Month: May 2021

Travel Log: 1995 Minnesota

Our daughter in the Botamobile

During every family vacation Shelly and I took with our kids I would keep a travel log of where we went, the route we drove, what we did there and even sometimes what we ate. On this, our first trip out of the state, we were driving a 1979 Dodge Sportsman van nicknamed The Botamobile. We lived in Des Moines, Iowa and this was before most people had cell phones, GPS or even home computers.

Aug. 19 – Set counter at zero and left house at 2:00 PM. Gassed up, dropped off puppy [Belle] with Ann [my sister] and hit 35 North to 18. West on 18 to Spencer, Iowa around 6 PM. Looked around for motel and decided on Grand Motel, 714 South Grand Ave (“You Are A Stranger Here But Once) Counter @ 226.5. Jacob lost his first tooth (tooth fairy was able to find him, despite his worry) Stayed in room #2.

Aug. 20 – Left motel at 9:00 AM…and stopped at Gitchie Manitou State Preserve, a sacred Sioux area that I have been wanting to see for years. We walked all of the trails and enjoyed the experience very much…Left around 12:30 PM (after about 1 ½ hours at preserve) on God knows what roads into South Dakota (42 bridge across Big Sioux River was closed so we had to detour) through Sioux Falls and North on 29. This part of South Dakota looks so much like Iowa that we decided to drive straight through to North Dakota. Decided to head for Fargo and then, once there, to Grand Forks. Hit Grand Forks around 7:00 PM…the van vapor locked…waited ½ hour for it to cool off, and headed straight for the Roadway Inn sign. So, am writing this now in Room #206 at the Roadway Inn, 4001 Gateway Drive, Grandforks, ND. Counter @ 673.7.

Aug. 21 – Left motel around 9:15 AM, gassed up, bought a few groceries and hit 29 North again. Reached Canadian/US border and customs asked us to pull over and come inside the building. An hour later we were heading South on 29 back into the States…[they tried to charge us extra entry fees, money we did not have] Now our plans had completely changed and we decided to head for Minnesota. Off 29 South to…Lake Bronson State Park for lunch. Then…to Zipple Bay State Park on Lake of the Woods. Set up small tent, children rode bikes and then to beach for them to swim and Shelly and I to re-plan vacation. Back to camp, beer, meat-packets and then, once dark, out to the shore for an incredible view of the stars. Counter @ 945.

Aug. 22 – Broke camp, showered and hit the road around 10:00 AM. Stopped to gas up along Hwy 11 East when the storm we were trying to outrun hit us. Black and greenish yellow clouds rolled from west to east over us and the wind was throwing dust and pea size gravel at us, stinging our arms and legs and making it hard to see more than 100 feet around us. I was filling up the van, braced against the wind when both of the trash barrels next to me blew away and out of site. Shelly came out of the gas station and the wind caught the door, busting the top brace. We sat in the van, wondering whether to go on. Radio would not pick up anything but static, and gas station did not even have a radio, so we did not know if there was a tornado coming or not. The rain finally hit, wind decreased and we decided to continue. Took 11 East to 72 South, 1 East, 71 North, 46 South, now in Chippewa National Forest. Various Hwys and county roads to Stony Point National Campgrounds. Beautiful spot (Campsite #13) with swimming beach 30 feet from camp. Children swam and rode bikes, Shelly and I talking, working around camp and enjoying the view. Counter around 1,180.

Part Two can be read here.

Grandfather Tried

Assimilated By David Jacobi

With energy derived from forbidden impulse

The converts overthrow their inhibitions

Therapeutic intervention delays the madness

Until after the revolution of political consciousness

Face to face in the spiritual supermarket

The fear of aging haunts private experience

In the brief period of dangerous flowering

No effort to conceal the development of illusion

When the fort went to decay we were watchful

Not wanting to stir the silence of death

While under the influence of fear and removal

It contained 3,000 mongrel souls readily sold

Extraordinarily wild and unaccountable

The sadness of the ages and the taste of death

Makes a metallic syncopation of melody

There is some thing dead under the foundation

From the thorny sanctuary of my mothers voice

Streamlined models laced with razor blades

Tail spinning around through a secondhand halo

A tongue hidden while you grandfather tried

2011 By David Jacobi

Dean Gets A Rabbit

Flowering Crabapple on our acreage

It has been a dry spring so far this year and that seems to have slowed down the blooming period for the flowers on the ground and flowering trees. We finally got almost two inches of rain during a 24 hour period a few days ago, which seemed to help. At the beginning of the month I noticed several turkey vultures soaring past our place, not circling but flying in a straight line north. I mentioned that to my dad and he said they were probably migrating. That was my lesson of the day because I had never seen them migrate and did not even know that they migrated. On Mothers Day our kids and their kids came out to the acreage to celebrate. The ladies went into town before lunch to do some shopping and have coffee, which left us boys sitting around outside talking and enjoying the warm morning. A couple of times the dogs took off chasing rabbits and Dean, our oldest grandson at 10, asked if he could shoot a rabbit. I said sure, and his dad Jesse told him if he got one he had to eat it. Dean said okay, grabbed his BB gun and was off. We were thinking nothing would come of it when not five minutes passed before he returned with a dead rabbit, a clean kill through the neck. Jesse proceeded to clean it in the grass, describing to the boys what he was doing and why and answering their questions. About an hour later there was rabbit on the grill next to the steaks and chicken, and true to his word Dean ate some. Later on he and I did some practice shooting at cans and sure enough he is a pretty good shot. Maybe this could become a family tradition, at least until we run out of rabbits.

Obscure America: Slang Words

Snirt

Here are nine obscure slang words from American history.

Lally-cooler – Very Successful

Applesauce – Use in place of “nonsense”

Splifficated – Very drunk

Whoopensocker – Very, very good

Berries – Fun (my grandpa used this, as in “Well isn’t that the berries.”

Snirt – Windblown snow and dirt

Sneetered – Scammed

Larruping – Very delicious

Roscoe – Handgun

Baked Chicken Variations

French Fried Onion Baked Chicken

Baked chicken is one of the easiest and quickest meals to make. The coating is what gives the meal such a wide variety of flavors. We started with the standard flour, egg and salt and pepper combination. After awhile we began adding garlic and onion powder, then paprika. Then instead of flour we would use seasoned bread crumbs. For a period we would coat with a dressing, such as ranch or Italian, instead of egg, then add the flour or crumbs. Next we substituted crushed french fried onions instead of flour. We experimented with pre-mixed seasoned flour and my favorite is Kentucky Kernel. Lately we have been enjoying the chicken seasoning from Tastefully Simple. Our prep for any of the above is to dip the chicken into the beaten egg or dressing, then drop the pieces into a sack containing the dry coating and shake it well. We bake in a preheated oven on a sheet at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then flip and continue for another 20 minutes. Serve with baked potatoes or rice and green beans or fried zucchini.