July 11, 2021

July 11, 2021

Aimee and I took this extended 6000+ mile driving tour of the East for lots of reasons. We attended a wedding, visited with both sides of our family and ticked off almost two dozen more National Park sites. We are now up to 364; only fifty-nine to go! Besides the dearth of rental cars today, one big reason we drove instead of flying, is to retrieve a set of dishes from my mother, that have been languishing in St Louis storage for several years. They are in surprisingly good shape. My mother cherished them and used them sparingly. We are going to make use of them often.

July 10, 2021

July 10, 2021

We left Amarillo, TX early for the last push home to Tucson. We headed west on I-40 into New Mexico. Interestingly we passed a marker noting the spot where the Goodnight-Loving Trail crossed. Goodnight made his first money after the Civil War rounding up stray cattle in the Texas wilds and then driving them into New Mexico for sale to the US Army. He had to take a wide route south and west before turning north, all to avoid Comanche Indian raiders. Goodnight invented the chuck-wagon to feed his hired cowboys.

In Santa Rosa, NM we left the highway southwest. This alternative route turned out to be slow. We ran into construction. Not the normal road variety. We encountered two large wind turbine fields in expansion. Despite none of the turbines spinning today, the tax breaks are lucrative enough to keep investment dollars flowing.

On the northern edge of the Tularosa Valley we arrived at Valley of Fires Recreation Area. This BLM park contains a forty mile long swath of solidified lava. The newest in the Continental US at a mere 2000 years old. We hiked the mile-long Malpais loop trail down into the valley. This lava flow is a result of the nearby Rio Grande rift zone that is slowly widening trying to split New Mexico in half. The vast lava field has a rugged beauty and is in the process of being reclaimed by vegetation. Mother nature eventually wins out over time. We get that feeling after only leaving our yard unattended for a month.

We drove a half hour south to another BLM park, Three Rivers Petroglyph Site. We hiked along a ridge seeing hundreds of petroglyphs scratched into the rock outcroppings. They are dated to the Mogollon Indians of a thousand years ago. Normally we don’t get excited about this ancient rock art, but we thought this site seemed better than other more famous ones. There were loads of dotted circles, many masks and faces, and various animals. My favorite was a Bighorn Sheep with two arrows protruding.

In a sign that I did well today, Aimee wondered out loud why we hadn’t stopped and seen these two sites earlier.

Richard Branson is taking his first Virgin Galactic suborbital flight tomorrow from Spaceport America on the other side of the Tularosa Valley. We think very briefly about staying. Instead with just a couple brief stops for lunch and pistachios, we made it home in time for a late dinner.

July 9, 2021

July 9, 2021

Aimee and I both miss our RV. Car travelling is much more stressful. The everyday needs of packing/unpacking, looking for bathrooms, restaurants, and hotels takes away from the joy of wandering the country. RVs can’t be beat for exploring the West, but are problematic in the tight urban areas of the East.

Imagine my surprise when I saw Amarillo, TX has an RV Museum. I had to take Aimee. It took some effort to find as it recently moved into a larger unsigned location and shares the space with a Motorsports Hall of Fame. The facility is less a museum and more a collection of vintage travel vehicles. But it has some impressive collectibles. The items include the oldest Airstream from 1935! It also has the very first Itasca motorhome ever built. It used to be in the Winnebago Welcome Center. I wonder how they got it. Surprisingly, little has changed over the years in RVs. Mostly boxy designs have become a little sleeker and orange and lime are no longer the favorite colors.

One item that brought back memories was an old 1973 Popup camper. My family rented a similar one in 1967. We took it to camp on Lake Michigan. I had a blast exploring the sand dunes with my cousins. My parents not so much; we never did it again.

