Saturday, September 15, 2018

Just a quick note before Purdue's game tonight.

All our family members are safe and even have electricity.  My niece in Raleigh lost electricity for awhile but it's back.  Joe reports his cable is out.

My brother, Joe reports: Just took a driving tour of New Bern. I know the national media showed a lot of devastation but people are already out and cleaning up. Of course there are families that got hit very hard but for the majority of the county I predict things will be back to normal in a matter of weeks. My family was lucky and we only need about a day of yard clean up. My neighbor's were not so lucky and they will take longer to get back to normal. Things in general are not too bad and the good folks of Craven county will be ok.

And just now, a report on my dad's place.  "Water got in dad's garage and his car was in the driveway and it got flooded.  His air conditioner is under the house, so that may be damaged."

My dad's house sits on at least a 3 foot if not 4 foot crawl space, so hopefully the interior is ok.

Given that, I'd guess that the water at my dad's was 8 to 10 feet higher than it's ever been. He's been there 30 years. 

Everyone is safe and everything else can be fixed.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Go Boilers!

Deb

Thursday, September 13, 2018

We are home.

And we have CNN on and are watching the coverage of hurricane Florence as it hits the east coast.

My brother, Joe, and his wife, Lisa, are hunkered down in New Bern, North Carolina, with my dad. CNN has a reporter in New Bern, who is showing that there is already 2.5 feet of water in historical downtown New Bern. 

My nieces are farther north in North Carolina, Jamie in Raleigh, and Jessie in Ahoskie, North Carolina. They’ll get lots of rain, but should be okay.

Steve’s nieces, Jennifer and Meredith, live in Charleston, South Carolina, and have evacuated to their parents in Palm Coast, Florida.

So, everyone is safe and sheltered.  But we’ll be keeping our eye on the storm.

Deb

Monday, August 20, 2018

We are in Spearfish, South Dakota.  We’re not supposed to be here, but when we left Spearfish on Saturday and headed for Custer, South Dakota, the truck had other ideas.  About 15 miles out of town, headed up a hill, the truck flashed a message “cutting power” and did.  Steve managed to get us mostly off the road and we looked at each other.

We had some trouble with the DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) distribution mechanism last year around this time.  The truck had given us a similar message, except it said cutting power in 99 miles. We were camped in a town with a Chevy dealer, and while it took a few days, it was all repaired relatively quickly and we went on our way.

Luckily, Saturday we had cell service and I found that the nearest Chevy dealer was back in Spearfish. While Steve worked with Good Sam Roadside Service checking on a tow, 3 different people stopped by to help.  One checked under the hood for loose hoses; he’d had trouble with one that morning.  And another suggested turning the engine off for a while, which we did. I called the campground we had stayed at the night before to get us a space for the night.

After a bit, we turned the engine on to see if we could at least get completely off the road. The check engine light was still on, but the warning message was gone, so we tried to get to someplace we could turn around and head back to the campground.  We made it back to the campground without any problem.  By now it was Saturday afternoon and the service department closed at noon and would open again Monday morning.

We had a restful Sunday and got some laundry done.  Monday, bright and early, Steve had the truck at the Chevy dealer.  The DEF system was fine.  The message occurred because the turbo charger was over pressure and then under pressure, so the computer shut everything down.  They ran a series of checks and couldn’t find anything to fix. We’ll watch everything on the way home, but should be good.

We’ll skip our stay in Custer this trip and resume our trip home on Wednesday.  We should be home by August 28th.

Before we left the north section of Theodore Roosevelt National Park last week, I did get a picture of the Little Missouri River that runs through all sections of the park.

We spent 2 and half days in the south section of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and really enjoyed our time.  We camped in the town of Medora, which pretty much surrounds the national park entrance. 

The scenery in the south section of the park was very like the north section – colored layers of odd shaped hills.

But we had more luck with animals in the south section.  First we saw wild horses.

We saw a total of 6 wild horses on our drive through the park, always in pairs.

We came across a large herd of bison.

The bison were totally ignoring their audience.

And last, we saw hundreds of prairie dogs.  This one let me get a good picture of him.

