Riding The Riverboat in Bismarck

It was a rush to get to the boat before our scheduled departure. The trip we took on it in the summer of '09 was a perfect day. We weren't that lucky in 2010.

I had to do the trip, because I lost the camera with the pictures I had on it.

We had hoped that there would be a trip available with dinner, but not enough people signed up. It still worked out, because there was a Pizza Hut not far from the boat. The big thing was just getting out on the river.

The wind was blowing hard that day, so hard that it almost impossible to stand on the deck. Other when Ann took some pictures, we stayed inside the boat at a table.

At the end of the trip, we go beneath this large bridge, and then they navigate it back up the river a distance of about 50 yards to the dock.

By the time we returned, blue sky started to appear. And it was almost time to start back on the road.

After a break we took a few more pictures and climbed back into the car to continue our trip.

Bismarck is a great stop. The river is serene, and the ride is so peaceful. It's a great way to spend an afternoon. I only wish we could make one more trip to Minnesota.

I will miss going to Red Wing, even though we have enough pottery and even though we can order things online. I will miss this pizza place with incredible cheese cake in Rochester. And I will miss The Mall of America.

If I need a taste of Minnesota, however, I do have all my Garrison Keillor things I can listen to. And more importantly, I have all our pictures.

And I have the memories--Tommy placing his dinosaurs in the window for me before our arrival, Anna jumping up and down when we Lydia helped us surprise the kids at Target in Rochester, Sammy growling. The frogs in early summer were great too. I'll miss that a lot.

The Adventures We Had With Pooh and Friends

One memory of Anna is something I will never forget. We were there when she began talking for the first time, and some things she said were like child metaphors.

A speaking child over the age of four or five would say things differently, but Anna's communication worked, and besides, it was hilarious--not only from the standpoint of how family understood her completely but also from the shock and horror on faces of tourists who overheard her.

This was her favorite ride, and when we were close to it, or if we asked everyone what they wanted to do, she would answer in her little voice. Her eyes would flash with excitement.

"I wanna go Pooh," she'd say.

People would turn immediately, some jerked their heads like a hoot owl, and then they walked quickly to a safe zone. I figure they must not have children, because even if Anna had meant it in the way they interpreted the ambiguous statement, the diaper would have protected them.

And besides, I've seen adults who smelled much worse than any of my grandchildren in any kind of circumstance.

But their reaction was funny, something I will never forget. It is one of the things I'll always remember about Anna, although there are many fun moments that I think of with all of my grandchildren--Tommy's passion for trains, Jack's enthusiasm for Star Wars Toys at Burger King, Anna's ballerina moves, and Sammy's growls.

When you're a grandparent, remembering fun things like this is what you do.

Just Chillin' At Thunder Mountain Railroad

Here I sit at the railing. I'm in my electric cart, Jack is about to sit with Annie on the ride. Ann takes a picture. I look at the picture and imagine the sound of the ride on the rails and the squeals as people sit with arms upright and smile in the warm California sunshine.

I love the vibes here, and I also love how much my little ones like being here.

It's fun having so many memories of my children and grandchildren here.

Each trip brings more things to make me smile.

When my son-in-law Jeff did his residency in Ontario, California, Ann and Jack and I spent almost 40 days in the park. It was the first year we fulfilled a dream I always had: owning a Premium Pass.

We would drive to California, usually arriving very late in the evening.

After arriving at the gates of the apartment complex, we were only minutes away, and we would call Lydia. It was just two turns, only about 75 yards from seeing two more grandchildren.

Then we would see Lydia under a light post, holding Anna in her arms and gripping the hand of Tommy, who jumped up and down in his excitement to see us.

The next day, after parking the car at the park, Jack would always exit the car, and realizing that he was finally in Disneyland, he would hug me and say, "Oh, thank you Pop Pop." It's one of the memories that make me smile.

