I enjoyed the ride south of Topeka. We ventured into a Prairie Grass Preserve. From afar the grass appears to be a blanket offering not more than a few inches of greenery. Looking out across the swaying landscape there is open space as far as the eye can see. The wind blows constant and generates a comforting shushing or hum between the grass, almost a soothing vibration. In every direction all I saw was grass. It was kind of a surreal moment. Far in the distance I could almost make out the towers of some electric cables, but they appeared totally out of place, so my mind’s eye just erased them and the vision was superb. I began dreaming of what the prairie might have looked like hundreds of years ago when the Native Americans inhabited the land. The phenomena of bison stampeding over the rolling hills must have been an awesome sight to behold. I also pondered how difficult life must have been for the first settlers to live in such a harsh climate, the wind is unrelenting, the grasses can grow up to six feet tall! A plethora of ferrets, birds, snakes, and rodents could (and still do) hide anywhere, and bison are notoriously territorial. Under the grass is rock, not conducive to farming and the land is prone to flooding. It would have been a difficult undertaking to sustain one’s self and one’s family with little or no resources. Back at the Capitol Building in Topeka there is an impressive bronze statue honoring the women of the frontier. It shows a woman with a bonnet sitting erect with a babe wrapped under her arm, a musket across her lap, a dog by her feet and her spare arm draped over the shoulder of a boy. She wears a bold look of courage and physical strength. Women back then were tough. I doubt dainty got them very far. It was a nice reminder that characteristics like fortitude, discipline and stamina were both necessary and admired. All too often the strength of a woman’s character is either unnoticed because of the outer package or dismissed as an unbecoming. This statue was a nice reminder that the backbone of this country was built on the resolve of women, who worked just as hard as the men they tended. While I bare no children, I do tend to favor the strength of my character, which has been the paramount of my accomplishments. I felt a kinship with this statue. Thank you, Topeka, for this striking tribute.
(Oh, and along the way we visited the birthplace of Amelia Earhart-talk about strong women!)
We landed in Omaha two days ago. Many of you know I have a strong aversion to all things Nebraska related. I did a clinical rotation up here during the dead of winter, the experience left a dull flakey taste in my mouth. I remember being so cold that my feet felt frostbitten, and that was before I even got out of bed. Wind is one thing, wind and ZERO degree temperatures are hell. I used to call Torben in Florida when I was shivering and barely able to see through the dark sleet. He would joyously tell me about the beautiful sunny day he was enjoying at the lake, meanwhile I could hear birds chirping happily in the background. Ugh. I was so envious I used to just hang up on him. (Good thing he gets me.) Needless to say, I was not that enthusiastic to return to this state, and would have been completely happy to have avoided it, save for one thing. Torben loves his Gators, and I have to admit I have willingly adopted rooting for the team. Well, they made it to the College World Series in Omaha. Hello Nebraska.
Omaha is the birthplace of President Ford. Torben was thrilled to visit the home/memorial, as he campaigned for him and the Republican Party (I know, shocking, Republican, right?) when he was only 14 years old! My baby has done some cool stuff. He said he was so excited when his parents let him go; he piled into a bus with a bunch of Florida college kids and traversed the south. To this day it is one of his cherished memories.
The home/monument is beautiful and there is of course, a rose garden donated by his wife. We also had a moment there amidst our appreciation where we looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh scornfully, for obvious reasons. There are several marble constructs with the names of each President etched with care. I think this picture says it better than I ever could:
"Obamaha" is a bustling metropolis and I am pleased to report that once again my expectations have been shattered and I am grateful. It is complete with beautiful and well manicured parks, venues for large scale performances and the most enthusiastic baseball fans I have ever seen. Tens of thousands of people from all over the city and neighboring states have descended on Rosenblatt Stadium.
