This is a posting mostly for me as I want to remember this room. So far it's my favorite. Walked over to Starbucks at the Chateau Frontenac at 0730 and purchased two cafe au lait using our own mugs - $10.50. It's the 15% tax on everything that takes a bite. The coffee was perfect with the croissant (delicious as advertised) and worth it. I need more, though...
The room is on the rue de la Porte - a one way side street with a 15% (like the taxes!) grade sloping down north-northwest. So we have our own address even though the room is located in the back of the Motel St. Genevieve. Cool. Opening the outer screen door blocks the 3 foot wide sidewalk but there isn't much foot traffic so it's been all right. A bit unnerving when people do walk by while the blinds are open as they are right there! Our first view of the room was encouraging except for the giant dehumidifier plugged in and ready to go, the room being a bit musty and cold - we were assured that it would warm up in five minutes once we turned on the flat wall radiator. I ran the dehumidifier and was amazed at how it cleared up the air and even warmed the room more efficiently. Too much. Took awhile but I got hot. Some things never change!
Two single beds covered in white matelasse spreads, a beige loveseat, coffee table, two chairs, etc all on a patterned floral carpet. Walls are painted French Country Green and there is a long narrow bathroom at the back. The first night Dennis complained of sliding and sinking problems with the bed. My bed was wonderful. I thought it was his size not fitting on the single bed until I tried it myself. I sank and slid. In the interest of fairness we switched for the second night and I spent a fair amount of time messing with it trying to get it to sit and stay on the box spring but it was all too slippery. Dennis suggested rolling up the towel bath mat and shoving it under the mattress on the downhill side so at least the sliding would be less. Hey maybe it was because we are on a sloped street??!!! Slept fine after all that. Like I've said, sometimes the travel adventures are small ones. Discovered we had internet access here last night. It is everywhere.
Sink Coffee. Dennis reminded me to talk about what I like to call "sink coffee". Sometimes we cannot easily get regular brewed coffee - like the motel that had a restaurant and therefore didn't offer free morning coffee and then closed the restaurant for the season - so we have to improvise. Letting the hot water tap in the sink reach its peak temperature works for making instant coffee. We do carry small bottles of instant Italian espresso with us so we can do this when absolutely necessary. It works and the coffee is not too hot to drink. Just barely drinkable but that's another story. Meets our caffeine needs. dw
Today we're on the road again. It'll be a reasonably short drive with one possible stop at an asbestos mine. Since we needen't hurry we have a leisurely morning -- we also are waiting for the morning rush hour to abate.
There are a lot of restaurants in this (the old town) part of Quebec but otherwise a surprising lack of night life. We don't do much "night-life" stuff anyway but it is curious. But even with the rain I've really enjoyed this city and would return anytime.
Re the room: I agree with dw's comments. I felt like I should get a pack of Gitanes and sit in the open door -- holding the cigarette backwards between my thumb and forefinger. Smoking and glaring at passing tourists. DA
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
31 rue de la Porte (deux)
re: Gaspe. As we were driving the peninsula, we crossed one river after another (10 or so) called Riviere Saumon. We were thinking "Boy, they really didn't have much imagination when it came to naming rivers here!" Some variety would have been nice: Grande Saumon Riviere. Riviere Avec Saumon, etc. As it happens, the woman who checked us into our present hotel was a native of Gaspe' and she told us the "Riviere Saumon" wasn't the name of the rivers, but was referring to some sort of fishing rights.
We were on the Gaspe' after the end of the season (apparently Leafers aren't very big) and a lot of things were closed. The fall foliage was spotty -- we might have been too early -- and we met a lot of rain so the viewing was also spotty. It was a nice drive, and I'm glad we did it, but the weather definitely took out some of the pleasure.
In our next to last hotel on the Gaspe, we were 30' from the St Lawrence (our last was rain and fogged in) and we saw three freighters, a cruise ship -- coming in -- and a ferry -- going out. Here in Quebec there've been three cruise ships (with the attendant tour buses making walking the city unpleasant at times) four or five more freighters (at least one tanker) and another ferry. A lot of ship traffic but less than I expected for a seaway that serves nearly half of the U.S. and Canada
(an observation from dw: if your hotel/motel has an attached restaurant, you won't get free coffee in the morning)
Quebec is a beautiful city. We spent yesterday walking around (mostly in the rain) looking at buildings and galleries -- continued well after dark. Today the same, except it only sprinkled a few times. We went across the old town to an artists co-op gallery. The exhibits were mostly "installations" a couple were actually impressive and they all were good. After returning to the room at 4, we rested for several hours and went back out this evening. We wandered about a bit -- had a dessert -- went to view point that over-looked the lower old town, the river, and Ile de Quebec. Listened to a saxophone busker ("Smoke Gets In Your Eyes") for a bit and then back to the room. The weather this evening was near perfect: almost shirt sleeves, light breeze, no rain. The city showed us a very good side before we move on.
At the tourist info center, they have "Instant French" cheat sheets they hand out. French -- english/german/spanish/japanese/etc. Among other phrases deemed to be useful: "J'ai le Bloc!" = I have one heck of a hangover! But being the tourist city that it is, every clerk, waiter, etc. that we've met has been fully conversant in english. DA
We were on the Gaspe' after the end of the season (apparently Leafers aren't very big) and a lot of things were closed. The fall foliage was spotty -- we might have been too early -- and we met a lot of rain so the viewing was also spotty. It was a nice drive, and I'm glad we did it, but the weather definitely took out some of the pleasure.
In our next to last hotel on the Gaspe, we were 30' from the St Lawrence (our last was rain and fogged in) and we saw three freighters, a cruise ship -- coming in -- and a ferry -- going out. Here in Quebec there've been three cruise ships (with the attendant tour buses making walking the city unpleasant at times) four or five more freighters (at least one tanker) and another ferry. A lot of ship traffic but less than I expected for a seaway that serves nearly half of the U.S. and Canada
(an observation from dw: if your hotel/motel has an attached restaurant, you won't get free coffee in the morning)
Quebec is a beautiful city. We spent yesterday walking around (mostly in the rain) looking at buildings and galleries -- continued well after dark. Today the same, except it only sprinkled a few times. We went across the old town to an artists co-op gallery. The exhibits were mostly "installations" a couple were actually impressive and they all were good. After returning to the room at 4, we rested for several hours and went back out this evening. We wandered about a bit -- had a dessert -- went to view point that over-looked the lower old town, the river, and Ile de Quebec. Listened to a saxophone busker ("Smoke Gets In Your Eyes") for a bit and then back to the room. The weather this evening was near perfect: almost shirt sleeves, light breeze, no rain. The city showed us a very good side before we move on.
At the tourist info center, they have "Instant French" cheat sheets they hand out. French -- english/german/spanish/japanese/etc. Among other phrases deemed to be useful: "J'ai le Bloc!" = I have one heck of a hangover! But being the tourist city that it is, every clerk, waiter, etc. that we've met has been fully conversant in english. DA
Quebec City - Old Town, 31 rue de la Porte
Whew, what a day. Haven't walked that much in years! The day began with breakfast at the Creperie le Petit Chateau known for Swiss fondue and crepes. I had normal one egg/toast/hash browns/fruit and coffee $7.95 plus tax 15%. This hotel does not have morning coffee so we had to get it somewhere and the Creperie was close. The tour of the Chateau Frontenac began at 10 a.m. $8.50 me, $7.75 Dennis (senior rate) and was mostly about the history of the Chateau as one of the first railroad hotels built to attract travelers. We were shown a room but none of the special suites because the place is full! Roosevelt, Churchill and a Canadian premier spent extended time in the hotel during the war planning D-Day. Lots of celebrities, too, have spent time there. I really wanted to see where these famous personages slept but it was not to be. Not to worry, the room we did see had internet connections, a fabulous view of the St. Lawrence River and a very normal bathroom - no gold faucets or anything.
