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Placeholder Drive Dinosaur NM and drive to Ben’s

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Three Really Big States: Driving, Driving, Driving

 Saturday/Sunday, Sept. 11-12, 2021

All in all, we spent 8 nights—an entire week—in Minnesota. It is a. BIG state from North to South, and I think we drove vertically for the most part. But finally we left from the middle to head west. Then there’s North Dakota. When I say there is NOTHING THERE, it’s not 100% true. But it’s definitely true of the northeast corner, where we entered the state. It was flat and completely nondescript. We drove and drove and drove. All in all, we drove about 350 miles on Saturday.

We were going to spend the night in Minot, ND, at a Walmart. We did shop there, but the lady at the customer service desk said we couldn’t stay. Then we went a few miles further to a Flying J. They said we COULD stay, but despite them having a big parking lot, the area they wanted us in was awkwardly arranged, and we couldn’t figure out how to “fit”. So we went 8 miles even further down the highway, to a town called Burlington. They have an adorable little town park with a campground loop of 12 spaces, most pull-through (meaning we would not have to detach the Jeep) and with electricity. So we ended up paying $21 for the electric, and spent a very quiet night (there were only two other RVs there.). 

We left this morning, and continued. Driving, driving, driving. After about 150 miles, we got out of North Dakota and entered Montana. We kept driving. Driving, driving, driving. North Dakota was huge (400 miles-ish, I think.) Montana is huger. We did gain an hour when we crossed the border, so we decided to use it to drive even further. I’d had places planned out for stops all along the way, for depending on where we were when we’d had enough driving. But we made it to Havre, another couple of hundred miles, i think. So tonight we ARE at a Walmart lot. Along with several other RVs, including one from New Jersey with a woman who opened her door to ask, “Where in NJ are you from?” She is living in her van for the year, after selling all her stuff, and is also heading to Glacier National Park, as are we. She’s from Madison, NJ. We exchanged phone numbers.

Tomorrow, we will be driving yet again, until we get to Glacier National Park, at which point, we will try to find a place to stay. There is only one campground open now that Labor Day is over, and it’s first come, first served. We’ve gotten lucky in the past, and we are just hoping to get lucky again. Meanwhile… I’ll be happy to STOP driving. We’ve been on US-2 across the upper part of the country for the past 60 hours, and I’m getting tired of it. But this is a huge country, and there’s just no describing the wide-open vistas we have passed. This afternoon, we finally started seeing mountains! So we are definitely getting someplace. I will try to add a photo or two (that’s all we have!) tomorrow.

The End/Beginning of the Great River Road

Deb in the River

Friday, Sept 10, 2021

  Today was a very exciting day for me--I got to cross another bucket item off my list. In my searches over the map of the United States, as I followed the Mississippi River up and down the continent, I had wanted to visit Bemidji, MN, and nearby Itasca State Park. The Mississippi River gets its start in Lake Itasca, flows out of the lake northeast toward Bemidji, and then eventually turns south and continues on to Louisiana. Today we drove through Bemidji, and spent the night at Itasca State Park. 

 The drive from Voyageurs NP was only about 125 miles, and we arrived in Bemidji at lunch time. We stopped at Paul Bunyan Park, on Lake Bemidji. The Mississippi flows out of Lake Itasca about 25 miles away, going through a number of lakes like a ribbon threaded with pearls, until it becomes much larger downstream. Lake Bemidji is both filled by the river, and then the river empties out of it as well. Bemidji is also the "hometown" of Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox. The park has statues to both of them, as well as a lovely playground designed to be "accessible" for all children, including those with disabilities. The swings would accommodate a child who needs help sitting, and there's even a swing for a child who can only lie down. There were a number of children playing, as well as people just walking around enjoying the day, which turned from chilly in the morning to quite warm by lunchtime. I even changed into shorts! 

 We walked Cassie, ate some lunch, investigated the ice cream store across the street (they did NOT have sugar-free, so we didn't get anything,) and took photos of ourselves with Paul Bunyan and Babe. Finally, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts, where the Baskin Robbins DID have sugar free ice cream for Joe, and I had an iced coffee to satisfy my own sweet tooth. Then we headed for Itaska State Park. I had not realized that the Mississippi River was right THERE, and we drove over it as soon as we got back into the RV. So I made Joe turn around and go back, so I could take this photo of the river as we crossed it. It is only about 20 feel across at that point, I would guess, and it is only a mile or so in length, because it is passing between two lakes at that point. Anyway, we drove over it a second time, and then continued for 30 minutes or so until we came to the park. 

As we lined up for the campground entrance, I suddenly realized, it was Friday night! I had not made any reservations, and I was just hoping the park was not full. Well, we got SO LUCKY. They had ONE space, and it was because someone had just cancelled!! So we took the spot, which turned out to have a view of Lake Itasca through the trees. It was a very unlevel spot, but we decided we could live with it for one night. We got ourselves as level as possible, then jumped in the jeep. It was 4:30 pm, and we wanted to visit the Visitor Center before it closed at 6, and then go to the Headwaters of the Mississippi, which is what the park is most famous for. 

The visitor center was well worth the stop-- it had a number of excellent displays and panels explaining the search for the Mississippi headwaters through the 19th century, the importance of the river, and the natural life around it. There was one fantastic display about the Civilian Conservation Corps. Itasca is the oldest state park in Minnesota, established in (i think i remember) 1891. During the depression, the CCC was dispatched to build cabins and other structures to enhance the experience of visiting the park. The display included letters home written by boys who were working at Itasca, as well as an overview of the corps in general. I have always found the CCC to be so interesting, and I don't see why we can't have something like that these days. Our National Parks certainly could use some maintenance and TLC, and the government could be training and paying men and women to do this work. It would be so worthwhle. 

Anyway.... we left the center and drove back up the road a couple of miles (the park is very big!) to visit our ultimate goal--the headwaters at lake Itasca. It was around 6pm, and it seems like we really timed it well. There was almost no one there, and we were able to really enjoy the peaceful walk to the lake. When we got there, I climbed on the rocks, waded in the water (I was glad I'd changed to shorts at lunch time!) and really enjoy being there. Joey took photos of me and of the river heading downstream after it tumbled out of the lake and over the rocks. I was beaming the entire time, and I think the photos show how happy I was to finally be there.

