Goodbye, Cape Girardeau

August 30, Update 3:

We left Missouri a day early so we can break the long drive into two easier days.

Last night was exciting.  While I was cleaning one of the kitchen walls some water must have dripped into one of the electrical outlets because after a while there was a very bright flash and pop and the kitchen breaker tripped.  Then when I tried to reset the breaker it popped again, this time tripping the main breaker for our apartment.  No power for the rest of the evening since the property manager was an hour out of town and he was needed to access the building's utility room.  Luckily, our friend was able to set us up in his family's motel for the night, so at least we had some furniture comforts.

This morning the property manager got the power back on but the wet outlet from last night sent several more sparks into the kitchen sink.

After loading up the car and checking the mail one last time, we drove across the Mississippi River and waved goodbye to Cape. 

Historic Cape downtown and flood wall as seen from the river.

As we made our way through Illinois we saw a sign advertising a Giant Superman Statue in the (nonfictional) town of Metropolis, but we mistakenly thought we had to go inside a museum to see it.  But we did find an acceptable substitute nearby:

Bunsen did fairly well in the car.  She was very quiet and sleepy, and appeared content in the backseat even though she was surrounded by piles of boxes.

At the moment we're in Knoxville for the night and still deciding whether to drive through Shenandoah on our way to Maryland.


August 27, Update 2:

The movers came today, packed up our belongings, and loaded it onto their truck in just under three hours.  It was impressively efficient, though 80% of our stuff was already packed into the tote bins we've been dragging around since college.

Though now our place has a very lonely echo.  Not that we're at all sad.  The only disadvantage is that while we will now be able to get all the cleaning done over the weekend fairly easily, the living arrangements are a little more Spartan:

Bunsen has been downgraded from a chalet to a budget junior suite

Living room

Bedroom

The only task now is to figure out how we're going to spend the next three days.

August 16, Update 1:

Tonight I became curious as to what it would look like if I put all of our significant road trips onto one map.  I added up all the mileage and so far the map represents just under 12,000 miles of road.  Twelve.  Thousand.  That's not including my first and third visits to New Orleans, my job interview road trip (still debating whether to add that here), the Canadian vacation, and a number of shorter trips.  Being in the middle of the country sure provided a lot of opportunities for travel.  Once we're on the east coast the epic road trips will probably be restricted to I-95, but there's still 1,900 miles to be had on that road :)

View Roads We Have Travelled in a larger map

August 18, 2010

We are moving.  Soon.

This week we were approved for the place that we applied to, so we're all set to move into our new apartment in Maryland (just outside DC) on September 1st 10th.  Our current lease ends on August 31st, so we'll be a little homeless for ten days.  We'll make it work.

Since I'll be in the middle of training for my new job through at least the end of the year and we'll be trying to save a bit of money, we haven't made any travel plans for the near future.  This doesn't mean that we won't make short weekend trips along the east coast here and there.

In the mean time, I will be making additions to this post as we prepare to leave.

Road Trip: Daytrip to the Mall and Homeward Bound

Saturday was our fist day in Washington, DC.  The hotel shuttle took us to the College Park metro station and we rode into town, stepping into the city at the foot of the National Archives building on Pennsylvania Avenue.  We began our introductory walk by turning west at the Mall and proceeded to the Washington Monument.  Hans was excited about being in the middle of our nation's capital but I was positively tickled.  I asked Hans if we could swing by the White House today, because, why the hell not?

We discovered that the Washington Monument sits on a raised green, from where you can look all the way from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.  To the northwest you could see the White House peeking through the trees.  I tried not to let my excitement run away with me.

We walked to the Lincoln Memorial, stopping for a few breaks in the muggy heat, and pausing to look around the new(ish) WWII Memorial.  By now there were considerable crowds crawling around the park.  At the Lincoln Memorial there were a few corners from where one could contemplate in relative solitude.  Hans got goosebumps from reading the Gettysburg Address, carved into the marble walls.

Moving on, we took in the Vietnam Memorial.  This was a very moving experience for both of us.  I remember seeing a short documentary on PBS as a kid about the artist who designed the memorial and how she went about choosing the materials to be used for its construction.  The concept of carving the name of every single American that died in the war into gleaming black granite seemed to me, even then, very special.

