I’ve been delayed on posting for this great trip. No sooner had we returned from our trip than we hosted some of Carla’s friends from high school. When we returned from that jaunt, I discovered my uncle and aunt suffered separate health issues so we hurried down to Arizona to check in on them. Here’s hoping I can get back on track and finish posting about our trip without too many more interruptions.
As you may remember from my previous post our trip required some changes due to Hurricane Dorian when wiped out much of Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks. As part of the change we stopped in Wilmington, North Carolina for the night.
HOT; it was so very HOT AND HUMID. Even though it was October the heat index (temperature plus humidity) was over 105°. We were drawn to anything that might be cool.
Fountain in Wilmington, NC
We tried to venture but, while it was almost tolerable near the water, it was insufferable once we walked into town. So we stayed near the water.
Wilmington, North Carolina
Across the water from our hotel the battleship North Carolina is docked in a cove on the Cape Fear River where it serves as a museum. We thought about going to visit it but the thought of going into a big metal box on such a hot day was, well, unthinkable. We settled for viewing it from across the way.
Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington, NCBattleship North Carolina in Wilmington, NC
Once it got dark it started to cool down and we ventured downtown to the Dixie Grill for dinner.
Dixie Grill. Wilminton, NC
After dinner we walked the boardwalk along the Cape Fear River where it was fairly cool – relatively speaking. On our stroll we came across a street artist creating a Sweetgrass Palmetto Rose. (This image is a frame from a video.)
Street artist creating a Sweetgrass Palmetto Rose
Sweetgrass baskets are quite popular down in North Carolina. Along our drives on the two-lane highways we saw a number people selling the baskets from their vans or front yards. Carla bought one from this artist where we have it wound around our small wine rack. I put it in a vase for this photo.
Sweetgrass Palmetto Rose
In my next post I’ll be writing about our visit to Charleston, South Carolina which was quite educational.
The next stop on our trip was supposed to be a drive down the North Carolina Outer Banks to Ocracoke Island. But a few weeks before we left Hurricane Dorian got to Ocracoke before we did. We read news reports that people had to be evacuated from the island by helicopter. A week later the hotel we were to stay at was being used to house emergency personnel for the hurricane cleanup; so, our stop there was cancelled.
Outer Banks and Beaufort, NC (pinned) (Image from Google)
Carla and Linda quickly adjusted and made a reservation in Beaufort, NC. We still made a small drive down the Outer Banks from Kitty Hawk down to Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head (see the map above) before heading back to the mainland and south to Beaufort.
Our first stop was Kitty Hawk where Wilbur and Orville Wright built and flew the first power airplane. There is a large visitors’ center and a set of stones in the back.
Wright Brothers First flights memorial
The large stone in the foreground is the take off point for their first powered flights. In the distance are four markers showing their progress on that first day. The first three represent about a 10 second flight; but that last marker way in the distance was the home run: a flight of 59 seconds covering 852 feet.
While at Kitty Hawk we were given a treat which none of the guides had seen before: a US Marine helicopter came in for a landing. The helicopter was too heavy to land on the nearby airstrip so they set down on the grass. The trip was a reward for the Marines who service the helicopters but never get to fly in them. On our visit day, they came over from a nearby base and let the Marines enjoy some free time. Just before reloading they posed for a picture on the plane for all the gawking visitors like me.
US Marines posing on their helicopter at Kitty Hawk, NC
Soon after, they lined up about 25 yards from the helicopter where the roll was called. They boarded and lifted off for the trip back.
US Marine Helicopter taking off at Kitty Hawk, NC
Click on the picture above to zoom in and see all the grass and dust it kicked up. We were treated to a demonstration of the pilot and helicopter’s abilities and they made a tight turn to head back to base.
US Marine Helicopter leaving Kitty Hawk, NC
It was getting to be a hot day so we headed to a local diner for lunch where we had delicious fresh fish sandwiches and unsweetened ice tea. It was the south so we sampled some Key Lime Pie for dessert – delicious but very sweet.
After talking with our waitress we left our rental car parked in the diner parking lot and walked over a berm for a view of the Atlantic Ocean. It was SO HOT! We had to scamper over the hot sand berm that separated the coastline from the highway.
Carla and I visited here for a week back around 2001 – 2003. One of my enduring memories was the pelicans cruising just above the waves. We didn’t have to wait long before a flock came into view. I wasn’t set up for action photography but tried to capture a group of pelicans skimming over the surface.
Pelicans on the Outer Banks, NC
We still had a four hour drive ahead of us so we got back in the car, cranked up the AC and headed southwest toward Beaufort, NC. We just rested a bit when we got in; it was so hot out. We enjoyed a nice dinner next to a water channel then returned to our room where we had a spectacular view of the sunset.
