Day 1: Socially distant summer (7/26)
MITCHELL SD - In this most unusual of years, the journey began on a Sunday morning, and given current conditions, nobody would fill in for me at the church piano. Perfectly understandable.
The first stop was in Hodgenville KY, the birthplace of some guy on some money.
Stationed outside, the park ranger oversaw my slightly damaged can of Ale-8-One - a regional ginger ale - while we followed the arrows through the visitors’ center. We decided not to trot up the hill to the “other” Lincoln Memorial, which inside houses a symbolic log cabin.
Unlike last year, we arrived in a timely manner at the Nashville airport, though it was a good ten-minute walk from our parking lot to the terminal which, given the muggy weather, was not a pleasant experience.
Unsurprisingly, the Nashville-Sioux Falls flight was not crowded; in fact, the route will shut down for the year in a couple weeks. So since Allegiant charges for seat selection, I was stretched out in the back row, leaving Chad up front.
Since we packed our liquids smartly, it was straight to the rental counter, where the agent tested me - unsuccessfully at first - on what my auto insurance company was. (For some reason, I knew Chad’s before I remembered mine.)
We had another hour to drive before settling down for the night, so I let slide the leftover convenience store cups, bottled water, and unopened packet of gum in our Altima. While Chad expressed similar disgust, once we hit the posted speed limit on I-90 (80 mph), he settled down a bit.
Dinner for the night was that upper Midwest institution, Culver’s - think of a burger joint that also sells frozen custard, with a featured flavor of the day.
We checked in at the Rodeway Inn, and to my surprise, I was greeted with (a) a split-level lobby and (b) no elevator. And while the clerk was gracious enough to help move everything, Chad was not impressed.
The first stop was in Hodgenville KY, the birthplace of some guy on some money.
Stationed outside, the park ranger oversaw my slightly damaged can of Ale-8-One - a regional ginger ale - while we followed the arrows through the visitors’ center. We decided not to trot up the hill to the “other” Lincoln Memorial, which inside houses a symbolic log cabin.
Unlike last year, we arrived in a timely manner at the Nashville airport, though it was a good ten-minute walk from our parking lot to the terminal which, given the muggy weather, was not a pleasant experience.
Unsurprisingly, the Nashville-Sioux Falls flight was not crowded; in fact, the route will shut down for the year in a couple weeks. So since Allegiant charges for seat selection, I was stretched out in the back row, leaving Chad up front.
Since we packed our liquids smartly, it was straight to the rental counter, where the agent tested me - unsuccessfully at first - on what my auto insurance company was. (For some reason, I knew Chad’s before I remembered mine.)
We had another hour to drive before settling down for the night, so I let slide the leftover convenience store cups, bottled water, and unopened packet of gum in our Altima. While Chad expressed similar disgust, once we hit the posted speed limit on I-90 (80 mph), he settled down a bit.
Dinner for the night was that upper Midwest institution, Culver’s - think of a burger joint that also sells frozen custard, with a featured flavor of the day.
We checked in at the Rodeway Inn, and to my surprise, I was greeted with (a) a split-level lobby and (b) no elevator. And while the clerk was gracious enough to help move everything, Chad was not impressed.