A Celebration!

Taking a break from our July road trip…next stop St. Louis… This post is all about Laurie’s birthday celebration.

Given her broken ankle and being wheelchair bound with sciatica to boot, we hadn’t planned anything, except to postpone some shopping and a quality dinner out until after she is on her feet again.

But…Our neighbor Sherry had other ideas.  First she called and, without mentioning a birthday, she invited us over for cocktails where we’d be joined by our friends Norm and Linda.  Laurie agreed but I was immediately suspicious regarding the timing of the invitation.  My suspicions were confirmed a bit later when Sherry called Laurie and asked me to call her regarding advice related to one of my hobbies.  That’s when she actually confirmed Laurie’s date of birth!

So, at 7 PM, Laurie got in her wheelchair and I pushed her up the driveway and over to Sherry and Mike’s house next door.  The ‘cocktail party’ was definitely all about Laurie’s birthday!

Mike and Norm posed for me next to the kitchen island full of snacks and treats.  There were shrimp with a dipping sauce, corn chips and a nice salsa, cheese and crackers plus a choice of spring rolls…vegetable or sweet apple.  Of course, there also were a couple of adult beverages available.

Of course I had to take a picture of the birthday girl, with her fashionably  stunning green cast, interrupting her conversation with Sherry and Linda.

Then, much to Laurie’s chagrin, she was cajoled into posing as the birthday girl in a frame…provided by Sherry.

These festive Mylar balloons were the centerpiece for a couple of gift bags and the birthday cake…

Sherry put a festive and colorful birthday hat on Laurie so she could properly pose with her birthday cake and its candles that gave away a key unspoken message.  No matter what, I still have 10 years on her…

Before we departed and since it’s that time of the year, I took a photo of Mike and Sherry’s Christmas tree…along with one of Laurie’s best neighbors and a most loyal friend, Fiona!

No Christmas tree for us at our house.  Our decorator in chief is laid up and we decided to just put up those decorations that are easy to display and to pull from storage.  We didn’t try to unpack our “Christmas closet” this year…

The first photo is of the goodies that Mike, Sherry, Norm and Linda gave Laurie for her birthday.  The second shows the plethora of cards she’s received…about 3 times I receive for my birthday.  The third photo is of those festive Mylar balloons as they gently sway at their mooring in Laurie’s plant room… What does one do with leftover Mylar balloons?

The primary goal for Laurie’s birthday celebration in 2022 is mobility and good health…along with lots of presents.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

A Change of Pace…but Life Goes On!

Our usual routine around the house was put on hold as of Saturday Morning, November 6^th.  As the saying goes, “stuff” happens… Laurie went out the front door to remove the covers she’d placed over her flowers to protect them from an expected frost.  Her Leg went limp and she fell… When she tried to get up, she fell again and rolled onto her left ankle.

When I appeared in the living room, she was looking disheveled and unhappy so I asked her what happened.  She told me the story.  At that point she was hurting but could still walk and put a bit of weight on both ankles… Why her leg gave way with no warning, prior problem or pain was still a question.  We guess that it was a pinched nerve…possibly sciatica.   Laurie continues to have pain running up and down her right leg and her toes are numb…but still pink.

So we put an ankle support on her left ankle…the one that hurt the most…  She took some Tylenol and put her foot up as much as possible.

On Monday morning, 11/8, we headed for our local hospital’s Emergency Room in Lenoir City.  We wanted to make sure that nothing was broken and to get a prescription for a more effective pain killer.  An x-ray did indeed reveal that she’d broken her left ankle…

Based on the discovery of her broken ankle, we made an appointment with an ankle specialist at the Tennessee Orthopedic Center in Knoxville.  Our primary goal was to verify the first diagnosis and obtain a better cast…

The doctor at TOC took extensive x-rays and showed them to us… It wasn’t just a simple fracture but rather a multiple break that would require surgery ASAP.  We did pick up a new and improved cast during that visit. (Shown above)

…and so our Thanksgiving trip to visit our families in Omaha Nebraska and the St. Louis Missouri area were cancelled.  Change of plans!  

Happy times…for a few moments at least!  Our neighbor Sherry and her dog Fiona stopped by to see how Laurie was doing.  Fiona was so happy to see Laurie she jumped right up on top of her.  No injured limbs were impacted and only Sherry was nervous about the love Fiona was giving…

More appointments!  One pre-registration visit to the surgery center in Oak Ridge and then another appointment back at TOC in Knoxville to check on the swelling…and a temporary cast (no photo) was applied until surgery the following day…11/16.  The cast applied after surgery was causing too much discomfort…and so another visit to TOC resulted in that handsome black cast.  On 12/1, that cast was removed in order to check on the healing process… That’s when Laurie acquired that striking green creation!