Heading North as Fall Arrives

Wednesday-Thursday, Sept 8-9, 2021 We woke up Wednesday with a travel day ahead of us. The original expectation was a drive of about 3-4 hours, ending up at Voyageurs National Park. I figured we'd have an hour or two there, and then find a place to stay for the night, then head southwest to Bemidji, MN. But that's not exactly how it played out.
We made a good departure from Duluth, after dumping right at our campsite and hooking up the Jeep. The weather was overcast again, and Joe had put on some warmer clothes including jeans. I was still in denial about fall arriving, and wore shorts--but I did put on socks and sneakers for the first time, and had to wear a long sleeve top and a sweatshirt. It was definitely getting cooler! We got onto US 53, and that was our route for about 100 miles. We stopped for lunch at a big shopping center in the town of Virginia, MN (another state-state combination name), where we were surprised to see an Einstein's Bagels restaurant. But we resisted temptation so that my diet wouldn't be immediately sabotaged-- I can't resist bagels! Instead we ate in the RV. Then after walking the dog, we stopped across the highway so I could drop my postcards into the mail at a post box in front of the grocery store. And then, back on the road.
The only stop after that was a quick one at a ranger station for the Superior National Forest. I was hoping for some maps and information, but unless I spent $14, the map I needed was not available. I also found out that there is a legal dispute between the US Government and the state of Minnesota about who owns the forest immediately surrounding the National Park--i.e. in the area where we would be. The ranger told me i could NOT camp "dispersed camping" style (i.e. anywhere in the forest that i wanted) because the state did not allow it. (If it is federal land, it IS allowed--but there is no definite decision as to whose land it is.) I had hoped to find a free dispersed spot, but decided that was not going to work.
I could see we were likely to be arriving at the Visitor Center at Lake Kabetogama at 4pm and it closes at 5:00. Unfortunately, we missed the turn, adding 20 more minutes to our drive. We arrived at 4:30, after passing another Visitor Center at Ash River. I said as we passed, "Should we go there instead?" But Joe said no, let's just go on to Kabetogama. Well, after missing the turn and arriving in a cranky mood, we found that the Visitor Center at Lake Kabetogama is CLOSED from Wed-Saturday. The park website did not mention that important bit of information! So the Ash River site IS open Wednesday-Saturday (the other one is open Sunday-Tuesday), and we could have stopped at that one.
As we made this unhappy discovery, the sky opened and we had yet another brief torrent of rain--something we've just started taking for granted up here lately. We decided to camp at the nearest place-- Woodenfrog State Forest Campground. Well, that was the best decision we made all day. Our campsite here is surrounded by nothing but trees (all the sites are spread apart, and almost no one is here anyway, so we are all alone.) The lake is nearby, but we are just in the trees, and it smells great and is so beautiful.
It's a primitive site, though-- no electric or on-site water. So Joe decided to run the generator so he could use the microwave to defrost something for dinner. That's when he discovered that sometime in the past week or so, the generator's exhaust pipe had fallen off. Unfortunately, that makes us leery of using the generator, since the exhaust will be right under the RV and is toxic. We ended up having hot dogs for dinner, since that required no defrosting (just put them in a skillet and cook!) But now we need to find a new exhaust pipe.
We woke up and decided on a plan for the day. The site fee was good until 4pm. So instead of taking the RV, we drove the Jeep down the road (30 minutes) back to the Ash River Visitor Center. We spent about an hour there--first watching a video about the park, and then going down to the lake. It is absolutely gorgeous up here, really. The park is mostly water, and most of the activities are boating, or boat rides. The boat rides are over for the season. We don't have a boat. (We weren't going to start kayaking at this point-- we BOTH put on jeans this morning and wore sweatshirts all day... the temperature is in the 60s.) But we did spend time admiring the views of Lake Kabetogama and the peaceful atmosphere of the park.
After an hour or so, we headed back north (all this is back and forth on Route 53), past the RV's location, up to International Falls, MN. This is the northernmost point of the state, and across the river (where, supposedly, there are falls, but you can't see them because of the international border crossing) is Canada. Our goal was the NAPA, to see if they had a part that would work for the generator. Unfortunately they did not. I made another disappointing discovery as well-- the Walmart which I thought was in International Falls turns out to be in Canada! A mere mile and another country away. Between Covid and not having passports, we were not going to cross the border. So we stayed in town, looked at a couple of other auto repair places (no one had what Joey is looking for), ate some lunch (BBQ brisket at the snack bar in one of the auto repair places), went to the grocery store, stopped at the post office to mail more postcards which I'd bought at the park, and finally at around 4pm, came back to the campground. There, we paid for another night, and went for a walk in the woods.
Like I said, this state forest campground is beautiful. The lake is right here, and we found a lakeside path to walk on as well as the trail in the woods. So we have photos and we are relaxed and since we have such a flexible agenda, oh well. It was just "one of those days." Gotta have them sometimes! Tomorrow we will get up early and head for Bemidji and the headwaters of the Mississippi, and then, we'll see where we end up for the night. After that: book it for Montana.

New Year in Duluth

 

Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 6-7

We got up on Monday morning and packed up our camper, used the excellent KOA showers, and hit the road for a drive to Duluth, about 3 hours away. We had a reservation at a campground on the river (I didn't know WHAT river) so we could spend Rosh Hashanah in a place with decent phone reception. We planned to "go to services" via AEMT's livestream Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

We arrived without incident in the late afternoon at River Place Campground. It was, indeed, right smack on the Saint Louis River, only a few miles upstream from where it pours into Lake Superior and Dululth Harbor. Almost all the campers there were seasonal, with porches and lawn ornaments, and they had all the actual waterfront sites. But there was a pier with a table and chairs where I sat for a little while, admiring the serenity of the river. 

Saint Louis River along our campground

There was no one to be found at the office cum bait shop. My instructions had been to ask there for my site number. But there was a list posted on the door and I saw that we had Site 33, so we found it (very easy) and parked ourselves there. It was quiet--many of the seasonal campers were not there, and there was plenty of grass to walk Cassie, so we were very happy and settled ourselves in.

