Typical Day on the Road

May 2007

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May 1

Dennis and Zephyr are in their second week of Kimberlylessness - she's still in Reno visiting her parents and taking care of her Grandma who is in hospice care. Meanwhile, we began the day by working on our first podcast without her.

Then, we continued driving toward Detroit. But it went much more slowly than we expected. Interstate 94 was under construction throughout Indiana, and traffic was backed up sometimes to a total standstill. First we took a detour on surface roads at the Indiana Welcome Center, which we visited briefly. It included a John Dillinger Museum, of all things, which might have been quite interesting to see, but it was closed. Drove through the heart of Gary, which seemed liked the unlikeliest of places to have inspired a Broadway song, and past "riverboats" which were actually on the lake. Tried getting back on the freeway, but came to a dead stop, so we did an unauthorized U-turn (like a number of other vehicles) and decided to take minor highways on into Kalamazoo, where we arrived much later than expected. (Midnight eastern time, instead of, say, 7:30.)

Along the way, we passed a car wash big enough to accommodate our vehicle, so took advantage of it, since we've had trouble locating such a critter lately.

May 2

Spent most of the day in Kalamazoo, of which we have fond memories because of a great school we've performed at a couple of times, and some very hospitable teachers. Then we drove further toward Detroit.

May 3

After taking a detour through the picturesque town of Marshall, we headed on to Dearborn, where we arrived in late afternoon. Zephyr checked in at HauntCon, which he is attending this weekend at the Dearborn Hyatt. (HauntCon is the annual convention and trade show for the haunted attraction industry, of which Zephyr is a fanatic.) We discovered a Moe's, our favorite burrito franchise; we didn't know there were any locations this far north, as we normally encounter them only in the Southeast. Also nearby, in the town of Allen Park, is the World's Largest Tire, located right beside the freeway.

May 4

The first day of HauntCon, and it consumed Zephyr's attention all day - and all evening, until about midnight. But we had the RV parked in the lot of the Hyatt, so he could come out to take a break and grab a bite to eat whenever he needed to. Hey, nobody said a word about it, considering that there were several hearses parked in the lot, belonging to people involved in the haunted attraction business. (One hearse had a skeleton seated in the rear seat, looking out the window!) In the evening there was a costume ball, with goblins and ghouls and demons running around all over the hotel lobby, doing their best to frighten the other guests.

Meanwhile, Dennis took a bicycle ride into downtown Detroit, through Corktown, which is the oldest neighborhood in the city (dating back to 1834 - and it looks that old) and past Tiger Stadium, the former baseball park that now has been replaced by one of those sleek new stadiums named after a major corporation, and where he saw the Tigers play the New York Yankees 35 years ago.

He'd hoped to be able to get his bike across the river into Windsor, Ontario, and do some riding there; but bikes were not allowed on the buses, so he just parked it and caught a bus over to do some walking around on foreign soil. This tunnel, by the way, is the only underwater tunnel across international boundaries in the world.

May 5

With Zephyr at HauntCon and Kimberly still in Reno, Dennis was able to focus on getting caught up on some writing. Zephyr did take a break long enough for us to go the YMCA in Southgate, one of our 2 or 3 favorite YMCAs. He then returned to the convention, and didn't get out until 2:00 a.m., as he decided to attend a midnight screening of what he called "the worst movie ever".

May 6

Despite his late hours last night, Zephyr again got an early start attending the convention, which wrapped up in the early afternoon. He then insisted on going to see "Spiderman 3"', which opened a couple of days ago, so we both went to it in the nearby theater. It was a bit of a disappointment after the first two films in the series.

We then started driving back toward Chicago, stopping in Ann Arbor to shop at Trader Joe's.

May 7

D and Z, having spent the night in Jackson, MI., did some online work at Panera before driving on to Kalamazoo, where they had a grand old time doing laundry. Then they continued making their way toward Chicago, stopping for the night in Benton Harbor, where they filled the RV's water tank (which has been thirsty far too long) at a Flying J.

May 8

Arrived in Chicago a couple of hours before Kimberly's flight touched down at Midway. Which gave us enough time to do some housecleaning and decorate the place with balloons to welcome her back to the grind, after an absence of 15 days--a record in the entire history of this family. Before heading out of town, we made one more stop at the office of our chiropractor friend Kim to say goodbye (and get our bones buffed up one more time). Spent the night in the outlying town of Fox Lake.

May 9

Finished driving to Madison, WI., where we did some computer work and stocked up at Trader Joe's, a relatively new store that opened up since our last visit here. Unfortunately, it's located in the thick of things, and parking is problematic for big vehicles.

