Group Photo, giving some idea of the magnitude of this undertaking
It was decided, somehow, that there should be a 2001 Bayerl Family Reunion, meaning the descendants and in-laws (or as one uncle from that group calls them, the "out-laws") connected with John C. Bayerl (1902 - 1978) and Claire Tanguay (1911 - 1974). This had happened last in 1987, and from my recollection of the difficulty in doing that, I was surprised that they'd even try again. Feeling a call to "duty" in all of this, I booked airfare, rental car and hotel on the old United Connection client, just prior to its being phased out in favor of ual.com's Web-based set-up. We used to go to the location in question, Menominee, MI, every summer. It would be an all-day trip from Detroit to the Upper Peninsula, and all day was quite awhile for an 8-year-old kid. Now, with my location in northern VA, the only practical route is by air to Green Bay, WI, or GRB. I have flown this route a couple times before on Northwest, the main carrier there, connecting in Minneapolis or Detroit, only I'm collecting Mileage Plus miles now, and the rate was comparable. In the weeks preceding this journey, I had the feeling that I was travelling on "business", but that could just be a symptom of my "inertia" in life and love of routine. In retrospect, it looks like it was well worth doing.
27 July 2001 -- My, how we've grown
After my usual last-minute packing and preparation the morning of departure, I dropped my 11-year-old cat Thomas off at Woodlawn Kennels. I headed up Route 1 through an amazingly-light volume of traffic to Washington National Airport (DCA). My workplace associate Thomas N. met me in nearby Crystal City, where we both work, and dropped me off in my truck at the departing flights entrance to the new DCA terminal. This was to save me money on parking fees and give him the use of the truck. Tom had worried that I might fail to connect with him that day, making sure to coordinate operations on our Verizon Wireless telephones. I had to remind him that I have never missed a plane, and that's in 14 years of regular air travel. I was there in plenty of time.
I found my way through the air travel system to Chicago O'Hare (ORD), which reminded me of my trip to Davenport, IA in 1999. The second segment to GRB, on a commuter jet, ended up delayed by 45 minutes or so, to 2:15 PM CDT. Thus I had a chance to obtain a decent lunch at Chili's, in the F concourse. I was delighted to see that they had chicken tenderloins, one of my favorites at the Potomac Yard Hops, only I was incredibly surprised that barbecue dipping sauce was not available. This is at a restaurant that tries its hardest otherwise to cultivate a country and western theme. Well, I shall have to grow used to the honey-mustard sauce species if I wish to order this appetizer/entrée on a regular basis in the future. I was soon on the smaller jet, making the "hop" up the WI shoreline. I spent my time noting the lay of the land and its use, as we proceeded through America's Dairyland and into increasingly-wooded country near Lake Winnebago. Compared to flying out west, the distance I had to fly wasn't all that much, so I didn't wind up with the "load" of spending time in the cabin to wear me out. I found the National car rental desk, where I was assigned a bright red 2000 Chevy Impala. Though I consider GM cars a little "funny" and would have preferred a Ford Taurus or Crown Victoria, I had to remind myself that "this isn't my car", the way I did when I got a Buick during my trip to southern CA in 1996.
Having hit the road for the final stretch to the land my Dad called "home", I decided to drive first "across the street" from GRB to the Oneida Nation's substantial Bingo and Casino facility. I played a few hands of blackjack and then some slots, until it became time to go at 5:00 PM. Having bought my own slot machine in May 2001, I found this most interesting. I picked up a whole bunch of 50 States Quarters from circulation there to add to my own working set. I then began my way up Route 41, bound for Marinette and the Best Western Riverfront, which at 6 stories is the "grandest" hotel in the Marinette/Menominee area. The driving was not as stressful as it is in VA, which is fortunate since I was driving a car not having the familiar Ford Motor controls. As I approached the town of Oconto, I saw a place advertising "fireworks", which always makes a big kid like me wonder what they have. I was surprised to find the entire lineup of what is "legal" nationwide, putting WI on par with such legendary states as SC and MO. I bought $50.00 in various "tube"-based goods, then continued north. When I reached Marinette, I bought a 6-pack of O'Doul's and a barbecue lighter for the fireworks. I finally arrived at the hotel at about 6:45 PM, where I was assigned room #523, riverview. This indeed was the old Holiday Inn from ages past, where I would have preferred staying when we were instead located at assorted strip motels along MI highway 35 and the coast of Green Bay.
