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| 2019-09-12_10.22.45_FloodingFromTornadoes1.jpg |
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Easy 90 minute drive from Yankton to Sioux Falls today.
But we'd heard there were 3 tornadoes there last night.
Yikes!
Major building damage, but no deaths or serious injuries.
Good!
But some hotels are damaged and others full of dislocated people.
Booked a room in advance at the Holiday Inn, just in case.
We saw LOTS of flooding on the drive.
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| 2019-09-12_10.22.51_FloodingFromTornadoes2.jpg |
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Flooded creeks and drowned trees all along the highway
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| 2019-09-12_10.23.01_FloodingFromTornadoes3.jpg |
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Water as far as the eye can see
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| 2019-09-12_10.39.55_OneStreetPerMileForHundredsOfMiles.jpg |
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South Dakota is pretty empty.
They put in a road every mile or so, just for the heck of it.
Number them from west to east.
453 Ave is near Sioux Falls at the eastern edge of the state.
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| 2019-09-12_10.40.36_GravelSideRoad.jpg |
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The numbered side roads are often gravel, not paved
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| 2019-09-12_10.49.16_PavedStateRoute46.jpg |
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The main state roads like SD 46 are paved.
2 lanes are more than enough to handle the traffic.
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| 2019-09-12_10.53.29_FlatCountryside.jpg |
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Very flat countryside in South Dakota
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| 2019-09-12_10.57.59_EnteringCityOfSiouxFalls.jpg |
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The outskirts of Sioux Falls.
No visible tornado damage yet.
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| 2019-09-12_14.14.16_LaverneJerryJimPictures.jpg |
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Had a great visit with Laverne and Jim Haugen at Laverne's Condo.
Jim flew up from Hunstville AL to see his sister Laverne and
brother Elmer.
Timed it to be there as Jerry and I passed through.
Jim and I greeted each other as usual with "Hey there, funny looking!".
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| 2019-09-12_14.14.29_LaverneJerryPictures.jpg |
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Excellent lunch with delicious dessert served by Laverne.
Lots of entertaining stories about family.
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| 2019-09-12_14.29.36_CousinsReunionPictures.jpg |
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Laverne pulled out pictures from some of the famous "cousin's reunions"
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| 2019-09-12_14.49.28_JerryFredAtLavernesDriveway.jpg |
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Laverne snapped this pic of Jerry and me as we all loaded up to go visit Elmer
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| 2019-09-12_15.30.12_Elmer.jpg |
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At the nursing home, Elmer was asleep in his room, but they woke him
and brought him to the sunroom.
Wasn't able to talk much, but seemed to really enjoy our visit.
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| 2019-09-12_15.30.27_JeffTomJimElmerJerryLaverne.jpg |
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Ran into Elmer's long-time friend and helper Jeff, and Elmer's pastor
Tom
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| 2019-09-12_15.30.43_LaverneJeffTomJimElmerJerry.jpg |
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We all hung out for about an hour, coaxing Elmer into saying a
few words, and cracking him up occasionally with our jokes
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| 2019-09-12_15.37.56_ElmerLaughing.jpg |
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Had a sing-along, led by deep bass Jim.
We couldn't actually hear Jim sing, but we could feel the floor
vibrating as he belted out the songs, 3-4 octaves below the rest of us.
Elmer got more animated as he recognized some of the hymns and tried to
sing along.
Elmer died about 2 months later, at age 88. I'm glad Jerry and I were able to visit him one last time! |
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| 2019-09-12_17.03.57_CathedralSpires.jpg |
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Toured the Cathedral in Sioux Falls
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| 2019-09-12_17.04.02_Cathedral.jpg |
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| 2019-09-12_17.04.37_RectoryWhereEmilAndMildredMarried.jpg |
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Grandpa and Grandma Stluka (Emil and Mildred) were married in this
rectory in 1937.
Not in the cathedral because she wasn't Catholic.
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| 2019-09-12_17.11.35_CathedralFromADistance.jpg |
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If you get far enough away, it all fits in one picture frame!
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| 2019-09-12_17.26.10_SiouxFalls1.jpg |
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Saw the Sioux Falls that the city is named for.
I'd heard they can be underwhelming, but after 10 inches of rain in
the past week and 3 tornadoes yesterday, they were VERY impressive.
Video |
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| 2019-09-12_17.33.42_SiouxFalls2.jpg |
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Video
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| 2019-09-12_17.35.03_SiouxFalls3.jpg |
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Longer video: upstream, under bridge, downstream
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| 2019-09-12_17.38.12_SiouxFalls4.jpg |
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Nice city park surrounding the falls!
Then a leisurely dinner w/Laverne and Jim at Perkins, and back to
Laverne's for more hilarious stories and a 2nd helping of delicious
dessert.
Also managed to score an extra batch of Laverne's yummy home-baked
cookies for the long drive tomorrow.
Google says 700 miles, 11 hours to Greencastle IN.
Plus we lose an hour crossing time zones.
We'll probably hit one last hotel, and not see Tim Cope and family
till early Saturday.
Keep the pedal to the metal all day Friday 13th, feasting on cookies,
plus the last of our trail mix, nuts, cheese crackers, beef
jerky, etc.
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| x1954-03-14_15.30.00_JerryAndRosalieLettersToJimmyAndLaverne.png |
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Laverne has letters written 3/14/1954 by Jerry and
Rosalie to their cousins Jimmy and Laverne.
Notes:
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| x1954-03-14_15.30.01_JerryLetterToJimmy_Page1.png | ||||
Page 1 of letter from Jerry (age 9) to Jimmy (age 12):
There was a fire in back of our house yesterday. Our next door neighbor started it by burning a pile of twigs right in a whole mess of dried up weeds. And it started spreading real fast so everyone around us was running out there with their brooms and shovels. And there was a woods pretty near and it almost caught on fire but the fire went right around it and the houses on the street in back of us almost caught on fire. It got so bad they had to call the fire department. The only thing good about the fire was that there was a whole mess |
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| x1954-03-14_15.30.02_JerryLetterToJimmy_Page2.png |
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Page 2 of letter from Jerry (age 9) to Jimmy (age 12):
of weeds back there and now there is only about half of them,
half of it is ashes, now.
How is your family and you? I hope you and your family can come out here this spring if we don't come out there! There isn't much to write about so write soon. Cousin Jerry |
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| x1954-03-14_15.30.03_RosalieLetterToLaverne_Page1.png | ||||
Page 1 of letter from Rosalie (age 6) to Laverne (age 14):
There was a fire way in back of our house yesterday. It was a grass fire. It was so bad they had to call the fire |
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| x1954-03-14_15.30.04_RosalieLetterToLaverne_Page2.png |
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Page 2 of letter from Rosalie (age 6) to Laverne (age 14):
department.
Jerry will tell you more about it in his letter.
There isn't much to write about.
Cousin Rosalie |