Laurie hates confinement and the inability to move around and perform her normal activities.  After our 12/1 appointment, we decided that we needed a break so we headed out for dinner.  We chose the Cracker Barrel in Lenoir City because we knew that tables were placed well apart and we wouldn’t have any access issues with a wheelchair.  The store itself was attractively decorated for Christmas and it was loaded with goodies.  

Our meals were pure comfort food…a nice big chicken pot pie for Laurie and 2 fried chicken breasts for me.  We both ordered the biscuits rather than corn bread with our meals…and my entrée’s two sides were fried apples and steak fries.  We were very happy to have someone else cook for us!  The quality and the price was right too…

Laurie was very happy to be out and about…escaping the house for the first time that is if we don’t count all the medical appointments!  Even so, she still had that nerve pain radiating up and down her right leg all the time and it's hard for her to sit still.  

Her birthday in early December sure won’t be the best either… The challenge is that Laurie can’t put any weight on her ankle until probably the end of December…so we won’t be doing much of anything this season.  We’re hopeful that she’ll be mobile by the New Year.  One positive from all of this is that yours truly is getting a lot more exercise…and I’m improving my housekeeper’s skills!

The wheelchair we’re using has a family history… It was Laurie’s mothers.  A neighbor loaned us one of those knee scooters but it’s limited as it doesn’t provide a solid base when getting up and down.  Thanks to all of my own medical ‘adventures’, once her cast is removed and she’s allowed to stand, we already own canes and a walker.  

Laurie is eager…no, more than eager…to be able to get up and walk around on her own.  Now we just have to solve the pain and discomfort related to that pinched nerve or sciatica… It’s causing more pain than the ankle did!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Our July Road Trip in Nebraska – Final Post!

Finally…the end of our road trip from this past July… We explored a lot of beautiful country with few people and lots of little villages and towns, some hanging on by a thread.  The people of Western Nebraska were all friendly and helpful…and obviously resilient and resourceful as well.

Continuing in a southeasterly direction down NE Hwy 2, (the route of the old Potash Road), we came to the small town of Ansley.  The Flatwater Bank replaced the First National Bank which replaced the Security State Bank.  The Italian Renaissance style building was constructed in 1909 and was renovated in 2011.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ansley was founded in 1886 after the arrival of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad.  The town was named after a lady who had purchased several lots in the new town.  Within a short time, there were several houses, 2 hotels, a drug store, a general store and 2 banks.  FYI, Ansley was the first Nebraska town west of Grand Island to own a power plant and water system.  The current Municipal Light and Power System was built in 1911 and it is still capable of providing service to the town in an emergency situation.  Ansley has a population of 425, down from 817 in 1930.

I ran across this little story about Ansley and loved how casually descriptive it is… “While staying in Ansley this time, (ca. 1886), I boarded at the West End Hotel, a fine structure built of “B” select, with kitchen, dining room, office, parlor, bathroom and bedroom combined.  Everybody was good natured and the landlord expected his guests to ‘double up’ every night with whoever he saw fit to assign us…and at the first peep o’ day the clerk would come and shake us, saying, ‘Time to roll off them tables; the girls want to set the tables for breakfast, ‘with which request we cheerfully complied, pulling on our shoes as quickly as possible, going out of doors and leaning up against the knot-holes until the bell rang for breakfast, when we sat up to the table.”

Somewhere in my original research into our route and what to look for along the way, I’d noted that while in Ansley I should be on the lookout for a home that at one point had been a railway depot.  Given the roof line with the usual corbels and the stationmasters ‘kick out’ on one side of the home, I believe that this is what my source was referring to…

Our next stop was in Mason City.  It too was founded in 1886 as the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad came to town.  I’d noted that the 2002 Nebraska Historic Building Survey had included this former service station along the state’s historic highway 2, as being worthy of listing on the National Register.  Obviously, that never happened…  In the 1920s, Mason City’s businesses and services included 2 banks, a hospital, a flour mill and a cement plant..

I found the first old photo of Mason City, entitled “Shady side of the street” on-line.  It was taken in 1942 by a professional photographer named John Vachon. (1914 – 1972) What a difference 79 years makes…something I truly understand!

