Bridging the Gap from Winter to Texas Springtime Through Winterset, Iowa

It's been a "Quiet week in Lake Wobegon" because we weren't here. No blogging. We headed down the road to Texas and spent almost a week with my sister and brother in-law in Fredericksburg. We left frigid Minnesota and spent a week in Texas sunshine with + 70 degree temps. We were again greeted by frigid temps when we returned but had good travel weather coming and going. It didn't take long to miss Texas.

We made a few stops to see roadside distractions on the way south. In Winterset, Iowa, we saw the little white house that is John Wayne's birthplace. The area is also famous for the "bridges of Madison County". Eight old covered bridges are scattered countryside close to the town. A movie, "The Bridges of Madison County" with Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep was filmed in Winterset. The town itself is typical of small Iowa county seats with a distinctive courthouse in the town square circled by small businesses. It's a lovely little town that attracts tourists coming to see the old bridges set in a beautiful landscape of rolling hills.

The play/movie "The Music Man" is also set in Iowa. Marion is the local straight-laced librarian courted by the newcomer. In Winterset, Iowa, Marion Morrison is the local celebrity. That is John Wayne's real name. They did not paint "Home of Marion Morrison" on the water tower. His mother could never have guessed her baby boy would be the archtypical manly man, or she probably wouldn't have named him Marion. Recently, I have been sorting through old family photos from the early 1900's. It wasn't unusual to see the baby boy in the family dressed in a long dress. Maybe naming them Marion wasn't so strange in those times. Or did his dad think like the dad in the Johnny Cash song, "A Boy Named Sue" and know that name would teach him to be tough by having to duke it out to defend his honor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne

Belaton Blues Turn to Woohoos

Yesterday's email brought discouraging news from Andy. They needed to wait another two days for a part to fix the car. That would make almost six days spent in Lake Belaton, Hungary. That is not how three 21 yrs. old boys intended to spend their travel time.

I have learned at least this one thing from my pastor in the past years; you do not have to accept the bad report. My husband and I agreed in prayer that God could expedite this, and prayed it would be fixed sooner if that was His will.

I just opened an e-mail from the traveling son. It was sent around 10:00am Hungarian time. The title was "Woohoo" so I was expectant. The car was repaired and they were leaving in a whirlwind to finish the tour. They have 48 hours and still plan to go to Prague and Vienna. I am not sure they will have time to see the Lipizzaner Stallions in that time frame, but at least they were not cheated out of going to Wein (Vienna) and Prag (Prague or Praha).

Now I need to pray that they use good judgment and not drive too fast.

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/austria/01hofburg.htm

HUNGARY FOR MORE OF EUROPE

More of my vicarious travel through the youngest son. Andy wrote today that the tow truck came early and the mechanic looked at the car. (This is the fourth day they have been disabled at the camp ground.) Good news, it will only cost 80 euro to fix. Bad news; no part. They will have to wait until Friday to have it fixed. I imagine that will mean just drive back to Germany and skip Prague and Vienna which must be disappointing. The bright spot in all this is they were stranded in a scenic place. It could have been much worse. They moved into a vacation rental apartment today. Four days of camping and no shower preceded this. He will at least have an interesting story. He still sounded like he had a good attitude. No whining. This reminds me of my mom's take on bad news. She would say, "It could be worse. It could be cancer." Her mom had died at a young age of cancer years ago when there weren't good treatments to cure cancer and I think that was her ultimate bad news. My sister and I prayed she would never hear those words spoken by a Dr., and she didn't.

ps: -38 this am with a blood glucose of 80. Off for my walk around Long Lake with friend Judy.

