What does 17.5" mean to you?

     In a word; Comfort!
     I noticed this at a hotel on the last trip I was on and noticed it again this morning in the hotel I was staying at. Here's the poop...er, scoop...
     Yesterday was the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti, MI.

      Afterwards, we all went to our hotel to relax. I got my own room and then this morning I noticed three things:
     1. The toilet opening seemed really small compared to what I'm used to at home
     2. The toilet height from the floor was exceedingly LOW.
     3. I slammed the lid down afterwards. Wow! That really made a loud noise! I'm used to a seat that closes gently by itself at home.

The Hotel Toilet

     Crap! I could barely stand up after sitting down on it. 
     As a result, I began to really appreciate the toilets I recently installed at home. Our toilet seat opening is much larger and the seat itself is much higher above the floor. It is 17.5" high in fact!

Nose Bleed Territory! 17.5 Inches Above the Floor!

     The Hotel toilet was a "round" Kohler water saver...

     and our home toilets are "elongated" Kohlerwater saver toilets.

Kohler Cimarron Elongated Toilet

     Believe me, if you aren't as spry as you were in your younger days, install a new Kohler Cimarron elongated toilet. You will appreciate three things:

1. It is 17.5" high and very easy to stand up from. It's called a Comfort Height toilet.
2. The elongateed opening makes "things" easier afterwards...suffice it to say that there is plenty of room
3. Both the toilet seat and lid close gently on their own. No slamming down of the seat!

     The final thing everyone wonders about is whether the 1.6 Gallon or less flushing toilets will really flush down all the crap. Let me tell you, this toilet has NEVER failed to flush everything down. You actually use only 1.28 Gallons per flush but if you hold the handle down, you use 1.6 Gallons.
     So if you are finding your current toilet to be a pain in the a$$, install a new toilet. I recommend you pick the Kohler Cimarron or similar toilet. You'll be glad you did.
     If you are interested in it, here is a link to it at Lowes.

     Enjoyed my blog? Subscribe to my blog to see future posts. I'm sure I will come up with another new topic to talk about soon.

Free Yourself! Go to the Secretary of State Office

     Yesterday I drove to my local Secretary of State (SOS) office to buy a new license plate. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

     When I walked in the door, I was greeted with a huge crowd of people all waiting or standing in line. What the heck? I thought. Are they giving away free money?

A Likeness of the Crowd Waiting

     In the first line I met a nice older man who had an Army cap on. I found out he drove Army trucks while serving in Vietnam. He told me a couple of good stories while we were waiting. After standing in line for a while and then getting to the counter, I told the lady what I wanted to do and she gave me a number and suggested I find a seat, quick!

My number was 110

     I looked at the number and I was number 110. No problem I thought. I'll be out of here in no time. The next number they called was number 60!!!! What????
     I proceeded to sit next to a younger guy and we struck up a nice conversation but it didn't last long. The stress of waiting was bad.

     After 15 minutes a guy yelled out "$35 to anyone willing to trade me with a number below 80!!!". Some foreigners in front of me started talking and then yelled to the guy "$200 and we'll trade!". No dice. The guy looked around some more and then yelled out $40!!!". He waited. No takers. He left.

     A tall beanpole looking guy in short shorts got in a line in front of me. I could see the back of his calves. There I saw one word on one calf and one word on the other calf. "Free Yourself". I thought to myself, "he's not going to free himself from this place..."

Apparently, it's a popular tattoo!

     The Indian guy next to me made a phone call to his insurance company. I heard it all...his account number, his coverage, his VIN, his type of vehicle...TAKE IT OUTSIDE!!!!
     After that call, he struck up a conversation with another young Indian to his left who was all smiles. I overheard that the younger Indian just graduated and now he was on his way to a free ride at Medical School at Boston University. He said Medical School and residency takes seven years. I thought to myself, "must be nice to be young and smart!" Nothing wrong with my hearing either.

Can you see him?

     "Number 80!" OMG, I'll never get out of here.
     Then a guy with long stringy hair sat down next to the future doctor and all I heard the rest of the time was an extra loud Chewbaka sound every time he got a text or an Email on his iPhone. I thought to myself "Put the darn thing on vibrate!!!!"

AAAAWWwwwwww!

     "Number 84!" OK, this is bad. Now I had been there way over an hour with no end in sight. About that time, a SOS woman wearing sandels came over with a clipboard and began lining people up. She yelled "Numbers 85 through 90. Line up in order and have your paperwork out and ready!"
     Once she did that, things started clicking and the employees began to work faster.
     Finally she got to 105 - 110. I got up and the guy from the Army got in front of me again so we started talking about Basic Training, AIT and my one son who is in the Army. I think he liked me and I thanked him for his service.
     Well I finally got my number called and at the counter to my left were three girls from Iraq with dark hair and large smiles. Two of them became US Citizens yesterday and they had their large certificate with their signed photo on it. A guy had to hide the certificate and ask them questions to verify they were the same person as the certificate. Apparently they passed and were awarded their special Michigan ID cards.