July 8, 2021

July 8, 2021

After dinner, Aimee and I and her sister drove southeast from Amarillo. After thirty minutes the flat Texas Panhandle country abruptly gave way to a deep gash called Palo Duro Canyon. We were not the first amazed by this Grand Canyon of Texas. In the mid 1870’s another southern Illinois boy, Charles Goodnight, thought this the perfect spot to raise cattle. The canyon provided natural fencing (steep walls) and plentiful water. Goodnight went from cattle driver to baron. He is the fictional protagonist of our favorite Western novel, Lonesome Dove.

We are at Palo Duro Canyon State Park to attend a performance of the Texas Outdoor Musical. Pioneer Amphitheater is a great venue for this story of early Panhandle History. In the latter half of the 20th century, after the Comanches were pushed onto reservation and large ranches predominated, land use and range wars was the main issue. This history was woven through multiple love stories. I loved the line 'here you can look further and see less than anywhere'. That surely describes most of the Panhandle. The story plot finished suddenly with everybody happy (and married). The performance ended with patriotic songs and great fireworks. The finale was the best part of this nice show.

July 6-7, 2021

July 6-7, 2021

For exercise we walked downhill from my sister’s house outside St Charles, MO to hike a section of the Katy Trail. This linear State Park is named after the KT part of  the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad.

Aimee and I left early on Wednesday to make the long drive back to Amarillo, TX. The persistent Texas wind is harnessed by vast fields of Wind Turbines. I was shocked to see one of the turbines east of town missing its housing. It turns out these tall generators are prime targets of lightning. The resulting fires are almost impossible to extinguish.

July 5, 2021

 

July 5, 2021

We spent the extended holiday weekend eating well. One benefit of taking Aimee and my weekend hosts to Italy a couple years ago is their heightened interest in Italian cuisine. It didn’t take much prodding for them to make me a pesto dish.

We all contributed to the time-consuming endeavor. My brother in law spent months growing the basil and fresh-picking the mature leaves. He also went to the market and bought olive oil, Parmesan, pine nuts, and pasta. Aimee and my sister washed the basil, toasted the pine nuts and mixed the ingredients. I provided the all important pulsing of the food processor mixer to achieve the perfect consistency. And of course the critical taste test.

Our delicious ethnic meal included salad, a Caprese appetizer and crusty bread. We paired it with a bold red Cabernet wine.

July 4, 2021

July 4, 2021

To celebrate the Independence Holiday, we drove with my sister to the St Charles Historic District. This city is the oldest European settlement on the Missouri River. Frontier Park next to the river is filled with people and carnival rides and good music.

We parked at a trail-head for the Katy Trail, the longest rail to trail system. It parallels the Missouri River and spans the state. We walked along the brick-paved Main Street. All the buildings are brick or wood-framed period structures, mostly in a French Colonial style. Surprisingly this historic street goes on for many blocks. City Fathers have done a great job preserving this heritage.

After a half mile of strolling and shopping we reached the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site and signed up for a tour. A wonderful docent gave us a great lesson on early Missouri history. Missouri was granted statehood along with Maine as part of the Missouri Compromise. The future Jefferson City was to be the Capitol; but an interim site was needed for five years. St Charles won the contest because it offered free meeting rooms above a general store.

Our guide then gave us a tour of these upper floor legislative rooms and governor's office. William Clark had been the appointed territorial governor but lost the first state election. We also learned that this French city got its name from the Anglicization of the local Catholic Church, San Carlos Borromeo. Interestingly my sister taught at the neighboring school for many years.

The tour continued in the general store on the first floor below. My hunter brother-in-law easily aced the fur identification quiz. Our informative ex-archaeological student guide was a font of information on the pre-industrial origin of arcane terms, like ‘sleep tight’, ‘don't let the bed bugs bite’ or our favorite, the dollar ‘buck’. That one likely came from the nominal exchange rate of one dollar per buckskin.

After the tour we had a delicious lunch on the third floor deck of the Lewis and Clark restaurant. It was followed by ice cream and more shopping.