On to the Notre Dame Cathedral - another big church with a pretty impressive gold painted altar. Quebec City has churches everywhere, too. Lots of steeples. I stopped in a church this afternoon and it turned out to be the public library - complete with stained glass windows and a baptismal font. The woman who checked us in yesterday turned out to be from the Gaspe peninsula and she told us the reason the churches were closed - and she confirmed that they were ALL closed - was because there were no priests. Current priests minister to several villages and the churches are only in use for weddings and funerals. Wow, all those churches and no one to use them.
Lunch at the Cafe Boulangerie Paillard - salad with duck, cranberries, carrots, apple in a maple vinaigrette for me, beef sandwich with bleu cheese and carmelized onions for Dennis plus a glass of wine. It was delicious and writing about it is making me hungry. The Boulangerie Paillard has been recognized as having the best croissants in the city. Bought two to bring "home" for breakfast tomorrow so I'll get back to you... Have to admit, our fine dining experiences are very limited as neither of us is comfortable spending $60 for an average dinner. And $60 is low - advertised specials are for $80 - $98 for a dinner for two - usually chateaubriand. Seems to be a popular menu selection. The B.P. served excellent food and the tourist information woman who recommended it made a good choice.
Wandered around the old town enjoying window shopping and experiencing the European feel of the place. Weather continues to be rainy and warm and manageable with an umbrella. Fall color is present and that's tempering the dismal skies. There is a rainfall warning for tomorrow and I don't know what that means. We will find out as we drive to Burlington, Vermont. dw
On to the Notre Dame Cathedral - another big church with a pretty impressive gold painted altar. Quebec City has churches everywhere, too. Lots of steeples. I stopped in a church this afternoon and it turned out to be the public library - complete with stained glass windows and a baptismal font. The woman who checked us in yesterday turned out to be from the Gaspe peninsula and she told us the reason the churches were closed - and she confirmed that they were ALL closed - was because there were no priests. Current priests minister to several villages and the churches are only in use for weddings and funerals. Wow, all those churches and no one to use them.
Lunch at the Cafe Boulangerie Paillard - salad with duck, cranberries, carrots, apple in a maple vinaigrette for me, beef sandwich with bleu cheese and carmelized onions for Dennis plus a glass of wine. It was delicious and writing about it is making me hungry. The Boulangerie Paillard has been recognized as having the best croissants in the city. Bought two to bring "home" for breakfast tomorrow so I'll get back to you... Have to admit, our fine dining experiences are very limited as neither of us is comfortable spending $60 for an average dinner. And $60 is low - advertised specials are for $80 - $98 for a dinner for two - usually chateaubriand. Seems to be a popular menu selection. The B.P. served excellent food and the tourist information woman who recommended it made a good choice.
Wandered around the old town enjoying window shopping and experiencing the European feel of the place. Weather continues to be rainy and warm and manageable with an umbrella. Fall color is present and that's tempering the dismal skies. There is a rainfall warning for tomorrow and I don't know what that means. We will find out as we drive to Burlington, Vermont. dw
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Port Daniel-Gascons, Gaspe' Peninsula, Quebec
To those who know, it's really Gaspesie -- Not that I'm snobby or anything. A quiet day today. Yesterday we drove in the non-stop rain. Went through some large areas of excellent fall foliage made especially brilliant in contrast to the grey sky and dark pines. Sun would have been better. Today has also been rainy.
To take a break from driving, we're staying a second night here in Port Daniel. Instead of moving on, today we went to a couple of nearby small villages -- looked at a couple of art galleries, each one had some nice pieces -- Another we stopped at was closed, but even better had a giant brown and white Saint Bernard who stared at us. He was a cross with something so he looked like a BIG Saint Bernard on stilts -- nearly the high-light of the day. We stopped at a fish-market / restaurant, and had lunch. We each had the fish soup which was quite good -- The same soup was offered avec snails. I've eaten snails and I might have missed something, but really, what's the point? Aside from being SNAILS they taste like rubbery not-much-of-anything.
While going to the first village, we passed two touring cyclists. The one in front was pulling a sort of wagon (it looked like a street luge) that was suspended in the front -- like the bike wagons for children --
A dog in a doggy rain-coat was sitting on this wagon. With that arrangement, the dog could hop off and run or walk whenever it wanted, and hop back on whenever it wanted. Looked like a great arrangement for the dog. Tomorrow we plan to move on.
For those of you who know and love the pain management scale: re my knees: today at rest: 1 (down from 1.5 yesterday and 2 the day before) today walking: 5 (down from 6.4 yesterday, and 7.8 the day before) -- a signal improvement, and aren't you glad you asked? DA
I take credit for the overnight knee improvement as I did passive range of motion to the legs! Wow, what a health care provider, eh?
Yeah, this Gaspe peninsula is interesting. There are tiny communities about every 10-15 km and each one has at least one tall steepled church and many have two or more. Picture small white houses scattered along the coast line, surrounded by pine trees and a tall steeple sticking up over the countryside. The Catholics and Anglicans duked it our here for the religious prize of large congregations and did it the way we do today - advertising. Hard to miss those churches and all I can think about is who built them as they are quite old. We tried a few doors today hoping to see the inside but all were locked. Perhaps tomorrow we can sneak in between services. Bit of local color - we stumbled onto the local teen hangout (drug drop?) at the Visitor Information parking lot! Honda Civics and little Toyotas and a small Saturn or two took turns pulling next to each other - driver window to driver window. At one point three cars were within an arms reach of each other and I imagined the guys in the middle shuffling from one side of the car to the other. Who knows what they were doing, a car would leave and shortly another would show up carefully maneuvering so no one had to get out of the car. It was raining after all... But really - "meet you at the Visitor Information parking lot" - no one has a better idea than that?!?
Just remembered we did see a moose yesterday. It was splayed out in the back of a pickup truck having been dressed out after a successful hunt. It was huge! Worried me a bit that it might fall out of the pickup bed and that we would be hit by a dead moose. Guess it was heavy enough that it didn't happen. Those who may remember Dennis's den with the inflatable moosehead prominently displayed over the computer will be glad to hear that the same inflatable moosehead was prominently displayed in a cafe/gallery in Bonaventure. Are we trendy or what? Supposed to be sunny tomorrow and I certainly hope so. These last two days have been too like rainy Portland to be very enjoyable. dw
To take a break from driving, we're staying a second night here in Port Daniel. Instead of moving on, today we went to a couple of nearby small villages -- looked at a couple of art galleries, each one had some nice pieces -- Another we stopped at was closed, but even better had a giant brown and white Saint Bernard who stared at us. He was a cross with something so he looked like a BIG Saint Bernard on stilts -- nearly the high-light of the day. We stopped at a fish-market / restaurant, and had lunch. We each had the fish soup which was quite good -- The same soup was offered avec snails. I've eaten snails and I might have missed something, but really, what's the point? Aside from being SNAILS they taste like rubbery not-much-of-anything.
While going to the first village, we passed two touring cyclists. The one in front was pulling a sort of wagon (it looked like a street luge) that was suspended in the front -- like the bike wagons for children --
A dog in a doggy rain-coat was sitting on this wagon. With that arrangement, the dog could hop off and run or walk whenever it wanted, and hop back on whenever it wanted. Looked like a great arrangement for the dog. Tomorrow we plan to move on.
For those of you who know and love the pain management scale: re my knees: today at rest: 1 (down from 1.5 yesterday and 2 the day before) today walking: 5 (down from 6.4 yesterday, and 7.8 the day before) -- a signal improvement, and aren't you glad you asked? DA
I take credit for the overnight knee improvement as I did passive range of motion to the legs! Wow, what a health care provider, eh?