May 10

On to Wisconsin Dells for the second annual rally of Familes on the Road (FOTR). Wiconsin Dells has a population of only 2418, (plus a few more adjacent communities of about the same size) but the tourists far outnumber the residents, especially during the summer. The town has possibly more attractions than any other town its size in the whole country.

We checked into the Bonanaza RV Park, which is gearing up for the busy season by repaving the parking lot and getting the swimming pool filled. In the camping space next to us was a family of 4 from Idaho also there for FOTR. In the evening we met with them and a family of 4 from Michigan for an evening of board games - which ended up being consumed by just one game, a fascinating and challenging movie trivia game.

May 11

This morning we biked down to one of the town's numerous miniature golf courses and played a game with the other attendees. Then back to camp for lunch, and then like bicycle yo-yos, we again biked down the hill for the most noteworthy activity in all of Wisconsin Dells - the unique Wizard Quest, which is rather hard to describe, except perhaps as a combination scavenger hunt and themed walk-through attraction. You have 90 minutes to solve puzzles and find clues so you can free 4 virtual wizards and score points. It's quite a test of one's powers of observation and sense of adventure, and offers something for every age (even jaded teens like ours who've already seen it all) with plenty of structures to climb and slide down to keep the little ones enthralled. This is our second time to partake of Wiazrd Quest, and we were just as entertained as the first time, and noticed things we'd overlooked before.

Tonight we were joined at the campground by an FOTR family from Pennsylvania, and we had potluck dinner. We contributed gyoza, the Japanese potstickers whose name is so similar to ours, and which were a big hit.

May 12

Dennis and Kimberly's 17th anniversary, and perhaps the most memorable one yet (well, except maybe for a couple of years ago when we had that daylong drive through Wyoming capped off with a 35-cent ice cream cone at a truck stop). We spent most of the day at Mt. olympus, the theme park across the street from our campground. In the morning, we did the indoor water park (Wisconsin Dells is billed as the Water Park Capital of America, but the outdoor parks are not open for the season yet), which included some fantastic slides and a challenging series of mushroom-like pads in one pool that you attempt to walk across without losing your balance - we both almost made it.

After drying off, warming up and adjourning for lunch, we returned to Olympus for some amusement park rides. First we did a couple of indoor attractions - Opa!, which is like the "mouse ride" at Disney's Animal Kingdom and a similar one at Hershey Park, but far more thrilling than both; and a big centrifugal force wheel with riders seated facing the outside. (Watch out for those braces - when they snap up into place they can really smack you in the kidneys.)

The outdoor thrill rides are mostly still closed, but the three wooden roller coasters were operating, and they were all excellent. In fact, the one called Hades is the most dazzling wooden coaster we've every experienced, and it includes a dark, disorienting underground tunnel that we zoomed through at what seemed like warp speed. Kimberly rode all three coasters without undue disomfort to her neck, which suffered a bit of whiplash on a Six Flags ride a few years ago.

Mt. Olympus also features a couple of outstanding Go-Kart races, including one that spirals down a wooden ramp going through and around a gigantic (actual size?) wooden Trojan Horse.

Back at the campground, we all sat around a campfire and chatted for a while after dinner. And shortly after the festivities ended, one of those glorious Midwestern thunderstorms moved in and raged for the rest of the night.

May 13

Mother's Day started out cold and rainy, and we were afraid we'd have to cancel the miniature gold game we'd planned, but things cleared up by noon, so we could go on with the game as scheduled (Kimberly won), even though the course had some added water traps.

May 14

Still at the campground in Wisconsin Dells, and our neighbor Tim insisted on providing the labor and expertise for the tune-up our RV needs. What a neighbor!

But first, the entire FOTR group had an all-you-can-eat brunch at the Paul Bunyan restaurant, which does an excellent job on themed decor as well as food.

Then we toured the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory, next to the Tommy Bartlett water stunt show site. Named after a local radio personality and all-around colorful character, the Exploratory is a science museum especially suitable for younger children. But one thing that all ages should appreciate is the Mir space station - the real thing, not the one that actually went up into space (and burned up, as expected, when it was brought back down upon completion of its mission) but nontheless one of three functioning editions built for the project. You can actually go aboard, and the way it's tilted, you feel rather disoriented, almost as if you actually were in space.

Tonight we were going to have another campfire, but nixed it when we heard on the radio that a hailstorm was on its way. But we were cheated out of that as well.

May 15

After recording this week's podcast with the assistance of our neighbors, the Krucks family, we said goodbye to them and Wisconsin Dells and started making our way toward Iowa.