Dinner was early, because I wanted to catch the services at 6:30 central time (they were 7:30 at home.) I sat in the dinette with the laptop set up, and watched the whole thing, sang along with the prayers, etc. This was an improvement from previous years, when this technology was not utilized, but the one upside to Covid is that we can now participate in important events via Zoom, Livestream, or even YouTube (the services could be found on all three.)

Duluth Shipping Channel by Maritime Museum

Tuesday morning, I got myself going in time to catch late services (10:45 my time.) I had touched base with Aimee and Beth, and the three of us had a phone text group going as we all watched services together. That made it a bit more comforting, since I was missing being with family for the New Year. 

When services were over, Joey and I had some lunch. Then we drove to Duluth to be sightseers. My plan had been to take the North Shore Scenic Highway (another All America Road) for as long as we felt like driving. But I was not at all sure where or how to pick it up! I saw in my Duluth tourist book that there was a Maritime Museum run by the Army Corps of Engineers right by the Aerial Lift Bridge, Duluth's landmark. So I felt they could surely tell me where to go, and we'd visit the museum as well.

The Aerial Lift Bridge, built 1905, up to allow the tanker to pass underneath

Unfortunately, we seem to be on a streak of getting to places and finding them closed! The Museum is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. However, the outdoors were open, and there were quite a few people enjoying a beautiful fresh sunny afternoon and watching the shipping lane, which ran in front of the Museum and under the adjacent lift bridge. Just as we arrived, the bridge started going up. We looked to see why, and saw a huge tanker in the harbor coming toward us. We watched as it turned hard to go through the shipping lane under the bridge. It was BIG!!

As it was passing, suddenly a woman came on a loudspeaker from the Museum, and told us all about the ship, which was called the Indiana Harbor. It was 1,000 feet long, 105 feet wide, and was carrying  78,900 tons of iron ore pellets from West Duluth (I didn't catch where the ship was headed.) It was fascinating watching it go past us just a few feet away. After it cleared the bridge, the roadway descended again, and we watched the cars go over. It was super cool.

The Aerial Bridge descending after the ship is through

The Museum might have been closed, but their gift shop was operating out of a trailer next to the building. So i picked up some postcards and magnets, and asked the lady how to find the North Shore highway. Then we got back in the Jeep and drove a few miles until we found Minnesota Highway 61. This tickled me, because Bob Dylan wrote a song called Highway 61 Revisited, and it starts out, "God said to Abraham, kill me a son," and kind of "reimagines" the story of the Akeda. Since we'd just heard that read a few hours earlier as the Torah portion of Rosh Hashanah, I thought it was fun that later in the day, I was on Highway 61. 61 happens to lead right to the North Shore drive. 

So we drove up the scenic road along Lake Superior listening to Bob Dylan on the radio (he grew up in Duluth and is sort of the "favorite son." I also snapped a photo of Bob Dylan Drive later in the day.) The Lake was simply gorgeous--a deep green/blue near the shore and darker farther out. We could see "our" ship, the Indiana Harbor, in the distance. At one point, we pulled over to a scenic overlook/historical marker, and just then a huge rainstorm came through, pelting us. We just sat in the car and waited until it passed over us, and then watched it sail out over the lake. There were actually quite a few rainstorms over the lake, and the clouds were amazing--sun in some places, and dark clouds with rain pouring out of them in others. 

After the rain, I got out to read the historical marker (it marked the site of Buchanan, a settlement in the mid-1800s which disappeared later), and realized that the rocks below allowed us to go down to the very edge of the lake. Our goal had been to find a place to do "tashlich" in Lake Superior. So Joe got out of the Jeep to join me, and we carefully climbed down the rocks and tossed our bread crumbs into the water. Hopefully our sins went with them. But if they did they will now plague a flock of seagulls, who appeared out of nowhere at the very first toss, and squawked and grabbed up all the crumbs as they hit the water's surface.

Lake Superior Shoreline with Storm clouds over Lake

Tashlich on Lake Superior

We continued up the shoreline after sitting in the sun and enjoying the water for a little while longer, but the road took us off the immediate shore at that point, and we decided maybe we should head back south toward home. When we got to the city again, we wanted to find a grocery--we needed a few things as usual. There was construction to foul us up more than once, and that meant we discovered that Duluth has a lakeview park which looks out on the lake and is spectacular! In face, the city really seemed delightful-- it is built much like San Francisco in that the hill it's on is VERY steep, and the higher you go, the better the harbor view. There were trendy shops in the area we found, and I would have loved to park someplace (there seemed to be nowhere to park, really) and walk in that park. Something else to come back for, I guess!

We finally found a Whole Foods Co-op store--much smaller than a regular Whole Foods, but with veggies (which we needed) and some other stuff as well. And after that, we were able to return to our RV.  We did get lost on our way home, and ended up going over a couple of large bridges. Only to discover that crossing the bridge took us back to Wisconsin! I didn't realize that the tip of Wisconsin was there, sharing the port with Duluth. The second bridge brought us back to Minnesota, and it was the GPS announcing "Welcome to Minnesota" which tipped me off! So it was a geography lesson as well.

All day the weather varied from bright and sunny autumn to brief rainy spells. Luckily, we timed our adventures to maximize the sun and not suffer much from the rain. We really enjoyed our afternoon, and felt it was a nice start to our New Year.

Mauled at the Mall of America

Sunday, Sept 5, 2021 

Today we took our courage in hand and went to see the Mall of America. I'd always wanted to see it, whereas Joe hates malls with a passion. Also, he hates crowds. But he encouraged going, on the theory that it was a unique experience. 

We had actually spent the entire morning in the RV, just hanging around doing chores and relaxing. So it was after lunch when we headed for Bloomington and the Mall. We were already amazed before we got into it-- the parking deck had digital signs to say how many empty parking spaces were on each floor (of 7). Even cooler were the lights which stretched down the center of each parking row-- anywhere that there was an empty space had a green light. (I have since learned that lots of large parking decks use this technology, but we hadn't seen it before.) 

We were parked fairly close to a Mall entrance, and as soon as we walked in, the Amusement Park was visible straight ahead. We walked to the edge and stared in amazement at three roller coasters, other thrill rides, and kiddie rides down below. I'd heard there was an amusement park, but it's quite another thing to see it, surrounded by stores such as Macy's and Nordstrom. 

