421 RV miles today, 9,873 total
We are now complete having seen all of our children on this tour & all the Newman kids to complete the NewMillerman saga.
“Everywhere is walking distance, if you have the time.” –Stephen Wright
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The privelege of a lifetime is being who you are.” –Joseph Campbell (1904 – 1987)
259 RV miles today, 9,452 total
We left Illinois through Indiana for Cincinnati to stay with Beth’s brother, John’s family. Our neice, Jillian just got her Masters so we took their family out for dinner to clelebrate. We then went by Jungle Jim’s International Market. It resembles a theme park due to the unusual displays throughout the store. The main store is visited by approximately 82,000 shoppers each week! It has over 180,000 items, about 60,000 which are international items, and over 300,000 square feet (6½ acres) of floorspace. Reminded me of Wall’s Drugs in South Dakota, only bigger. From Cincinnati, m, b & t
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust
History of Cincinnati: In 1790, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, changed the name of the settlement to “Cincinnati” in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which he was president. The society gets its name from Cincinnatus, the Roman general and dictator, who saved the city of Rome from destruction and then quietly retired to his farm. Founded in 1783 with George Washington as it’s 1st President, it was comprised of the officers of the American Revolution. The society honored the ideal of return to civilian life by military officers following the Revolution rather than imposing military rule. My great…grandfather, Cornet Larkin Dorsey, qualified me as a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. Hereditary membership is generally passed to the eldest son according to the rule of primogeniture. Only one male descendant may represent an eligible officer at any time.
583 RV miles today, 9,193 total
We left North Sioux City, South Dakota into Sioux City, Iowa then South Sioux City, Nebraska in this Tri-State city. Kind of reminded me of our visit to Four Corners in the Southwest where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah join together. A marathon drive today with the blustery mid-west central winds gusting up against Thumper as he barreled down the sometimes potholed highway. After dinner at The Ribeye (reminded us of Chris’ Steakhouse back home, Greg…& check out that tomato presentation), headed back to our home away from home, the D & W Lake Camping & RV Park in Champaign, Illinois. Heading to Cincinnati tomorrow to visit Beth’s brother John’s family. From midwest “Silicon Priarie,” m, b & t
“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road…celebrate the journey.”–Fitzhugh Mullen
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” –Susan Sontag
478.6 RV miles today, 8,610 total
After a pancake breakfast at Rafter J’s, we headed past Hill City to the famous Wall’s Drugstore since 1931. Then onto the Badlands National Park, with its peaks, gullies, butts & prairies. Then onto the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (where I sat in one of the red commander chairs) & bison hot dogs for lunch. We saw this huge prairie dog & thought of you, Claire. Then we took the long drive across southern South Dakota stopping at the famous world outlet, Cabela’s, to buy some socks. After dinner at Sugar Daddy’s Bar & Casino, we camped at the KOA in North Sioux Falls at the border with Iowa & Nebraska.
“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.”– Benjamin Disraeli
“I’ve been about the world alot, & pretty much over our own country, but I was totally unprepared for that revelation called the Dakota Bad Lands…What I saw gave me an indescribable sense of mysterious elsewhere–a distant architecture, ethereal…, an endless supernatureal world more spiritual than earth but created out of it.” –Frank Lloyd Wright (1935)
“Ace in the Hole.”–John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (referring to the Minuteman weapons system during the Cuban missile crisis. Over the next two years, hundreds of Minuteman Missile silos and support structures would be constructed across the Great Plains landscape, including the state of South Dakota)
“Driving across South Dakota on Interstate 90, you will see billboard after billboard advertising everything from an 80 foot dinosaur to a shooting gallery to free ice water – all of which are located at a drug store in a tiny prairie town called Wall. With a population less than 1,000 people, Wall Drug can have over 20,000 visitors on a busy summer day. The Wall Drug Store got its start during the Depression years by offering Free Ice Water to thirsty travelers & is now an international icon. Over the years, many visitors of Wall Drug have erected signs throughout the world announcing the miles to Wall Drug from famous locations such as Antartica, Capetown, South Africa, the Great Wall of China, World War II Europe, etc.”