I am rereading Undaunted Courage about the Lewis and Clark expedition so we walked over to the Boathouse to see a replica of their keel-boat. This riverfront was the spot where Lewis caught up with Clark and the crew and started their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis had recently witnessed the official transfer ceremony in St. Louis. We walked to the center of Frontier Park to see their Monument. We like that Lewis’ big Newfoundland (Seaman) is also honored. We used the Katy Trail to return to our car.

July 3, 2021

July 3, 2021

From the Louisville, KY area, we drove west across Indiana and Illinois past the Gateway Arch in St Louis to suburban St Charles, MO and the the home of my sister Jeannie. Aimee and I both need a little vacation from our touring. My brother-in-law greets me with a nice Schlafly Milk Stout and BBQ ribs. We may never leave.

July 2, 2021

July 2, 2021

From Knoxville, TN we drove north across the Appalachian Mountains into Kentucky to visit two newly established Civil War parks. Our first stop is Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument. Just before arriving we cross the Cumberland River which runs through a steep sided canyon. Although Mill Spring claims to be the first big victory for the Union in the West, It hardly rates a mention in most Civil War timelines. Nevertheless Aimee and I both found it interesting, giving us the opportunity to learn a little about the early days of the Civil War, especially as it applied to Kentucky. Interestingly, since it was so early in the War, the adjacent National Cemetery is one of the oldest and helped begin the system of interning soldiers.

At the onset of the Civil War, Kentucky remained neutral. The Confederates moved troops in anyway and the Union quickly countered. A rebel force crossed the Cumberland and attacked the Union force here in January 1862. The Confederates lost the battle essentially because they were mostly still using obsolescent flintlock rifles that failed to fire in the damp conditions. Most Union soldiers had the more modern percussion cap rifles that fire reliably in any weather. Forced to retreat, they escaped in the dark, by ferry, back across the Cumberland, but not before abandoning all their arms, cannon, and supplies.

We hiked around the main battlefield site. The grass was dewy just like it probably was during the battle. To make matters worse for the rebels, their general was killed during the opening stages of the battle.

We drove north an hour toward Camp Nelson National Monument. Traffic came to a dead halt for a half hour, a mile short of the park, and just as we were crossing the bridge over the Kentucky River. It is steep sided just like the Cumberland. We learned that is why Camp Nelson is here.

Camp Nelson was a supply depot for the army pushing into Tennessee and Georgia. Because of the criticality of the supplies, this site was chosen because the river cliffs provided a natural defense against a Southern assault.

This site was proclaimed a National Monument in 2018 for its black heritage. During the War, Camp Nelson became one of the main recruiting sites for colored troops, most of whom were slaves fleeing the South. At war's end the North had more colored soldiers than the South had total troops. I found it interesting that a new Federal holiday of Juneteenth was enacted to mark the end of slavery. But it wasn't. Slavery continued in Kentucky until ratification of the 13th amendment six months later in Dec 1865.

After watching the park film and perusing the museum, we hiked around the Depot Trail reading the many storyboards describing what this camp produced and stored. In some ways this park is the Civil War equivalent of the WWII Rosie the Riveter Park. The North won the war partly because it could out-produce the agricultural slavery-hampered South. Successful armies need gobs of supplies. Even Napoleon commented that ‘the army marches on its stomach’. Camp Nelson was the epitome of industry. Today the terrain is mostly rolling Bluegrass surrounded by scenic farms.

From Camp Nelson we drove north to Lexington, then West to Louisville, staying on the Indiana side next to Clarksville. One might think these two towns are named after Lewis and Clark. Clarksville was actually founded by William's brother George Rogers Clark at the site of the Falls of the Ohio. He named the opposite side in 1780 after the French King Louis XVI who was a major ally during the Revolutionary War.

We had a nice dinner outdoors in downtown New Albany, IN. Since we spent the day in Kentucky passing by many distilleries, I ordered a Bourbon cocktail with our meal. 

