family had attended since the 1800’s!  Dave and Linda were married there and even have their tombstone there, ready and waiting for them.  

It was a rather unique experience to wander the church’s cemetery after service and see their headstone.

Dave and Linda came to the bus Sunday evening for dinner and I got this lovely shot of them.  Lots of conversations and lots of catching up.  We love meeting and making new friends, but it seems the old ones are the best!

We decided we will need a reunion in Visalia of all of us who once lived there in and 80’s and 90’sand have moved away, along with all of those old friends who remain.  You know who you are…be watching for a plan for next spring after Easter.

On Labor Day we had a barbecue at Dave and Linda’s home.  They live in the country NE of Kenyon and about half a mile from their church.  Linda’s parents had built the home in the 90’s and Linda had remodelled it.  I knew it would be lovely and it was, but the surprise were their two great danes!  They were well behaved but not pleased at being put outside.  Kinda like living with ponies!

Siri and her twin daughters Faith and Gracia and 6 year old Nora also came for the BBQ.  It was wonderful seeing Siri again and meeting her family.  Having known Siri as a teenager, we knew she would be a great adult, but it was so heart warming to see how “put together” she was.  I have to share some photos:

Getting read to have a photo taken was a bit of a challenge, apparently.  I have no idea what Gracia and Faith were looking at!  Little Nora, definitely her own unique person, might have been practicing ballet moves.

Lovely, when prepared for the shot!

It was hard to say good-bye to all of them and more than a few tears were shed.  We were already looking forward to a get together next spring.

During Monday night-Tuesday morning, we received 2.6” rain at Camp Faribo.  By the time we pulled out, the little creek that crossed the park entrance was flooding.  It was time to “get out of Dodge!”

We had one more destination on our Midwest tour before we returned to Fairview…Phil Olson’s SW Wisconsin.

We had reservations at a campground just north of Prairie du Chien, right along the Mississippi River (I wonder how many times we’d crossed the river during this tour!) and our route followed the river south of LaCrosse on the Wisconsin side, taking WI 35.  Unfortunately, even though we had a great view of the river, the locks and the river traffic, the road was terrible.  Abe seemed to exaggerate every bump and bounce.  It was slow going.

For this last leg of the journey, we knew we wanted to stay somewhere near Prairie du Chien and I struggled to find a campground that sounded ok for Abe.  I finally settled on “Sports Unlimited Campground” with some trepidation.  The person with whom I spoke wasn’t very reassuring as I querried her about the accessibility of the campground off of one of Wisconsin’s scary county roads. Yep, we’ve had some bad experiences!  Imagine our pleasant surprise when this campground turned out to be lovely!  It was all but deserted the Tuesday after Labor Day, had lots of big sites with all the hook-ups, had tall, well-trimmed trees, and was easy to access.  Yippee! 

Once settled, we were ready to unhook the pickup and explore.  Right across the road we found a lovely little bar for lunch, with a deck that overlooked their marina and the Mississippi River.  Good omens!

Phil Olson, a long-time Visalia friend, grew up in this area of Wisconsin.  Phil and his wife Rita now live in Klamath Falls, OR, and will definitely be on the reunion list!  We had heard many stories from Phil about this area and were ready to explore.

We stopped in Mt. Sterling at the cheese factory, where apparently everyone in Phil’s family had worked at some point.  Phil’s mom, Gladys, lived in Mt Sterling and we saw her house.  Mt. Sterling is just another little midwest town but had a definite Wisconsin feel to it!

We made our way along the top of the ridge out of Mt. Sterling for a couple of miles to find Utica Lutheran Church that the Olson family had attended.  The church sat on a high point surrounded by it’s graveyard.  In the midwest is the only spot where we’ve seen this tradition of burying the faithful just out the back door, but we liked it!  Of course the church was locked up tight but we enjoyed the views from the outside as we wandered through the cemetery.

The other must-see town was Gays Mills, where Phil and the rest of the Olson brood went to high school  The building, a traditional brick two story structure, reminiscent of many schools in Midwest, has been replaced by a more modern structure.  These thrifty Wisconsonians, rather than tear down a perfectly good brick school repurposed it.  Now mushrooms were grown inside!  Got an empty old building just sitting down going to ruin?  Repurpose it for fungi!