HUNGARY ON A FULL STOMACH AND EMPTY GAS TANK

Word from son Andy is that they are "stuck in Hungary". Yesterday they drove from Budapest to the resort area by Lake Belaton. After finally finding a campground, they (I hope Kai car was driving and not Andy) backed over a stump and tore the fuel line. It is May day tomorrow (Tuesday) and mechanics are on a four day weekend. They will hopefully get it repaired on Wednesday. That gives them plenty of time to enjoy the beauty of the resort area. Downside is it is off-season and not much is going on. The are near the town of Siofok, Hungary.
Link: http://www.siofok.com/uj/index-en.php

His story of car trouble on vacation brings back memories of throwing a rod and having to replace an engine on a trip to Michigan. We were stranded on the freeway in the lower peninsula of Michigan. The tow truck took us to the nearest town which happened to be Gaylord, Michigan. Jon sat in the cab of the tow truck with the driver and Andy, myself and 24 yr. old son Dave sat in the truck on top of the tow truck. It was sort of a Beverly Hillbillies scene.
If you are going to be stuck, Gaylord was a good place. We checked into a motel. In the morning we moved to the Holiday Inn which has a Holidome with pool, hot tub and other amusements. This helped our eleven yr. old son cope. The manager let us use the hotel's station wagon.

We were driving a Ford Explorer with 37,000 miles on the odometer. The warranty on the engine was good for 36,000 miles. The damage report was $2800 to replace the engine--not on warranty. Repairs would take two weeks because they could not find a replacement engine in Michigan. I was puzzled. This is Michigan. They build Fords here. No engine? It got worse. Hertz did not have a rental vehicle available. We went to bed again for the night. Son Dave went out for a few, probably wondering what on earth he was thinking about vacationing with his parents.
We went to bed, but I could not sleep. I was two weeks post-op from a spinal decompression and had bronchitis. When the coughing spasms would start, I had to quickly brace myself against a wall to support my spine. Jon was snoring heavily. Dave was puking from the happy hour libations. Son Andy wrote a story about this for school in the fall. I still have the little book which his teacher had bound. Great memories of a stressful time.
I took a chair into the bathroom and read my Bible and prayed most of the night. By morning I had a peaceful heart and told my husband not to worry. Everything would be okay.
In the morning, Hertz had someone return a car which we rented. When we spoke to the dealer about blowing an engine on a low mileage expensive vehicle so close to the warranty, he talked to the District Manager. Ford agreed to install a rebuilt engine. No charge. None. We got in the rental and continued on the vacation. We lost two days but I gained a wonderful testimony to the God's provision.

Waldo is Still in Budapest Part 7

Early morning checking from son Andy who is traveling finds him still in Budapest. While he is impressed with Budapest he found Belgrade "more exciting". I am not sure those words are reassuring to a mother. They visited a War Museum in Belgrade and he found it unnerving to see artifacts from captured American Soldiers from the 1999 war! Usually when we see our soldiers mentioned in European war memorials there are many decades to soften the memories. We were very recently at war with the Serbs. Andy liked being the only tourists. People stared at them but were very friendly he states. There, as in many countries and some of our cities, they are crazy drivers. Wait until he sees China where I do not believe they enforce many traffic laws. If there is an accident, the involved parties hash it out at the scene and decide fault. They then pay cash to the claimant on the spot. I thought St. Cloud was going to seem dull to him for a while, but then I remembered the drivers in Stearns county!
Next stop: Lake Balaton, Hungarian resort area 60 miles from Budapest http://www.ohb.hu/city/balaton/index.en.html

Dober Dan (good day)

The MOM can relax, got word from the young traveler. He spent first night in Lake Bled, Slovenia. (picture of church on island in lake). They seem to be having fun and enjoying awesome scenary. Picture of the waterfalls is from Plitvice Natl Park in Croatia. The three boys spent one night in a private home. The people were elderly and spoke a little German so they could communicate. They also fed them some homemade bacon and a toast of Schnapps. This makes me want to be there. It is wonderful to talk to the locals and enjoy their gracious hospitality. We will love to see his pictures. Andy said they have camped two nights by the sea. Tonight they are in a youth hostel in Zagreb, Croatia. I hope there are no bunk beds stacked five high.

I googled the places they saw to get internet pictures.

The Other House on the Rock

Above: View of Fussen from Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavarian Alps
Two views of the castle below: from the path and from the Marionbrucke the "poster" picture.

No picture but visit site for Alex Jordan's House on the Rock, Madison, WI

Recommended if you find yourself in that part of the country: http://www.thehouseontherock.com/html/attraction.htm

Please fasten your seat belts and keep your seats in the upright position. We are visiting Bavaria and the best known tourist site in Germany, Neuschwanstein. This prototype of the Disney Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyworld still stands in the Alps at Fussen. In October '06 we joined international tourists trudging up the hill to tour the landmark.

