Dw got a phone call from Dennis S. earlier. He said he had checked the blog to see if there was an up-date, which, at that time, there wasn't. So I'm noting that I will almost always write the Sunday up-dates in the evening. This practice will give me another day for something to actually happen.
On Friday I went to the gym with grandson Josh. I think in the future I'll have to insist that he stay at our house until I retire to bed. That way he can carry me upstairs. Boy howdy was I reminded that I've been sitting on my butt for nearly two months. It's a win-win for both of us. The young women will think it's sweet that's he's climbing with his granddad, and I'll have a young stud to tow me up climbs.
Otherwise, dw and I played HalloweenScrooge this year. Instead of doing candy we turned off the lights and went to Powells. Bought a couple of books and then stopped at Widmer's (a brew pub -- for those who don't know) for dinner. We aren't really that bad. Last year we had fewer than ten kids ringing the door. In this neighborhood all of the tricker-treaters are attracted to Portsmouth St. -- it crosses our street a few blocks to the east and there are five houses in near proximity that do elaborate Halloween decorations. They draw all the local candy-hounds. Driving home we passed one or two hundred people on Portsmouth. That scene started twenty or more years ago with one house, and over the years their neighbors have joined in. It's all very interesting, but better them than me. DA
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Back home
This week has been reacclimatizing to our ordinary lives. We picked up our mail on Monday and included was a notice to appear for jury duty (for me). I was expecting it (though not so soon) since I had been called earlier but had postponed it for my angiogram. Went in on Tuesday. This was for a federal case in the Hatfield Courthouse. (I didn't even get to the voir dire of jury selection) But for the first time I did see the inside of the courthouse. There are some interesting art things: In the entrance hall are three water features. A very thin layer of water flows down a section of wall / pillar / clear glass panel about three feet wide. The section is slightly inset and is corrigated like a piece of cardboard with one side peeled off. Irregular ripples form in the flowing water (scarcely deep enough to wet your finger) that look like bubbles flowing down instead of up. It's a nice effect. On the ninth floor is an outdoor seating area with five 15 X 15 foot planted areas (among other things, each area has a couple of madrones) and several sculptural groupings. Stylized animals (mostly beavers) engaging in a trial, being tempted by a snake, etc. All sort of justice related. It's in interesting installation. Worth seeing (maybe) if you want to go through the security screening. There's also a large tapestry which I didn't see.
This afternoon I was going to order Thai for dinner. Changed my mind since I didn't want to order for dw (she was napping) so I was going to order a pizza when dw came downstairs and we ended going out for pizza.
None of it very interesting except I have wanted some Thai since we were in Bismarck N.D. when dw suggested we have some, but (at least according to the yellow pages) Bismarck HAS NO THAI RESTAURANTS. What's up with that? Bismarck also has -- and I have photographic evidence -- parking signs at the state capitol building that say "visitor parking" with an arrow pointing to the right, and a one way sign directly below the visitor parking sign (on the same post) with an arrow pointing to the left. dw and I thought "HUH?"
And with all due respect to North Dakota -- where we saw some very interesting things, and the people we talked with were very friendly -- their capitol building looks like a generic, anywhere in the world, 20 story office building. DA
This afternoon I was going to order Thai for dinner. Changed my mind since I didn't want to order for dw (she was napping) so I was going to order a pizza when dw came downstairs and we ended going out for pizza.
None of it very interesting except I have wanted some Thai since we were in Bismarck N.D. when dw suggested we have some, but (at least according to the yellow pages) Bismarck HAS NO THAI RESTAURANTS. What's up with that? Bismarck also has -- and I have photographic evidence -- parking signs at the state capitol building that say "visitor parking" with an arrow pointing to the right, and a one way sign directly below the visitor parking sign (on the same post) with an arrow pointing to the left. dw and I thought "HUH?"
And with all due respect to North Dakota -- where we saw some very interesting things, and the people we talked with were very friendly -- their capitol building looks like a generic, anywhere in the world, 20 story office building. DA
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Back in PDX- dw
Safely home and all is well. Arrived 9pm Sat. 10/16/10 in time to unload the car and watch British comedies on PBS (I have my priorities!). The 520 mile drive from Twin Falls, Idaho was smooth sailing as there wasn't much wind - frequently an issue in southern ID and the Gorge - and cruise control allowed for driving long hours. That and NPR and Dave Barry "I'll Mature When I'm Dead" - pretty funny, even listening to it the second time. I wanted a special end to the trip so we stopped in Hood River for dinner at Brians Pourhouse - a place of delicious food and excellent service. Tried the chocolate martini and I'm in trouble now!!!!! No wonder martinis are so popular - they can be a taste treat. Didn't interfere with my fish taco and pear cobbler dessert either. The ambience of Brians was enhanced by many high school prom persons - dressed to the nines and texting each other during dinner, while standing in the doorway and on the sidewalk waiting to get in. Hood River Harvest Festival was also going on so H.R. was crowded and hoppin'. It was still very enjoyable (perhaps enhanced by the chocolate martini, but I only had one!).
The drive from Hood River to Portland was the first night driving in a long time. I usually avoid it because you miss the sights and I'm not fond of driving at night. It went all right but I was happy to see the lights of Portland. Even if it meant I lost the bet. I said it would start raining at Cascade Locks and Dennis said it would not be raining at all. The pessimist and the optimist return home... He was right. I paid him the $1.
Arrived to the welcome lights of home - thank you Jackie. Now the work begins. Cleaning the car, clothes, camping gear and putting away the brochures, flyers, books, maps and souvenirs (Dennis-rocks from the Gaspe, Dianne-needlework project from Vermont). Tomorrow I'll pick up the "held mail" and spend a great deal of time sorting out the junk from the real stuff. Five and a half weeks of mail is a lot of mail. Then I will gather all my internal and external resources and download the photos off the camera onto the computer. Or go to Walgreens and have them make a CD! I'm leaning toward Walgreens... Good thing I don't work until Fri Oct. 22 - thank you Nancy!
Thank you for reading, hope it brought a smile or two to you. dw
P.S. Data will follow after I figure it out i.e. average gas mileage, etc. Have to do the conversion of liters to gallons for the Canada portion. I will mention we covered 9697 miles in 5 weeks, 4 days of travel. dw
The drive from Hood River to Portland was the first night driving in a long time. I usually avoid it because you miss the sights and I'm not fond of driving at night. It went all right but I was happy to see the lights of Portland. Even if it meant I lost the bet. I said it would start raining at Cascade Locks and Dennis said it would not be raining at all. The pessimist and the optimist return home... He was right. I paid him the $1.
Arrived to the welcome lights of home - thank you Jackie. Now the work begins. Cleaning the car, clothes, camping gear and putting away the brochures, flyers, books, maps and souvenirs (Dennis-rocks from the Gaspe, Dianne-needlework project from Vermont). Tomorrow I'll pick up the "held mail" and spend a great deal of time sorting out the junk from the real stuff. Five and a half weeks of mail is a lot of mail. Then I will gather all my internal and external resources and download the photos off the camera onto the computer. Or go to Walgreens and have them make a CD! I'm leaning toward Walgreens... Good thing I don't work until Fri Oct. 22 - thank you Nancy!
Thank you for reading, hope it brought a smile or two to you. dw
P.S. Data will follow after I figure it out i.e. average gas mileage, etc. Have to do the conversion of liters to gallons for the Canada portion. I will mention we covered 9697 miles in 5 weeks, 4 days of travel. dw
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Home again, home
Again, jiggedy jig. Another driving day. We were going to take a couple of small side drives today, but the driving was easy and we came straight home. -- With a stop in Hood River for dinner --
This morning in Twin Falls we could have stopped at an info center and seen Evel Knievel's jet-powered motorcycle that he used in his failed attempt to jump the Snake River canyon. The info center was on the wrong side of the road and it didn't seem worth the trouble (it was a 4-lane street). From a canyon viewing platform, however, we could see the dirt ramp he built for his attempt. I think he got what he really wanted: someone talking about him 30 years later.
