Heigh Ho off to Van Gogh we Go...

In about February 2022, we started receiving notices that a new exhibit could be visited in Cincinnati. The exhibit was the Van Gogh Immersion Experience. This intrigued Claude and me. Claude purchased three tickets. As the date approached, we asked our daughter, Andie, if she was interested in attending this with us. She was very interested. 

Tuesday, June 7th, Andie said she was running the schedule past her family to be sure all would work. Bailey said, "I want to go to that." Andie contacted me and asked if Bailey could go in her place. Of course she could. 

Wednesday, June 8th, Andie and her children finished cleaning out her classroom. Then Hayden was able to get a few more of his driving hours in by driving himself, Andie and Bailey to our home. They would spend the night so it would be easier to get up in the morning and get ready to drive to Cincinnati. 

Thursday, June 9th, Hayden had a YouTube program he wanted to watch while we were gone. Andie had a book she wanted to read. Claude, Bailey and I left for Cincinnati at 10:30am. We were assigned a time slot to keep crowds to a minimum. The drive went well, no backups in traffic. There was one concern and that was as we approached the drive leaving Kentucky to cross the Ohio River into Ohio. A man on a motorcycle in front of us was driving very weird. I was very concerned for his safety. Claude and I spent many years on a motorcycle and are very aware of the inherent danger of riding a bike. There was some backfire of his bike and then he rode leaning to the right and working with something on that side of his bike as he drove. This particular stretch of road is just before crossing the Brett Spence bridge. Traffic is heavy and people are changing lanes to be in the correct lane to exit the Interstate, take another Interstate or exit to a street in Cincinnati as soon as they cross the river. I was grateful Claude was driving as he was aware of the problems this motorcyclist was causing for himself and others. He would slow way down slower than all the rest of the traffic. Claude would slow but sometimes he was right on the guys bumper. I kept hoping this man would move to the side of the road but he kept leaning and working with his bike like everyone was to stay out of his way. I was grateful when our change of lanes came up and we were not behind this poor fella and his motorcycle. 

We found a parking garage and walked the block to the venue. We were a little early but went in anyway. They scanned our tickets and let us begin our visit to the Van Gogh Immersion Experience. The exhibit was clearly set up in an old empty building they had worked to create a museum in. They cleverly painted the walls in the stairways like Van Gogh's Starry Night. It was very well done. The canvases on the walls had the painting projected onto them. Lots of well laid out signs to explain Van Gogh's life and the story behind the paintings. 

The first part of the exhibit was more like going through an art gallery. The first of several images that had movement was a bust of Van Gogh. The bust started as a normal looking bust and then they projected painting of flowers that Van Gogh did over his bust. 

There was a series of some of his paintings. I came away understanding that Van Gogh loved nature and painted many flowers and outdoor scenes. He would paint the same flowers over and over. The Sunflower painting he is so famous for is actually two series of sunflower paintings. Trying differences in colors and stages of the growth of the flower. He did this repetition of painting something a lot. 

Another video type presentation explained, using Starry Night, that they now are sure that Van Gogh was color blind. His bold use of color was him compensating for the way he saw things. It allowed him to be more free with how he painted. They have learned this by an expert taking his painting and running it through multiple color processes. 

Then I was fascinated with the vase video. I shouldn't call it a video. But I really don't know what to call it. The stationary item was the vase. Then the screen would slowly add the image of one of Van Gogh's floral paintings in a vase. This would morph into another of his paintings of flowers in a vase and the vase might change its color to go with that painting. Fascinating to watch. Here are some of the flowers I liked best in this presentation.

Before we left this room, the final painting was of Tree Roots. It has now been determined this was the final painting by Van Gogh.

We entered another room with cameras projected on the floor. You stood where the camera image on the floor was and they had three dimensional representations of some of Van Gogh's art that you could have your picture taken in front of. One of these I could not figure out what it was so I simply took a picture of it. But two of them we took advantage of getting a picture of Bailey with each of us.

Then we went down a little hallway with self-portraits Van Gogh had painted. 

We took a hike up the stairs. They went up and up and up and up and up one more time! Then we entered a large room. There were lawn chairs and big pieces of carpet to sit on spaced apart for social distancing. There was a raised area you could also sit on. This is immersive because there is art projected on all four walls of the room. This art is accompanied by music and follows his life story through his paintings. The paintings morph from one to the other so there is constant movement on all four walls. It was delightful to watch all of this. The people come and stay till they get back to the part where they entered and then they get up and leave. So, there is movement of people throughout the Immersion Experience. I totally enjoyed this portion of our visit. Here are some still shots of these some of these scenes on the walls. 

This is a short video a bit of the Immersion room portion. Absolutely fascinating. 

We made our way to one more room for the Virtual Reality portion. Claude and I did this. Bailey gets car sick and felt she would not do this part. She took pictures of Claude and me as we participated in the virtual reality. This portion had you moving through eight of Van Gogh's paintings. It was amazing. And, Bailey got a kick out of our reactions as we watched through our VR devices. 

Vincent Van Gogh had a very troubled life. He was beset with depression and psychotic episodes. He was in institutions several times. And yet, he loved nature and reveled in walking and sketching so he could paint what he saw in nature. I truly appreciated the quotes they took from his life and included in this exhibit. In round numbers, they have say 800 letters from his life. 600 of these are between him and his brother, Theo, whom he dearly loved. That is a nice record of Van Gogh. I am sure these quotes came from those letters. Here are a few I really enjoyed.

I enjoyed this afternoon learning a bit about Van Gogh. I only knew a little. Now a know a little more and appreciate him. For all his troubled mind and life, there is something positive in his quotes and the beauty of his colors and style of painting. This was a very good use of our time.

A Funeral...

Tuesday, June 7th, while we were on our little trip, we learned that a sweet friend passed away. This is someone we felt close enough to that we wanted to attend their service. Tuesday, from 4pm to 8pm was the viewing for Janet Kappes. We would travel to Morehead, Kentucky to attend this viewing. We would leave about 3pm. That left the morning to get things done after our trip. I would begin the laundry. Claude would take a Zoom training class for a new interest of his. Then we gave the rest of our day to driving to, attending, having dinner at Cracker Barrel, and returning home. The thing about these events, is you get to see people you haven't seen in a long while. The pandemic only exacerbated that. Hugs from Janet's girls and a brief chat with Keith, her hubby of 51 years, felt good and right for them and us. 

Wednesday, June 8th, was the funeral. We needed to leave our home around 11am. This gave us again a couple of hours to accomplish some of our home chores. Claude did a little grocery run. I did the mountain of ironing. Then we were off to Owingsville for the funeral. 

It was a sweet funeral. Janet had requested the last piece for prelude be a recording of Frank Sinatra singing "My Way". One of Janet's sisters gave the opening prayer. Keith spoke about his lovely wife and read the eulogy. Also speaking were Kelsey (a daughter), one of the sons, Kallie (a daughter) and Janet's sister from Utah. The grandchildren sang two songs. Then Bishop Nelson spoke. A good friend gave the closing prayer. There were three congregational hymns throughout the program. It all took about 1 1/2 hours. 

Janet and Keith had eight children. When they married, she was told she would have none. Surprised those doctors. Janet was always busy doing something for others. She was a school teacher by profession. But she was always reaching out to help others. Her children all shared what a perfect mother she was. Her boys were rascals and she was excellent with each of them. She has a lot of grandchildren. When we were at the viewing, Kourtney, a daughter, shared that one of the grandchildren said, "What about new pajamas at Christmas?" Kourtney assured me they would make that happen to honor their mother. 

