Houma LA 1998

11 August 1998 - Mom and I left this morning at 7:30 to go get Grandma K and begin driving down to Louisiana. Cassie's 13- to 15-year-old softball team made it to the National Finals in Houma (57 miles south of New Orleans). we drove all day, stopping to eat at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Illinois. We're spending the night in Benton, KY. Grandma's sister and her husband, June and Mickey. Mickey led us on a little sight-seeing trip after dinner. we got to see ships in the Kentucky Dam lock and also the Barkley Dam. We gassed up and headed back for bed.

12 Aug - We left June and Mickey's at 7:30 today. We drove down through Kentucky, Tennessee, a little through Missouri and Arkansas, all the way through Mississippi and finally into Louisiana. It is so hot and humid here. We rant into a few popcorn showers on the way down, but they stopped once we got into Houma. It's about mid-90s here. Whew! The girls were having a pizza party tonight, and I didn't feel like going. Instead, I went swimming in the pool with Jill J, a friend of mine from school, especially band. We watched a little TV before everyone came back. I went to my own room and waited for Mom, Dad and Grandma to get back. They did and we went to bed.

13 Aug - We got up bright and early to see the opening ceremonies this morning. It had to be in the 90s and very humid (I think I heard that the heat index was 100+). Just as everything was winding up, a nasty storm blew in. Once lightning strike was pretty close to where we were. It was over pretty quick and we went back to the hotel. We decided that we should take a trip down to see the coast. We drove towards Grand Isle. It took about 2.5 hours to get there, even though it was maybe 80 miles. We only had a little bit to wade in the Gulf. The water was really warm, and I found two hermit crabs in shells I picked up. We drove back quicker, because we had to be back for Cassie's game. The diamonds that they are playing on are about 10-15 minutes from the Hampton Inn that were' staying at. We found out that we didn't have to hurry, because the games had been delayed after the storms. I got some food, watched the 16-18-year-olds win and played Phase 10 with some friends from Rapids. Cass's game finally started. They played against a team from Nashua, New Hampshire. We were down 0-1 and 1-3, but we had a big 6th inning and held on to win 5-4. It was a really exciting game, and we didn't get back until after 10. Mom and I went to go get food at a Walmart/supermarket/McDonald's. I had a calzone. I have yet to eat real Cajun food down here!

Cara wading in the Gulf

14 Aug - It stormed a bit again this morning, which pushed the games back again. Mom, Grandma and I did a little shopping at the local mall. I got a few postcards to send to friends. We went over to the games and sat around until about 2 when Cassie's game began. It was a really close game, but it was stopped in the second inning, when the other team's coach protested a call. The umpire threw him out for arguing twice. After about 45 minutes, they started playing again. Our girls scored runs and held the other team. Final score: WRYBA (Rapids) 8, Terrebonne 5. After the game, we were going to go somewhere, but Mom decided she should take Cassie to a doctor, because it looked like she had pink eye. Naturally, she did. While Dad and I waited, we played cards with a few other guys and Grandma talked with some women. We did get a chance to go back to the mall with Jill between going back to the hotel and waiting for Cassie to get back from the clinic. We decided we wanted to get a taste of good ol' down home cookin', so we went to Abear's Restaurant, a little place that served homemade Cajun cooking. They had a live bank playing Cajun and country music. There were a lot of people from Rapids there. I got some gumbo and blackberry cobbler, while everyone else got shrimp, chicken or catfish. It had a really quaint atmosphere. I got a little magnet of Abears and Grandma bought alligator earrings, too. We came back to the hotel and got to see the game on the highlight reel of the local sports. I'm going to get to Kiln, Miss. or New Orleans tomorrow if Cassie's team wins!

Cassie at bat

Grandma, Cassie, Cara, Dad at Abear's

15 Aug - It stormed this morning (again!). That pushed the game time back to 2 pm. We had a lot of time to kill, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Jill and I went plantationing. We drove up the Vacherie to go to the Oak Alley Plantation. It was so neat to see all the circa 1840s stuff. We got rained on as we left. I got two postcards at the gift shop.  We came back for Cassie's game. They played Benton, Missouri, and lost 0-8. Because they lost, they had to play again tonight. They played Terrebonne again, and lost 0-11. They finished with 3rd place overall among 8 teams in the 13-15 division. Cass had to get her stuff from her host family, and I tagged along. We came back to the hotel and swam for a bit. I went back up to the room to watch a little TV. Our room keys have been all screwed up, so I had to get that straightened out.