The second photo was taken by Laurie as we drove down the main thoroughfare in Mason City.  These days the town’s population is around 170 but back in 1930, residents totaled 487.  Mason City was named after a Nebraska Supreme Court Judge.

The next town…or in this case a city…that we came to was Grand Island Nebraska.   With an estimated population of about 51,300 residents in the city and a metropolitan area with over 84,000 people, Grand Island is the 4^th largest city in the state.  It’s also the County Seat for Hall County.

In 1857, 35 German settlers from Davenport Iowa arrived in the area with plans to build a settlement on an island known to French traders as La Grande Isle, which was formed by the Wood River and the Platte River.  They built houses using local lumber and set up farms.  When the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush began in 1858, Grand Island was the last place travelers could buy supplies before crossing the plains.

Then along came the Union Pacific Railroad and they laid out a new town nearby called Grand Island Station.  Many settlers living on Grand Island itself moved to the new town which was slightly inland from the actual island…but the original name stuck…

The 1915 Union Pacific Railroad Depot, which, in the 1930s received as many as 28 passenger trains each day was torn down some time ago.  However the old Burlington Railway’s depot remains in place adjacent to but separated from the BNSF line to Billings Montana.  This depot was built in 1911, it is listed on the National Register and it’s located at 603 North Plum Street. 

The Burlington Railroad’s entry into Grand Island broke the Union Pacific’s monopoly on local and regional rail transportation.  The last passenger train to stop at this depot was back in 1970.  Today, the passenger depot serves as an event center that can be rented and the former baggage and express freight depot is appropriately being utilized by the Tri-City Model Railroad Club.  See: Tri-City Model Railroad Association - Home | Facebook.

I found this old photo of Grand Island from 1867 on the Internet.  It was taken one year before the railroad reached the town and the town underwent a major growth spurt.

Grand Island was our last planned stop on our return trip to our son and his family’s home in Omaha.  I wanted to spot at least one other historic structure or place and I decided that the rather eye-catching Evangelische Lutherische Dreienigkeit Kirche…aka the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Complex would be a good choice.

The complex includes a wood frame school, a parish house and this very large and historic church building.  This Romanesque Revival structure was completed in 1896 by two German immigrants.  The congregation served pioneers from Germany.  As of 1998, this church located at 504 East 2^nd Street, was renamed as the Cristo Cordero De Dios Iglesia Evangelica LCMS…from German to Spanish!  We love to see historic structures that are not only maintained but also used for their original purpose.

Note: both Dick Cavett and Henry Fonda were from Grand Island Nebraska.

This mural in Central City Nebraska is quite fitting as well as colorful…although it needs to have a few bricks replaced and the painting touched up.  The first pioneers passing through the area passed by a huge cottonwood tree that they used as a landmark.  They called it Lone Tree.  In 1866, the Union Pacific Railroad established the town of Lone Tree as they passed through the area.

In 1875 a petition was presented to the county requesting a name change for the town.  The feeling was that “Lone Tree” gave the impression that the area was desolate and the residents were poor and uncivilized.  The petitioners won the day vs the traditionalists and the name was changed to Central City.

Central City is about 22 miles northeast of Grand Island on US Hwy 30, which is also known as the Lincoln Highway.  With a population of about 2,900 residents, Central City is the county seat for Merrick County.  Back in 1890, with only 1,368 citizens, the town was described as a boom town.  It was serviced by 2 different railroads, had 3 banks, a hardware store, roller mill, 2 newspapers, 3 lumberyards, a cracker factory, an all brick school, 9 churches and a college.

For the remainder of our road trip and our return to our son’s family home in Omaha, we drove most of the way along the Lincoln Highway.  This historic highway basically follows the course of the Platte River for much of the route through Nebraska.  I just liked the image of the grain elevator down the road…but I have no idea where Laurie took the photo. 

The Lincoln Highway is one of the earliest transcontinental highway routes across the USA.  It runs from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.  This highway was America’s first national memorial to President Abraham Lincoln…predating the 1922 dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. by 9 years.  The Lincoln Highway brought great prosperity to hundreds of cities, towns and villages across the country.  It became known as “The Main Street Across America”. 

Upon our return to our family in Omaha, I found that they’d decided to celebrate my birthday…as the official date was drawing near.  I can assure you that anyone who tells you that age is just a number is either delusional or they’re still young!  In any case, David II, Amy, David III and Emmett Lee served up a nice banana cream pie for the occasion…one of my favorite pies and a tradition for many years.