This stadium has been hosting these championship games for over 60 years and the locals have season tickets to these games alone. In true Madson fashion, we arrived late on the scene and the party was well underway. We are accustomed to tailgating in the football season, but I have to say, these guys rivaled any we’ve seen. The nice thing is that fans and teams from all over the country were gathered together in good spirit. Of course we didn’t have tickets, but we lucked out with rock star parking near the stadium and something told us it was going to be a good day. Torben, who never knows a stranger, made friends with everyone strutting Gator orange and blue and in no time we had tickets on the third base line. I jumped for joy and appreciation, as we were NOT looking forward to joining the 2 mile long line waiting for general admission (Seriously, 2 miles and well over 20,000 people for 5,000 seats…um, no thank you.). For anyone who appreciates sports tradition, the Rosenblatt Stadium is a wonder, with incredible views of Omaha. This is the last year it will be in use, as construction for a newer, bigger (read: more expensive) stadium is already underway. When talking to the locals, most were sad that tradition of the stadium was ending. There were some die-hard baseball fans, and they likened it to losing Wrigley or Fenway, which I imagine would just devastate the community. As with most urban progress build, build, build and they will come. Omaha has a great riverfront district and the new baseball field will house nicely amidst extended parking, a mega-dome, etc. Anyway, we lucked out sitting next to some terrific people. I love hecklers and we had two of the best sitting right behind us. They knew each player’s name and stats and took great joy out at calling out every player on his follies. It was really entertaining, too bad the Gators made most of them. Oh well, the Gators lost, but no big deal, we didn’t want to make every other team in the nation fear us in this sport too :)
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!
On the way back we took a short detour to the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre. It was a brutal, and in my opinion, unforgivable act. Again another of this country’s not-so-shining moments. Several hundred Native Americans, including Sioux, Oglala and Lakota tribes, Chief Sitting Bull, Chief Big Foot and many women and children were gathered and shot…for dancing. What a disgrace! No matter what day and age, people can be so hostile and ignorant. Some of the captives escaped and were hunted down, up to two miles away. And today there is but a small collection of gravestones atop a hill in memorial. Several of the modern day descendents of Native American tribes still live in barren and depressing adobes with little provisions, few resources and almost no contact with the outside world, save the tourists who visit this town with unpaved roads and no stop signs. The next time someone dares to complain or make a smart remark of entitlement about their “lack of privileges” in this country, they will definitively get an ear full from me.
Torben finally got the chocolate covered cake donut he has been craving since Tennessee! Wall Drug is a totally unique and bizarre tourist trap, but one that is well worth a look-see, and is famous for its donuts. If you’re unfamiliar, picture a pharmacy with several cafes, shops filled with more taxidermy than is necessary and the most amazing collection of Old West Art that dons every wall. The collection is one of the best I have seen, truly.
Setting up home in the Black Hills for a few days, should be more adventure filled with ooohhhh’s and aaaahhhhh’s. Can’t wait!!
This is what we awoke to the next day, ROCK ON! (literally-ha!) 
I climbed this bad boy all the way to the tippy top. (Jen, Kel: it put Camel back to shame!)
It was a strain but totally worth it. I was expecting a little nervousness as I approached the summit, but honestly, I felt calmer and more stable the higher I climbed. A rattlesnake was rumored to make his home at the summit as well so I gave him plenty of room, no need to make friends. I don’t have words for the view that was beholden to me, and the pictures are amazing, but only give it a half justice. If you have any inclination to go here, GO! It will be an experience that will impress your memory, it certainly did mine. Enjoy (keep scrolling, I can only add 5 pics per post, so there are several posts that follow).
We traveled south a few hours to Merriman, Nebraska. Why? Good question. It is the birthplace of Torben’s namesake, his grandfather Torben S. Madson, the first. Who, from what I understand, was a noble and righteous man. He went on to become the Mayor of Largo. The Madson family has fond memories of him and says that he was a kind, gentle, patient man. The original TSM’s parents came over from Denmark as Madsen and, like all Ellis Island immigrants got a name change, hence: Madson.
The east of South Dakota is pretty barren. There are some gentle rolling hills, A LOT of corn and some cows. We saw our first herd of buffalo, big hairy beasts, they actually look kind of menacing from a distance. Of course, I didn’t get close enough to get more focused perspective, but I imaging their presence grows the closer you get. The population of South Dakota is 750,000, the whole state has less people than the city of Orlando! Pheasants outnumber people at a ratio of 10:1 – seriously, they printed it in a travel brochure.
Each year they change the designs and replace every ear of corn at the cost of $400,000. In a much appreciated twist, admission is: FREE!
Also, on our way out of Nebraska the other day we went to the Horseshoe Casino (actually, we “camped” in their concrete RV Park, but that’s irrelevant). Torben was thrilled to have spent a few hours playing the craps table and won enough money to buy himself a souvenir t-shirt. On the way out we stopped to socialize with some of the shooters at our table. They thought Torben was my DAD!! Heeheehee!