Sunset: Beafort, North Carolina
When we woke up a group of men were working on the Capt. Ryan across the channel.
Fishing boat preparing for sail. Beaufort, NC
A little later the captain/pilot quickly pulled it out and did an about face; I marveled at this skill.
Fishing boat preparing for sail. Beaufort, NC
It was cooler in the morning so we bummed around town. Carla and Linda walked by some of the older homes and I met them at the North Carolina Maritime Museum. One of Beafort’s claims to fame is that Blackbeard the pirate lost his ship here. The museum has quite a few displays on the pirate. In order to strike fear into the heart of his enemies Blackbeard would put slow burning fuses in his hair so sparks and smoke would swirl around his face.
We packed up and headed to our next stop – Wilmington, North Carolina. More about that on my next post.
The first full day of our trip was spent going through the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.; the second day we visited the African American Museum to learn more about slavery and racial injustice. So, what better way to spend our first day traveling south than to visit a Civil War battlefield.
Carla is a history buff with a special interest in the American Civil War; we have talked in the past about how interesting it would be to visit the various battlefields of the Civil War. This visit to the Fredricksburg, Virginia battlefield adjusted our notion. The battle took place over 5 days in mid December 1862. The Union troops overtook the town at first and destroyed a good part of it. It was part of the new total war doctrine of the Union to disable the ability of the South to wage war. The Union army then attacked what was later described as the best defensive position the South had in the entire war. The Union soldiers marched up a long gradual slope to the top of a hill. The Southern troops had artillery behind the top of the hill and the infantry behind a large block wall. It was a huge loss for the Union Army.
Southern Army defensive position at Fredrickcsburg , VA
Later, after the slaughter of thousands of soldiers, Union General Burnside admitted he had not thought through the problem adequately. He was one of the several inadequate generals before Lincoln chose Ulysses S. Grant.
There was at least one small house that provided some temporary cover for the attacking force. It is still maintained today with a few of the bullet holes still in place.
Bullet hole at the Fredricksburg, VA battlefield
That’s a big hole. I imagine it has been “maintained” over time because I don’t think the powder burns would still be in place 157 years after the fact. Nevertheless, it was all a chilling reminder of the brutality of this – and all – wars.
Now it was lunch time, Carla, Linda and I had made a vow to eat as much barbecue as we could while in the south. While stopped at a small mall to get some travel supplies we saw “Dixie Bones” a small nondescript joint in the mall. We had delicious pulled pork sandwiches topped with coleslaw. I had collard greens as a side.
Barbecue at Dixie Bones in Fredricksburg, VA
Entering the restaurant we passed by cases of sauce supplies: vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and more. There were so many sauce options in giant dispensers
BBQ sauce options at Dixie Bones in Fredricksburg, VA
I started with small samples of the Traditional, White, and Vinegar sauces. Once I tasted that Vinegar sauce I went back for more, and then more again. It had a bit of tang but without overpowering sweetness, heat, or vinegar pucker. I’ve made Vinegar BBQ sauce myself but nothing this good. I’ll be working on my recipe in the future.
When traveling in the South be sure to know which type of tea you want – sweetened or unsweetened. All three of us go unsweetened. Like the sauces, Dixie Bones makes tea in large batches.
It was getting on into the afternoon and we still had a couple of hours drive to get to Williamsburg, VA which was our stop for the night. While driving south we discovered that the Colonial Williamsburg living museum closed at 5:00. Even though we would have just over two hours to make the rounds we decided to go for it.
It was a beautiful – but warm – day for strolling the grounds. Colonial Williamsburg is on the site of an old colonial town.
Colonial Williamsburg
We stopped by one of the taverns but it wasn’t open for business that day.
King’s Arms Tavern. Colonial Williamsburg
People dressed in period costumes are in the shops and demonstrate and describe their work using tools of the day. We dropped into the silversmith shop. There wasn’t any work being performed but I loved the workshop.
Silversmith’s Workshop: Colonial Williamsburg, VA
The local apothecary shop was also open and the woman in charge described many of the compounds they made to help people’s ailments back in the day. I loved the mortar and pestle.
Apothecary shop: Colonial Williamsburg
I loved store sign for Chownings Tavern.
One of the benefits of arriving late is we got to watch the drum and fife corps perform their end of day ritual. They started at one end of town marching and playing to an open field. They were a blast to watch.
