It was all over the news: The state highway department planned to close two big segments of the interstate system around Minneapolis and St. Paul over the weekend--and we were driving out on Saturday morning.
No getting around it. We could have taken the interstate east into Wisconsin, but we had one more stop to make on the north side of the metro area: the grave of my aunt and uncle. David wanted to see where my aunt Irene, who died in January, was buried. That meant I needed more patience to deal with the detour and traffic congestion and a long, long line of cars bunched up for the off-ramp where the detour started.
It was a slow go, but I had studied the maps and found a way to get where we had to go. The roads were right where the maps said they were, and pretty soon we were looking at my aunt's house--still standing. I thought it would be history by now. Here is how it looked in January ...
From there, it was back on the highway north to U.S. 8 and then east into Wisconsin. About two hours later, we were at my father-in-law's place.
Don't know if I have been updating you on him. He's back home. The doctors at a major medical center had been talking about open heart surgery, but they decided he's just not strong enough for it. So they sent him home and told him to enjoy life and take care of his affairs. He could have weeks. He could have years. Who knows?
He was walking around--a lot slower than ever before, but he had his big smile. We visited him and one of her sisters for about two hours, and I took his picture with my wife and son ...
Then, we got in the car and headed back east. We got home about 8:30 p.m. that night, and our cats let us know how mistreated they were about our absence. So they wanted to come along then?
Anyway, it was a nice vacation. It went better than I had anticipated. And, after Day 1, I had not made a wrong turn.
Since we got home ...
My FIL is still home, but he's breathing from an oxygen tank now. The doctors did tests and didn't like the level of O2 in his blood.
My aunt's estate is still somewhat up in the air. A cousin from the Twin Cities called the other day to give me an update. Evidently there is a fuss over who should get which antiques. Not that there are a lot of antiques or that they have a lot of value. But a couple items are being contested as to whether they are from my uncle's side of the family or my aunt's side.
One item is my grandfather's old chair, which I had seen and sat in many times. My cousin asked me to look through old family pictures from my grandparents' house that may show the chair. If the chair is pictured, it would prove it's from my uncle's side of the family, not my aunt's. (Both my aunt and uncle would be aghast if they knew about all the fuss over the old chair in their living room.)
Anyway, like I told her, I've been doing my best to deal with all the stuff at my mom's place, and the pictures are just part of it. Going through them right away is a fairly low priority to me. But I'll take them home and look through them when I can.
****
Yesterday, on the Fourth of July, I got parade photo duty for the paper. That's OK. They are giving me time off during the week to work on the house, so I don't mind some extra duty during the special events when everybody else is busy or says they are.
After the parade my wife and I were feeling a little warm, so we got a cool drink and went for a drive. The usual road, south into Wisconsin. But this time instead of turning east on Highway 70, we went west--a section we don't see that often.
It was a different part of road, but Highway 70 came through with critters anyway. This time, we spotted another snapping turtle.
But this one wasn't on the shoulder. He was right in the other lane. I stopped and turned around and got out the camera as he neared the yellow line ...
Then he stopped and rested in the middle of the westbound lane, looking for all the world like a creature from Jurassic Park. You bet Jurassic Park ...
I went in front for a face shot. What lovely claws you have ...
I have too healthy respect for those jaws to even think about picking it up. But then I heard a car coming. What to do? I stood in the roadway behind the snapper and waved my arm, sending the car around both of us. Not all drivers are sympathetic to snapping turtles, you know.
After that, I went back to the car, and the turtle put it back in gear. He got to the shoulder of the road ...
He didn't stay there for long. He turned into the weeds and made a wide path as he made his way away from the road and the camera ...
Eventually we got back home, David met us there, and we watched movies during the afternoon.
That night, we went up to the high school parking lot, next to the little airport, where the fireworks show was held. We were right where we wanted to be: at ground zero, watching the fireworks rocketing up nearly overhead and booming over the area ...
An explosive, exciting way to wrap up a rare midweek holiday ...
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