August 8-11, 2007

OK, here are the details of our trip from August 8 through and including August 11. I know it's long. If you don't have the time to read it, feel free to use the delete key! Photos will follow. Mark is doing the captions on the photos now instead of me so they should be a lot funnier!


Wednesday, August 8 – We drove into Sturgis, SD, for the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Rally. We saw bikes EVERYWHERE in the area, not just in Sturgis! It reminds me of Sixth Street in Austin! Lots of characters. LOTS of motorcycles. There are shops selling everything a motorcyclist needs: leathers, beer, patches, tattoos, beer, parts, beer, t-shirts, beer, tattoos, beer, hats, beer, saddle bags, LED lights for the cycles, beer, sheepskin covers for the seats, motorhomes and trailers to haul cycles, … I really had a good time in the tattoo parlors because they had SO many artists working on people at one time and they let you just wander around and look at what they were doing. They were REALLY busy. I took some pictures of one guy getting his tattoo and he later came up to talk to us in another tattoo parlor so we asked some questions. The fine lines in the tattoo are done with the small electric tool that only has 1 needle. When they do the shading and filling in they use a head with 4 or 5 needles to spread the ink out. The ink goes down through at least 2 layers of skin in order to have the color stay there and not fade away as the skin replaces itself. The guy whose photo we took was in the chair for 3 hours because he was having an old tattoo redone to be incorporated into a new tattoo that was more original. His old tattoo was too common and he didn’t like it anymore. He said that the skin doesn’t bleed while they are doing the tattoo, but that afterwards it “oozes” so they have to cover it with gauze for a few days. I’ll let the pictures tell the story. You just can’t believe how many motorcycles there are.

Wednesday night we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial Light Show. Crazy Horse was a Lakota Sioux Indian war chief who led his first war party before he was twenty. He fought fierce battles to save the Indian’s lands, including helping to defeat Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He finally surrendered to the army, but in 1877 he left the reservation without permission to take his sick wife to her parents. The army arrested him and he went peacefully until he saw that they were taking him to the guardhouse. He began to struggle and one of the arresting officers bayoneted him in the back. Before he died, a white man asked him “So, where are your lands now?” He pointed to where his people used to live and said, “My lands are where my dead lie buried.” In 1947, the Lakota chief invited Korczak Ziolkowski (a sculptor who had won first prize at the New York World’s Fair in 1939) to build a monument because “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes also.” Korczak age 40, worked with Gutzom Borglum on Mount Rushmore for a couple of weeks but couldn’t get along with him and quit. (Lots of other people couldn’t get along with Borglum and quit also…) He found a mountain and designed a statue of Crazy Horse riding his horse and pointing with his arm out straight toward his lands. Korczak married Ruth then and had ten children. (Seven of the children still work with Ruth on the project.) He, like Borglum, always had trouble finding enough money to continue the work. Twice he turned down $10 million in federal funding in order to keep the project private. The Lakota Indians have a very ambitious plan for the entire area with museums, a university and a medical training center. So far, the face has been carved and lots of the mountain has been blasted away for his pointing arm. If you look at the photos, the open section under where his arm will be is 10 stories high. The laser and light show was interesting but not all that great.

Thursday, we (and a lot of motorcycles) went to Hill City to see the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. This is a group of scholars who didn’t want to work for universities but wanted to dig and assemble their own way. As a group they found the dinosaurs Sue and Stan and a bunch of others. Sue is the most complete dinosaur ever found—and the US government actually stole it from BHIGR! What a story. I won’t go into it here, but if you are interested here is the website http://www.wmnh.com/wmssz000.htm or http://www.bhigr.com/pages/info/info_sue.htm (on this one be sure to go through the 6 sections under Sue T. rex Story to the upper right on the screen. Sue is now in the Field Museum in Chicago. These people find the fossils and then make the reproductions that appear in most of the museums around the world. Their “museum” was quite a collection of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, but the best was their collection of stones and quartz formations!

After we left the BHIGR we drove the windy roads through the beautiful scenery of the Black Hills through Custer State Park. The Black Hills were formed when molten rock pushed up through the limestone and sandstone of what used to be part of the inland sea. The limestone and sandstone have weathered away and the black rock is exposed in lots of places. It really is a very pretty ride. As soon as you get past the small geographic area of the Black Hills, the countryside opens up again into rolling grasslands.

Friday, August 10 – This morning we drove down to Hot Springs, SD, to the Mammoth Site. WOW! As I mentioned, this area used to be all limestone and sandstone from the inland sea. Water would seep through the ground and form caves. This was especially true in this area because there were hot springs and the hot water dissolved the stone even more quickly. Eventually, about 26,000 years ago, the underlying rock had been dissolved so much that it couldn’t support the ground above and the ground fell into the cavern creating a sink hole about 65’ deep and 120’ by 150’. The sink hole filled up with water from the springs and the Columbian Mammoth and the Woolly Mammoth and other animals came to the sink hole looking for water and vegetation for about 350 to 700 years. But, the steep sides of the sink hole were lined with slippery shale and the animals couldn’t get out of the sink hole after they had finished drinking. So they died and lay on the bottom of the sink hole. The bones were covered with layers of silt, sediment and mud until the “mud plug” was level with the surrounding ground. After that, the soft limestone and sandstone eroded away while the harder “mud plug” remained. In 1974 a bulldozer was excavating this high ground to level it for a housing development when a mammoth bone was exposed. Scientists came to investigate the site and determined that it was a major fossil find. The developer worked on other areas of the project while the scientists did their thing. When the incredible extent of the find was known, the developer sold that area to a non-profit group for exactly what he had paid for it as long as they kept everything they found in the area as well as a few more “strings” to help the area. At first the excavation work was only done in the summer and the bones were all covered with dirt for the winter to protect them. Finally, in 1986 a building was constructed over the entire site so that it would be protected from the elements and working the site would be easier. They knew the boundaries of the sink hole because the red limestone around the sinkhole showed the undisturbed ground. As long as the building was built on the red dirt, the entire sink hole was inside. They have built a perfect set-up for visitors to view the area and see the excavations. They keep adding to the building and the amenities to make it better. Grandma Etta was here in 1987 or so and she didn’t see a lot of the things we saw today. As you can see in the photos, most of the excavation is being done around the edges of the sink hole. That is because that’s where the bones are—the animals died as they were trying to get out of the sink hole. A very interesting fact is that the bones are NOT fossils. They have not been fossilized but are still just bone. They are very fragile. Our guide didn’t know WHY they weren’t fossilized, but thinks it is because the mud didn’t seep into the bones and just covered them up.

All in all, we just can’t believe all of the terrific things there are to see and do in this area. If anyone is looking for a place to spend a week, this is it. Within 50 miles in any direction you can find an interesting place to spend a day or a half-day.

We are now in Belle Fourche, about 50 miles northwest of Rapid City, SD.

Saturday, August 11 - Deadwood is an old gold mining town that has been rebuilt and/or preserved as an old western town…except for the plethora of gambling halls! Well, I don’t know, maybe that IS authentic. There were no brothels though. The last one closed in 1980 (really!). It was a fun place to spend a half-day or so. If you like to gamble, you could probably spend a week. Deadwood was the location of an HBO TV series for the past three years. I was told that they ran out of money to do year four. I know my brother knows all about the town because of the series!

Photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=x2eavjj.9gxn0wmn&x=0&y=-7ibtcy

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=x2eavjj.6jghtsq7&x=0&y=8s6wpp

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=x2eavjj.6ceakhv3&x=0&y=x8im8g

August 6-7, 2007 Trip Log

Monday, August 6 – It is interesting how all of Wisconsin and all of Minnesota were beautiful corn fields and soy bean fields from the east side of the state to the west side of the state. Just as we crossed the border into South Dakota we noticed that there was very little corn or soybeans and now everything is hay or wheat. It’s like the farmers all got together and said “Let those eastern fellows have the corn and soybeans!”

We drove to Mitchell, SD, to visit the Corn Palace. In 1892 the city fathers wanted to put Mitchell on the map and prove to the rest of the country that the northern plains were NOT, as Lewis and Clark had said, good only for grazing buffalo. They built the original corn palace to showcase all of the crops that could be grown in the rich Dakota soil AND to entice settlers there. The first Corn Palace was a 100’ by 66’ wooden structure and they decorated the inside and the outside with corn cobs cut in half and nailed to the building. By 1905 it had become such a success that it had outgrown it’s present building and they built a new Corn Palace that was 125’ by 142’ and decorated with corn cobs. In 1921 the current building (140’ by 200’) was built entirely of brick and steel to eliminate the threat of fire posed by the wooden building. It is used as a convention center, for basketball games, proms and dances. The corn is specially grown for the Corn Palace with seeds that have been specially selected for the color of the corn on the cob and it is all grown by one man. They try to change the decoration every year, but sometimes drought or the World Wars interfere and they leave the same pictures up for 2 years. The corn cobs are sawed in half and affixed to the building with staples. Tar paper is put up on the side of the building and the pictures are drawn on the tar paper showing which color corn goes where. They start in the middle of August to take down the old corn and put up the new. When we were there they were waiting for word on whether there would be new corn going up next week or not. It takes about 275,000 ears of corn sawed in half at a cost of about $100,000 each year it is done.