Also in Twin Falls: a cemetary of dead combines. About 30 of them in a row, rusting away. I enjoy them more perched on a hill-top.
Just west of Twin Falls are sited -- just next to the freeway -- four or five huge feed-lots. Perhaps it's a multiplying effect but they seem to smell more fetid than other feed-lots we've driven past.
Finally, we're going to keep this blog going -- Probably with just one entry a week (Sun. P.M.) -- just so we can keep the title "danddontheroad". DA
This morning in Twin Falls we could have stopped at an info center and seen Evel Knievel's jet-powered motorcycle that he used in his failed attempt to jump the Snake River canyon. The info center was on the wrong side of the road and it didn't seem worth the trouble (it was a 4-lane street). From a canyon viewing platform, however, we could see the dirt ramp he built for his attempt. I think he got what he really wanted: someone talking about him 30 years later.
Also in Twin Falls: a cemetary of dead combines. About 30 of them in a row, rusting away. I enjoy them more perched on a hill-top.
Just west of Twin Falls are sited -- just next to the freeway -- four or five huge feed-lots. Perhaps it's a multiplying effect but they seem to smell more fetid than other feed-lots we've driven past.
Finally, we're going to keep this blog going -- Probably with just one entry a week (Sun. P.M.) -- just so we can keep the title "danddontheroad". DA
Friday, October 15, 2010
Twin Falls, ID
A driving day. From Bozeman we drove down 191 to West Yellowstone. After that we took 20, intending to look at the St Anthony sand dunes in eastern Idaho. We found the dunes -- a fairly large area, 5 miles by 30 miles, and they were nice dunes. But the whole area seemed to be open to dune buggies and ATVs (thanks, BLM) so we weren't inclined to do any hiking. A far southern area didn't have any road access -- and probably was open to ATVs -- We thought it was a wasted side trip. Two horns down on my viking helmet.
The drive itself was nice. 191 follows the Gallatin river -- mostly in a deep and steep canyon -- toward the south end the canyon opened into a wide valley leading to West Yellowstone. Weather was partly cloudy and warm (except at the pass altitude: 6500') with a cold wind. DA
The drive itself was nice. 191 follows the Gallatin river -- mostly in a deep and steep canyon -- toward the south end the canyon opened into a wide valley leading to West Yellowstone. Weather was partly cloudy and warm (except at the pass altitude: 6500') with a cold wind. DA
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Big Timber, MT
dw's description of the bison, antelope and coyote in the park was spot on. The antelope and coyote was a great little scene of preditor prey. I really enjoyed the buffalo ignoring the whole thing. --- As if a giant bison would worry about a scrawny coyote (although the coyote did have a fine bushy tail).
More observations from the road: Some of the farmers/ranchers around here seem to dispose of their old combines by parking them on a hill top and leaving them to rust away. They have a sculptural presence (sort of like a great lumbering beast) that's surprisingly interesting. We've seen five to ten of them.
The cow mystery is solved as we saw a herd walking west. The natural humors of the hemisphere have been restored. We are relieved.
Finally, we were passed by a pickup truck that had three or four dead deer loaded in the back. The only thing you could see wwere the feet and legs sticking up. Seeing just those made it extra grim and bizarre. DA
More observations from the road: Some of the farmers/ranchers around here seem to dispose of their old combines by parking them on a hill top and leaving them to rust away. They have a sculptural presence (sort of like a great lumbering beast) that's surprisingly interesting. We've seen five to ten of them.
The cow mystery is solved as we saw a herd walking west. The natural humors of the hemisphere have been restored. We are relieved.
Finally, we were passed by a pickup truck that had three or four dead deer loaded in the back. The only thing you could see wwere the feet and legs sticking up. Seeing just those made it extra grim and bizarre. DA
dw's turn...
First of all, thank you Hilary for the comments! Imagining being duped by a fake moose yard ornament made me laugh - did you take a photo of it??? Certainly photo-worthy? As for the guilt about not reading the blog - keep on reading! :-)
Today has been a delight. Sunny and warm all day - had the A/C on in the car. Started out on the scenic drive in Teddy Roosevelt Natl Park about 09 -(we rarely get an early start). The breakfast at the inn was stellar including the waffle mix that comes out of a dispensing machine into a small cup and then you make your own waffle. The process makes me nervous so I never do it. Dennis seems to enjoy them, though. Protein was provided in the form of hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, milk, etc. Those who travel will know that many "continental breakfasts" are a sugar hit so a real breakfast is a treat. Fortified we were off on the drive and at mile 19 of the 36 mile scenic loop we were stopped by bison in the road. About 60 were gathered for a mid-morning siesta and cud-chewing. Many were snuggled down in the shade looking like bison boulders, a few settled in the road and others stood around chewing without having eaten anything. A "couple" were on the side of the road, he investigating his opportunities and she blissfully ignoring it all. Another male came around and the first guy huffed and waved his giant head - young guy left but kept an eye on the lack of action. Ever hopeful, I guess. We were sort of stuck as they were blocking the road and frankly the possibility of mating happening right there was too good an opportunity to pass up. Nature in action! Well, not so much, as nothing happened for half an hour and the other bison moved off the road with a bit of nudging so we left. The couple was still together when we departed - maybe later...?
Well we were psyched for nature after that and weren't disappointed. Rounding a corner about 7 miles further down the road, the bison boulders were visible and a few were eating - maybe 10 of them, not the herd of mile 19 but still worth a stop. Thirty feet away were four antelope intermittently grazing and standing on alert because 20 feet away was a coyote who was pacing back and forth on the hillside just above the antelope. The coyote trotted away and then came back and the antelopes ate and then ran a bit when the coyote was too close. Wow, talk about a nature vignette. The bison were oblivious to all of it. The coyote continued pacing but didn't seem all that interested in the antelope as there were no young ones. Dennis figured out he was probably after the prairie dogs in an adjacent field. Yeah, there were prairie dog towns all over this park. After the fourth or fifth "town" with it's hundreds of furry rear-wobbling rodents, they started to creep me out. I kept thinking "hanta virus" but Dennis tells me it's bubonic plague that they can spread. Whatever. They are rodents. End of discussion.
It's Teddy Roosevelt National Park so we stopped at the Visitor Center and dutifully saw the 13 minute movie narrated Teddy-like and using his words. It was OK. His ancillary ranching cabin was out in back (there was a bigger cabin elsewhere). This cabin has been moved and one of its previous landing places was Portland, OR. Has anyone seen it while it was on display here? It's pretty tiny and the claim-to-fame is the attic with outside access and a window where the ranch hands could sleep. I took the paper fold-up of this cabin - meant for children, of course - and will color it using the set of free crayons from the North Dakota Visitor Center. It's always good to participate in the hands-on opportunities provided by travel! One interesting exhibit was a Teddy figure riding a horse in original clothing. Not exactly a big man, our Teddy. Beautiful park, though, and I'm glad he arranged for national parks to be created all those years ago.
By now it's noon and we've got to get going or we will never get home. Drove all afternoon on cruise control at 71mph. Montana speed limit is 75 but I guess I'm too old anymore, or not used to it. Sunny and lovely and good NPR jazz station and all is well. Called it quits in Big Timber, MT. Tomorrow we head to St. Anthony in Idaho, home of sand dunes and then on to PDX. Probably get home Sunday. dw
Today has been a delight. Sunny and warm all day - had the A/C on in the car. Started out on the scenic drive in Teddy Roosevelt Natl Park about 09 -(we rarely get an early start). The breakfast at the inn was stellar including the waffle mix that comes out of a dispensing machine into a small cup and then you make your own waffle. The process makes me nervous so I never do it. Dennis seems to enjoy them, though. Protein was provided in the form of hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, milk, etc. Those who travel will know that many "continental breakfasts" are a sugar hit so a real breakfast is a treat. Fortified we were off on the drive and at mile 19 of the 36 mile scenic loop we were stopped by bison in the road. About 60 were gathered for a mid-morning siesta and cud-chewing. Many were snuggled down in the shade looking like bison boulders, a few settled in the road and others stood around chewing without having eaten anything. A "couple" were on the side of the road, he investigating his opportunities and she blissfully ignoring it all. Another male came around and the first guy huffed and waved his giant head - young guy left but kept an eye on the lack of action. Ever hopeful, I guess. We were sort of stuck as they were blocking the road and frankly the possibility of mating happening right there was too good an opportunity to pass up. Nature in action! Well, not so much, as nothing happened for half an hour and the other bison moved off the road with a bit of nudging so we left. The couple was still together when we departed - maybe later...?
Well we were psyched for nature after that and weren't disappointed. Rounding a corner about 7 miles further down the road, the bison boulders were visible and a few were eating - maybe 10 of them, not the herd of mile 19 but still worth a stop. Thirty feet away were four antelope intermittently grazing and standing on alert because 20 feet away was a coyote who was pacing back and forth on the hillside just above the antelope. The coyote trotted away and then came back and the antelopes ate and then ran a bit when the coyote was too close. Wow, talk about a nature vignette. The bison were oblivious to all of it. The coyote continued pacing but didn't seem all that interested in the antelope as there were no young ones. Dennis figured out he was probably after the prairie dogs in an adjacent field. Yeah, there were prairie dog towns all over this park. After the fourth or fifth "town" with it's hundreds of furry rear-wobbling rodents, they started to creep me out. I kept thinking "hanta virus" but Dennis tells me it's bubonic plague that they can spread. Whatever. They are rodents. End of discussion.
It's Teddy Roosevelt National Park so we stopped at the Visitor Center and dutifully saw the 13 minute movie narrated Teddy-like and using his words. It was OK. His ancillary ranching cabin was out in back (there was a bigger cabin elsewhere). This cabin has been moved and one of its previous landing places was Portland, OR. Has anyone seen it while it was on display here? It's pretty tiny and the claim-to-fame is the attic with outside access and a window where the ranch hands could sleep. I took the paper fold-up of this cabin - meant for children, of course - and will color it using the set of free crayons from the North Dakota Visitor Center. It's always good to participate in the hands-on opportunities provided by travel! One interesting exhibit was a Teddy figure riding a horse in original clothing. Not exactly a big man, our Teddy. Beautiful park, though, and I'm glad he arranged for national parks to be created all those years ago.
By now it's noon and we've got to get going or we will never get home. Drove all afternoon on cruise control at 71mph. Montana speed limit is 75 but I guess I'm too old anymore, or not used to it. Sunny and lovely and good NPR jazz station and all is well. Called it quits in Big Timber, MT. Tomorrow we head to St. Anthony in Idaho, home of sand dunes and then on to PDX. Probably get home Sunday. dw
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Medora, N.D. outside of Theodore Roosevelt National Park
We just finished watching the last of the Chilean miners coming to the surface. Last night we watched the start of the rescue. An amazing event.
The is the first night we've had internet access since Sunday morning. Sunday night we stayed with a long time family friend of dw's -- Charlotte T. -- in Bruce, WI. Monday night (after some travail finding a motel) we stayed in St. Cloud MN. (This motel had WiFi, but when we accessed it the most direful warnings we've ever seen popped up -- promising doom if we continued with the connection, so we passed on the WiFi)
Tuesday in Bismarck, N.D. the WiFi connection was too weak to use. But tonight, here in Medora, N.D. we have a five bar connection and all's right with the world.
To go back a couple of days: through rural Ontario and Michigan (upper peninsula) many stretches of road, as well as individual ponds were fenced with a six-inch band of black plastic fence -- sometimes extending for hundreds of yards at a time. The purpose is to keep migrating turtles from getting smashed trying to cross the road. It seems to me that an ambitious, if suicidal, turtle could easily jump fences that low but I'm sure they help. And on the subject of fences: many of the rest areas in northern Wisc. were closed for winter. In addition to putting a barrier across the entrance, the state wrapped the bathrooms with orange plastic emergency fences. We thought locking the facilities should be enough. I mean which would you find easier -- use a crowbar to break into an outhouse, or walk ten feet to get to some bushes? But the area is close to the upper peninsula, so the Wisc. officials might have asked themselves: "What would a yooper do?" and acted accordingly.
Re: our visit with Charlotte. She lives, along with two outside dogs, and two cats, in a two bedroom house (with a couple of outbuildings) just off a river. A lovely place that feels remote although Charlotte says it isn't. She gave us a dinner of BBQ ribs with the usual fixings. It was wonderful, made even more so since our usual traveling meal is a sandwich and fruit from the nearest grocery store. It's good to look up friends and relatives when on the road. Memories of the Moraccan meal at Patrilary's...
Before we got to Charlotte's, we drove to Phillips to see the Fred Smith (1886-1976) Concrete Park -- formally The Wisconsin Concrete Park. (another thing to google) He was logger who retired and then started making concrete sculptures -- ending up with 270 or so figures. They are classic outsider art. The statues are mostly 1/2 to 3/4 life size (although some are 2 or 3 times life size) and are sort of modern primative -- Originally the figures were covered with pieces of glass (to give them life and sparkle) but much of that has been lost to time and a major storm. Interestingly, the Kohler Art Museum (as mentioned earlier) bought the site and has led the way to preserving and restoring the pieces.
---- A side-bar: We were listening to the Green Bay / Washington football game on WKQM (?) radio. During one of the breaks, the station ran an ad for anti-sway bars for trailers. "If your trailer sways like hippies around a campfire --" etc. you should buy their anti-sway bar. ----
After we left Bruce, we drove to Osceola, WI. to meet a Portland friend (Mary W.) of dw's. The friend was in Wisc., visiting and staying with her brother who runs the family farm. -- another fine and welcome meal (lunch) of fish and chips. -- After eating we toured the farm which was a dairy farm and is now a beef farm. We looked at the barn and equipment and the corn processing equipment and etc. etc. etc. -- Man there's a lot of stuff involved with modern farming.
We stopped in Alexandria N.D. for some breakfast. Alexandria is the site of the "Norse Rune Stone" farce. Some farmer supposedly plowed up a stone with (oddly) hard to decode runes. The stone "proves" that ancient Norsemen made it to western Minn. In any case, I bought a plastic viking helmet. It is a perfect fit, and best of all, the horns are moveable. I can have two up, two down, one up and one down. The horns can be sideways, or fore and aft. It's great. We're using it in photographs to critique the sights we visit (two horns up, two horns down, etc)
The last two days have been devoted to giant things. Jamestown N.D. -- the worlds largest buffalo. It is pretty damn big (30+ feet high made of concrete) and it's sited so it's ass points toward the freeway. And in a nearby field a herd of buffalo has three white buffalo. Sacred to indians, it's said. So we saw three sacred buffalo dots.
---- Steele has the worlds largest sandhill crane. Again about 30+ feet high. Made of painted steel and swaying in the wind (a bonus you wouldn't always get).
----New Salem has the worlds largest holstein cow. 38 feet high and 50 feet long. It was built to compete with the worlds largest buffalo. The cow is on a hill, it has a great view, and it's facing the freeway. A scenic improvement (for drivers) over the bison.
----Note to Dennis S.: west of Bismarck, we passed a herd of cows on the move. Again trotting toward the east. -- If it's not a sign of something, it should be.
----And finally, we drove the Enchanted Highway. It runs south from I-94 to Regent. Along the 35 or 40 mile road are seven or eight giant statues -- all 20 to 35 feet high. Flock of geese, deer, grasshoppers, fisherman's dream, family, pheasants, Teddy Roosevelt, and I may have forgotten one.
----- Winters are cold and long in North Dakota -- plenty of time to plan big things ---
After Regent, we were going to drive to a burning coal mine, but when we inquired at Amidon, we found the fire had gone out, or was too far underground to be seen so we went straight to Medora and stopped for the night.
