MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN 8-13-2017

Time has flown!  On the evening of August 11, we celebrated our 28^th wedding anniversary a day early.  The reason for this is that we knew that August 12^th would be very busy, administratively.  On August 12^th, it was time to batten down all the hatches on Bee and head for the airport for our flight to MSP.  We did everything we could to secure Bee including following the suggested procedure of setting out pans of desiccant.  The desiccant is meant to draw the humidity out of the air.  Humidity?  You could drown just breathing in New Orleans.  The idea is to put the crystals in a little sieve-like bowl.  They draw the water out of the air and it drips down into a pan below.  Every few days, you empty the pan.  Except that we won’t be there to empty the pan.  Plan B.  I punched holes in the bottom of two tin foil baking pans, poured the crystals into those and set one pan in the kitchen sink and one pan in the shower.  The water will run down the drain.  Tell me I’m right.  The rv park is storing Bee and the Jeep “on higher ground,” in the event of severe rains or flooding.  This higher ground is about 6 inches higher than our campsite, located on the shores of Pontchartrain Lake.  Well, as I say, we have done all we can to secure Bee and the Jeepster.  We grabbed our bags, walked away and said a prayer.

The bar served us a beer, a cup of gumbo, jambalaya and crawfish bisque while we waited for the taxi.  Another couple was sitting at the bar and they had been out on the lake doing a little fishing in their pedal-propelled rowboat.  We chatted with them awhile and I asked, “So, are there beaches?  Do people jump in and swim in the lake?”  “Oh no!” was the reply.  “There are alligators in there!”  Um, hello?  Alligators?  And we were camped 6 feet from the shoreline?  So I could step out of Bee and there in the grass is a freaking alligator?  I almost had a heart attack.  Being eaten by an alligator is high up there on the list of ways I don’t want to die.  So, in New Orleans you got your floods, tropical rain storms, hurricanes and now, you got your alligators.  It’s time to fly north.  Mosquitoes OK, alligators not so much.  Wow, I’m outta here.

Larry, Carol, Lindy, Dick (George) and Marlene
Part of the instigating mob

On August 13^th, my sister Carol hosted a picnic at her house.  Seventeen of my family were there, 5 from my generation, and we had so much fun.  If you would like the rundown, from my generation were (with spouses) Dick, Carol, Marlene, Larry and me.  Then there was generation 2:  Shelly, Jason, Andy, Emily, Heather, and from gen 3, Everest and Zoey.  Well!  That was quite a reunion!  They surprised me with a birthday cake!  Yes, I’m sixty nine soon, no worries, no pain.  It was wonderful to see so many of my family for an entire afternoon!  Carol and Swede did a great job!

It’s time to prepare to board the American Queen at the top end of the Mississippi River in Red Wing, MN.  All day long, they herded us onto the buses, but when we arrived at the ship, there on the park bench sat my brother Dick (aka George – long story), waiting to see us one last time.  We were shocked!  He wanted a tour but that had to wait until the next day.  We were faced with a maze of technicalities to navigate upon arrival at the boat including a Coast Guard required safety drill.  We made arrangements to meet up and bring George and Ray on board the following morning, August 15^th.

The American Queen is only 22 years old.  The paddle wheel is not just for show, it provides a significant amount of the boat’s propulsion requirements.  The boat is 418 feet long and 90 feet wide.  There are ~500 of us tourists aboard and ~200 crew members taking good care of us and the beautiful boat. – more to come -