Photo Club outing to Texas Canyon

Our photo club here at the Voyager traveled to Texas Canyon, about 50 miles east of Tucson on I-10 last Saturday (Nov 16).  It is an area with lots of interesting rock formations.  There is a great museum of Native American artifacts, the Amarind Foundation, at the exit plus a fun old western bar and grill, the Triangle T, with a live band on Saturdays at lunch.  It's a very scenic area with lots of desert vegetation, rock formations, and mountains off in the distance.  I'm posting a few of my favorite photos in this collage.

Home Again

Leaving the Black Hills area we traveled southwestward into Wyoming and visited Fort Laramie. This was a military fort, part of the country’s western expansion, and is now a national park.  We were surprised that it was built over such a large area and was more like a city than a fort because it did not have a wall like most forts have.    It served as a resupplying stop or starting place for covered wagon trains heading west along the Oregon Trail.   We had not planned on stopping here, but it was right along our route so we were pleased that we did.  It is worth the time if you happen to be in the area.

That night, we stopped in Cheyenne, WY.  Due to end of season ball tournaments, we had difficulty finding a room for the night.  We drove around the city some and saw LOTS of railroad tracks.  We didn’t realize (or did we just forget?) that Cheyenne is the capitol of the state. It is a rather small city (about 60,000) and almost not even “in” the state (only about 10 miles from Colorado). We realized that most of us think geography is the primary consideration for the location of a state capitol; but in Wyoming that was not the case.  We learned that Cheyenne is the most populous city in the state; and that, plus the railroad’s location here, probably made it a logical choice as the capitol. 

We continued south on I-25 toward our next major destination, Estes Park, CO.  We wanted to visit Rocky Mountain NP. This park was high on our list of parks to see; and in previous travels, we had not had the opportunity to visit it.  Estes Park is about 30 miles west of I-25.  We arrived in Estes Park in time to check into our motel and still visit Rocky Mountain NP that afternoon. Just a little out of town, we noticed a large crowd gathering around an area beside the road, and we knew it usually means wildlife is nearby. Sure enough, it was a large elk, with enormous antlers, leisurely grazing away right beside the road. We stopped and watched for several minutes and took a few nice photos. Then, we made a rather short loop drive through part of the park, and returned to town; knowing we would do a longer drive the next day. The setting here – town immediately adjacent to a national park – was reminiscent of another similar setting: that of Gatlinburg, TN and the Smoky Mountains NP, which was close to Oak Ridge, TN where we grew up. We love the Smoky Mountains, but Rocky Mt NP sure is beautiful.  It is at higher elevation with many more rugged, much sharper peaks above the timber line.

 

We had intended to stay a few days longer, enjoy the park, and visit friends here; but we began to realize that this trip was simply wearing us out (old age, perhaps) so we decided to cut it short and head toward home. We did, however, manage to stop through our old stomping grounds in Albuquerque, NM and meet several of our friends for dinner in Old Town for some great Mexican food. Just one more travel day to Tucson, beautiful sunsets, and home!

This chapter completes the summer 2013 portion of this blog.  In the future, we’ll post photos and ideas that we find interesting.  Hope you will join us once again.

 

Heading Home

Leaving Oshkosh we turned toward home (Tucson, AZ).  But, we had many miles and many more adventures yet to come. Our first day’s travel took us to the extreme western side of Wisconsin, to La Crosse on the banks of the Mississippi River. We visited a lovely city park beside the river and then drove up the bluffs for a terrific overview of the surrounding area.



Walking along beside the Mississippi River

 We only stayed one night and then drove across the river into Minnesota. We had no specific destination in mind for Minnesota, so we just kept on driving along I-90 until reaching South Dakota and stopped in Sioux Falls. We stayed in our 5^th B&B with host Chris, a very active young man who we hardly saw. We took a city bus tour and visited the Falls of the Big Sioux River.

Continuing west, we passed through the town of Mitchell where we visited the famous Corn Palace. Next stop: a rest area where I-90 crosses the Missouri River. There we were amazed at a wonderful exhibit of the Lewis & Clark expedition, which traveled up this river in 1804 exploring the Louisiana Purchase. In addition to the exhibit, the view of the river and surrounding area was magnificent.

 

 

We reached our destination town of Wall, S.D. that evening and, of course, stopped in at the WORLD FAMOUS Wall Drug Store!!! For those who don’t know, this is possibly the largest drug store in the world and is advertised for miles and miles along the highway (5 cent coffee and free ice water) and occupies an entire city block. It started as one building, then grew by purchasing adjacent buildings and connecting them with enclosed passage ways. It is a sight not to be missed. On our first trip thru here many years before, we stopped for the 5 cent coffee/free ice water and John purchased a pair of cowboy boots, which he still wears today. Our lodging for the night was at an old, old, 40’s style motel with spotlessly clean little individual cabins and parking right at the front door. We spent the day touring thru the Badlands National Park. This park is the quintessential national park of western movie lore, where you can imagine, around every bend in the road, the bad guys holding up the stage coach, or Indians on the warpath ready to attack.