I found myself in interesting territory. Papa passed away on May 15th and his funeral was May 19th. It hasn't been a month yet. I feel like I am on solid ground with all of that. Then yesterday, as we left the funeral home after the viewing, I found myself very quiet and reflective and on the verge of tears. I realized I am still at a tender place with regard to Papa's passing and having no living parents. Claude's mother passed in January. It really is a lot to take in even if you have great understanding of life after death and that is a source of great strength. I have let myself feel what I need to feel and let that be a healing process. 

I am sure of the Plan of Happiness. I know I have a Heavenly Father whose child I am. I know I can and do talk to him constantly through prayer. Each of those prayers is heard and answered in the timing and way that is best for my life. I believe in walking by faith in this life. That is not always easy. It requires being humble and submissive to the Lord's will and timing. I love the lessons I have learned by walking by faith. Mostly those lessons are learned in hindsight. Looking back and seeing the hand of the Lord in my life and the way things happen. I know I have a Savior who loves me enough to endure that great Atoning Sacrifice. I know that Atonement touches every bit of my life. All of this sure belief gives one strength to endure whatever we are called upon to endure in this life. 

As I watched Keith walk out of the chapel today with his hand on Janet's casket and tears in his eyes as he one more time leads her out of that chapel, I know that he knows these things as well. They will give him strength to work out Janet's passing in his life. 

How grateful I am for this testimony. The strength that it gives to let the bumps of life polish me into a better disciple of Christ. It doesn't take away the bumps and difficulties. It does give purpose and meaning to why I am here and strength to gain and learn all I can from what happens in my life. Yes, I am very grateful for my testimony.

We Took a Trip...

Wednesday, June 1st, we left our home about 10:30am headed to St. Louis, Missouri. Our goal...to dine at Zia's on the Hill. That is it. All that drive and a night in the hotel to have a salad at Zia's. That is how good their salad and dressing are. 

While driving through Indiana, we saw something one doesn't see everyday. An eagle strapped down in the back of a truck!

We stopped once for gasoline. Sticker shock for us. The most we have ever paid for gas in the United States. We had about 1/4 of our tank full. So this was what it took for fill 3/4's of a tank of gasoline on my Buick Envision. 

Our first view of the Arch in St. Louis meant Zia's was very close.

Loving Google Maps help, we made it quickly to Zia's. 

We ordered such ordinary food for a nice place. I really wanted salad and bread. Claude wanted salad, spaghetti with marinara sauce and bread. Our server was really nice and accommodated our desires. The food was soooo good. We asked if we could still purchase bottles of the salad dressing they make in house. He said their supply chain was awful right now. This is the case everywhere. He said they will get a shipment in and it is gone within one day. They had none on hand for sale this day. We were so happy with getting this meal again.

I made us a hotel reservation at a La Quinta Inn in Collinsville, Illinois. It was about 25 minutes from downtown St. Louis. This would put us on the outside of all the rush hour traffic when we got ready to leave Thursday morning. We found our hotel quickly. 

I had received a suggestion to check-in online and only have to pick up our key when we got to the hotel. I downloaded the app while we were driving and did the online check-in. When we got to the hotel, I stopped at the front desk to pick up our room key. The young man asked for my ID and credit card. I told him I had checked in online and was a member of their point system. No matter. I still went through all the things at a front desk to check-in like one would usually do. I asked him why do the online check-in if I still had to do all this face-to-face stuff. No answer. 

He gave us a key to a room on the first floor. This is happening more often as I book us at the senior rate. We walked down the hall to the room. The door was open because the latch was placed across the opening. The bed was stripped and not made and there was a piece of cleaning equipment in the entry outside the bathroom door. I told Claude this was not acceptable and we made our way back to the front desk. I placed the keys on the counter and in a firm but kind voice assured the young man our room was not acceptable for the following reasons. He apologized. A manager overheard this and went to check the room. The young man at the desk found another room and asked if the second floor was okay. I assured him that was fine. As we rode the elevator up, I told Claude that, if we found a problem here, I was asking for a free room. Claude grinned and said okay. Fortunately, the room was in good condition and we made ourselves comfortable for the night. Claude and I had both stayed in La Quinta before and found the hotels excellent. This experience was not excellent at all. When checking out the next day, I asked the lady at the desk about the online check-in. She said their hotel was not equipped to handle that at this time. Ugh!