Congratulations! You Got Your Citizenship

      It took forever for my person to figure out what she had to do but finally everything clicked and I wrote my check. Out I walked with my new Spectacular Peninsula plate after waiting for almost two hours!!!

My Plate Looks Like This!

      After I got home, I put the plate on the car and it looks really nice.

     My advice to all of you? Get to the SOS office about 15 minutes before the doors open in the morning so you don't have to go through all the above grief. If, on the other hand, you are bored, wait until later afternoon to go there. You won't be bored for long!

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Nine

     On July 7, we drove all the way from Marinette, WI to Detroit, MI. Before leaving, we decided to eat once again at Schloegels. 

Potato Pancakes

      Driving was going great until we were about 1 mile from the Mackinac Bridge in the UP. Stop and Go! The traffic was backed up for a long ways. We finally made it to the lower peninsula and promptly exited to eat in Mackinac City.

Chef in a Melon

     We ate at the same restaurant that we ate breakfast in a week before. I ordered the Fish and Chips plate. Let me tell you, the fish was fresh and I got 3 huge pieces for under $10. At the salad bar, they had the carved melon shown above.
      After eating, we entered the freeway only to find stop and go driving all the way down to where I-75 and US-23 branches off just south of Flint. What a long drive that was. The good thing is that I averaged 62.8 MPG all the way! More on that in my next blog.



      By the time we got to Flint it was 8 PM so we decided to stop at the Westside Diner on Balenger Highway. They have a burger, malt and fries special so we ordered that. They make the best malts and you get the entire metal cup that they make it in. We ordered one malt and split it. The waitress really outdid herself! That is REAL whipped cream on top.

Our Burgers

     After we got back on the freeway and entered the split, most of the traffice went down US 23 so it was free sailing after that.  We arrived at home around 10:30 PM and we were dead tired.
     So as a recap, we left Detroit on June 30 and hit Mackinac City, Marinette, WI, the cemetery in Marinette, WI, Stillwater, MN, Worthington, MN, the cemetery near Adrian, MN, Sioux Falls, SD, Lamberton, MN, Mankato, MN and then back to Marinette, Mackinac City and Detroit on July 7. Along the way, we buried our Mom, saw many of our relatives, and Retraced Our Past Through Travel.



    

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Eight

     Today was a travel day. We are heading home now and will make the final drive tomorrow. Today we drove from Mankato, MN to Marinette, WI, a total of 403 miles. We set a new miles per gallon record in my sister's Prius. She hit 66 MPG on the last leg! Do you believe it! The Prius is one of the best designed cars I have seen in a long time. Why pay $32,000 for a Volt that has limited range when you can buy a Prius C for $21,000 and get over 50 mpg and go over 450 miles on a tank?

     At one point I saw a cute little outhouse by a house as we zipped by and made my sister turn around so I could photograph it. The pic's are on my other camera so I will add them later to this blog.
     After arriving in Marinette, we visited the graves of my father's family and the flowers we planted there last weekend are doing very well.

Where My Dad and his Family are Buried

Saying Hello to my Dad

      Next we went to Mickey Lu's BBQ and I ordered four (4) double hamburgers and a malt. The waitress couldn't believe it and said she had to watch me eat them. I did!

4 Double Hamburgers with a Malt

Cooking My Double Hamburgers

First One

Fourth Double!

     And this ends today's update. I hope all of you are happy and healthy as you read this...

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Six and Seven

     This is a recap of the last two days. We were so busy yesterday at our cousin's house, we were literally too tired to do anything but fall into our beds. Here's the recap...

Note: The videos will be fixed later. It's midnight!

     We left Sioux Falls, SD and headed to Worthington, MN to have breakfast with a cousin. He is a historian and is interested in anything having to do with our clan. He found out that I had the branding iron that branded all the beer kegs at my Great Grandfather's brewery up in Marine on St. Croix, MN. He asked us to bring it so he could make an impression of it. He wants to have another one made.

Creating the Impression

Brand in the Goop

     After that, we headed to our cousin's house near Springfield, MN for a very busy day. Here are some of the things that we did: Lunch with the family, went to the nursing home to see her mother and our Aunt, went to the top of a huge grain elevator (her husband Lenny maintains all the antennas), drove the fields looking at all the crops that he and his family farms (1600 acres!), pulled out one of his huge tractors and drove it using Auto Steer coupled with a GPS, went back home for an evening BBQ, jumped back in the truck to see Anita's dance studio that she runs, visited the graves of some of our relatives, inspected the water damage from a failed sump pump in their basement and finally ended the evening with a fireworks display at their home. Whew! Are you tired yet? Here are some of the pictures and movies I took.

