[AAA] Big Sandy.

13 Aug
It was awesome that my trip could conviently take me through [just adding an hour] Big Sandy, Montana, where friends Joel and Melissa have been living for the past three weeks.  Joel serves two congregations – one in Big Sandy and one in Havre.  They’ve settled in and have begun to make the house their home, all while welcoming many visitors.  When I arrived last night around 7pm, I was joining Joel’s sister, brother-in-law, and their three kids.  The house was full and filled with laughter.  It was the perfect stop after a long day in the car.  We ate pizza and hung out until well after midnight.  This morning, Joel, Melissa, and I walked to the coffee shop [The Bear Paw – named after the Bear Paw mountains in the distance] to pick up the caramel rolls they had pre-ordered.  We drank coffee, ate the rolls, and went antiquing after a tour of the town.  Then, I sadly had to say goodbye as the border to Canada was beckoning.  It was so great to stop and have this work into the August Alaskan Adventure!  We’re setting up skype coffee dates to stay in touch in the future – love them!

We stopped by the church in Big Sandy on the way to the coffee shop this morning.  This sculpture was on the wall of the church – “I am the vine, you are the branches.”

The main drag of Big Sandy – just a short walk from J&M’s house.

The coffee shop/deli was oh-for-cute and awesome for such a small town.  It’s where the farmers gather.

J&M

And then I had to leave.  boo.

[AAA] Yesterday.

13 Aug
I gave you the short end of the story yesterday.  I was at Joel and Melissa’s in Big Sandy, MT and I was anxious to catch up and spend time with them while I had the chance.  Here’s what you missed –

I drove through North Dakota on I-94 and was so impressed with what I saw!  I feel like North Dakota – much like it’s southern counterpart – gets such a bad reputation.  The fields of sunflowers were in bloom and it was not at all flat like I expected.  As I neared the Montana border, I found myself in the midst of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a park that I’ll admit I’d never even heard of before.  I pulled over briefly to see the badlands and then had to not gawk as much as I would have liked while I drove onward.

Once in Montana, I was incredibly impressed again.  The beauty of the open sky and winding hills in the eastern part of the state was breathtaking.  That sound hokey, I know, but it was gorgeous.  Give me a rancher husband and I think I might move there in an instant.  [More on that to come.]  I stopped oh-so-briefly in Lindsay, Montana.  Lindsay!  Spelled correctly!  I pulled over onto a gravel road just to stretch my legs and maybe attempt a photo of myself by myself in front of the city sign.  That photo never happened because instead I got visitors.  

I had parked in front of this building and it turns out, it’s the place to be in Lindsay, Montana.  Great lunch.  A red truck came rolling down the gravel road and towards where I had parked, just across the street from this questionable building.  The driver of the truck rolled down his window and this is what happened:

Driver: They open yet?
Me: What’s that?
Driver: (points) They open yet?  We just came down to see if they were serving lunch.  Best lunch around.  (something about a combine and this played into the timing)
Me: Oh, I’m not sure.  I just stopped to stretch my legs.
Driver:  Where you headed?
Me: Alaska.
Driver: Oh wow.
[We continue to chat about the route I’m taking and the passenger – a cute boy in farming clothes, probably around 25 – pipes in about his friends who drove to Alaska.  They wish me luck and on they go.]
It was oh for cute.  It kinda made my afternoon.
In conclusion, both North Dakota and Montana are bee-u-tiful [in the summer].  

[AAA] I’m alive.

12 Aug
Hi friends.  After 12 hours in the car and 650 miles through two states, I’m still living and breathing.
Today I learned that North Dakota really doesn’t deserve its bad reputation [in my humble opinion – though I also realize it’s August and not January].  I made a pit stop in Lindsay, Montana briefly to stretch my legs and snap a photo.  This is also the place that spurred the tweet, “Meeting men in trucks in Lindsay, Montana. #serious.”  [Neither of them were my age but we did have a fun conversation.]  I gave my heart to the landscape of Montana and arrived safely to Joel and Melissa’s home in Big Sandy, MT.  
Here I rest for the night in the company of seminary friends and their visiting family.  I plan on not leaving for Canada until late morning/noon tomorrow; there is a carmel roll with my name on it at the Bear Paw Cafe down the street.  Tomorrow will be an easy day of only six and a half hours of driving with a hotel reservation made in south Calgary.  I figure when in the company of good friends and as a gift to myself after twelve hours of driving today an easy day is acceptable.  I’ll blog more tomorrow night when I have no one else with whom to visit; for now, I return to the land of living people and retire to the living room where two young boys battle it out for a ball in their diaper/underwear.  [J&M’s nephews.  They’re young so underwear is acceptable attire.]
But first, a few photos of my day –
Theodore Roosevelt National Park – the ND Badlands

This is how Montana stole my heart.  Now I need a farmer and a truck.

