One last stop - Renfro Valley, KY

Visitor's Center - Battle of Richmond KY

Pleasant Hill Shaker Village, KY

We left Lexington, KY and went south on I-75 to the Renfo Valley KOA in Mt. Vernon, KY.   IT was only about 60 miles south of Lexington, but what a wonderful change in the weather!   The campground was decorated for Halloween, and the campers were streaming in.   There were lots of activities for the kids -- hay rides, costume parade, and on Saturday night a party in the barn with apple cider and pumpkin pie.   The adults took decorating their sites to new levels of ingenuity.

 On Saturday we drove to Richmond, KY to see the battlefield.   The second largest Civil War battle in KY, the Battle of Richmond was one of the most decisive and complete Confederate victories of the entire war, with the Union army retreating in disarray and chaos.   Of the 6500 Union troops who went into the battle, 4300 were taken prisoner, and more than 1000 were either killed or wounded.  Of the 6600 Confederates, only 128 men were lost - 118 killed  and 10 were MIA.  This battlefield was listed by the Civil War Preservation Trust as one of the 10 most endangered battlefields.  In 2001 citizens united to save their historic battlefield.   The first land saved was 62 acres, and since that time the group has saved a total of 600 acres.   The Visitor's center rivals some National battlefield sites, and is totally financed and preserved by the Battle of Richmond Association and the COUNTY!    Definitely a site to be visited!

Sunday was a beautiful day, so we ventured about 60 miles northwest to Pleasant Hill, which is about 6 miles north of Harrodsburg, KY.   The Shaker community called Pleasant Hill was established in 1805.  They flourished for the first half of the 19th century,  and were known for their flat brooms, garden seeds, herbs and preserves which they sold in KY and neighboring states.   In 1910 the village closed, and the last Shaker died in 1923.   The buildings and furnishings were auctioned off, and many were destroyed or fell into disrepair.      In 1961 a group of private citizens created an organization to preserve the remaining Shaker structures and farmland,   and the restored village reopened in 1968.   Restoration continues, and the currently restored buildings are open for tours and exhibits.   There are costumed interpreters to explain the use of the buildings, and in the meeting hall a talented singer offers concerts of some of the Shaker hymns and explains their method of prayer.   I believe this is the third or fourth Shaker village we have enjoyed in our travels.  

We left Renfo Valley KOA on Tuesday and enjoyed the beautiful fall foliage in the mountains of KY, TN and NC on our way home.   Our overnight stop was in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel in Hickory, NC, and we arrived back home at 1:00 Wednesday afternoon.

We have 5 western states left to visit, and will hopefully visit them next summer....   California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada.

Lexington, KY

Ashland, Henry Clay Home

Jean at rear of Todd Home

We arrived in Lexington, KY on October 19 in the rain and had planned to stay four nights.   However, when we arrived, we learned we could only stay the 19th and 20th, and must leave on the 21st because the campground was full due to Halloween festivities :-(    That called for a careful decision as to which sites we would be able to visit with our one day.   We decided that the girlhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln was a must see, as well as Ashland, the home of Henry Clay.   

Thursday was a miserable day as you can likely see from the way I'm bundled up in the picture at the Todd home.   It was 43 degrees, rainy, and with a brisk wind with gusts to 40 mph the wind chill was in the 30's!   The Todd home was the first we visited and we were not disappointed!  

The home opened in 1977, after being saved from the wrecking ball by Mrs. Beula Nunn, a First Lady of Kentucky.  The fourteen room home contains period furniture, family portraits and items belonging to both the Lincolns and the Todds.   Mary was born in Lexington in 1818 and spent many of her teen years in the house.   It was the family home from 1832 until 1849.  After Mary's marriage to Lincoln in 1842 the Lincolns visited Lexington on several occasions.   Unfortunately only the house remains.   The kitchen and other buildings were no longer on the property when Mrs. Nunn fought to save the home.   The Todd Lincoln House is the first house museum in America to honor a First Lady.

Our second tour was at Ashland, home of the Henry Clay family.   The house was built by Mr. Clay and remained in the family until 1950, when it was given to the Henry Clay foundation for its preservation.   Henry Clay was a great statesman and was known for his ability to forge compromises between faction in the Congress.    Besides his Congressional responsibilities,  Henry Clay was also a lawyer, a slave holder, a farmer who was an authority on cattle and thoroughbred horses.   His horses sired 11 Kentucky Derby winners over the years.   Henry Clay imported 15 different species of trees and various breeds of cattle.   His farm grew hemp and after the war tobacco.   The house has a two story central area and two wings added by his son after his death.  

Tomorrow we will camp 60 miles south of Lexington in the Renfro Valley area.  

Springfield, MO

Wilson Creek Civil War Battlefield

Laura Ingalls Wilder Home

I have always loved the Little House books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and have visited DeSmet SD and wanted to see where she and Almanzo moved when they left South Dakota.   The first touring we did was to travel to Mansfield, MO, about 50 miles east of Springfield to her Rocky Ridge Farm where she and Almanzo moved in 1894.   She lived there until her death in the 1950's.   It was at the farm at the age of 65 that she started writing her Little House books, at the urging of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane.   Rose was also an author, and also holds the title as the oldest war correspondent as she was in Viet Nam as a war correspondent at the age of 70.   We visited the farm home and the "rock house" given them by Rose.   The farm also has a nice museum which includes clippings and belongings of Laura, Almanzo, and Rose.   The piece that I personally loved seeing was Pa's fiddle, which Laura talked about so often in the Little House books.

Since Jack and I are history buffs, we couldn't be 12 miles from the Wilson Creek Battlefield and not go to see it!    Saturday was a beautiful fall day, so we packed a picnic lunch to take along, visited the visitor's center to see the introductory film and get a map of the battlefield.   The Civil War in Missouri started with this battle in 1861.   The house at Wilson Creek belonged to the Ray family and it is the original structure.   Mr. Ray watched the battle from his front porch, while his wife and nine children huddled in their cellar with a slave and her four children and a mail carrier.   The Ray house was a Confederate field hospital for the battle.   Union General Nathaniel Lyon's body was brought here at the fighting's end.   The only major fighting on this side of Wilson's Creek was in the cornfield.  
By the Civil War's end, Missouri had seen so many battles and skirmishes that it ranked as the third most fought-over state in the nation!

Our final sightseeing excursion was to the Fabulous Caves.   This cave has the ONLY Jeep-driven tour in the US.   In fact, there are only three in the world (or so they say).   It was an interesting tour, and for once I didn't have to squeeze through narrow crevices, crawl on my hands and knees, or worry about tripping over unforseen rocks!   I rode in a trailer, pulled by the Jeep as I enjoyed the beautiful formations within the cave.  It's interesting to note that this cave was initially explored by 10 women of a local garden club!  

We delayed our departure by one day, so that we could attend the Grand Opening of Springfield's HyVee super market!   For those of you who know us well, know we go out of our way to shop and eat at HyVee.   It was fun to be there on it's opening day.   I do have to admit I was envious that it was in Springfield, and not in North Carolina~!!!!    From here we started our 500 mile drive to Lexington, KY.

Topeka, KS

The trip from Tulsa to Topeka on Thursday was a short one, and the road was quite good.   We arrived at 2:30 and were thrilled to have a box of mail from home.   As the afternoon progressed the wind picked up and by evening the vents were slapping and the trailer was rocking as though we were on the ocean.  The wind didn't improve on Friday, but at least the vent wasn't flapping and the trailer wasn't rocking.   After lunch we went downtown and took a tour of the state capitol.   It has a beautiful senate and representatives areas with 18 carat gold trim on ceiling and columns.  The capitol is in the process of being refurbished, so it will be even nicer in 2013 when the work is finished!

Saturday we went to the Charles Curtis House.   Curtis was the VP under Herbert Hoover.   The house was saved from the wrecking ball by a farm couple who couldn't believe that no one in town was saving it.   They bought it and have done all the work themselves, with the exception of replacing the roof ($60K) which was partially funded by a grant.  From the Curtis home we visited the refurbished Great Overland station.  It has been turned into an events center and so did not have the furnishings of a train station.    That was disappointing.   

Being history buffs, it was logical that we would visit the Kansas Museum of History on Sunday.   We arrived when it opened at 1:00 p.m. and closed it at 5:00!   So much to see, and so little time!

On Monday we stopped at the Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site.   The site is one of 5 elementary schools that was segregated in Topeka.   The families filed suit and theirs was one of 5 cases heard by the Supreme Court.   On May 17, 1954 as a result of the cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education that segregation is unconstitutional.  Chief Justice Earl Warren commented in his opinion:  "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place.   Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

We left on Wednesday, October 12 and headed to Springfield, MO.

Tulsa, OK Oct. 1 - 5, 2011

We arrived in Tulsa on Saturday, October 1.   Our campground was the Mingo Creek RV Park on the NE side of Tulsa.   Since we got in late in the afternoon on Saturday, we just set up the trailer and acquainted ourselves with the maps and tourist info for the area.   Sunday we stayed in camp until around 3 p.m. and then explored the neighborhood flea market.   It was not as orderly and as clean as the Raleigh flea market.   Many of the stalls were already starting to take down their tarps and close up.   I also made an apple crisp from the last free apples we had picked in Utah at Capitol Reef National Park.  

As luck would have it, on our way back in from our flea market excursion we stopped at the office to inquire about the Tulsa State Fair which was being advertised on the news.   One of the ladies in the office said she lived two blocks from the fairground, and if we'd like, we could park in her driveway FREE.   Took her up on her offer the next morning and headed out to the fair.  The fair reminded me of a smaller version of the Minnesota State Fair with several commercial buildings filled with exhibiters.   The sidewalks were cement, and there were many barns for the farm animals and of course the midway!   We totally enjoyed our day, and left with tired legs!  

Tuesday we drove about 20 miles to Claremore, OK to visit the Will Rogers Museum.   This 1/4 Cherokee native son was a cowboy, a trick roper, vaudvillian, radio and movie star, as well as a journalist.   He was loved for his witty comments.    He was killed in an airplane accident on 8/15/1935 in Alaska with his pilot and friend, Wiley Post.   In the 1930's, his death was as much of an impact as John F. Kennedy's was in later years.  The museum was built in 1938 and an extension was added in 1982.   His birthplace was about 15 miles from the museum in Oologah, OK.   The ranch is called Dog Iron Ranch, and the house and a period style barn are still located on Rogers land.   There is a home on the acreage for the caretaker.   It was definitely an enjoyable day and tour.

Wednesday we Toured the Tulsa Air and Space Museum which included the history of Tulsa and it's place in the history of Aviation.   It was very interesting.   At noon we went next door to the planetarium to see a show on the search for livable planets.    Then we went back to the museum to finish our tour and back to camp to begin preparations for leaving on Thursday.     On to Topeka, KS!!!!

Pictures - Colorado Springs, CO

Air Force Academy Cadets at noon formation and review

Air Force Academy Chapel

Jack and Jean - Seven Falls

Garden of the Gods - Pike's Peak with snow

Garden of the Gods

Pictures - Denver Colorado Area

Coors from above

Brew Kettles - Coors

 Here are some pictures of the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO and Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park is a National Historic Site built by Mr. Stanley in 1906.   It was the scene of the movie The Shining by Stephen King.

Here's to you!

Stanley Hotel - Estes Park, CO

Snow on the Mountains -Rocky Mountain National Park

Fall - Rocky Mountain NP

Looking down into the valley - Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado Springs Sept. 23-29

As we came down I-25 from Denver, we could see the snow capped Pike's Peak.  That mountain really stands out!   We camped at the KOA in Fountain, about 8 miles south of Colorado Springs.   Definitely a handy location - groceries, church, McDonalds :-) , fuel and Walgreens just a mile or so away.   We decided to hit the Pioneer Museum and the McAllister house museum on Saturday.   To our delight we found a Bruegger's Bagels and so had breakfast there.   The city of Colorado Springs has beautiful wide streets, and on Saturday parking was no problem.    Pioneer Museum was interesting, but it was so cold inside you could hang meat in there!   We lasted about 2 hours and then headed to lunch and a stop at the McAllister house,  where the docent was very knowledgeable and eager to share information.   Mr. McAllister came west to assist General Palmer in laying out and overseeing the building of Colorado Springs.   His home was comfortable, but not elegant.  

Sunday we went to Garden of the Gods, a FREE park donated to the city by the family of the man who owned it.   The park has several hiking of trails of various lengths and we chose two to walk.   In some areas the formations reminded me of Bryce Canyon's hoodoos.   Some of the rock formations were begging to be climbed, and there were many people either on their way up or down.   From Garden of the Gods we drove a short distance to Seven Falls.  This is the only waterfall in Colorado to make National Geographic's list of International Waterfalls.  There are 224 steps to the top of the falls if a person is up for the challenge.   For those of us who were not so inclined, a mountain elevator whisked us up to the Nest Observation Platform where we had a perfect view of all 7 sections of the falls.  

Monday we drove 20 miles north to the US Air Force Academy, and we were lucky in that we were in time to watch the noon formation of cadets.   As we arrived at the Visitor's Center, the receptionist suggested we take the 1/3 mile walk to the Air Force Chapel overlook, as the cadets would be forming in about 15 minutes.   It's a once a week salute to visitors who come to the Academy.   It was thrilling to watch the 4000 cadets march in review, and acknowledge us as they passed our perch.  The chapel is striking - very modern with an aeronautical uplifting feel.   The Protestant chapel is on the main floor, with Catholic, Jewish, and Buddist chapels below. 

Tuesday we drove to Pueblo (38 miles south) to tour the Rosemount house museum.   It is a 37-room, 24,000 square foot mansion which was the family home of John and Margaret Thatcher.   The property was named for her favorite flower - the rose.   The house was built between 1891 and 1893 at a cost of $100,000 dollars.   It was beautiful, and nearly all the furnishings, wall and window treatments, decorative arts and paintings are original to the home.   It has Tiffany chandeliers throughout the house.   Even though large, it FELT like a family home.   

We got home from Pueblo about 1:30 and decided to visit the Miramont Castle Museum in Manitou Springs,  a short drive north of Fountain.   The castle was built in 1895 by Father Jean Baptiste Francolon as a home for himself and his mother.   Father came from France to assist the Archbishop, however due to ill health moved to Manitou in 1892.   By 1900 the Francolons returned to France, and the Sisters of Mercy purchased the castle in 1904 .   A sanitarium was run in the castle until the 1920's after which it became a boarding house for the wealthy.   Later it was used for retreats and as a vacation home for the Sisters.   In 1976 the historical society bought the property, as it was in the process of condemnation and would have been razed.  

Our final sight seeing excursion was on Wednesday afternoon when we went to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.   They are a rare historical treasure.   Preserved under a protective red sandstone overhang, the Anasazi cliff dwellings were built more than 700 years ago.  We were able to walk through the pueblo as it is one of the most accessible examples of cliff dwellings anywhere.  The Anasazi are also known as the Ancient Ones, or the Ancestral Puebloans.   These people lived between 1100 and 1300 AD.   The site was opened in 1907.   There were signs explaining the purpose of each room.   Also on site was a small museum.

From here we'll travel to Tulsa, OK.    We aren't certain what we'll find there, but we'll share our findings!

Denver, CO area

We camped at the KOA in Strasburg, CO, about 30 miles east of Denver after a very tiring road trip from Moab, UT.   When we hit the Rocky mountains, we ran into rain and drizzle which made driving a real problem, as the windows would get dirty and we'd have to use the washer to clean them off.  

The first day we drove 70 miles north to Estes Park and stopped at the historic Stanley Hotel, which is a National Historic site.   Early travelers flocked to the hotel and today it is also famous for Stephen King's novel and movie The Shining.   The tours of the hotel were booked for the day, so we progressed to Rocky Mountain National Park.   We entered through the Fall River Entrance Station at 8240 ft. and took the Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitor Center, the highest visitor center in the USA at 11,796 ft.   To reach it we went through a forest area to the tundra at the higher elevations.   The highest point we were at was 12, 183 feet.    The temperature at the Alpine Visitor's Center was 39 degrees with a stiff wind and when we came out, SNOW FLURRIES!   The drive was a camera bug's dream!   High snow capped mountains and deep canyons.   Most of this road is closed from mid-October to Memorial day, as the snow gets to 20 feet deep in some sections!   From the visitor's center we retraced our steps to lower altitudes and took the Bear Lake Road to ....BEAR LAKE!   The temperature at the lake was 79 degrees.   Quite a difference!   We really enjoyed the park.

WE visited two hour museums - the Unsinkable Molly Brown's home and also the Byers-Evans home, both downtown.   It seemed every thoroughfare we needed to take was under construction, so parking and getting around town were challenges.   In fact it took us 20 minutes to go 8 blocks!   NO MORE!   We didn't go back downtown the rest of our stay!

Golden was only a short distance on the west side of Denver,  and we spent two days there.   The first day we visited the Colorado Railroad Museum, and the following day we toured Coors Brewery (yep, 2 glasses of free beer if you wished, or soft drinks).   Guess what we chose???   The tour was very worthwhile, and self-paced so you could spend as much time as you liked reading the information or looking down into the production area.   The packaging area was the most interesting to me, as I was fascinated watching the parade of bottles and cans into their cartons, and then rolling up the conveyor belts to the shipping area.  

From Coors we went to Lookout Mountain to see the Buffalo Bill Cody's grave at the very summit of the mountain.   It must have been a real challenge to travel up the mountain when he died.   It took us a long time to get to the top with all the curves and switch backs.  

IT was a great time in Denver.   Oh!   Denver is known as the "Mile High City".   The reason is that the 15th step of the capitol building is at 5280 feet!    How about that bit of trivia?   

Canyonlands and Arches National Parks

Capitol Reef - Gibson House

Canyonlands

 We camped in Moab, UT because we knew that there were two National Parks within 35 miles of our campground.  Our neighbors in the next campsite told us about Dead Horse Point State Park as well.   Sooooo, we set out the first day for Dead Horse Point State Park as it was on our way to  Canyonlands.   The story is that a group of cowboys corralled a herd of wild horses at the highest point in the area, chose the horses they wanted, and then left the rest to die with no water or food and no way to get feed.   Hence the name of the park.   Actually it has a view from that point that can see mountains 100 miles away!   From there we headed to Canyonlands National Park, just up the road a few miles.   

Canyonlands has three areas -- the one easiest to reach is the Islands in the Sky area where the majority of people visit the cliffs and overlooks.   The Green river and the Colorado river join within the park.   At that point white water rafters enjoy a wild ride.    The second area is called Needles, and is an area of pinacles and hoodoos.   Only hikers and those with jeeps or quads can go into that area, as there are no paved roads.   The third area is called the Maze, and only primitive hikers  and 4-wheel drive vehicles with permits may travel into that area of the park.    Islands in the sky is a broad mesa wedged between the Green and Colorado rivers and it acts as an observation tower to look into the canyons below.   The area is arid - - it gets only 10 inches of rain a year. 

Between Canyonlands and Arches, I enjoyed the latter much more.   Perhaps it was because there were well marked trails to the various arches that were fairly easy to travel.   We hiked to several arches - the windows arch trail was 1 mile, and had the added bonus of actually having three arches to view.   We also hiked to the sand dune arch - an easy .3 mile hike with lots of sand to hike through!   AJ would have loved to play in it!!!    Skyline arch (shown below) was a 0.4 mile hike and our favorite arch was the Landscape Arch which we hiked at 7:30 in the morning.   That hike is probably the most popular one in the park, as by 10:00 a.m. there are NO places to park.   An added bonus to that early morning hike was encountering a mule deer grazing about 30 yards from us!   The hike was 1.6 miles to the arch with some elevation and gravel surface.  There was a short side trip to Tunnel and Pine Tree arches.   We liked the park so much that we visited the park three times while we were in Moab! 

Skyline Arch - Arches National Pk

Utah National Parks

In my previous blog I talked about Bryce Canyon National Park.   Utah has a many more National Parks and we visited four more:  Zion National Park, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches.   Each is unique while being somewhat similar. 

Zion National Park is the oldest and most visited national park in Utah and exhibits some of the most spectacular scenery.  There are deep sandstone canyons, rock towers , high mesas and plateaus.   We hiked the River Trail along the Virgin River which is credited with forming much of the park with its meandering stream.   The River Trail was handicap accessible, and therefore very popular with everyone, while the more experienced hikers opted for the Narrows and other more strenuous hikes.   We also did the Lower Emerald Pool trail which was also billed as an "easy" trail.   It was, in the sense that you didn't have to scoot along slippery bare rock and hike for hours to reach the emerald pool, but it was quite strenuous if going up the side of a large hill bothered you.   We were disappointed in the emerald pool -- it was small and scummy.   The waterfall we were expecting to see was not the roaring type but merely a weak trickle over the edge of a cliff.   The Minneopa Falls in a dry summer has more action that it did.  It was nice to be able to look UP at the beautiful canyon walls instead of down as we did at Bryce Canyon.
The bus system made it easy to go from one trail head to another and the buses ran every 10 minutes.   It was one of my favorite parks.

Capitol Reef was our next adventure.  It's a small national park, but has the honor of having been the west coast of the US in ancient times.   The reef was actually the end of the land mass (no Nevada, no California), and the rocks show the ripples of the tides and there are many fossils of aquatic life to view.  The reef itself shows the geology of various levels of activity.   Unique to the park is the Fruita area which was settled by Mormons in the 1800's.   Several orchards of peach, pear, apple, and plum trees are still in the area, as are the home of the Gifford family, the last Mormon family to leave the park in 1969.
We didn't hike any trails in this park, but we did stop and pick enough apples to make an apple pie and still have enough apples for an apple crisp later.   The fruit is free for the picking, but we were too late for the peaches and pears :-(

I'll fill you in on Canyonland and Arches in my next blog!

Bryce Canyon National Park - 9/3/11

Bryce Canyon, Sept. 3, 2011

Hoodoos

We camped at the KOA 5 miles north of the town of Glendale, UT (population 205).   We discovered we had no tv, cell phone or wifi for the time we are camped there.   However, it is a beautiful campground with aspen trees and grass.   The campground has a little cafe with outside seating called COOTER's CAFE -- and they make great pies!  

On Saturday we headed sixty miles north to the Bryce Canyon NP.   WOW!  The park was established in 1928 and is named after Ebenezer Bryce, a cattleman who settled in the area in 1875.   The park sits on a plateau with pines and aspen trees, and as you approach the rim, there's an 8000 foot drop-off into the colorful canyon filled with spindly, pointed rock spires and hoodoo formations caused as a result of ice and rainwater.

As you can see from the Hoodoos picture, the canyon has oranges, yellows, cream and rust colors.   Very beautiful!   We took a trolley from the Visitor's Center to Bryce Point, and from there we walked along the rim for 1.3 miles to Inspiration Point.   As many of you know, I'm not good with heights, and walking a narrow trail along the rim with no protection of any kind was a real test for me.   Jack held my hand over most of the trail, and graciously took the outside edge which helped.   This hike took about 1 hour, as not only did we walk along the edge, the trail also rose 200 feet!   We also stopped to take pictures of the breath-taking sights. 

From Inspiration Point we caught the trolley to see the rest of the park, went back to the truck to get our picnic lunch, and went back out to Sunset Point to eat it.   We enjoyed watching and listening to the other visitors to the park -- we heard German, Dutch, Japanese and other languages we didn't recognize.   The variety of clothing worn by veteran hikers from Europe was also interesting to see.

We traveled UT 12 - a scenic highway from UT 89 to get to the park, and on our way we drove through the huge Dixie National Forest and stopped at the Red Rock Visitor's Center, a recreation area with beautiful red hoodoos, natural bridges, and tunnels through the rocks.   It was a wonderful day!

Grand Tetons National Park

Mount Moran and Jackson Lake

 We had a great time at Grand Teton NP.   While we were there we took a morning lake cruise on Jackson Lake and saw two bald eagles in the trees and enjoyed the information provided by our guide.   The lake was beautiful, as you can see it is almost like glass.   Mount Moran is lower than the Grand Teton, but has 5 glaciers (more than Glacier National Park!)  You can see a couple of them in the picture.   

I challenged myself by taking a scenic rafting trip on the Snake River.   It wasn't white water, it was just right for someone who doesn't relish being dumped into the cold water of the Snake River!   The boatman had seven of us on board, and since the raft was not full, spent more time on the river with us and going into areas that a full raft would not have been able to navigate.   We saw a herd of elk in the distance and three more bald eagles.   Steve, the boatman, also pointed out "scout rock"   (do a good turn daily) as the raft had to turn to avoid hitting it.   A little humor there :-)  The rafting trip on the water was 3 hours, with an additional hour riding to and from the Jackson Lodge, a National Historic site.   Rooms went for $250 and up, and cabins $400+ per night.   Ohh la la!

Jean on Opie, Sarah, and Jack on DisneyAdd caption

On our last full day in the park, we took a horseback ride -  1 hour one, we're no fools!   The head wrangler's name was Elizabeth, and she was from Charlotte, NC!   Our guide was Bonnie, and the wrangler who helped us mount and dismount was Sarah.   It was an all girl staff.   We walked funny for a bit when we got off after our hour ride, but at least we didn't get sore!!!!

Since we were in bear country, we were warned that all food, toiletries, grills, etc. had to be locked up when not in use.   Nothing could remain on picnic tables.   We had to either put our things into the trailer and lock it, into our car trunks, or into a bear safe container, or we could suspend it 10 feet off the ground between two trees.   The food had to be at least 5 feet from either side....like THAT was going to happen!    The campground had about 100 campsites, and every night they were full.  

It was a great place to camp!

Cody, WY August 21-27

At Cody Historical Center

The Poker Chip Church

For a town of 9400, Cody sure can put on a show!  We spent two days at the BB Historical Center, as it housed 5 different areas:  Buffalo Bill, The First People, Firearms, Natural History of Wyoming, and Western Art.   The greatest part of our time was spent in the Cody and First People wings.   Very well done.   We took the Trolley Tour to see the various points of interest and to help us sort through what we wanted to see/skip.   

Bill Cody was one of the 5 founding fathers of the town of Cody.   In the event you're ever on Jeopardy, the other four are George Bleistein, H. M Gerrans, Bronson Rumsey and George Beck.

We visited Old Trail Town which is a collection of old buildings gathered from around the state on the original location of Cody.   The town moved 1 mile from this original location because of the difficulty of getting water.   When we visited Old Town, I could almost hear the horses and the clink of spurs on the boardwalks!   The Bill Cody Dam was built in 1910 and was originally called the Shoshone River Dam.  It was renamed in honor of Bill Cody.   The dam provides irrigation to the farms and ranches in the area.

The Poker Chip Church came into being when the founding fathers were in a high stakes poker game.   The stakes got to $500, and Bill Cody suggested that the winner should donate the winnings to build a church in the town.   It had 11 bars, but no church.   As a result the Poker Chip Church was built.

Our final excursion was to the Cody rodeo on Friday night.   It was great fun watching the bull riding, bronc riding, barrel racing, the cattle roping and team cattle roping contests.   Even the kids got into the act when all kids under the age of 12 were invited down to the arena floor.    It was explained that 3 calves would be let into the arena and that there would be red bandanas attached to their tails.   The three kids who were able to get the bandanas each got a prize.   In the barrel racing, the youngest contestant was a three year old girl who could barely sit on the horse.   Naturally she didn't race -- the horse walked slowly around the barrels and her Mom rode beside her on another horse.   Her time was 1 min. 11 seconds as compared to the winner who completed the course in 20 seconds.   The youngest bull rider was 7.   They start them young in WY!

Sunday we left Cody for the Grand Teton National Park.   We will be there about 5 days.   More on that later.

Lethbridge, Alberta

We arrived in Lethbridge in the afternoon of Thursday, August 18, and since it was early we set up and then went to the Japanese Garden at Henderson Park.   It was a beautiful, restful place, with a tea house that was constructed in Japan without screws or nails, and then was dismantled and sent to Lethbridge where it was again set up.   Outside the tea house was a rock meditation area and on the otherside a very nice area with a small pagoda overlooking a small pond.   It took about 45 minutes to complete the walk through the garden.  

On Friday we went to the Gault museum and spent about three hours, then explored the outdoor trail and went for lunch.   After lunch we went to Fort Whoop Up, named Whoop Up because fur traders and Indians would come in to trade and the Americans who ran the fort would sell them liquor.   The other residents of the town could hear them "whooping it up", hence the name.   It was because of traders such as these that the North West Mounted Police was formed and sent in to bring law and order to the area.

Since this was our last night in Canada, we went to dinner at a local restaurant recommended by one of the guides at the fort -- the Streat Side Cafe.   No, I didn't spell "streat" incorrectly, that's how it was spelled on the sign.  

The thing that impressed me so much about Canada was the outdoors activities of people of all ages and health.   There were bicycle/walking paths throughout the country -- even in little Daysland!   The most fascinating part of it all was that there were PEOPLE USING THEM!!!!!    We could step out of any campground and within a block or two find a trail.   Really neat.  

We drove back across the border on Saturday, August 20 at 10:00 a.m. at Sweet Grass,  MT.   Glad to be "home", but so very glad we went!

Banff National Park

At Lake Louise, Banff National Pk.

At 7450 Feet on Sulphur Mountain

We arrived in Canmore, about 14 miles from the gate to the Banff National Park under rainy skies on Monday morning.   We set up in the campground, and ate lunch and then since it was rainy, decided to go in to the Canmore Visitor's Center to get the scoop on visiting the National Park.  
We drove up to Banff and spent at least 20 minutes trying to find a parking space, since it was raining, all the tourists were shopping!   Finally got a space on the top of a parking ramp, and set out to shop.    We wanted Banff sweatshirts and magnets, post cards, etc.   VERY few sweatshirts in Banff that did not have a hood.    GRRRR not our style.   Got the magnet and a fistful of postcards and headed back to Canmore to plan our touring for Tuesday.  

Since Tuesday was beautiful, we took the Lake Minnewanka boat cruise.   The scenery was nice, but the guide was not very interesting....unless you liked to hear about the wild animals in the park.   We were hoping for more information on the lake.   Oh well, the ride was fun.    Drove back into Banff for lunch and then headed up scenic highway 1A to Lake Louise.   Seeing Lake Louise has been a dream since I saw the brochure when we were on our Alaska cruise in 1995.   I was not disappointed.   It was beautiful with the glacier across the lake and the Chateau Fairmont on the end of the lake.   We took loads of pictures and stayed about two hours wandering through the Chateau.  

Wednesday dawned cloudy and iffy, so we had to decide whether to spend the $16 to go back into the park, and would we be able to see anything from the Banff Gondola, which was our destination.   After breakfast we decided this was a once in a lifetime deal, so off we went to Banff!   Found the museum and enjoyed two guided tours -- one of two houses on the site, and the other an introduction to 10 women who had contributed much to the area -- and lived in pretty rugged areas, sometimes not being able to get out for months.   By lunch the sky had cleared so we ate and then headed up to the Gondola.  I'm very uncomfortable at heights, so I was a nervous wreck all the way to the ticket counter.   It was all I could do to marshall the nerve to get in that tiny capsule for the 8 minute ride to the summit.   However, the trip was a delight, and I'm glad I went.  

Thursday we left Canmore and headed south to Lethbridge.  

Calgary Alberta

After Daysland we spent 2 days in Calgary.  We camped at the same campground we had stayed in on our way up to Daysland - Calgary West Campground.   The campground is right next to the Olympic Village so we had a great view of the ski jump and other outside winter activities.   We spent Saturday at the Heritage Village and had a great time exploring the rail cars in the train garage.   Of special interest was the railcar used to bring emigrants from the States and the east to the plains of Alberta.   The ride took about 6 days---and there were 70+ people in each car -- cooking, eating, sleeping.   The men generally spent their time in the animal cars taking care of their horses, pigs, oxen, etc.   That left the women to take care of their children, cook, and it certainly wouldn't have been a pleasant trip -- slop buckets, cooking smells, unwashed bodies, heat....you can get the picture. 

We toured several homes that had been moved to the site, the various 1800's, 1900's businesses.   On our way out of the park, we stopped in Gasoline Alley, which contained a huge collection of antique gas pumps from gasoline stations across Canada, and also several antique cars.  

Sunday we drove to City Centre and visited Lougheed House, a 3 story home built in the late 1800's.   The home is the last of the substantial mansions that had dotted the area.   After members of the family died, the house became a training school for maids and cooks, then a Red Cross blood collection center and finally the house was bought by forward thinking city councilmen and restored.   The house is lacking most of the original furniture, but they have hopes of rounding up more of it.   From the house we went to the Fort Calgary Interpretive Center.   While we were downtown, we drove through the business area to see their architecture.   We were impressed with the buildings - very modern.

Monday morning we left under cloudy skies for Banff National Park.    

Daysland Alberta

Daysland, on the Crocus Trail, as the town's slogan goes.   The population of the town is about 850 people.   Our first day in Daysland we made contact with a cousin and he was a great tour guide!   We visited his mother who is in her 80's and was very helpful with information about the history of the family, and we drove to the little church where many of Jack's aunts and uncles are buried.   That evening we went to a seed dealer's appreciation dinner and enjoyed meeting another cousin.    It wasn't long and our week was filled with invitations to various cousins' farms and we talked until late into the evening.   Haven't met a person we didn't really enjoy.    I've gained two pounds, so will have to cut back and get the weight off.  

The area's main crops are canola (the yellow field in the picture) from which canola cooking oil is made, barley, and flax and some farmers grow peas.   The canola is a beautiful yellow color when it is blossoming.  When we first saw in down around Lethbridge we thought it was mustard, but couldn't figure out why anyone would irrigate mustard.   Asked at the tourist info center and we were assured that the yellow fields were canola, the main money crop.  

The only reliable public access to wi-fi is in their library, so we spend about an hour a day when they're open checking bills, sending an occasional e-mail, etc.   There is no cable hook up in the campground, so our television consists of one channel - CBC and the reception isn't good.   Daysland is too far from Edmonton and Calgary.   I'm getting a lot of reading and cross stitch in the evening!    We took a picture of a fire hydrant in town -- much prettier than our red ones!   

We generally drive 21 miles to Camrose (population 12,000) for breakfast at Tim Hortons.   I'll miss it when we're gone.   One of Jack's cousins lives there, and we have spent a lot of time with him and his wife.  

The picture of us with the street in the background is the main street in Daysland.   It's a very busy town.

Oh Canada!

We left the good ole USA this morning at 11 a.m. and passed through the Canadian port about 11:40.   The trip to Calgary was uneventful, but LONG!   We stopped for lunch in Lethridge and then got fuel farther down the line.   By the time we come back to the USA, bet I'll have learned the metric system!  

We made a couple of logistical errors.   We came into Canada on a 3-day holiday weekend and didn't have our money exchanged.   OOPS!   Banks aren't open tomorrow..... I had $3.70 in Canadian coins from business trips to Canada when I was working.    Our trusty GPS found us an RBC ATM machine so we were able to get some Canadian money.   Whew!    The other issue was that this campground is PACKED!    Our trailers are so close together I can touch the next guys trailer and ours at the same time!

Tomorrow we'll finish our journey (203 miles) to Daysland, Alberta where we'll stay for a week visiting our Canadian relatives.    Wi-fi is scarce, so blogging may be difficult.   Stay tuned!

Spearfish, SD July 27

We arrived in Spearfish on Tuesday afternoon and set up camp in the Spearfish City Campground.   It's right on the Spearfish Creek, one of the premier trout fishing creeks in SD.   It's on the edge of the historic DC Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, so on Wednesday afternoon we walked across the street to take a look.  

The Museum is housed in the original 1899 hatchery building which was once filled with wooden troughs, incubating trout eggs and running water.   The fishery manager and his family lived upstairs in the house.  

The railcar tells the story of an era when railroad cars were used to transport fish across the country.   Crews lived and worked in the cars from early spring until October delivering fish and stocking lakes and streams.   This beautiful exhibit was constructed from a 1910 passenger car following the design of Fish Car # 3 - the first fish car built.  

The Booth house was built in 1905 was the living quarters for hatchery superintendents and their families until 1983.  

The picture of us by the pond is just one of several ponds containing rainbow and black spotted trout.   There are also ducks in the pond.   For two people who don't fish, this was a very educational tour!  

Iroquois, Pierre, Oahe Dam South Dakota 7/17 - 7/26, 2011

Rollie, Barb and Jean at Oahe Dam near Pierre, SD

This is a picture of one of the downtown stores in Pierre, SD which has sandbagged most of its downtown as a precaution in the event their levy doesn't hold until the Missouri River recedes into it's banks.   The town has added wooden steps so that patrons are able to access the stores without having to climb over the sandbags.    We went to the Oahe Dam which is a few miles outside of Pierre, to see how high the water was at the dam.  We were there a couple years ago, and the spillways were closed -- Not now!  

We visited in Iroquois for a bit over a week.   In fact, we had to move into their basement as our AC unit was not working in all the heat and humidity.   Barb and Rollie were gracious hosts, and we love visiting with them.   We finally got the AC working on 7/25, and left on 7/26.   Jean put a serious drain on Rollie's Diet Coke stash, and we loved Barb's fresh veggies and her desserts.   Barb and Jean worked the evening meals together and Jean spoiled Barb's cats!  Jack enjoyed "guy bonding" at the little grocery store/cafe every morning with Rollie.   The store makes killer sticky buns on Tuesdays, so even I got out of bed to grab one before they were all gone!

Pictures from Bemidji, MN

We took these pictures at Bemidji, MN when we drove up last week.   One is of us by Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe; the one that looks like a big block of stone is rumored to be Paul's boat anchor; the picture of me in the store is showing me participating in my favorite activity -- shopping; there is one of us by Lake Bemidji.    

We're now in Ortonville, MN, a small town on Big Stone Lake.   Discovered that this lake is the headwater of the Minnesota River which flows through Mankato before turning north to the Twin Cities and emptying into the Mississippi River.  

This town is very small - about 2100 people.   We are only a mile or two from the South Dakota border which makes it handy for moving into South Dakota on Sunday.   We are about 50 miles from Morris, MN where Jack's reunion will take place on Saturday.   The weather promises to be hot (96+) and humid.   UGH!   I thought I'd left North Carolina!!!!!!

Minnesota - Part 2, July

Minnesota finally dried out, and then came the mosquitoes and the gnats!   We reconnected with friends in Mankato, Belle Plaine, and Amboy and I have played numerous games of cribbage with my sister.   She won as many games as I did, and we skunked each other equally :-)   We also played some great games of Sequence with two other of our sister friends.   Loved them!  

On Thursday, July 7 we left the Mankato convent and drove 5 hours northwest to Wadena, MN where we are attending the Spahn cousins reunion on Saturday, July 9.   The campground here is in the city park and is nicely shaded and has full hookups ( a big deal since we're staying a week!).   Friday we drove to Bemidji, 90 miles north of Wadena.   Good old Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe, still stand guard over Lake Bemidji and they're still the tourist beacon they were meant to be in 1937 when they were erected.   If you aren't familiar with Paul and Babe, here are a few legends we gleaned from the Bemidji Welcome Center:

• Paul, legendary superman and woodsman, hero of early logging days was born in Bemidji.   It took 5 large storks, working overtime, to deliver Paul to his parents.  
• Every time Paul sneezed he blew the roof off the bunkhouse.  His booming voice forced his lumberjacks to wear earmuffs year round.   Paul is said to have dug and built Niagara Falls for a shower bath, and he dug Lake Superior as a watering trough for Babe.   Paul could cut down acres of timber single-handed, in a few minutes, by tying his axe to the end of a long rope and swinging it in circles.  
• He's standing 18 feet tall, weighs 2 1/2 tons and protects the shores of Lake Bemidji.

I'll be posting some pictures of this giant in a future blog.

The Spahn Cousins Reunion occured today.   In all there are approximately 55 first cousins.   Five have died and four could not make it.   Counting spouses, children, and grandchildren there were 110 people at the reunion.   We had a great time meeting everyone!   The party continues tomorrow as we gather at various farms in the area to continue our dialog.  There were cousins from AZ, Washington, FL, and NC as well as from closer neighboring states.   We do not have bragging rights for traveling the farthest.  The longest distance was 1700 miles!  

 

At Mankato, MN

We are in Mankato, MN visiting with my sister at her convent.   As usual, the Sisters have been wonderful, and so friendly!   The next couple weeks we'll be here visiting with friends and relatives and pigging out at our favorite food haunts---i.e.  Jake's Stadium Pizza and the Amboy Cottage Cafe.  Jake's pizza (especially the House Special) is wonderful with toppings about an inch deep on a thin crust.   The Amboy Cottage Cafe serves huge cinnamon and caramel rolls and Jack swears by Lisa's whole grain pancakes.  

The weather continues to be wet -- 3 inches of rain forecast over the next two days, and more to come later in the week.   Would sure love to share this wealth of rain with others!  

Blogs will be less frequent until we head to Canada the latter part of July.   Stay tuned!

Soggy Minnesota!

We arrived in Fairmont, Minnesota on June 7 swept into the state by 45 mph wind gusts and greeted by a temperature of 99 degrees!   This is NOT the Minnesota I remember in June!   Yes, Minnesota does get hot and muggy, but not usually until after July 4!   What a shock.   We got to the campground and the only thing Jack did was hook up the electricity and I turned on the AC!   We didn't set up the trailer until about 8 p.m. when it was a "cool" 90.   At least by that time the sun was going down.  

If  you don't like the weather in MN, wait an hour or so and it will change!   We work up to sunny skies and 70 degrees.   By the time we'd finished breakfast it was 65.   The day was beautiful --ahhh, the weather I remember!   However, by the time it was dark, it was raining!   It has rained at some point every day since that Wednesday!   I'm starting to think about a flotation device for the trailer.   We're currently in Worthington, MN where Jack's brother lives and only a short distance from the nephews.   We're enjoying visiting and catching up with everyone.   We'll leave here on Friday, June 17 and spend a few weeks with friends and relatives in the Mankato area.   Stay tuned.   Oh yes, it's thundering and raining right now!

Hannibal, MO June 4

We drove about 2 hours north to Hannibal, MO to visit Mark Twain's boyhood home.   The campground was in the Mark Twain Campground complex and was nicely wooded.   The cicadas were there, too!   While we didn't tour the caves, there was a steady stream of tourists who were eager to go in and experience where Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn got lost.   It was another very hot day, so I imagine that it was likely much cooler in there too -- wish I'd have thought of THAT while we were there!   It would have afforded some relief from the heat and humidity.  

The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum Complex were very nicely done.   The Interpretive center showed how closely Mark Twain's writing were related to Tom Sawyer's escapades with Huck.  We toured Mark Twain's boyhood home and the Huck Finn house, and saw Mr. Clemens Justice of the Peace office and Grant's Drug Store, where the family lived for a portion of their time.  Becky Thatcher's house was closed for restoration, so all we could do was peek in the window.   Not much to see unless you like ladders and dry wall buckets :-(

We ate lunch in a small cafe in the Historic district.   The BBQ pork sandwiches were wonderful but HUGE!   I think we had a loaf of French bread between us.   After lunch we drove up Hill St. to the Rockcliffe Mansion, a 13,500 ft. castle built overlooking the Mississippi between 1898 and 1900.  It was built by lumber baron John J. Cruikshank who lived in the home with his wife and four daughters until 1924.  Mark Twain made his last visit to Hannibal in 1902.   He addressed 300 guests from the grand staircase.   The house was closed for 43 years, and just days before demolition it was saved by a preservation group from the city.   Most of the original antique furnishings and fixtures are still in the home.   The house is not air conditioned, so the docent gave us each a woven palm fan to use to stay relatively cool.   We were the only ones on the tour at two, but when we returned to the entrance there were about 16 people waiting for the next tour.   

We left Sunday for Amana, Iowa and stayed until Tuesday morning.    The temps on Monday were 98 in Amana, and Tuesday promised to be equally as hot.   What an understatement!   When we arrived in Fairmont, MN they temp was 99 with a 40 mph wind blowing; Mankato had a toasty temp of 101, unheard of this early in the summer!    Today it reached a much more reasonable 78 degrees with low humidity.   Whew!   Glad that hot spell ended!  It was so nice that we hit the walking trail this afternoon and we walked about 4 miles.   Sure felt great!   Had dinner outdoors Wednesday evening at  a bar located on the shore of one of the 5 lakes in Fairmont.  

The rest of the story!

Wednesday we went to the Missouri History Museum, and of most interest to us were the exhibits that related to the 1904 World's Fair and the Charles A. Lindbergh exhibit.   We spent about three hours at the museum, and then ate lunch in the cafe and headed out for a walk.   It was very warm -- 90's but we stayed in the shade as much as possible so it was bearable.   From the History Museum we drove to the World's Fair Pavilion (the only building remaining at the site).   It had been restored, and overlooked a fountain and a paddle boat pond.   The building itself was an open air facility with nothing to indicate what it was.   There was a group there decorating for an exclusive fund raiser to be held on Thursday.   It evidently was THE social event of the season, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the park.   The big attraction was the fabulous hats that the socialites would be wearing.  

By that time it was mid afternoon and we started back toward the campground.   Noticed a Shrine of the Black Madonna on the attractions, so decided to go see it.   It was built by a Franciscan brother and took him 35 years to do it.   It reminded me a good deal of the Grotto in Iowa.  

Thursday we started the day at the Scott Joplin house.   Scott Joplin is famous for his ragtime music --if  you are old enough to know the movie The Sting, six of his songs were used in the movie.   There was a girls' chorus there at the same time, so we not only heard Scott's music, but they graced us with two songs that they would be singing at a church that night.   They were from Arkansas or Oklahoma and were going to tour this summer.   From the Joplin house we went in search of the Samuel Cupples House, which was built in 1888.   The mansion is 42 rooms over three floors.   It has fantastic woodwork and Tiffany-style windows.   St. Louis University owns it, and has art from 1500-1930, as well as an extensive collection of Steuben and Tiffany glassware.   The trick is finding the place with the GPS system!   We finally gave up after the GPS had us going around in circles and called the house.  Surprise!   It was right behind the building we were parked in front of!   It seems the University had the street closed to vehicular traffic, and the only way to get to it was to park on another street and walk over!   It was worth the trip!

Today's our last day in St. Louis, so we had to choose our sights carefully!   We decided to go to the U. S. Grant National Historic site.   Wonderful choice!   We learned that Grant met his wife, Julia Dent, while he was serving at the Jefferson Barracks and after serving in California resigned his commission and took up farming at White Haven, on land that his father-in-law had given them at the time of their marriage.   We toured the house and outbuildings, as well as an extensive museum outlining their lives.  There was a 30 minute movie to watch as well.    From there we traveled back downtown to the Eugene Field house (he wrote Wynken, Blynken and Nod, and The Calico Cat among other poetry and short stories).    As an added bonus, there was also a toy museum and period toys located throughout the boyhood home.  Eugene's father Roswell Fields was the lawyer who initiated the lawsuit that led to  the Dred Scott Supreme Court Decision.   While he did not travel to Washington to plead the case, he asked his friend Mr. Blair (of the Washington Blair House) to stand in for him.   

We are now back in Eureka and are hitched up so we can make an early departure to Hannibal, MO to explore the Mark Twain stories of Samuel Clemens.   Stay tuned!

St. Louis Gateway Arch, Old Courthouse, the Cathedrals

We arrived on Monday at the West St. Louis KOA in Eureka, MO.   The campground is about 30 miles southwest of St. Louis, with an easy commute into the city.   It's a noisy campground -- the cicadas are coming out of the ground and mating, and they aren't a bit quiet about their courting!   We are also close to the railroad, and at times, it can be quite noisy!   However, on the positive side, the sites are big, and we have a canopy of trees giving us shade.   We spent the day in camp and enjoyed the pool and the shade and our very friendly staff.

Today, Tuesday, we went downtown to see the Gateway Arch.   From the number of people on the grounds, we were certain we'd have a couple hour wait to go up to the top.   In reality, we were able to go right up.   We were put into a "tram" that held 5 people and it took 4 minutes to get to the top.   When we got out, we continued up about 28 steps to the top of the dome -- 630 feet.    The pictures attached are of Jack taking a picture out the window, and one of the room itself.  

We also went across the street to the Old Courthouse where the Dred Scott trial was held and saw the courtrooms and it also had a small museum on the history of St. Louis.   Next door to the Arch was the first Catholic church in St. Louis, which is known as the "Old Cathedral".    The "new"Cathedral was started in 1907 and finished in 1988.   The mosaics are beautiful!   The height of the dome is 96 feet from the floor.   We had a wonderful tour guide and shared the tour with a group of teens who will be Confirmed in the next year.    They had very thoughtful questions, and were very interested in the tour.  On Wednesday we're heading for the Missouri History Museum and I'm sure we'll find another site to explore.   Our list is quite long!