Cara & Dad in the wind at Oak Alley

Dad, Mom, Cara somewhere in LA

16 Aug - We finally got up to New Orleans today. We followed the bus up. I met Dad & Cassie, and we met Mom & Grandma at the Hard Rock Cafe. We just looked around in there, because Dad and Cassie only had an hour. WE walked around the French Quarter and down Bourbon Street. We stopped in a little shop. I got some beads and a necklace. We kept walking until Dad & Cass said they had to go back. Mom, Grandma and I walked through a little park toward the river. We ate lunch at Planet Hollywood, and I got a t-shirt. I wanted to get a Mardi Gras mask, so we stopped in a shop that sold them. I wanted to go to the aquarium, but the line to buy tickets was long and the tickets were expensive. Instead, we went back toward the parking garage they had left the van in. It was attached to a ritzy little shopping complex. We looked at the shops that were there and then decided we should go. We drove across the causeway over Lake Ponchartrain and got as far as Memphis by 10 pm.

Cara, Cassie, Dad, Grandma in New Orleans

17 Aug - We were up and on the road by 6:15 am this morning. It was going to be a long day and we wanted to get home as soon as possible. We ate lunch at 10 am and got back on the road. We drove and drove and drove. I finished another book, the second on the trip. We finally got Grandma home around 7 pm and ourselves around 8. It was a long trip, but definitely worth every (almost) minute.

{transcribed 2/5/2020}

Anaheim 1998

4 February 1998 - We (Mom, Cassie and I) flew out of Minneapolis at 9:00 am. It was a pretty big plane, and I was smack-dab in the middle of 5 seats. I did some of my calculus and German. It took us 3 hours to get to the Los Angeles airport. We got our rental cal and drove to Long Beach. We toured the Queen Mary and saw artifacts from the Titanic. Then we drove to Anaheim to check into our hotel - The Jolly Roger. Mom went out and got pizza for us. Man, I'm really tired. The Queen Mary was really (and big!) to see up close.

5 Feb - We got to sleep in late today. We went to Target to get a few things (I got a pair of sunglasses). We drove up to Los Angeles to go to the Warner Bros. Studio. There, we went on a tour. It was really neat, because we got to see a lot of the backstage things, like sets, props and the street they sometime use in filming. We also got to see some of the pieces of film history in the Warner Bros. Museum. They had some neat displays of Rebel Without a Cause, My Fair Lady, and a bunch of other old WB movies. We drove back down to Anaheim, getting caught in traffic a few times on the freeway. We got some food for dinner, then got dressed up and went to meet Dad at the GCSAA Reception. We stayed there for a little while, then came back to our hotel.

6 Feb - Today was a very interesting day. It was rainy this morning, so we drove down to Newport Beach. El Niño is really doing crazy things down here. We were trying to get to the Hard Rock Cafe, but we ended up getting lost on the Balboa Peninsula. It was windy and raining hard, so we got out to see how high the surf was. We weren't able to walk upright, because the wind was so strong. The waves were huge and the beach had been eroded a good 5 feet. We ran back to the van, soaking wet. We circled back until we reached the Pacific Coast Highway and finally found the Hard Rock. I got a classic t-shirt. After we were done eating, we went outside to find that it was a total downpour. We drove over to the Fashion Island mall to wait out the storm. The rain thundered on the ceiling. We walked around for a bit before we decided to leave. We started to drive out on MacArthur, but there was some flooding, so we turned around to find another way out. We drove down one street, only to find that the bottom of the hill was washed out completely. Mom drove over the curb to get back to the mall. The rain was lightening up, so we shopped a bit before trying to get out of there again. The sun started to shine and we got back before it began to rain again. We met Dad at the hotel and he and Mom went to the President's Reception over at the Hilton. Cassie and I stayed in the room and watched the special edition Star Wars on television. It's raining again now. This is crazy weather they've got out here. Many flood warnings, mudslides, and all-around wet weather. I hope it clears up soon.