The culmination of this part of our journey was to have dinner with Judy Olson Vongen and her husband Thurman (Phil's sister and brother-in-law) at the Swing Inn.  Nope, you can’t make this stuff up!  Thurman is a mail carrier and had a route that was 116 miles long!  When he finished that job he repaired tractors.  What a guy!  Judy brought us a lovely gift bag of jellies, pickles, and wine…very Gladys Olson of her.  Nice folks.  Phil had advised us that this little roadside restaurant was the place to eat catfish cheeks, and we were quite curious about the exotic delicacy.  As luck would have it, this dish was off the menu so we chose their special instead, ham and potato casserole.  I felt like I was at a Lutheran Church hotdish dinner!  Yum.

Wednesday, September 9, we returned to our parking spot in Fairview, IL, to spend time with Jerry’s aunt Dorothy Peterson (who is 8 months younger than he!) and the rest of the family.  Thursday, September 10, Jim had his final appoint with the MD Electrophysiologist who implanted his pacemaker.  He got a good report and won’t need to see this physician again for a year.  Good news!

The Woodall Women decided to have a ladies’ day.  First things first…to lunch at Billy’s Tap in Canton.  Yep.  Took Mom to a bar!  This place had a reputation for great food but no one told us it would take about two hours to get it.  It really didn’t matter, though, since we chatted the whole time.

We attempted to do a little shopping in Canton…not an easy thing to do!  The most interesting shop we were in was the resale shop!  I think everyone found something to buy.

Sunday, Septermber 13, found us worshipping in Wataga, IL, at Faith Lutheran Church.  Visalia friends, Carolyn and Berkley Johnson, were visitng family and friends here and this was their home church.

We had worshipped with Berk and Carolyn for many years at Christ Lutheran Church in Visalia and it was good to be with them again.  Carolyn’s brother and sister-in-law also attend church here, so we all went to lunch at “Crave” (what a great name for a restaurant!) in Farmington.  Again, great conversations and reminiscences. 

Before Dorothy returned home, she, Jerry and I drove to Scott County to review some of the Woodall/Ashmore/Gauges/ Guinanne/Hanback history.  I won’t go into the whole family tree but both of Jerry’s parents and their ancestors were from Scott County.  Dorothy, a younger sister of Jerry’s dad, as the family historian, had lots of good information.  

On the way, we stopped for breakfast in Petersburg and visited the grave of Edgar Lee Masters, author of “Spoon River Anthology” whose 100^th anniversary was this year.  We also saw the grave of Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln’s sweetheart.  This city, a planned community surveyed by Abraham Lincoln when he was a resident of nearby New Salem, had several stately Victorian homes that were bed and breakfast inns.

Scott County:  Winchester (the county seat), Alsey, Glasgow, Bluffs, and to the south:  Roodhouse and Whitehall.  Family history in everyone of them.  We tromped through several cemeteries in search of ancestors, and had a beautiful day to do it.  In the photo above Jerry and I were standing behind the grave of Jerry’s maternal grandparents, Frank and Gladys Guinnane…Jerry’s Irish connection.

For many years Jerry’s maternal grandfather, Frank Guinnane, was the caretaker at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Winchester.  Dorothy and I were standing just behind the bench that the family erected outside the front entry.  The plaque says:  You have nurtured us as you have nurtured these grounds with your abiding love.  Thanks, Dad.  Fathers Day, 1979”.

One piece of Woodall/Gauges family lore.  Peter Gauges, Jerry’s great great grandfather, immigrated from Germany in the mid 1800’s.  He came through Lancaster County, PA, and eventually settled in Glasgow, IL.  He built this two-story brick blacksmith shop and it’s still in use today as a garage.  His first home was destroyed by a tornado, so the second home he built was built to withstand any storm Illinois could throw at him. 

On our way back to Fairview we had took the ferry across the Illinois River to Kampsville in hopes of eating catfish at the Kampsville Inn.  The restaurant was closed due to flood damage but we still enjoyed the ferry ride.  The Kampsville ferry crossed the Illinois River and connects the Kampsville segment of Illinois Route 108 with its remainder in Greene County. The ferry was free and ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is one of two permanent ferries operated by the Illinois Department of Transportation.  As you it wasn’t big by Washington State ferry standards…it held 3y cars!

That’s all for now.  Gotta get ready for a family visit and our 50^th class reunion.  More to come.