Me Coming Down in the Service Elevator

Lenny Coming Down in the Service Elevator

Me at the Top of the Elevator

 Starting the 8230 John Deere

Backing the Tractor into the Barn

Giant John Deere that was built using the Gold Key program

 (Case Combine in the back)

    

Steering Wheel Down for Driving

Steering Wheel Up for Exiting the Cab

Some of the Controls

Anita's Dance Studio Art

     Today we drove to Mankato, MN and spent time with our relatives there. Here is a picture after dinner at The Damn Store located next to a Dam.

At The Dam Store sign

Dee, Romaine, Jodie, Monnie

     And so ends our visits with all the relatives we could drum up. Tomorrow we're heading back home so it's off to Marinette, WI and more Mickey-Lu's!

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Five

     Today we traveled to the furthest point of our journey; South Dakota. South Dakota is best known for the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, The Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Buffalo, Deadwood, Leed, sawdust on the floor bars and much more. Beginning tomorrow, we are starting our long trip back home.
     The day began with...FOOD! Eggs, sausages, biscuits and sausage gravy to name a few items.

Breakfast

     Next was our drive to Sioux Falls, SD. When I graduated from college in Ohio, I interviewed with a company to install and repair their computers. The manager I talked with told me they had an opening in Sioux Falls, SD. I told him my grandma's farm was 50 miles from there. He said "You're hired!" I guess they had trouble getting anyone to move there. I lived there almost three years and learned how to fly at the Joe Falls airport. Are there any falls in Sioux Falls? You bet and it's shown below.

Sioux Falls

Me in front of the falls

My Sister and I at the Falls

     Next we decided to take in a few museums. First on the agenda was the Old Courthouse Museum. Construction began on the first Minnehaha County Courthouse in 1889.   The building is a product of local architect Wallace L. Dow, who designed many local buildings including the South Dakota State Penitentiary, the All Saints School, and the Thomas B. McMartin home (now the Pettigrew Home and Museum).  The building is constructed of native Sioux Quartzite stone, a popular local building material of the late 19th century.  When completed in 1893, Dow claimed the structure would be the “largest courthouse between Chicago and Denver.”

      Interior courthouse features include slate stairs, granite pillars, stained glass windows, and tiled fireplaces.  Perhaps one of the most striking features of the building is the 16 large murals on the walls of the hallways painted between 1915 and 1917.  Painted by Norwegian immigrant Ole Running, the murals detail early life in Dakota, natural features, and images of his home in Norway.  Running was paid $500 for his work on the walls of the building. 

Old Courthouse

     Inside the museum was an interesting thing. There was a tornado long ago in the area and it lifted a steel bridge and pieces of the steel went flying. One ended up penetrating the tree shown below.

Steel From Bridge Flung Into A Tree

     Also there was a chair made of horns...strange!

     On the second floor was the courtroom. The room has been cleared out and you can now rent it for gatherings. The third floor consisted of the balcony with chairs where people could observe court proceedings.

Court Room Floor

   The ceiling was really cool too and it's shown below.

Court Room Ceiling

     Next was a visit to the Pettigrew Home and Museum. Senator Pettigrew served two terms in Washington and was best known for his protests involving the changing from the gold standard to a combined gold and silver standard.

Pettigrew Home and Museum

     Tomorrow we begin our journey home but along the way, we will be visiting with a cousin and her family and we will be enjoying good food, conversation, fireworks and more food.

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Four

     Today was the day that we scheduled to bury Mom. It turned out to be a very interesting day. We drove several hours from Stillwater, MN to southwestern Minnesota.
     On the way, just South of Minneapolis, there is an airport with a very nice display near the entrance to the airport. The Thunderbirds are doing a star burst pattern.

 Thunderbird Simulation

     We finally arrived at the cemetery and no one was there. We drove over to where the grave site was and it didn't look like there was any hole dug for the cremation container. Getting out of the car, we discovered that there was indeed a hole dug for the container but...on the WRONG side of the headstone! We were beside ourselves. Here is what we saw...

     You can imagine our amazement at this gaff! Well, we called the digging company and they said they would send someone right out. They had to drive 10 miles but arrived in about 6 minutes so they were burning rubber in their pickup truck.
     Out pops the owner of the digging company (85 years old) and the other worker (about 78 years old). He had a toothpick in his mouth and was able to talk to us while the toothpick moved from one side to the other. They both stood there and scratched their heads and said if we wanted the hole dug on the other side, they would do it. We said, OK, let's do it!
     The older guy (owner) began digging while the younger guy began to talk to us. Turns out he knew all the people that we used to visit when we were kids so it ended up a kind of entertaining experience.

