OUT OF ARKANSAS, POST #2

Mtn. Home, AR  11-13-11

    As most of you know, my retired self has been exploring family connections and stories.  This summer it’s been my plan to backtrack the residences used by the Breton family as they came from Guernsey to Milwaukee, then Sparta in Wisconsin, then west to Huron in what was then the Dakota Territory and finally out to Morgan Hill, California.  Since I’ve been to Morgan Hill and met some wonderful family, that left the Midwest to see.  My route would begin in Huron and then go east to Sparta, then Milwaukee and then finish at a vintage trailer rally/campout near Elkhart, Indiana. 

   Departure was set for Wednesday, July 13.  Due to my scheduled late-night arrival at a Rest Area near the Iowa border I lingered in Mountain Home.  This strategy allowed me to purchase some fresh groceries for the trip, to pack and load the trailer AND to watch the US Women's' Soccer team come from a position of remorse to triumph.   This exhilarating experience prepared me for even greater emotions as I assisted at the Howdy photo session for the Peitz Cancer House Paws for the Cause 2012 calendar. 

The upshot is that I hit the road at 2 pm.  I was barely gone an hour when I encountered my first “Road Closed” sign outside of Ava, Missouri. This called for a reverse Y turn, which was an early challenge to my backing up ability with the trailer.  Luckily, there was almost no one else on the road and I reversed direction with only slight delay. 

   The 2010 truck and the 1946 trailer worked well together with little strain on the truck and smooth following by the trailer.  The first stop was in Pittsburg, Kansas at Chicken Annie’s, where the chicken was, as boasted by the Food Channel, “moist and tender with a crunchy coating” that was worth the stop.  Pulling back onto the highway around 7 pm I was like Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic, I too had a fly inside the vehicle going the distance with me.  I appreciated the companionship, although the conversation was a bit one-sided. 

   North of Sioux City, Missouri we (the fly and I) saw our first flooded areas.  In fact as we were leaving Sioux City we saw that the freeway underpass was underwater and a small boat from the Corps of Engineers was just docking.  As we went north there were more and more small boats parked at the edge of flooded roads, waiting to transport farmers out to their fields.  In an irony of abundance we later saw a ten boom agricultural sprinkler system marooned in a vast watery expanse. 

   It was dark as we flew through Sioux Falls, but the full moon shining on the Missouri River stirred thoughts of Lewis & Clark rowing their way upstream.  It’s just me, the fly, and the other intrepid adventurers! 

   We reached the Rockport Rest Area at around 11 pm and settled in with the other trucking road warriors.  Sleep came easily albeit to the lullaby of 18 wheelers roaring past 100 yards to our left.  The trailer welcomed me back with its two nine inch deep foam mattresses and the next thing I knew the iPhone alarm was waking me.  After a “Rest” at the Rest Area we were on our way by 5 am.  Unlike yesterday I wanted to get to the stopping place early in the day, so that takes an early start.

7/14/11

   Due to the early start, my Sioux City meal stop turned into breakfast rather than lunch stop.  As I parked my “rig” you naysayers should know that it was a traffic stopper.  Yes, a guy actually stopped in the road and engaged me in a conversation about the trailer.  I could tell he was eating his heart out over the ’46 Angelus…and he didn’t even see the inside!

   More detours presented challenges as I headed out of Iowa and into South Dakota.  It was along in here that I saw flooded soybean fields that reminded me of colors of Brazil’s flag due to the blue water, yellowed dead soy plants, and then the green unflooded plants: tragic really. These detours took me over cornfield-lined two lane roads, and at one point I was leading a convoy of eight 18-wheelers.  I got a couple of toots as they breezed by after I pulled off the road, because I know they’re on a schedule and …well…we road folks stick together.    But mostly I just didn’t want them crowding my ass.

   Anyway, I found the fairgrounds in Huron without a problem and set up the trailer by 2:30.  The Holstein wrapped garbage barrels were seen again later in the trip at the Milwaukee fairgrounds.  The early arrival meant that I had time to drive around the town, visit the Chamber Of Commerce/Visitors’ Center, the Riverside Cemetery, the Huron Library, and find a family-owned Mexican restaurant.  Just kind of getting the lay of the land. 

   The next installment will bring you up to date on my discoveries in Huron. This is where my great-grandfather, John Walter Breton became a train dispatcher.   In fact he was the FIRST and only telegraph operator when the Chicago and North Western RR came this far west in 1880.

  For a more visual perspective of the trip, a web album of over 100 photographs with captions is posted at https://picasaweb.google.com/udadster/JulyTrip2011a?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ7O8bTM_pieBQ . Feel free to look at any time, if you want to see the pics first, or after you read each posting.  There are seven more posts to follow this one.