Amidon is the county seat of Slope County. -- "Smallest county seat in the United States." The courthouse is a wooden frame building, only a little bigger than our house. Amidon is pretty small and I'm inclined to believe their claim. DA
Our adventure is coming to an end - we're about three days from Portland and have one more must-see site - Idaho sand dunes. Will find their location and then decide which way to return to Portland. North Dakota has been more interesting than I would have expected. The Enchanted Highway yesterday was fun, driving over a hill and seeing giant grasshoppers two miles down the road and then stopping at the site of the giant scrap metal sculptures to see how big they really were. An individual decided to create these prairie related sculptures and the first one went up in 1991 ( I think, or 1997), not that long ago anyway and they are still standing and looking good (helped by plenty of guy wires). They are surrounded by miles of flat prairie covered in corn, soybeans and sunflowers and not much else - the occasional silo or water tower in the distance. Western North Dakota is hillier and here at Medora is the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park with its scenic drive through badlands and painted hills. We drove part of the drive last night at dusk and encountered bison, feral horses, feral horse poop, pop-up prairie dogs and deer.
Salem Sue was worth the visit. This giant holstein cow can be seen for miles coming down the freeway. It sits on a hillside facing north and the freeway and looking onward and upward. Anatomically correct with a giant full udder it is huge! The eyes are big and seem to follow you as you drive up to it. I love this stuff. We had breakfast at a local diner and asked if it worked to bring tourists to New Salem. She said it did although she personally didn't care for it that much because it reminded her of the 25 years she spent dairy farming before deciding it was too much work and stopped. But she was getting used to it after five years of looking at it from the cafe window.
We have had beautiful weather the past few days, sunny warm days and cool nights. This is unusual for ND as they should be heading into colder weather by now instead of the 60-70 degree days of late. I'm glad for the good stuff, makes driving much more enjoyable. Time to stop and enjoy the continental breakfast here at the AmericInn. Later, dw
The is the first night we've had internet access since Sunday morning. Sunday night we stayed with a long time family friend of dw's -- Charlotte T. -- in Bruce, WI. Monday night (after some travail finding a motel) we stayed in St. Cloud MN. (This motel had WiFi, but when we accessed it the most direful warnings we've ever seen popped up -- promising doom if we continued with the connection, so we passed on the WiFi)
Tuesday in Bismarck, N.D. the WiFi connection was too weak to use. But tonight, here in Medora, N.D. we have a five bar connection and all's right with the world.
To go back a couple of days: through rural Ontario and Michigan (upper peninsula) many stretches of road, as well as individual ponds were fenced with a six-inch band of black plastic fence -- sometimes extending for hundreds of yards at a time. The purpose is to keep migrating turtles from getting smashed trying to cross the road. It seems to me that an ambitious, if suicidal, turtle could easily jump fences that low but I'm sure they help. And on the subject of fences: many of the rest areas in northern Wisc. were closed for winter. In addition to putting a barrier across the entrance, the state wrapped the bathrooms with orange plastic emergency fences. We thought locking the facilities should be enough. I mean which would you find easier -- use a crowbar to break into an outhouse, or walk ten feet to get to some bushes? But the area is close to the upper peninsula, so the Wisc. officials might have asked themselves: "What would a yooper do?" and acted accordingly.
Re: our visit with Charlotte. She lives, along with two outside dogs, and two cats, in a two bedroom house (with a couple of outbuildings) just off a river. A lovely place that feels remote although Charlotte says it isn't. She gave us a dinner of BBQ ribs with the usual fixings. It was wonderful, made even more so since our usual traveling meal is a sandwich and fruit from the nearest grocery store. It's good to look up friends and relatives when on the road. Memories of the Moraccan meal at Patrilary's...
Before we got to Charlotte's, we drove to Phillips to see the Fred Smith (1886-1976) Concrete Park -- formally The Wisconsin Concrete Park. (another thing to google) He was logger who retired and then started making concrete sculptures -- ending up with 270 or so figures. They are classic outsider art. The statues are mostly 1/2 to 3/4 life size (although some are 2 or 3 times life size) and are sort of modern primative -- Originally the figures were covered with pieces of glass (to give them life and sparkle) but much of that has been lost to time and a major storm. Interestingly, the Kohler Art Museum (as mentioned earlier) bought the site and has led the way to preserving and restoring the pieces.
---- A side-bar: We were listening to the Green Bay / Washington football game on WKQM (?) radio. During one of the breaks, the station ran an ad for anti-sway bars for trailers. "If your trailer sways like hippies around a campfire --" etc. you should buy their anti-sway bar. ----
After we left Bruce, we drove to Osceola, WI. to meet a Portland friend (Mary W.) of dw's. The friend was in Wisc., visiting and staying with her brother who runs the family farm. -- another fine and welcome meal (lunch) of fish and chips. -- After eating we toured the farm which was a dairy farm and is now a beef farm. We looked at the barn and equipment and the corn processing equipment and etc. etc. etc. -- Man there's a lot of stuff involved with modern farming.
We stopped in Alexandria N.D. for some breakfast. Alexandria is the site of the "Norse Rune Stone" farce. Some farmer supposedly plowed up a stone with (oddly) hard to decode runes. The stone "proves" that ancient Norsemen made it to western Minn. In any case, I bought a plastic viking helmet. It is a perfect fit, and best of all, the horns are moveable. I can have two up, two down, one up and one down. The horns can be sideways, or fore and aft. It's great. We're using it in photographs to critique the sights we visit (two horns up, two horns down, etc)
The last two days have been devoted to giant things. Jamestown N.D. -- the worlds largest buffalo. It is pretty damn big (30+ feet high made of concrete) and it's sited so it's ass points toward the freeway. And in a nearby field a herd of buffalo has three white buffalo. Sacred to indians, it's said. So we saw three sacred buffalo dots.
---- Steele has the worlds largest sandhill crane. Again about 30+ feet high. Made of painted steel and swaying in the wind (a bonus you wouldn't always get).
----New Salem has the worlds largest holstein cow. 38 feet high and 50 feet long. It was built to compete with the worlds largest buffalo. The cow is on a hill, it has a great view, and it's facing the freeway. A scenic improvement (for drivers) over the bison.
----Note to Dennis S.: west of Bismarck, we passed a herd of cows on the move. Again trotting toward the east. -- If it's not a sign of something, it should be.
----And finally, we drove the Enchanted Highway. It runs south from I-94 to Regent. Along the 35 or 40 mile road are seven or eight giant statues -- all 20 to 35 feet high. Flock of geese, deer, grasshoppers, fisherman's dream, family, pheasants, Teddy Roosevelt, and I may have forgotten one.
----- Winters are cold and long in North Dakota -- plenty of time to plan big things ---
After Regent, we were going to drive to a burning coal mine, but when we inquired at Amidon, we found the fire had gone out, or was too far underground to be seen so we went straight to Medora and stopped for the night.
Amidon is the county seat of Slope County. -- "Smallest county seat in the United States." The courthouse is a wooden frame building, only a little bigger than our house. Amidon is pretty small and I'm inclined to believe their claim. DA
Our adventure is coming to an end - we're about three days from Portland and have one more must-see site - Idaho sand dunes. Will find their location and then decide which way to return to Portland. North Dakota has been more interesting than I would have expected. The Enchanted Highway yesterday was fun, driving over a hill and seeing giant grasshoppers two miles down the road and then stopping at the site of the giant scrap metal sculptures to see how big they really were. An individual decided to create these prairie related sculptures and the first one went up in 1991 ( I think, or 1997), not that long ago anyway and they are still standing and looking good (helped by plenty of guy wires). They are surrounded by miles of flat prairie covered in corn, soybeans and sunflowers and not much else - the occasional silo or water tower in the distance. Western North Dakota is hillier and here at Medora is the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park with its scenic drive through badlands and painted hills. We drove part of the drive last night at dusk and encountered bison, feral horses, feral horse poop, pop-up prairie dogs and deer.
Salem Sue was worth the visit. This giant holstein cow can be seen for miles coming down the freeway. It sits on a hillside facing north and the freeway and looking onward and upward. Anatomically correct with a giant full udder it is huge! The eyes are big and seem to follow you as you drive up to it. I love this stuff. We had breakfast at a local diner and asked if it worked to bring tourists to New Salem. She said it did although she personally didn't care for it that much because it reminded her of the 25 years she spent dairy farming before deciding it was too much work and stopped. But she was getting used to it after five years of looking at it from the cafe window.