So now the good stuff…We spent a few days (before and after Red Bay) in Arkansas. Torben and I have taken previous trips to this part of the country and LOVED it. (Of course, this was the vacation following our mess in Nicaragua, so it’s not hard to appreciate improvement!) Arkansas is called the Natural State, and it is. Beautiful rolling Ozark Mountains, lush green forests, awesome caves, clean rivers, basically anything to tease an outdoorsman’s liking at your fingertips.
But while we adore this state, we didn’t stay too long, our eagerness to explore NEW places won out. We drove north into Missouri, past a little town that I did one of my grad school clinical rotations, Joplin. Blazing through we noticed a storm to our west. Most people would pull over, seek shelter, or head the opposite way. Not the Madsons! We put on our game faces and decided to play storm chasers for the day…all the way into Kansas. Ok, perhaps not the best decision in a gigantic bus, but hey what’s life if not for a little hairy adventure? Truthfully all we got was a little rain, but pretended that we were in the scene of Twister: “we have hail, we have debris…was that a cow?” Ironically, my sister and her family live here but are gone home to visit family at this time (figures) so we didn’t have a doorstep to pull up on or a family to invade (bummer).
We did find a great campsite out in the middle of the fields. It was awesome, the stars were so bright, our dogs ran loose and we could spread out our arms and not even come close to hitting a neighbor. The great expanse felt good, like a deep breath of fresh air. We ventured into Fort Scott, a lovely historic town that has an old timey dinner theater house with wild west frescos on the wall and huge drop curtains. Unfortunately the downturn of our economy is really hitting hard in the heart of this country where people rely on sweat and a hard day’s work to make it. It is incredibly sad to see all of the unique shops, restaurants and specialty stores go out of business because a new Wal-Mart Supercenter went in 30 miles down the highway. Another eye opening experience that has made me re-evaluate the cost of convenience. The people of Kansas are lovely. We got terrific recommendations for chiropractic adjustments for Torben and the kids (yes, we give our dogs chiropractic visits when they need them – they really work surprisingly well), even if we did have to drive 60 miles to a town that barely made the map.
(Bela & Lily discover a turtle)
*Oh, the noMadson (no-so-)funny moment of the day: As a previous smoker I am now especially sensitive to the stinkiness of cigarettes. We were sightseeing through town with our windows down, enjoying the aforementioned breeze of Kansas when we pulled to a stoplight and the smell was so overpowering I scrunched my nose and started complaining that someone was smoking. At the same time Torben and I looked to our left and noticed we were parked next to a crematory. Unfortunately, someone was smoking, literally. I know my parent's mouths are agap and heads slowly shaking...Sorry guys, my humor was very unintended, well timed, but unintended. That's it for now folks. Promise to be more punctual in my postings, lest you forget about us and
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It was fabulous, and I learned that the Beam label actually makes several brands of bourbon I have never heard of before. Of course we had to bring a few home to add to our collection. Next, we went to Havenly Hill distributors and had an even more fabulous tour through their rick houses which store the bourbon in charred white oak barrels.
The fermentation smell that wafted through the creaky wooden structure was pungent! It reminded me of the everpresent stench of alcohol that lingered in the halls of the [insert name of favorite greek fraternity] Lamda Chi house at Butler. To commemorate my recollection of college memories, I celebrated like I still had a college liver, hence the title of this post. Truthfully I am surprised that I am currently coherent enough to write this. After the tours and samples we dined at Talbotts Tavern, which has housed the likes of President Lincoln, Daniel Boone, Jesse James, & George Washington Irving. Pretty impressive. It is an old stone building with dark wood rafters and candlelight everywhere. Probably would have been romantic if it had not been for the bourbon sampler. Started out as a good Sarah idea (much to Torben's staunch objection). Well, let's just say I am not as young as I once was and five shots of anything is four shots too many. 
Torben is notoriously frugal and won't let me waste anything. I felt like I was six years old being forced to sit at the dinner table until I finished my plate. He just smiled while savoring that "I told you so" moment. In a last ditch effort to avoid hurling up my dinner I offered the remainder up the to table behind us and ended up making friends with a couple who had lived for three years on a sailboat and were once boarded by pirates! I love meeting colorful people. Last, on our way home this evening we were shocked to learn that we have traveled all this far to run into...our next door neighbor! Torben spoke with Patty Shenefelt and it turns out her uber-talented son is performing as Stephen Foster in this year's summer play series in Bardstown. Crazy? Unfortunately, poor Michael is laid up and not feeling so well, so say a prayer for his quick return to health. Tomorrow we plan to check in on him and make sure he's doing ok. Then, we're off for more bourbon touring (if you want to throw in another prayer for my liver feel free to do so). 