Navigators Log Star Date July 4th, 2012

There is no real love without fascination

quote from Mink River by Brian Doyle

 

     We left Mustang Micky's just after dawn. The full moon was rising in the west, opposite the broad glowing orange in the east. We skirted the top of the Rockies, then dropped down in to the plains states.

Roy with N174RT at Mustang Micky's in Helena, MT.

We passed by Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area, near the Montana\Wyoming border. The Canyon is layers of burnt orange, brown and green. It is the opposite of the mountains we left behind, Upside down, sharp, one peak or ravine folded tightly against another.

The Rockies as we leave Montana for Wyoming

     Breakfast/Lunch today was at D&B's in Ainsworth, Nebraska. The front porch was sagging more than slightly, and held up by 2x4's at a slight angle. The shelf on the inside entryway was decorated by a nativity scene, the kind you buy at Walmart that tries to make all the characters look real, even thought baby Jesus was not a white child. A wooden craft store sign behind the cash register said "Life is Short, Eat Dessert First". An ancient metal, paint peeling, Pepsi Clock decorated the opposite wall, where blinds were drawn against the sun. The daily lunch special was written in red marker on a small dry-erase board. We sat down at a table with two gentlemen, one older, one much older, who were about to dive in to the special, which was pan fried chicken, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a little side dish of square cut custard pie. We skipped breakfast to get miles under us while it was still cool-ish and I was so hungry I nearly grab one of their plates away from them.

 

      While we waited to be served, the one not so old gentleman asked me if I was from the class of '74. No, I replied, '79. Oh, he nodded knowingly. The much older gentleman said class of '62. I nodded politely, thinking maybe this was the way people greeted each other on the planet of Ainsworth, NE. I did feel like an alien, with my sporty sun-glasses and iphone on the table in front of me. Roy asked if there was a class reunion happening. The not so old fella said "Yes, we're all here". I wondered who "All" might be.

     Betty stopped by on her way out to chat with older and much older. She had been well, thank you very much, since the doctor helped her with the numbing pain down the side of her leg. She was thin, lithe, stood very straight despite the many soft folded wrinkles that were once a young, energetic face. Much older said he was not so well, Those Folks had Asked Him To Leave, and now he had to find a new place. Not so old, nodded, his head down, "He's been giving them a load of grief for sure." Betty patted much older on the shoulder. The two paid their bill after Betty said goodbye, then left, with matching khaki shorts covering ample sitting area tucked firmly between their rear smiles.

D&B's in Ainsworth, NE

      Pete and Evelyn came in and took a seat behind us. Pete was Ox stout in large blue and white pin-stripped cover-all’s. His huge hands had worked on the farm every day of his life, except for the week when he and Evelyn took a vacation to a lake in Wisconsin. She had held his hand when they walked to the shore, and they kissed, and he thought that was maybe the way romance was supposed to feel, like they showed in old black and white movies. He knew she was stronger than an ox, and had held him, and the farm and the children firmly their entire lives. Now he wore hearing aids, and had to turn them up a bit when the waitress asked if he'd like his usual iced tea. He kept them turned down because the ox sometimes pulled harder on the reigns than he could keep up with at his age now. 

 

      My BTL was on white bread, with a thick slice of beef-steak tomato and lettuce that was almost green. It was delicious. So was the side of coleslaw that was snow white, fine chopped cabbage all rolled and soaked in in mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Roy ordered half of the lunch special. We shared the square of custard. It was grainy, baked to fast, and wonderfully creamy and sweet.

      The waitress with her faded pink tee-shirt, and pony-tail long and straight down her back, noticed me eying Roy's chicken thigh. "Would you like a piece of chicken, darl'in? I have extra, ya know." Yes, yes, I would. Can I have a wing? She smiled broadly, "a wing it is". Oh my goodness, yummy, crunchy, greasy goodness!

      This country is endlessly varied, and fascinating, from ocean to ocean, mountains, canyons, valleys and all the absolutely wonderful people. What a pleasure and privilege it was to see the country in our airplane on this Forth of July. I love this country!