7 Feb - Today was pretty nice, so we (Mom, Cass and I) went to Disneyland. The morning was nice, so I just wore shorts and a light jacket. We walked over and got in when the park opened. We went on the Matterhorn first. Then Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, then Splash Mountain. We spent a few hours looking into the stores and took in the Hercules Victory Parade. We also went to Star Tours in Tomorrowland, where they were remodeling and shooting a commercial. We took the Monorail over to the Disneyland Hotel to see about some lunch. We ate at the Monorail Cafe. I was getting cold, so we walked back to the hotel to put on some warmer clothes. We stuck around there for a bit. Dad came and we decided to make one more trip to Disney. It had started to rain, so it was a little sloppy out. The first thing we did was go and stand in line for the Indiana Jones Adventure, a new ride. It was about 45 min. later before we actually got on the ride, which had a lot of neat effects. We went back on Pirates, then Big Thunder Mountain. It was down-pouring by new and we were soaked. Cassie and I went on it three times. We were so wet when we finally decided to leave. There was standing water everywhere, more than 2" in some places. I forgot to mention that we saw a show at the Golden Horseshoe in the morning. Not the can-can dancers, but 4 guys playing guitars and fiddles and being funny. After we got back to the hotel for a second time, we all went out to dinner at Baker's Square. The service wasn't good, but at least we got some food. Came back, watched some stuff from the Olympics in Nagano, Japan, then went to bed.

8 Feb - Dad didn't have anything going on in the afternoon, so we drove down with him to Newport Beach. The day was a lot better and there were more people around. We ate lunch at the Newport Beach Brewing Company. Then we drove down the coast to Laguna Beach and got out and looked at the high surf. We tried to go down further, but the highway was flooded, so we turned around and came back. It was pretty late by then, so Mom and I went out to get some food. Ate it, and went to bed.

9 Feb - We had to get up at 3:50 to get to the airport with some time to spare. The flight back was okay. They underbooked the flight, so I went to the back of the plane and had a whole row to myself. I did some reading and got some schoolwork done. The plane was delayed a half-hour before takeoff with a technical glitch. We got to Minneapolis at 2:900 pm CT. It was too late to pick up Sadie, so we went to the Mall of America. Walked around for a bit, mainly window shopping. I talked Mom into trying to find where they shoot my favorite TV show, Mystery Science Theater 3000 on the Sci-Fi Channel. We got a bit lost looking, but we stopped at a gas station to get directions. Finally, I found myself standing in front of Best Brains, Inc. Cassie and I walked up to the door and I got enough courage to press the buzzer. We waited for a bit and were about to give up home when a man came to the door. It was Michael J. Nelson, host of MST3K. I was so amazed, I swear I did a double take. He let us into the building and even let me have my picture taken with him. I blabbed about how much I enjoy the show and stuff like that. He told me they were in the middle of writing episode 905, Space Children. (If you don't know anything about the show, Mike is in space with his two robot pals, Crow and Tom Servo and they're forced to watch really bad movies. You have to see it to understand.) I thanked him and let him get back to work. The Studio was really neat and really small. There were huge pictures of the cast up on the walls, plus props they used in the show. It was so neat for me! We drove back home and got back around 9 pm. I emailed all my friends about the trip and meeting Mike. Good Day.

{transcribed 2/5/2020}

1998 Outback Bowl

27 December 1997 - We left Rapids today to drive down to Florida to watch the Badgers play in the Outback Bowl on New Years Day. First, we dropped our dog, Sadie, off at the kennel. We left at 8:30 and drove all day until we got to Murfreesboro, Tenn. We stayed in a Hampton Inn there. Early night.

28 Dec - I got up at 5:00 this morning to get ready. We wanted to be on the road by 6, so we could get down to Sarasota by 7 pm ET. On the way out of Tennessee, we saw the mountains there at sunrise. It was very pretty. My wrist hurts while writing this! I tried to teach Cassie how to play sheephead. We saw an awesome sunset just past Tampa. We got to Sarasota around 6:30. We ran upstairs {of the Daly's condo building} to see the ending of the Lions-Bucs playoff game. The Bucs won, and the people were really nuts. We went to Applebee's for dinner and waited a long time for everything. Came back, watched the X-Files and went to bed.

