The Heartland = The Heatland

7-10-11 Cheney, KS

Decided not to go to church in Menno this morning. Woke up early and got itchy feet to get on the road after a quick dip in the lake. Morning at Menno Lake brought with it the unwelcome surprise of biting flies which left me with a dozen welts and hastened my retreat.

I know I was only there for a day, but I was content with the visit and feel like I got what I came for, so I set my sights for Kansas and waved goodbye to a sleepy farm town that isn't really all that different from 100 years ago. Friendly, hard-working people; a real Main St.; beautiful, rolling plains ripe for the plow.

I had no real illusions about Nebraska taking my breath away, and was thoroughly unimpressed with the entire length of it that I witnessed, save a charming Mexican restaurant, El Pueblito, in Columbus. Nebraska really does exemplify the flatness you probably associate with the Great Plains, whereas the portions of South Dakota and Kansas I've seen so far feature undulating waves of yellow and green speckled with evergreens.

So yeah, Kansas was an improvement, but with the scenery came blazing heat. 107F where I'm gonna be camping tonight, but with a steady, hot breeze that beats the stagnant mugginess of Lake Menno.

I found a great little local coffee shop in Hutchinson, where I plan to visit the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center tomorrow, and they graciously let me absorb some of their AC, wifi, and iced tea (note I said iced tea, and not sweet tea...barbarians) for a few hours while the sun went off to persecute other longitudes.

The campsite I had checked out online was about half an hour away, on another lake, and turned out to be pretty well developed and comfortable. I explored the beach, startling all manner of wildlife (toads, beaver, herons, deer), and now I'm sitting in my flimsy mesh tent hoping the owner of those large canine paw-prints doesn't return.

The plains. They're pretty great.

7-9-11 - Menno, SD

It's hot. Still 95F at 9pm. Not to mention that breeze that nearly blew me off the road the whole way here has up and vanished. Probably because this lake is in a bowl of sorts. Definitely sneaks up on you. I was following the directions and thinking, "It's completely flat out here, where are they hiding a lake?" But then you drop into a little gully and there it is: a nice little lake tucked into a hilly depression. From down at the shore, south-east South Dakota boasts gently rolling hills covered with a blanket of yellow and green tall grass, with stands of evergreens speckled throughout. Not bad. But from highway-level, it's flat as paper, adorned with the same corn/soy motif as Iowa and no doubt the rest of the midwest I have yet to traverse.

I rolled into Menno about 3:30pm this afternoon (Sat.), brimming with anticipation. Realistically I knew I wasn't about to discover long-lost celebrity relatives or stumble across a family fortune, but it's still exciting knowing that my flesh & blood was and is so rooted into the character and history of this midwest "nowhere" town.

Not surprisingly, the Menno Heritage Museum was closed. There was a list of phone numbers (including a Cindy Aisenbrey) on the door, but I had no reception, and didn't feel like rousing someone from an afternoon nap so I could look at turn-of-the-century cookware. I grabbed my camera and ambled down 5th Ave (more of a 'Main St' than the actual Main St) snapping nondescript touristy images.

The Schnitz (a 5-star dining establishment, no doubt) was closed. The Open Door Cafe didn't live up to its name. I wandered into a confusingly-labeled shop, filled with vhs tapes and fridges full of home-grown produce. The couple behind the counter struck up a conversation and ended up being a repository of information as to the history of Menno, and the Aisenbrey family. We chatted for half an hour, and they gave me phone numbers for resident Aisenbreys, and directions to an old cemetery out of town they thought might feature some Aisenbrey tombstones. Apparently the fence had been moved in when the church changed locations, evicting the long-since rotted wooden crosses that marked the graves of my great-great grandfather, Christian Aisenbrey, and his father, who now lie under row after row of soybeans. Maybe they would've liked it that way.

I located a couple other family-members I'll have to look up later, but the bugs were relentless, and the South Dakota sun was starting to forego the cloud-cover it had graced me with thus far.