We never found any big horn sheep this summer at all, which was a disappointment.  

The town of Medora, where we were camped, was quite interesting.  It has a permanent population of 112, but is quite the bustling tourist town in the summer.  It was founded in 1883, about the same time that Roosevelt visited.  The founder was a French nobleman Marquis de Mores. He named the town Medora, after his wife.  His plan was to grow cattle in North Dakota, slaughter it and ship it to Chicago in refrigerated train cars (refrigeration provided by ice).  He built his meat packing company, but hadn’t planned on the Chicago beef people (who shipped live cattle to Chicago and fattened them on corn before slaughter) teaming up with the railroads to thwart his business plans.  He and his wife left Medora after three years.

But his impact on the town is still evident.  The town is neatly laid out according to his plan.  Several buildings from that time remain.  One is the small Catholic Church that his wife commissioned.  The brick maker for that church also built a home for Medora’s parents and the chimney for the meat processing plant.  All three still stand and the bricks seem pristine. 

One of the other buildings that remains is the home the Marquis built for himself.  The Marquis and his wife, Medora, considered it a hunting lodge, while the locals called it the Chateau.   While large, with 10 bedrooms, it is a plain white building with a red roof, sitting on a hill overlooking the Marquis land.  (Steve and I managed not to take a picture of it.) The de Mores took their square grand piano with them when they left, but left the other furnishings.  It remained in the family until it was given to the state in 1936.  Most of the original furnishings are still in the house, which is quite unusual.

Medora has managed to survive in spite of its small size.  The small town decided to put on a show to commemorate the 100th birthday of Theodore Roosevelt in 1958.  It was staged in a local natural amphitheater.  It and a succeeding show struggled for several years before Harold Schaefer bought the amphitheater.  He was president of the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park and Badlands Association, and founder of the Gold Seal corporation (anyone remember Mr. Bubble?).  He poured money and talent into the production.  Today it manages to draw over 100,000 people during the summer season. The Schaefer family gave the amphitheater to the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation in 1986.

The foundation runs many things around town.  The RV park we stayed in belongs to the foundation and they are responsible for the community pool, playgrounds and parks.  This was one of the most imaginative playgrounds I’ve seen.  It resembles an old west town and the kids all flock to it.

Medora also holds a “Pitchfork Steak Fondue” buffet dinner before each performance.  It is a unique experience and actually tastes quite good.  Most of the attendees to the performance attend the dinner, so it’s a good money maker. And everyone takes pictures of the steaks being cooked.

For a small town, its working it’s tail off to stay alive and doing a good job of it.

Deb

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

We are camped just outside Theodore Roosevelt National Park, in Medora, North Dakota.  This National Park is divided into 3 sections: the north section, the south section and the Elkhorn Ranch section.  We stayed in the campground of the north section Monday night.  A lot of national parks have campgrounds, but most of the parks do not have campgrounds with hookups (i.e. water, electric and sewer).   Since we have batteries, some solar, and are self-contained, we can go a few days without hookups without a problem.  This campground also had no phone service, so we were really off the grid.

As we drove into the campground, this bison greeted us.

We were delighted to see him and hoped it was a good omen for our visit.  But he was the first and last animal we saw in the north section of the park.

Our campsite was a pull-thru, meaning we didn’t have to back into the space, making parking easier.  Steve positioned the trailer so this was the view out our back window.

Not our prettiest view, but it’s always nice to not be looking at other trailers.  What you can’t see is the Little Missouri River that’s about 25 yards away.   It’s about 8 foot lower, so we couldn’t see it from the trailer.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park was created to honor President Theodore Roosevelt, who was the first president to champion conservation.  He originally came out here in the fall of 1883 on a hunting trip and fell in love with this strange area.  He bought a ranch and invested in cattle.  He then returned to his home in New York for the winter.  (The ranger who gave us a tour of his cabin told us that “nobody wants to be here in the winter.”)  Unfortunately, on February 14,1884, Roosevelt lost both his wife (kidney failure after childbirth) and his mother (typhoid fever).  He returned to Montana to mourn and heal.  He bought and built his second ranch, Elkhorn, which is part of the park today.  He got out of the cattle business when the winter of 1886-87 wiped out most of his cattle.