Once I dropped my load in the hotel room, I called Dad, who was willing to drive me over to Aunt C.'s house, out in the Menominee County countryside. I generally don't care to drive at night on those dark highways, especially in a car I don't know. Dad parked the mini-van on the far side of the 2-lane road, and I waded in to a whole bunch of folks I had a hard time identifying. As an example, I mistook my cousin's wife for his own sister. So many blond haired-people were on hand, many of whom I hadn't seen in a number of years (or indeed, at all, on account of their youth). I ended up playing Game Boy Tetris as I stretched out on the hammock in the back yard, near my Aunt's man-made pond. The mosquitoes were not what they've been in times past. Folks who recognized me would occasionally stop by to visit, as I pretended to be oblivious. Finally, it became dark enough at 8:50 PM to shoot my bag of fireworks. After securing permission, I set up on the far side of the pond, where people (and especially kids) could stay at a safe distance. It was a lot of fun, with Roman candles, artillery shells and multi-tube "cake" arrays. One of my cousins later came out with his own supply, with the result that Aunt C. was given a new row of burned out Roman candle tubes, planted in her garden. Dad was finally able to pull away from the party long enough at 10:00 PM to return me to the hotel, where it was much later than I'm used to being up.
28 July 2001 -- Performing on schedule
I woke up early enough without an alarm--at 7:55 AM--to make the scheduled meeting at 11:00 AM at the Reunion site, Henes Park. This is on the north side of Menominee, along the above-mentioned highway 35. By 9:45 AM, I was down in the hotel dining hall, getting a made-to-order breakfast. I met up with another of my Aunts, along with 2 cousins I could identify, who were partaking of the breakfast buffet, which seems to be at every hotel now. My Aunt paid my bill, supposedly because it was on the same receipt as hers. She is one of my younger Aunts, seemingly closer in age to me than those on the same tier of the family tree. I then headed out into a torrential rainfall on Route 41, making a stop again at the liquor store to get more O'Doul's, some Samuel Adams for sharing with the others, and a 12-pack of Diet Coke to split between the party and my own use in the room. When I showed up at the park and entered the picnic shelter, I was wet and cold, thus necessitating a trip back down through Menominee and Marinette to the Pine Tree Mall to obtain a mid-weight jacket. The rain had let up by the time I returned, though I still appreciated the warmth.
Not being the type who really "visits" on a spontaneous basis, I was fortunate to find enough to do at the reunion until they took the picture of my parents' family, the only one I had to be in. The food offerings, including the now-legendary jellied pork sülze, did not prompt me to do much eating, though I did chow a couple of wieners from the commercial hot dog machine they rented. I was reminded of the International Festival we hold every year at Good Shepherd Parish. Actually, I was tired enough by mid-day to get in an hour or so of sleep in the back seat of the Impala. When I'm older, I suppose I might eventually regret not spending more time that day at Henes Park. I am told there were approximately 100 people at this event, a number arrived at with the same kind of reckoning I figure the National Park Service uses when it has to count a million men or moms. Asking permission before doing so, I made it back to the hotel without an entirely surreptitious departure from the picnic. I left sometime around 3:15 PM, with a stop at Osco Drug in Menominee to pick up a spiral-bound notebook, which I used to write an 849-word entry for my online journal, the Cybercabin Diary. I was hoping to dislodge some of the frightful stuffiness that had beset my nasal passages since I had arrived in Marinette. I suspected the presence of dust or some other allergen that isn't in northern VA. It was all right, so long as I didn't try breathing through my nose.
Group Photo, giving some idea of the magnitude
of this undertaking
Lasting out the rest of the day on my own, I counted myself fortunate that I am on at least neutral, if not indeed good, terms with the bulk of family members I had left behind in my restlessness. Though I was not spontaneously prompted to engage in meaningful conversation, even with those I see a lot of, it's not like I have done anything particularly shameful. As yet another of my Aunts noted a couple years back at a family Christmas party, it is understood that this is "how I am"--that's the advantage of being around folks who've been there since I was a shy little kid. I ended up getting to sleep on the early side, after ordering a medium pie from the local Dominos at 8:00 PM. Other folks had gone off to a local family wedding party, once the Henes Park site was vacated. The television that evening was not very good, even including the movie-on-demand I decided to order from the hotel system--Enemy at the Gates. I lost interest in this about 45 minutes in, with the final result of "shutting down" and going to bed.