Fife and drum corps. Colonial Willamsburg
Time and again on this trip we marveled at the fortitude of the nation’s forefathers. Like the marching band above, they worked in the heat and humidity of the south in layers of hot clothing. We were exhausted walking around in shorts and T-shirts.
We ate dinner – salads after that BBQ lunch – at a little establishment near the site. We were exhausted by all the walking in the hot day. We were a long way from our car and thought of taking a Lyft back to the parking lot; but we discovered a shuttle bus! We finally made our way to the Best Western hotel which was comfortable. The breakfast the next morning was awful. Terrible.
The next morning we packed up and headed to Beaufort, North Carolina; not to be confused with Beaufort, South Carolina which we also visited the following week.
Carla and her sister have been planning a trip to the South for about half a year now. We started in Washington, DC, and as of this writing we have been down to Williamsburg, the Outer Banks, Wilmington, North Carolina. Later we’ll hit Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA, then turn home up to the Smoky Mountains.
Carla and I flew in to Washington on Saturday September 28 and met Linda at her high school / college friend’s home near Bethesda. E and L were so nice to share their home with strangers. On Sunday Linda went off with E. while Carla and I went to the Washington Mall. We spent hours in the Holocaust Museum traveling through time from the 1930s up to the end of WWII. I liken it to the 9/11 memorial in NYC where I became overwhelmed early on and thought “how can it get worse?” but then you move to the next exhibit and of course it gets much, much worse. The most poignant exhibit was a huge display of shoes which were taken from the murdered Jews in the death camps. Those shoes stand in mute witness to the terror of the Nazis and their enablers.
I just can’t comprehend how people can do this to other people; but we have seen it happen again and again. My take away was this can happen when a leader of a country tells big lies over and over again and intimidates his enemies and the press. Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbles is “credited” with saying
“Make the lie big, keep it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it”
And
“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle.”
And the bigger the pulpit, the easier it is to hammer home the lies. Eventually, the leader becomes the State. And once people equate the two, allegiance belongs to the leader and horrible, horrible, indescribably things can happen.
We left shaken and wandered the National Mall for a while. The sun was shining just right on the National Capitol. I really lucked out on the lighting; this is my favorite picture of the trip so far.
The United States Capitol
The Washington Monument towers above everything within a couple of miles.
Washington Monument
We boarded the Metro to go back to E and L’s house. The stop we used in Bethesda is deep underground.
Long ride to daylight exiting the Metro near Bethesda, MD
Slavery: America’s Original Sin.
Sunday Linda joined Carla and me as we went back to the National Mall. We started at the African American museum. The building itself is striking – a large dark brown structure which stands out against all the white buildings on the Mall. There are two parts to the museum: a history that spreads over three floors and then a series of cultural displays. We only visited the historical exhibits. The exhibit starts with the beginning of slavery in America on the 3rd floor basement; as you work your way up back to the light at ground level you pass through the Civil War, Reconstruction and the Civil Rights movement. One of the first quotes from the lowest level (I should have gotten the exact wording) was from a letter a man was writing. He said that while at first it’s hard to get your head around the immorality of slavery, there is SO much money in it. The big lie that blacks are less than human was told over and over again and it became part of the culture. As the day before I was struck anew by man’s Ability to rationalize inhumanity.
We came to Washington DC with my mom and the kids in the mid 90’s so there are many new monuments we hadn’t seen yet. First on our list was the WWII monument. It is done in – what I consider – a classical style. It is so big it is hard to do it justice in one picture. My dad was an infantryman in that war and my mom was a woman Marine. My dad never talked about it and died years before the monument was built but I know he would have appreciated it.
The Vietnam War wall is just so beautiful and powerful. We saw it back 20+ years ago and I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture of it with all those names of the American casualties. Nearby is a newer powerful – monument of three American soldiers.
Part of the Vietnam War Memorial on the National Mall. Washington, DC
Later we came upon the Korean War memorial; it took my breath away. We entered from the back and came upon a statue of an American infantryman who is looking back and has his hand out as if to say “Stop”. Then you look ahead and see a squad of men clad in ponchos working their way through a field. The expressions on their faces was watchfulness tinged with fatigue.
Korean War Memorial on the National Mall
Of course we walked up the stairs of the grand Lincoln Memorial.
The Lincoln Memorial
The view of the Washington Monument at the opposite end of the reflecting pool is beautiful.
Washington Monument across the Reflecting Pool
It was getting late in the day as we made our way to the Martin Luther King memorial; like the Korean War memorial it was not here in the 1990’s – at least we didn’t see it. I love his image emerging from this huge block of stone – it is an image of power. Like the statue, Reverend King’s work is not finished today.