The Visit At Fort Abraham Lincoln

Fort Abraham Lincoln is a favorite stop for Jack, and what made it even more fun were the two Ben Stiller movies about how things came alive in the museum, where Stiller was a night watchman.

Jack loved both films, but the second one is where Custer appears for the first time. Our trips to Minnesota made it easy to appreciate history, especially the historical figures who appeared in the films I just mentioned.

Mount Rushmore was a lot of fun for Jack. We went there at least four times.

Fort Abraham Lincoln is a spot we've visited twice. We made a second trip there after I lost the camera with the pictures. They set it up in an interesting way.

For the first visit, the guide was completely in character. Everything was frozen in time, so when we told him where home was, he corrected us by letting us know that we lived in the Utah Territory. For a brief minute, my life as a carrot snapper passed through my mind. I smiled as I contemplated the meaning: I would never have to merge politely into a lane after a sign appeared letting me know the one I was in would end, because I could drive like a madman to the end and butt into traffic; I could speed up when someone turned on a blinker to signal entering into my lane, because I could forget common courtesy; I knew I should feel no remorse when my schedule meant I had to ignore basic principles of safety and courtesy, because I knew I was the new center of the universe.

And then everything came crashing down as I realized at the end of the tour that my "new" life was an illusion.

I was from Idaho, the place where the wind always blows, because Utah sucks.

Everything in the quarters, once used by Custer and his family, was set in an interesting way. It was almost as if they left to do something outside, and they would return in a few moments, but given my knowledge of what things were like in an area like that where roads and everything else was quite dusty, I have to admit that I know the house was very clean.

In fact, no dust was visible at all. The only thing that let you believe for an instant that dust might be a problem was the fact that dishes on a table were set upside down.

There are always things you do. Experience makes people pragmatic. When my dad and I worked at the ranch, we didn't have time to do dishes, so we bought a large box of waxed paper. For each meal, we would tear off a sheet, place it over the plate, and put our food on top of it.

After finishing, we simply threw the paper away, placed the plate in a neat spot on the table, and rinsed off our utensils. The process irritated my mother, so my dad and always tried to ensure that we put those dishes away before she came to the ranch in early summer after the conclusion of school. But sometimes we forgot to do that.

For me it was alright, because my mom tended to correct only my father for that, so it was even a bit of fun allowing the scene to remain for my mom's eyes to discover.

I was a kid with a warped sense of humor.

It's what you do when you sit on a tractor for a long period of time. It's not madness or anything. It's just a realization that some things are funny. Most people, I guess, don't have the opportunity to think that much about it.

Jack loved the things to be seen in the "Custer House." The second tour was not as good as the original. At one point, the guide shows a small box in Custer's desk. I guess the general kept a mouse in it.

The first guide last year let Jack look at the tiny thing inside it. It wasn't a mouse. No one in their right mind would allow a rodent access to a place with all those fun things to gnaw on during free time.

For the second visit, I waited in the car.

There just wasn't enough time for me to walk the 300 yards to the site. Ann and Jack went in to get pictures, and I waited. The time was going to be close, especially since we had an appointment for the river boat immediately after the tour.

Jack was excited about that too, but the weather on this day wasn't the best. It was a bit cold, and clouds were threatening. It was as if we brought the Idaho Falls spring weather with us to Minnesota.

In the weeks before we drove, the temperatures during the day and at night were warmer in Rochester than in Idaho Falls.

We began our trip, and by the time we arrived, we spent one day of living in summer temperatures, and then it became cold and rainy there too.

It's what happens when you look forward to a trip so much. I saw that happen in Germany a lot.

Sometimes it rained for weeks at a time in Germany, especially in the North, where storms came in from the North Sea. My memories of Berlin are vivid, and I miss it, but I also remember that some years the rain would continue through May well into the end of June.

In spite of the poor weather during the fist leg of our trip to Minnesota, everything was so beautiful, and it gave Jack a second chance to hear tales from a different storyteller.

It's always interesting to get the same story from another perspective, which is also the reason why today's news is often unreliable.

