TuzigootJournal: OKLAHOMA! in Michigan

March 2, 2007

Well, another kind of OKLAHOMA trip. Granddaughter Kaci Hinkle is starring as Laurey in the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre presentation of OKLAHOMA! We are going and the other three Hinkle kids are also so there will be a family reunion in Grand Rapids this weekend. Well, that was the plan, but winter weather intervened.

We planned to leave Albq on Thursday, March 1, and were on the way to the airport early that morning when we got phone call from daughter Mandi, closely watching the weather from her SW Airlines vantage point. Weather outlook seemed bad enough in Chicago that we decided to wait until the next day. On Friday both Mandi and daughter Heidi would be flying in to Chicago and we would meet them there, weather willing, and drive to Grand Rapids together. That part worked.

As we left Albq we were told that Chicago was under weather advisory, meaning that our flight could be diverted. But, it wasn't. Strong wind and blowing snow in Chicago made for a bumpy descent but we all got in, had lunch, picked up rental car, and headed for Grand Rapids, normally a 3 hour drive away. Very cold and windy as we selected our car: the car we finally left in was our third choice: first car was too small, second car was too smokey, but the third car was ju-ust right!

Strong wind and light snow the first half of the way, but not sticking to the roadway, so no problem. Then, on up into Michigan, on I-196 along the SW side of the state, traffic slowed to a crawl due to numerous incidents of cars sliding off the road. Almost all were from the southbound lanes, though, and it never seemed particularly treacherous in our lanes. With cell phones we kept in touch with Kaci's father, Matt, all the way and finally got to their house about 4.5 hours after leaving Chicago's Midway Airport.

We made it, but, unfortunately, son, Jeff, and Valerie Hinkle couldn't fly out of Sioux Falls, SD. Airport was closed Friday under blizzard whiteout conditions and would still be closed Saturday. Too bad. Note for the future: Do not plan trips to or out of the upper midwest in early March. Earlier in the planning stages we had planned to drive Tuzigoot, but decided against it, partly because of possibility of winter weather problems and partly because we decided to fly to Las Vegas from here in order to see some of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournaments.

Meanwhile, here are some excerpts from the newspaper's review of OKLAHOMA after its opening:

As the main twosome, Alexander and Hinkle shine, for the most part, although the male lead's singing voice could have been more robust here and there. Granted, it was hard to compete with Hinkle, who delivers the kind of voluminous, dazzling vocals that seem made for musical theater. .... Hinkle is ideal as Laurey, coy but not silly, and sassy without being over-the-top.