We had visited Fussen in May '03 but due to throngs of tour busses only seen it from a distance. It is the newest of fairy tale fortresses you find in Germany. It is not in ruins because it is just over a century old having been built by "Mad" King Ludwig of Bavaria in the 19th C.

( Wiki-pedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_II_of_Bavaria)

There are three ways to reach the castle: 1. Hike up the steep hills. 2.Buy a ticket on a bus that takes you part way for a small price. 3. Pay 20 euro to take the horse and carriage that almost gets you to the gate. We chose the bus. From the staging area where busses drop tourists it is a steep walk to the bridge for the photo-op view of the edifice. At this point 20 euros does not seem like too much to have paid for the horse and buggy. It is a wonderful vantage point and we bucked up and decided to enjoy it. We still were not at the castle and became painfully aware of the trudge ahead of a couple of 60+ yr. old travelers. I was wishing I had prepared for these hikes by doing a little more leg work at home. As we climbed we were shamed meeting those health-conscious Europeans coming up the mountain carrying their walking sticks. I don't want to climb those mountains but maybe I could just buy the walking stick and have my picture taken that way. Do you think I would fool anyone who knew me? Maybe I could fool some of you who don't. I was the one taking a break everytime I saw a bench. This is when one of us uttered the line, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" to paraphrase Shakespeare.

There is an advantage to traveling off-season. The lines are shorter. We had tickets to tour the castle at an appointed time. This was an incentive to keep climbing up the hill and keep the breaks short. We were a few minutes early and visited with others waiting in the courtyard. One gent from the UK was wearing a tee shirt with those familiar golden arches and the logo "Mc S...t". Fill in the blanks yourself but I do not think he likes America's most visible export to Europe, Mc Donalds. He was too polite to discuss it with a couple of Americans.

The view from the castle is awesome. No wonder Ludwig hid out here. It had central heating, indoor plumbing, and electric lights along with all the amenities suitable for a king. This was a great improvement on it's medieval counterparts. I believe it took 17 years to build and the king only occupied it half a year. Swan motifs are everywhere. There are floors of the building that were never finished. It is imposing and it's location on the rock offered Ludwig some delay from the forces who eventually dragged him out and deposed him. They were upset with his politics or lack of and his spending a fortune on the fortress. I think he had the last laugh and a lasting legacy that draws millions of people and their money. Maybe if he had lived a little longer he could have built Frontierland, Adventureland and Space Mountain too.

It's Not Over 'til the Fat Lady Sings, Or Screams!

Le Bon Homme, Alsace region of France

The nice part about traveling independently with a car and no reservations is you can be impulsive. During our recent European adventure we had one morning when we drove an hour and a half and said let's stop here. We had not covered much ground but found a place we just wanted to enjoy.

We had driven the small roads through sheep farming country in the early morning. At 10:30 we approached the small hamlet of Le Bon Homme, France tucked in the valley between the mountains. (Jon still refers to this place as Le Boheme.) We stopped to look and decided on a coffee break. The hotel had the most charming "bar" where we were served coffee. The inn keeper spoke English. Behind the hotel was a winding, aqua blue water stream. We inquired about a "chambre" and were shown a lovely suite with a balcony overlooking the mountain stream. The price was right. That sold us on the idea of an early check in to enjoy the day relaxing.

At midday we drove to the ski area on the top of the mountain. Continuing on we stopped at St. Marie Aux Mines for lunch. There may be tourists here in the ski season but today everyone spoke only French. We both ate the special at a local bistro, Quicke Lorraine. Jon ate it and liked it. I am not sure he has ever eaten anything he thought was quiche because he calls it sissy food. Later, we spent time walking the town of Le Bon Homme and sitting on the balcony listening to the babbling brook.

That evening we had a wonderful French meal complete with two wines and dessert in the formal dining room. Jon's had a choice between escargot and jambon & oefs for his second course. He knew he didn't want snails, but eating a sunny side basted egg and ham for second course was a little strange.