Martin Luther King Memorial
We finished our monument tour by visiting the FDR display along the Tidal Basin. It’s an interesting counterpoint to the Lincoln and Washington monumentsin that the statues are more life size. And we see more than the president.
First is a line of men looking for work during the Great Depression.
Men looking for work during the Great Depression
I loved the image of a man listening to one of FDR’s fireside chats.
Finally at the back of the site is the President.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt monument
So much of what we saw in Washington DC was about America’s – and the world’s – difficult times; but I suppose we don’t really build monuments to the happy times. With all that is going on in our country today I hope we can rally against the big lie and keep focused on the truth. Martin Luther King told us “the arc of moral history is long but it bends toward justice.” I hope that is true but it won’t happen without some effort.
Note on the post: I apologize for the formatting; somehow most of it picked up the font and type size for the picture captions. A good craftsman doesn’t complain about his tools; but I must say the process of using LightRoom to edit the photos and save them in a way for WordPress to be able to pick them up is a challenge. Maybe I’ll get better as the trip goes on.
We’ve had a very wet beginning of September here in Portland. Last Thursday when it was just overcast we wanted to go out for a walk somewhere other than our neighborhood where I walk at least 4 days a week and Carla walks all 7. But then we didn’t want to go too far in case the rain moved in while we drove. Tualatin Hills Nature Reserve on Millikan Way in Beaverton is the perfect spot for needs.
Of course I took my camera! Our first stop was the meadow/marsh at the end of the first trail. The leaves are just starting to turn.
I tried a few close ups of some leaves. By this time in my life I should know what Poison Oak looks like. There are signs along the trail to look out for it and I thought this might be a sample until I noticed the thorns when processing the image. And I don’t think the leaves are serrated quite like this. Probably wild blackberry; but if I’m wrong, please let me know in the comments.
Next I found a leaf that is getting a head start on fall with it’s change to red.
In advertising, nature shows, and books leaves are usually pristine. But this is how they look in real life along a trail. They wilt around the edges and little bugs – I’m guessing – make a meal of parts.
The views from the trails are beautiful, but the area is heavily wooded and shady making it hard to get dramatic pictures. But the sun poked through a couple of times and I worked on getting some of the contrast I saw. I try to pay close attention to my f/stop, aperture, and ISO in my photos, but I don’t usually do much with metering, leaving it as “Multi” which take a look at the middle of the subject. I wasn’t happy with the results of those shots the contrast was lost. Luckily I assigned a function button to allow me to change where to meter the light. My best results were when I chose “Center” or “Spot” where it would meter from the I was focused on. I really enjoy when I experiment with camera settings to get closer to the picture I want.
There is also a “Highlight” metering option that I just saw as I was refering to my camera to write this post. I need to play with that.
We took another trail which was darker but the sun was just peaking through some of the upper branches. I played with my f/stop to see if I could grab an image of the sun rays. This was shot at f/18.
I think the number of “rays” is determined by the number of leaves on the aperture apparatus.
After our hike we stopped by a nice little coffee shop Carla knows about – coffee shops are not in short supply in Portland so we have plenty of options. I had to have a cinnamon roll if for no other reason to troll my buddy Jay who loves cinnamon rolls with a passion. We usually text each other a picture of our pastry with “Hah! I’m eating a cinnamon roll and you aren’t”
A note about the pictutres and this post. All the nature pictures were taken with my Sony A7R3 and Sony 24-105 lens. This is my go-to combination for most of my pictures. The cinnamon roll was taken with my iPhone.
I did 95% of the post-processing on my iPad. It’s a long, laborious process. The iPad “sandboxes” apps so if one app crashes it won’t corrupt the other apps. Good reasoning but it sure makes it harder to share things from one app to another.
Import the pictures from the SD card into Appe Photos.
Create an album in LightRoom Mobile
Import pictures from Photos to LightRoom
Delete the pictures from Photos – I don’t want duplicates
Edit the photos in LightRoom Mobile – which is not as robust as LightRoom Classic CC on the Mac.
Export the photos back out of LightRoom to Photos so I can easily access them from my blogging app. It turns out I might be able to export to my Google Drive in step 5 and load into the blogging app from there – but using Photos is a bit easier during the writing.
Write the blog post, importing pictures along the way
Delete the photos – AGAIN – from Photos.
I used the WordPress iPad app to write this post. On LightRoom Classic CC I have an export preset made up especially for blog pictures so they fit well in the theme I use. I can’t figure out how to do that in LightRoom Mobile. As a result, I’m not sure how the pictures will look when they are published. Finally, I can’t figure out how to load a banner image as I usually do on my posts. Scratch that – I found a way!