Since we had absolutely no agenda, we had decided to look for the Lego store, which has giant Lego creations up on its roof (which was the 2nd floor of the mall.) We had no idea where it was, so I played around with the electronic mall guidance system-- I put in the store I wanted, and the electronic guidance first told me which floor and quadrant of the mall it was in, and then showed me on diagrams how to get there. I memorized "walk toward Macy's, go downstairs, turn the corner at Macy's, and Lego is in the middle of the corridor on the left." Slowly we found our way there.

The Mall was crowded, but not nearly as bad as the State Fair had been, and at least half the people seemed to be wearing masks, so it was possible to mostly maintain our distance from others. We admired the Legos, then kept walking until we came to the Aquarium. We could see down into the lobby there, where there were tanks of rays and other touch-tanks for kids. The price for the Aquarium was pretty high, though, so we decided to pass on it.

Meanwhile, I decided I was thirsty. There were lots of places to get food, drinks, candy, ice cream, cinnamon buns, cupcakes, and all the other stuff they sell in malls. But when I saw a Dunkin Donuts, I decided that an iced coffee would satisfy both my thirst and my sweet tooth. So I used my Dunkin app to order, and watched through the window until the screen said that my number had been served. (I would have had to wait in a line if I hadn't used the app.) I walked in and took my coffee and left, thus bypassing the people in the small store. We sat on a bench facing the center "courtyard" and watched the people and the amusement park rides for a while as I drank my coffee.

In the end, this pretty much summed up our Mall visit. We did buy a couple of things-- Joe got some sugar-free candy, and I fell prey to the Lindt store, where the display of Lindor truffles just could not be ignored. (I told the salesgirl, "I want to dive into your display and swim through it with my mouth open!" They were pushing boxes with 100 truffles--fill it myself with any of their flavors, many of which I had not been familiar with before. But conscious of my attempt to lose weight, in the end I bought only about a dozen Lindor balls to take home. I also picked up some face cream which I needed, and stopped on a whim at the Vera Bradley store, where they happened to have my favorite style wallet at 40% off. Since the one I have is threadbare, I decided I could splurge on a new one at that price.
And that was it! We left the Mall when Joe decided he'd had enough. I could have shopped a few stores having Labor Day and End of Season sales, but truth is, not only do I not need a thing, but my RV is already full of too many clothes that I overpacked.

 So: the Mall of America is quite an astonishing testimony to American consumerism, mindless entertainment, and junk food. But it was certainly worth seeing at least once.

The Biggest State Fair

Saturday, Sept 4 Today we decided to go to the Minnesota State Fair, billed as the largest State Fair in the country. I had never been to a State Fair, only the MIddlesex County Fair. I figured it was a lot of animals, rides, food, and booths of various kinds. And that's exactly what it was. But GINORMOUS!

Mother Earth Scarecrow

 

 

 We drove into the city and found (after one wrong try) the parking deck where the shuttle was leaving from to take people to the fair. The numbers of people who show up is so huge that there's no way to have enough parking at the fairgrounds, so there are a half-dozen places around Minneapolis where you can do the park-and-ride thing. Parking was free, but the bus cost $6/pp . This was only the beginning of the insistent drain on our finances to attend this extravaganza, but it was worth it--it made it very easy to park and get to the fair.

We bought tickets and went inside, and were immediately overwhelmed. There were thousands of people there already. BTW, there were signs about wearing masks indoors and when "in crowds" outside, but there were very few masks outdoors. (The bus required them, so at least everyone was masked there.) Anyway, I had no idea where to go first, so we went to the information desk and I asked for suggestions. They explined where the 6 sound stages were, where the animal barns were, the agriculture buildings, the craft buildings, etc. Then they gave me the brochure specific to that day, which listed EVERYTHING that was happening.

Joey and I wandered off, deciding that we needed a drink first. We just strolled down one of the streets-- it was non-stop food options, including unusual stuff like deep fried olives ("Olive you SOOO much!"), alligator, and I forget what-all else. It was a food extravaganza, and so much that we couldn't even THINK about what we wanted, because we were sure that the next booth would sound even better. So we got some coke and some water and kept walking. After about 30 minutes, I said, "We just have to DECIDE." I was looking for something maybe a little bit healthier, but not coming up with much. So in the end, we got a plate of ribboned potatoes (which was like instantly made potato chips) served like nachos, with a choice of toppings. We got sriracha chicken, but ruined the healthy aspect by getting melted cheese and sour cream on top. Then we found a set on a bench someplace and ate, while crowds of people walked past us.

After that, we kept walking. We found the agriculture building, which we really thought was interesting. There was a section on bees and honey, which had not just beehives, but all the categories of fair entries which "went with" bees and honey: baking with honey (categories for bread, cookies, pie, etc), crafts which featured bees or honey, etc. The next section had seeds. Yes, they judge SEEDS at the Minnesota State Fair. We looked at boxes full of seeds, and walls of corn on the cob, some of which had won ribbons (they all looked precisely the same to me; it seems the seeds were also judged on germination, which of course we did NOT see.) And then, crafts made with seeds (like pictures using different colored seeds to create a picture). There was a section on plants/flowers, one on farm machinery, it just went on and on. I loved the creative scarecrows we saw--those were the best!

Scarecrow Line-up and Vintage Seed Sacks

 

Then we found the animals. We went inside an almost empty arena and watched the bulls being judged. The woman describing them was so funny--she described their "conformation" and said things like how she liked seeing their musculature, and "this one has the masculinity I like to see in a bull." Joey says to me, "She's talking about his penis!" LOLOL! I have no idea how one bull looks more "masculine" than another! Then we went to the horse barn, which was more crowded. But we saw some pretty horses (no judging going on that we could find.) We skipped the goats and sheep--we'd had enough animals by that time. I also walked through the international bazaar while Joey people-watched, and we ate a little more-- we got a sausage sampler plate (Polish, anduille, and Italian--all hand made) and i got a bowl of sweet corn ice cream! (It was very good.) 