Yeah, this Gaspe peninsula is interesting. There are tiny communities about every 10-15 km and each one has at least one tall steepled church and many have two or more. Picture small white houses scattered along the coast line, surrounded by pine trees and a tall steeple sticking up over the countryside. The Catholics and Anglicans duked it our here for the religious prize of large congregations and did it the way we do today - advertising. Hard to miss those churches and all I can think about is who built them as they are quite old. We tried a few doors today hoping to see the inside but all were locked. Perhaps tomorrow we can sneak in between services. Bit of local color - we stumbled onto the local teen hangout (drug drop?) at the Visitor Information parking lot! Honda Civics and little Toyotas and a small Saturn or two took turns pulling next to each other - driver window to driver window. At one point three cars were within an arms reach of each other and I imagined the guys in the middle shuffling from one side of the car to the other. Who knows what they were doing, a car would leave and shortly another would show up carefully maneuvering so no one had to get out of the car. It was raining after all... But really - "meet you at the Visitor Information parking lot" - no one has a better idea than that?!?
Just remembered we did see a moose yesterday. It was splayed out in the back of a pickup truck having been dressed out after a successful hunt. It was huge! Worried me a bit that it might fall out of the pickup bed and that we would be hit by a dead moose. Guess it was heavy enough that it didn't happen. Those who may remember Dennis's den with the inflatable moosehead prominently displayed over the computer will be glad to hear that the same inflatable moosehead was prominently displayed in a cafe/gallery in Bonaventure. Are we trendy or what? Supposed to be sunny tomorrow and I certainly hope so. These last two days have been too like rainy Portland to be very enjoyable. dw
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Caribou, Maine DA here
Yesterday we stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory. It was 1 1/2 miles off the freeway and not worth the side trip. There wasn't anything in particular wrong with it it just wasn't interesting. We each had a child's size ice cream cone (mine was vanilla with caramel and chocolate chunky bits) the ice cream was too warm and started to drip right away. There seemed to be a high percentage of large people visiting the factory. -- Though maybe I'm just being snarky. -- My knees are worse than they've ever been -- to make it even better, they're both acting up -- and for no good reason. As I write this they seem to be improving -- today I was even having trouble getting in and out of the car. (not to whine or anything)
As dw said: some nice fall foliage but I think we're about a week ahead of prime time. Otherwise the last two days have been quiet. DA
As dw said: some nice fall foliage but I think we're about a week ahead of prime time. Otherwise the last two days have been quiet. DA
Caribou, Maine dw here
Dennis is having bad knee days and hobbling around like an old guy! Very disconcerting to watch so tonight he's icing them hoping the swelling will go down. I drove today and we still covered about 350 miles from Portland, ME to Caribou, ME. Today's highlight - Eartha. It's a giant globe created by the staff at Delorme the map company that makes road atlases. They are headquartered in Yarmouth, ME. The globe is 40 feet in diameter, made to scale and rotates on a giant arm at a speed of one rotation per minute. This means it's four stories high! As a map lover I found it fascinating in its intricacy. Well worth a visit. The Atlas Obscura website has again guided us to a "weird" thing to see. All you computer savvy people can pull up Eartha on the internet and see pictures better than the ones we took. But those pics don't have us in them!
We've been putting in long miles - about 400 per day- and enjoying the scenery. Fall foliage is beginning here in New England and motel prices reflect the new tourist season. A "no vacancy" sign greeted me when I pulled in to Russel's Motel here in Caribou and a few foul words came out of my mouth. Mrs. Russell was kind enough to find us a room here at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center for way more than she would have charged but we got a little discount probably because I looked so wasted. And I told her I was lost. Again. I have been having trouble reading the road signs - some signs indicate a turn after the sign and some indicate a turn before the sign so I am frequently turning too soon or too late and having to circle around to try it again. I got lost on the way to the guest laundry this evening. Ended up in the front lobby with an armload of dirty clothes and was redirected to the laundry room. I needed change anyway. Sometimes the travel adventures are tiny ones.
The fall colors are pretty but Dennis and I have been here before in full fall bloom so it's not as impressive to our "been there done that" selves. Still pretty, though. It's apparently moose hunting season (this weekend anyway - another reason for full motels) so there isn't a moose to be found. Plenty of highway warning signs for moose. There are deer warning signs but more moose ones. I get nervous worrying that one of those guys will decide to cross the highway. "Brake for moose, it could save your life" is a bumper sticker with a message I can live with. Au revoir for now. Tomorrow Quebec province and French! dw
We've been putting in long miles - about 400 per day- and enjoying the scenery. Fall foliage is beginning here in New England and motel prices reflect the new tourist season. A "no vacancy" sign greeted me when I pulled in to Russel's Motel here in Caribou and a few foul words came out of my mouth. Mrs. Russell was kind enough to find us a room here at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center for way more than she would have charged but we got a little discount probably because I looked so wasted. And I told her I was lost. Again. I have been having trouble reading the road signs - some signs indicate a turn after the sign and some indicate a turn before the sign so I am frequently turning too soon or too late and having to circle around to try it again. I got lost on the way to the guest laundry this evening. Ended up in the front lobby with an armload of dirty clothes and was redirected to the laundry room. I needed change anyway. Sometimes the travel adventures are tiny ones.
The fall colors are pretty but Dennis and I have been here before in full fall bloom so it's not as impressive to our "been there done that" selves. Still pretty, though. It's apparently moose hunting season (this weekend anyway - another reason for full motels) so there isn't a moose to be found. Plenty of highway warning signs for moose. There are deer warning signs but more moose ones. I get nervous worrying that one of those guys will decide to cross the highway. "Brake for moose, it could save your life" is a bumper sticker with a message I can live with. Au revoir for now. Tomorrow Quebec province and French! dw
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Waddington, NY
A.M. -- I discovered that our motel room doesn't have a Gideon Bible. Is Waddington (The Carp Capital of the World) situated at the gates of hell? A final note. After not working while we were in Canada, my cell phone started -- notifying me of a message -- half way across the bridge crossing from Canada to the US --- Locating itself to a few feet. DA
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Waddington, N.Y.
Here we are in the Carp Capital of the World, after spending several days in the wifi/cell phone black hole of Eastern Canada -- now it's catch-up time.
I would have made an entry Fri evening, but I spent nearly an hour trying to download pics from my camera so I could post a few but they kept disappearing into the laptop, never to be seen again (I succeeded in downloading about 10 out of 110 pics) -- I was so frustrated that the potential for laptop breakage was too high to keep using it. Anyway:
Saturday we went to Milwaukie to see the art museum (MAM) -- Milwaukie Art Museum (dw: "I've got two mams) The museum was really nice -- worth going out of your way to see. Some history of Art stuff, and a lot of modern works and outsider art things. I really enjoyed it. But the flat-out spectular part is the building itself. Part of it was designed by that friend of crossword fans: Eero Saarinen. The show-stopper is the Quadracci Pavillion by Calatrava, Kahler and Kiley. It's a jaw-dropper. I'd reccommend Googleing it to look at the pics -- I'm not going to try to describe it.
After the museum we went to the Third Ward --- Milwaukie old town. Sort of like a much larger Pearl District. Looked at some of the art galleries -- again some impressive things. A curious item: A beer bar bicycle cart. It was a wagon powered by 12 or 14 "stationary bicycles" geared to the wheels -- someone (presumably sober) to steer it and a center bar with a couple of taps. 12 or 14 people get to pedal around the city and drink beer. --- an amusing idea. The whole area was nearly people free -- on a nice Sat afternoon. A remarkable lack of people for the time the day and the size of the city.