But his experiences in Montana influenced him for the rest of his life.  Wikipedia states “Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests, including Shoshone National Forest, the nation's first. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately 230,000,000 acres (930,000 km2).[143]

Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as President.[144] By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 150 million acres of reserved forestry land.”

Shortly after his death in 1919, sites were looked at for a park site.  The Civilian Conservation Corps had camps in both of the current park sites and built structures, roads and trails still in use today.  After years of various designations, (Roosevelt Recreation Demonstration Area, then Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge among others), it officially became a national park in 1978.  It is the only national park named after an individual.

The park has the geography usually described as badlands, surrounding the valley created by the Little Missouri River.  Most of the time, I felt like I was driving through a Star Wars set.

The pictures really don’t do justice to the strangeness of the landscape, all surrounding a lazy river bordered by cottonwood trees and grassy pastures.

We’re off to explore the south section.

Deb

Friday, July 6, 2018

We are in Creede, Colorado, on our way to Lake City, Colorado, where Steve’s great-great-grandfather prospected for silver and gold.  He is buried there.  Steve hopes to get some genealogical information from the local historical society.

Last Sunday we took a ride on a narrow-gauge train from Chama, New Mexico, to Antonito, Colorado.  The scenery was breathtaking.  Here are a few photos.

Our car on the train.

This is the fire truck that followed the train for the first half of the journey.  Fire hazard was high on the western slope and we were traveling behind a coal-fired steam engine.

We were also followed on the track by two speeders which were pulling a water tank.

The pass was at 10,000 feet; Santa Fe is at 7000 feet.  We had a nice lunch at the pass.

The obligatory “front of the train from the back of the train” picture.  

One of great views from the trilp.

We always enjoy our train rides.  It takes us back to a slower time and allows us to enjoy the scenery.

While I would say we are in the Rockies, we’re actually in the San Juan Mountains, which extend south into New Mexico.  We left Santa Fe this morning and headed north, encountering some of the scenery that inspired Georgia O’Keefe.  She lived for many years north of Santa Fe and painted much of the local scenery.  I have always loved her flower pictures, so we did visit her museum in Santa Fe.

I am always amazed at how crossing a state line can define a change in scenery and today was no exception.  We had been traveling the San Juan Mountains foothills and after crossing into Colorado, we were on the plains.   And the architecture changed.  While there were a few adobe homes, most of the houses could have been transplanted from the Midwest.  

Then we turned west and headed into the San Juan Mountains.  We were mostly following the Rio Grande, whose headwaters are in the San Juan’s.  In fact, we are camped within 100 yards of the Rio Grande.

We drove by a motel we stayed in years ago, the Movie Manor in Monte Vista, Co.  Most of the rooms have a view of the screen of the drive in theater next door and there is a speaker in the room, so you can open the curtains and watch the movie on the big screen.  The motel gets 5 stars on Trip Advisor.

That trip was planned by Steve’s best man, Bill, and his wife, Karen who lived in Denver.  I was very busy at work at the time and agreed to whatever Steve, Bill and Karen decided.  It wasn’t until I was standing in their driveway that I realized I’d be spending the next week in a station wagon with 4 adults and 2 kids under the age of 5.  I’d agreed to everything and just told myself to pay more attention next time.  But Karen, who had done most of the planning, had done a wonderful job.  She also did a great job with the kids.  It was one of our great vacations and one we talk about often.  We’ll be meeting up with Bill and Karen next week at the Crested Butte Wildflower festival.  

Antler’s Rio Grande Lodge where we are staying would be a great spot for a fishing vacation. It has lodge rooms, cabins and an RV park.  Some of the lodge rooms and cabins sit right on the river, which at this point is mostly a mountain stream.  It also has a terrific restaurant.  Steve had scallops and I had chicken marsala.  We’re planning on breakfast there in the morning!

We haven’t seen much wildlife this trip.  We saw a few pronghorns (antelope) on the train trip and lots of rabbits at our Santa Fe campground.  This campground has a lot of chipmunks.

More later.