All in all, we were very good about not eating too much. We did not go on any rides. We just walked around being amazed at the sheer size of it all, and somehow we missed the crafts building, which I would have liked to see (thinks like quilting and painting). 

Overall, it was just a mob scene. I don't remember when I saw that many people in one place BEFORE the pandemic. I think it must have been because it was the last weekend of the fair, was Labor Day weekend, and was Saturday. But in any case, it was crazy. And NOISY. When we first got there around 1pm, we could get food without standing in line. But by the time we left at 5:00 or so, there were lines for everything. Joey was exhausted, though, so we called it day, trudged back to our bus stop, and took the shuttle bus back to the parking deck, and then drove another 20 minutes to get back to the RV. It was a long day, but we really liked it! A lot of fun just experiencing the energy and watching everyone else have a great time too. We were very glad we

went.

Milwaukee

Tuesday-Friday, Aug 31-Sept 3, 2021 We spent two whole days in Milwaukee, and I feel that we did not optimize our visit. The actual reason we were there was to attend the wedding of our godson Natan and his wife, Ruby. That was a wonderful event, and made our stay successful. But we really did not see much of Milwaukee, and I think that was because I didn't plan well.

Our drive from Iowa was a long one. We had spent the night in a gorgeous site on the Mississippi River, and we ended up taking a morning walk to admire the river and sit on the boat dock for a while. So by the time we left, we were already "behind schedule," whatever that really means for us these days when we seem to start late EVERY day. In any case, we had to stick to the interstates in order to arrive before dark. The traffic and interchanges in Milwaukee were a bit daunting, but our RV "Park" appeared just as anticipated, right beside the Wisconsin Fairgrounds. Sadly, after the night before, it was a huge underwhelm. The park's map on line had been difficult to understand, and I'd finally picked a spot in the corner of the lot, realizing that the entire place was essentially going to be a parking lot anyway.

What I didn't anticipate was that the main area, clustered around the office and restrooms, would be cement, whereas the lot where I was directed via the website was across the street and was not paved. In fact, it was not even gravel--it was dirt. It was the kind of place where you would expect to park if you were going to a state fair, but would NOT enjoy if you were spending 3 nights there in your RV. I really hated the place on sight. But the office was closed by the time we arrived, and all I could do was take the envelope waiting for me, decipher the maps, and sadly go across the street to the dirt lot. There were a couple of other big RVs on our side of the lot, but they were not too close to our corner. At the other side of the lot there were about a half dozen or so RVs as well. So we weren't actually alone, but it felt all too urban and not very well protected. Luckily, as the days progressed, I stopped feeling nervous and simply felt annoyed at how dirty (meaning, the ground was hard urban dirt) it was.

We had no specific plans of anything to do in the city on Wednesday, so I started the day by doing the laundry. Joe started the day by re-attaching a loose tire monitor tube to the hub cap. The laundry room was immaculately clean, and there were a lot of machines, so I did 5 loads in less than 2.5 hours, which is quite good. I finished up by lunchtime, and Joe had been finished with his repair for a while, had walked Cassie, and was just hanging out waiting for me.
The problem was, we had no idea what we might want to do. We ended up choosing to go to a sculpture garden which was located a little north of the city, about a 20 minute drive. Again, we found the interstate spaghetti in Milwaukee to be intimidating and confusing, but we found the sculpture gardens without any trouble. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and we walked across the lawns enjoying the gardens and the scupture, including a very nice set-up by a local bonsai group. I have to say, though, we both felt a little tired and we stayed less than an hour before heading back home to rest.
At 5:30, we left again, this time to drive 25 minutes west to meet our friends Ann and Steve. When I knew we were going to be in Milwaukee with them only a couple of days after our 50th anniversary, I invited them and our other friends who were invited out for the wedding to have dinner with us to celebrate. In the end, only Ann and Steve were availble. We met them in the cute little town of Hartland at Zesti, a small place with sidewalk dining. The four of us had a wonderful meal together, and they were generous enough to treat us (I had planned to treat them, since it was my idea!) The food was great, and the evening temperature was lovely, although it actually got a little bit cool! We drove back to the RV at about 8:30, this time recognizing our exit and feeling less overwhelmed by the roads.

Thursday was the wedding, and we planned to get there by 3:30 (the ceremony was at 4), but I was determined to see one thing in Milwaukee, and that was the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. So we hustled, and got out at 10:00. We drove into downtown MKE (that's apparently the standard abbreviation for Milwaukee--maybe from the airlines? But I saw it everywhere) and I thought, this is where we should have come yesterday. There was a historic section we drove through, and it looked very appealing. The Bobblehead Museum was on the 2nd floor of an old building, and we went around the block twice trying to find it, because there was inadequate signage, but in the end, we were able to park on the street for free right in front of it.
This place was right up our alley! The Bobblehead Museum was started by two guys who had been collecting mostly sports bobbleheads, and later all kinds, for years. When the collection reached 3,000, they realized they needed another place for it, and the Bobblehead Museum was born. We loved it before we even got in, because the logo was so cute. Inside, there are shelves and shelves full of bobbleheads. The sports presence is very strong, of course--baseball revived the bobblehead poppularity in this century by starting to give bobbleheads of certain star players away at specially designated days. So there were LOTS of sports team bobbleheads.

But we were surprised to learn that bobbleheads have a history dating back centuries. There was a historical section explaining the fact that the Chinese made statues with moving heads several hundred years ago. There was also a section with historical "modern" bobbleheads, including one of the Beatles, which is one of the most sought-after bobblehead sets.
We browsed through the museum, delighting in the representation of politicians, cartoon characters, book characters, TV and music stars--basically every aspect of pop culture and sports had some bobblehead representation. There was a slight disappointment in that we were told DO NOT TOUCH THE BOBBLEHEADS. So there was this museum of dolls made with moving heads, but the heads were not moving. I took far too many photos, I think, but they were so much fun!

We spent about an hour enjoying the bobbleheads, and then we managed NOT to buy any from the store to take home with us. We still felt we had some time, so I decided we should really see Lake Michigan while we were in the city. We drove down to the lakefront, where there are lots of parks. Lots of the city's museums are also on the lakeshore, including the Museum of Art, which had very interesting architecture. We parked and got out and went to the beach briefly, but it was closed off. So we sat on a bench and just looked out toward Michigan, somewhere across the lake, and enjoyed the breeze and the lovely weather. We felt a bit guilty, because the news from home was of the hurricane the day before, and we knew we had water in our basement. But since we couldn't do anything about it, we just enjoyed what we had.