[and now I have to go brave the swarms of no-see-em's and shoot the sun setting over the lake. BRB. . . . Worst. Bugs. Ever. Non-stop onslaught until I made it back to the tent. Gorgeous sunset though. Probably gonna miss some of the good post-sunset light, but I wasn't about to let those bugs lay eggs in my ears.]

So back to the story. I headed back into town in hopes that the Open Door or the Bier Garden would be open, but alas, one out-of-towner must not warrant opening the whole store on a Saturday afternoon. So, having seen what there was to see in town, I headed off to the lake to scout out a campsite. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that there were so many people at the lake (which is really just a dammed river/glorified pond) given the heat, but luckily there was still one camper spot open, so I hurriedly set up my tent and retreated, once again, to its bug-proof-ness, only to sweat my ass off while trying to read.

One hour and a gallon of sweat later, I gave up and set out to find dinner in the next town over, since every door in Menno is apparently locked on Saturdays. Olivet, SD may have played big brother to Menno back in 1900, but as of July 9, 2011, its population is soaring at 63, with a grand total of zero restaurants. Back to Menno, and the sole gas station convenience store. Unfortunate.

Now I'm back in the tent, still sweating with no sign of a breeze. Guess I'm gonna try out one of the local churches tomorrow morning, then head out for Hutchinson/Wichita, KS tomorrow afternoon. Supposed to be hotter down there. Hooray.

P.S. - Lady in yellow tanktop, from air conditioned motor home just invited me to join them for fireworks in honor of her 40th birthday. Many happy returns.

there and back again, an itinerary

Finally finished up that first roll of 120 film for the TLR. Twelve frames in two weeks, I'm a speed-demon. That's one of the nice yet frustrating things about shooting film. The cost of the film and processing combined with the low frame-count on a standard roll of film turn most people into meticulous and thrifty photographers.

So my inaugu-roll is sitting on the counter at Thompson Photo on Middlebrook and 21st, awaiting enough brethren to merit firing up the processor and mixing the chemicals. The negatives and a CD containing the images will be waiting for me when I get back from Texas in a couple weeks.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I'm going to Texas. Eventually.

The Great Roadtrip of Summer 2011 starts on Friday with a short drive up to Mammoth Cave National Park in central Kentucky. I have an 11:15am Grand Avenue tour slot reserved. Unfortunately the tours are the only way you're allowed to explore the gargantuan cave system, but the Grand Avenue tour is supposed to take about 4 hours (over 4.5 miles), so it should be worth it. Probably gonna go find a backcountry site once I finish up with the tour and camp out Friday night.

Saturday I drive up to Indianapolis to meet my family for an old friend's wedding on Sunday. For the 2nd time in 2 years all 5 of us are finding our way back together from 3 continents. Should be a bunch of old friends from Senegal at the wedding, so it'll be a reunion of sorts.

Sunday night/Monday will find us caravaning up to Iowa, stopping periodically in Illinois to see extended family (whom I still only see every 4 years or so, even though I live in the same country now...). Cedar Rapids, IA is a home-base of sorts for my parents and where one of the sisters lives, so I'll hang out up there Friday which happens to be Dad's birthday.

Next I'm off to the minuscule town of Menno, South Dakota, where the first Aisenbreys to America decided to park their wagons and set up camp. I've always been enthralled by my family's genealogy, and lucky enough to have a name rare enough that the lines can be traced back to 1600 (and maybe earlier, which I hope to find out if I can track down the family historian in Menno). My great, great grandfather, Christian Aisenbrey, whose name I borrow for my middle, is quoted describing the area, "When we came in this region in May 1874, it was a bare open prairie. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but green grass and above it, the blue sky; no trees, no bush. On occasion, one could see small herds of antelope and a few buffaloes, prairie wolves and coyotes."

So after a day or two on the "bare open prairie", It's a straight line south, about 700 miles, to my next designated stop in Denton, TX, about 30 mins north of DFW. Friends and friends-of-friends, good food, and Texas heat for three or four days before making the slow and muggy drive back to Knoxville on I-20 (I-40 is just too monotonous).

So look forward to posts and pics and travel-logs and whatnot, and say a prayer for safe but adventurous travels.