DAY ELEVEN: Jan. 30, 2008 Travel day to Holdrege, Nebraska, and day off!

The power went out last night! I was lying in bed with all these dreamy things I wanted to say about yesterday, and then, darkness; then, slowly, cold. We realized that the whole area had gone dark, and it was –4 outside with biting winds. Frank was warm, and we had covers and coats. If worse came to worse, we figured we could have slept in our car to keep warm.
I was writing about love last night when this happened. People comment about how Frank and I look at each other when we play. It’s the real deal. The two of us also travel well. Some people commented about our tour, “Two months on the road. Boy, that’s a lot of togetherness!” If anything, it’s made us appreciate each other even more. Frank told me last night how happy he is for me. I told him how amazed I am at his stamina, taking care of major business so that I don’t have to. Frank just read this, and although he more than agrees, he thinks this part is too sappy and too self-congratulatory, but I’m keeping it in anyway!

Yesterday morning we were the recipients of a gourmet breakfast at a beautiful home in Fairmont, Minn. Nancy and John Richardson, who lived in our neighborhood in Lake Oswego, Oregon, moved to the Midwest just this year. They bought their new place for a fraction of the price of their old home. Their house is on the edge of a beautiful lake in a gorgeous neighborhood. We were the worst possible guests, but they so understood. There were severe winter storm warnings in effect, right where we were traveling. We had a concert that night 228 miles away. We were nervous. We arrived early, rushed through the homemade frittata, the fresh-squeezed orange juice, and the raspberry coffee cake fresh out of the oven. The table was set with such style, with flowers and cozy candles everywhere. We got print outs from their computer, postage stamps from their desk, and frantically waved goodbye hopping back in our car which sheltered us from the 40 mile per hour winds at –4 degrees.

The drive to Yankton, S.D. was definitely a white knuckle one. Frank had to grip the steering wheel with two hands for all 228 miles. Trucks were weaving from the wind, and parts of the drive had no other cars on the road at all. It was spooky. We made sure we had plenty of gas, because one wrong move on our part, and we would have a serious situation.

So we’re at the gas station, and unlike in Oregon, you have to pump your own. Frank opened the door by the nozzle and could barely close it for the winds. He had to take off his gloves to find his credit card, and instead of his Visa, he kept trying his hotel key from the Super 8! I could hear some juicy four-letter words out there!
We found out from people after last nights concert that the stretch we drove is notorious for cars being blown off the road. I guess the angels were with us.
Four hours later and safely at our next venue, we checked into a college recital hall with fabulous acoustics and very professional and fun people. A Steinway piano sat on a beautiful stage, and the tuner was right there. Yes!
After setting up, we thawed out at our hotel in the hottest spa ever! Maybe that’s why the power went out last night.

This morning I talked Frank into going 23 miles in the opposite direction to Vermillion, South Dakota to see The National Music Museum, the largest of its kind in the western hemisphere. The piano tuner told us about it, and his wife is the curator. Well, we couldn’t miss that!

Although Frank was interested in the museum too, he pointed out that the weather was iffy at best, and that we were taking chances by going. My pleading won out, so we drove there in a mild snowstorm and navigated snowy and slick streets in Vermillion. The museum was fascinating. They had 900 historic instruments on display out of their collection of over 13,000! I saw some amazing keyboard instruments that I had only seen in books. We left prematurely so we could still get out of town without using chains. I felt a little guilty because Frank was sweatin’ it leaving town. To make it up to him, this will mean we’ll have to stop in at least three pawn shops (to find that rare old Fender Bass), two music stores, and any restaurant that serves breaded tenderloins.


It turned out to be a rather long day, even though we didn’t have a concert. We missed a turn-off and ended up going way out of our way before discovering it. We had to take some back roads and got stuck behind some big, slow trucks. When we finally gained speed, it was too much speed! Out there in the middle of nowhere, we were pulled over by a state trooper. We gave him our story, and he was really nice and only gave us a warning. Phew!
Holdrege is a town of about 5000. For dinner, we discovered RUNZA! It’s a decent regional fast food chain with good salads and excellent pulled pork barbeque.

Tomorrow we play at The Tassel concert hall. I’d better come up with some of my more bawdy material! It’s bedtime at the Super 8. Goodnight, Moon.