Category Archives: Travel

Travel, Uncategorized

Tour 2015 – Day 22: Wartburg College

The pipe organ in the fine arts building. In the summer of 1964, I worked on the campus maintenance crew, and we painted the wall behind the organ--careful not to drip or spatter. I think it was in a different place then, so it wasn't _this_ wall.
The pipe organ in the fine arts building. In the summer of 1964, I worked on the campus maintenance crew, and we painted the wall behind the organ and also the ceiling–careful not to drip or spatter. I think it was in a different place then, so it wasn’t this wall.

Today, we attended on-campus events: a talk about how the student population demographics are changing, from the admissions department, then a guided tour of the campus, mostly new buildings or buildings that have been radically remodeled since our “brightest days.”  The radio station, KWAR, once backstage at the old theater building, is now in the new McElroy center, in a much smaller space in the digital age, and a televison studio has been added across the hall.

The field house is ready for graduation ceremonies, a much larger space than when we graduated.
The field house is ready for graduation ceremonies, a much larger space than when we graduated.

We had lunch in the new (to us) student meal center. The remodeled and expanded facility is laid out very much like the facility at Western Washington University, where the 1913 Association of Northwest Weaving Guilds conference was held. We opted out of the bus tour of the town, instead joining conversations among fellow alumni. The topics were germane to our common age–retirement, keeping engaged in the things that matter to us, and downsizing and uncluttering 50 years of accumulated “stuff.”

At dinner, with my former roommate, Don, and on the right, his sister Betty, wife Diane, and Judy.
At dinner, with my former roommate, Don, and on the right, his sister Betty (also graduated with us), wife Diane, and Judy.

The day ended with a dinner at the banquet room atop the community health center a few blocks from the campus, with continued socialization.

The curious part of a reunion is that, in college, I didn’t associate with a large number of my classmates: Don and I were the only two Physics majors in our class, and we took many of our core liberal arts classes out of sequence with the rest of our class.  Also, many of the returning members of our class for this reunion are retired Lutheran ministers, with whom we shared few, if any, classes.  I spent most of my non-class time either running the cafeteria dish-washing machine or behind the microphone at the radio station, out of sight.  Don was more recognizable as the photographer for the campus newspaper and yearbook.  But, we found that we now have much in common with our classmates in retirement, though our life experiences have been very different.

The atrium of the "W," the joint Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Health complex, in which the graduation ceremonies will take place. This facility is huge, with swimming pool, exercise area, ball courts, and the indoor track shown in a previous photo.
The atrium of the “W,” the joint Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Health complex, where the graduation ceremonies will take place. This facility is huge, with swimming pool, exercise area, ball courts, and the indoor track shown in a previous photo., plus locker rooms, classrooms, and a snack and juice bar.
Bicycling, Travel, Uncategorized

Tour 2015 – Day 21: Rolling Prairie Trails

the "You are here" dot shows us at the trail junction east of town.
the “You are here” dot shows us at the trail junction east of town.

After an excellent breakfast with our host, we found the Alumni office at Wartburg and picked up our registration packet for the weekend Commencement and Class of ’65 reunion activities, then changed into bicycling mode to explore the Waverly Rail Trail. The trail started next to what I remembered as the Carnation powdered milk plant, now a Nestle candy bar factory. We braved a flock of Canada geese guarding the trestle across the Cedar River, stopping at mid-span for photo opportunities.

Geese guard the rail bridge across the river.
Geese guard the rail bridge across the river.

After crossing busy Bremer Avenue, the trail skirted the river bend on the southeast edge of town, then climbed gradually through farms and woods and over ravines and streams on high trestles to the trail junction at Hwy 63, where we turned around and headed back to town, for a 26-km out-and-back trip.

Tunnels and bridges appeared frequently on the trail.
Tunnels and bridges appeared frequently on the trail.

After changing back into street clothes, we drove downtown for lunch at the Wild Carrot Cafe, at first glance simply a candy and gift shop, but with a large dining room in the back, behind the kitchen. The food was good, with larger portions than we are used to in a deli-bakery, but we were hungry after our ride. We had pushed a bit harder to enjoy the speed on the nearly level trail: the GPS reported an average 17.8km/hr moving speed.

At the turn-around point. Signs are in miles, of course.
At the turn-around point. Signs are in miles, of course.

Another short walk around the campus, afternoon coffee at a shop near the college, and then we retired to our lodging for some Internet time before our evening social, where we met old friends and acquaintances from my college days. It has been 30 years since we were back here. We don’t think we’ve changed all that much, but everyone’s thoughts were, “Where did all these old people come from?”

The social hour, with tiny (but very good) canapés as the only food, was held at the clubhouse (Klubhaus, a concession to the German Lutherans from Wartburg) of an over-55 retirement community north of town, but within sight of the college campus. No, we are not moving to Iowa. Many of my classmates have multi-generational ties to the college or the region and have either stayed or returned from far-flung careers. Amazingly, many of us have had mobile careers, living in the same places but at different times–New England, New Jersey, etc.

Cedar River, Waverly, Iowa
Cedar River, Waverly, Iowa

The rest of the weekend is filled with organized activities, so this was perhaps our only opportunity to explore the area on our own. In 50 years, much has changed, on campus and in the town. The campus has been architecturally transformed into more of a community than an institution. At close scrutiny, the old buildings I remember can be seen behind new facades and embedded in newer, larger structures. The most striking changes are the elevated covered walkways (skyways) that connect all of the main buildings, so students rarely need to venture out-of-doors during the harsh Iowa winters.