We have had beautiful weather the past few days, sunny warm days and cool nights. This is unusual for ND as they should be heading into colder weather by now instead of the 60-70 degree days of late. I'm glad for the good stuff, makes driving much more enjoyable. Time to stop and enjoy the continental breakfast here at the AmericInn. Later, dw
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Iron Mountain, Michigan -- Sunday A.M.
We're moving on this morning. An alert for our faithful readers: We won't have internet access for at least one day, so no matter how exciting and eventful our trip becomes, we won't be blogging for a day or two. DA
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Iron Mountain, Michigan
Another driving day and we didn't do anything that fits into a small story arc, so this is, yet again, a series of notes and observations:
Just west of Blind River Ontario we passed 4 bald eagles perching on rocks in the middle of a river, while across the road and behind a livestock fence 3 white tailed deer were grazing in a small meadow. This trip has suffered a noteable shortage of large animals, (with the bison-sized exception of Wind Cave N.P.) so the eagles especially were a treat.
In the same area someone welded a bunch of old bicycles together to use as a fence. An interesting bit of semi folk art.
We have passed three pontoon boats shrink-wrapped in blue plastic. The sine qua non of winterization.
The residents of the Michigan Upper Peninsula have christened themselves "yoopers" -- "We're in America by law, but we're Yoopers by choice."
Finally: We stopped at a service station in Seney, Michigan for biological necessity (aka -- take a whizz).
The service station, self called "The Party Place" also had the usual 7-11 type snack food, a closed deli, a large selection of knives (butcher, hunting, novelty, swords, bowie, etc) an equally large selection of ammo, and a selection of real pelts. Including bear, fox (red and blue), skunk, otter, beaver and weasel ($22.50)
A service station nonpareil in my life experience. DA
Yeah, it was an uneventful day with a lot of driving. The fall color was classic. It was the sunny fall day of calendars and coffee table books. Even the U.S. customs guy asked if the fall color was good up in Ontario and it was. Plenty of tour buses in Algonquin Park for the holiday weekend. Monday is Thanksgiving Day in Canada so plenty of people were traveling and enjoying the fall colors. I've enjoyed seeing the foliage and am very glad for the sun after all the rain last week. At least returning to Portland we should be going through weather systems instead of traveling with them. I hope anyway. Tomorrow the Concrete Park in Phillips, WI and visiting a friend in Bruce, WI. dw
Just west of Blind River Ontario we passed 4 bald eagles perching on rocks in the middle of a river, while across the road and behind a livestock fence 3 white tailed deer were grazing in a small meadow. This trip has suffered a noteable shortage of large animals, (with the bison-sized exception of Wind Cave N.P.) so the eagles especially were a treat.
In the same area someone welded a bunch of old bicycles together to use as a fence. An interesting bit of semi folk art.
We have passed three pontoon boats shrink-wrapped in blue plastic. The sine qua non of winterization.
The residents of the Michigan Upper Peninsula have christened themselves "yoopers" -- "We're in America by law, but we're Yoopers by choice."
Finally: We stopped at a service station in Seney, Michigan for biological necessity (aka -- take a whizz).
The service station, self called "The Party Place" also had the usual 7-11 type snack food, a closed deli, a large selection of knives (butcher, hunting, novelty, swords, bowie, etc) an equally large selection of ammo, and a selection of real pelts. Including bear, fox (red and blue), skunk, otter, beaver and weasel ($22.50)
A service station nonpareil in my life experience. DA
Yeah, it was an uneventful day with a lot of driving. The fall color was classic. It was the sunny fall day of calendars and coffee table books. Even the U.S. customs guy asked if the fall color was good up in Ontario and it was. Plenty of tour buses in Algonquin Park for the holiday weekend. Monday is Thanksgiving Day in Canada so plenty of people were traveling and enjoying the fall colors. I've enjoyed seeing the foliage and am very glad for the sun after all the rain last week. At least returning to Portland we should be going through weather systems instead of traveling with them. I hope anyway. Tomorrow the Concrete Park in Phillips, WI and visiting a friend in Bruce, WI. dw
Friday, October 8, 2010
Espanola, Ontario
Today was a driving day. The weather was great, if windy and the drive was lovely in a quiet way. We drove through Algonquin Provincial Park, and it was nice with a lot of low hills and crags. Thousands of lakes large and small with slow meandering streams. Multiple bogs of every sort, spruce, peat, reed, general bog -- pretty much whatever sort of bog you might want can be found. Some areas of good fall color.
Other than scenery the day's high point was Sudbury, home of three of the worlds second biggest chimneys. Except one of the three is kinda short and fat. All of them are still putting out smoke from whatever kind of factory is under them.
More random observations: dw thought I was overly snide concerning Canadian artists. She's probably right.
Ontario v.s. Quebec moose and deer warning signs. Quebec clearly is the winner. Ontario has a cheery bounding deer and an agressive striding moose, But Quebec actually shows a car hitting a deer -- with an orangey spikey cartoon crash sign and the car is tilted, nearly out of control from the crash. Another sign shows the car hitting a moose. It has the same crash symbol, and the car is really tilted, clearly careening out of control. They're great. Quebec also has a "slow for children" sign that shows a dead kid on the pavement. Perhaps effective but a bit morbid. DA
Other than scenery the day's high point was Sudbury, home of three of the worlds second biggest chimneys. Except one of the three is kinda short and fat. All of them are still putting out smoke from whatever kind of factory is under them.
More random observations: dw thought I was overly snide concerning Canadian artists. She's probably right.
Ontario v.s. Quebec moose and deer warning signs. Quebec clearly is the winner. Ontario has a cheery bounding deer and an agressive striding moose, But Quebec actually shows a car hitting a deer -- with an orangey spikey cartoon crash sign and the car is tilted, nearly out of control from the crash. Another sign shows the car hitting a moose. It has the same crash symbol, and the car is really tilted, clearly careening out of control. They're great. Quebec also has a "slow for children" sign that shows a dead kid on the pavement. Perhaps effective but a bit morbid. DA
Good morning from Arnprior, Ontario!
Weather: not currently raining, some scattered strato-cirrus clouds, sun, full red, orange, yellow leaf color, 13 degrees Celsius (53 F).
Location: dw at table, DA reading in bed - both of us enjoying the morning coffee courtesy of the Twin Maple Motel although I'm not seeing any maple trees at this motel in Arnprior, Ont. (try saying that three times). The community is 7000 people and located on the Ottawa River which at this point is still pretty wide and big - especially after the recent rains. Cutesy lively downtown when we arrived last night - always nice to see an active community rather than a dying one, which many are these days.
When; Friday 0810
What's new? We're heading back to Portland in our leisurely wandering way. Heading west-ish anyway. The highlight of my day yesterday was the Canadian House of Commons at the Parliament Building in downtown Ottawa (Canada's capital) and home to Big Buildings. All very impressive. I have not experienced government-in-action so my impressions are those of a first timer. Security was impressive of course. Two security checks to get into the galleries. I was wanded at the second one and had everything out of my pockets when I still beeped. He ferreted out my money belt worn under my clothes. It didn't even have coins in it, just papers! Amazing. I told him he was exposing all my secrets! Made me remove it anyway. On to the observers gallery where we were informed we would get one warning about making a sound or gesture and if we did it again, out we would go (not fair as the legislators did plenty of both!). Single file we walked in and crawled up into gallery seats - talk about nosebleed section- then struggled with the hand held wand for language translations and volume. All those legislators you see listening on devices are probably just needing more volume as it was noisier than I expected. They got approximately 60 seconds to make their prepared statements and it moved along pretty quickly.
My favorite - Saskatchewan guy proclaiming the value of setting up Billy Bob's Golf Emporium or some such thing as a vehicle for promoting the economy. Quebec guy accusing the Nunavut woman of saying nasty things on Facebook. Then the room filled up with more legislators and a couple of press persons sat in their designated gallery seats for the slander accusations - graft and malfeasance (don't you love that word?), etc. Whew, back and forth so fast I couldn't keep up with the argument but I did recognize the failure to answer a direct question and the rhetoric. I thought, wow, this is why nothing gets done by the government - any government , I started to gesture OOOPS - no gesturing! No one saw, I guess as I didn't get booted out.