But in the long run it’s a better solution than hauling my heavy MacBook Pro around on long trips. And a brand new iPad OS is on the way at the end of this month that may solve some of the interface problems. We shall see.
I went from the pure escapism of Son of Tarzan to one of the grittiest, intense novels I’ve ever read, in City of Thieves by David Benioff. The protagonist, Lev, is a teenage watchman in his apartment building in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) during the German siege in the winter of 1941-1942. Benioff paints a devastating portrait of the cold and deprivation under the siege.
“At night the wind blew so loud and long it startled you when it stopped; the shutter hinges of the burned out cafe on the corner would quit creaking for a few ominous seconds, as if a predator neared and the smaller animals hushed in terror.” [p 7]
There were no wooden shutters in the hinges since they had long since been used as firewood. By the time of the story everything was gone from the city.
“We spent our spare time hunting rats, who must have thought the disappearance of the city’s cats was the answer to all their ancient prayers, until they realized there was nothing left to eat in the garbage.” [p 10]
And then one night he and his friends spotted a German aviator parachuting into the city. At first, they thought the impending attack had begun. But actually it was just a lone pilot who had ejected during a bombing run. The friends rushed down to investigate and grabbed some of the dead man’s belongings including a knife and a flask of Cognac, his wallet, watch, and a knife – which Lev kept. Having these items was a state crime – stealing from the people. The group and the corpse were soon discovered by Russian soldiers on patrol; all got away except Lev whom the soldiers decided “was a good one for the Colonel.” [p 16] . He was thrown in a dark prison cell and was sure he’d be executed in the morning.
Lev was terrified
“…contrary to popular belief, the experience of terror does not make you braver. Perhaps, though, it is easier to hide your fear when you’re afraid all the time.” [p 18]
At some point he is joined in the dark cell by a Russian army deserter Kolya. In the morning the two were brought before the colonel in charge of defending the city. He did not have them executed, but he did take their ration cards and gave them a chance – return in a few days time with a dozen eggs for the colonel’s daughter’s wedding. Without ration cards, they’d die of starvation so they had to do something.
Kolya is a good counterbalance to the taciturn Lev.
“Kolya’s blue eyes, neither fear nor anger nor excitement about the prospect of a fight—nothing. This, I came to learn, was his gift: danger made him calm.” [p 50]
This attribute would come in handy over the next few days. The rest of the novel follows this mismatched pair on their scavenger hunt. The things they see and hear about are horrifying. The deprivation and degradation of the “Piter” residents, the countryside, and the Germans is appalling. After a day and night in the city they decide they have to go out to the countryside behind enemy lines to find the eggs. This novel is compelling and is a book I almost couldn’t put down. But I’d have to put it down for a few hours just to process what I had read.
“The days had become a confusion of catastrophes; what seemed impossible in the afternoon was blunt fact by the evening. German corpses fell from the sky; … [summary of events edited so as to not spoil the plot]…I had no food in my belly, no fat on my bones, and no energy to reflect on this parade of atrocities. I just kept moving, hoping to find another half slice of bread for myself and a dozen eggs for the colonel’s daughter.” [p 212”]
Benioff bases much of his work on “Harrison Salisbury’s masterpiece, The 900 Days [which] remains the best English-language book on the siege of Leningrad.” [p 259] He was also the head writer of the Game of Thrones TV adaptation (which I never watched or read) and wrote the screenplay of The Kite Runner. Perhaps that experience and approach is why this novel is so fast paced.
For a misogynistic, racist, and scientifically inaccurate novel, this is a fun read. Lord Greystoke (Tarzan) is living back in London with his wife and teenage son, Jack. They keep Jack in the dark about his father’s identify but the Tarzan spirit is strong in this one. Tarzan’s friend Akut the Killer Ape ends up in London – you’ll have to read it to find out how – and Jack contrives to return Akut to Africa. One thing leads to another and yadda, yadda, yadda, Jack turns into Korak the Killer in Africa.
Run-ins with whites and blacks turns Korak into a loner; until one day he rescues Meriem from an Arab sheik and they start an innocent life together along with Akut. But poor Meriem, she is captured by bad men so many times it’s hard to keep count. In the midst of her travails she is rescued – temporarily – by the Great White Hunter she knows only as Bwana and his wife “My Dear”.
Although it ends up being too much of “Perils of Pauline” (a 1914 movie serial) for Meriem, it can be a fun read and an interesting look into early 20th century adventure stories. I especially liked some of the narrative descriptions of action. At one point Jack is fighting with a man and his helped out by Akut.