Then we went home, and after another brief rest, we got all dressed up and went to the wedding. It was in Hartland at a beautiful barn venue with gardens and trees an flowers, a big fire pit, and corn-hole bean bag games set up on the lawn, an innovation of the bride and groom. The ceremony was very moving, and all of us got a little teary listening to Natan and Ruby read their vows. They looked so happy together! Then came the reception, which was also very nice. The wedding was very small, and people who were not fully vaccinated were asked not to attend, so with the tables spread rather far apart, there was plenty of room and although we'd worn masks at the ceremony, they were mostly off afterwards. There was food, dancing, hugging, and just in general, we all had a wonderful time celebrating a wonderful, very much in love couple.
Then we went home to our dirt lot, where we went to sleep so we could make an early start in the morning. We had to drive clear across Wisconsin to Minneapolis, where we had reservations for the weekend. We managed to pull out at 10:00, our usual start time, and we drove 350 miles. It was overcast for much of the day, with rain showers occasionally. The only stop we made was for lunch and cheese. Joe had bemoaned that we were leaving Wisconsin and we hadn't bought ANY cheese, and that just seemed wrong. So we stopped at an exit near the Wisconsin Dells which had several billboards advertising CHEESE. We enjoyed browsing through all the offerings, in the end buying several types, including cheese curds, the state "specialty." Otherwise, it was just a looooong drive. We arrived at our campground at about 7pm, and this time, it's the kind of dirt we don't mind. Tucked into the trees, we are looking out at green lawns and it's cosy and cool to leave Cassie when we go out. So that was our stay in Wisconsin, and other than family (dinner and the wedding), and the bobblehead museum, we didn't really do very much. I think we will need to go back another time and plan it better.

Life on the Mississippi

 Monday, August 30, 2021

Today was planned to be mostly a driving day--we are heading for Milwaukee in earnest now. But I did want to stop in Hannibal, Missouri, to check out Mark Twain's childhood home and Museum. We'd also planned to follow the Great River Road again, but it seemed like we didn't do that-- our GPS put us onto US 61, but north of St. Louis that's a divided highway with a straight shot north. So we let it take us until we did reach Hannibal, right on the river.

Downtown "historical" Hannibal is a very cute little town, with a lot of Mark Twain-themed store names in the old buildings. We found a place to park on the curb right outside the museum, and after eating lunch, we went in. The Museum encompasses 7 buildings. The first, main one, was a history of the Clemens family, and Twain's boyhood in Hannibal, and went through the rest of his life using a timeline. Of course we read

Statue of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn

everything--it was disappointing not to have time to watch the 90 minute video which was running continuously as we read the panels in the museum. After that, we saw the Huck Finn house behind the Museum. I had never known that Huck Finn was based on a real boy who was, like his fictional doppelganger, a river rat with a drunkard for a father, who was feared by the parents of other boys, and hence admired by the boys themselves. Huck's house (supposedly the house of this real boy) was actually larger than I would have thought, although quite simple, with only two rooms. It had been reconstructed just a few yards away from the museum.

Inside the Museum

From there, the path led us to the Clemens house itself. It was a nice-sized cottage with several upstairs bedrooms, and a kitchen, parlor, and dining room downstairs. Small, but cozy. I hadn't realized that the Clemens family owned slaves, and there was quite a bit about slavery during Sam's boyhood as well as his anti-slavery stance once he had grown up and understood it better. Both the Museum and the house were filled with quotes from Twain's autobiography, as well as from speeches he made later in life which cast a light on his boyhood. Quite famous in his own time, his life and its similarity to the life of Tom Sawyer (as well as to quotes from the book which sounded exactly like episodes from his own life) must have been as interesting to contemporary audiences as they are today.

Parlor in the Clemens House

After the house, we decided not to go into the three small buildings which were "Becky Thatcher's House," the Justice of the Peace office, and Grant's Drug Store. The Justice of the Peace was significant because Twain's father, although unsuccessful in business throughout his life, was elected to be a Judge, and was much respected in that regard. Joe and I opted for the Becky Thatcher Ice Cream Emporium instead, but of course a town so small did not have no-sugar-added ice cream for Joe, to our disappointment. I had a small scoop of chocolate ice cream, but that was it. And we decided not to walk the three blocks to the last building, the Museum Gallery. In retrospect, I realize I have no idea what might have been in there! 

Joe whitewashing the fence

Instead, we decided to get back on the road, realizing that it was already after 3pm, and we had almost 150 more miles to drive for the day. We arrived around 6:30 at Shady Creek Recreation Area, a Corps of Engineers park in Iowa, right on the shores of the Mississippi. It is absolutely beautiful here--the Corps parks seem to be a cut above many others we've been to. The only problem when we arrived was, there was a camper in our reserved space! This doesn't usually happen, but the camp hosts (two nice women) helped us find a different space which actually had a nicer river view. The people in our spot are nowhere to be found--it's a trailer and the tow vehicle was not here last night and is still missing. Joey says the husband's body is inside, and the wife took off in the SUV, but I'm hoping it's something less nefarious than that! In any case, we are happy in the spot we have, and tomorrow we have to leave anyway, to continue our journey to Milwaukee. Tonight, it's gotten much cooler, and we don't even need the AC, our exhaust fan is pulling cool air right over our bed. Sadly, we will swap this gorgeous area for another urban parking lot, but it's our best option to accommodate both some sightseeing and proximity to Natan and Ruby's wedding on Thursday.

Mississippi at Dusk, with barges passing by

Our 50th Wedding Anniversary

 

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Joe and I were married exactly 50 years ago today. We woke up and the first thing we discussed was not, "Happy Anniversary," but "Will you be long in the bathroom?" I guess that's what 50 years of marriage (or of anything!) does to people! We did go back to "Happy Anniversary" very quickly after that, however.