Justin Trudeau (yes, Pierre's son and a hunk if I do say so myself) spoke and was widely applauded. A security guard mentioned he was being groomed for being Premier in about ten years. I believe it. The entire experience was a hoot.
Time to head out. Any suggestions for sights to see in the northern U.S. email us at: djalexa@spiritone.com . We already know about Salem Sue World's Largest Holstein Cow in Salem, ND and it's a must-see. Later, dw
Location: dw at table, DA reading in bed - both of us enjoying the morning coffee courtesy of the Twin Maple Motel although I'm not seeing any maple trees at this motel in Arnprior, Ont. (try saying that three times). The community is 7000 people and located on the Ottawa River which at this point is still pretty wide and big - especially after the recent rains. Cutesy lively downtown when we arrived last night - always nice to see an active community rather than a dying one, which many are these days.
When; Friday 0810
What's new? We're heading back to Portland in our leisurely wandering way. Heading west-ish anyway. The highlight of my day yesterday was the Canadian House of Commons at the Parliament Building in downtown Ottawa (Canada's capital) and home to Big Buildings. All very impressive. I have not experienced government-in-action so my impressions are those of a first timer. Security was impressive of course. Two security checks to get into the galleries. I was wanded at the second one and had everything out of my pockets when I still beeped. He ferreted out my money belt worn under my clothes. It didn't even have coins in it, just papers! Amazing. I told him he was exposing all my secrets! Made me remove it anyway. On to the observers gallery where we were informed we would get one warning about making a sound or gesture and if we did it again, out we would go (not fair as the legislators did plenty of both!). Single file we walked in and crawled up into gallery seats - talk about nosebleed section- then struggled with the hand held wand for language translations and volume. All those legislators you see listening on devices are probably just needing more volume as it was noisier than I expected. They got approximately 60 seconds to make their prepared statements and it moved along pretty quickly.
My favorite - Saskatchewan guy proclaiming the value of setting up Billy Bob's Golf Emporium or some such thing as a vehicle for promoting the economy. Quebec guy accusing the Nunavut woman of saying nasty things on Facebook. Then the room filled up with more legislators and a couple of press persons sat in their designated gallery seats for the slander accusations - graft and malfeasance (don't you love that word?), etc. Whew, back and forth so fast I couldn't keep up with the argument but I did recognize the failure to answer a direct question and the rhetoric. I thought, wow, this is why nothing gets done by the government - any government , I started to gesture OOOPS - no gesturing! No one saw, I guess as I didn't get booted out.
Justin Trudeau (yes, Pierre's son and a hunk if I do say so myself) spoke and was widely applauded. A security guard mentioned he was being groomed for being Premier in about ten years. I believe it. The entire experience was a hoot.
Time to head out. Any suggestions for sights to see in the northern U.S. email us at: djalexa@spiritone.com . We already know about Salem Sue World's Largest Holstein Cow in Salem, ND and it's a must-see. Later, dw
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Ottawa
Even though we did have some blinding rain on the drive in, we had a good time in Ottawa. Yesterday afternoon we went to the National Gallery of Canada. While I don't want to injure the sensibilities of any Canadians who might come across this, I found the art in the Canadian Artists section to be (I'll be nice here) derivative. Otherwise there were some interesting things to see, particularly in the modern art section. We were surprised at the small display of Indian and Inuit art, which. is the Canadian Art equivalent of American Jazz and Blues. Today we looked at a couple of other galleries -- We're considering buying another print by Inuit Pudlo Pudlat -- we already have two by him. We're considering it but ($$$) is a major consideration. --- lest I forget: in front of the main entrance to the National Gallery is a giant (30 to 35 feet high) stylized spider with eggs --- We didn't really understand the relevance to anything.
We also went into the Notre-Dame Cathedral -- An impressive neo-gothic painted blue and gold, which looks much better than this description makes it sound.
Today we walked around the city -- visited a couple of galleries, had a street polish dog (DA) and bratwurst (dw), went through the now-wow-and-today shopping district (oddly, I found nothing to buy) and a farmers market.
But the highlight was visiting the Parliament Building. (which also included ascending the Peace Tower -- 350 ft. up -- just beneath the great clock and carrilon -- built 1919 to comemmorate the end of WWI -- which had a great view of the city) The real highlight was attending a Parliament debate. After a series of short (1 to 2 minutes) speeches by back-benchers, they got to the meat of the afternoon: Accusations of malfeasance and graft flew thick and fast (Hear, Hear!) (Pounding on the desk) (Hear, Hear!) Followed with a stout defense by the Conservative Leader ("That is not the case! We will thoroughly investigate any hint of fraud we find! Might I remind the Honorable Liberal Member, that the Liberals cut the budget for health care in 2004 while we Conservatives strongly protested that action!") -- (Hear, Hear!) (Pounding on the desk) (Hear, Hear!) It was great. We had the honor of hearing a 1 minute speech by Justin Trudeau -- son of Pierre -- a hot new face in Canadian politics.
--- Lest I forget: Personal comment to Cary N.: What's the point of a sober and courteous comment? and to Hilary S.: You needn't read that book on Carravagio any time soon (or even ever) :-) -- Wow, that's the first emoticon I've used in this blog --
Finally, I was wondering if our Montreal signage experience was unique to us, so I looked on the web for comments. A couple I found: "Our GPS was useless. The street names and numbers had no relation to what our GPS was showing" --- "and what's up with the blue "Tourist" markers? Are the numbers next to the names distances? Exit numbers? Prayers needed to find it? Because there are several places where the markers just disappear or go from 3 to 1 to 8 in just a few blocks"
I imagine we'll try Montreal another time, but when we do, we'll get a map in advance. DA
We also went into the Notre-Dame Cathedral -- An impressive neo-gothic painted blue and gold, which looks much better than this description makes it sound.
Today we walked around the city -- visited a couple of galleries, had a street polish dog (DA) and bratwurst (dw), went through the now-wow-and-today shopping district (oddly, I found nothing to buy) and a farmers market.
But the highlight was visiting the Parliament Building. (which also included ascending the Peace Tower -- 350 ft. up -- just beneath the great clock and carrilon -- built 1919 to comemmorate the end of WWI -- which had a great view of the city) The real highlight was attending a Parliament debate. After a series of short (1 to 2 minutes) speeches by back-benchers, they got to the meat of the afternoon: Accusations of malfeasance and graft flew thick and fast (Hear, Hear!) (Pounding on the desk) (Hear, Hear!) Followed with a stout defense by the Conservative Leader ("That is not the case! We will thoroughly investigate any hint of fraud we find! Might I remind the Honorable Liberal Member, that the Liberals cut the budget for health care in 2004 while we Conservatives strongly protested that action!") -- (Hear, Hear!) (Pounding on the desk) (Hear, Hear!) It was great. We had the honor of hearing a 1 minute speech by Justin Trudeau -- son of Pierre -- a hot new face in Canadian politics.
--- Lest I forget: Personal comment to Cary N.: What's the point of a sober and courteous comment? and to Hilary S.: You needn't read that book on Carravagio any time soon (or even ever) :-) -- Wow, that's the first emoticon I've used in this blog --
Finally, I was wondering if our Montreal signage experience was unique to us, so I looked on the web for comments. A couple I found: "Our GPS was useless. The street names and numbers had no relation to what our GPS was showing" --- "and what's up with the blue "Tourist" markers? Are the numbers next to the names distances? Exit numbers? Prayers needed to find it? Because there are several places where the markers just disappear or go from 3 to 1 to 8 in just a few blocks"
I imagine we'll try Montreal another time, but when we do, we'll get a map in advance. DA
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Montreal and Moses
Today was our last morning in Burlington. I wrote some doggeral in Patrilary's guest book (to the tune of "Sweet Betsy From Pike") And then we spent a pleasant morning with Hilary and Cary. The four of us had a light breakfast and shortly after that Cary left for Phildelphia. Then Hilary dw and I walked to the pedestrian mall and had some coffee (Sadie the dog came along to tell us when there was something interesting and vital to smell) -- Patrick had already gone to work so we were larking about without him.