“[Condon’s] eyes bulged in horror at the realization of the truth which that glance revealed.” [Loc 471]
Moments later…
“His head whirled in the sudden blackness which rims eternity.” [Loc 475]
But my favorite florid description is when Korak is forced to defend himself against an indiginous group.
“Weighted down as he was by dogs and warriors he still managed to struggle to his feet. To right and left he swung crushing blows to the faces of his human antagonists…
A knob stick aimed at him by an ebon Hercules he caught and wrested from his antagonist, and then the blacks experienced to the full the possibilities for punishment that lay within those smooth flowing muscles beneath the velvet brown skin of the strange, white giant.” [Loc 1646]
Does Meriem get freed from her various tormentors? Does Korak the Killer ever reunite with his family? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out.
The Kindle edition is available free on Amazon thanks to the Gutenberg Project; so all it will cost is a day or two of your time. For pure escapism this is fun page turner, just be prepared to bring a willing suspension of disbelief. [Coleridge]
Lincoln, Teddy, and Mickey were college friends who worked together cooking and cleaning for a women’s sorority house in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Their paths diverged on the military draft night of December 1969.
“Earlier, while serving the girls’ dinner, they’d been in the same boat, but now their birthdays made individuals of them, people with singular destinies, and one by one they drifted away, back to their dorm rooms and apartments, where they would call their parents and girlfriends and discuss the fact that their lives had just changed, some for the better, others for the worse, their grades and SATs and popularity suddenly beside the point.” [Loc 113]
“Lincoln and Teddy, both luckier on a night when that – not smart, not rich – was what you wanted desperately to be” [Loc 126]
All three were in love with Jacy- a young rich woman who lived in the sorority. Over 50 years later the three men gather back to Lincoln’s family vacation home on the east coast. The main topic of discussion is what happened to Jacy. No one seems to know and the speculation is widespread. There is a touch of murder mystery in the story.
After describing the events on draft night, Russo masterfully drops back into the men’s childhoods and we see the formation of three distinct characters. Russo is one of my favorite novelists and his skills are on display in this story. The characters are richly drawn and distinct. He carries much of the action forward through dialog instead of droning on in narrative. In other words, Russo shows his characters through dialog and action rather than merely describing.
At one point during the weekend the stresses of being with old friends are evident to Teddy:
“It came to him that the whole weekend had been a mistake, a misguided attempt to preserve something already lost. Clearly the friendship that had served them all so well had played itself out. Whey the graduated from Minerva, they’d somehow, without meaning to , graduated from one another.” [Loc 2274]
But they keep working through that tension to come to a resolution. Most of the story is told from Lincoln and Teddy’s points of view. After a few turns, including a battle with a neighbor, we learn what happened to Jacy. As the title implies and as we watch the characters past and present, we understand the influence that chance has on one’s life. Our parents play enormous roles in our lives – whether by action or inaction.
Perhaps this novel speaks to me so profoundly because I remember the draft numbers being pulled for my age group. Five of us were together; three received very high numbers, Dave and I were not so lucky, getting 13, and 25. Spoiler alert: I wasn’t drafted and the Vietnam War was over by the time my student deferment was over.
Richard Russo is just fantastic at examining the nuances of lives and relationships. His characters are so real. If you are familiar with Russo’s work, you may have already made an appointment with yourself to pick it up. If you are not, this is a great place to start. I started my blog reading reports too late to discuss the Russo’s earlier work, but you can find my reports on Richard Russo’s later works here on my blog. Mohawk and Empire Falls are his masterpieces, while Nobody’s Fool and Everybody’s Fool are probably his most popular; the former was made into a movie staring Paul Newman
About ten years ago our youngest son moved to Chicago to get his Master’s degree at DePaul University. He met his future wife there and they settled down. We visited probably once per year. And then our grandchildren were born. From then we visited two or three times a year and in every season. In summers we often drove taking many routes: Interstate 80 through Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa; the Mt Rushmore route through Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana. Heck one time we even took Route 66: Portland to Santa Monica, California, then through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.
Carla and I often shared our dream of the family moving to Oregon to be near family, but let it go because they were building a nice life for themselves in the Midwest. And then! This past spring they told us they were looking for jobs back here in Oregon! After a lot of work our son received two job offers and is now a middle school math teacher in the Beaverton School District.
Naturally we jumped at the opportunity to help them move. They put their house up for sale and wouldn’t have a place to live until it sells, so we spent two months cleaning and clearing our house to share with them for a couple of months. On August 7 we flew back to help pack and then drive home.