 

As we traveled further west we began to see more and more motorcycles on the road. We had noticed this before reaching Wall, but now there were MANY more – first dozens more, then hundreds, then it seemed like thousands – and we realized what was going on. It was that time of year – early August, and time for the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D. We had been warned not to be anywhere near Sturgis at this time, and actually considered skipping this Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore part of our travels; but decided “we’re here, so let’s do it”. That decision proved correct, but all those thousands (or was it millions) of bikers certainly detracted from our enjoyment. Anyway, we located our B&B in Rapid City (about 30 miles from Sturgis) and met our charming Host Jil.  We strategized how to enjoy the area in spite of all the motorcycles. We decided on a Grey Line tour rather than us doing the driving, and this turned out exceptionally well. The driver was very knowledgeable of the local countryside and history and provided excellent narrative. Our tour began at Mt. Rushmore (with breakfast there), on to Crazy horse monument and  Custer State Park;  and included some surprises – George Washington’s profile, a thru-the-tunnel view of the presidents, and a steam engine train ride. The only disappointment was not finding the herds of buffalos normally seen in Custer SP– our driver blamed noise from the bikers for scaring them away from the roads where they usually congregate.

The Crazy horse Monument is far from finished even after some 60 years work and may never be finished – the work is being carried on by the children of the original sculptor, and the grand children will probably have to decide whether or not to finish it. Surprisingly, the entire project is financed by private funds, no government money.

 

 

Oshkosh Airshow

The airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is “THE” airshow for all pilots and “want-a-be” pilots all over the country. John dreamed about this show ever since receiving his pilot license in 1981 when we lived in Amarillo, Texas. The desire increased when he became a partner in owning a Cessna 177 Cardinal when we lived in Albuquerque, NM.  Finally, the opportunity was right and our timing was right, because we lucked out on finding a place to stay. When we first looked into the possibility of attending, lodging was unavailable or much too expensive (Motel 6: $250). Then we checked again and found a cancellation at a B&B at a reasonable price about 25 miles away in Appleton. The show is a week-long affair, with fly-in attendees arriving early and usually camping out under a wing of their plane. (This is the “real” way to really experience the show, and maybe we’ll do it someday, but we no longer own a plane.) Anyway, we experienced what we could in one day. We saw acres and acres of private planes, many of them home-built. There were sponsor booths for everything imaginable for airplanes; replacement/upgrades, avionics, communication, buildable kits, build-from-scratch plans, and everything in between. There were seminars on building techniques, flying safety, etc. – the daily schedule of events went on and on for some 6 -8 printed pages.

The entrance procedure for an event this size is, typically: follow directions and park your car, catch a shuttle bus, wait in line to get into the event. Once inside, get a map of the lay-out and plot your itinerary.

We did all that, and began at the warbird display area where there were many P51 Mustangs and P40 Flying Tigers, a few Corsairs, and many other fighters, bombers, and trainers.

There was an early passenger plane (Ford Tri-motor) giving rides – a few minutes around the airport, $75.  We took all this in, and then wandered over to the Classics area. 

John’s favorite was the Beechcraft Stagger Wing, a biplane with enclosed cockpit. The displays of home-builts were interesting – most were assembled from kits, but some were built from scratch from plans. Some years back John had a real desire to build one, but that time has passed – if he ever pilots again it will not be his construction.

The “show” part of the day began about 2:00 pm with a skywriter “WELCOME”. We found a shady spot under the wing of a very large amphibian plane and got comfortable. The first performers were a team of lady parachute jumpers. Then a group of four AT6 Texans took off (in formation). The roar they made (extremely loud, deep & throaty) sent chill bumps clear thru us to the point that we were completely speechless! That set the stage for the rest of the big show.  More aerobatic teams and solo performers followed, then a wing walker, then a special feature – the latest version of a flying car. Many previous versions have been unsuccessfully developed, but this one appears to have a really good chance.  They will soon be available for purchase:  only $275,000.

 

 

The best single performer was a small, specially built high-performance plane which did what none other could do. Others would complete a maneuver by climbing straight up until they could go no further, momentarily hesitate, and then slide back down thru the smoke trail they left. This one plane, though, was powerful enough that it did more than a momentary hesitation at the top. It actually hung, suspended by its propeller, for several seconds. We were thrilled by this and yet extremely nervous (actually had to look away, could not watch) because we had seen a pilot killed a few years before doing this same maneuver. But fortunately, there were no accidents this day and the entire show was spectacular. Cross off another item on John’s Bucket List.