Joel teaches me the beauty of the Hostess Zinger.

[AAA] ND.

11 Aug
I’ve never been to North Dakota before and now I get the chance to drive all the way through it.  [First impressions?  Lots of trucks.  I like.  And I now understand what amber waves of grain look like.]  I’m resting for the night in Valley City after a nine hour day of driving.  Harry Potter on audio book and a country song playlist kept me awake and alert.  It actually wasn’t too bad until my butt started to hurt from sitting for so long.
I arrived in Valley City, checked into the hotel for the night and then friend, Kara, from seminary came to visit!  She lives about an hour and a half from VC but willingly made the trip.  We hopped in her car and explored the town briefly.  VC is known for its bridges so we went on a bridge tour about town.  [It’s amazing how towns cash in on weird things for tourism.  And how they make such a big deal out of these bridges when, really, they’re just bridges … a couple are kinda cool.  But still.  Bridges, people.]  We drove about town and then sat for a nice dinner at the restaurant next to the hotel.  It was great to see her and have someone to visit with before settling in for the night.

loooong railroad bridge over the valley.
[Which I’m totally ready to settle in now.  I’m exhausted and have a ten and a half hour drive – at least – ahead of me tomorrow.  Not only is it ten and a half hours but it’s ten and a half hours of … nothing?  North Dakota and eastern Montana.  More Harry Potter and Lady Antebellum sing alongs!  I think I’ll be showering and heading to bed.  Early to bed and early to rise! On the road by 7am?  I’m going to try!]

[ps I added a photo of the werewolf to the previous wedding post just so you could see this crazy dog that crashed the ceremony.  check it out here.]

[AAA] What happens when –

11 Aug
You drive in the lower forty-eight states with a license plate from the state of Alaska:
An older man walking with a cane in the parking lot at the Target in Alexandria literally flags you down.  I’m driving past him [after stopping for bread and pb&j for the trip] and he starts waving.  First I think that maybe he’s confusing me for someone he actually knows or maybe he’s just overly friendly.  I casually wave back and keep driving and he keeps waving.  Nearly frantically.  I stop, roll down the window and turn down Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows audio book that has occupied my attention since St.Paul.   [Turns out audio books are the bee’s knees!]  Where about in Alaska do I live, he asks.  He’s been there three times, the first in 1949.  He has family in Dawson City.  Don’t try and get a hotel there.  All the oil people have the rooms and they get helicoptered out everyday.  Have a good trip.  Okay.  Thanks.
A man in a small green Honda passes me on the interstate, somewhere before I hit North Dakota.  He passes me in the left lane and then I move over behind him to go around whoever was in front of me.  All of a sudden, his hands start going crazy.  Like he takes both hands off the wheel to hold up eight fingers for me to see.  [I’m assuming for me to see.]  He keep doing it over and over, once in a while taking the hand that hand three fingers down to put it back on the wheel.  But what the heck?  Eight?  I thought maybe it was how cute he thought I was on a scale of one to ten but in my sweat pants and scrubby hair?  Probably not.  Is it some sort of Alaska code?  He seemed pretty excited and took a fair amount of effort to hold up his hands … but I certainly did not understand.  Eight?
An older suburban is riding my bumper – two younger-than-I boys.  I move back to the right lane when I can so they can go around me.  Frankly, they scare me a bit, driving so fast.  They drive past me and while doing so, the guy in the passenger seat quite literally hangs out the window and stares at me as they drive past.  As in, puts his head out the window and stares back at me and the car as they continue down the road.  
My friend, Jenni, commented on a previous blog post about the Alaska plates how excited some kids must be to see me drive past.  Think of the games of license plate bingo I can help complete.  I only hope so.  In addition to the creepy/weird mentioned earlier, I hope I’m helping some kids out.  I’ll take that over the creepy/weird.

[AAA] The plan.