Tuesday, August 7 – We stopped at Wall Drug in Wall, SD. The billboards start about 300 miles away, just like South of the Border. Wall Drug was famous for its many billboards in the 50’s and 60’s. Their billboards said “Free Ice Water” and folks flocked to their store. This all started in 1931 during the depression. Folks were heading West because of the dust bowl and the economy. Business was bad at the local drug store, so they started putting up signs tha said "free ice water - Wall Drug" and the rest is history. It looks like Wall Drug has bought up all of the town and turned it into a series of souvenir stores and restaurants. It is all very quaint and fun. We were at least 100 miles from Sturgis and there were bikers all over the place!

We drove to a campground south of Rapid City, SD and went to the night time show of lights on Mount Rushmore. We got there early enough to see Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in the daylight. At dark there was a very nice Park Ranger talk, a movie made by Discovery Channel. Then the faces were lit up and they played the National Anthem. All of the vets then were invited down to the stage to lower the flag, fold it and tell their names and service. It was a very nice, patriotic program.

Gutzon Borglum picked the site for the Monument and decided on the faces to be used by 1927. Originally Jefferson was to be on Washington’s right, but there wasn’t enough stone for his face so Borglum moved Jefferson to Washington’s left. Then Jefferson’s face was being carved when a major flaw in the rock turned up right through Jefferson’s nose. Borglum changed Jefferson’s face to look up more and to face more to his left. This put the flaw in a less noticeable place on his right cheek and lip. At first, Borglum didn’t intend to use dynamite but he quickly changed his mind when he found out just how hard the granite was and how little he could get done in a day with hand chisels. He designed a “pointing” machine that used a steel pole above the president’s head with a protractor-like plate around the top of the head. The scale model was measured with distance and angles, then the distance was multiplied by 12 while the angles were kept the same and those measurements were applied to the mountain. This gave them the reference point for blasting. After the general shape appeared, they drilled a series of holes to just about the finished depth and used hand chisels to refine the sculpture. The eyes were made by carving the iris deep into the eye socket with the pupil a projecting shaft of granite. The job took 14 years, but only six years were actually spent on the carving. The rest of the time was spent trying to get enough money to finish the project. Eventually, Congress paid for $836,000 of the approximately $1 million needed. Borglum died before the heads were completed, but his son Lincoln finished the job. The original design called for the presidents to have partial bodies, but Lincoln finished their hair and Lincoln’s collar and said he thought they looked fine the way they were and that nothing more should be done to his father’s work.

Photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=x2eavjj.6rps9v3j&Uy=t52eg5&Ux=0

August 3- 5, 2007 Trip Log

Friday, August 3 – We drove about 6 miles off the main road to find Bluebird Campground. And what a find it was! I have never heard of a live-in bar before. When I checked into the campground, it was easy to see that the Rec Hall was actually a bar. The motorcycles parked out front with people who didn’t say Hi when we pulled up should have been a tip off… We pulled into our camping space, about 100 feet from the Rec Hall and set up the motor home. About 5:30 to 6:00 PM, a lot of cars starting coming into the campground. There are a lot of permanent trailers set up and only a few transient spaces. About 6:15 everyone was walking around greeting their neighbors with cigarettes and cans in foam koozies. It was like the whole campground was a big outdoor bar. By about 9 PM the bar (excuse me, the Rec Room) was hopping with Karaoke Night. The adults were INSIDE the bar and the children were all dancing on the patio OUTSIDE the bar doors. I’m pretty sure the singing could have been heard 6 miles away at the main highway. It might not have been so bad if the singing had been a little more on key… The music continued until 1 AM, when I was finally able to go to sleep. Gosh, I can’t wait until Saturday night!