We had to stop in Sparta, Wisconsin, because it bills itself as the bicycling capital of the nation. No, we didn't do any capital biking ourselves, because we stumbled upon the delightful Deke Slayton Memorial Space and Bike Museum. Yep, it's every bit as quirky and intriguing as its oddball name suggests. On the one hand, it pays tribute to local native Donald "Deke" Slayton, who was one of the original Mercury 7. At the same time, it depicts the evolution of bicycles, with exhibits of some antique, rare, charming and just plain goofy specimens--including a bike that has lawn mower blades in lieu of a front wheel, and another that has a front blade for biking on ice. Oh yes, and the vintage bicycle safety film from the Sixties ("One Got Fat") is worth the price of admission in itself. Imagine actually showing this hokey gem to school kids and traumatizing them about biking for years.

While we were in town, we also dropped in at a local bike shop that boasts a 7-seat tandem (not for sale, but displayed on the wall) and under Kimberly's urging, Dennis succumbed to the purchase of a pannier for his bike similar to hers, so now we'll match. (Well, okay, maybe we're still different in many respects, but this one thing matches at least). He brought his laptop in to make certain in would fit, since that's a very important purpose for having a saddlebag. It passed the test, so he purchased this gift for his upcoming birthday.

Then we continued driving west, stopping in Onolaska (next to La Crosse) to get some work done online. So Dennis started to get his computer and...started to get it, and... did the old palm-to-forehead bit with a resounding thud. Fortunately, when he called the bike shop, they said it was still there, and they'd be there too, even though it would be past closing time when he got there. So, after a 40-mile roundtrip, laptop and absent-minded owner were reunited. We were just glad that we decided to stop in Onolaska instead of Rochester, MN as we'd planned.

May 16

After spending virtually the entire day computerizing, we drove to Altoona, Iowa, site of our next gig, arriving rather late at night.

May 17

Went to the Altoona Library to get online, but had difficulty doing so. Then we used the parking lot to brush up our Shakespeare, as we're performing it tomorrow for the first time in some time.

Today we discovered a leak in our water heater, another maintenance problem to add to the list demanding our attention.

May 18

Dennis began his day with a "backstage" tour at Praire Meadows, the racetrack in Altoona. A horse racing enthusiast in a previous life, he was fascinated by the chance to see the stables, the jockeys' room, and other places the public normally doesn't have access to, under the guidance of an enthusiastic and knowledgeable lady trainer. He even met the son of jockey Tim Doocy, whom he used to watch ride in the Bay Area. Tim now rides here at Altoona, and the son (who appears too big ever to be a jockey himself) works behind the scenes.

Then we were off to our school for two afternoon performances of "Shakespeare Shazam". This was the first time we'd done this production for elementary students, and we were a bit apprehensive about it, but it went over capitally, even with the youngest grades. And our volunteer students did an excellent job in their roles.

We had some special guests in the audience for these performances: Devon Wood, her mother and aunt. Devon is a ten-year-old Iowan whom we met last year when we did a weeklong residency at her school. We were very impressed with her theatrical talent, so we invited her to participate in this week's podcast, featuring the story "The Snow Maiden". She of course did so, and splendidly, after we'd first spent some time taking care of business in an Internet cafe. Zephyr was delighted to be able to spend some time with one of his "little sisters".

May 19

In the Des Moines area, where we ferreted out a Panera and caught up on some business.

This evening, Dennis and Kimberly had a rare night out away from the kid, who was preoccupied with his usual weekend preoccupation of chatting on the phone. We went to a comedy club in West Des Moines, seeing three comedians who between them served up a respectable number of knee-slappers.

May 20

After loading up a week's supply of groceries at the Super Target (the best option we can find in these parts), we drove to the resort town of Panora, where we'll be spending our annual resort week (a luxury that we can afford only because someone else pays for it). Actually, the resort is three miles out of Panora, on Lake Panorama. The recreational activities available are golf, fishing, and more golf. No problem; we're not here for the recreation, just for a chance to live like "normal" people for a few days, which for us is vacation enough. Our digs for the week will be a spacious two-bedroom, two-bathroom flat with a complete kitchen fireplace, washer and dryer, and two (!) televisions.

May 21

No sooner had we settled into our digs than Kimberly spent a day on a bicycle outing. The temptation is understandable, since the nearby Raccoon River Valley bike trail goes on through some rather pleasant countryside for miles and miles. She rode 32 miles of it today herself. Dennis took only a 6-mile round trip, going into town to pick up mail.

May 22

We'd planned on riding our bikes into town to get online at the library, since the wi-fi accessibility from our unit is all but nonexistent. The stormy weather cancelled our plans for us, but we discovered that we can access the Internet readily from a nearby meeting room.