29 July 2001 -- More time on my own
I was joined again by family members for breakfast this morning, this time my parents and assorted others who showed up, at Perkins restaurant on the bay-front strip north of town where several of the other modern "hotels" are located. It was my chance to get in a good solid meal of steak & eggs, as is my breakfast habit in Las Vegas. I sat for awhile listening to the conversation after finishing my meal, then dropped $20.00 towards the bill with my Ma. At first, I thought I'd go down to the arcade at the Pine Tree Mall, only I realized on the way south that it was 10:00 AM on Sunday morning, which means they would not be open. I then decided to continue on, driving the distance back to Green Bay to play some more with the Oneida. I was able to time the drive for the next day's trip to GRB; it turned out to be 65 minutes. I had better luck at the various casino games, playing $3.00 blackjack and a fairly long session of quarter slots. I have truly grown to love the IGT game of "Red, White & Blue", with its many ways to win.
$6.50 in Oneida Nation scrip, added to my
collection
I then began my third trip along the GRB - Marinette stretch, which has a "remote" feeling to it that it never did when I was a kid. I gather that this land that bridges the 45th parallel is known as the "Northwoods", and the signs advertising "Seguin's Cheese" began to assume the same prominence as the "Call of the Wild" signs in lower MI or "See Ruby Falls" in KY and TN. When I arrived back in Marinette, it appeared that I had not been missed by the others during my truancy. There were no messages on my phone when I got to the room at 3:10 PM. I figured I'd just hang around the room and make fully ready for the next day's return. I was able to package up a good many of my things and call to confirm my 2 United flights the next day. The first departure was at 9:10 AM, meaning I'd need to be up by 5:30 AM or so. At this point I began to think of the wonderful and stimulating life that was awaiting me on my return to VA. While the culture of UP MI and northeastern WI is certainly an interesting diversion, it could not compare to my well-established set of habits and hobbies. This particular trip to Menominee and Marinette didn't have an obvious place to register in my overall scheme of recognition. Most of the main events in the locale had happened more than 25 years ago.
30 July 2001 -- Finishing up the effort
Having made it out of bed on time, I completed an efficient and orderly evacuation of room 523, checking out at 6:35 AM. I was fortunate, as a Federal employee, to have secured the "government rate", which is not always applicable. This accentuated my sense of being "different" than the local folks in this area of lumber, outdoorsmanship and agriculture. I went to the breakfast buffet on my way out, and it turned out to be a complimentary part of the M - F package at the Best Western. This put it on par with Embassy Suites, as far as breakfast goes. Though it seemed a modest hotel by my current standards, it rose to fill a decent place in a land where old-fashioned strip motels are considered reasonable accommodations, and not a breeding ground for homelessness and other mischief the way they are in Fairfax County, VA. I left the hotel at 6:55 AM and arrived at 8:05 at GRB, where I refueled the rental car. I had time to head in for some last slots at the casino, which is almost as good as having those terminal slots at Las Vegas McCarran (LAS).
I was annoyed, though hardly surprised, that the fog I had seen earlier in the morning was also a problem down in Chicago, thus delaying my departure to an 11:40 AM flight to ORD. It was fortunate that this airport had 2 pinball machines--Lethal Weapon 2 and Twilight Zone, even if the first of these was not in working order. Though I hustled along through the concourses to United Airlines proper in ORD, my reassigned connecting flight to DCA had already left. Thus, I was moved to a third flight, where I had to sit in another of those center seats--25B--where we finally left at 2:25 PM CDT. I didn't get back to DCA until 5:00 PM EDT, and Thomas N. was mightily confused by all these different flight numbers. I had called him on roaming from ORD at 2:00 PM CDT, only this turns out to have been after my original flight was supposed to arrive. He is a good man, I concluded, when he picked me up after standing as long as he could in the arrivals lane. I was reminded at once of my duties at the Patent and Trademark Office, where I needed to return the next day. I hit the traffic through Old Town Alexandria at 5:40 PM, only it was passable on Washington Street, my alternate route. I called ahead on my cell phone to the Kennels, where they agreed to wait for me to show up for Thomas (the critter). At last, I could conclude my strange interlude amid the things of my past, choosing as I realized I must the obligations of the present. It took a long time to get caught back up. I guess I'm just a solitary type.
Back to Home