Saturday, August 4 – We drove around the town of LaCrosse, WI, which is situated along the Mississippi River. The Black River and the LaCrosse River both flow into the Mississippi at this point. There are 2 locks near the city. It was raining or drizzling all day, but it didn’t interfere much with our sightseeing. We went to a bluff, Granddad’s Bluff, 590’ above the town for an overview of the area. Then we went on a 1 ½ hour paddlewheel boat ride on the Mississippi. We learned that the Mississippi deposits 150 million tons of sand at the Mississippi Delta every day! That is enough sand to fill a railroad train 150 miles long with sand each day. Wow! The settlers began trying to make the Mississippi a navigable river since the 1850’s and people are still working on it today. There are lots of islands in the river caused by the build-up of all of that sand. However, those islands are also easily broken down by the force of the moving water. We drove north along the river for a while but the best view is really from the road above the bluff or the railroad track which runs right along the river. Saturday night must be just good ol’ country music from a real band in the bar. Much better than last night. Of course, the rain muffles the sound a bit too…

Sunday, August 5 – Wow, you just can’t believe how beautiful the corn fields and soy bean fields are throughout Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. The corn is tall and straight and perfect. The soy beans are full and green. The farmers must be happy with this year’s crop.

OK, you are going to think we are really hard up for things to do and places to see. Today we went to the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota. SPAM is made by the Hormel Company and they have a museum next to their headquarters building. They really treat it like a FUN place. There were lots of spoofs on SPAM and its use. Cute, fun, entertaining and we learned something. Do you know that Hawaiians eat more SPAM per capita than the residents of any other state? Since SPAM was first canned, more than six billion cans of SPAM have been shipped and (presumably) eaten. The military used it for almost EVERY meal during WWII and the Korean War. By the time of the Gulf Wars they had developed some MORE (Meal Ordered Ready to Eat) meals that were a lot more varied. Jay Hormel, the company’s founder’s (George Hormel) only son finally found a way to use the shoulder portion of a pig when he formulated SPAM. Did you know that the saying “Living high on the hog” refers to the fact that the best cuts of pork come from “high” on the top of the pig and were used to feed the officers in the army while the enlisted men ate the cuts of pork from lower on the pig? One of the things they had was a video of the Monty Python spoof of SPAM. Faith, you probably know about that. Maybe Heather and Brian do too.

Then to make the day even more special, we drove to Blue Earth, MN, to see the 60’ tall Jolly Green Giant. My life is now complete. SPAM and the Jolly Green Giant all in one day!

We are having FUN!

Photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=x2eavjj.3e9jp94f&Uy=i1ml1u&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

June 10 through August 2, 2007

On Sunday, June 10, we drove from the Wal-Mart parking lot in Bradford to Wal-Mart parking lot in York, PA. The ride through northwestern Pennsylvania really was beautiful. So many trees! Nice rolling hills. Some dairy farms.

We stopped at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum along the road in the middle of nowhere. They had some very nice displays of lumber cutting, saw mills and leather tanning. The most interesting though was the information about the Civilian Conservation Corp. As we drive along the road throughout the entire United States, there are so many times that we see a great project that was done by the CCC and we always thought we should know more about the CCC.

President Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1933 during the Great Depression to alleviate the tremendous unemployment during that time. In general, only unmarried young men between 19 and 23 were accepted into the Corp. Some exceptions were made for WWI vets. The Corp was directed by Army generals and really was run like a military installation. The men had uniforms and very strict rules. However, they were fed well, clothed, had warm beds and covers and the camaraderie of other young men. Regular workers were paid $30 per month and were required to send $25 of that to their dependents. (Since they were unmarried men, we suppose that meant their mothers and siblings.) Later that amount was changed to $22. Leaders were paid $45 per month, and assistant leaders were paid $36 per month. All of the CCC projects were natural resource projects. In the late 1930’s the leaders recognized the need for education of the men, so each man was authorized to receive up to 10 hours per week of advanced education after their normal work days. The CCC ended in June of 1942. Most of the men still in the CCC either joined the military to fight the war or were able to find jobs due to the build up for WWII.

I really believe that the CCC was one of the best governmental projects ever proposed. The men were not unemployed and out on the streets getting into trouble. They were fed and clothed when many in the country were not. They were able to support those at home and not be the burden of another mouth to feed. They did a lot of really lasting projects that have made the US a prettier place. And, the CCC made the men feel useful instead of helpless when jobs were non-existent. It wasn’t welfare, it was work.

We spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot in York, PA. On Monday morning, June 11, we drove into Hanover through the craziest connection of back country roads you can imagine! Mark really believed that his GPS had gone crazy. We walked through a very well presented self-guided tour of the UTZ Potato Chip Factory. They make more than potato chips, but that was the principal product of this facility. It started in the founder’s kitchen where the wife fried the potato chips and the husband went out on a route and sold the finished product. Of course, it grew and then grew again. They now make about 100 different kinds of potato chips, pretzels, corn tortilla chips and popcorn. They produce over 15,000 pounds of potato chips per hour. It takes 4 pounds of potatoes to make one pound of potato chips. As you can imagine, they grow a lot of potatoes and corn in the area! In order to have enough potatoes to keep the factory running, they start buying potatoes in Florida as soon as the crop comes in. They keep buying up the eastern coast as the crop comes in until they are buying the potatoes in Canada. In the fall they keep buying potatoes but start filling their potato storage rooms so that they have enough potatoes to keep the plant running (and people munching) throughout the winter until the potatoes are ready again in Florida.

After that tour, we drove to the Family Heirloom Weavers in Red Lion, PA. This is one of the few remaining textile mills in the US. They are a small company with only 12 employees but they make carpets and textiles for museums and refurbished houses. Do you remember when we visited the Lincoln home in Springfield I commented on the very loud, very busy, clashing carpet in the drawing room? These people made that carpet from a scrap that was found in the Lincoln house! We saw some more of it there! They do the recreation with the stipulation that after they do all of the “punch cards” needed to make the machines weave the designs they can sell it to other people too. It was supposed to be about a 20 minute tour. Dad and I spent almost 2 hours with the owner and he was thrilled to have people who were SO interested in everything to show around. It was a really interesting tour.

We drove northeast to Pine Hill Campground in Kutztown, PA. On Tuesday, June 12, we left to go to a tour of the Mack Truck plant in Macungie, PA. The sign on the door said “No Walk In Tours-Reservations Must Be Made In Advance”. So Dad called on his phone to try to make “advance reservations”. They told us the first available tour was June 19. But we were talking to the lady in the gift shop and she told us that some Cub Scouts were coming on a tour in a half-hour and maybe we could tag along. They came, we did and we enjoyed the tour! The most impressive part was the machine that puts the tire on the rim, puts the air in the tire, balances the tire and sends it off to be put on the truck in 15 seconds! Everything else was like the other tours we have taken…

When we left Mack Truck, we drove into Easton, PA, on the Delaware River. We expected to see a plant making Crayola crayons, but we found something a little different. It really was a 3-story hand’s on activity for kids. There were about 2 million kids there (well, it sounded like that many…) on school trips or just with their parents. We DID learn how crayons were made at a very good demonstration. They slowed the machines down a lot so that you could actually see them do their job. The second and third floors were devoted to the Canal System of Pennsylvania. We really learned a lot. Did you know that when the canals needed to cross ravines they built a bridge as an aquaduct to have the mules tow the boats across a kind of “water bridge” rather than follow the contour of the mountain up and down? They used suspension bridges and arch bridges. The Canal might have run alongside of a river, but it wasn’t actually IN the river. It was kind of like our inland waterway, but much narrower. The canals were basically private enterprises but the government was involved somehow. The government usually gave the land rights to the private developer and he then built the canals, the gates, the locks and could collect a fee from all who used it. The last Canal system closed in the 1940’s! One portion of the Lehigh Canal has been preserved in Easton and we were able to see the tow path and take some pictures. They have a Canal Boat that takes tourists for a ride with the mules pulling the boat along the canal just like in the 1800’s.

Wednesday, June 13 and Thursday, June 14, 2007 We drove to Dorothy, NJ, and spent 2 nights in the campground there. We went with Betty and Joe to the lawyer, ate at the White House, visited Grandma Etta.

Friday, June 15, 2007 – We drove up to Raquel and Dan’s house and parked the motorhome there.

Saturday, June 16 – Drove to Baltimore to fly to Corpus to spend some time in Port Aransas.

Sunday, June 17 through Monday, June 25 – Port Aransas (Went to Port Mansfield with John and Alan Wilson on June 19. Went with Bob to Social Security office on Wednesday. Met with the pool guy on June 21.) Flew back to Baltimore on Monday, June 25.

