Solo Trip to Wisconsin
In 2018, I was still focused on my genealogy project so I decided to make a solo driving trip that would last a couple of weeks. First stop would be Kimballton, Iowa to research my Danish heritage, then up to Luck, WI to visit my sister and dig up some history about West Denmark, WI, then over to Vanderbilt, MI to visit my Polish relatives. The plan was then to ferry across Lake Michigan to visit an old high school friend, then drive back home to St. Louis, MO. The trip was going well … until I arrived in Ludington, MI.
Kimballton, IA (May 30 – June 1)
I stayed a few nights at the home of with my new friends, Jan and Larry Fajen, longtime residents of Elk Horn, IA. They graciously allow me to take over their basement when I am in town. We visit some cemeteries, I record video of a ‘water witch’ finding unmarked graves, visit with the Elk Horn, IA Lutheran minister who happens to be an accomplished drone operator, and meet Scott Esbeck for the first time – he is a relative of a family that knew my mom’s family when she lived in Kimballton, IA.
Luck, WI (June 2 – 7)
Drive to my sister’s home next to Little Butternut Lake in Luck, WI. I met up with a few high school friends, fixed some technical problems with my sisters computer and printer, do a video interview with a 90 year old woman (Sylvia Hansen) and a video interview with a long-time family neighbor (Robert Peterson) – both who lived in the West Denmark area all their lives. Digitize photos used as a history exhibit displayed at the West Denmark community hall and share the results with the local pastor.
Vanderbilt, MI (June 8 – 10)
Drive to northern Michigan to visit my Uncle John Konopaski and Aunt Elsie. I stay in their spare bedroom. I spend much of the time using my flatbed scanner and laptop to digitize genealogy documents and photos Elsie had saved regarding the Polish family history on my dad’s side.
Grant, MI (June 11)
Grant is a town my grandfather was born in when his family first immigrated to the United States from Denmark. I suspect there is information about the time he lived there and history about the local Danish Folk School at the local library. I convince the librarian to open up their archives and allow me to digitize some that were of interest to me. I visit a cemetery where a Danish relative, Simon Kjems, was buried.
I only spent a few hours in Grant before I decided to drive to Ludington, MI where I had a motel room reserved. This was just going to be an overnight stay before I took my car on the ferry across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin where I would meet up with my high school friend, James Cruthers.
Ludington, MI (June 11)
My first impression of Ludington was that it was a very touristy looking town. It was right on the shore of Lake Michigan and had a well-developed port. I didn’t have time to see any sites, so I checked in at the motel. I tried to pay with credit card, but their verification machine was not working. Luckily, I had enough cash to pay for one night. I went through the Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-through, paid with a credit card, then back to the motel room to rest.
Ludington, MI (June 12, Tues. – “Dooms Day”)
Today just happens to be my 57th birthday. I get up early in the morning so I would be sure to get to the ferry dock with plenty of time to spare. It only makes two trips a day and I was to be on the earliest trip. I check out of the motel and was on my way to the ferry dock, when I had the sinking feeling that I didn’t have my wallet. I stop the car and searched it in panic for about 10 minutes. I rush back to the motel and asked the clerk for the key to my room to look for my wallet. I could not find it. Thinking back, the last time I used it for sure was when I bought the KFC food the night before. Did it drop down the passenger seat and fall out the door when I was packing the car this morning? Did it slip down a crevice in the motel room and I just can’t find it?
It was getting close to the time I would be late for the ferry. My wallet had my credit cards and drivers license. That is when I made the decision to scrap the rest of my trip and head back to St. Louis. There wasn’t much I could do without money and didn’t want to get myself in trouble driving without a license. I call my wife to explain the situation, then called the Ludington police to tell them I lost my wallet and to call me if they happened to ever find it. I call the ferry company and ask if they could refund my deposit. Originally they said no, but I gave them my ‘I lost my wallet and today is my birthday’ sob story and it works!
One small problem was that I was low on gas and was only able to scrounge up loose change in my car to add one gallon of gas. I do not have enough gas to get me from Ludington to home. I figure I would run out somewhere in southern Illinois. I also did not have any money to get through tollways around the Chicago area, if I couldn’t avoid them. I suggest to my wife she meet me in Illinois with some cash. That was an option, but we decided to wait and see what happened.
What is that in the road?
I reprogram my car’s map routing to guide me back to St. Louis. I take the first Ludington highway exit out of town. It was early and there were almost no cars on the road. As I was accelerating to cruising speed, I noticed something in the road directly in front of me. A split second before I hit it, I realized it was a cardboard box. I decide not to slow down figuring I would run it over and that would be that. But when I hit it, it make a loud thud. Then things started to happen fast. I felt a vibration in the front right side of the car. A couple seconds elapsed. From my rear view mirror I saw something big and black fly into the ditch. The vibration turned into a shake. I thought I had a flat tire. I pull over to the shoulder and got out to assess the damage. I was shocked. The plastic molding of the right front side of the car was cracked. Radiator fluid was dripping on the road. A piece of the cardboard box was still stuck in the car’s undercarriage. This was a surreal moment. I could not believe what had just happened. First, I lose my wallet, now my car is disabled.
