Travels

Mitchell, Canada, and the failure of Dolphin’s plot
6/25/2007 9:22:28 PM by: Elsi

My, Iâ€™ve fallen behind! Mostly because my computerâ€™s hard drive died in Mitchellâ€”very traumatic for a writer, I can tell you! Okay, June 12 I camped in the Mahoney State Park just outside Lincoln, NE. Had supper with my wonderful publisherâ€™s rep, Kristin Oomen, her husband, and the woman who worked on my cover, Joyce. Delightful! The next morning I stopped by the Strategic Air Command Museum, which was fascinating, then headed north to Mitchell, SD. On the way, my radio/tape/CD player died. Oh, dear! Signed books at the Readerâ€™s Den in Mitchell and spent time with my friends, Clarence and Lauretta Larsen (Clarence is working on an epic saga, a fantasy series about the armor of God). Booksignings at Laurettaâ€™s art gallery, Prairie Treasures, and at the KOA, also. This could get addictive! A friend of Laurettaâ€™s fixed my radio, and we had breakfast every morning at Kinderâ€™s "Good Eats"restaurant, and had the privilege of seeing the owner leave his post to change a tire for a womanâ€”such gentlemanly behavior is all too rare! Left Sunday morning, without going to church (shame on me), and started a three-day marathon drive to Seattle. Along the way I stopped in Missoula, MT, to get my laptop looked at; they called Apple and made arrangements for me to get it repaired in Seattle. So on west, up and down hills, through killer heat, drive drive drive â€¦ The Apple place was a private home in a crowded neighborhood of Seattle, with narrow, steep, twisty roads. NOT a good idea in a 30-foot RV! But I survived, left my computer, and headed on north to Lynden, WA, where I met my friend Shannie and her three youngest kids. We spent two delightful days at a time-share place there, walking by the golf course, stalking frogs in the pond, going to a Christian bookstore, talkingtalkingtalking, and picking up my newly constituted computer. Boy, I was glad to see it again! Lynden is a tiny, Dutch, beautiful, very Christian town. Then into Canada. Shannie crossed the border and dropped Danielle (16) off for me to pick up. Except I was almost two hours doing paperwork before I could cross, and I ended up having to pay tax on every book in my rig (refundable on the return trip, however). Shannie and her husband and kids have made me part of their family, so my time with them was wonderful! Booksignings at House of James in Abbotsfordâ€”which is where Brian Doerksen is from! Isnâ€™t that cool?! And at Luv 2 Scrap in Mission. Church with Shannie and all. In fact, the only problem was Dolphinâ€™s plans to take over the world with Danielleâ€™s cockatiel, Reepicheep. They have been emailing and plotting for months, and had set our visit as the date of attack. But â€¦ well, Iâ€™ll just append Dolphinâ€™s last email to Reep, and Reepâ€™s reply: Dear Reep, I regret to report that our servants have attempted to perpetrate a dastardly deception. Of course, I saw through it at once, but thought I should let you know, in case they try something similar on you. This is what happened. I persuaded my servant/mama to take me into your domicile, in order for us to meet. However, she and your servant (dear one) took me to another room, and pretended some silly bit of avian prey was you! "Oh, look! It's your friend Reep!" they kept saying, laughing. I knew better, as I mentioned. I insisted they remove me immediately and convey me into your presence. They resisted my every wile, however, going so far as to bring me quite close to the enclosure containing the imposter. I even tried to communicate with the little beast, but could sense no intelligence, no matter how rudimentary. At this point I forced my servant to take me back to my chariot. There was no purpose in continuing the farce. They had closed doors to trap me in that area, so I was unable to seek out your hiding place. Sadly, Dolphin Dear Dolphin, I am sorry that you also have had a sorry experience intended to deceive you. In my case, our servants came

Share This Blog: