Rolling with the punches

Alas, all this Missoula frivolity could not last. Shooting, soccer and new friends aside, real life must go on. Ducati Kevin was flying out to Minnesota for a family vacation and I needed to be on my way as well, so that I could get to Minnesota myself to pick up Dad and Patricia in less than a week's time.

The repairer/assessor people did their thing as promised and announced that the cream puff would be back in action in about two weeks time. Their parts supplier in Seattle, who needs to get parts delivered from their supplier (presumably in Stockholm), already had the order and the job would get top priority when the parts arrived. There was nothing for it but to hire a car and carry on, with an itinerary modified to accommodate the lost time and the unplanned need to return to Missoula to pick up the cream puff.

Naturally, some things had to be chopped out of the program. Everything east of Indiana has been canned. No Niagara Falls, no Washington D.C., and no quick trip up to Canada to visit Tim. All of these pleasures must be delayed until a future visit to the north eastern corner of the USA. Part of my original return trip has also had the chop. I will just have to live with the knowledge that I may never see Kansas, Toto. The plan now is to do a quick whirl through Grand Teton National Park then shoot through North Dakota to Minnesota where I will pick up Dad and Patricia. The three of us will meander down the Mississippi, then over to Des Moines, Iowa and the famous State Fair, plus Bridges of Madison County. Then Chicago, Amish Country, straight down to Missouri and Mark Twain territory, then back through South Dakota to Montana to pick up the cream puff. Reunited with the cream puff I will then head south, hit Yellowstone (which I missed the first time because of Bambi timing) and pick up the original plan in Colorado, provided there are no more close encounters of the cute and furry kind.

It is a logical compromise and so I am pleased to have the opportunity to go back and pick up some of the things I missed in this part of the world. I also consider it quite likely that at some future point in my life I will visit the north east and pick up the things I'm skipping this time.