Sunday we moved on. Took county road "P" to Sheboygan. ("Take Wi67 east, turn left and then it's "P" all the way to Sheboygan") -- A slight variation of dw's childhood joke. Dw hadn't seen the Kohler museum to we stopped there. I liked it even more the second time around.
After we drove further north -- stopping and camping at J. W. Wells State Park near Cedar River MI.
Last night we camped at Chutes Provincial Park, near Massey Ont. Starting about 2 a.m. we had thunder lightening and rain -- a couple of heavy showers. Our $30 tent only leaked a little bit.
A few observations from the road: Dennis S. on the mysterious running cows -- "You need to get out of the city more." --- At the Cedar River MI. Plaza -- (a service station/quicky-mart/restaurant -- with a Fri nite fish-fry) -- there was a 5 ft shelf of books. It was the Menominee County Library branch. On county road "P" -- Lomira -- is a small church with a steeple that has a small roof like a flaired skirt about a quarter way up. ---"Seldom Seem Rd." west of Massey, Ont. --- Along hwy 17 west of Sudbury Ont. the many highway cuts -- low cliffs of 10 to 20 feet -- most of the cliffs are topped with small cairns of one to two feet high. DA
I would have made an entry Fri evening, but I spent nearly an hour trying to download pics from my camera so I could post a few but they kept disappearing into the laptop, never to be seen again (I succeeded in downloading about 10 out of 110 pics) -- I was so frustrated that the potential for laptop breakage was too high to keep using it. Anyway:
Saturday we went to Milwaukie to see the art museum (MAM) -- Milwaukie Art Museum (dw: "I've got two mams) The museum was really nice -- worth going out of your way to see. Some history of Art stuff, and a lot of modern works and outsider art things. I really enjoyed it. But the flat-out spectular part is the building itself. Part of it was designed by that friend of crossword fans: Eero Saarinen. The show-stopper is the Quadracci Pavillion by Calatrava, Kahler and Kiley. It's a jaw-dropper. I'd reccommend Googleing it to look at the pics -- I'm not going to try to describe it.
After the museum we went to the Third Ward --- Milwaukie old town. Sort of like a much larger Pearl District. Looked at some of the art galleries -- again some impressive things. A curious item: A beer bar bicycle cart. It was a wagon powered by 12 or 14 "stationary bicycles" geared to the wheels -- someone (presumably sober) to steer it and a center bar with a couple of taps. 12 or 14 people get to pedal around the city and drink beer. --- an amusing idea. The whole area was nearly people free -- on a nice Sat afternoon. A remarkable lack of people for the time the day and the size of the city.
Sunday we moved on. Took county road "P" to Sheboygan. ("Take Wi67 east, turn left and then it's "P" all the way to Sheboygan") -- A slight variation of dw's childhood joke. Dw hadn't seen the Kohler museum to we stopped there. I liked it even more the second time around.
After we drove further north -- stopping and camping at J. W. Wells State Park near Cedar River MI.
Last night we camped at Chutes Provincial Park, near Massey Ont. Starting about 2 a.m. we had thunder lightening and rain -- a couple of heavy showers. Our $30 tent only leaked a little bit.
A few observations from the road: Dennis S. on the mysterious running cows -- "You need to get out of the city more." --- At the Cedar River MI. Plaza -- (a service station/quicky-mart/restaurant -- with a Fri nite fish-fry) -- there was a 5 ft shelf of books. It was the Menominee County Library branch. On county road "P" -- Lomira -- is a small church with a steeple that has a small roof like a flaired skirt about a quarter way up. ---"Seldom Seem Rd." west of Massey, Ont. --- Along hwy 17 west of Sudbury Ont. the many highway cuts -- low cliffs of 10 to 20 feet -- most of the cliffs are topped with small cairns of one to two feet high. DA
Friday, September 17, 2010
oconomowoc redux and Paulines
Don't think Dennis gave Pauline's its full due as an Okauchee WI institution. The Friday Fish Fry is premium and gets even better when hor d'oevres begin at the bar i.e. Miller Lite and PBR on tap. The actual fish fry meal is a plethora of classic fish fry - fried cod, warmed German potato salad with bacon, piquant mayo-vinaigrette cole slaw, potato pancakes with applesauce, tartar sauce and rye bread lightly covered in sea salt. Served home style it really is the best of middle America cooking. There is a longstanding tradition of enjoying the fish fry out of the town - thus the drive 5 miles down the road from Oconomowoc (Five O's) to Okauchee on the lake. I used to think the fish fry developed because everyone went fishing on Friday and had it for dinner on Friday evening but I've been told otherwise. No one really seems able to answer the question so we are taking comments from readers on the possible origin of Friday Fish Fries in the Heartland - Wisconsin specificially. It's delish, whatever the origin.
This evening my dad suggested we play Polish poker - a card game I'd never heard of and after much coaxing we convened at the dining room table and played the game. I asked where it came from and Dennis said "Poland" - always ready with a quick answer. Of course neither my dad nor my aunt knew where it started, they played it with friends somewhere and were passing on the game to us. I won. Dennis was one point behind me and technically came in second so I shared my winnings with him - won $1 and gave him 50 cents. So I've still got it! Finished reading Harlan Coben "Gone for Good" and recommend it to those who enjoy a mystery. Next - the PD James "Innocent Blood". Good night, dw
This evening my dad suggested we play Polish poker - a card game I'd never heard of and after much coaxing we convened at the dining room table and played the game. I asked where it came from and Dennis said "Poland" - always ready with a quick answer. Of course neither my dad nor my aunt knew where it started, they played it with friends somewhere and were passing on the game to us. I won. Dennis was one point behind me and technically came in second so I shared my winnings with him - won $1 and gave him 50 cents. So I've still got it! Finished reading Harlan Coben "Gone for Good" and recommend it to those who enjoy a mystery. Next - the PD James "Innocent Blood". Good night, dw
Oconomowoc redux
Yesterday we drove back to Madison to socialize with Steve W. and Kay D. A very pleasant afternoon and evening. Among other things we watched Steven Colbert's Christmas special. The evening was interesting and fun for we who were involved but for others, not so much. We spent the night and after a walk (short for dw and I, much longer for Steve .) and a tasty breakfast we returned to Oconomowoc.
Dennis S. came over and we all went to Pauline's for a Friday night fish fry. I did not know this, but it seems that Wisconsin-wide (perhaps even midwest wide -- with, of course, a Wisconsin locus) having a fish dinner on Friday is just what is done. I think it's a Catholic thing, even though there are a lot more Lutherans, Methodists, etc. in this region than Catholics -- probably the fish thing sort of oozed out of the Catholics and into the other religions. If Jews and Moslims also do the Friday Fish Feast it would prove that I'm right.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent socializing -- again of limited interest to others.
I got an email from Bob D. telling me that a college friend of our's had an alarming and perhaps serious medical event. More and more people of my age are having physical problems. I don't like it. DA
Incidently, the mysterious P. D. James was "Innocent Blood"
Dennis S. came over and we all went to Pauline's for a Friday night fish fry. I did not know this, but it seems that Wisconsin-wide (perhaps even midwest wide -- with, of course, a Wisconsin locus) having a fish dinner on Friday is just what is done. I think it's a Catholic thing, even though there are a lot more Lutherans, Methodists, etc. in this region than Catholics -- probably the fish thing sort of oozed out of the Catholics and into the other religions. If Jews and Moslims also do the Friday Fish Feast it would prove that I'm right.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent socializing -- again of limited interest to others.
I got an email from Bob D. telling me that a college friend of our's had an alarming and perhaps serious medical event. More and more people of my age are having physical problems. I don't like it. DA
Incidently, the mysterious P. D. James was "Innocent Blood"
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
More Oconomowoc (2)
re: tgellos comment. Go ahead and make my head spin. That's a people feature I haven't really explored since Sean and Dan were much younger.
