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I’M GOING TO OPEN MY DOOR UP By Steve Moreland, May 9, 2020

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Soapweed

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I'M GOING TO OPEN MY DOOR UP
By Steve Moreland, May 9, 2020

A couple Canadian cousins were going to have a double birthday celebration in the town of Rockglen, Saskatchewan during the week-end of August 18th and 19th in 2007. Grace Justus would be turning 90 years old, and her sister Dorothy Bloom was turning 80. Bob Moreland (my dad, age 84) and his cousin Joy C. Fairhead (age 82) desired to attend this occasion. It sounded like fun and a good way to stay in touch with Canadian relatives, so my wife Carol and I volunteered to be their chauffeurs. My sister, Sybil Moreland from Merriman, and one of her friends from Chadron, Linda Thayer, also decided to go along.

On the 700 mile journey to Saskatchewan from Nebraska, we purposely made Medora, North Dakota a featured overnight stop. Upon arriving there in the middle of the afternoon on Thursday, August 16th, we shopped for a bit and then took in the "pitchfork fondue" steak supper, as well as a delightful open air amphitheater western music stage show and pageant. This is entertainment we have enjoyed on a couple other occasions through the years.

On Friday, we visited other friends on the way to our destination, and on Saturday we enjoyed the birthday party, as well as the Rockglen annual town celebration. There was a parade, a catered banquet, and a dance on Saturday night. We partook of a Sunday brunch and more visiting with family before departing for home in the early afternoon on Sunday.

We came across the border at Scobey, Montana, then through Circle and on to Glendive. We stopped at a gas station/convenience store in Glendive for food and fuel. Carol and I plotted our road plans from there on, deciding to go east to Wibaux, then south to Baker, and from there east to Bowman where we hoped to find motel accommodations for the night.

Carol was in the driver's seat of our 2006 Ford Excursion, and my 84-year-old father was sitting on the far right side of the front seat. Joy Fairhead was sitting behind Carol, and I was sitting directly behind my dad. Sybil and Linda were in the back seat. Carol pulled out of the gas station, and drove for some distance before eventually yielding to oncoming traffic and entering Interstate 94 headed east. She had just fully attained the 75 miles-per-hour cruising speed, when there occurred a large noise and an even larger gush of air. "What in the world!" I hollered. The noise stopped as suddenly as it had started. My dear old Dad explained, "My foot was stuck." "For gosh sakes, tell us when you plan to do something like that!" I chastised. "I did," he said. "I told Carol I was going to open my door up." Carol laughed and said, "I thought you said, "Are we going to Medora?" She was answering, "No, we are going a different way," just as Dad was "opening his door up." After the initial shock of the adrenalin rush and the air gush had subsided, the whole incident became quite funny. Linda Thayer still regards it as just another normal occurrence of doing anything that involves the Moreland family.
 
Things are a tad noisy at road speed. Bet you saw some dry country on that trip.
 
I can't remember if we hauled more cows, water or hay that year. It was a bunch of all three. Rained once and made the smoke smell come back from the year before.
 
I'M GOING TO OPEN MY DOOR UP
By Steve Moreland, May 9, 2020

A couple Canadian cousins were going to have a double birthday celebration in the town of Rockglen, Saskatchewan during the week-end of August 18th and 19th in 2007. Grace Justus would be turning 90 years old, and her sister Dorothy Bloom was turning 80. Bob Moreland (my dad, age 84) and his cousin Joy C. Fairhead (age 82) desired to attend this occasion. It sounded like fun and a good way to stay in touch with Canadian relatives, so my wife Carol and I volunteered to be their chauffeurs. My sister, Sybil Moreland from Merriman, and one of her friends from Chadron, Linda Thayer, also decided to go along.

On the 700 mile journey to Saskatchewan from Nebraska, we purposely made Medora, North Dakota a featured overnight stop. Upon arriving there in the middle of the afternoon on Thursday, August 16th, we shopped for a bit and then took in the "pitchfork fondue" steak supper, as well as a delightful open air amphitheater western music stage show and pageant. This is entertainment we have enjoyed on a couple other occasions through the years.

On Friday, we visited other friends on the way to our destination, and on Saturday we enjoyed the birthday party, as well as the Rockglen annual town celebration. There was a parade, a catered banquet, and a dance on Saturday night. We partook of a Sunday brunch and more visiting with family before departing for home in the early afternoon on Sunday.

We came across the border at Scobey, Montana, then through Circle and on to Glendive. We stopped at a gas station/convenience store in Glendive for food and fuel. Carol and I plotted our road plans from there on, deciding to go east to Wibaux, then south to Baker, and from there east to Bowman where we hoped to find motel accommodations for the night.

Carol was in the driver's seat of our 2006 Ford Excursion, and my 84-year-old father was sitting on the far right side of the front seat. Joy Fairhead was sitting behind Carol, and I was sitting directly behind my dad. Sybil and Linda were in the back seat. Carol pulled out of the gas station, and drove for some distance before eventually yielding to oncoming traffic and entering Interstate 94 headed east. She had just fully attained the 75 miles-per-hour cruising speed, when there occurred a large noise and an even larger gush of air. "What in the world!" I hollered. The noise stopped as suddenly as it had started. My dear old Dad explained, "My foot was stuck." "For gosh sakes, tell us when you plan to do something like that!" I chastised. "I did," he said. "I told Carol I was going to open my door up." Carol laughed and said, "I thought you said, "Are we going to Medora?" She was answering, "No, we are going a different way," just as Dad was "opening his door up." After the initial shock of the adrenalin rush and the air gush had subsided, the whole incident became quite funny. Linda Thayer still regards it as just another normal occurrence of doing anything that involves the Moreland family.
AS normal, another great one from Soapweed! Always enjoy his family stories.
 

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