July 1, 2021

July 1, 2021

From Woodstock, VA we continued southwest one hour through the Shenandoah Valley to Staunton, VA, home of the Statler Brothers. It is also the birthplace and presidential library of Woodrow Wilson. The museum on his life was rather small and disjointed with large gaps. The best part was his presidential car in the attached garage. The son of a Presbyterian minister, it mentions he attended several colleges (did he graduate?), and then suddenly he is president of Princeton.  Wilson is elected governor of New Jersey in 1910, and then runs for President in 1912. The Republican vote is split between Taft and Teddy Roosevelt letting Wilson win with only 42% of the vote.

Wilson runs for a second term on the basis of peace and proceeds to get us into WW1 only a couple months later. I have to chuckle when one of the storyboards about civil rights has been papered over because this section has been reinterpreted. It now acknowledges Wilson was a southern racist who expanded segregation in the government. There is nothing on the stroke and incapacity Wilson had in the final year of his presidency. While the museum is disappointing, in all fairness it would also have had to be double or triple the size to be more comprehensive. There would have to be a lot more interest in this controversial president to justify that investment.

Since we have seen so many old houses in the last two weeks, we chose to forego the house tour. Plus Wilson only lived the first two years of his life in the Manse (a Presbyterian minister's home). From Staunton, we continued southwest spending the night outside Knoxville, TN.

June 30, 2021

June 30, 2021

From Fort Belvoir, VA we drove into DC and stopped at two sites. Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site and Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site. Both are urban homes off Logan Circle. This area is full of old Victorian mansions built when DC expanded after the Civil War. In the 1940’s, it became a neighborhood for prominent blacks. In recent years, with continued DC expansion, the area is undergoing gentrification and these grand homes are being renovated.  Both Bethune and Woodson were heavily involved in the Negro history movement. Woodson was the founder of Black History Month.

After these brief stops, we drove to the Peirce Mill Visitor Center of Rock Creek Park. This urban park straddles the little stream that flows through the heart of DC into the Potomac at Georgetown. This part of the park was owned by the Peirce family that, like Washington, operated a mill and distillery. The Visitor Center is closed so we decide to do a hike along Rock Creek and then uphill to the park office in the Peirce-Klingle Mansion. It is surprising to have such a backwoods experience in the heart of the city.

Back in the car we drove to the Fort Totten Metro station, parked and took the subway to the National Mall. On the south side of the Air and Space Museum, a section of Maryland Ave has been replaced with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. This Frank Gehry designed space opened last fall. Gehry has some famous designs (like Dancing House in Prague) but this is not one of them. It consists of three widely separated statues from three times in his life. Behind it is some kind of large screen supported by huge cylinders that is supposed to resemble the D-Day Normandy cliffs of Pointe du Hoc. It is barely visible and unrecognizable. We met a very nice young ranger who gave us the rundown on the memorial. This is his first permanent posting, just having come from Lincoln’s home in Springfield, IL

We have a few hours so we walked over to the Capitol but were shocked to see it still off-limits and entirely surrounded by fencing. George Washington would be horrified. America is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Only third world governments make laws behind razor-wire. We went to the nearby Supreme court and Library of Congress. Both were also closed to visitors. We punted, had a delicious BLT lunch and took the Metro back to our car.

From Fort Totten, we drove to the nearby President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument. It is inside the secure Armed Forces Retirement Home. We are very early for our tour of Lincoln’s Cottage, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. We spend some time in the small museum and then walk over and get a tour inside the Cottage. Lincoln spent most summers here because it is cooler than the swampland that was DC. With the hundred thousand soldiers camped in DC, the Potomac became a cesspool of typhus. One of Lincoln’s son died as a result. Lincoln would commute daily between here and the White House on horseback, usually alone.

After we finished our tour, I looked at Aimee and said we are turning for home. She got a big grin on her face. We left DC in almost continuous highway construction. There can’t be any more workers available for additional infrastructure spending. After two hours we made it to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. We spent the night in Woodstock, VA. During our Italian dinner, we had some excitement with another patron needing 911 EMT help.