Fox News is like the Forest Gump channel--you never know what you're gonna get, although you can count on it being radically anti-Democrat, appearing pro-Tea Party, maintaining a thorough feeding of an ultimate cuckoo mentality.

But that's my take on the whole thing. I really don't like modern journalism, yet the whole Custer enigma is an example of how individuals can shape society's perception.

When I was young, the status quo was that Custer was a brave leader, standing tall in the face of ultimate defeat.

I never knew how much his wife had to do with maintaining that view, and it persisted even through the 50's and very early 60's.

My Government teacher was the first one who caused me to question what really was at play, and I realized during the next decades, that people with a political agenda, like Custer obviously had, are dangerous. You have to feel saddened by the brave men who followed Custer's poor judgement.

My grandson knows more about Custer than I knew when I was a senior in high school. He spent time at The Little Bighorn. Jack also did two tours at Fort Abraham Lincoln, which was the last place Custer served before the fateful day when he and his troopers set out on horseback to find renegade Sioux.

The area around Fort Abraham Lincoln is so quiet and serene. The grassland is beautiful, and while I waited for Jack and Ann to finish the tour, I listened to a meadow lark.

The day was not busy when we were there.

My only regret was not buying my grandson Tommy an army hat while we were there with him and Anna and Jack last summer. I bought one for Jack, but Tommy chose not to get it.

He regretted it immediately. I took care of that mistake during this trip.

One of Jack's funny responses was hearing the tour guide talk about the "chamber pot" during the presentation. Jack didn't like the idea of using something like that, and then leaving it in the same room.

I think it made him realize just how great it is to live in the day of indoor plumbing, I-pod movies, kid's meals.

Shooting dinner is not something that endears Jack to the past. He understands that he is eating what once was an animal, but he doesn't like talking about it. My Annie feels that way about some of my former high school principals.

And I agree now, you recognize the bad ones for what they are, but it would have been nice to place them in a porcelain pot and place them under something.

These trying times for Jack also meant that it was not an era with the convenience of anti-bacterial soap.

I even remember one professor at the university complaining about his family, who refused to poor wine into a well to kill the germs in the water. It was a 19th century way of dealing with water purity issues.

The family did nothing, and they lost a number of children to sickness because of bad well water.

But the billiard table--that was another story entirely. I guess a little bit of Pop Pop had an effect of my little grandson, because I always liked playing pool. Playing on our table my dad bought when I was in my sophomore year of high school was something that relaxed me.

I loved the sport, and Jack likes playing too. Any time we are in Boise at Homewood Suites, Jack and I try to take advantage of their having a pool table. It's something we love to do. And next time, I plan to play a little chess too.

The books were interesting too. I wish I could remember why they placed them like they did. Most museums like this, regardless whether in the United States or in Europe, have things of interest from the time period. I'm not sure if the things were authentic or not.

The hunting trophies, however, were authentic as I remember. Custer was an avid hunter, and there were many things about the house that were interesting.

Jack is not a fan of displaying dead animals like this. It's interesting how they develop views like they do.

When he just small, maybe four or five, he discovered my four point deer head hanging on a wall in the basement.

The thought that Pop Pop shot Bambi or Bambi's father was not a popular idea with Jack. He looked at me with sad eyes for a while, and then he became desensitized to the idea somehow.

One thing for certain, Jack loves museums, and as young as he is, it is fun for me to see how he absorbs information and thinks about the things they tell him.

It makes it easy for me to want to visit something historical. He appreciates it more than some high school students I once took overseas.

It's probably why I want to take him to Germany so badly. And I hope I can take Tommy too.

Little Samantha Visits Idaho Falls To Meet Pop Pop And Grandma

Samantha, at an early age, began growling. While Tommy and Anna stayed at our house last summer, I showed them the old copies of Wolfman with Lon Chaney, Jr. During the black and white movie done in the 30's, I would occasionally howl and bite at the arms of Tommy and Anna and Jack. They giggled.