Tuesday, June 26 through Thursday, June 28 – drove around all of the shore towns along the Delaware River in New Jersey.

Friday, June 29 – Drove to Whippoorwill Campground to set up the motor home for the coming week.

Saturday and Sunday, June 30 and July 1 – Visited with Mom and Betty and Joe and their kids

Monday, July 2 – Drove to Philadelphia to meet Rachel and Abby and Kathy and Sam. Drove to New York City in a rental car and our jeep. Checked into our hotel. Went to Faith’s house. Played at the playground, the small water park and the BIG slide. Went to dinner at a good pizza place. Brian arrived later that night.

Tuesday, July 3 – We took the double-decker bus ride around the lower part of New York City. Had a picnic lunch at Rockerfeller Center.

Wednesday, July 4 – Went to the Empire State Building, had a picnic lunch in Central Park (with a light drizzle), walked to the Museum of Natural History, took the double-decker bus ride around the north end of New York City. It rained so hard we all had to sit inside on the bottom. Fireworks that night first on the New Jersey side of the roof of Faith’s apartment, then on the New York side of the roof of Faith’s apartment. Colleen and Decklan were there.

Thursday, July 5 – Took the boat to the Statue of Liberty. Had a picnic lunch at the Statue. Took the boat back. Went to the dancing fountain and all kids and Brian got soaked wearing their clothes. Went back to the hotel to go swimming.

Friday, July 6 – Went to the big slide to try it with wax paper. Rachel and Abby and Brian and Mark and I left about 2 PM to drop Brian off at the Newark airport to fly to Orlando to work on Saturday. We continued back to the motor home. The girls went swimming at Whippoorwill. Then we went into Sea Isle to see the fireworks that they had been unable to do on the Fourth of July.

Saturday, July 7 – We all (Toccis and Creightons and Vincents) went to the beach. Then we ALL went to the Ocean City boardwalk. Rachel and Abby had Junk Night. The littler kids got to go on rides all night. Then Ocean City did the fireworks display they had been unable to do on the Fourth of July.

Sunday, July 8 – We ALL went to church with Grandma Etta for the installation of the new pastor. Afterwards we went to lunch then the beach. Then dinner at Grandma Etta’s. Faith and Leon and Siena drove home late at night.

Monday, July 9 – Rachel and Abby and Mark and I left in the motor home to drive to Watkins Glen, NY. The girls swam in the pool at night.

Tuesday, July 10 – We went to Corning Glass Museum. Katherine Baumgardner is a docent there and took us on a tour. Mark showed her my quilt while I took the girls to “blow” Christmas tree ornaments. We got back to the motor home and the girls went swimming again.

Wednesday, July 11 – We drove to Ithaca to see the town and the school. Had lunch at the Dairy Bar. Went to the Children’s Museum: scream machine, levers at playgournd, talking tubes, bee hive, lots of fun things.) Back to the campground and swimming again!

Thursday, July 12 – We walked the 800 steps and 1 ½ miles through Watkins Glen. I’m not sure the girls got a lot our of it, but they at least saw the rocks, the trees, the river, the whirlpools, etc.

Friday, July 13 – We drove into Canada to the Niagara Falls Campground and set up. Then we went into town to see the Falls and the IMAX movie about the Falls and the daredevils. THEN we watched the fireworks over the Falls and the colored lights on the Falls. The girls have seen enough fireworks (5 times in a week!) for a while!

Saturday, July 14 – We rode the Maid of the Mist. Walked behind the Falls. Took the bus to walk beside the rapids downriver. Went to the Butterfly Conservatory. Took the bus back up the river. Rode the incline railway. Went home and went to sleep!

Sunday, July 15 – We drove to Sudbury and set up the motor home.

Monday, July 16 – We went to the Dynamic Earth Center to take a tour of an underground mine. The girls panned for gold and LOVED IT. We went back to the gold panning exhibit at least three times. They also LOVED playing in the play area where you could load the foam “coal” into the coal car, dump it, transfer it to another car, dump it, transfer it up to the top platform and start all over again! They played there for about 1 ½ hours total!

Tuesday, July 17 – This was our long travel day. We left early, put the girls back in the bed to sleep (so of course they stayed awake!), and drove and drove and drove around Lake Superior. We stopped in Sault St. Marie to show the girls the locks and how they worked. Scenery was beautiful! Very uneven shoreline with trees right down to the water. Some very pretty beaches. We had a campground reserved but just couldn’t make it there before dark so we stopped at a different campground. The girls were out playing at the playground at 10:05 PM and it wasn’t even near dark.

Wednesday, July 18 – We drove to the Panorama Amethyst Mine and the girls had great fun digging for their own amethyst. We took a walking tour down to the mine…not a great tour but better than nothing. About 10 miles of dirt road to get TO the mine, then 10 more miles of dirt road to get OUT. The car and motor home were really dirty. We entered the US and stopped to skip stones and wade in the water of Lake Superior. Drove through Diluth and on to the campground for the night.

Thursday, July 19 – Drove to Grand Rapids to go to Ruttger’s Sugar Lake Lodge for the Johnson Family Reunion. We were able to park the motor home in a big parking area just outside of our rooms. Worked out well. Resort was perfect. Rooms were perfect. Weather was perfect! Walkers and Mark and I went to the Showboat performance on the Mississippi River Friday night. It is only performed 3 weekends a year. We all enjoyed it!

Friday, July 20 – Mine tour of the Hill Annex Mine. Pie and ice cream “social” afterwards. Wonderful museum that we didn’t have enough time to explore. Drove to see Aunt Beatrice’s old farm (niece Sally and Bill Schwartz live there now) and visited her old cabin on the lake (daughter Nancy lives there now). Then lots of talking and water sports.

Saturday, July 21 – Games on the lawn. Lunch at the townhouses. Group photo on the lawn. Dinner at the townhouses. Prepared bills for everyone. Pictures and videos in the meeting room. Bonfire after.

Sunday, July 22 – We had a light rain but we had NO outdoor activities planned! Brian and Kathy and Sam and Abby left for the airport about 10 AM. Everyone else went to Brunch at 10:30. Sarah stayed with us. Walkers left for Minneapolis to the indoor water park. Vincents left for Minneapolis so Faith could fly to Austin and Leon and Siena could fly to NYC. We left about 3 PM with Sarah to drive to Oshkosh, WI, for the air show. Crossed into Wisconsin and spent the night at a Wal-Mart. Bought a wagon to pull Sarah at the air show.

Monday, July 23 – Checked in at Kalbus Country Harbor Campground outside of Oshkosh. NOT a pretty site like last year. I was disappointed.

Tuesday, July 24 – Mark and Sarah went to the air show. I did paperwork. Mom’s trip to Norway was finally confirmed so I finished arrangements for that trip.

Wednesday, July 25 – Mark went to the Air show alone. Sarah watched Tom Sawyer while I finished up some paperwork. Then we went to the Paine Mansion to see the Fashions in Film display. Sarah loved all of the fancy dresses. She colored dresses and a man’s outfit and glued them over a hanger like clothes to hang in her closet.

Thursday, July 26 – Mark and Sarah and I all went to the air show. Then we had dinner at Sarah’s favorite place, Taco Bell.

Friday, July 27 - Mark went to the air show alone and saw the fatal crash after the Air Races demonstration. Sarah went swimming in the lake and then we sewed. She told me exactly what kind of top she wanted (instead of the pattern we had with us!) so we made it. Then we made shorts to go with it. Also we made a purse for her to wear over her shoulder from a pattern Heather sent along.

Saturday, July 28 – We all went to the air show again. Then we came home and packed and sewed a purse like Sarah’s for her friend, Lauren.

Sunday, July 29 – Sarah and I left early to drive to Chicago to fly to Houston. Heather met us at Kathy’s and we visited there and I returned Sarah. I stayed overnight at Kathy’s.

Monday, July 30 – I got my mail at the Seabrook Post Office, had lunch with Sean and then flew back to Chicago. Drove back to Oshkosh and arrived about 9:30 PM or so. Talked to the people who want to buy Pottery Aransas for ½ hour or so and that delayed my arrival home.

Tuesday, July 31 - Paper work all day.

Wednesday, August 1 – Paper work most of the day. Port Mansfield transfer papers UPS’d to Brian and Kathy. Then we went to see the Harry Potter movie.

Thursday, August 2 – drove up and around the Door County peninsula to see the area between Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Some very secluded areas along the lakeside. Also some very pretty but very small beaches. Lots and lots of trees!

Photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=x2eavjj.1ok9qlrz&Uy=-5f9bhu&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0