We tucked in early. Jon fell asleep in minutes. I had a supply of books to read until I felt sleepy. The evening air was cool and we kept the balcony doors slightly open. At 12:30 I finally turned out the lights attempting to sleep. After tossing and turning I begin to wonder when someone was going to turn off that "babbling brook" which now sounded like a torrential river. My imagination was also kicking into gear. Our Hotel was one of a chain of European hotels called Loges de France. Their motto printed on the soap, stationery and shampoo is "Tradition and Terrior". Now I understand the tradition part but at that late hour sleeping with the balcony doors open waiting for the "terrior" to start was not inducive to sleep.

Here we are in "Le Boheme" and maybe it is not over until the fat lady screams.

Hey Wiseguy!

We recently accomplished one of my goals--seeing the Cathedral of Cologne. This was our first full day of travel in Germany. We had stayed overnight in Rosbath, a small town on the outskirts of Cologne, or Koln in the local language. It was not hard to find the Cathedral , or Dom as they call it. It dominates the skyline and draws you to it. Parking was easy. There is underground parking beneath the church. This is a newer addition. A thousand years ago they did not need it.

An English guided tour took us close to the altar where the relics of the bones of the Three Magi are encased in gold. The Magi are the biblical Three Kings who came to worship the infant Jesus. History says St. Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, brought these from the Holy Land in the third century. They were in a church in Milan but taken by a conquering army to this Cathedral. Tradition tells us the names of the kings were Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. In Catholic homes in Bavaria on the Feast of Epiphany, the priest inscribes the date and initials of the kings over the doorpost of the faithful. We noticed this on a trip here three years ago. I think Europeans had more emphasis on the feast of the three kings than American Catholics.

My husband's great, great, grandfather lived in a nearby town. It was moving to think that generations ago his relatives probably walked through this church on pilgrimage.

Our next stop was Uedelhoven, the hometown of the family patriarch. A friendly villager there told us of the towns' history and said our last name was derived from one of the names of the three Magi. My husband Jon's eyes lit up. "Imagine", he said, "royal blood!" The next day he related this to another woman from the village who asked, "Wasn't he the black one?" I think the royal blood is in question and laughed at her response. Perhaps the name was derived from his name but our family are not descendents. When Jon told this story to our son, he related we were descended from one of the wise men. I think "wiseguys" is more appropriate. Hopefully there are no blood ties with the Three Stooges.

Why We Travel

We spent most of October in Europe driving 160K/uhr in a rented car. We trekked up steep hills to castles, savored fine food, wine and beer, gazed at incredible Alpine vistas and were impressed with the beautiful old world charm of the continent. My husband has eight video tapes and I took 340 digital pictures. These display some of the beauty we saw with our eyes but they do not show the most valuable impressions we captured in our hearts. Meeting people from another culture reveals that and it is the reason we travel. If we travel just for the sights we have not had the full experience.



I am descended from French-Canadians. France has gotten bad press in recent decades and I have believed the media. Travelling in France changed my mind. Don't get caught up in stereotypes. No one was rude to us in France, not even the waiters. Our language skills were limited to Bon Jour and Merci and that did not trigger rejection. We found the people to be warm and helpful. Lord have Merci ! I have been judgemental.

We spent one day touring the area around Verdun. It is the site of WW1 battlesites where Frenchmen fought valiantly defending their homeland from invasion of the Prussian Kaiser. Millions lost their lives holding the line over a year and a 1/2 standoff. Trench warfare, hand to hand combat with bayonets and poison mustard gas took their toll. The area was shelled so heavily with artillery @ a ton / sq.meter that the land is still pock-marked. These memorials to the fallen cover a large region. Towns were wiped out and not rebuilt. The land itself was contaminated from the poison gas. Nothing grew here until the 1960's.

In WW2 the country fell quickly into the hands of the Nazis. The Underground French Resistance also struggled with courage to defeat the enemy. They rescued downed allied pilots and sabotaged the enemy. They did this at risk of their own lives. Some ended up in the camps. Some were killed. Many were brave.

It is not hard to understand why this is a country weary from and wary of war. Many wars were fought on this soil, not just the two world wars. This is the area where Joan of Arc answered her call. Christiains fought religious wars with other Christians. I hope we can understand their reluctance to support our choices and they can remember their heritage to know when to fight and when to wage peace.


linkhttp://sienaitaly.blogspot.com/2006/10/verdun.html