Help arrives
After a quick cell phone video and commentary about my predicament, I call my wife to explain what happened. Within a few minutes, a police car pulls up behind me (Deputy Adam Lamb). Great. I have no drivers license or proof of who I am. I grab my car insurance card from my glove box, hand it to the officer, and explain what happened. When I mention I had also just lost my wallet, he said, “Oh, you’re the guy!”. Seems he was at the Ludington police station when I called a few minutes ago to say I lost my wallet. He called a tow truck. A pickup truck pulls ahead of my car and gets out. He is the guy who was hauling the plastic gas tank home from a big box store in the back of his truck and lost it on the highway.
Shilander Collision
The tow truck driver asks where I wanted it towed. Since I was not from the area, I asked him for a recommendation. He suggested Shilander Collision (5851 US-10, Ludington, MI 49431) which was just a few miles back in Ludington. He takes me and my car to that location. I explain my situation with the damaged car and that I have no money. I call my wife to arrange for the old credit cards to be cancelled and a new one priority mailed to Shilander’s address. We try to figure out a way to get me cash right away. In all our scenarios, proof of ID was required and my lost drivers license was the only proof I had. I felt like I had lost my identity!
The girl behind the counter (Stephanie Pizana) at Shildander was listening and handed me a $100 bill from the till. She said I can reimburse the business when I pay my repair bill! Not only that, when one of the repair guys hears of my plight, he pulls out a $20 bill and hands it to me. (I eventually pay them both back).
Shildander’s provided me with a car rental, knowing I currently did not have a credit card or a drivers license. I transferred everything I had in my car into it. Which was a lot because I had a lot of electronic and camera equipment in the trunk. While they evaluate the damage, I go down the road to the nearest motel to see if I can book a room for the night. The first place rejected me because they require that I supply a credit card. I tried the next place down the road. Kind of a rundown business (Vista Villa Motel), but a country boy came to the counter, I explained I needed a room and only had cash and he had no problem giving me a room.
Shilander gives me a repair estimate of about $3,000. If I could get it covered my my car insurance, my cost would only be a $500 deductible. Because they had to replace the hardware with Ford parts from far away, they wouldn’t get them delivered for a few days, then it would take a few days to do the repairs. And I wasn’t first in line for their attention so they said the work might not be done until next Monday! since today is Tuesday, I would be stuck in Ludington for six days with no drivers license and nothing to do. I drove to a Wal-mart to buy some food and booze to forget my troubles. Even though I had a $100 bill in my pocket, while standing in line at the checkout counter, I mentioned my plight to the lady behind me … and she gave me $40 cash! I wasn’t trying to solicit money, but I took it anyway – thinking of it like kindness to a stranger and I was the stranger.
Stuck in Ludington, MI (June 12, Tue. – 13, Wed.)
I spent the next day in my motel room. Since I had a large stack of photo albums of my aunts that still needed to be digitized, I spent hours doing that. I only ventured out once to go to the beach, walk to the lighthouse, and stick my toes in the sand for a few minutes. I found it really hard to relax, but I felt so helpless that I had to eventually realize my fate was not in my control. I tried to pay cash for another night at the Vista Villa Motel, but this time the person at the counter was the owner’s wife. She was not a nice person. She wanted a credit card. I went to the point of calling my wife to verify who I was and that I did not have a credit card. Eventually her husband showed up and I was able to book another night. But the wife gave me the evil eye the next day and said housecleaning would have to do their job tomorrow morning, as if I wouldn’t let them in because I was hiding something!
Later today a new credit card came in the mail to the Shilander’s address. Wonderful! I was starting to feel like somebody again.
Manistee, MI (June 14, Thu. – 15, Fri.)
Manistee was a town about 10 miles from Ludington. I found a decent motel to stay at. More time doing nothing since I didn’t want to get caught out driving without a license. I call up Shildander. The parts are in, but still looks like they won’t get my car fixed and running until Monday. I so want to just get home! I think my sadness seeped through the phone lines because Friday morning, the owner calls up to say they gave my car top priority and the work is done. They just need to test drive the car.
I anticipate picking it up before they close Friday at 5pm. Otherwise I have to stay the weekend – waiting for Monday to arrive. The owner calls to say the repairs are complete, but there is a glitch. The owner test drives the car. After a few minutes a check engine light goes on, then a warning that the engine is overheating and the car will shutdown! After stopping for 10 minutes, he started driving again and the warning did not come back. Since they had to replace the radiator, it is possible there were issues with the installation.
I pick up the car on Friday at 4:30pm, pay my bill, and head back to Manistee for the night. So far, I do not get any overheating warning.
The Long Road Home (June 16, Sat.)
I start the journey back home. During hours and hours of driving I am watching the temperature gauge closely. It remains steady the entire way back. The anticipation of something else going wrong with the car was excruciating. I made it home without incidence. So glad to be home!
Conclusion
I never found out what happened to my wallet. There were no unauthorized use of my credit cards.
Finding out I lost my wallet and having the car accident within an hour of each other just blew my mind. Running into a box in the middle of a highway that happened to contain a gas tank and putting me into a scenario where I was not in control of my immediate existence knocked me down, hard. Honestly the most humbling experience of my life.
On the bright side, strangers were kind, ultimately it did not cost me that much, and was not a subtle reminder that I need to be thankful for what I have and appreciate what is in front of me, rather than what might be over the horizon.