10 Aug
After a great morning conversation with jD and lunch out at the new mexican restaurant in town with my prom date from years past, Timmy, the day has become hectic, nerve-wracking, and crazy.  There have been cute stories in and amongst the day – if life is a literary creation, I’m trying to keep my eyes open.  I watched an older sister get her younger brother out of the car seat while the mom went to get a cart in the parking lot of a store. She seemed like a great helper.  I loved stopping at Starbucks inside Target for an iced coffee and grinning as the [too young for me] barista asked, “How you doin’ today?” all Joey-from-Friends-like.  I giggled in response.  I had great conversations with the lady at the bank and the women at the insurance office, all of whom seemed to know who I was while I had little clue who they were.  I received mail that included a cut-out of my surprise debut in the Blooming Prairie Times.  [More on that to come.]
But right now – the plan.  Therein lies the hectic, nerve-wracking, and crazy.
What I know now is that I will hope to be on the road tomorrow by 8am.  I just scored a hotel reservation in Valley City, ND, which is right about nine/nine and a half hours northwest of here.  I figure I will try and front load my trip with long driving days; I’m not much intrigued by MN and ND at this point.  Get me to Canada and then I’ll take my time.  [Though I will mention that I’ve never before been to ND – this will be the first time!]  From Valley City, I have another long day of driving to Havre, MT where I will happily visit and stay with J&M.  [So excited.  We had talked before school was out about how I would have to take the train to come visit next year – how about this summer instead and I’ll drive?  Deal!]  I hope to spend a bit of the morning with J&M on Saturday and maybe make it to Calgary for Saturday night.  It’s from that day on that the scenery will become my reason to drive.  [Melissa’s mom – who makes the drive to summer in AK every year – said she felt like she was in sensory overload on her drive through the Canadian Rockies.  I can’t wait!]
Beyond that, I have no plan.  [Therein lies the hectic, nerve-wracking, and crazy.]
I’m torn between making reservations a few days out and just playing it by ear.  I fear once I begin driving, I might not make it as far as I hope or need to cancel for one reason or another.  I’ll be packing blankets and a pillow just in case a night or two needs to be spent in the car at a campground.  [While I will be physically prepared for this with proper materials, I don’t think I will be mentally prepared if this needs to happen.  Will Lindsay go crazy?  Let’s wait and see.]  I hope this lack of plan lands me in Valdez on Thursday the 18th if not – even better – Wednesday the 17th.  Once in Valdez, I’ll have free lodging, a dog to pet, and be better able to relax and enjoy this place where my brother lives.  [And watch the salmon.]
I have seven books on tape [more than I could ever actually listen to on this trip but a variety to suit any mood], an ipod of music and new podcasts, and a bunch of food.  [I don’t plan on stopping for food but on occasion.  I’d rather stop for photographs and make myself a sandwich while doing so.]  Extra oil, a gas can that will give me an extra fifty miles if needed, and a cell phone that will allow me to text for free while in Canada but not make phone calls.  [Please note.]  With my Milepost in the passenger seat and Borg, the travel gnome, on the dash – here we go, folks.  

Chicago.

9 Aug
My mom, sister, cousin Connor, and I left Edgerton at 6:15 this morning to board the train at Harvard, IL and reach downtown Chicago by 9:30.  One of the main reasons for this trip was to give Connor a chance to show us around his college of choice – Roosevelt University.  

Connor, my birthday twin, has always been a bit of a mystery to me.  He only eats pizza and mashed potatoes and has always been a bit on the – err – strange side.  [Keep in mind I like weird.]  He has completely taken me by surprise in his three summer trips to reach out to people in Kenya and by choosing a college in the downtown of the windy city.  It was great to see the place he’ll call home beginning in just a few weeks.  For a small city kid, he seems completely at home and smart about the big city.

Connor in front of the building that will be his dorm. 
I like this.
After a tour of the highrise buildings that belong to the Roosevelt campus, we walked to Millenium Park.  It’s just across the street from the university and I can’t hardly go to Chicago without visiting the bean.  We sat for a bit, people watched [including a train of preschoolers visiting the sites, all holding onto a ribbon to stay together], and headed for lunch.  
Our afternoon consisted of more walking, shopping [I visited my home away from home – an Anthropologie store], and a brief stop at Navy Pier.  We took a water taxi back to the train station and boarded to head back north towards Wisconsin.  [Let’s talk about train conductors for a minute.  What makes one want to be a train conductor?  And what do they do besides take tickets and punch them with little letter punches three times in random orders?  They get a cool hat that says ‘Conductor’ and there’s likely a little childhood dream involved, but beyond that, what’s the draw?  Seriously.  I want to know.]  Now I’m tired.  And really should go to sleep.  Tomorrow will be a crazy day of prepping a certain Alaska trip that begins the day after next!
Connor became a window model at Crate and Barrel on Michigan Ave.

[AAA] Fears.