We had a bit of confusion this morning. We thought we had lost our blue binder with all of our traveling addresses and telephone numbers. Record of miles driven and gas used. Where we've stayed each night. In short all of the trivia we use to occupy our time when the road gets boring. dw thought we had left it with friends in Friendship (Mary W. and Rita D.) so dw sent three emails in about as many minutes. A few minutes later I found it -- it was in the WRONG PLACE in the car! We don't like challenges like that. Looking back (it's 11 pm) I guess the day was more exciting than I originally thought. DA
Mary wasn't too thrilled either, I'm sure, with the q60second emails as her Blackberry belts out "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin and prominent in the movie "The Sting" with every received email. It's a way to get someone's attention, though - consecutive emails. Our ISP changed at 6;37pm CDST and the email addresses seem to have disappeared and who knows what other malfunctioning may be happening. The last time they tried to "update" it was such a mess, they abandoned it and returned to the old system. Reminds me of work - McKesson, no McKesson.
My dad is doing well. Several more days of family and the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) on Sat. and then we are heading north over Lake Michigan into Canada and east to Vermont. I think we will stop at the Kohler Art Museum again so I can visit the Ladies Restroom with camera in hand. Maybe that should be a travel theme - "Restrooms I Have Seen". The central Wis. bookstore that has a million books, is hard to find and they may not be home - was indeed closed. Spoke with the owner on the phone this morning and she informed me they are only open June, July and August, said "goodbye" and hung up. Sorry I'm missing it.
Later, dw
We had a bit of confusion this morning. We thought we had lost our blue binder with all of our traveling addresses and telephone numbers. Record of miles driven and gas used. Where we've stayed each night. In short all of the trivia we use to occupy our time when the road gets boring. dw thought we had left it with friends in Friendship (Mary W. and Rita D.) so dw sent three emails in about as many minutes. A few minutes later I found it -- it was in the WRONG PLACE in the car! We don't like challenges like that. Looking back (it's 11 pm) I guess the day was more exciting than I originally thought. DA
Mary wasn't too thrilled either, I'm sure, with the q60second emails as her Blackberry belts out "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin and prominent in the movie "The Sting" with every received email. It's a way to get someone's attention, though - consecutive emails. Our ISP changed at 6;37pm CDST and the email addresses seem to have disappeared and who knows what other malfunctioning may be happening. The last time they tried to "update" it was such a mess, they abandoned it and returned to the old system. Reminds me of work - McKesson, no McKesson.
My dad is doing well. Several more days of family and the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) on Sat. and then we are heading north over Lake Michigan into Canada and east to Vermont. I think we will stop at the Kohler Art Museum again so I can visit the Ladies Restroom with camera in hand. Maybe that should be a travel theme - "Restrooms I Have Seen". The central Wis. bookstore that has a million books, is hard to find and they may not be home - was indeed closed. Spoke with the owner on the phone this morning and she informed me they are only open June, July and August, said "goodbye" and hung up. Sorry I'm missing it.
Later, dw
More Oconomowoc
A quiet day. dw went to Milwaukee to pick up her dad while I stayed in Ocon. I walked the main street and then did a circle -- enough to cover a mile+ -- Except for insurance offices, a few bars, a restaurant or two, there's not much happening in downtown Ocon. It's not quite dead but it sure seems to be heading that way.
Later, I took the car and drove to the nearest mall and bought some epoxy to do a repair job on my glasses (the plastic coating on the ear arms started to peel) -- As much as anything it was something to do.
Otherwise I read the paper and some more in my book (a P. D. James) -- I've read the book before, but since I remember very little about it (at the moment, not even the title) it's as good as never having read it.
And that's about it. As I said, a very quiet day. DA
Later, I took the car and drove to the nearest mall and bought some epoxy to do a repair job on my glasses (the plastic coating on the ear arms started to peel) -- As much as anything it was something to do.
Otherwise I read the paper and some more in my book (a P. D. James) -- I've read the book before, but since I remember very little about it (at the moment, not even the title) it's as good as never having read it.
And that's about it. As I said, a very quiet day. DA
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Still in Oconomowoc
dw went to Milwaukie with her dad for a medical procedure he was getting, while I drove to Sheboygan to see the Kohler Arts Center. It was a pleasant 80 mi. drive through. Classic midwest farm country: rolling hills, lotsa corn as well as other crops, some dairy -- small towns with lovely steepled churches. Just the beginnings of fall foliage. Very beautiful in a quiet way.
The Kohler (of kitchen and toilet fame) Museum is a really nice small museum. Rather than trying to be a general museum displaying the history of art, it seems to concentrate on contemporary work and outsider art. Right now it's featuring a show of humor in art. Some I've heard of (Linda Berry, Wegman, and a couple of others) but most I haven't. I really liked most of it (couldn't take any pics -- they didn't want pics taken, and there were too many people for me to do it anyway) Anyway I'm glad I drove up there.
The toilets are something special: the men's has an egyptian motif with each sink, urinal and toilet differently decorated, and the walls and counter covered with tiles also decorated with egyptian murals. It was REALLY something. Apparently the women's is as good or better, but (naturally) I didn't get to see that.
As part of their permanent collection, the museum has a large collection of water-colors done by Kamante Gatura (he was Isak Dinesen's cook and friend) -- They're mostly pics of animals, many of "red of tooth and claw" motif. All of outsider impressionistic style. I really liked them.
A side note: we got an email suggesting we join, or friend someone (an acquaintance) on facebook. Also listed were some other people who we might be interested in friending or whatever. Anyway some of them were from our address book. I wrote Sean A. warning him that someone might have gotten into our address book, and it seemed like it was a possible threat -- virus or otherwise. Sean wrote back telling me that that's just the way facebook works, and while caution is good, basically I just met up with life in the twenty-first century. Sigh -- I just got a cheap cell-phone, and I think that should be enough for awhile. DA
The Kohler (of kitchen and toilet fame) Museum is a really nice small museum. Rather than trying to be a general museum displaying the history of art, it seems to concentrate on contemporary work and outsider art. Right now it's featuring a show of humor in art. Some I've heard of (Linda Berry, Wegman, and a couple of others) but most I haven't. I really liked most of it (couldn't take any pics -- they didn't want pics taken, and there were too many people for me to do it anyway) Anyway I'm glad I drove up there.
The toilets are something special: the men's has an egyptian motif with each sink, urinal and toilet differently decorated, and the walls and counter covered with tiles also decorated with egyptian murals. It was REALLY something. Apparently the women's is as good or better, but (naturally) I didn't get to see that.
As part of their permanent collection, the museum has a large collection of water-colors done by Kamante Gatura (he was Isak Dinesen's cook and friend) -- They're mostly pics of animals, many of "red of tooth and claw" motif. All of outsider impressionistic style. I really liked them.
A side note: we got an email suggesting we join, or friend someone (an acquaintance) on facebook. Also listed were some other people who we might be interested in friending or whatever. Anyway some of them were from our address book. I wrote Sean A. warning him that someone might have gotten into our address book, and it seemed like it was a possible threat -- virus or otherwise. Sean wrote back telling me that that's just the way facebook works, and while caution is good, basically I just met up with life in the twenty-first century. Sigh -- I just got a cheap cell-phone, and I think that should be enough for awhile. DA
Monday, September 13, 2010
On to Oconomowoc
We got an earlyish start this morning (departing Friendship) to have time for a stop in Madison for a brief visit with bro Steve W. and his S.O. Kay D. (if that designation is OK with all concerned). We intend to return to Madison for a longer visit.