The town has, like most small towns in America that still thrive, expanded outward. The city core, rather than being filled with abandoned edifices of a former century, shows former elegant bank buildings turned into beauty shops and boutiques, and upper floors renovated into modern urban housing.

DSCF0556
Looking downstream on the Cedar River at the bridge that separates “downtown” from “uptown,” the city center on the left and the college district on the right.
Travel

Tour 2015 – Day 20: St. Joseph to Wartburg College

Nearly every old town in the Midwest is the birthplace of someone famous.
Nearly every old town in the Midwest is the birthplace of someone famous.

Heavy rain overnight, drizzle most of the day today.  We gassed up, got coffee, and headed north into Iowa.  Our first stop was in Clarinda, where my father, Don Parkins, lived from 1917 until the late 1920s.  My grandfather, Bill, worked at a tire and battery store.  He had a motorcycle dealership in Jackson, MN in 1914, but moved the family to Shenandoah in 1915 to work as an auto mechanic, and again in 1917 to nearby Clarinda.   At thirteen, in the winter of 1927, Don delivered the Clarinda Journal, a twice-weekly newspaper.

Page County courthouse, in the town square.
Page County courthouse, in the town square.

The town was larger than I imagined, the Page County seat, with the business district in a square surrounding the magnificent courthouse.  My dad had written that the town was hit with a tornado in 1926 that destroyed 30 homes and damaged businesses, including the KSO radio station.  We chatted with an older woman in the antique shop about the town history.  She recommended a bakery down the street; the cinnamon rolls were very good.  Then we were off toward the freeway, 100km farther north.

The old Opera House, with murals painted on the side of bygone days. The town square is remarkably well-preserved.
The old Opera House, with murals painted on the side of bygone days. The town square is remarkably well-preserved.

All day we passed road signs pointing to towns where my Wartburg classmates had come from, more and more as we got closer. Interstate 80 took us east to Des Moines, and Interstate 35 took us north (signs for Minneapolis, 300km).  But, we turned east again at U.S. 20, toward Waterloo, then north toward Cedar Falls west of Waterloo.  Finally, we merged with highway 218, a familiar route, but there were no 4-lane roads when I was here last, 50 years ago.  Waverly, too, was unfamiliar until we reached the old bowling alley, then the intersection with highway 3.  The hole-in-the-wall diner where we went for egg and cheese sandwiches in the middle of a long study night was still there, under a new name, but the corner tavern across the street was now a memorial park.

The college campus, too was familiar, but not familiar, with many new buildings and reconfigured streets.  We found our lodging without too much trouble, having searched for the clues with Google street view a few days ago.  After unpacking the car and chatting with our hosts, we went for dinner at The Dirty Dog, a sports bar recommended by them.  A build-your-own pizza satisfied the vegetarian requirement, and Judy selected the BLT, a favorite of hers when the veggie guy isn’t cooking.

Travel

Tour 2015 – Day 19: Dodge City to St. Joseph

Cattle drive near Abilene
Cattle drive near Abilene

Rain started us off, drenching us on the run from the car to Cup of Jo-Nes coffee shop in Dodge City.  The rain stopped, but the headwinds continued unabated for a second day, prompted frequent fuel stops.

The above photo proves that the cattle drive is alive and well yet in Kansas after 150 years.  Nowadays, of course, they get a police escort across Interstate 70.

We only made a short run on the Interstate, past Abilene, getting off near Manhattan and driving country roads up to U.S. 36, which led us across the tip of Nebraska and across the Missouri River into the State of Missouri and back into familiar civilization, with Starbucks coffee and Panera bread near our motel.

Travel

Tour 2015 – Day 18: Clovis to Dodge City

To Kansas we went

Texas and Oklahoma

winds blew in our face

Cargill feedlot, Dalhart, Texas.
Cargill feedlot, Dalhart, Texas.

We said goodbye to Starbucks yesterday in Ruidoso, NM, with none expected ahead for a few days. Clovis has the Java Loft, where we stopped this morning on the way north to intercept U.S. Hwy 54, which would take us deep into Kansas, across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. The New Mexico plateau gave way to the Great Plains in a spectacular drop off  a mesa topped with wind turbines.

The highway passed alternating massive feed lots and cattle-feed crops, following the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe rail line toward Topeka and Atchison, directly into a stiff prairie wind.  Gas mileage suffered: we topped off the tank when we left Clovis, and again in Dalhart, arriving in Dodge on reserves.

We stopped for lunch in Guymon, OK, no thanks to the GPS:  the business directory predates the recession, and the Midwest was hard-hit, wiping out many of the restaurants and motels in small towns, some of which have resurfaced under new names, and the towns that haven’t disappeared entirely have expanded beyond recognition in the recovery, so the services aren’t even close to the locations of the ones in the database.  We found a café with all-day breakfast, and a few offerings without meat.

In mid-afternoon, we turned north to Dodge City, pulling in to Cup of Jo-Nes coffee shop just before closing to get on WiFi to make lodging reservations and find a laundry.  Judy’s older iPad has increasingly refused to connect to WiFi networks in motels and coffee shops other than Starbucks, but it did connect at the laundry.  It’s going to be a long two months, with marginal computing connectivity.  The big laptop is behaving once again, thankfully.

A trip to the grocery after doing laundry made it a day.  The grocery is called “Dillon’s,” so we surmised that, after Marshall Matt retired and settled down with Miss Kitty, they started a small grocery…  Or not: Marshall Dillon was a fictional character on television, but based on the real Marshall, Wyatt Earp, for whom the main thoroughfare is named.