And We're Off...

After weeks of preparation, our journey has finally begun. We arrived in Pocahontas, IA a little after 6pm Monday evening following a leisurely drive down US 169, making a few stops (and wrong turns) along the way. We spent Monday and Tuesday nights in Pocahontas, at the home of Betty and Alvin Werkmeister. Although we aren’t technically related, they are family. Many years ago Betty was married to Guy Wesley Still, my grandfather. Together they had five children (after my father was born to Guy & Donna Cant), prior to Guy’s death in Hutchinson, MN in a car accident in 1967.

On the first day we took our time getting to our destination, stopping in Saint Peter for a stroll around the historic town and a quaint little lunch at the River Rock Coffee House. I indulged in a turkey Panini accompanied with spicy carrot soup while Heidi had a chicken feta pita and a bowl of the same carrot concoction. The meal was a nice, albeit a little pricey…but that is to be expected at a locally owned business that uses only organic and natural ingredients in all of their products. I felt as if I had committed a sin when I realized I tossed my Mountain Dew bottle in the trash, less than a foot away from the receptacle for recyclables.

Our next stop was in West Bend, IA where we visited the Grotto of Redemption. I had visited this geologic work of art a couple of times in my life, but wanted to share the experience with Heidi and see what she thought of the place. In 1912 a Catholic priest began constructing the grotto using stones he had collected from around the world the decade prior. The grotto is an impressive homage to Jesus & Mother Mary tucked away in the corner of a sleepy little agricultural community. It really is quite impressive and worth the drive, in and of itself. I was pleased with Heidi’s reaction, when she stated that visiting a place like the Grotto could really have a profound impact on one’s life. (I don’t think she had an epiphany during our visit, but she was impressed with the magnitude of the place and the devotion that goes along with creating such an edifice.

After arriving in Pokie (as the locals like to call it) we grabbed a bite at the only restaurant in town with Betty & Alvin. There we chatted about relatives, both living and past. I learned some interesting stuff about my father, his father and the dynamics of their relationship…things my dad never spoke of. Some of what I learned was saddening, although I’m glad to know what I know now. (So now you’re wondering what I learned, right? Well, you’ll have to buy my book for those details.)

We spent Tuesday morning running some errands in Pokie and eating lunch at the Pizza Ranch. A former colleague of mine, Pete Harty, used to rave about the Pizza Ranches he’d encountered while running the TV news satellite truck in rural parts of the Upper Midwest. Well, I had never even heard of this chain, so when we stared seeing them on the way down I suggested we’d have to give one a try. For about $7 we had a nice lunch buffet, which included a surprisingly good salad bar, a wide selection of pizza and fried & BBQ chicken as well.

The afternoon included a visit with Great Grandma Still. She is the mother of my late paternal grandfather, Guy Wesley Still (mentioned above). I wanted to ask her some questions about the family history, but heard that the past may upset her, so instead I chose to merely enjoy our time together. For 96-years-old she remains incredibly spunky and zips around the nursing like nobody’s business, with the assistance of her walker. We visited for a little more than two hours before parting ways.

In the evening we visited my aunt Jane and her family in Sac City. She is one of Guy and Betty’s offspring and a firecracker of a woman. There we reminisced about family, cracked jokes and briefly discussed the evils of a Monsanto monopoly on the agricultural world (my words Monsanto). It was great seeing the entire Scharn clan and I am truly grateful for relatives like Jane & Jeff, two of my dad’s half siblings who have been nothing short of amazing since the tragedy that ended my parents’ lives two years ago.

On Wednesday we left Pokie relatively early in the morning, in order to get to Des Moines/Ankeny at a decent hour. A little after noon we arrived in Des Moines and hooked up with my friend Becca, whom I met through Athletes Committed to Educating Students (ACES), a youth mentoring program in Minneapolis and St Paul public schools. She recently spent a year in Brazil teaching, thanks to a Fulbright grant. We wandered around the Des Moines Art Center, caught up, and picked Becca’s brain about Brazil. She is a wealth of knowledge and a great gal. She’ll be spending the summer with Trek America, leading tour groups on road trips around the US. How cool is that?

While driving to the Art Center Heidi noticed that the windshield was leaking right above her. Well, it was raining cats and dogs all day, and there was a significant amount of drippage. Needless to say, I was not pleased about this development as I recently spent $240 at Ziebart in Minneapolis to replace the windshield. When I called the bastards about it they said I should find a local glass place (here in Des Moines) and have them run a bead of some sealant and call him to work something out. Well, I have an appointment Thursday, but a couple of guys who are in the know suggested it will have to be completely reinstalled and I expect that the buster from Ziebart is gonna try and make me eat the cost! There are Ziebarts around Des Moines but they don’t do auto glass, so I may be hosed.

My Uncle Jeff lives in Des Moines and we are spending tonight (Wednesday) with him, his wife Marybeth and two adorable daughters, Caitlyn and Carolyn. We had an excellent meal at a Mexican restaurant in town and just hung out afterwards. While going to pick up the girls Jeff and I had a nice chat, sans women, about my dad and life as a Still man.

All in all, things have been great so far. Heidi is an amazing woman and an even better travel partner. We get on each others’ nerves once in a while, but that is to be expected whenever you spend that much time with someone. Tomorrow we plan to head to Quincy, IL after the windshield gets fixed.

Oh, did I forget to mention crashing the van? Ooops. A few days before we left Heidi and I had to run up to the storage space in Buffalo. As we were leaving I took a corner too tight and scraped against a concrete pillar which was in my blind spot. I was devastated to have marred the beauty of a van that was able to stay accident-free for 17 years, but barely 17 days with me!!!! And, I take pride in being a good driver too. So, I was pretty upset over the entire ordeal. After ripping off the shattered fiberglass running board we left the storage facility. Upon arriving home I removed most of the transferred yellow paint, tried to pound out the dent and made sure the door still functioned, despite a mangled exterior. Like I said, I beat myself up pretty bad over the whole deal but Heidi was a wonderful sport about it, and her kind words are helping me move past this. At least the van still works and nobody got hurt, right?