On the way to Ocon. we stopped to see the Forevertron. The World's Largest scrap metal sculpture. The Forevertron is just south of Baraboo (with it's circus museum -- World Famousest) and across the road from a munitions factory. The munitions factory is handily located to wipe out the Forevertron and the Circus Museum should either one become too obstreperous.
We also drove through Waunakee -- The Only Waunakee In The World -- It's also the best Waunakee in the world.
Just before we left the Forevertron, D. called Steve to warn him we were coming. (They like each other -- even though Steve has retired -- so it was a safe call) And Steve asked us to stop at Ski-Hi (which seems to have nothing to do with skiing, snow, or anything else wintery) and pick up a couple sacks of apples. We also bought a sack for ourselves (cortland) and an apple pie.
Visiting and seeing the new kitchen in S & K's house. We were going to go to the Toilet Paper Museum but alas, it closed a couple of years ago. Then on to Ocon. and the seniorer W's. DA
Back home in Dairyland. Driving through the rolling hills of south central Wisconsin, it was a post card - farms, silos, corn fields, red barns i.e. very picturesque. Enough to make one forget about the frigid winters and humid summers. It has been beautiful fall weather the past four days and everyone here is enjoying it after the heat of the summer. Family visiting time for the next couple of days and nothing "weird" on the schedule unless Dennis finds something on-line. dw
On the way to Ocon. we stopped to see the Forevertron. The World's Largest scrap metal sculpture. The Forevertron is just south of Baraboo (with it's circus museum -- World Famousest) and across the road from a munitions factory. The munitions factory is handily located to wipe out the Forevertron and the Circus Museum should either one become too obstreperous.
We also drove through Waunakee -- The Only Waunakee In The World -- It's also the best Waunakee in the world.
Just before we left the Forevertron, D. called Steve to warn him we were coming. (They like each other -- even though Steve has retired -- so it was a safe call) And Steve asked us to stop at Ski-Hi (which seems to have nothing to do with skiing, snow, or anything else wintery) and pick up a couple sacks of apples. We also bought a sack for ourselves (cortland) and an apple pie.
Visiting and seeing the new kitchen in S & K's house. We were going to go to the Toilet Paper Museum but alas, it closed a couple of years ago. Then on to Ocon. and the seniorer W's. DA
Back home in Dairyland. Driving through the rolling hills of south central Wisconsin, it was a post card - farms, silos, corn fields, red barns i.e. very picturesque. Enough to make one forget about the frigid winters and humid summers. It has been beautiful fall weather the past four days and everyone here is enjoying it after the heat of the summer. Family visiting time for the next couple of days and nothing "weird" on the schedule unless Dennis finds something on-line. dw
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Friday we took a tour of Wind Cave. It was interesting with mostly box work formations. -- 6" fins mostly on the ceiling forming pigeon holes of various sizes. Few other formations. No rooms of any great size -- mostly a bunch of narrow passages. It's the 4th longest known cave @ 137 miles of explored passages -- they say they have only explored 5 - 10% of the cave.
Around Rapid City S.D. the freeway is crusted with billboards. One struck me: "Select 55. The Lightest Beer In The World" -- "You'll think it's suspiciously yellow stale water"
Further on, by the E. Vermillion River, another road-side display: Giant painted steel hammer, flowers, fish, and curiously, a 25' tall head of Hathor, the Egyptian cow god.
We spent the night in Mitchell home of the Corn Palace. the Palace is a small town arena, seating perhaps 5000 on one side of the building, with a floor area for a basketball court and a half or so, and a stage (curtained when we were there) . Corn murals surrounding the seating, activity area. The exterior was in the process of re-corning so we didn't see it's full splendor.
Mitchell is also the site of the George McGovern museum. His family doubtless cares.
The Spam museum is a Wonder. As was the subsequent spam burger -- an ordinary burger, with a mighty slab of spam instead of a patty. Perhaps too mighty, but with spam who can number the ways?
After the spam, we took a scenic side road (s.r. 16) for 50 miles. In Grand Meadow we stopped and looked at a bank building: small but very nice prairie style building. We met an Amish buggy on the road. From their body posture we guess the older couple in the buggy were having some issues on this particular day. A nice side road and then back to the freeway and on to friends in Friendship. DA
Around Rapid City S.D. the freeway is crusted with billboards. One struck me: "Select 55. The Lightest Beer In The World" -- "You'll think it's suspiciously yellow stale water"
Further on, by the E. Vermillion River, another road-side display: Giant painted steel hammer, flowers, fish, and curiously, a 25' tall head of Hathor, the Egyptian cow god.
We spent the night in Mitchell home of the Corn Palace. the Palace is a small town arena, seating perhaps 5000 on one side of the building, with a floor area for a basketball court and a half or so, and a stage (curtained when we were there) . Corn murals surrounding the seating, activity area. The exterior was in the process of re-corning so we didn't see it's full splendor.
Mitchell is also the site of the George McGovern museum. His family doubtless cares.
The Spam museum is a Wonder. As was the subsequent spam burger -- an ordinary burger, with a mighty slab of spam instead of a patty. Perhaps too mighty, but with spam who can number the ways?
After the spam, we took a scenic side road (s.r. 16) for 50 miles. In Grand Meadow we stopped and looked at a bank building: small but very nice prairie style building. We met an Amish buggy on the road. From their body posture we guess the older couple in the buggy were having some issues on this particular day. A nice side road and then back to the freeway and on to friends in Friendship. DA
We're here.... Friendship, WI
Arrived 7;30pm last night in Friendship, WI at my friends house for a weekend stay and then we will head to my dad's. Yesterday was the fabulous Spam Museum - a destination museum for sure. Two hours of entertainment including the Monty Python Spam skit and a simulation of a game show - Spam Exam. Dennis and I tied on the show - me coming from behind to make the tie. The reward - Spamburgers at a nearby restaurant. Yum. Seriously, they weren't bad except for the salt load and today I'm a bit puffy - but that's the travel experience.
Factoids: 2406 miles so far. Average 46.11 mpg (love that Honda Civic!). 52.18 gallons of gas. $150 for gas. Subway meals - 3. Italian meal - 1. Pulled pork sandwich at roadside grill - 1. Grazing for meals - 14.
Cloudy days 2, thunderstorm 1, sun 3. Fauna: One dead turtle (I thought I'd missed it). Ooops. Three live osprey in a nest, up close and personal with one buffalo (excuse me, bison), eagle - 1, hundreds of prairie dogs, a few wild turkeys and a rabbit running away from the house when we arrived. Flora: pine trees, prairies, more prairies and then a few rolling hills.
Gotta go - dw
Factoids: 2406 miles so far. Average 46.11 mpg (love that Honda Civic!). 52.18 gallons of gas. $150 for gas. Subway meals - 3. Italian meal - 1. Pulled pork sandwich at roadside grill - 1. Grazing for meals - 14.
Cloudy days 2, thunderstorm 1, sun 3. Fauna: One dead turtle (I thought I'd missed it). Ooops. Three live osprey in a nest, up close and personal with one buffalo (excuse me, bison), eagle - 1, hundreds of prairie dogs, a few wild turkeys and a rabbit running away from the house when we arrived. Flora: pine trees, prairies, more prairies and then a few rolling hills.
Gotta go - dw
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Hot Springs S.D.
We had intended to camp in the Wind Cave N.P. but after a sunny morning, the afternoon and evening has been lightening, hail and pounding rain --- so a motel it is. As a small aside, after reading all of the scare stories du jour concerning bedbugs, we have been checking the motel beds for the critters. It seems they don't carry any diseases, but they still are nasty bugs -- as I know from Mexican experience (with a nod of the head to Bob D. who is smiling to himself right now)
We stopped at Devils Tower this morning -- took the short hike around the base (note to David N. : there's STILL a line of climbers waiting to ascent the Durrance route) -- watched several groups climbing, saw a bunch of birds -- including the wily Assup Woodpecker -- and I recieved several compliments on my bravery for doing the hike on crutches. I am always suitably modest.
