Back on the road again, again

Having completed much of what was needed to get Robin’s dad’s estate in order, we set out to try to regain our spot in the western US. Other than it was a good distance, I can’t say why we set out for Jamestown North Dakota, but there must have been some destiny involved.

When we got to town, we learned quickly that there would not be stunning attractions – not even a micro-brewery anywhere in the area. We did, however, manage to find the world’s largest buffalo. Built in 1959 by local businessman Elmer Petersen, the buffalo is 26 feet tall, 46 feet long and weighs over 60 tons.

We also learned here about how white buffalo were considered sacred by most native American cultures. Usually albinos, white buffalo are legendary in native cultures, who didn’t know the genetic abnormality that caused their coats to be white, and their eyes to be pink. Outside the National Bison Museum in Jamestown is a small herd of buffalo, and one of them is stone white. In the shadow of the world’s largest buffalo, it was an eerie sight.

So, here’s where the destiny part comes in. It turns out that Robin’s father, James, had an all-time favorite author – Louis L’Amour. Louis L’Amour wrote novels about life in the West, and was once called “the most interesting man alive” by John Wayne. L’Amour was born in Jamestown ND in 1908, and at the time of his death in 1988, all 105 of his works were still in active publication.

We visited the elementary school in Jamestown where the foundation was laid for this prolific writer’s career. Franklin School, built in 1909, was L’Amour’s first school. The school building still exists, but is no longer in use as part of the Jamestown school district.

Near the National Buffalo Museum, we discovered the writers loft where some of L’Amour’s early works had been penned. While his boyhood home no longer stands, we did make our way to the site and found a geocache someone had placed to remind visitors of the history here.

Talk to you soon!

Bonus II

We couldn’t imagine leaving the area without visiting Prince’s Paisley Park Studios at 7801 Audubon Road in Chanhassen. We managed to score some VIP tickets on a day when we were pretty sure we wouldn’t be totally embroiled in estate stuff. It turned out that we worked around the time we booked, still got everything handled, and had a great time immersing ourselves in all things Prince.

Paisley Park was both a massive audio and video recording studio, as well as Prince’s home for over two decades. We got to roam through the entire building except for the private bedrooms of the icon. The bulk of the 65,000 square-foot facility is just the way Prince left it when he died last April. However, some of the rooms, like his old basketball court, now display tons of Prince memorabilia, such as his purple chopper from Purple Rain.

We got to spend time in his office, his kitchen, his private club where he often held impromptu concerts for the locals, as well as the recording studios. In Studio B where he recorded many of his 39 released albums, the Woman and I got to actually record a trio with Prince, Raspberry Barret. While he outclassed us, we kept up with the lyrics and the beat, if not quite the same quality. The Woman and I had a rousing game of ping pong on the actual table Prince played on to relax between intense recording sessions. While we felt like the icon was looking over us in the studio, we would have preferred if he had been there in more than spirit.

Sadly they allow no photography in Paisley Park, other than the bonus photo you can buy at $10 that they take in Studio B. So, we weren’t able to document our day through pictures like we usually do. We surely would have photographed his ashes that are still in the main lobby in an urn that is a miniature Paisley Park replica. Over Prince’s ashes are the white dove cages he cherished, as well as the doves he cared for up until his untimely death. But we will just have to hang onto the memories we have from this magical outing.

Bonus again!

Talk to you soon!

Bonus!

Every day as we go in and out of St Paul East RV Park we see cars parked along Settlers Ridge Road, and all kinds of folks pointing 3-foot-long camera lens at this lone tree clump. Today we walked over to see what all the fuss was about and spotted a massive nest with this 3-4-foot-tall bird perched near it. I wasn’t sure exactly what this bird was, but based on its size I assumed it was some kind of eagle.

Well, the mystery was solved for us today. As we swung by the tree clump we saw an additional bird perched near the nest. It turns out the first bird we saw was simply a mommy Bald. Luckily daddy decided to show up to celebrate the Fourth of July with his family.

Bonus!

Talk to you soon!

Making history

After one of many family gatherings we headed to St. Paul East RV Park to set up for a family campfire. But on the way, we decided to make history by getting the Woman’s sister a nice Riesling to sip.

Since it became a state, Minnesota has forbidden alcohol sales on Sunday – good old-fashioned Puritan ethics. However, the Legislature recently passed a bill to allow liquor stores to be open a short day on Sunday, and the legislation went into effect July 2, 2017. All the news media speculated that there would be few sales on Sunday because Minnesotans were trained to stock up on Saturday. Wrong! The place was packed!

Talk to you soon!

Whirlwind

It’s all been a flurry. I drove the 3 days to Minnesota. I made it in time to spend a few precious days with the Woman’s dad, James R Miller before he passed away on June 29. It’s been all family time and visitors and tears and hugs and support since then. Pretty sure the next few weeks will be much the same.

Talk to you soon!