Wyoming

We're home from our whirlwind trip out west, for Zebbie's funeral. We left on Tuesday just after noon and drove our first stretch to western Wisconsin. It was about an 8 hour drive. Vic was excited when there was a brand new convertible Mustang available for our rental, and chose that. It was a much more comfortable ride than I expected. He loved driving it. The route around Chicago was a little stressful, but otherwise, it was pretty smooth. We went to a little bar and grill it Tomah, WI for supper. During our meal we got weather alerts on our phones for Wednesday. Blizzard warnings. Lovely. 

We checked out the timing of the storm and wound up leaving the hotel around 5:30 AM to try to stay ahead of the weather, what we knew we'd run into, in Minnesota. We made it pretty far without driving in the snow, but did have an hour or so of sketchy roads. There was a big weather system coming up from the south and a 60 mph wind coming out of the north. Nebraska and Iowa got clobbered by the storm. They got feet of snow. We were fortunate to have been able to stay on the leading edge of the storm until we drove out of it just before reaching South Dakota. 

South Dakota was very interesting. Very desolate. The true prairie, for the most part. We drove most of the distance across the state, thankfully in th sunshine. We stopped in a town called Wall, SD to check out a store called Wall Drug, of which we'd been bombarded by their billboards the whole time in South Dakota. It was a little tourist trap in a town like Sunfield. Funny. We also stopped at Mr Rushmore before going to the hotel in Rapid City, SD. We'd still have a couple hours drive to get to Gillette, WY on Thursday, for the funeral. 

We drove past the badlands and around the Black Hills. Both were beautiful. On Thursday we did a little more sight seeing on our way to Gillette. We visited Sturgis and Deadwood. We then made our way into Wyoming. Each state was more desolate than the last. Wyoming was all cattle ranches and mining. And antelope. We were able to check into our hotel early, so we had time to unwind and get dressed in our nicer clothes before the funeral visitation and service. 

We hadn't spoken to Zeb and Sharon at all. I had indicated on the Facebook event for the funeral, that we were attending, but there had been no other communication. We haven't talked to them since probably 2007. But, prior to that, we were together multiple days a week, for about eight years. They were our best friends and vice versa. But, we still didn't know what to expect, by showing up. 

We toon off for the church and got there a few minutes after the visitation hour started. They were so shocked and surprised to see us, and so delighted. Zeb hugged Vic and said that seeing him was like Christmas. We let them do their greeting of people and visited with Zeb and Sharon's families. Everyone was so happy to see us. The funeral was short, but pretty fire and brimstone. Seeing such a young man in an open casket was a bit jarring. 

After the funeral we were invited to join the family for a meal at Zebbie's father in law's house across town. We were told that they really wanted us to join, so we'd have time to talk. It was like time had passed because there was so much to catch up on, but also like no time had passed. There was no awkwardness. They were so moved by our making the trip. You could tell that they felt we were there solely to support them. And they were so touched by that. They both spilled their guts to us. We all left that house around 9pm. We made sure to exchange phone numbers. Poor Zeb couldn't stop hugging us and Sharon is desperate for our friendship to be rekindled. Zeb talked Vic's ear off and Sharon did mine. 

Before we even had our shoes off at the hotel, Sharon was texting me and making plans for coffee Friday morning before we took off. So, we made a plan to meet at a Starbucks. 

We had a little over an hour at Starbucks where were able to visit more, before parting ways. This time, Sharon and Vic talked and I listened to Zeb talk. Lol. It was definitely worth making the trip. 

We drove back to Minnesota Friday and stayed in a town called Worthington. Had a good meal and passed out. We drove the rest of the way home on Saturday and got home just before 9pm. Annabelle had car trouble while we were still a couple of hours away. But, it doesn't seem to be terminal, which is good. I have heard from Sharon several times since we left. I think that we're going to be reconnecting. It honestly sounds like we've been going through a lot of the same struggles and could both use someone to talk with about it.