The mobile version has appeared in Anchorage a few times but obviously it is nothing compared to the original.  The curious thing about the Vietnam Memorial is that it is so unbelievably magnetic.  The reflective property is subtle and conspicuous all at once.  Time after time I watched people suddenly step out of the stream of passers-by and reach out, as if trying to touch a ghost, gain some kind of new understanding, or simply communicate some kind of empathy, only to be separated by a mirrored veil.

At one point some men assissted a veteran as he climbed a small step ladder in order to make a rubbing of his friend's name.  Even in the open air the park seemed to become unusually quiet as the other visitors solemnly looked on.

I became a little choked up as I followed Hans back to the path and we both sat on a bench to catch our breath.  Hans pointed out that both our fathers could have been drafted into the war.

Since we were near the Ellipse we stepped over the the familiar iron fence I see on the news often and we gazed across the leafy green lawn at the White House.  Yay!

An excellent lunch was had at the Old Ebbit Grill, even if I nearly decimated our table by sitting on the tablecloth as I got into my seat.

We wandered the streets a little more, stopping to have a look at Ford's Theatre and the house across the street where Lincoln died after been shot by John Wilkes Booth.

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, while impressive, was a little crowded for our taste.  Not discouraged (since we are moving here next month), we sat outside in the park for a while before meeting up with some friends at the Air and Space Museum.

Soon Hans had a grin on his face as he excitedly pointed out what all the airplanes and spacecraft were and I was impressed by his knowledge of the exhibits.  Apparently he's been wanting to visit this museum since childhood.  Notables were:  The Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module, a test-version of the lunar lander, a V2 rocket, Howard Hughes' H1, and X1, and the Wright Flier.

After the museum we were failry tired by still enthusiastic about our first day in DC.

Sunday was a very long day in the car but we made it back to Cape just fine.  Now we have a few weeks before the movers arrive to pack up all our belongings.

Road Trip: Backtrack

Okay.  It's been a long couple of days but now I finally have a moment to recap the week:

Sunday:  The Weiland Family reunion picnic was the event of the day.  In nearby La Crescent we arrived at the park and it was already starting to be a hot and muggy day.  Earlier, after helping with making the salad we were to bring, Hans and his sister worked on the pinata.  I don't know why we called it a donkey all morning because eventually someone pointed out that it was in fact an elephant.  It took a long time to figure out that the poor mache creature did not have a candy-stuffing orifice and so one was improvised with a kitchen knife.  Elephant lobotomy.

Checking the pinata for polyps

The picnic began slowly until enough introductions had been made to generally piece together which of Hans' great aunts or uncles the many cousins belonged to.  Great-Aunt Rita had brought a clown costume and lederhosen for Hans' sister to wear (still not sure why except for general silliness).  It was a very hot day, so sis-in-law picked out the lighter clown costume and I donned the lederhosen so she didn't feel singled-out.  We wore these costumes as we tried to collect the confused and slightly scared young cousins (mostly under the age of five).  It probably didn't help that I was wearing Euro men's clothing and holding a long oak stick.

Anyway, the pinata proved to be exceptionally durable and so after many thwacks delivered by the tiny children Great-Uncle John delivered several fantastic blows that sent the legs spinning in all directions and finally finished it off with a croquet mallet.

Do these lederhosen make my butt look big?

Hans' mom had brought a wonderful lemon poppy-seed cake to share and also announce her 30-year wedding anniversary to Hans' dad's cousins, one of whom declared "I would marry him just so I could divorce him!".  There's a long history of torment among the Weiland cousins.  Did I mention that apparently the 30th-anniversary tradition is to exchange rings?  Nose rings, that is.

Reprieve or renew?

As the picnic came to a lull another cousin told a funny story about a biology class she took in college where she had to castrate a hamster.  Apparently the little critter woke up in the middle of the operation and had to be re-gassed unconscious and later it fell off the operating table.  This summer she's been teaching forestry to boy scouts and apparently when they step out of line she warns them that she is now practiced in the art of neutering.

Monday I wasn't feeling very well but in the afternoon Hans' dad took us all out on the Mississippi to go boating.  The outboard motors were running poorly, so we only went a short ways upstream.  That didn't stop us from having a good time swimming in the river even if I don't like water grasses.

The thrill of boating

In the evening we had a wonderful meal in town and later us kiddos surprised Hans' parents with a present packaged in a large shell that I made from wire and tissue paper during the previous evenings (the 30-year anniversary traditional gift is pearls).

On Tuesday after a prolonged goodbye Hans and I set off for Maryland in order to do some apartment-hunting.  We stopped outside of Indianapolis (where we did not stick around for Gen Con).  Hans was my hero for doing most of the driving since I was still feeling awful.

Wednesday was a very long day of driving, though not without interesting sights.  We were very amused by an unfortunate billboard for "Tom Raper's RVs".  The town of Wheeling, Ohio was very pretty.  Sadly, many of the trees we saw were burned by the summer heat and very brown.  Traffic on the DC beltway was a little intense but we made it to our hotel just fine.  All I can say is that we are especially thankful for our GPS.

Thursday was spent entirely on looking at apartments and condos.  We think we've picked one that will work for us but now we're waiting for our application to be approved.  

Tomorrow we're going to play tourists and visit the Mall for the first time!

Road Trip: Trempealeau to Indianapolis

We're just outside of Indianapolis after a day of driving.  That's all I care to type at the moment.

Will add more later.

Later: August 4, 2010

We are now near DC, in College Park for the next four nights.  I promise that there will be a more detailed update soon, with pictures, but we are just completely exhausted after driving 1100 miles over the last couple of days.  Apartment hunting will begin tomorrow and we'll take it from there.  

Wish us luck. 

Road Trip: River Roads

Yesterday Hans and I spent the day in Pine Island, Minnesota, catching up with my sister and her kids.  It had been four years since we'd last seen her (since our wedding!) so there were plenty of stories to exchange.  We had lunch/dinner at a local cafe with excellent food (and creme brule) and followed that with attending my nephew's baseball game, which his team won after the final and very dramatic and exciting innings.

Prior to Pine Island Hans and I spent an hour wandering around Winona State campus.  My dad has informed me that my great grandmother's family came to Winona County in the late 1850's from Germany and many of the old Markwardts are still there.  Next time I'm in the area I certainly want to go to the cemeteries and look for some of my ancestors.

We came back to Trempealeau fairly late but I managed to work on the Super-Secret Project while I finished the previous night's bottle of wine.

This afternoon Hans' mom prepared fresh rolls with herbs and vegetables from the garden while Hans and I dug some potatoes for dinner tonight and picked the few ears of corn that were ready-ish.  Watermelons not quite ready yet.

We (Hans' mom and sister, Hans, and I) piled into the car and drove north along the Mississippi, first to Lake Pepin (the river is wide enough to be called a "lake") for a picnic lunch, then up to Stockholm (WI) for a little shopping.

A nice day to visit the lake in one's Porche

The yacht club's marina on the Mississippi...

Our first stop was the nearby Maiden Rock Winery and Cidery.  There was a large selection to sample from, so I stuck to their apple ciders and wines, a few of the meads, and the port.  Hans and I purchased the carbonated hard apple cider and the black mead (fermented with currants and berries for a very hearty and smooth finish).  The mead is definitely going to be stored for a meaty winter meal this year.  The cider will be shared or consumed during the rest of this trip.

We never did find the trebuchet...

Back in Stockholm there were plenty of touristy shops to entertain.  I tried to be good and passed up opportunities for fresh pie or cherry burgundy rum ice cream.  After we split up I found an excellent antique store with wonderful vintage clothing.   They had a black sequined cocktail dress circa 1970's and a baby blue party dress circa 1960's and both were my size!  Fantasies of dressing like Betty Draper floated through my head but I settled on a cameo pin for $10.  I've always wanted one, so I felt like I had scored the deal of the day.  

On the drive back we were all sleepy, but not so much that we could pass up a fried cheese curd stand.

Hans' dad had returned from a fishing trip up in Alaska by the time we got back to the house.  Steak dinner and frivolity over wine.  Super-Secret Project nearly done.