This day was our daughter, Andie, and son-in-law, Michael's, 25th wedding anniversary. I posted this on Facebook: "Happy 25th Anniversary!! Andie Christensen Marx and Michael Marx. WOW! What say you go for 25 more? Love ya bunches!!"

Thursday, June 2nd, 0n the road we went. We would spend our day driving from the southern end of Illinois through the top end and on to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The drive is seven hours but it takes a bit longer with stops. 

We past lots of wind turbine farms. I love these. I know others find them offensive in the landscape. But I find them simply elegant behemoths. 

We crossed over the Illinois River.

And found gas prices a little better. Our price to fill the tank was still $74.10 but the rate was much better than the last fill up. 

Another thing we found interesting in this part of the United States that we do not remember seeing anywhere else, was a small barn with a popped out roof in the center top. It was almost like a room that would have a steeple on top. Not sure why they were built that way but they were all over the place. There is one in the center of this picture to the right of a silo.

We made it to Manitowoc in great time. We wanted to eat somewhere that was a local place, not a chain restaurant. We drove to the Comfort Inn first and found a nice restaurant named Jolla a block away. We each ordered schnitzel for dinner with mashed potatoes and grilled brussel sprouts. The meal was filling and delicious.

We checked into our room at the Baymont Inn. Loved that all the trees are in bloom there. This is much further north and they are just warming up. So lots of flowering trees in full bloom. There was one outside our room window. 

Once settled in our room, we decided to go for a walk around the area. This hotel is where the Manitowoc River flows into Lake Michigan. Manitowoc Harbor is right along the back of the hotel. We would cross the Manitowoc River the next day and board the SS Badger for a car ferry ride across Lake Michigan. There are pictures of the Manitowoc River, Manitowoc Harbor and Lighthouse and Lake Michigan in the distance.

We would visit the Wisconsin Maritime Museum the next day. Before we went to our room we walked down along the Manitowoc River to the view the USS Cobia submarine. More about that later. 

Our room at the Baymont Inn was on the third floor. I noticed when we went down the elevator for our walk, the boat hanging over the lobby area actually had fish and a fishing pole inside it. You don't see that unless you are on the third floor looking down. When we returned to the hotel, I made sure I got a picture of this cute feature.

In the evening we tried our second different flavor of cashews. Cashews are one of our go-to foods when driving long distances. Claude can eat them one-at-a-time to stay awake and focused. On this trip we found on our drive through Indiana tangerine vanilla cashews. They were quite tasty. On our drive through Illinois, I found dill pickle flavored cashews. Claude said their flavor became addictive. That was the end of the unusual flavors of cashews. But we'll keep our eyes peeled on other trips.

Friday, June 3rd, we started our day a little late for hotel breakfast. We got in the trusty Buick Envision and drove around the outside of Manitowoc. We both agreed this was a clean, delightful little town. Probably a great place to live except in winter! We found a gas station and got a muffin for breakfast. 

We wanted to visit the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. It was right down the street from our hotel on the Manitowoc River. During World War II they made submarines up the river in Manitowoc. The museum has the USS Cobia as part of their museum. While this submarine was not built in Manitowoc, it is the same class of submarine that was built in Manitowoc. We were hoping to get to tour this submarine.

I was able to get us tickets for their first tour at 11am. The ticket included visiting the museum. We strolled through as many exhibits as we could before our 11 am tour. One was a simulation of being inside the control room of a submarine. Claude pressed the buttons to send out torpedoes and steered the submarine. 