Our plans for the day were to be tourists in St. Louis--specifically, to visit the Gateway Arch National Park. I had purchased the complete ticket package yesterday, including a movie on the making of the Arch, a trip up to the top, and a boat ride on the river with narrated tour about the history of the city. We started out early for our 10:30a.m. boat ride. This RV Park, which has no beauty other than the beautiful night view of the Arch, makes up for that in convenience--it is truly less than 15 minutes from downtown, and it took us less than that to get to the levee, where we parked (at a steep angle) for the boat ride. 

The ride was an hour long, and was fun, especially when going downstream so that we had a breeze (there was no breeze going upstream.) The pilot narrated the whole time, identifying various buildings and explaining the history of things we were seeing. I was able to get one pretty good selfie of us before we docked, with the Arch in the background, so that will be serving as my memory of us on this auspicious day.

The cruise was over at 11:30, and it seemed too early to go to lunch. So we drove to Forest Park. It is huge, and we really didn't have enough time to do something like go to the zoo (and it was HOT again), but we stopped at the Jewel Box, an art deco glass building now used as a greenhouse and event space (weddings would be beautiful here.) We were the only ones in the building most of the time, and we didn't stay long. We did, however, note that it would be a good place for a wedding. So we went up to the front where the bride and groom would stand, and we "renewed our vows" for 50 more years. 

Inside the Jewel Box

By then it was 12:30, and we decided we'd better go eat. We had decided to have lunch at Pappy's Smokehouse, our most favorite BBQ place in the world. We never go past St. Louis without stopping at Pappy's, even if it just means getting off the interstate, stopping to eat, and then continuing on. We got there very quickly, which was lucky, because there was a long line. There is ALWAYS a long line, but this time it moved much more slowly because they had cut down on the number of diners. Masking was required, and I saw that they were spraying and wiping down tables rigorously after each group left. So we waited about 20 minutes before being seated, but the service is always very fast. And man, was the food incredible as always! Especially compared to Central BBQ in Memphis, there was NO comparison. Joe had a rack of ribs again, and even I loved them! I had the chicken as I always do. When I say that the green bean side dish was the first thing I finished--that's how good THEY were! Joe was moaning in ecstasy with his ribs, while i was moaning over my roasted corn on the cob side dish. All in all, we were just in heaven from the food.

Mural Dedicated to the Builders of the Arch

We had to run afterwards, though-- it was already about 2:10, and we had a 3pm ticket to see the movie, "Building the Dream", about building the Arch. But first we had to run back to the RV to walk Cassie. We rushed back home, jumped out, had 15 minutes to walk the dog, and then jumped back into the Jeep and drove to our parking garage, which was about a 10 minute walk from the Arch. We were really hustling, and managed to make it into our seats for the movie at 2:56pm.  

The movie was so impressive! It seems miraculous that this Arch could be built, when you see all the details that went into it. We were both just amazed. It was so impressive. After the movie, we stopped in the big waiting area where the trams to the top of the Arch leave from (it is a big space behind the Museum.) Joe wanted something to drink, so he got soda, and then we went to the gift shop to pick up my National Park pin for my collection, and a few other things. Then he rested while I looked at one corner of the adjacent museum.

St. Louis, looking West

At 4:30, we went to the tram line. They are being very Covid conscious throughout the National Park building/museum, and they kept us far apart and sorted us into the tram cars--each family group had a car to themselves. They also strictly limited us to 10 minutes, so they could transport people on schedule and so it would not be so crowded at the top of the Arch. The tour guide was very entertaining as we waited, and we got to see a cute little video "describing" some of the important events and people from the 1960s (when the Arch was built)-- everything from the Beatles to the Women's Movement to MLK's "Free at Last!" and the moon landing, Walter Cronkite and The Graduate, Woodstock and JFK. So that was entertaining, and then they sorted us out again to get into the little claustrophobic cars that take you up to the top of the Arch.

Looking East Across the River to Illinois

Needless to say, the views up there were spectacular. I'd forgotten my good camera in the car, but the zoom on my phone camera allowed me to see our RV all the way across the river. The entire view was pretty clear and I'm sure we were seeing for miles and miles. Looking down at the city was amazing as well. The 10 minutes passed all too quickly! Then down we went again.

There were quite a few steps involved, though, both getting to the trams and at the top of the Arch, and it really wore Joe out. So he decided to rest a bit, while I looked at the Museum. I thought it was very well done, blending both the history of the city of St. Louis and its importance as the "Gateway to the West," with the history of the country as a whole. There were exhibits on the importance of the Louisiana Purchase, and the subsequent "winning" (or stealing) of the West. And finally, there was a large section on Eero Saarinen and the contest for a design for a monument to stand on the shore of the Mississippi River, to represent all the history and the importance of the city. There were descriptions of how the Arch was designed and how it was built. I found all of it very interesting. And as we walked away, it was really hard not to take more photos of it!

At the Top of the Arch

At about 6:30, we walked back to our car in the parking deck (getting it out just before 7:00, when our ticket ran out.) We'd had a big discussion while sitting in the building--what to do about dinner. Neither of us were starved after our huge lunch at Pappy's, but I wanted *something*, specifically, a St. Louis specialty--toasted ravioli. After looking up restaurants making the best toasted ravioli, we found that most of them were closed today. In the end, we looked for a combination of pizza (St. Louis also has its own style of pizza) and ravioli, and settled on Imo's Pizza, which was not too far away.

Description of Treaties with Indians, All Broken

Visions of "Manifest Destiny" to Settle the West

St. Louis as Mercantile Center for Westward-Bound Carvans

So for dinner we had a small pizza with "the works" (the suggestion of the guy at the counter) and a portion of toasted ravioli. The latter was scrumptious! As for the former, I told Joey before we ate that it was important to take it on its own merits, not compare to NJ pizza. St. Louis pizza is made with an almost crack-like crust, very very VERY thing (half of a "thin crust" pizza at home.) We decided that although it was good, it was much more like a "loaded nacho" plate at home that like a pizza. Also, i thought the cheese tasted like velveeta--but Joey looked it up, and it was a blend of cheddar, swiss, and provolone. All in all, I would certainly not order "the works" again, but it was tasty. We brought about half of it home (we brought half my chicken from lunch home also, so we have LOTS of leftovers for the next few days.)