Digging the New Hole

     After digging for a while, the older gentleman sat down ON TOP of our mother's head stone and kind of tapped the shovel in the hole like he was still digging. We thought he looked pretty tired and about ready to have a heart attack! Well, they finally got the new hole dug and the first hole filled back in. Then they told us they would leave for a while so we could have our service but to call them when we were done because they had to fill the hole while we were still there.
     We conducted our service and placed the container containing Mom's cremains into the hole.

     We called the diggers and within a few minutes, in drove the truck again. They carefully filled in the hole and then replaced the sod. Wait! The older one filled in the hole while the younger one told us a few interesting stories about other burials they had done.

     One story was about an old Civil War burial near our plots that they found by using some new fangled digging machine. They found the head stone buried about 3 feet below the surface. The younger guy took it home, cleaned it up and then they placed it on top of the grave (shown below).

Civil War Veteran

     The stone says

JAMES A. 

2nd Son of the late 

JOHN HANNA 

ORKNEY 

of Quebec Canada 

Died 

Aug. 12, 1906

     The second really interesting story then came out. He said "You see that circle over there with the mushrooms growing? Turns out Indians used to be in this area and they had their teepee in that spot. When it rained, the oil from the bear hides went into the ground in the shape of a circle and the soil became super fertile. It is so fertile that huge mushrooms now grow year after year."
     If you look at the picture below, you can actually see the dark green where the teepee had been many years ago along with the current mushroom crop. The stem of the mushrooms are at least one inch in diameter and you can see one upside down in the picture.

Historic Teepee Site

     That brings us to the end of Day Four. Mom is now in her final resting place and happy to be back near the farm where she was born. In fact, you can actually see the farm from the cemetery.

Mom's Final Resting Place

     Thank you all for the encouraging words you have said about Mom and her teaching.
     Stay tuned for Day Five...

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Three

     Today was a very long day of driving but we managed to see some sights along the way as well. The first stop of the day was at Schloegel's Bay View Restaurant in Menominee, MI. Why? They have the best potato pancakes. Only my Mother-in-Law makes better potato pancakes! Here's a picture of the perfect pancakes...

 

Potato Pancakes

     After breakfast it was off to Minnesota. We drove the back roads all the way and the roads were perfect, unlike the terrible roads around Detroit. As we were driving, we came across quite a few interesting outhouses. A few are shown below.

 

His and Hers Outhouse located near Mountain, WI

     Of course, I had to use the Outhouse and this one had a lot of not so nice writing on the walls. At the same location was an old cabin with a sign on the front "Mountain Log Home Museum". As I took a picture of it I noticed what looked like another old outhouse behind it. Sure enough, it was! Here it is...

Old Outhouse in Mountain, WI

  

 Inside the Old Outhouse

     Driving further West we saw this oddly named bar.

The Schoolhouse Bar - "It's Time for Recess"

    We started driving again and a short time later, we approached Pickerel, Mole Lake and Crandon. We passed an old schoolhouse and I thought I saw something almost completely hidden by large weeds. I turned around to investigate and it was a real find. Almost hidden by tall weeds was a very old outhouse with an unusual pointed roof. I looked around and way on the other side of the school yard was ANOTHER identical outhouse almost hidden by weeds. Back then, there would be an outhouse for the girls and one for the boys so that explains why there were two of them. Here's a picture of one of them.

 Schoolhouse Outhouse

     We began driving again. "Hey, that's a real nice graveyard...Oh, there's a Porta John and I have to go!". Another U-Turn and we stopped yet again. 

     About this time it was beginning to be a longer drive than we thought. I decided to only stop for an emergency. We made it to Stillwater, MN and then drove up to Marine on St. Croix, MN. My great great grandfather once owned the store in that small town so we went to see what was left. The store is still in business!

Marine General Store

     The store still has the original wooden floors and they creak as you walk on them. Next to the store is a museum. This town was really bustling in the day but as many lumber boom towns did, it almost went bust after the boom.

     Back in Stillwater, MN, we came across two of the old Zephyr locomotives that are being rebuilt. 

The Minnesota Zephyr

      My mom actually rode on the Zephyr train all the way to Washington D.C. a long time ago.

      Finally, to finish out the day, we stopped at Nacho Mama's restaurant and had way too much to eat. Here is what I had...a wet burrito filled with everything Mexican along with shredded chicken.

Nacho Mama's Wet Burrito

     Tomorrow is the big day when we bury our mom in SE Minnesota. It will be a very sad day for us. More to come...