Rocky Goes to Alaska

Day 9, 3 June 2015

Racine WI to McGregor, IA 220 miles

Wisconsin was the home of Frank Lloyd Wright for most of his life. First in Madison as a boy, then, after having a family in Chicago, he returned to design and build a country home on 600 acres in Spring Green, WI called Taliesen – a Welsh word meaning shiny brow – found in a poem that he enjoyed. We visited the Hillside Studio and Theater on the estate. It was built as a boarding school for his two aunts in 1902, then, it was converted into a School of Architecture in the 1930’s as a source of income during the depression. The complex includes 5000 sq. ft. of drafting studio, assembly hall, and theater. Wright designed not only the building, but also the furniture. We made it as far as McGregor, Iowa where we camped at Pike’s Peak State Park. Both this hill and the one in Colorado were named after the same man who was looking to build a fort in the early 1800’s. No wifi, no cell phone service, but some nice trails. We hiked a couple of those trails, one leading to a deer, and one to an overlook of the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. We could see three states: WI, IA, and MN.

Visitor Center at Taliesen

Watermill

Windmill named Romeo and Juliet

Pike's Peak Trail

Pike's Peak State Park

Overlook at Pike's Peak State Park

Day 10, 4 June 2015

McGregor, IA to Sioux Falls SD 323 miles

Near Pike’s Peak State Park was the Effigy National Monument, established in 1949 to preserve over 200 prehistoric mounds, shaped like circles, oblongs, bears, or eagles. They think that earthen effigy mounds began to appear 1400 years ago, as possibly religious sites or clan symbols used in seasonal ceremonies. Some show evidence of fire in the mound’s head or flank. Some tribal stories say the bear is the guardian of earth and the bird the guardian of the sky. Perhaps the mounds were a means of connecting the people to the land and their spirit world and ancestors. Our next planned stop was the SPAM Museum in Austin MN, but it was closed for renovations until April 2016. And my phone stopped working, so we headed to Sioux Falls to get a new phone. When we got there, it started working again, so I was no longer motivated to spend the money.

Day 11, 5 June 2015

Sioux Falls, SD to Belvidere, SD 230 miles

We passed through Mitchell, SD to visit the Prehistoric Indian Museum where there was an active archeological dig, sifting through the dirt left by Indians over 1000 years ago. We met Kate, a college student, who described the area she was preparing for a group of Exeter students coming soon to continue to uncover bones, tools, pottery, and other artifacts that may yield more information about the people who lived there. We also drove past the Corn Palace – a building on Main Street that is decorated with corn cobs and stalks every year by local artists. Strange, but it draws visitors traveling the interstate nearby. We heard from Dream RV – our RV dealer – they made an arrangement for us to get a new windshield installed in Denver next week. We are charting a course to make that happen.

Kate explaining dig area

Corn Palace Mural - all made of corn

Corn Palace Mural

Day 12, 6 June 2015

Belvidere, SD to Mt Rushmore, SD 247 miles

We met Lance, a Sterling College (Craftsbury Commons, VT) student working on his senior project as an Outdoor Education major – a bicycle trek from Vermont to the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming (about 2500 miles), where he will compete in the Big Horn Mountain 100 mile trail run. Check out his blog on bikingtoasenseofplace.blogspot.com. Since he experienced 3 broken spokes, we gave him a ride to the nearest bike shop, which happened to be in Rapid City, SD. On the way, we checked out the Minuteman Missile silo - very sobering to think that there were 1000's of ICBMs ready to be launched between us and the Soviet Union. We went to Spearfish and headed south on the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, following Spearfish Creek (which they say is a great trout stream). The waterfalls and high rock walls made this an enjoyable drive. We drove through Mt Rushmore, saw the four presidents carved in the granite – Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lincoln. An amazing project begun in 1927, the carving took 14 years. Though more was planned, chief sculptor Gutzon Borglum died in 1941. His son continued the project until the funds dried up. We settled in one of the last available sites at the Mt Rushmore KOA – what a zoo! Of course, it was Saturday night, so it was busy – really busy. It also rained really hard earlier, and there was flooding everywhere. A Latin band was playing on a stage nearby, they now have two restaurants and a huge gift shop in a lobby that looks like that of a Hyatt Regency, guys on bicycles delivering pizza, ladies in bikinis walking to the pool, and mud everywhere – an unexpected mix of visual and audio pleasure and muddy disgust.

Minuteman Missile

Bridal Veil Falls

Mt Rushmore in the rain

Day 13, 7 June 2015

Mt Rushmore, SD to Scotts Bluff, NE 202 miles

We visited the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is the world’s largest mountain carving in progress – and all with private money, from donations and entrance fees. Started in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, work continues today by his children and a professional team to carve a massive statue of Crazy Horse on his stallion. Lakota Chief Standing Bear hired Ziolkowski after seeing his work displayed at the 1939 World’s Fair. The Lakota wanted the world to know that the red man also has heros. The site will also be home to a university and medical school for Indians. Crazy Horse died in defense of his people who were ravaged and destroyed. (An American soldier stabbed him in the back under a flag of truce.) His hand will point to the Black Hills “where my dead lie buried.” Once a year, they allow people to walk to the top of the mountain, and this was the day, so there were quite a few who showed up to do just that, including Lance! He got his bike fixed and rode up from Rapid City to run up to the top. Our tour of other sites in the region was pre-empted by closed roads due to flooding and rock falls, so we headed south. In Hot Springs, we stopped for groceries to find a little girl trying to sell her rabbits – don’t see that every day. We managed to get as far as Scott’s Bluff National Monument in Nebraska. In 1919 Scotts Bluff National Monument was established by a presidential proclamation to preserve the natural beauty of the region, as well as to tell the story of the thousands of travelers who had filed past the bluff in their pursuit of a better life. This land feature was the defining landmark for the Oregon Trail and others. Our campground, Robidoux RV Park is owned by decendents of Joeseph Robidoux who in 1848 established a trading post near Scotts Bluff on the Old Oregon Trail.

Crazy Horse Monument

What the monument will look like when completed

Girl with "Snuffles" for sale

Dome Rock at Scott's Bluff National Monument

Day 14-18, 8-12 June 2015

Scotts Bluff, NE to Boulder, CO 180 miles

The Cheyenne Depot Museum displayed the history of the Union Pacific Railroad, with stories of Indian attacks delaying surveys and construction, “gandy dancers” aligning the rails, and the evolution of passenger cars. There were picture windows with comfy chairs, so you could sit and watch the trains go by outside. An extensive model railroad layout upstairs was donated by a railroad buff’s estate and nicely redone by some old timers still caring for it. Cheyenne was a major stop for the Union Pacific Railroad going from Omaha, NE to San Francisco, CA. Rocky got a bath when we got to Boulder. And it was great to find Chris home from the Nick Jonas London gig (and before he leaves for New York).

This was a chance to get the Jeep serviced, get a new phone, go to a baseball game at Coor’s Field, take some bike rides, explore Boulder, and hang out with Chris and Anna and Joe and Neian and Lilah and Lissa and Sam and Janet. We got to see Kali and meet the new Nauda puppy, Inga. The windshield was back ordered, so we could not get the warranty replacement. We had the crack repaired to keep it from spreading, and, at this point, we may wait to get it replaced when we get back to Florida.