But that night, the three tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. My Annie had to drive to a meeting the next morning, and I was not popular the next day at 3612 Creekside Dr.

But the tradition began. Whenever I talked to the little ones over the phone during the next year, I would howl and occasionally growl. And then Samantha came along.

Immediately, she began to growl, and so after I heard her on the phone once or twice, I would have Lydia put the phone on speaker. My howls and growls became a favorite with Samantha, who looked at the phone and studied it.

At the conclusion of the first clip,however, just as there is a bit of silence. Samantha spelled relief in a way that only my little princess occasionally can do. It surprised everyone that day, or at least it shocked those who hadn't heard her do that occasionally.

The Visit To Fort Abraham Lincoln And The Mandan Indian Village

We waited on a bridge for the guides to take us to the display of a Mandan Indian village.

I find the tribe incredibly interesting. First, they were a light-skinned tribe. Some tried to make a connection to a group of Welsh people who, according to legend, traveled to the New World in the 12th century. The theory is not accepted at this point.

Other tried to draw a connection with Viking settlers, but that too also became discounted by scholars.

The fact remains that the tribe was a light-skinned people. The Mandan people, whose language was Siouan, first came in contact with European settlers in the mid 18th century.

What I find intensely interesting about their folk lore is the fact that they were not your typical nomadic tribe.

They grew corn and squash, and their earthen lodges were made of large timbers, rising high into the air.

These lodges were very comfortable, and although it was a bit warm, the inside remained cool during the summer and warm during the winter.

The people themselves were friendly and looked at contact with European settlers very favorably, which explains why their numbers were so decimated by small pox and whooping cough.

A last full-blooded member of the tribe passed away in 1971.

Outside the main lodge were these two poles. I wish I could remember why they were important.

The lodge itself was massive, and there was a huge opening in the top to let smoke out. The construction, although a remake, was very impressive.

Originally, we stopped last year to visit this site, but all the pictures were on my Annie's camera that someone stole from me while I was D.C. last August.

I was excited to go back and get these photographs. The funny thing about the whole scenario is that these pictures were superior.

I love the last pictures, especially the one of the roof and the hole to let smoke escape.

The Largest Cow

On the road between Minnesota and Idaho Falls, there is this huge statue of a Holstein milk cow, the largest in the world.

It's one of those things that you see on the road like the world's largest roll of twine or any number of other weird things that occasionally appear.

Ann took the picture, and if you look closely at the bluff at the left, there is something standing on the edge. It's the famous cow.

We didn't stop, but it did make us smile on that long trip across Montana and Wyoming and South Dakota and Minnesota. And let's not forget North Dakota, because I really can't remember whether this statue was in North or South Dakota.

I most likely wouldn't stop, because I've seen old heifers before. The meanest one was my fourth grade teacher. She was like a female version of the Minotaur, except she walked with a bit of a limp. And she also had this permanent sneer on her face. It was like Sylvester Stallone meets Elvis.

She was the meanest woman who ever lived.

There were a couple of strange professors I had in the English Department, but they mostly just eccentric.

One, who taught graduate classes at USU only knew one challenge in life, putting on lipstick. She would come to class, and it honestly looked like she tried to apply it like any average rodeo clown--tuck in the lips, and with a firm back-and-forth motion, violently apply it to the area above the lips. I could just never quite understand how she always smeared the rose-colored stuff on her teeth. I guess creative people just have trouble coloring within the lines.

The other one was my second grade teacher. She wasn't mean. She wasn't eccentric. She was just violently strange.

She did, however, drive a pink Thunderbird convertible. But the incredible car didn't make any excuses for her. She was still violently strange.

My Favorite Picture Taken By My Annie

It was a great time of life. Everything seemed to be going well. I was still feeling well and working two jobs. Lydia and Jeff just had their wedding reception in November.

Originally, they chose a day in December, so we reserved a condo in Ramona, a red neck area in the hills above San Diego.