It was hard not to take photos of the Arch as we walked away

And then, we came back to the RV again. It has been a super-long day, but I think we made it memorable. I wanted something to remember our anniversary by, and this was a lot of fun. And Cassie was just fine in the RV with the air conditioning all day, so having this full-hookup campsite was worth it for the peace of mind. Altogether, I think our stay here was very successful. But... I am not as young as I used to be (I've been married 50 years!!!) and I am tired.

Driving up the Great River Road

View of Mississippi River from our Campsite

 Friday/Saturday Aug. 27-28, 2021

We left Memphis this morning and headed across the Mississippi to begin our drive up the Great River Road, a designated All-American Road on the Arkansas side. Our first destination was the town of Marion, to visit the Sultana Disaster Museum. I found this site the night before, when I downloaded the Great River Road app which tells about interesting stops all along the route up the Mississippi from Louisiana to Wisconsin. 

Photo taken of Sultana the day before disaster

The Sultana was a steamboat which was destroyed on April 27, 1865, when its boilers exploded. The boat was loaded far beyond its official capacity of less than 400 people; there were about 2200 on board. The majority of them were Union soldiers who had been prisoners of war at Andersonville or Cahaba POW camps. Through corrupt kickbacks from the boat's captain to Union officers, soldiers were loaded onto the boat to sail north to their homes. A photo of the Sultana taken the day before the explosion shows the decks overloaded with people, horses and mules, listing to the port side. According to our guide, more than 1700 people were killed (more than the 1200 originally counted.) It was the worst maritime disaster for the United States, surpassing even the Titanic in casualtiies.

We were amazed that we'd never heard of this event before! The museum was small but very comprehensive, with a list of ALL the passengers about the Sultana and notes as to whether they survived. We started out with a short video overview of the event, and then a docent gave us details about the exhibits.  There was a cabinet with photos of many of the people on board, a model of the boat, and photos and articles. There was also an exhibit describing the Andersonville prison camp, which was known for being the most deadly camp a soldier could be sent to.  It seems that even soon after it happened, news of the wreck of the Sultana was overshadowed by other events: within the same 24 hour period, Lincoln's funeral train left Washington, DC, John Wilkes Booth was killed, and General Joe Johnson surrendered the last large contingent of the Confederate Army. So the Sultana disaster is almost unknown.

When we finished our visit at the museum, we decided to have lunch--we were parked in a shady spot off the main street, and there was plenty of area to walk Cassie too. It was almost 2pm when we headed north again. Our next stop was the Hampson Archaeological Museum State Park. Dr. Hampson owned property which contained relics of the Nodena Indians, and he spent his retirement digging up pottery and other evidence of their culture. The museum is quite small, but it's impressive that it really represents one man's dedication to learning about an early indigenous culture. We spent about an hour there (we were literally the only people there except for the park ranger and a secretary.)

Nodena Pottery human image

Nodena pottery display

After that, we had to take the interstate rather than the more mellow Great River Road route, because we would not have gotten to our campsite before dark otherwise. We spent the night at the Trail of Tears State Park in Missouri. We were parked right next to railroad tracks, and just on the other side of those was the Mississippi River. It was very mellow and we got a very good night's sleep, despite the train coming through periodically about 50 feet from our bedroom. 

Our morning started with a visit to the park's Visitor's Center to see the exhibit on the Trail of Tears. The relocation of the Cherokee Nation from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee is well known--partly because the Cherokee had one of the most "modern" cultures of any Native Americans. They had a written version of their language, and during their "golden age" in the early 19th century, they had a newspaper, schools, and a governing council with its own laws. However, they were pushed westward as a government policy in order for white settlers to move into Cherokee land, despite advocates for their cause going as far as the Supreme Court. President Jackson was not interested in upholding the rights of the Indians to their land, and in the end they were forcibly relocated.

Trail of Tears Diorama

Reading the details of the governmental machinations which are so similar to some of the justifications used today to trample the rights of people was very sad. The Cherokee, once resettled in Oklahoma, once again established their own community with laws and elected leaders. But eventually they were absorbed into the new Oklahoma Territory, and they gradually had to relinquish their own government in preparation for statehood.

Joe and left the Visitors Center after a chat with the ranger, saying that when you think about it, the arc of history is a very sad one--all progress comes at the expense of someone else, it seems. 

We went back to the RV, had some lunch, did some planning for tomorrow, and finally packed up to leave. We headed up the Great River Road again, and after an hour, we crossed the river into Illinois on the eastern shore. The main reason we crossed was to go through the town of Chester. Its claim to fame is that it is the "home" of Popeye the Sailor Man, or to be more specific, of Popeye's creator, who came from Chester. As soon as we crossed the river, the statue was there to greet us, along with a parking lot sufficient for us to pull over into, and a lot of folks taking their photos with Popeye! There was a visitor center there too, but I didn't even go in--we didn't want to linger forever. Joey did take my photo with Popeye, however--unfortunately, only one came out where he didn't manage to chop of Popeye's head!

We spent about 30-40 minutes in a traffic jam for one mile from the bridge to the main route north--they desperately need a stoplight at that intersection! But it gave us time to snap a photo of another Chester--Home of Popeye sign, which also wished a happy 50th anniversary to Loren & Peggy Jany. I think Highland Park should put up a sign to wish US a happy anniversary tomorrow!

Once we finally got on the route north, it took about 90 minutes more driving and we arrived at the Draftkings at Casino Queen RV Park. This is a huge parking lot, basically, but it is set up with all pull-through sites with full hookups. There's a laundry, showers, etc right here as well, and it is 15 minutes from St. Louis. I decided last night that we should "do something special" so we'd at least remember what we did on our 50th anniversary. So I booked us reservations to go on a riverboat cruise for an hour in the morning, and then (after time to come check on Cassie, and to have lunch) a ticket to the movie about the building of the St. Louis Arch, followed by a tram ride up to the top of the Arch. So we will be tourists at the St. Louis Arch tomorrow, learning all about the Westward Expansion, and (mostly) staying out of the expected heat in the 90s yet again. And we'll look for someplace for a nice dinner, too. I'm hoping we have a memorable day.