Knot My Line

I had spent the spring in Wisconsin with my big brother and was now going to drive back to the The State of Jefferson.   I called my daughter, then living in Chicago, and asked if her oldest son Kevin, my grandson, could join me.   My plan was that he would then spend a week or two at home with me and then he would fly back to Chicago.

Kevin was 10 1/2 at the time and was full of energy and excited about almost everything.  He would discuss almost any topic with great enthusiasm and ask questions for hours on end.  At least I would not be bored during the drive.   In retrospect, bored was never an option during that trip. 

We left Rhinelander Wisconsin and headed for Minnesota with the idea of fishing at Mille Lacs Lake, a well known place for great fishing.   We spent a day fishing and caught a few small fish.   From there we went to Mobridge in the heart of South Dakota where we fished another day.  The winds were very high that day and we did not catch a thing.  Fishermen’s luck was not in our favor, but we had a great time.

We drove from there to Mount Rushmore where we joined thousands of other tourists and admired the great sculptures carved into the mountain.  We continued on through the Black Hills National Forest and saw herds of elk and buffalo in the distance.   Descending from the Black Hills, we came onto the eastern plains of Wyoming.  It was not long before we began seeing pronghorns and prairie dog towns everywhere.  At one prairie dog town we watched as pronghorns grazed around the area and a coyote hunted for lunch.  We watched for nearly a half hour, but he never was able to chase something down. 

We drove through the Thunder Basin National Grasslands to the little town of Edgerton.  We had to wait at the gas pump for about 10 minutes while they switched pumps.  We were the first car at the newly opened pump and we received 13 gallons.  As it turned out it was 13 gallons of water and not gasoline.   Driving away, I went about 15 feet before the car died.  The man at the pump seemed to know immediately what the problem was.  He got under the car and checked the gas line and saw it was all water.  They immediately took responsibility.  They put us up at a local motel, had us towed to Casper to a dealer where the entire gas line from the engine back to the tank was replaced at no cost to us.  I cannot say enough about the honesty and character of the people I met there. 

From Casper we drove to Yellowstone National Park.  Along the way we stopped in the middle of the highway twice.  Once for a Golden Eagle in the middle of the other lane perched atop a kill it had just made.  I opened the window just in time for it to hiss at us from about 4 feet away.    The second time was for a huge elk that was in the middle of the road with a broken back. It could only move its huge head and horns.  I had nothing I could use to put it out of it misery.  I drove on and we passed a truck going the other way and the driver waved at us, I hoped that he knew about the elk and assumed he was about to end the elk’s suffering.

We spent a long day and saw all the usual sights in Yellowstone.  By now we were anxious to get home and from there we drove and talked and saw the sights, but did not stop and spend any more time.  This was a great trip and I relive it in my mind often.

The most memorable part of the trip happened back at Mille Lacs Lake when we were done fishing.   On our way to the motel for the evening we stopped at a grocery store for snacks.  On the way back to the car Kevin bent over and picked up something.  When we got to the car, he showed me.  It was over $200, a credit card, drivers Licence and Golf Club membership held together with a rubber band.   He said, “I’m going to keep it”.  I shrugged my shoulders and waited.  For a while he talked about what he was going to do with the money but after a long silence he said. “No, I’m going to give it back.” 

Over the next three hours he went back and forth with these same two thoughts.  He asked me what he should do and I told him it was his decision. He called his mother and she wisely said it was his decision.  Finally he got the telephone and called the phone number listed on the Golf Club membership card.  There was no answer, but he left his name and our motel number and room number.  Boy was I proud.  He had made his decision and it was a good one.

Within an hour we got a return call from the gentleman that lost the card.  He was in the area and came to the motel where we met him and Kevin returned his belongings.  The man took the $100 bill that was in the rubber band and handed it to Kevin and shook his hand and thanked him.   He explained that he was an educator for major corporations and taught business and personal ethics.  He said he now had a new lecture he could give concerning personal ethics.   I believe that day was a defining moment in Kevin’s life and his sense of self.   For a young person of only 10 1/2, he demonstrated the character of honesty and decency that he has maintained as an adult.  I still brag about him.