While there, we passed a picture like this every day, and Ann took a picture of it one day for me.

We spent an incredible week that year in December. Daytime temperatures were 85 degrees. We didn't need a coat even in the evening at Disneyland.

We drove home to Idaho Falls after a week to weather that was drifting snow and temperatures that reached 25 degrees below zero. There was over a 100 degree difference in temperature, and I never again looked at winter the same way. I decided I wanted palm trees and warm weather, and I still long for that.

The Trip To Minnesota, Another View of North Dakota

The trip to Minnesota was something I looked forward to taking. Last August, the Holocaust Museum asked me, as a member of the Regional Education Corps, to attend a meeting, but it didn't work out.

There were problems with my legs, and I couldn't be in Denver for the meeting, so as soon as my supervisor determined that I was going to be in the D.C. area in August to see my son Cles, he asked me to arrange the flight, so that I could meet with him.

Typical of airline travel, the carrier cancelled my flight, and although they promised me at ticketing that my new arrival time in D.C. would be sooner than I planned, it was not. I arrived two hours later.

I missed the meeting, so I spent wasted money to be in D.C. one day when I could have been in Virginia relaxing with my son.

I tried walking. That was not a good plan. I lost my Annie's digital camera, and the pictures still loaded in that camera were ones we took of North Dakota. This trip was one I wanted to repeat, because I wanted to retrace our steps.

I wanted to have pictures to replace the ones in the lost camera.

We actually did better than that for the most part. Like the stop at this spot along the highway.

Jack loved it. Not far from Teddy Roosevelt National Park, it showed all the animals native to the area.

And it was here that we bought a few things for the grandchildren. It was a good stop.

And we took some great pictures.

Jack was able to look through the binoculars to see the beauty of The Black Hills in North Dakota.

The temperatures were still a bit cold. In fact, the rains began the day we left Idaho Falls, and the storm seemed to follow us all the way to Minnesota.

We were glad we had the jackets we brought with us.

My Little Anna, The Blond Long Haul Driver

We visited Mall of America while we were in Minnesota in June of 2010.

I had some appointments at Mayo Clinic to check my legs because of the swelling problems I had had, due to the chronic lymph edema I developed after surviving chemotherapy.

The trip to Mall of America was fun. This ride was one that Anna loved, and Jack enjoyed it too. For me, it was an absolute scream to see my granddaughter's blond hair and chocolate brown eyes sparkle, while she went on this ride.

She savored every minute, and the grandchildren went on it at least three times.

Anna's signature grin was what made it so fun to see her on the ride. I've heard of adults, who don't spend time with grandchildren like this.

I guess I just don't understand something that silly. Life doesn't get better than seeing the passion that little ones have for things like this.

And besides, it was fun to see them skip and jump and run from ride to ride.

Jack and Tommy enjoyed the ride too. It was a very good day, and it further explains why Jack has so much fun with his cousins, although he would enjoy the moment just sitting in an apartment playing or running outside or experiencing a new playground in Rochester.

It explains his response when I asked him where he would like to go on a trip. I thought he would say Disneyland or Legoland or even Universal Studios in L.A.

"I want to see Tommy and Anna," he would say each time. Jack loves being around family. And I love to see the fun all of them have together when they play.

Jack Sitting in The Front of The Double Decker Bus

I was in the upper level, but Jack enjoyed a great view at the crowded street full of tourists, waiting to get to the "other Disney" rides. However, the driver took a liking to Jack and let him sit in the front seat.

Occasionally, the driver would refer to Jack over the speaker. I loved the ride, but like my own children, I could see the look on my grandson's face when we finished.

The look expressed words that didn't need to be said to know what the little boy was thinking: "O.K. Pop Pop, can we ride on a real ride now?"

But I liked the short drive down Main Street just fine. Like I mention in another blog, the rides were part of a perfect day on our latest Disneyland trip in early July of 2010.