Chicago is a great city with lots to do in the city and the surrounding villages. But it was a stone drag to have to travel so far to see the kids and grandkids for just a week or so at a time. Nevertheless, the silver lining to that black cloud is the railroad activity. The BNSF Transcon is just a 15 minute walk away from their old house and I spent hours getting pictures of trains almost every visit. I knew this week would be busy so the first evening I headed trackside for one of my last visits.
Short CSX consist of autoracks rolling through Riverside, ILOutbound BNSF Metra on a summer evening. Riverside, IL
The good news: In a wonderful coincidence our oldest son was in Chicago for a conference. He finished up at noon on Thursday, August 8. The bad news: he had to be at work on the following Monday. After stopping at our youngest son’s house for a glass of water and a change of clothes, he and Carla hopped in one of the cars and headed. The first night they made it almost through Iowa. Friday they had a long 14+ hour drive through Nebraska and most of Wyoming – three miles from the Utah border. Saturday brought a shorter-but-still-long drive through Utah, Idaho, to Pendleton, OR. Sunday was a quick drive home.
Meanwhile my job back in North Riverside was to entertain the grandkids so my son and DIL could pack. Being in Chicago, we had to grab some Chicago style dogs so we headed to the local Portillo’s to scratch the itch.
In line to order hot dogs at Portillo’s.
The inside lighting is mostly red which is terrible for photography. But I was able to adjust some picture of the kids enjoying their hot dogs and French fries.
Hot dog with some ketchup for the dippinYum!
I’m already missing Portillo’s.
While we were out on our adventure movers came to pack everything in a PODS container for shipment to Oregon. The two on the left brought things down while the man on the right packed it all in. He must be dynamite at the game of Tetris.
Packing the PODS container.
Most everything was packed so we ate the rest of our meals out. One stop we had to make for the kids was Junction Diner. It’s an old school diner with an O-gauge railroad running around the circular counter. When your food is ready, it is placed on the train flat cars and delivered to your seats! (I planned to insert a video of the train but after 3 minutes of exhaustive research I couldn’t figure out how – so here’s a picture of the 3 year old. I have a similar picture of the older one at the same place a couple of years ago but I can’t find it!) He loves trains as much as I do.
The POD was packed and the house cleaned out and up so Monday it was time to head out. My son took his wife and kids to the airport for an early flight to Portland where Carla would pick them up. The PODS people picked up the container but seemed to have lost track of what they were doing with it – they were planning to put into local storage in Chicago. I started the drive home while my son talked for an hour and a half with various people at PODS. It took more work than I would have thought to fix things up.
We wouldn’t need to rush home quite as fast as Carla and my older son, but four nights was still pushing it. I figured we might bet lucky to visit a few train sites long the way. First up was the Rochelle, Illinois railroad park. This is a spot a couple of hours west of Chicago where the Union Pacific and BNSF lines cross. The city put up a web cam and a little covered picnic area. I visited here back in 2015. We met a small family that was touring the Midwest for 10 days stopping at railroad sites.
Union Pacific and BNSF crossing diamond in Rochelle, IL
The folks who were there said there wasn’t much activity and the traffic monitoring system showed it was unlikely we’d have much action for at least an hour. It was preparing to storm so we hopped in the car and headed west toward our stop in Iowa City. We were still driving in the dark when a thunderstorm surrounded us. While the lightning wasn’t terrible there was more than enough rain. We agreed we wouldn’t drive that late the rest of the way.
Our destination for the next night was North Platte, Nebraska.
Nebraska farm land.
News flash: there is a lot of corn in the midwest. I was talking with a friend who grew up in Fort Dodge, Iowa (I’m looking at you Jan!) who told me the cool, wet spring meant soy beans couldn’t be planted. Instead of a mix of crops, we saw more corn that we normally see.
Nebraska corn
I was impressed by the size of weather fronts. We drove for hours under this weather system. Excuse the poor photo quality, but I love that big arc in the front.
Weather front in Nebraska
It turns out we should have gone a little farther but those clouds reminded us of our prior day’s experience. Fortunately, North Platte is a nice spot for a railfan to stop. We stopped here in 2010 and 2016. There is an eight story Golden Spike tower just next to Bailey Yard – which is an enormous classification yard for the Union Pacific.
Union Pacific Bailey Yard seen from the Golden Spike Tower in North Platte, NE
You also get a different view of the cornfields up there.
Cornfields next to the Golden Spike Tower in North Platte, NE
We didn’t want greasy travel food for dinner so tried a little restaurant in North Platte that serves “Eccentric Food”. We had hummus and falafel. I guess calling it Middle Eastern food wouldn’t be a help in the center of the midwest. The hummus was okay; the nan was very nice but the falafel and fresh vegetables were on the lower side of so-so.