8 Aug
It’s getting real, folks.  There are moments when I think, “I can’t wait to get on the road and drive to the last frontier!” but then there are moments when I think, “Holy sh**.  I’m going to drive to Alaska?!”  I tried to find a companion but it looks like I’m doing it solo.  Most of the time, I’m okay with that.  [Honestly, the thought of sixty hours in a small confined space with one person – the same person – gives me hives.  Curse you, introvert.  How I’d ever be married and survive it I don’t know.]  But sometimes, my mom sneaks into my ear and I worry that doing it alone is risky. 
I put official AK plates on Betty this morning.  She’ll love the last frontier; I just know it.
It doesn’t much matter one way or the other.  I have a plane ticket and thus need to be in Anchorage by August 19th.  Drive to Alaska I will.  But not without a few fears [irrational, silly, and other] –
Car trouble.  Dear God, please let nothing go wrong with the car.  Amen.  [Feel free to repeat this prayer for me over and over and over.  And over.  I’m at the car dealership right now and Betty is getting checked out.  I’m confident, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she’ll be healthy for the trip.]
I hit a moose or mountain goat.  [My friend, Allen, challenged me to take a picture of every moose I see. Challenge accepted.  That’s probably how I’ll end up hitting one.]
I get halfway into North Dakota and go crazy, asking myself why in the heck I ever signed up to do this.  [I don’t think this will happen.  Well, at least not until I reach Alberta.]
Border crossing complications.
The radio fails to work.  [Sprocket’s radio blew a fuse again.  I have no music there and deal.  But 60 hours without music or podcasts or audiobooks?  Oh man … I’m getting hives again.]
I start to get tired of driving and want to stop for the night but the next hint of civilization is 100 miles down the road.  [I guess that’s when I would pump Party Rock and jam out.]
Fears aside, I’m excited too.  I’m excited for an adventure, to see Canada, to have a bit of a find-myself accomplishment, to see Jetta [my brother’s dog], and to see this place my brother loves living.  I’m also excited for cooler temperatures.  I’m packing cardigans and scarves and so excited to wear them.  [It doesn’t take much, folks.]

a wedding & a werewolf.

7 Aug
The day had arrived.  Friends Krissy and Matt were to be married and I was the one doing the ceremony.  It was my first official wedding I had officiated and the first time I’d ever signed a marriage license.  It was a full day leading up to the wedding at 6pm.  We had rehearsal in the backyard of Krissy’s parent’s house [where the wedding would take place – a beautiful yard with a pond] in the late morning and from that point on, it seemed I was on child duty.  There were seven [yes.  seven.] children under the age of eight in the ceremony and they needed lunch, naps, tuxes, and guidance for pictures.  There is just something about small short children in tuxes – they look like such little men.  Oh for cute.
three of the seven.
The wedding began only a few minutes late, complicated by a processional song that was not quite the one the bride had picked out and a few issues with the aisle runner.  Krissy and Matt stood before me and in front of one hundred family and friends who had gathered for the occasion.  Things were going well.
Except one of the bride’s sons walked up the aisle with a major attitude attached.  I’m not sure what had happened and I was too focused on Krissy and Matt to see what he was doing during the ceremony.  Crouched on the ground between the best man and the groom, he dug in the dirt with a stick and apparently, at one point, shoved grass down his brother’s shirt.  There was something more about dirt and throwing.  It didn’t much matter because, as if that didn’t distract the bride and groom and assembly enough, there was more.
Right around the time of the vows and rings, a mangy old Husky dog wandered into the ceremony and right up to where the bridal party stood.  This thrilled the children who were standing up front – they went right to petting the questionable dog and scratching his stomach.  I see this happening – as does everyone else present – and I can’t hold it together.  There’s a flippin’ dog to my left who just appeared and is now enjoying the attention.  And I’m almost worried the dog might hurt the kids.  What do I do?!  I stare at my papers and try to focus.  Laughter exploded once more when Evan, always a Twilight fan [thanks to his mother’s influence], asks, in reference to the dog, “Is it a werewolf?!”  I can’t even look at the bride and the groom because they are stifling laughter.  This was a point when ad-libbing and throwing a joke in would be good – but I’m just horrid on my feet.  Something to learn and grow.

But the wedding happened, surprise guest and all.  [It’s a neighbor’s dog, I guess.  He heard the party happening and wanted to see what was up.]  The wedding happened, Krissy and Matt are legally married, and the reception was fun.  The dinner and dance was held in a tent right next to where we had the ceremony.  I’ll admit I was skeptical when she said they were having their reception in a tent but it was  an awesome tent.  A Harry Potter tent, as Allen would call it.  There was dancing, a fireworks display, and bubble blowing.  The combination of champagne and the bouncy house only caused one bridesmaid to get sick.  [Just one!  Victory.]  A party rock anthem, sweet caroline, and both nsync and lady gaga.  I had a great time with Banana Lynn and Kyle, Allen, Timmy, and David – friends I don’t see all too often.  I am never opposed to the attention and affection my protective male friends from high school give me including dances aplenty, a “lover’s stroll” around the pond [with five others], and a few “sweetheart” and “darling” pet names; it was good and fun and I love them all.  
Next Banana wedding: Lynn and Kyle’s in September.  This is one where I’m joining pastoral forces with another pastor and will be delivering the message.  Wooten!  Can’t wait!

Itching.

5 Aug
Pinterest has me itching for my own place.  For a blank slate.  I’m looking forward to putting my creative urges to work come September, especially because of these photos …
Cover bricks in pretty paper for bookends.

Use a small tension rod in the cupboard to hold small spices.

I will paint a wall gray.  

Crates!
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