This was just an overnight stay…and then Laurie and I were off to St. Louis Missouri to visit her family for a few days.  Of course, that means that there will be posts related to that visit in upcoming editions of my blog site.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Headed East toward Omaha (#5)

…continuing with our road trip last July through western Nebraska.  Only 2 more posts including this one and our adventures in Nebraska will come to an end. 

Moving north from Stapleton along US Hwy 83 in Logan County, we stopped to take a few photos of the local residents.  A couple of them appeared curious…staring right back as us.  They probably don’t see that many humans.  Counting all cattle in the state, including those in feedlots, there are an estimated 6,850,000 of them…vs only 1,960,000 of us, and most of the humans are focused in Omaha and Lincoln.

FYI, if you think that ranch life is something that you would enjoy, Logan County currently has 3 ranches up for sale.  They go from a mere 1,786 acres for $4,450,000 on up to 6,113 acres for just $7,000,000.

Just after crossing into Thomas County Nebraska…still headed north…we crossed over the scenic Dismal River.  The legend is that this river got its name with a school teacher tried to ride her horse across the river during the winter and she drowned. 

The Dismal River is only about 80 miles long but it is the state’s wildest and most undeveloped river.  It has been identified by the US Park Service as worthy of designation in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.  The water in this river originates from water welling up from springs in the Ogallala Acquifer…that vast underground reservoir that extends all the way down to Northern Texas. 

The Dismal River is flanked by private cattle ranches and has been since the 1880s.  Some of the springs along the river emit water at such a fast rate that they seem to ‘boil’ out of the ground.  Some of the springs are more than 100 feet deep and quick sand is found near some of them.

The town of Thedford Nebraska was our northernmost point on this portion of our drive.  Thedford is a village and the county seat of Thomas County.  Like almost every other town in western Nebraska, this village was established when the railroad came to town.  That happened in 1887 with the arrival of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.  Thedford was probably named after Thedford Ontario, Canada.  The town has never had a population of more than 313 (1980) and today it has 219 residents.

I took a photo of the old “Cowpoke Hotel” in Thedford.  While I couldn’t find out anything about the building itself, I did come across a 2002 Nebraska Historic Building Survey that noted structures along the state’s historic highways.  The Cowpoke Hotel was listed as a place worthy of listing as an historic structure.  I also found older photos that showed the old hotel with a couple big shade trees right in front of the building.  The stumps are still there…

Thomas County covers 714 square miles and it has about 725 residents.  It has never had more than 1,773…and that was in 1920.  The county was named for General George H. Thomas.  Thomas (1816 – 1870) was a Union General in the Civil War and was one of the principal commanders in the Western Theater.  Despite his many victories and military successes, he is not widely known today.  To learn more about this Unionist from Virginia, just go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Henry_Thomas.

When Laurie spotted this statue of two young girls in Thedford, we had to stop and see what it was all about.  On May 10, 1881, 8-year-old Matilda Haumann and her 4-year-old sister Anna, became lost in the Sandhills while returning home from visiting their sister who was helping a neighbor.  Their parents, Carl and Henrietta, reported the girls missing on May 11 and search parties were organized.  Three days later, searchers found Anna 25 miles from her parent’s house.  She was suffering from dehydration and exposure but recovered.  Scores of other searchers joined the effort and on Sunday, May 17^th, they found Matilda’s body.  She had walked 75 miles in her effort to find help before collapsing.

This monument to the girl’s bravery and to the challenges faced by new settlers in the Sandhills was dedicated on May 1, 2016.  Six generations of the Haumann family were present for the ceremony…

From Thedford, we headed southeast along NE Hwy 2, also referred to as the Potash Road.  The highway got its name from the potash industry which thrived in the western part of Nebraska prior to World War I.  NW Hwy 2 is considered to be one of the most scenic roads in the state.

We just had to stop and take a couple photos of this great looking herd of horses… A couple of them seemed pretty interested in Laurie too.

The next town we stopped in was Merna Nebraska…about 50 miles from Thedford.  This is the Brenizer Library at 205 North Walnut Street.  It was completed in 1917.  The funds for the library ($6,500) were donated by homesteader James G. Brenizer and the building was designed in the Prairie School and Classical Revival styles.  It’s been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007.

This library has been in continuous service since 1917 and only had 8 librarians from 1917 through 2007.  An assembly room on the lower floor is used regularly by the Women’s Club, Legion Auxiliary, American Legion, Campfire Girls and others.  Both Mr. Brenizer and an heir have allowed for additional funding…  

This pleasant looking home is the Benjamin and Mary Kellenbarger House at 451 West Center Street in Merna.  This home is a well preserved example of residential Queen Anne architecture…a style that was popular from about 1880 – 1910.  The home is listed on the National Register.

When the railroad reached Merna in 1886, the railroad’s Lincoln Land Company platted the town and sold lots that same year.  By March of 1890, the town had 200 residents, 2 banks, 2 hotels, 3 general stores and cafes, 3 livery stables, a billiard parlor and a meat market.  The Merna Opera House opened in 1900 and by 1904 the town’s newspaper boasted that “only two sod houses remained in the town proper”.

Today, Merna has an estimated population of 363.  FYI, the town was named in honor of the town’s first postmaster’s daughter.

Just a few miles southeast of Merna, we came to Broken Arrow Nebraska.  This town with roughly 3,500 residents is the county seat of Custer County.  Broken Bow was located and platted in June of 1882.  The name was suggested to the post office department by a local who found a broken bow on an old American Indian camping ground that was located in the area.  No one knows who the owner of the bow was nor any other related facts in that regard…but a fragment still exists. 

Downtown Broken Bow has been designated as a Historic District on the National Register.  The 2-story George W. Smith Building at 845 South “D” Street was built in the Italianate style.  The “District” contains a large collection of late 19^th and early to mid-20^th century commercial buildings.  As the photo shows, some refurbishing appears to have been recently completed… 

The 2-story Italianate style Union Block Building is the oldest structure in the historic district.  Located at 430 – 444 South Eighth Stree, it was built in 1887.  I love all the detail along the top of this building but it is a shame that the windows on the second level are all boarded up.  It needs a serious bit of restoration…

This is the Neo-Classical style Custer County Courthouse and Jail in Broken Bow.  It was built in 1911 and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The courthouse cost $75,000 to build and it was one of the earliest fireproof structures in Nebraska.  The previous courth0use had burned down…

Custer County was formed in 1887.  It covers 2,592 square miles, about double the size of the State of Rhode Island.  The county was named after General George Armstrong Custer…who was killed in the Battle of Little Bighorn.  Much of the county’s early history revolved around the classic struggle between ranchers/cowboys and the farmers who moved into the area.  By 1894, the county had over 250,000 acres under cultivation and 1,000,000 cattle plus 75,000 hogs within its borders.  Unfortunately, that year also brought a severe drought with livestock selling for almost nothing and farms being almost given away.  Today Custer County is second in the USA for the number of beef cattle on the range…  Back in 1920, there were 25,668 residents in the county but today there are only about 10,800.

It was time for lunch and we chose the Bonfire Grill – Restaurant and Pub that is located in the Arrow Hotel.  This Prairie School style hotel was built in 1928.  Originally the hotel had 53 guest rooms and the first floor was occupied by 2 stores, a barber shop, the hotel lobby (shown above), dining room, kitchen and a beauty parlor.  One of the reasons for the hotel’s listing on the National Register is that it played such a significant role in the town’s history…an important building in the rural sandhills area.

We happened to arrive in Broken Bow and the Bonfire Grill right after a power outage knocked out much of the town’s electricity.  Fortunately power was restored shortly after our arrival so we were able to order our meals.  In addition to the small bar and pub with its dining area, in my wanderings through the first floor of the hotel I did see a more formal dining venue.

It was lunchtime so we kept it simple.  Laurie had the Classic Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich with mayonnaise. ($12.00) I ordered the Club Sandwich with turkey, bacon, cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise. ($15.00) Both sandwiches came on marbled rye bread but Laurie opted for white toast. For our sides, we both ordered their ‘Buffalo Chips’.  The sandwiches were very competent with quality ingredients.  To see this restaurant’s menu, just go to https://www.arrowhotel.com/dining-1.

The Arrow Hotel is allegedly haunted…with many reports of paranormal activity.  Staff has reportedly seen a grey-haired man walking around the building at night as well as a ghostly man sitting in the cigar room.  In addition there have been reports of heated arguments in one corner of the building as well as the voices of children laughing and playing…accompanied by cold chills!

Today the Arrow Hotel is listed as a 24-room historic boutique hotel.  FYI, the AAA rate for a King Room for this week was $125.00 plus taxes.  To learn more about the hotel, go to https://www.arrowhotel.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave