Monthly Archives: August 2018

On the way to Missouri, we stopped in Omaha, Nebraska for one of those overnight stops that only serve to get you from point A to point B.  After dinner, we decided to find the Old Town in Omaha and this is one of those gems you find accidentally.  This old industrial area has been taken over by the young, hep generation of Millenniums with good jobs and salaries, and expensive diverse interests and tastes.

Cobblestone streets and sidewalks

It was a picture of contrasts with the tall brick warehouse type structures bearing names like “Fidelity Rug and Flooring” and “Capitol Paper” with first floor restaurants with patio dining on the street side filled with blue and purple haired waitstaff.  Several of the buildings are converted into condos and others are being worked on to become condos.  The streets were cobble stone and there were flower beds everywhere.  Jim was surprised to hear me say if I were young and single I could totally live in a place like this.  It just had a community vibe.

Shops and restaurants along street

An Alley way between warehouses turned into a nice outdoor area for several restaurants

Flowers everywhere, even on the rooftops

Later, we tracked down the Lewis and Clark Landing Park where the Missouri River had flooded three times; 1881, 1952 and more recently in 2011.  The flooding is generally caused by extremely heavy snowfalls when they melt coming out of the mountains in the Dakota. Obviously it doesn’t happen every year but when it does it is major.

Missouri River in Omaha, NE  –  Statues on left side of picture is of iron workers

Today we arrived in Kansas City, Missouri and picked the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site in Independence, MO to visit this afternoon.  This is the home that Truman lived in from 1919 when he married his beloved Bess until the day he died in 1972, except for the time he spent in Washington as a Senator, Vice President and President.  This is where he returned to when he left Washington requiring the Secret Service to install the iron fence to protect the house from tourist trying to take souvenirs and damaging the house.  What does that say about some Americans?

The house was originally owned by Bess’ family built in 1865 and added to in 1867.  President and Mrs. Truman did little to change the home except change flooring and wall paper but they lived very modestly never letting his position as President make him prideful or extravagant.

When Bess died in 1982 the home was willed to the government which included most of the furnishings as you would see it today.  Even their daughter, Margaret, left most of their things in the home to be viewed by the people who chose to visit.  We were not permitted to take pictures but I really wish we could have.  To think this family came out of the White House with all its many perks, pomp, and grandeur and returned to this humble home shows a portion of their character that may be missing in today’s political elite.

Garage behind house with a 1972 Chrysler Newport….Truman’s last car

Close up of car on jacks in garage and the license plate #5745 date of German surrender 

House across the street from Truman’s home which was owned by his aunt

Tomorrow will be sightseeing in Kansas City.

On our way to Sioux Falls this morning, we made a stop in Wall, SD to see the Wall Drug Store which was a must on Jim’s bucket list.  Are you kidding me?  A Drug Store?  Was I ever surprised to see an entire street, on both sides, filled with what was once a single drug store gone viral.  On the way to this bucket list destination, we saw many road signs advertising “Free Ice Water” at Wall Drugs.  More signs than you see advertising South of the Border and that’s saying something.

Interesting columns to hold up the overhang at Wall Drug – trees from the area

Main Street in Wall, SD – Wall drug is on the right side

The background story goes something like this:  In 1931 Ted and Dorothy Hustead bought the Wall Drug Store on the edge of the South Dakota Badlands.  Population of Wall was 326 fairly poor people, mostly farmers suffering from the Depression or drought.  Both their families had told Ted and Dorothy that buying this store in the middle of nowhere was a mistake but they felt it was the right thing for them to do.  They were going to give themselves 5 years to make a go of it.  Ted even studied some veterinary medicine to add to his pharmacy license to help the farmers in their new community.

It was July of the fifth year and nothing was getting any better.  December would be the end of the five years and although they loved the people in the town they were no closer to making the drug store a success.  It was hot and humid and Dorothy left the store to put the children down for nap and maybe take one herself because Ted didn’t need any help in an empty store.  Within a very short time she was back because all the road noise from Route 16A.  There was lots of traffic and she suggested they offer free ice water to all these travelers who were out there to draw them into the store.  The next weekend they put up signs all along the road and it brought in all the customers they could handle.  By the next summer, they had to hire 8 ladies to help serve the ice water, ice cream cones, food, and generally handle all the sales the Drug Store was getting from the people stopping for free ice water.  Today, the store draws up to twenty thousand people on a really hot summer day and based on what we saw, it will be continuing for a long time.

After leaving with our free ice water, we drove through the Badlands National Park.  Both the Lakota Indians and the French called this area “bad lands” because of the intense heat, peaks, gullies, buttes, and wide prairies devoid of water and life.  Thousands of millions of years ago, this area was created by a volcanic eruption, sinking the ground and then sending ash over the entire area.  Over time the ash, soil and water formed clay and then about 500 million year ago the rain began to erode the clay creating these pinnacles and peaks with the diversity of shapes, colors, and sizes that creates the landscape.  

Yellow Mounds in Badlands National Park

Big Horn sheep

Just outside the park is a prairie homestead that remains from its 1909 origin by Edgar and Alice Brown who came from Nebraska to claim a 160 acre homestead from the government for $18.00 and a guarantee of ownership if they could sustain themselves for five years with a crop and farm animals.  The left side of the house in this picture is what they built and lived in originally for the first 15 years.  The rest of the house was added later along with a root cellar, barn, and eventually a garage for their model A.

Garage for car on left side and barn for animals on right

This was a hard life that many did not survive and had to give up and go back home.  Mr. Brown had said, “It’s the government betting 160 acres against $18.00 that you will not be able to make it.”  But Mr. and Mrs. Brown did survive until 1936 when the home and 160 acres was rented to a bachelor who lived there until 1949.  Where were you living in 1949?  I’ll bet it didn’t have a dirt floor or sod walls.

Inside the home with dirt floor behind paper wall is bedroom

Bedroom behind the paper wall

Root Cellar

MG giving some attention to the goats on the property

We were both surprised to hear that this area shared in the history of gold mining and then tungsten and finally lithium. Just outside the Mount Rushmore location are two towns established because of the mines that are once again connected by the railroad although now, it’s cargo is tourists and not minerals.  Yesterday we were two of those tourists being transported back to the time when steam engines rolled up the 800 feet above sea level to get from Keystone to Hill City.

Refurbished steam engine and cars

Real Conductor collecting our tickets

Wildlife along the tracks  through the Black Hills of South Dakota

Of course, we didn’t have to ride in closed box cars but had very comfortable passenger cars complete with padded seats and conductors.  These passenger cars dated back to the early 1900’s, acquired 100 years later and refurbished for tourist use.

Later in the afternoon we ventured to the Crazy Horse Memorial curious about why it was taking so long when Rushmore was completed in 14 years.  After all, its just another mountain carving, right?

Actually being there and reading and hearing the story changed our opinions dramatically.  This is the story of a family’s mission not just a sculpture.  Korczak Ziolkowski was orphaned at age one and subjected to harsh treatment at multiple foster homes and became a self-taught sculptor who was asked to work with Borgham on the Rushmore mountain project.  He became recognized as a great talent at the 1939 World’s Fair and was contacted by Chief Henry Standing Bear to recognize the Native American people in the Black Hills in the same way, Rushmore recognized the American Presidents.  Korczak was 31 years old when he accepted the project depicting Crazy Horse, a true Lakota warrior and hero.  According to some material we read, prior to the 1800’s there were somewhere between 60-80 millions Native American Indians in the lower 48 and Canada.

Over the years these people were forced to change their culture and adopt the ways of the ‘white man’, give up their lands and customs.  Korczak didn’t just accept the project of sculpting Crazy Horse but set about establishing a Foundation that has a mission to protect and preserve the culture, tradition, and living heritage of the North American Indians through education with the establishment of the Indian University of North America and Medical Center, in addition to erecting the sculpture.

In the early days, he did all the work himself.  After creating a 1/32 scale model of his sculpture, he began the arduous work of climbing up and down the mountain to blast and drill away the unused rock.  Over the years, his wife and 10 children all became a part of his mission and today his children and grandchildren are all a integral part of the Foundation.  Korczak actually turned down a $1 million grant from the government because he was afraid their intervention would alter the mission.

Today, the face is completed and you can see the outstretched arm and beginnings of the horse’s head, but the University and Medical Center are active and working entities.  We were told by the volunteer at the Visitors’ Center that the sculpture would not be done in our children’s lifetime, but hopefully, the education and health portion of the mission will thrive long after the statue is done.

Sunday afternoon was a good day to drive north to see the water falls and Spearfish Canyon Byway.  This deep canyon is flanked by steep vertical rock walls peppered with evergreen trees, probably a rock climber’s dream and a coward’s (like me) nightmare. 

As we drove, we noticed quite a few freshly downed trees close to the highway and even some tree tops with the telltale signs of being snapped off like you would see with a tornado.  We wondered if that hail storm we experienced on Thursday could have caused the damage, but never got an answer.

Bridal Veil Falls

Spearfish Falls

Spearfish Creek

After Shoshone Falls, the Bridal Veil and Spearfish Falls were nice but not dramatic.  There were interpretive signs down the walkway to the Spearfish Falls with two things of note.  One talked about tiny holes we had seen in the bark of the Aspen trees on the path down to the base.  These are made by the Red-napped Sapsucker which are birds that make these tiny holes releasing the sap.  Then when insects get caught in the sap, the birds come back and eat them.  Creation is a marvel!

Holes in tree made by Red-napped Sapsuckers

Sitting on the front porch of Spearfish Lodge after our little hike to see falls.  A great view of the canyon

Finally, there was a quote from an unknown author that needs to be repeated.  “Water cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”

We ended our trek with a brief visit to Sturgis, just 20 miles away from Spearfish.  As expected, this town is all things motorcycle.

We left Casper, with all our bills paid and clothes washed, in time to experience a really significant hail storm in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Of course, we have experienced hail storms just like you have but the difference is there were still piles of the frozen slush lingering two to three hours after the storm passed by.  This is an example of what we saw and this was in Downtown Rapid City around 6:30 p.m. when the storm hit around 3.

Downtown  calls itself the Presidential City because they have secured private funding to erect bronze statutes of each of the 42 Presidents of the U.S. on street corners.  I wanted to take my picture with my personal favorite, since reading his biography, John Adams.

Downtown Rapid City, SD  (note the debris on street after hail storm)

The statute of 43, Barak Obama, is scheduled to be added in Fall 2018.

We started out on Friday morning for Custer State Park for an all day exploration of the grounds.  There are many beautiful National Parks in the U.S. that are worth exploring, but don’t overlook the State Parks and especially this one.

Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park

It comes complete with camping sites, lodges, restaurants and resident herds of bison, burros, elk, and other wildlife you expect to see in mountain and forest terrain.

It all started when Lewis and Clark explored this area after the Jefferson purchase from France.  Later, George Custer mapped the area as one of his military assignments.  It was obvious this was beautiful land that needed to be protected and in 1912 it became a State Forest and then a State Park in 1919.  In 1914 the bison herd was begun with 36 animals purchased for the park and now that herd is maintained at 1,300 to 1,400 head based on the ability of the land to sustain them.  Unlike Yellowstone where no intervention is used with their herd, Custer State Park has an annual roundup where new calves are vaccinated, each animal is checked for disease, and excess bison (more than the grassland can sustain) are auctioned.  You can see the difference when you get up close.  They do look healthier.

Bison laying right by the road

I won’t make a big deal out of the fact that every restaurant in the area has bison or buffalo on the menu (at least I never heard of a named bison).

In addition to the bison, we got an up close and personal look at some of the burros in the park.  They were originally introduced to carry visitors to the Black Hills and released into the wild when they were no longer needed.  This young colt is proof they are thriving in the wild.

Burros like  to get right into the windows of the cars.  Looking for food 

We also got a glimpse of Mule Deer and Prairie Dogs.

Along the Park road, there are narrow one-car tunnels that make the winding road even more interesting.  I have to give credit to Jim driving these narrow winding roads with care and skill.  It seems to me without his skill, we might not make it home.

One of the last of the tunnels was a beautiful shot of Mount Rushmore and that’s where we headed.

Although we have seen this before, it never gets old for me.  The artistic accomplishment is magnificent when you consider the artist took a mountain peak and transformed it into the masterpiece depicting four of our Presidents significant to this area.

Sitting in amphitheater waiting for the program at night

At dark, they begin a patriotic show culminating in retiring the flag using veterans in the audience and lighting the sculpture.  Moving to say the least.

We left Twin Falls on Sunday after church and headed to our next stop in Jackson, Wyoming where we will be staying three nights.  The smoky haze continues to block the mountain views which make this part of the country so picturesque.  Now the sky is simply a gray haze down to the horizon with the peaks of the mountains vaguely apparent behind an opaque screen.  At least there are no health warnings here like we hear they are issuing in Seattle.

We arrived just in time to get the needed information from the Visitor Center that will set the agenda for the next two days.  So much to see and only two days to see it all.

Jackson Hole is the name given to the area by the settlers because when you came over the Tetons it looked like a big hole and they ultimately named it after a famous trapper in the area named Jackson.  Jackson is actually the name of the city (town), not Jackson Hole.  The Tetons were named by a French explorer who named it for it’s three points.

Here are two pictures of the Tetons; one on the first day with overcast weather and smoke and the second on the next day with minimal clouds.

Most of the first day we heard one or the other of us say “that would be a beautiful picture if it wasn’t for the smoke and clouds”.

Later in the day, we decided to drive up to Yellowstone because there were usually more animals at dusk and we were right.  The bison were in full force on the side of the road with one youngster fascinated by a white car so it stood in the middle of the road just staring at the car.  As a result, the car could not get around it or move in any direction so traffic was backed up for at least one mile and about 25 minutes.  The price you pay to get an up close and personal look at a bison.

Mother Bison with her calf

Bison cross road at their leisure

This was the calf which held up traffic, finally got a picture after he moved off the road, notice the line of traffic

This bull Bison came right past the car

Day two, in addition to better pictures, we saw a herd of  deer pretty close to the road and got some good pictures.

We also saw some interesting birds.  Can you believe they have pelicans and Blue  Heron in Wyoming!

American White Pelican

We then went to visit the National Fish Hatchery dedicated to replenishing the Snake River Cutthroat Trout.

This is where the fish stay until they are big enough to be released into the Snake River, happens in the fall 

Pond by the hatchery  

We finished the day with a western covered wagon ride to a pavilion in the forest for a cowboy dinner and show.

On the way to the Bar-T-5 ranch for dinner and show.  8 wagons

Outlaws holding up the wagon train, we were able to shoot them with our cameras

Dinner show

During the show Buckskin came into camp shooting and hollering telling us someone stole his horse, all part of the show 

Tomorrow morning we leave for Casper, Wyoming as a stop over spot to Grand Rapids, South Dakota for another look at Mount Rushmore and whatever else the area has to offer.

Today we docked in Juneau where we had scheduled an excursion by helicopter to the Mendenhall Glacier and a half hour tour actually walking on the glacier with our guide.  We have been dragging all sorts of extra clothing along for this special part of the trip and we were really excited.  Then at 8:30 a.m. we got the call.  Due to the heavy fog and rain, the excursion was cancelled.  Bummer!  With the fog and rain, it didn’t make any sense to spend the money on any of the other excursions, so we decided to just walk around town.  Walking around town reminded me of a Caribbean seaport with nothing but jewelry shops filled with over zealous sales people standing in the doorway trying to convince you to at least come in and see what they had.  We walked around a little and then found a coffee shop that had free Wifi for it’s customers so we could catch up on emails, and then back on the ship.  A real disappointment!

Harbor at Juneau

Downtown Juneau

Unusual artwork on building in Juneau

The next day we landed in Ketchikan where we were told they normally get over 200 days of rain each year but we had mild temperatures and sunshine for the first time in many days.  When we docked at 9 a.m. it was already 65 degrees.

Picture of Port from ship

Downtown Ketchikan  as you get off the ship

  We went to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show with champion athletes competed in events like Springboard-chopping, log rolling and the 50-foot tree climb.  One of the athletes was actually from Daytona Beach!

After lunch we walked over to the salmon ladder and saw with our own eyes how the salmon fight to get up stream to where they were born.  I’m sure the pictures don’t show the power of the water that they had to swim against but it was impressive.

Salmon swimming up this rapid

Black spots are the Salmon

Scene along the river where the Salmon were swimming and downstream from previous pictures

All in all, Ketchikan was a pleasant surprise!

After a pleasant last day at sea, we docked in Vancouver to end our Alaska adventure.  I decided that my expectations were too high for this trip and with the weather being so bad most of the time, it led to my disappointment.  With better weather, I’m sure the majestic scenery of Alaska would have wowed me like so many others.

After we got off the ship, we saw heavy dense fog again and looked forward to seeing sunshine again (you know how we Floridians need the sun to survive).  The bus driver told us it was not fog but actually smoke from all the fires.  While we were in Alaska, there were many more fires in California, Oregon, Washington and even British Columbia.  This thick haze followed us all the way to Twin Falls, Idaho where we spent 2 days.