We left about noon and went to a kinesthology (huh?) person (for dw) who did some back adjustments and gave dw some exercises to do. dw's back has been troublesome and she hasn't been able to drive for nearly a week. (My final pain scale update: knees: at rest 1 to 2 -- normal. walking 2 to 3.7 -- normal --- the passive range of motion worked miracles ) Anyway the adjustments and exercises seem to be helping and dw drove for awhile today.
After the kines (huh?) person we stopped at Patrick's place of work. He works for NRG -- a private company that makes and sells equipment that measures and analyzes sites for wind turbine installations. It was interesting -- it looks like a great place to work: the company (about 100 people work there) has a small gym, exercise pool, pool table, ping-pong table etc, etc. They also provide lunches (we had a piece of cake in Patrick's work area- courtesy of Laura who thought to recognize our visit - thank you, Laura) and incentives to car-pool and to buy hybrid cars. It's quite a place. The building has a large solar power installation, and a small wind turbine (it's not in a good place for wind power) It's about as green as a factory (officially -- light industry) can be.
Miscellaneous items about Burlington: We drove to Barre (pronounced Barry) Vermont (near Burlington) to look at the Hope Cemetery. Barre has, since 1818, quarried granite of a remarkably fine grade. and they have a long-time history of carving tombstones. The graveyard has a huge array of truely remarkable markers. A two-foot soccer ball on a pedestal. A bi-plane, a couple sitting up and holding hands in bed. -- Another site to Google and look at the pics. It's an amazing place -- obviously the local stone carvers use the cemetery as a marketing device. "Look at the things we can do in stone!!!"
As we were driving towards Montreal, I saw two fighter jets flying north. DA: "I think those are the vangard of our invasion of Canada." dw: "It's about time."
A couple of days ago we drove north, nearly to Canada, on the islands centered in Lake Champlain. We went to St Anne's Shrine -- now a shrine to St Anne -- rather nice -- but once the site (1667) of a French fort built to defend against the Iroquis.. I heard the following mumbles coming from the passenger seat: dw: "If it was kilometers, we'd already be there" (the site was further off the main road than we expected) and dw: "I'd rather have St Anne's Shrimp" (after having mis-read the map)
Mileage posts in Vermont tell the mileage in tenths of a mile, which is more specific than I need.
For weather reasons (too dry, too rainy, too warm) this isn't a good year for the leaf peepers. (according to an information bureau person.
All in all we had a very good day until we got to Montreal. For starters, we didn't get a good map before we got to the city, and then we arrived just at the start of rush hour. According to our map, there was Tourist Information just off the freeway. According to reality, not so much. At some point pre-Montreal we saw a sign for Tourist Information 4 K. Reality -- 4 K and no exit or any hint of Information. In the city we saw another sign: Tourist Info, L 4K. turned left, drove 5 blocks, came to a T intersection without a hint of another sign. On we trekked. Another sign Tourist Info R 1K -- turned right drove 2K and saw another sigh for Tourist Info in another K, and after two more kilometers, still nothing. At last we decided "F" this and headed for a main drag out of town. We turned right and after two blocks saw another Tourist Info sign 2K to our right. We ignored it. (all of this was during rush hour)
We have decided that Montreal can do nasty things to itself and we're moving on. If we gave it another try, I believe I'd sell my soul to the devil to get the power to inflict the Ten Plagues of Moses onto the city of Montreal. And whoever put up the Tourist Information signs would get the Ten Plagues plus a bad case of dandruff. DA
The above description of the Montreal experience has been downsized and sanitized for the general reading public - trust me. It was no picnic and I was beginning to feel we were in the Twilight Zone. To all of you out there who love and honor Montreal - maybe another time.... With better information and timing I'm sure we would be sitting in a Montreal B and B instead of this rather lovely room at the Auberge du Mont Rigaud - 1 hour and 15 minutes from downtown Montreal. Reading the "Discovery" free magazine (and real estate guide) to this area I am excited to see what daylight may bring. It could be lovely out there and we have no idea. Rigaud is on the Ottawa River and may be exploding with fall foliage but we arrived in the dark and don't know. Since the fall colour festival is this weekend here in Rigaud, I hope there's something out there for the attendees.
BIGGEST NEWS! Dennis thought he lost the above posting which he put a lot of effort and time into and I found it! I solved a computer problem. Wow. Feel free to congratulate me in your head if you won't "comment".
That's the yin and yang of travel - a gorgeous day with family and interesting experiences and the Circle of Hell in the big city. Can't wait until tomorrow! dw
We left about noon and went to a kinesthology (huh?) person (for dw) who did some back adjustments and gave dw some exercises to do. dw's back has been troublesome and she hasn't been able to drive for nearly a week. (My final pain scale update: knees: at rest 1 to 2 -- normal. walking 2 to 3.7 -- normal --- the passive range of motion worked miracles ) Anyway the adjustments and exercises seem to be helping and dw drove for awhile today.
After the kines (huh?) person we stopped at Patrick's place of work. He works for NRG -- a private company that makes and sells equipment that measures and analyzes sites for wind turbine installations. It was interesting -- it looks like a great place to work: the company (about 100 people work there) has a small gym, exercise pool, pool table, ping-pong table etc, etc. They also provide lunches (we had a piece of cake in Patrick's work area- courtesy of Laura who thought to recognize our visit - thank you, Laura) and incentives to car-pool and to buy hybrid cars. It's quite a place. The building has a large solar power installation, and a small wind turbine (it's not in a good place for wind power) It's about as green as a factory (officially -- light industry) can be.
Miscellaneous items about Burlington: We drove to Barre (pronounced Barry) Vermont (near Burlington) to look at the Hope Cemetery. Barre has, since 1818, quarried granite of a remarkably fine grade. and they have a long-time history of carving tombstones. The graveyard has a huge array of truely remarkable markers. A two-foot soccer ball on a pedestal. A bi-plane, a couple sitting up and holding hands in bed. -- Another site to Google and look at the pics. It's an amazing place -- obviously the local stone carvers use the cemetery as a marketing device. "Look at the things we can do in stone!!!"
As we were driving towards Montreal, I saw two fighter jets flying north. DA: "I think those are the vangard of our invasion of Canada." dw: "It's about time."
A couple of days ago we drove north, nearly to Canada, on the islands centered in Lake Champlain. We went to St Anne's Shrine -- now a shrine to St Anne -- rather nice -- but once the site (1667) of a French fort built to defend against the Iroquis.. I heard the following mumbles coming from the passenger seat: dw: "If it was kilometers, we'd already be there" (the site was further off the main road than we expected) and dw: "I'd rather have St Anne's Shrimp" (after having mis-read the map)
Mileage posts in Vermont tell the mileage in tenths of a mile, which is more specific than I need.
For weather reasons (too dry, too rainy, too warm) this isn't a good year for the leaf peepers. (according to an information bureau person.
All in all we had a very good day until we got to Montreal. For starters, we didn't get a good map before we got to the city, and then we arrived just at the start of rush hour. According to our map, there was Tourist Information just off the freeway. According to reality, not so much. At some point pre-Montreal we saw a sign for Tourist Information 4 K. Reality -- 4 K and no exit or any hint of Information. In the city we saw another sign: Tourist Info, L 4K. turned left, drove 5 blocks, came to a T intersection without a hint of another sign. On we trekked. Another sign Tourist Info R 1K -- turned right drove 2K and saw another sigh for Tourist Info in another K, and after two more kilometers, still nothing. At last we decided "F" this and headed for a main drag out of town. We turned right and after two blocks saw another Tourist Info sign 2K to our right. We ignored it. (all of this was during rush hour)
We have decided that Montreal can do nasty things to itself and we're moving on. If we gave it another try, I believe I'd sell my soul to the devil to get the power to inflict the Ten Plagues of Moses onto the city of Montreal. And whoever put up the Tourist Information signs would get the Ten Plagues plus a bad case of dandruff. DA
The above description of the Montreal experience has been downsized and sanitized for the general reading public - trust me. It was no picnic and I was beginning to feel we were in the Twilight Zone. To all of you out there who love and honor Montreal - maybe another time.... With better information and timing I'm sure we would be sitting in a Montreal B and B instead of this rather lovely room at the Auberge du Mont Rigaud - 1 hour and 15 minutes from downtown Montreal. Reading the "Discovery" free magazine (and real estate guide) to this area I am excited to see what daylight may bring. It could be lovely out there and we have no idea. Rigaud is on the Ottawa River and may be exploding with fall foliage but we arrived in the dark and don't know. Since the fall colour festival is this weekend here in Rigaud, I hope there's something out there for the attendees.