After the Tower, we continued on a scenic drive through Hulett (paralleling I-90). East of Hulett, we passed a graveyard for giant (6'+) tires. At the end of the drive in Aladdin (pop. 15) we stopped at the 110 year old general store. It was full of assorted food stuffs, clothing, and junque. Both Dianne and I wanted one item, but at $100 we passed. It was an old print of bambi nursing with bambi's mom sniffing bambi's ass. Now, bambi's mom was really rooting around there -- it looked like she had nosed bambi's butt clear off the ground. Priceless, but not quite $100 priceless.
And after that we stopped at the Vore Buffalo Jump which was mildly interesting but not nearly as good as Head Smashed In in Alberta. We also stopped at the Wyoming info center which, among other things, had a life size, saddled, statue of a horse wading belly deep through a green mat. Should one choose, one could mount the horse for a photo op.
--- A shout-out to Dennis S --- Cows with horns were on the move. Walking and running towards the east at 1:11 P.M. Should we be alarmed? ---
Drove through Deadwood where Wild Bill Hickok was shot in 1872. It's perhaps apocryphal but supposedly Wild Bill (after lying doggo for several years) decided to go to Deadwood to take advantage of the gold rush. He sent ahead a wire to friends and enemies that he was coming to town, and that "I still wear my hair long." Meaning that though older he was still Wild Bill, and one tough dude. Naturally, like Samson, his hair, long or short, didn't do him any good and he was shot in the back while playing poker and holding the subsequently famous dead man's hand: aces and eights.
Went on to Lead (pronounced leed) and meaning not lead (as in pencil) but lead (as the first showing of a gold seam). But if I can find a --I (heart) LEAD-- bumper sticker like we saw in Idaho, it'll always be lead (as in pencil) to me.
North of Hill City S.D. we passed the "world's largest quilt store", and south of Hill City we passed a sign advertising Red Ass Rubarb wine -- as chilling as that may sound.
In the Wind Cave Park, we got up-close with a giant buffalo (we DEFINITELY stayed in the car, although I might have driven a bit too close) The great beast was scratching it's head on a stone sign and licking its nose.
Approaching Hot Springs another thunderstorm front moved in and the largest raindrops in the world started hitting the car. Threatened to break the windshield. DA
We stopped at Devils Tower this morning -- took the short hike around the base (note to David N. : there's STILL a line of climbers waiting to ascent the Durrance route) -- watched several groups climbing, saw a bunch of birds -- including the wily Assup Woodpecker -- and I recieved several compliments on my bravery for doing the hike on crutches. I am always suitably modest.
After the Tower, we continued on a scenic drive through Hulett (paralleling I-90). East of Hulett, we passed a graveyard for giant (6'+) tires. At the end of the drive in Aladdin (pop. 15) we stopped at the 110 year old general store. It was full of assorted food stuffs, clothing, and junque. Both Dianne and I wanted one item, but at $100 we passed. It was an old print of bambi nursing with bambi's mom sniffing bambi's ass. Now, bambi's mom was really rooting around there -- it looked like she had nosed bambi's butt clear off the ground. Priceless, but not quite $100 priceless.
And after that we stopped at the Vore Buffalo Jump which was mildly interesting but not nearly as good as Head Smashed In in Alberta. We also stopped at the Wyoming info center which, among other things, had a life size, saddled, statue of a horse wading belly deep through a green mat. Should one choose, one could mount the horse for a photo op.
--- A shout-out to Dennis S --- Cows with horns were on the move. Walking and running towards the east at 1:11 P.M. Should we be alarmed? ---
Drove through Deadwood where Wild Bill Hickok was shot in 1872. It's perhaps apocryphal but supposedly Wild Bill (after lying doggo for several years) decided to go to Deadwood to take advantage of the gold rush. He sent ahead a wire to friends and enemies that he was coming to town, and that "I still wear my hair long." Meaning that though older he was still Wild Bill, and one tough dude. Naturally, like Samson, his hair, long or short, didn't do him any good and he was shot in the back while playing poker and holding the subsequently famous dead man's hand: aces and eights.
Went on to Lead (pronounced leed) and meaning not lead (as in pencil) but lead (as the first showing of a gold seam). But if I can find a --I (heart) LEAD-- bumper sticker like we saw in Idaho, it'll always be lead (as in pencil) to me.
North of Hill City S.D. we passed the "world's largest quilt store", and south of Hill City we passed a sign advertising Red Ass Rubarb wine -- as chilling as that may sound.
In the Wind Cave Park, we got up-close with a giant buffalo (we DEFINITELY stayed in the car, although I might have driven a bit too close) The great beast was scratching it's head on a stone sign and licking its nose.
Approaching Hot Springs another thunderstorm front moved in and the largest raindrops in the world started hitting the car. Threatened to break the windshield. DA
blog- Day 7 0842 MDT
Gillette, WY 58degrees heading for 83 today with 30% chance of thunderstorms (Weather Channel prediction). We are driving to Devils Tower Monument to observe the climbers and not get hit by lightning. Featured in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" I am hoping for a bit of a spiritual experience as we observe the monument. It is the first national monument - ever - designated by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. Should be interesting.
After reading an information board about Big Horn Sheep in Wyoming (at Sheridan, at the base of the Big Horn Mts.) - they were wiped out and are being re-introduced - we turned around to see a man hunkered down behind my car taking a close up photo of my license plate. It's a Crater Lake one and looks pretty on my blue car. The photo was either a tourist thing or I had been a very bad driver. Turns out they were French tourists and he was finding the variety of license plates "very American" and taking photos. He's right, we do have very good looking license plates and European plates are just those big numbers. We stood and chatted, he interpreting for his wife, me speaking slowly and clearly as his English was all right but not fluent and finally got around to Grand Teton Park - south of Yellowstone. They were heading to Yellowstone for a first time visit and brought up the Grand Tetons. The French find it amusing because Grand Teton in French means Big Tits and they like to find out if we know what it means. We do. And now "au revoir". dw
After reading an information board about Big Horn Sheep in Wyoming (at Sheridan, at the base of the Big Horn Mts.) - they were wiped out and are being re-introduced - we turned around to see a man hunkered down behind my car taking a close up photo of my license plate. It's a Crater Lake one and looks pretty on my blue car. The photo was either a tourist thing or I had been a very bad driver. Turns out they were French tourists and he was finding the variety of license plates "very American" and taking photos. He's right, we do have very good looking license plates and European plates are just those big numbers. We stood and chatted, he interpreting for his wife, me speaking slowly and clearly as his English was all right but not fluent and finally got around to Grand Teton Park - south of Yellowstone. They were heading to Yellowstone for a first time visit and brought up the Grand Tetons. The French find it amusing because Grand Teton in French means Big Tits and they like to find out if we know what it means. We do. And now "au revoir". dw
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Gillette, Wyoming
Since we won't get to a WiFi connection each day, we won't be posting daily entries. Making this the first catch-up day.
Before we left Portland, I saw a squirrel hitchhiking. It ran under a Honda SUV stopped at a light. Light changed, Honda drove on. --- squirrel gone. No squirrel, no squirrel debris = hitchhiker.
We successfully made it past the Great Bambi Brother massacre of 2008 much to our relief. Otherwise we haven't had any stand-out moments.
A few curiosities from the road :
A few miles east of Coeur d'Alene (CDA to the cognoscenti) next to the freeway is a life-size statue of an old-time photographer with view camera. Commerates someone I'm sure but at freeway speeds, I couldn't read the sign.
