I had the chance to visit several good friends on my trip. On the way back to Grand Forks from MontanaFest we stopped in Rugby, North Dakota and saw my friend Galen Mack. Galen and I sang together for 4 years in the NDSU Choir -- more years ago than I care to count but love to remember.
Galen married Glenda Cermack- another NDSU choir member. They have six children. I found Galen in his office-He has a law practice in Rugby-.
Galen looks great and allthough you probably can't really tell, my hair seems to have thinned just a bit on top.
Visiting Friends
We left Grand Forks on Saturday August 20. We drove south and stopped to see to more college friends in Fargo- Jeff and Sue Mueller. Jeff and I sang in the NDSU Choir for three years together and were roomates for one year. He decided Sue would make a better roomate and married her! They have four kids. We saw two of them-John and David. Benjamin and Sarah were not around at the time but they both work at NDSU.
After our stop visiting with Jeff and Sue we continued down I 29 to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where we pulled over to visit Pastor Mark Schulz , his wife Stephanie and the their daughters Anna and Greta. Mark was a Pastor at our church in Ann Arbor for over 10 years and took a call to Sioux Falls a few years ago.
Mark is very handy with the the saw and hammer and Stephanie is an artist who's work has graced the walls of many homes, schools and churches with fantastic murals, faux finishes and other delightful ways of turning the ordinary into "story".
These pictures of their house show a pool, and surrounding deck and fence, Sunroom, adjacent deck and pergola and front archway all added on and built by Mark. I am sorry I don't have pictures of the inside of the house to show you what they've done to the interior . Any of you that have seen Stephanies handiwork can imagine the beauty she has added their home.
The boys and I were treated to a wonderful summer evening meal of brats, corn on the cob, salad and veggies. Also there were Randal and Jessamin Pekari- Jessamin is Mark and Stephanies oldest daughter and Randal is currently serving as Associate Pastor at the same church in Sioux Falls where Mark is Senior Pastor. After dinner Mark and Greta asked if we'd like to go out on their boat. I thought to myself "Well Jesus was known to teach from the boat and sometimes He caused great catches of fish, He even gave Peter the courage to walk on the water. So what harm could there be in a peaceful evening ride on a boat?
I mean who wouldn't get into a boat captained by this fellow? I think he has my best interests at heart don't you?
Well we were going to be towed on a tube. That's just abit more action to the plan. O'Neill went first and Mark hit the acceleration and began a turn.
The tube swung over and out of the wake. It flipped over. O'Neill being the good camper he is or should I say "tuber"? disappeared. He had a life jacket on but did not re--surface..Oh oh....
We kept looking but didn't see him, Mark slowed the boat down and suddenly O'Neill surfaced behind the tube. He never did let go! After the tube flipped over he hung on and was being towed on his back but we couldn't see him. O'Neill said "It was kinda fun, kinda scary..kinda like Stop the Boat!"
"So he was OK and now it's Spencer's turn-Overall an uneventful ride but certainly the longest of the three of us.
O'Neill about ready for some excitement"
Spencer riding the wake
Finally it was my turn. The sun was setting but so was the air pressure in the tube. It seems to have developed a slow leak and by the time Mark hit the acceleration I was holding onto the the tubes handles but was body surfing at over 30 MPH.
I was wearing a pair of jean shorts and had a belt on- If the belt wasn't there-my shorts would have been left somewhere bubbling along in the wake. Mark had given us a series of hand signals for going faster, slower, stopping or "go over the bumps" I decided I needed to signal him to slow down as the water was streaming past my body from my chest down to my toes. Have you ever been burned by water that was only 70 degrees? Well I think I was about to find out . Fortunately for me I couldn't give a signal to slow down because I knew as soon as I let go with a hand to give the signal I'd wipe out. So I thought I'd try to ride it out. Ten seconds later I remembered my fathers words of wisdom "Discretion is the better part of Valor"
I just let go.
Hey Dad! Havin' Fun?
Stephanie
Anna,
Greta
and Captain Mark
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The next day I attended early services at Zion Lutheran where Pastor Marks sermon was titled
"Out of the Boat"
I kid you not.
What a great way to wind up an unbelievable trip.
A great time in Sioux Falls visiting the Schulz Family