We were up and ready to go early the next morning. Our destination was Evanston, Wyoming, which is 3 miles from the western border. We took a short detour into Green River, Wyoming to check out the rail yard. Carla and I stopped here back in June 2016. There is a long pedestrian bridge over the half dozen or more tracks. I saw a train on the far side so had to get over my fear of heights to get over to the other side.
Proof that I was up on the bridge.
Your correspondent on the pedestrian bridge over the railyard in Green River, Wyoming
One of the trains we had been playing leap frog with was temporarily stopped but before long it moved west.
Westbound container train in Green River, WyomingWestbound container train in Green River, Wyoming
This was our last train viewing stop of the trip. We were tired after our 576 mile trip into Evanston so fell asleep a little early. The next day – Thursday – would be our longest drive – almost 600 miles – to Pendleton, Oregon. That would leave us a short drive home so my son could see his family before bedtime.
We stopped for lunch at Hanson’s Cafe in Glenn’s Ferry. It’s a fun little place we try to stop at whenever we go by. You can see some interesting pictures of the interior in this post from 2015.
Hanson’s Cafe. Glenn’s Ferry, Idaho
We passed through Boise at 80 MPH. I had harbored thoughts of stopping to visit friends but the extra miles we had to travel dashed those hopes: family before friends.
We were up Friday morning anxious to get home. But the family was at the Oregon Coast when we arrived. They were delighted to see Papa.
The trip was over 2,100 miles. Google Maps says it is a 32 hour trip but it’s really more like 42 hours. Google is okay for local trips but for long distance it assumes you are going exactly the speed limit the entire time, with no stops or slowdowns.
The road home
We’ve enjoyed our trips by plane, train and car to Chicago but I think we are done.
I worked to get back to a normal schedule so went out to breakfast Tuesday of the next week with my buddies. We normally go to Fat City in Multnohmah Village. The chrome of the counter seats reflects the floor – and you can see me if you look closely.
Fat City Cafe – Multnohmah Village; Portland, Oregon
Last spring I bought a Mak 2 Star pellet grill; it worked very well for me so I sold my Weber kettle charcoal grill and my Weber gas grill figuring the Mak could do it all: low ‘n slow as well as high temp searing and grilling. The new grill is high tech in that it has an electronic controller to maintain temperatures and even automatically change running temperature based on time or temperature reported from a meat probe.
With technology comes problems. On my first low ‘n slow cook of some baby back ribs the temperature ran away and charred my ribs. Some other folks with the latest software also had problems. One of the reasons I bought a Mak was their customer service. I had a weekly call with the the technology manager to report what I found in my additional testing. Mak sent out an update just before we made a quick trip to Chicago in early August – more on that adventure soon. I did a dry run and things looked good. But I knew I wouldn’t be happy – nor would the folks at Mak – until we did some real cooking. I finally got that chance yesterday. I put on two racks of baby backs and ran the same program. It worked great! I’m still learning the grill so I should have started earlier – but that’s not the grills fault.
Early Saturday morning, I stripped the membrane off the bone side of the ribs and sprinkled both sides with some kosher salt for a dry brine.
When finished I had my Assistant Pit Master show off our work.
Assistant Pit Master showing off our work.
We removed the ribs from the refrigerator and fired up the grill. After a bit we applied the rub and put the racks of ribs on an upper rack of the grill.
Racks of ribs on the smoker rack
While the ribs cooked my helper and I watched My Los Angeles Dodgers squeak by the American League team from New York.
As the ribs cooked I taught the primary tenets of barbecue to my assistants. What are the 3 elements of delicious barbecue? Meat, smoke, and time. And “If you’re lookin’ you ain’t cookin”. My program plan was
Apply smoke for 30 minutes
Cook at 240° for 2 1/2 hours
Foil with some apple juice for 30 minutes
Remove from foil and cook until firm – about 30 more minutes
As it reached time to foil the ribs weren’t pulling back from the bone as much as I’d like so I continued cooking without foil. Then later foiled for 30 minutes and sauced/firmed/grilled the last 20 minutes. The weren’t fall off the bone which the family likes but they came off with a gentle tug.
Baby back ribs fresh off the grill
I flipped them bone side up and cut into 1 rib pieces
Ribs ready to eat
I liked the smoke ring.
Smoke ring on baby back ribs
Dinner was served. We also had salad and bread but I was in a hurry to taste them.
Dinner is served
The grill update performed fantastically and I was happy with the results. I will give them a little more time to cook next time.