BIGGEST NEWS! Dennis thought he lost the above posting which he put a lot of effort and time into and I found it! I solved a computer problem. Wow. Feel free to congratulate me in your head if you won't "comment".
That's the yin and yang of travel - a gorgeous day with family and interesting experiences and the Circle of Hell in the big city. Can't wait until tomorrow! dw
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Burlington, VT
Again, a ton of rain during the drive from Quebec to here. (I read on the news that the storm that has been plaguing us has dropped more rain than normally falls in 6 weeks) -- Flooding in Wisconsin right after we left. Hurricane in Nova Scotia / Newfoundland when we were on the Gaspe, rain and flooding in New England (especially Vermont) now that we're here. We're going to notify areas that we're coming and suggest they give us money to stay away.
We stopped at an asbestos mine on the way here -- between Thetford Mines (a town) and Black Lake (a town named after a lake that no longer exists -- it was drained to put in a mine) Another big hole in the ground. The one we saw is no longer in operation. A different mine that is still operating doesn't allow visitors. -- A great pity -- I couldn't do my old guy at a construction site routine: " Yup, that's a mighty big hole. Course back in my day we had different sort of holes, but this hole is big enough for ordinary use."
In any case, we're staying with Patrick and Hilary S. (aka Patrilary) in their condo.
Burlington is a very pleasant college town. (bookstores, art galleries, buskers, street food, etc) It reminds me of a smaller version of Madison WI, or Eugene OR. Yesterday we walked Church street -- the pedestrian mall (had a crepe for a snack) -- then down to the lake. We were going to take the ferry to New York (using the ferry as a brief tour boat) but the last ship had sailed.
Before I forget to enter this: Happy Birthday Dan -- I'd like to do lunch, perhaps with Josh when we get back. --
Yesterday, while Patrick was off to a friends wedding (joined by Hilary in the evening) Hilary was a tour guide for dw and I. We drove a fall foliage / free snack tour. I guess we're early for the foliage (it was raining anyway) but the snacks -- cheese, chocolate, cider -- at various factories were good. We went to Stowe and had lunch. Stowe is a classic example of a quaint New England town, and the residents go to a fair amount of trouble to keep it that way. A couple of years ago, one of Patrick's uncles printed up a large official sign, togged himself up in official workman's clothing, and posted the sign on a brick wall -- The sign announced the upcoming arrival of a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. Consternation and protest letters to the editor from the locals. Later, he did the same thing in Charlotte (another quaint New England town) only that time it was for a Red Lobster (Charlotte is on Lake Champlain). There were even more protests that time with a hundred or so angry letters to the editor. Though the second time someone at the newspaper noticed the signage occurred on April first.
As I'm writing this, the sun is out, no clouds in sight and we're hoping for a few good days. Today Hilary's mom (Cary N.) is coming by train from Phildelphia. We're looking forward to her arrival.
A small note: we were literally 6 feet past the interview with the customs officer at the U.S. border crossing when my phone (which you may remember doesn't work in Canada) rang, announcing I had some messages. DA
It's such a "welcome to the U.S. " feeling when the phone rings the minute you are two feet inside the border. Now if the messages were reading-worthy it would be even better. Nothing exciting except a few vague text messages and since we don't text it's a wonder we even receive them. Anyway, it allowed us to call and warn Hilary and Patrick we were close. Now we are in family time and have facilities to catch up on laundry and cleaning the car. How much coffee can one spill on a long distance road trip. Plenty. I'm thinking of having the carpeting changed in the car. Can you do that? Sightseeing yesterday in downtown Burlington was very much Madison State Street for those of you who may be familiar with the University of W'isconsin State Street area. For many years it was the toga capital of the world and with Halloween approaching it might be again. Plenty of pre-Halloween decor here. Pumpkins galore. And lots of beer and a few microbrews. We dined at one the evening we arrived and I have to admit the beer and food were very good and rival PDX's microbrews. Yup, Burlington is a good place to visit. Patrick and Hilary make me laugh so it's all good. More later, dw
We stopped at an asbestos mine on the way here -- between Thetford Mines (a town) and Black Lake (a town named after a lake that no longer exists -- it was drained to put in a mine) Another big hole in the ground. The one we saw is no longer in operation. A different mine that is still operating doesn't allow visitors. -- A great pity -- I couldn't do my old guy at a construction site routine: " Yup, that's a mighty big hole. Course back in my day we had different sort of holes, but this hole is big enough for ordinary use."
In any case, we're staying with Patrick and Hilary S. (aka Patrilary) in their condo.
Burlington is a very pleasant college town. (bookstores, art galleries, buskers, street food, etc) It reminds me of a smaller version of Madison WI, or Eugene OR. Yesterday we walked Church street -- the pedestrian mall (had a crepe for a snack) -- then down to the lake. We were going to take the ferry to New York (using the ferry as a brief tour boat) but the last ship had sailed.
Before I forget to enter this: Happy Birthday Dan -- I'd like to do lunch, perhaps with Josh when we get back. --
Yesterday, while Patrick was off to a friends wedding (joined by Hilary in the evening) Hilary was a tour guide for dw and I. We drove a fall foliage / free snack tour. I guess we're early for the foliage (it was raining anyway) but the snacks -- cheese, chocolate, cider -- at various factories were good. We went to Stowe and had lunch. Stowe is a classic example of a quaint New England town, and the residents go to a fair amount of trouble to keep it that way. A couple of years ago, one of Patrick's uncles printed up a large official sign, togged himself up in official workman's clothing, and posted the sign on a brick wall -- The sign announced the upcoming arrival of a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. Consternation and protest letters to the editor from the locals. Later, he did the same thing in Charlotte (another quaint New England town) only that time it was for a Red Lobster (Charlotte is on Lake Champlain). There were even more protests that time with a hundred or so angry letters to the editor. Though the second time someone at the newspaper noticed the signage occurred on April first.
As I'm writing this, the sun is out, no clouds in sight and we're hoping for a few good days. Today Hilary's mom (Cary N.) is coming by train from Phildelphia. We're looking forward to her arrival.
A small note: we were literally 6 feet past the interview with the customs officer at the U.S. border crossing when my phone (which you may remember doesn't work in Canada) rang, announcing I had some messages. DA
It's such a "welcome to the U.S. " feeling when the phone rings the minute you are two feet inside the border. Now if the messages were reading-worthy it would be even better. Nothing exciting except a few vague text messages and since we don't text it's a wonder we even receive them. Anyway, it allowed us to call and warn Hilary and Patrick we were close. Now we are in family time and have facilities to catch up on laundry and cleaning the car. How much coffee can one spill on a long distance road trip. Plenty. I'm thinking of having the carpeting changed in the car. Can you do that? Sightseeing yesterday in downtown Burlington was very much Madison State Street for those of you who may be familiar with the University of W'isconsin State Street area. For many years it was the toga capital of the world and with Halloween approaching it might be again. Plenty of pre-Halloween decor here. Pumpkins galore. And lots of beer and a few microbrews. We dined at one the evening we arrived and I have to admit the beer and food were very good and rival PDX's microbrews. Yup, Burlington is a good place to visit. Patrick and Hilary make me laugh so it's all good. More later, dw
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