 

 

 

Lincoln Country

Having recently seen the movie “Lincoln”, we were looking forward to seeing the exhibits and found a downtown hotel in Springfield, Illinois that was within walking distance of the Lincoln Museum. What a delight to walk instead of drive, and the museum was fascinating. It was divided into Abe’s early life – represented by a full size log cabin with exhibits; and his presidential life – represented by a small replica of the White House. In each were scenes with documents, photos, and artifacts, each depicting various aspects of his life. One particular display was a small, dark theater that you entered to see a movie – or was it a movie, a live actor, or maybe a hologram? The story was interesting, but the “effect” was even more interesting. It was so life-like that I was sure it wasn’t a movie, so I decided it must be a live person, until at the end, the “actor” slowly evaporated.

Something we didn’t know was that many newspapers of the time disliked Lincoln very much, and ran numerous derogatory political cartoons about him. Many of these were on display.

Lincoln’s Springfield home was located nearby.  The National Park Service had bought 4 blocks surrounding his home so there were several homes of his neighbors still standing that were there when the Lincolns lived there. The Park Service had restored the exteriors and a few interiors, including the Lincoln home.  A Lincoln impersonator was in this neighborhood talking to visitors and answering questions as Lincoln might have answered them, and this gave real interest to our visit. For instance, we discovered that Lincoln had a business partner named William Berry. Joyce mentioned that she had a brother by the same name, and they had a good laugh about that as Lincoln said his partner had been a scoundrel and an alcoholic and hoped her brother was not kin.

One day we visited a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright built in 1904. It occupied half of a city block and was about 10,000 sq. ft. on 12 levels.  All the furniture, fixtures, and stained-glass windows were also designed by Wright. It took 2 years to build. John commented to the tour guide that it must have taken more than 2 years just to draw up the plans! It was a marvel to behold with running water and electricity.

Continuing our trip northward, we stopped in Ottawa, IL and visited an interesting state park named Starved Rock near the Illinois River, had a great seafood dinner at a neat restaurant overlooking the river, visited a navigation lock, and watched the river traffic go through. We put together a panoramic photo of the lock, which made barge traffic possible on the river. We learned that there are 9 of these locks along the river so it is navigable from the great lakes area to the Mississippi.

Berry Family Reunion - July 2013

The Berry family reunion was the main reason for this trip – Cousins Gail and Debbie were  principle organizers.  Lawrenceburg, TN is where the siblings:  Russ, Ruth, Josephine, and James (parents of the cousins) grew up. This was our first family reunion ever and 15 first cousins attended (plus spouses, children, and grandchildren of cousins).  It was a wonderful time of seeing folks we had not seen in many years and meeting some for the first time.  Joyce’s brother William and wife Sharon came from Lenoir, NC and cousins came from all over, although most live in Tennessee. In addition to seeing all the cousins, we really enjoyed spending 3 days in Lawrenceburg with William and Sharon. Cousin Jimmy, the only cousin still living in Lawrenceburg, gave us the grand tour of Lawrenceburg, where Joyce and William and many of the cousins were born. Jimmy took us to see William’s best friend from first grade who still lived in town and managed a local museum. Jimmy gave a great tour. The reunion went well, lots of food, lots of hugs, lots of “now, who are you?”, and lots of picture taking.

The day after the reunion, we traveled to Gainsboro and met Dillard Jr.  (Joyce’s step brother) at the family cemetery and visited Lynne at her home.  Then we stopped in Nashville and visited a high school friend Ronnie/Lois Cantrell. Another highlight of the trip was spending a few days with cousin Debbie/Robert and then cousin Gail/Tom. We’d seen them at the reunion and wanted to spend some time visiting and do a little sightseeing around Nashville.  It was so nice being with family.  Since we moved west in 1979, we don’t get to see our family often.  They both went out of their way to make our visit enjoyable.

While in Nashville, we faced a choice: begin the journey home or continue the adventure and go somewhere else. We chose somewhere else, and that somewhere was Oshkosh, WI.  John had always wanted to see the airshow at Oshkosh, and this seemed like the right time. So, we turned north, across the western tip of Kentucky, and into Illinois. 

Across Mississippi - Up the Natchez Trace

Our next stop was Oxford, MS, the home of Ole Miss University, where Eli Manning played his college football (as did his father Archie) and home to best-selling authors John Grisham and William Faulkner. We did a drive-thru of the campus, which was rather quiet due to it being summer. The town square was reminiscent of many small, southern towns – the court house with statue of Civil War hero, shops, restaurants, and cars parked around all four streets. The hot spot to eat was Ajax Diner, on the square – we got the last 2 seats at the counter. The day was pretty much uneventful, and that was OK – better than the night before in the Holiday Inn, where the fire alarm accidently went off at 2:00 AM.

Leaving Oxford we traveled through Tupelo, MS, where we got onto the Natchez Trace heading toward Lawrenceburg TN for the Berry family reunion. The Natchez Trace is an historic route connecting Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN, which means it also served as a connection between the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers. Early users were Native Americans, and later users were European and American explorers and traders. Tupelo, of course, is the birthplace of Elvis.