29 Dec - Cassie and I got up early to go look for shells on the beach. The wind was really blowing and it was stormy out. We didn't find many shells. Mom and I went shopping and got some food for the week. We're going up to Tampa to pick up game tickets that Dad reserved. It's really blustery out. We went all around the city. We stopped in Ybor City to putz around. We almost got hit 3 times. I think everybody had at least one heart attack. We ate lunch at this restaurant called Cha-Cha Coconuts. Pretty neat. We went in this hat store and Dad got this Australian-esque hat for work. Cass and I went into a store that sold old fashioned clothing. Kind of like Goodwill only better. We came back to the condo early and didn't do much after that.

Cha-Cha Coconuts

30 Dec - I got up early again to look for shells. Another windy, cool morning. The temps are only about 50s-60s. Anyway, I think I was out too long, because when I got back and took a shower, my feet swelled up. Mom, Cass & I went shopping. I didn't get anything. We sat around for a little bit before Mom and I went for a walk on the beach to the point. We found a bunch of sand dollars and a baby squid and 2 baby octopi that had been washed up. Cass and Dad came out on the beach. She and I made a sand Camp Randall Stadium. Mom took pictures of us with the sunset behind us. Then we went swimming in the ocean with giant waves. I was really cold when we got out. We made pizzas for ourselves for dinner. Watched the Alamo Bowl, then went to bed.

31 Dec - I didn't feel all that great when I got up this morning. Sore and tired. Mom and Dad decided we were going to go look at manatees. But first, we drove to see where Mike Daly (our neighbor) plays golf down here. Pretty nice. We drove out to the Mote Aquarium. We saw all sorts of fish and sharks. We went into this building that had sea turtles and manatees. They had just brought in a baby pygmy sperm whale that they were trying to save. I got a manatee key chain. Then we went into the Pelican Man's Bird Refuge. All kinds of birds, like egrets, pelicans, and hawks. We were going to go to an Antebellum plantation, the Gamble Plantation, but it was closed. We drove on to Ybor City. We ate dinner at Cha-Cha Coconuts again before walking up the street. The parade was going to start at 4:30, so we had to find a place to stand. We ended up by a dunking tank that had a guy inside making fun of the kids trying to dunk him. Cassie went up to give it a try. She didn't get him, but she did get called "Bed-wetting Betty." The parade started. High school bands played and floats threw beads and candy at us. I got a string of red beads. Both college bands played and Cassie and I polkaed to On, Wisconsin in the street. We followed the bands to the area they were having the pep rally in. Georgia fans really aren't that loud, at least compared to us. Each band played a couple songs and they introduced the cheer squads. Right at the end, I got a chance to say hi to Mike T, a friend of mine (kind of) who plays in the Badger band. We walked back to the van and watched the fireworks show. That's always really neat, especially the finale, when they shoot off 20+ in just a few seconds. We drove home after that. I got a glass of fake champagne and drank that before going to bed. 11:02 ET. Well, it's new years in Nova Scotia! Happy New Years!

At the Pelican Man's Bird Refuge

Enjoying the parade

1 Jan 1998 -  We had to get up nice and early this morning to go to the bowl game. We were on the road by 6:30. We got a nice parking space when we got to Houlihan Stadium {The Big Sombrero} in Tampa. We wandered around for a bit, saw the Budweiser Clydesdales and heard the Badger Band play. When we went in and found our seats, we were right in the middle of many Georgia fans. And the Georgia Band. Bad stuff. Before the game, we moved over to the Badger side of the field. The game itself was a total blowout. The Bulldogs won 33-6. We didn't score a touchdown until the 4th quarter. I think that was the saving grace of the game or we really would have been ashamed. We stuck around for the band's 5th Quarter. Had a nice little competition between the two bands. It was kind of a nice day. Sunny, but very chilly with the wind right in our faces. I wore my winter coat and gloves because I was so cold. We came back through St. Petersburg and over the causeway. My head was pounding by then. We made spaghetti for dinner and watched the Michigan Wolverines beat the Washington State Cougars 21-16 in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. I was getting tired, so I wrote this and went to bed.

{transcribed 2/4/2020}