The Old Mission of the Sacred Heart at Cataldo Id. A lovely Jesuit church (now a state park) built in 1853 -- All the timbers and boards were cut and shaped by hand -- post and beam / mud and waddle construction. About 1870 a local lumber company became involved and it got gussied up with some fancy wood work, hand printed linen as wall paper, some paintings, etc.
Kellogg ID has sculptures of a knight lancing a dragon, a miner, something I don't remember and a broken figure of some sort. All of the found-object, welded-stuff style -- life size and interesting in a who-on-earth did all this stuff sort of way.
Wallace ID has the Stardust drive-in with a vast array of signs, neon and otherwise and a real tin spaceship you can sit in to eat your burger. Wallace also has the 10 Commandants (6' X 4' granite slab) in front of the courthouse.
A few miles east of Wallace -- again beside the freeway-- is Elmer's Fountain. Two 1' X 15' pipes with a few circular things and smaller pipes welded on -- All planted in the ground and fountaining water. I'm guessing the whole thing was built by Elmer.
We went to Anaconda MT and saw the tallest masonery structure in the world. A smelter chimney. (It should be understood that nearly everything in the west is the biggest, tallest, deepest, richest, or somethingest in the world) We couldn't actually get to the base (which is a state park) because ARCO was doing some important stuff up there. -- ARCO bought out Anaconda Copper -- so we looked at an information kiosk and admired a couple of mountains of tailings and slag.
In Butte we stopped to see (for $2 each) the Berkeley Pit. What's left of the Richest Hill In The World. 1.25 miles long by a mile wide by 1700 feet deep. Filled with 1000 feet of red water further filling with a lurid yellow waterfall. ARCO (nee anaconda) assures us that the water is nearly harmless -- not much different from coca cola (which might be true) -- particularly if you ignore the arsenic, iron, cadmium, etc, etc, (and dead birds) in the water
A freeway reader board east of Bozeman "arrive alive -- don't text -- and drive" -- I guess it's a problem when you're driving 75+ mph.
East of Billings (we're driving on I-90) we were passed by a Mini Cooper from Alberta -- it was going 90 or so (we were at the speed limit +3 to 5 mph) Later in Wyoming we passed it while it was stopped getting a ticket from the Wyoming HP. Yes! DA
Before we left Portland, I saw a squirrel hitchhiking. It ran under a Honda SUV stopped at a light. Light changed, Honda drove on. --- squirrel gone. No squirrel, no squirrel debris = hitchhiker.
We successfully made it past the Great Bambi Brother massacre of 2008 much to our relief. Otherwise we haven't had any stand-out moments.
A few curiosities from the road :
A few miles east of Coeur d'Alene (CDA to the cognoscenti) next to the freeway is a life-size statue of an old-time photographer with view camera. Commerates someone I'm sure but at freeway speeds, I couldn't read the sign.
The Old Mission of the Sacred Heart at Cataldo Id. A lovely Jesuit church (now a state park) built in 1853 -- All the timbers and boards were cut and shaped by hand -- post and beam / mud and waddle construction. About 1870 a local lumber company became involved and it got gussied up with some fancy wood work, hand printed linen as wall paper, some paintings, etc.
Kellogg ID has sculptures of a knight lancing a dragon, a miner, something I don't remember and a broken figure of some sort. All of the found-object, welded-stuff style -- life size and interesting in a who-on-earth did all this stuff sort of way.
Wallace ID has the Stardust drive-in with a vast array of signs, neon and otherwise and a real tin spaceship you can sit in to eat your burger. Wallace also has the 10 Commandants (6' X 4' granite slab) in front of the courthouse.
A few miles east of Wallace -- again beside the freeway-- is Elmer's Fountain. Two 1' X 15' pipes with a few circular things and smaller pipes welded on -- All planted in the ground and fountaining water. I'm guessing the whole thing was built by Elmer.
We went to Anaconda MT and saw the tallest masonery structure in the world. A smelter chimney. (It should be understood that nearly everything in the west is the biggest, tallest, deepest, richest, or somethingest in the world) We couldn't actually get to the base (which is a state park) because ARCO was doing some important stuff up there. -- ARCO bought out Anaconda Copper -- so we looked at an information kiosk and admired a couple of mountains of tailings and slag.
In Butte we stopped to see (for $2 each) the Berkeley Pit. What's left of the Richest Hill In The World. 1.25 miles long by a mile wide by 1700 feet deep. Filled with 1000 feet of red water further filling with a lurid yellow waterfall. ARCO (nee anaconda) assures us that the water is nearly harmless -- not much different from coca cola (which might be true) -- particularly if you ignore the arsenic, iron, cadmium, etc, etc, (and dead birds) in the water
A freeway reader board east of Bozeman "arrive alive -- don't text -- and drive" -- I guess it's a problem when you're driving 75+ mph.
East of Billings (we're driving on I-90) we were passed by a Mini Cooper from Alberta -- it was going 90 or so (we were at the speed limit +3 to 5 mph) Later in Wyoming we passed it while it was stopped getting a ticket from the Wyoming HP. Yes! DA
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
first post second day
Update: Depending on how available WiFi connections are, we may not make entries every day. Right now we're having lunch just south of Missoula. If we connect (if anyone should read this, this is an insertion test from a later date) again we'll write more later. DA
Sunday, September 5, 2010
blog day 4 - 2052
Guess it's my turn since Dennis wrote yesterday. Pretty much a full day of preparation for both of us, packing, errands, compulsive cleaning. Ok that last was me. I had to ask Dennis to tell me to stop as I was crawling under the cabinet in the bathroom vacuuming out leftover construction debris from 20 years ago and couldn't stop myself. Well, when you start vacuuming with a flashlight and can see those vacuumed lines of erased dust it's very satisfying and a tad addictive... I finished the cleanup and went on to something more relevant - my traveling project. Off to the knitting store to peruse sock patterns to use with royal blue sock yarn I already have and found a "leaf lace sock" pattern that will keep me occupied in the evening hours of motel rooms. Also picked up 2 skeins of cobalt violet cotton 80%/wool 20% to make a modern
doily. That's where I'll leave it for today. Oh yeah, I did pack a suitcase... dw
doily. That's where I'll leave it for today. Oh yeah, I did pack a suitcase... dw
Saturday, September 4, 2010
prep time
Spent the day getting ready to leave. Mostly attending to small details: mowed the lawn -- new battery for camera -- reload photo programs into the computer (continuing to fix the "fixes" done by a friend) -- arrange my multitude of pills into a travel box -- grease and fix my knee brace which started to come apart when I walked this morning -- and etc. of interest to no one, including myself -- But I needed an entry for today lest our fan base be disappointed DA
Thursday, September 2, 2010
blog - day 2, 2057
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're trying to get this thing going. Seems a tad testy in it's specificity needs. But that's the computer... Well, I got something done today -started packing by pulling clothes out of drawers to make room for the house sitter so she has someplace to put her own duds while monitoring our high maintenance house (lots of idiosyncracies). Cleaned up the closet which will be hers for 4-6 weeks and then lay down for a nap after all the activity. Now I am returning from saying goodbye to one of the geeks from work (she quit to do better things) and enjoying a pastry coated sausage and a Guinness with a friend at the Moon and Sixpence. I do recommend the sausage, very tasty. dw
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
d and d on the road again
This is a test script. We'll actually be on the road after Monday, Sept. 6. Any entries before that may or may not be interesting, but they definitely won't be on the road. DA
Anyone know of any weird, unique, wonderful, intriguing sights between PDX and Wis. let us know... Later, dw
Anyone know of any weird, unique, wonderful, intriguing sights between PDX and Wis. let us know... Later, dw
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