Tornado missses bloggers

In case my blog for Monday concerned anyone, I wanted you to know that the tornados missed Billings and Gloria and I.  It also gives me an excuse to share a closeup of my cool hat and those guys in the background.

Weather is still likely to be a problem for us today with rain and scattered thunderstorms forcast.  We will be driving south back into Wyoming to Cody which is 90 miles or so away.  As I blogged yesterday, the mountain passes are still under snow so it will be a drive in the rainy valleys instead. It could be a soggy three days at the K Bar Z ranch, but we could use a few days not on the road, and there is always writing, reading and drawing to keep us occupied if the horses stay tucked safely in their warm barns for our stay.

Day 7, Rapid City, South Dakota to Billings, Montana



That's inspiring!

As I prepare this post I am in the lobby of the Hampton Inn in Billings Montana.  There is a tornado warning in effect for a funnel that has touched down just west of here and is drifting this way.  This morning when we left Rapid City we saw the Dominator, the armored tornado chase vehicle that some of you may have seen on the Storm Chasers program.  I plan to duck into the hotel laundry in the middle of the first floor if the sirens go off!!

On to happier thoughts.  The first picture is intended to be inspirational to the park service in case they decide to add another face to Mount Rushmore.  What do you think?

We left Rapid City and headed south to Mount Rushmore around 9:00 local time.  This seems to be a light tourist season, so the crowds were light.  The park really is impressive and a moving, patriotic experience of the best kind.  As promised here is a picture of Gloria in her cowgirl hat.

Although we were facing a daunting 375 mile trip to Billings, we couldn’t resist the urge to travel another 11 miles in the wrong direction to see the Crazy Horse memorial which is still under construction.  Pictured is me (in my new hat) in front of a model created by the sculptor, which is being used to control the dimensions of a huge mountain sculpture.  The face of Chief Crazyhorse is done and the outline of his arm and horse are beginning to take shape.  The visitor’s center is fully developed and a great educational center on native peoples and the project on Crazyhorse Mountain.

The Hotel lobby is filling up with concerned guests.  One storm missed us, but another is bearing down and everyone is collecting on the ground floor of the hotel. It feels like a  hurricane party, western style.

We learned that Beartooth mountain pass is still under deep snow drifts, so we are going to go to Cody and the dude ranch by an eastern route and save the mountains for another time.

I’ll post again tomorrow assuming that the weather doesn't eat my computer.

David

Day 6 Cross South Dakota

Day  6, cross South Dakota from Sioux Falls to Rapid City

We made the drive across South Dakota in record time, stopping only a couple of times for comfort breaks.  The Star Restaurant in Murdo was a good lunch break, but much more modest than the billboards along RT 90 would have suggested.  The homemade apple pie was outstanding as were the Buffalo burgers.

We returned to the highway and stayed on it as far as Cottonwood.   There we left the highway for the Badlands National Park.  This is not off the beaten path but the popularity of the park in no way diminishes the experience.  The Badlands are nature’s sandbox and wow, was Mother Nature in a creative mood when these peaks and valleys were being laid down, carved out and windswept.  Just the scale and spread of the place is mind boggling.  I have never felt so small and insignificant as I felt when surrounded by these structures. 

This is near the top of a ridge hundreds of feet high.

After a breathtaking drive among the spires, we ended up at a ramp for RT 90 in a little town called Wall.  For more than 200 hundred miles we had been beckoned by various merchants of Wall via billboards.  So we passed the highway ramp and proceeded into this tiny town.  Nestled against the highway, Wall is another of those rare places that raise corniness to an art form.  A short stretch of old time Main Street, is populated with stores that entertain as much as sell, and friendly people.  Wall Drug lives up to its reputation as a kitsch palace, but don’t ignore the other little shops across Main Street.  Wall is definitely worth the stop despite the highway hype. BTW, I traded in my UCONN baseball cap for a genuine leather cowboy hat at Wall.  This was not so much a fashion statement as much as an admission that the sun (87 degrees in the badlands) is too much for my pale skin to handle.  Gloria also looks pretty good in her cowboy (or is that cowgirl) hat.  Pictures of those will follow tomorrow.

Mount Rushmore was only 65 miles from Wall, but our hotel in Rapid City stood between us and Mount Rushmore, and the lure of a shower and soft bed beat out a late day view of the presidents.  

While talking to a merchant we learned that Yellowstone has been receiving a significant amount of snow recently, with more forecast.  Two days from now we are supposed to be on Beartooth highway driving from Billings, Montana to Cody Wyoming and the K bar Z ranch.  We may need to alter our route to avoid driving in the mountains of Yellowstone if what we heard is true. 

Check back in and we will keep you posted.

Day 5 - Cross Minnesota

Today was one of our longest planned drives, over 350 miles.  We started off from Tomah, Wisconsin with the intention of staying on highway 90 today and putting all of Minnesota behind us. We crossed the Mississippi River today, for me it is the first time I have seen it from other than an aircraft.  Although most of the trip was through look alike fields with a little green fuzz of new crops covering the soil, the trip also revealed numerous wind farms studded with graceful windmills quietly stealing energy from the breeze.  At points there were literally hundreds of these spindly white towers disappearing into the distance. 

Crossing the Mississippi



Our resolve to push through to Sioux Falls with only brief breaks failed around the town of Fairmont.  We spotted a reference to the Jeffers Petroglyphs in Comfey, about sixty miles north of the interstate.  This one is really off the beaten path.  We zig-zagged through fields and windmills for over an hour seeing only two or three vehicles (other than tractors) the whole time. When we arrived at the Visitor Center  at 27160 County Road 2 we found a truly mind expanding exhibit  of recreated prairie ecosystems, artifacts, and the main feature, rock carvings, some of which are believed to be 7000 years old with  many newer layers added by the successive migrations of native American people who settled this region.  The picture below was made possible by a neat trick developed by the archaeologists who work here - a board to shade the petroglyphs, and a mirror to cast revealing shadows.

Using shadow and mirror to reveal the petroglyphs



Resident archaeologist Chuck gave an outstanding tour of the sometimes hard to spot petroglyphs , thousands of them carved into the hard Sioux quartzite ridge.  The ridge is a sacred site to native people, so they scientists here have declined to reproduce the pictographs, but their beauty is astounding.  This is no Disney land, but real adult entertainment and worth the trip.

Gloria with Archaeologist Chuck at Jeffers Petroglyphs in Comfrey, MN

Despite the fact that our three guides (Magellan, Rand-McNally, & AAA) differed concerning how to find our hotel in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Gloria drove us unerringly to the parking lot of our fifth Hampton Inn and a very comfortable, but welcome room. 

There are kids everywhere in our hotel.  Apparently there is a girls’ soccer tournament in the area and ours is the official hotel. The girls are in high spirits, but so well mannered and charming that their enthusiasm is catching.  It feels like a holiday here.

We have another big jump to Rapid City tomorrow, more than 350 miles again.  Our itinerary suggests another high speed crossing day, but I see that there is a buffalo exhibit south of Pierre, and a great scenic road through Badlands National Park.  There is a chance we will check in at Rapid City a little late.

Stay tuned to find out if these or other attractions pull us off the beaten path.

David

Day 4 Illinois to Wisconsin



Day 4 Illinois to Wisconsin

We left Merrillville in light rain this morning and used the major highways through Chicago.  By the time we reached Madison Wisconsin Gloria was tired of the highways and took us off 90 and on to rt 33 to a little town called Baraboo.  Consistent with our other experiences off the interstate, this little jaunt made our day.  The picture above was taken in one of the little surprises, a Baraboo restaurant called the Log Cabin.  It was so corny it was fun.  Nearly every piece of wood was carved with an animal face or shape.  Bears were favorites, and deer and eagles in ample profusion.  BTW the strawberry short cake on the table was just a prop, really. The food and service were outstanding.

A few miles north of Baraboo on Shady Lane Road, off RT 12 is an inspiring facility run by the International Crane Foundation.  The ICF has created a crane habitat and educational facility. Beautiful giant birds, manicured grounds, an air conditioned gift shop (it was 92 degrees today) and pleasant staff made this a great visit.   We have lots of pictures of the cranes but decided to share the graceful crane sculpture on their front gate.

We were having so much fun on the back roads that we continued on RT 12 all the way to Tomah, our destination.  Along the way we came across an unexpected playground called Wisconsin Dells.  Part Tampa, part Disney world, part Ocean city, part six flags, this town is wall to wall water parks, roller coasters, museums, water sports and hotels and motels. It seemed to appeal more to families and teens so we coasted through.

The road our hotel was on was too new for Magellan to recognize, and Rand McNally could only get us close.  A Trip-tic from AAA got us close, and in the end we just drove around the neighborhood until we stumbled into it.  We are getting better about being lost and enjoying it.  While we were walking in a local family spotted our license plate and gasped. Another recognized my UCONN cap and remembered that the basketball team had very good year.

Gloria and some of the bears at the Log Cabbin in Baraboo.

See you along the way.

Day 3 Cross Ohio and Indiana

Today was one of our longer jumps, from Youngstown, Ohio, to Merrillville, Indiana just south of Chicago.  After a very brief stint on interstate 80 outside of Youngstown, we opted once again for the secondary roads, 303, 20, 24 in Ohio and 24 and 30 in Indiana.  For the most part they are good roads, with posted speeds of 55mph outside of the little hamlets of which there are many.  I noticed may small town centers with beautifully restored Victorian era homes, especially along route 303 in Ohio which was a nice drive and worth repeating at a slower pace with more stops. 

We were surprised to find that even off the beaten path the big chain stores seem to have taken over the country.  The fast food giants, the mid range restaurants, the big box lumberyards and variety stores that we have at home are everywhere out here.  Mom & Pop stores were few even along these routes.

My resolve to record some colorful dialog and listen more carefully for regionalisms came to nothing.  Service persons sound like they are all reading the same script, from CT to IN.  We briefly picked up some accents, but near the cities everyone talks like a NYC TV personality.

We were momentarily lost four times on this trip.  The good folks at RoadTripAmerica.com warned me to use GPS devices with care, likewise with maps, observed signs, and the advice of locals.  Sometimes it takes all four to find a destination. Today Magellan decided we were in the middle of a cornfield because the road we were on was so new it wasn’t in the mapping program. We resisted the instruction to drive in the direction of Kansas. In the process of correcting we became lost again because the Rand-McNally road atlas is missing a section of route 24 on the Ohio-Indiana border, so once again we found ourselves on a road that did not exist.  I’ll take the blame for missing a turn off rt 469 around Fort Wayne, but we did get a good look at this little city (and a much needed stretch break). I saw Carolyn Rose’s post about getting lost in Chicago.  If I can, I will.

The picture is something we saw a lot of along the rural roads of Indiana, farm houses.  We also saw crop dusting for the first time IRL and lots of fields in the process of becoming corn.

I may skip my work out tonight and start reading Carolyn Rose’s An Uncertain Refuge, which I purchased for the kindle just before leaving.  I enjoyed Hemlock Lake quite a bit and look forward to her newest.

Tomah Wisconsin is the target for tomorrow and we are debating on using the highways this time to allow us to arrive earlier and look around before collapsing.

Comments seem to work properly now, so post.  I have set it up so you can post anonymously without setting up an account if you are shy. Shawn, that means you .  Since posting pictures of our trip was your idea give us a shout. 

Wish you were here, but I would need a bigger car, so enjoy through this.

David

Day 2 -New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio

Here is a shout of thanks to those who have visited the blot and attempted to post a comment.  I have tried a different comment format and it seems to be working this morning (see my test comment below this posting).  If you have a few seconds and the inclination, send in a comment so we can verify that this is fixed.  Thanks!

We finished up our stay in Syracuse and took secondary roads (20 and 5) through cow and corn country to the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga.  Upstate NY is really quite beautiful. People seem to actually drive the speed limits up here! We lucked out on weather, we skirted just north of the weather system that produced tornados in Springfield Mass, an area we drove through yesterday. Family members will recognize cousin Susan in the picture below with Gloria.  It was a great if brief reunion due to conflicting schedules, but likely to be repeated at greater leisure on our return  

Below I am in front of Lake Erie, just over the Pennsylvania line.  After Buffalo we began to see more grapes (see the background) than corn. We opted to take the highway (90) to Ohio and save the scenic route and a couple of vinyards for the way home.  We got to see YSU (Youngstown) due to entering a wrong address in the GPS.  The last time I acidentally wandered in to a University, I collected three degrees, and spent thirty-three years on the faculty.  Needless to say I burned out of the YSU parking lot and found our hotel.  

To keep fit we have been working out in the hotel gym for an hour as soon as we arrive each day.  Driving seems to turn muscles into jelly, or at least exercising at the end of the day makes me more aware what rotten shape I am in.  Pictures of that aren’t likely to make it into the blog without a little touching up.

Chicago (Merrillville) is our destination for tomorrow.

See you on the road.