Genie gave me a short lecture in January. She said just because we’re of the older age, we don’t have to be so far behind on technology.
So, for my 75th birthday in January, she gave me a GPS. (I plug it into my car cigarette lighter and a lady named Sam tells me directions to get to any place I tell her — unbelievable.) Genie also gave me a camera where you can look at the picture you just took, and then go to your computer and print out the picture. Another unbelievable!
As we were hearing all this talk about Spring Break, we thought it sounded like a good idea to try a journey with our new GPS and camera during the week of March 18. (Spring Break, right?)
We left after church on Sunday to head south on I-35 to visit relatives in Harrison, Arkansas. (600 miles away.) We drove to Bethany, Missouri and checked into the Comfort Inn with a young lady named Beth.
Beth recommended the Country Kitchen as a good, clean, reasonable place to eat — so we did. The potato soup was excellent.
While we were eating, two “good ol’ boy” looking characters were shown to a booth. We heard them telling the waitress they left their home early that morning. Apparently, there was snow on the ground and ice on the lake.
I was curious and asked where that was. They were from Grand Marais, MN and were headed to Mountain Home, AR for the World Series of Fly Fish Tying competition, as they were both fly tying professionals.
The next morning, I put our luggage back in the car and I noticed this fellow dumping his cigarette butts on the parking lot. I managed to get a picture of this, plus the license plate of the Dodge truck with my new camera.
We checked out and much to our surprise, the maintenance man checked us of the motel. I told him what I had taken a picture of and he showed us the man dumping the cigarette butts. He also told us maintenance is in charge of security and he checks the video camera tapes every morning. Because you must have a valid credit card to stay there, the credit card will be getting a picture plus a ten-dollar charge per butt added to the credit card. Wow!
On our return trip staying at the Comfort Inn, Stacy checked us in and the same maintenance man checked us out. No need for the video camera.
We arrived Monday evening and checked into the Quality Inn to stay for four nights. We visited with relatives Frank and Sandy Meng of the aristocratic Norwegian Meng family. They took us to a concert featuring pianist Dino at the Harrison Baptist Church. He used his baby grand as his pulpit in giving his two-hour service.
During intermission, Dino asked for a show of hands of those more than 500 miles from home. Genie and I (being good Lutherans) were sitting in the back row and raised our hands. Dino asked where we were from and when we answered Albert Lea, MN, he asked if anyone else knew where it was. A man replied, “I do, I graduated from high school there in 1953.” (Roger Slater was his name.) A lady said, “I do, my mom lives in Austin, MN.” (Donna Croney was her name and Maggie Schrafel is her mom.) Small world, isn’t it?
On our way home, we visited with Marv and Leona Wagner in Lees Summit, MO — formerly of Rochester, MN where we lived. We noticed an interesting thing along the freeway in MO. All the deer are very lazy as all of them we saw were laying down.
Thanks to Frank and Sandy plus the employees at the Quality Inn for showing us that great southern hospitality. Dixie fed us too good at the breakfast buffet. Mark, the maintenance man, showed us a lady from Oklahoma on video camera filling her big purse from a housekeeping cart just prior to check out. She will be receiving a picture of herself plus a charge on her credit card. The evening desk personnel even made popcorn for the motel guests.
Truly, a good spring break!
— — —
Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. This is the Hanson’s 37th summer at Beaver Lake. They leave the lake in mid-October to go south — to Albert Lea — and return in April. Bob says if you enjoy his article, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of Wisdom: There is always room for God.