Deb

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Wednesday, July 4, 2018

On the road again!

We are in Santa Fe, New Mexico!  Here’s the view from my window.

Santa Fe was the capital of this area when the Spanish and Tlaxcalan Indians settled it in the early 1600’s.  The San Miguel church dates back to 1610, making it the oldest church in the continental United States.  (Puerto Rico has 3 older churches dating back as far as 1521.)

While it has undergone many changes in 400 years, the original walls and alter remain.  It still holds Sunday services.

Near the church, Santa Fe also claims the oldest house in the US, the De Vargas Street house, dating to 1646. 

The rooms were small and hard to photograph, but you can see the deep windowsill and the blocked door (on the left).  The fireplace is typical of an adobe fireplace.

But a bit of research shows that the oldest house title belongs to the Fairbanks house in Massachusetts.  It was built in 1637.   To put that in perspective, the pilgrims landed in 1620 and Jamestown was established in 1607.  

The Palace of Governors here was built in 1610 by the Spanish and is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the continental US, being beaten (once again) by Puerto Rico, whose Governor’s Palace was built in 1533 and is still in use. The Palace sits on a public square that was getting set up for the Fourth of July celebrations and we managed not to get a picture.  But it is in the same Spanish/Mexican architecture as much of Santa Fe, even the modern buildings.

This is a modern commercial building just off the main square.

Most of the houses here are in the same style, making the peaked roof houses we’re used to seeing in other parts of the country look out of place here.

We also stopped at the Loretto Chapel, a Victorian structure built in 1878.  It has a unique stairway that goes through two 360 degree turns with no visible means of support.  The stairway was built by an itinerant carpenter and there are many mysteries surrounding it.

Santa Fe didn’t become a US possession until 1848.  Until that time it was under Spanish or Mexican control, along with most of the western US, including Texas.   It was and is the capital of the area and now state.  Spanish is still a major language in this area; it predates English by over 200 years.

For any fans of Ben Hur, it was written by Lew Wallace, who lived in Crawfordsville, IN. Lew Wallace was named Governor of the New Mexico territory in 1878.  The person at the tourist bureau said that he wasn’t happy here and spent his time here finishing Ben Hur.  We’ve visited his library in Crawfordsville.

Hopefully I’ll blog more as we head up through Colorado.

Deb

January 12, 2018

We are on the Gulf Coast near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.  Here’s the view out my window:

My condolences to all those we left behind.  It’s been a rough winter in the Midwest and not exactly lovely even in Plano, TX, where the temperatures were between 20 and 77 while we were there.  It’s 48 outside at the moment, but yesterday was nice enough to walk on the beach.  I may try another walk before we leave today.

We’ve seen a lot of fog.  The night we got here it was so foggy I could barely see the light pole out my window.

Someone asked about my sewing projects and I finally did get to sew while we were in Plano with Natasha’s family.  Maria had asked for an Alice dress and a Snow White dress.  So I set to work.  Turns out, it wasn’t Alice she wanted, but Aurora (Sleeping Beauty).  Bless her heart, she just turned 5.  Anyway, she got all three, but the Snow White turned out the best.

I also did four “nap mats”, (think sleeping bags) for the princess/Barbie dolls, as they each needed a place to sleep.  Hopefully I can get in some more sewing on the road.

Fall was rough, as my asthma went into high gear after driving through all the forest fire smoke in Canada and the western US.  I spent a month on steroids and antibiotics and another month recovering from that.  We took a break in October to see my dad, taking his 80-year-old baby sister with us. She’s great!  It was a pleasure to get to know her better and watch her handle my dad. 

We flew to Orlando after that to meet up with Natasha, Olga and Maria.  So much fun!  But near the end of our stay, we received word that Steve’s dad was failing rapidly.  Steve headed for Maryland and, along with his brother, Terry, was able to be with him at the end.  He was 94 and had been failing slowly for several years.  While we are sad to see him go, he had a good life and a relatively quick death surrounded by loved ones.  The funeral was Thanksgiving weekend.

I need to get packed up so we can get on the road, so I’ll close for now.  Please, everyone, keep safe and warm!

Deb