72.3 RV miles today, 8,131.4 total
We went back to Mt. Rushmore in the daylight & to hike the Presidential Trail. After a lunch of bison burger & bison chili, we visited the Crazy Horse Monument. We relaxed in the afternoon going into Hill City & then went back to Crazy Horse Memorial for the laser light show at dusk. From the Black Hills of South Dakota, m, b & t
“A wise man travels to discover himself.” James Russell Lowell
“A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.” – Crazy Horse, Sioux Chief (1840-1877)
“Oh, Great Spirit who dwells in the sky, lead us to the ;path of peach and understanding, let all of us live together as brothers and sisters. Our life is short here, walking upon our mother earth’s surface. Let our eyes be opened to all of the blessings you have given us. Oh, please hear our prayer, Great Spirit.”–Indian Prayer for Peace
“One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk.” –Crazy Horse (as quoted in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, 1970 by Dee Brown, Ch. 12
Posted early by mistake. Pictures to follow, m
402.3 RV miles today, 8,059.1 total
Drove to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park to visit where we had taken our kids ~17 years ago. Then traveled up through Wyoming with Toby riding “shotgun” over to South Dakota to our Rafter J Bar Ranch RV campsite. After dinner, drove the short distance to Mt. Rushmore for the amazing light show of the 4 Presidents carved in the granite: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln & Teddy Roosevelt. About 90% of the carving at the mountain was done by dynamite. Those blasts removed about 450,000 tons of fine-grained granite from the mountain. From the Black Hills of South Dakota, m, b & t
“A monument’s dimensions should be determined by the importance to civilization of the events commemorated…Let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders, their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were. Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until the wind and the rain alone shall wear them away.” –Gutzon Borglum (Mt. Rushmore sculptor who labored from 1927 through 1941)
98 RV miles today, 7,656.3 total
Camped in Rocky Mountain National Park. Took the high road just opened up to the Alpine Center at 12,150 feet elevation. Amazing driving through 15 foot snow drifts. Temperature dropped from 74 degrees at campsite to 44 degrees at Alpine Center!?!? Ended up at another local favorite restaurant/tavern for dinner.
“Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.” –Jeffrey Rasley, Bringing Progress to Paradise: What I Got from Giving to a Mountain Village in Nepal
“Mountains are not Stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.” –Anatoli Boukreev (1958-1997, Russian mountaineer)
“A snowdrift is a beautiful thing – if it doesn’t lie across the path you have to shovel or block the road that leads to your destination.”–Hal Borland
“Long, blue, spiky-edged shadows crept out across the snow-fields, while a rosy glow, at first scarce discernible, gradually deepened and suffused every mountain-top, flushing the glaciers and the harsh crags above them. This was the alpenglow, to me the most impressive of all the terrestrial manifestations of God. At the touch of this divine light, the mountains seemed to kindle to a rapt, religious consciousness, and stood hushed like devout worshippers waiting to be blessed.” ― John Muir, The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir’s Greatest Adventures
295 RV miles today, 7,853 total
Spent a glorious day in Boulder hiking up to Royal Arch at Flat Irons. Lunch & dinner in downtown Boulder. Cam is cycling competitively. Lindley is climbing/skiing. Toby joined Oliver, the cat, Daisy, the dog & seldom seen Emma, the cat, in the household. Here’s a pic of Oliver chillin in the fridge! From the Republic of Boulder, m, b & t
“Please, sir, I want some more.” –Charles Dickens, ‘Oliver Twist’
295 RV miles today, 7,853 total
Overnight in Cimarron. We left New Mexico & headed up through Denver 4 & 1/2 hours to visit our friends, Christin, Ken, Lindley & Cam Bellian in Boulder, Colorado. They had lived in Fayetteville 13 years & have been here almost 2 years. They are the outdoor family biking, hiking, skiing, climbing, etc. Here’s a picture of their garage…15 bicycles!!! Ken did a cross-country biking trip ~ 6 years ago. Wonderful fellowship, food & fun this evening. Rocky Mountain high, m, b & t
174.4 RV miles today, 7,558 total
Santa Fe is recognized as one of the most intriguing cities in the nation & earned the nickname “The City Different” due to its unique architecture, as well as for its long and varied history. The name Santa Fe means “holy faith” in Spanish. It was voted the fourth most popular travel destination in the U.S. At 7000 feet above sea level, it is the highest state capital in the US. The meshing of many cultures have given Santa Fe a distinct and beautiful appearance, and much of Santa Fe’s attractiveness arises from its setting in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Thirteen years before Plymouth Colony was settled by the Mayflower Pilgrims, Santa Fe, New Mexico, was established in 1610, making it the oldest colonial city in the U.S. The San Miguel Mission is the nation’s oldest church, established in 1610, and the Palace of the Governors is the nation’s oldest public building continually in use, built in 1619. After lunch, we walked around the Plaza & found an inlaid stone necklace from Adam (aka “Six-Five”) to remember our adventure. We visited the Loretto Chapel famous for its “miraculous staircase.” We then headed up the winding road through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the High Road to Taos Scenic Byway passing through high desert, mountains, forests, small farms, and tiny Spanish Land Grant villages, Pueblo Indian villages & even a Family Dollar Store in the oblivious town of Panasco!?
Taos is nicknamed “Soul of the Southwest” & is a historic art colony and world-class recreational mecca. We visited Taos Pueblo, the oldest continuously inhabited community in the US tracing back thousands of years. The existing sacred village structures are well over 1000 years old. We drove 10 miles north to walk the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. At 565 feet (172 m) above the Rio Grande, it is the second highest cantilever bridge in the U.S, the tenth highest bridge in the United States, & the 82nd highest bridge in the world. After picking up a mocha Frappe at McDonald’s, we drove past Eagle’s Nest to Cimarron for the evening. From New Mexico, Land of Enchantment, m, b & t
“In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico, one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly and the old world gave way to the new.” — D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930, English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist)
“We have lived upon this land from days beyond history’s records, far past any living memory, deep into the time of legend. The story of my people & the story of this place are one single story…”–Tribal Manifesto of Taos Pueblo”
“You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” –Warren E. Buffett (American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century)
