We Put our Lives in Andrew’s Hands

July 11, 2011

Our first activity of the day is rock climbing on an immense indoor wall designed to look like a real cliff face.  We learn the skills for safe climbing and safe belaying (managing the rope connected to the climber’s safety harness), and all three of us climb and belay each other.  Granddad and I put our lives in Andrew’s hands while he belays our climbs, and we are proud of the great job he does in keeping us safe.  

On his second or third climb, Andrew somehow manages to get his elbow stuck in a crevice, and we all have some tense moments while he tries to maneuver himself and his arm to get his elbow released.  With a little help from one of the instructors, Andrew gets unstuck.  After a bit of recovery time, Andrew is back climbing the wall with boundless energy.  We are proud of (and relieved by) his resilience.

After lunch we learn about the Voyageurs, French Canadians who paddled big canoes around here transporting beaver pelts and supplies for the Northwest Company Brigade in 1793. We all get costumes and learn the names and histories of the characters we will play this afternoon.  Most of us are dirty swarthy uncouth uneducated guys, but Dick is Mr. Harman, our very smart well-paid brigade clerk and Andrew is George Bongo, the first Black Voyageur.  Andrew is happy to learn that he earns twice as much as me, because he can read and write and is a very strong paddler.  

We hike to our big canoe, struggle to paddle in synchrony across the lake, and enjoy an outing on the other side featuring games the Voyageurs would have played and opportunities to play with fire and knives—a big attraction for our team of five young boys.   The most popular activity is attempting to make a fire with flint and steel (both Andrew and Granddad succeed—most others do not).  They also try using a drawknife to make a tent stake. Then we have biscuits cooked over the campfire served with maple syrup as a snack, before paddling back across the lake.

After dinner, we go to star lab, where Andrew knows more about stars and constellations than anybody else there, with the possible exception of  the instructor. He points out several constellations and tells some stories about them to the group. As far as we are concerned, he was the hit of the presentation, but we may be biased.

After Star Lab, we attend a raptor presentation, where we meet Wolf Ridge’s great horned owl, peregrine falcon and red-tailed hawk, as well as a chicken.  The highlight of the evening is a demo of the strength of an eggshell. A whole parade of kids, including Andrew, pick up rocks, weigh them, and pile them carefully into a crate balanced on top of a normal chicken egg.  They put 47 pounds of rocks on top of that egg before it breaks!  Now we all understand why birds do not break their eggs when they sit on them (except when they were exposed to DDT, and the shells became so thin that just a few pounds of weight would break them). 

We are amazed at how much we learned while having so much fun today. 

Destination: Finland

July 10, 2011

We are up before 7 a.m. and on the road before 8.  Our destination is Finland, Minnesota, where we will be having great adventures at the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center for the next five days.  

We drive through a deluge, including one lightning flash with synchronous thunder that seems to hit right in front of the car. We are thankful that this was not the weather we had yesterday at the water park.  Speaking of yesterday, I seem to be the only one whose arm and shoulder muscles are sore this morning from clutching the steering wheel tensely during my go-kart drives (and also holding tight to the bar on the roller coaster, while Andrew was waving his hands in the air).

 

Fortunately the rain lets up mid-morning, and we have a mostly pleasant drive.  We are a bit confused when we get to Duluth, and the temperature is 81, despite the weather channel’s claim that it is 69.  Locals at camp later explain to us that the temperature varies widely throughout Duluth (sometimes by up to fifteen or twenty degrees), depending on how close you are to Lake Superior and which direction the wind is blowing.  Those same locals are sweating, fanning themselves and complaining about a temperature of 81 degrees (with no humidity), which we find quite pleasant.  They are promising us the weather will get better as the week goes on, meaning it will get what we call “chilly.” 

We have a crowd-pleasing spaghetti and garlic bread dinner, followed by “getting to know you” games and a camp fire (featuring us singing along while our counselor plays Havah Nagila and This Land is Your Land on her accordion). 

Our post-campfire game of dominoes with Andrew is disrupted somewhat after we finish our first round and find that we not only cannot find a double eight domino to begin the second round, but there is also no double seven in the camp’s domino set.  This puts the credibility of the entire set of dominoes in question, but does not hinder Andrew from beating the pants off us.

Wisconsin Dells: Water Park Capital of the World

July 9, 2011

The Wisconsin Dells is verifiably the Water Park Capital of the World—no less authority than the TV game show Jeopardy corroborates the claim.  When in Rome . . . we spend the day at Mount Olympus, a massive theme park with both water and amusement park attractions.  By day’s end, Andrew has ridden four roller coasters—Hades, consistently rated in the top five wooden roller coasters in the U.S, featuring a steep 140 foot drop, two very long underground tunnels, and speeds up to 70 m.p.h.; Zeus, reaching soaring heights; Pegasus--the only coaster wild enough for him and mild enough for me; and Cyclops. 

We expect the coasters to be his favorite attraction, but it turns out that Mount Olympus has other treats in store for him—and us. 

Mount Olympus offers Go Karts we drive on courses that look a lot like roller coasters.  One track climbs the heights of the Trojan Horse, passes through its belly, and spirals back down again.  Another course, Poseidon, twists and turns above ground, and sends us below ground in long dark tunnels.  On our last Trojan Horse ride of the day, Andrew flies past both of us in his Go-Kart, firmly hitting the back of our cars as he passes.  This is exactly how he drove his virtual car in the Arcade last night, so why are we surprised?

One of our favorite spots is Poseidon’s Rage, a huge wave pool that creates a six or seven foot tsunami every four minutes or so.  When we hang out in the deep water, the crest of the wave sweeps us (and a thousand other people) up and leaves us gently behind, but in the shallows where the wave breaks, it throws everyone about in a wild frothy melee.  There are thousands of people in the pool, and we can’t believe that no one is hurt or drowned while we are there being manhandled by Poseidon.

There are lots of different slides combined with tubes and mats, and we sample most of them.  A lot of the time, Dick and I alternate shifts on the rides or in the water with Andrew, and even so, he wears us out. We arrived at 9:20, shortly after the park opened, and we leave at 7:20, shortly after the water park closes (although the amusement park was still open—if he hadn’t been so hungry, Andrew might have been tempted to stay until it shut down, too).

Amazingly, Andrew shows no signs of sunburn, which I take full credit for, since I purchased, applied and reapplied the sun screen on both Andrew and myself, while Dick, who is the only one among us who has had skin cancer cells removed, just put a little sun screen on his face and head.

Discovering the Dells

Friday, July 8, 2011

We drive 325 miles today to get to the Wisconsin Dells, and find the Meadowbrook Resort, where we will stay for the next two nights.  The indoor water park turns out to be an elaborate kiddie pool, and they have our pre-paid package all mixed up, but we end up having tickets for more attraction options than we expected when granddad finally gets everything all straightened out (while Andrew and I get out of his hair by touring the grounds and getting in a few rounds of tetherball, and Andrew uses his own money for a car race arcade game).

When we all sit down together to try to decide which of the many choices in our package to do this afternoon, Andrew doesn’t really want to do anything.  He finally admits he has an upset stomach.  We puzzle over the cause, and are a bit worried until we find the large size box of Hot Tamales candy we bought him yesterday night is sitting empty in the back of the car, meaning he consumed roughly 120 hot tamales today.  Lesson to us:  supervision of candy consumption is necessary with an almost ten year old who has clearly inherited Dick’s sweet tooth gene.

We decide his stomach can handle a ride in an army surplus duck built in 1942.  Since we end up being the last to board, Dick and I sit in the very back of the duck, while Andrew rides up front with David, our very entertaining guide, who introduces Andrew as his co-pilot.  We ride through the woods where we get a preview of the zip line course we will do when we stop here on our way back to Indiana after our camp experience in Minnesota, then we plunge into a man-made lake, followed by a natural stream with tall sandstone bluffs and islands sculpted smooth by eons of flowing water.  We all agree that this ride is a great start to our time in the Dells, and Andrew’s stomach is fully recovered by the end of the ride (maybe even by the beginning of the ride).

Granddad finds the perfect spot for dinner---Buffalo Phil’s, an over the top Disney version of a wild west saloon where a model train delivers dinner in one dining room, and our upstairs table has great views of a stuffed buffalo and a mountain goat, and lots of heads of other western animals.  We can look down on the antler chandeliers lighting the floor below.

Conveniently located next door to the restaurant is Knucklehead’s, an amusement emporium where Andrew could spend hours if it wasn’t already getting very late.  There is a black light bowling alley, an inflatable play area, a huge arcade area, and, best of all, go-karts.  Andrew drives a go-kart for the first time and declares it “Definitely worth $7!”  There was a loud crash when he was on a portion of the track that was out of sight—we declare his emergence unscathed “Definitely priceless!”

By the time we get back to our room, we are pretty tired from our long day, although Andrew still has enough energy to propose a swim in the pool before bed.  Granddad nixes the idea, and Andrew retires to his very cool in-room bunkhouse, where he is asleep in no time.

Our Ten-Year_Old Adventure Begins

July 7, 2010

Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois

On our way to pick up Andrew in Newcastle, we stopped in Cincinnati for a quick lunch with daughter Megan.  We got there early, so had time for a stop just over the river in Covington, Kentucky, where we enjoyed spectacular views of the Cincinnati skyline and the Roebling Suspension Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was built in 1866.  John Roebling went on to design the similar, but longer Brooklyn Bridge, which was completed almost 20 years later.  

We could have spent another hour or so walking along the Covington flood wall, which is painted with at least 30 spectacular larger than life murals tracing the history and cultural heritage of the area.  Statues along the river walk call our attention to people of note connected to the river, such as John Roebling. 

After reading the plaque near a statue of Riverboat Captain Mary B. Greene, I vowed to find out more about this woman born in 1868 who steered her boat through a cyclone, survived a nitroglycerine explosion, gave birth to a son while her boat was in an ice gorge and who ran the Greeneline Steamer Company after her husband’s death in 1927.  As you will see, though, I haven’t had a spare moment to devote to learning more about the intrepid Captain Greene.  

We caught up with Megan at Cincinnati Museum Center, which is looking as Deco delightful as we remember it.  We had lunch at the Frisch’s nearby, another Cincinnati icon, and caught up on all the news.  Then we took Megan back to work and headed to New Castle, Indian to pick up Andrew.  

Here we are in Andrew’s driveway and the start of our big adventure.

And, here is Andrew a few hours later, in the pool at our hotel in Danville, Ill, just over the border in Illinois, enjoying the first of many water features he will sample over the next few days. 

A Plate of Fried Green Tomatoes, a Glass of Wine and Thou

Acres of Land Winery
July 6, 2011
We found the perfect spot to wind down after a long day of driving—Acres of Land Winery in Richmond, Kentucky.  Less than a ten minute drive from our highway exit motel, the winery restaurant sits atop a hill, and its vineyards cascade down the hillside.  

We relaxed on the side porch with a plate of fried green tomatoes and six tasting portions of different wines which arrived in glasses decorated with the winery’s logo.  It didn’t take long for Dick to notice that the logo on the wine glasses was the same landscape view we were enjoying from the porch.  Many photographic efforts combining the glass and the view then ensued, as Dick was more interested in the photo op than the wine. 

We weren’t tempted to buy bottles of anything we tasted, although one of the wines, made from concord grapes, was quite distinctive, accurately described by the manager as tasting like “Welch’s Grape Juice on steroids.” 

After dinner, Dick encouraged me to look at a tee shirt he thought was perfect for me—and when I saw it, I agreed wholeheartedly with his recommendation.  Here it is. (I was very glad that he did not choose that the one with multiple wine glasses that said “Wines constantly.”)

Happy Interdependence Day!

July 4, 2011 
Fifty riders showed up for our bike club’s 25 mile Independence Day ride, which was one of many group rides throughout Georgia this holiday weekend commemorating the signing of HB 101, known as the "Better Bicycling Bill."

In an ironic twist, the mob of riders--most of them not club members, I hasten to add--rode in a manner contrary to the “share the road” safety and etiquette principles codified by the very bill we were celebrating. Riders took the lane as a rolling mass on all but the busiest of roads, forcing drivers who followed HB 101’s “three foot passing rule” to travel in the opposing lane of traffic for extended distances. Traffic lights? Once the first rider made it through on a green, the rest of the group followed, ignoring light changes and trusting the cars with the green to patiently await our passage.

No one honked at us, proffered an indecent finger, or even revved their engine impatiently.

This is Savannah, after all, where friends who spot each other while driving stop and roll down their windows to chat, while cars pile up behind them on both sides of the road graciously waiting for their conversation to be completed. Drivers here are used to crawling behind horse-drawn carriages and slow-moving trolley tours on narrow city streets.

It was a holiday, and no one was in any particular hurry. They seemed to just enjoy the spectacle of an unexpected little Fourth of July parade (and we were quite a festive eyeful, in our colorful jerseys--many of them patriotic red white and blue—with Karen Dove Barr’s twin stars and stripes pinwheels spinning wildly on her handlebars).

We completed our ride accident-free, and a great time was had by all, so I guess I shouldn’t worry about it, but I just don’t think it was fair that all the car drivers were polite to us, but we weren’t so polite to them. It may have been Independence Day, but out on the road car drivers and bicycle riders are interdependent partners every day.

Here's to the Better Bicycling Bill--may it inspire us to improve our bicycling as much as we expect it to inspire our partners on the road to improve their driving!