Today, we began recording stories for a new (and long overdue) album, beginning with our story "Dragon of Krakow".

May 23

Another stormy day. We recorded "Emperor's New Clothes", and worked on getting publicity out for the summer, among other things. Tonight there was a rather severe thunderstorm that caused the power to go out several times, once for at least an hour. But the place looked nice in candlelight.

May 24

Still rainy for much of the day, but we're nice and cozy inside our resort home.

May 25

The weather cleared up, but it was still cool enough to use our fireplace in the evening - probably the last time we'll be able to do such a thing until this winter.

May 26

Again, we spent the entire day, the last day, in our temporary home. We recorded "Following the Buzz" for our new album, and began the protracted process of loading things back out into our real home, the RV.

May 27

Finished loading out of the resort spread, and drove to the nearby town of Redfield (did it get its name from the crop of bricks "grown" here by two factories?) where we parked the RV and hit the bicycle trail. It was a very pleasant trail except for one segment that was underwater, and another that had a very rough spot--not a problem for anyone who exercise any caution at all, but we were informed that earlier in the day, one reckless rider had gone over it too fast and broken his clavicle.

In the town of Adel (a ride of 9 miles) Zephyr, who'd already been frustrated by two flat tires right at the beginning of the jaunt, decided he'd had enough for the day, and turned back. Mom and Dad continued on to Waukee, another 7 miles, and then turned around. At Adel they stopped for ice cream (take that, Zephyr) and took a detour to gawk at the courthouse that was modeled after a castle in France--except the courthouse is actually bigger!

The bike path (which, unlike other paths we've been on, requires a 2 dollar permit to use, and even has attendants along the way checking to make certain you've acquired one) follows the former route of railroad tracks, and there are still vestiges of the railroad's colorful history in this area now dominated by farmland. A marker at the location that was known as Kennedy Junction ("the town that almost was") recounts one former resident's experiences growing up and working on a farm by the railroad, and being in the field on a hot day when a train passed by and the conductor threw a piece of ice to each child to put in his or her drinking water.

May 28

Memorial Day. A good day to visit Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa. So that's just what we did. This complex of several acres recreates farms from the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries in very realistic detail, complete with guides in period costume. (Zephyr contributed his assistance to a horse grinding corn.) There's also a simulated village with a bank, a milliner's shop, a newspaper offce and other businesses faithfully detailed. We watched a Memorial Day procession down the center of this town, ending with a ceremony in the cemetery, complete with songs, prayers and speeches.

We then drove back into nearby Des Moines in hopes of getting online at Panera, but found that they'd all closed early for the holiday. So instead we gave in to Zephyr's urging and saw "Pirates of the Carribean; at World's End", which was a mess plot-wise, but interesting to watch. Not nearly as good as the first film in the series, but a bit of an improvement over the second.

We continued driving toward Missouri in the evening, and stopped at a rest stop to dump our RV tanks. We then continued driving, and about 20 miles down the road, a police car started pulling us over. Kimberly, who was at the wheel, had no idea why she was being stopped. But we soon figured it out by the time the policeman had walked up to the window. The police were stopping us because Zephyr had called them from the rest stop, where we'd left him behind. Talking to his friends, as he always does in the evening, he'd gotten out of the vehicle when we stopped, and we never realized he was missing. (Dennis thought all along that he was in the bathroom, as he sometimes makes phone calls in there.) The policeman said "You wouldn't believe how often this happens." But it was the first time it had happened to us in our 15 years on the road, and we intend to make it the last.

May 29

Arrived in the Kansas City area, and spent most of the day doing online work. This morning we noticed that the hubcaps were missing from both rear wheels. As it's unlikely that either one would have fallen of while we were driving,let alone both, we figure someone must have taken them--probably, odd as it seems, while we were parked at a rest stop last night.

May 30

Another morning surprise -- a gouge in the side of our trailer, all the way through the metal, in a position such that it couldn't have been caused by a bumper. How do they do that??

On to Branson, where we spent a most enjoyable evening at the Dutton Family Theatre. We were quite surprised, because we expected that, since Branson is especially noted for country music (of which we are not particularly fond) this would be the essence of the Dutton show. But it was quite a variety of musical styles, including classical (on which the Duttons actually cut their musical teeth) and Broadway. There were also some side-splitting comedy bits and astounding "stunt" playing of musical instruments. Oh yes, and their homemade fudge is certainly worth a plug as well.

May 31

Took a long walk around Branson, after deciding that the weather was too hot and the terrain too hilly and the traffic too murderous for biking. But we later wondered if we made the right decision, as walking itself turned out to be an exhausting endeavor.

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