I loved this quote by the commanding officer. "There are only two kinds of people on a submarine, those who admit they are scared, and those who are liars." George F. Hamilton

We entered a meeting room named after the USS Cobia. It took three pictures but I got the entire submarine. In the middle picture, you will see a broom on the top stack of the submarine. Our tour guide would explain this was put up when the submarine had a clean sweep of all their torpedoes. I was very curious when I took this picture and very grateful he explained and I didn't have to ask.

There was an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) simulator that Claude tried his hand at. 

We continued to stroll through as many of the exhibits as we could. Lots of model ships and a life size replica of the building of the inside of a ship. This was a really good museum.

Soon it was 11am and time for our tour of the USS Cobia. You start on top of the submarine on teak decks. Then you enter the submarine in an entrance made for visitors. The sailors would have gone down holes in the top of the submarine. It was tight quarters but very interesting. The toilet was a 9 step process to flush!! If you didn't get the steps right and in order, bad water was in the submarine. Ugh! 9 Steps!! At one point in the engine room our guide was saying it was 120 degrees in there and very hot all the time. At about that point I had a major hot flash and was wiping sweat off my arms. I found his comment humorous in light of my suffocating hot flash in that closed space. Timing is everything. 

Once back on top of the USS Cobia, we could see the the SS Badger had docked. 

We would leave the museum and cross the Manitowoc River to enter the SS Badger loading area. I had wondered how they got all those cars loaded in a way that the ship was in balance. Also, how did they get them off and you find your car. All my questions were answered as we entered this area. First an officer with a dog came. The dog sniffed your car while the officer asked a few questions. Then a lady spoke with us and gave us a car to put in our window with our name in bold letters on it. We were told to pull forward and park behind the silver car in lane three. We were to leave our key in our car. Once we left our car, we would not be able to return to it. We were early so we sat in our car until the drivers came to drive the cars onto the Badger. 

We got out of our car and went through minor security check. I was able to take a few pictures of the SS Badger.

Then we were allowed to board the vessel. Our ID's were checked against our names before we could climb the stairs to the two levels for passengers. Once on top, we walked around the outside of the ship and took a few more pictures of the harbor from the view on top of the ship.

I noticed what I thought was a brightly colored tugboat. I have a very soft spot in my heart for tugboats. Well, this turned out to be a Coast Guard vessel. I remember looking at my cellphone at 2:10 and wondering out loud why the Badger had not left harbor yet. I really expected them to be very punctual. We waited longer and still the Badger only had engines running and the water stirred a bit around it but no movement to leave the harbor. One of the staff came by and I asked why we had not left yet. She explained that there was a report of a possible drowning in the harbor and no ships were allowed to enter or leave until the investigation was complete. They had no idea how long this would take and we all had to stay on board till the investigation was complete. Okay. We could do that. These are pictures of the Coast Guard helicopter that came to search for the body. There were also local marine police in boats and walking along the jetty. A sailboat came back from Lake Michigan and entered the harbor area on its way to the marina which was a part of the harbor area. The Coast Guard boat came alongside and told them they could not enter. They turned and returned to Lake Michigan. 

We believe that this final picture is where they found the body. The little boat was anchored on both ends. This was the only time this little boat was anchored. 

After this, there was a freight barge that was allowed to leave the harbor. This would be our indication that the investigation was at a point where ships could move.

The the SS Badger was allowed to leave Manitowoc Harbor and enter Lake Michigan.

The cruise across Lake Michigan to Ludington, Michigan is 60 miles and take four hours. We were three hours late departing. We had seven hours aboard the Badger, three in Manitowoc Harbor and four on Lake Michigan. The Lake was calm and we enjoyed our cruise. The Badger was no where near full. It was early in their season. This was extra nice for us. You could fine places to sit and not be on top of other people all over the ship. We tried several places and enjoyed several views. We had things to eat and drink and just relaxed for four hours. 

As the day wore on, we approached sunset. I took these pictures as the sun was lowering and then setting on Lake Michigan. Love a sunrise or sunset on water.

Soon we got our first glimpse of land as we approached Ludington. 

These pictures are entering Ludington Harbor and docking the Badger.

It was 10pm EST when we docked. We had get off the ship, find our car and then the one-hour drive to Holton. They drive the cars off the boat and line them up facing where we walked to. When you find your car, you get in it and drive away. It is really the most efficient way to handle that situation. We had a good drive to Holton and didn't hit any deer. We are calling it a Win-Win!!

Saturday, June 4th, would be our day to visit with our grand and great grandmonsters. First we had breakfast with Paul and Rachel at Bob Evans. 

Then we went to McDonald's and got lunch for the Roper family. Joel's first birthday would actually be Monday, June 6th, but we would celebrate with the family this Saturday. 

Joel would have two cakes and some cupcakes. The smaller cake was the 'smash cake' and would be given to Joel when Drew's family came in the evening.

Joel was given a cupcake to demolish while we were there. He heartily enjoyed his cupcake.

Time to open presents. At this point Drew's brother, Brian, and his wife and daughter were there. Also Claude and me, Nissa and Todd, Mai, and the Roper family. Raelyn is always eager to help her siblings with opening presents. Emelia enjoys that but she really likes to try out the new toys. 

We left about 2:30pm to meet Aubrey and Tay at Burger King on the way to Holton. They are in the middle of a move and enjoyed a break and a burger. 

Back to the Tyler home we went around 4:30pm. Nissa and Todd would drive us back to Russ's where we all had a nice dinner together. The trick with this day is to not over eat. We did really well. We ate breakfast with Paul and Rachel. We did not get a cupcake at Katelyn's but Claude did eat a burger from McDonald's. At Burger King we had a soda. Then we enjoyed a nice dinner at Russ's. Ended up going back to the Tyler's and were not stuffed at all. Whew!!

Sunday, June 5th, was a rainy day. This made going out not a good idea. So we embraced the lazy weather and had a lazy day with the Tyler's. Todd smoked us a meatloaf and new potatoes. Nissa made a really good veggie salad. It was another delicious meal by Todd and his pellit grill. 

Monday, June 6th, I awoke to say goodbye to Nissa when she left. I love this daughter so much. She gives the best hugs. Nissa was off to drive with Katelyn and Mai to Chicago O'Hare Airport. Time for Mai to return to Japan. Claude and I would sleep a bit later, then shower and head in the direction of home. However, when we went to load our car, the rear driver side tire was down to 19 lbs. of air. Claude thinks the valve was leaking. We have a tire pump in the car that plugs into the cigarette lighter. We were able to fill it up. There was a veritable flock of large mosquitos around the car. We were surprised they were out in such force with it was raining. Then we were off to Chelsea. 

Claude had intended to take I-96 to Hwy 131 south. Alas, the exit from I-96 was closed at 131. Rather than take the long detour for 131 south, we opted to stay on I-96 till we got to Hwy 129 and take it south to Jackson. Interestingly, almost all the exit ramps along I-96 were closed due to construction. It is true what they say about Michigan. They have two seasons, winter and construction. 

We made it to Chelsea and met up with Jake. It was nice to have lunch with him at the Mexican restaurant. He looked good.

Then we drove on home. It rained a lot on us from Holton all the way home. We would have period of no rain which we reveled in. Then it would come a downpour that you couldn't hardly see the road in front of you. All the vehicles would put on their emergency flashers and drive very slowly. We were safe but it had the potential to be very, very bad. 

We experienced a momentous occasion as we neared the Sadieville exit. My little car turned over the odometer to 100,000 miles. Yike!! My goal with this car was 10 years of life. It turned 5 years in February of this year. So, I guess that means I get another 100,000 miles of driving!

This was an excellent little trip. We accomplished dinner at Zia's, a ride on the SS Badger (bucket list item complete), seeing all our Michigan family except Nelson. Now, we need to plan our next trip!!