Cornfields, and more cornfields; friends

Did someone say ethanol was big business? We saw lots and lots of cornfields passing though South Dakota and then Wisconsin. But we did find a cheese factory to stop at in Wisconsin to do a bit of cheese tasting and buying! Even here in Michigan, where we would have vineyards in Sonoma County, we're seeing small cornfield acreage.

We've managed to avoid the flooding that has been a little south of where we've been. Picked up a nail somewhere so John had to change a trailer tire just a few miles out of Petoskey, MI, which has been our destination. I'll add a photo of the Davenport families and grandkids when I can get a good picture of the two families.

We also connected with Karen Hagen, a former Director of Children & Youth Ministries at Christ Church, who is now a Presbyterian minister in Milwaukee. She was traveling through Petoskey just as we were arriving. So good to see her.

Renewing a Friendship; Side trips

Friends from St. Andrew's UMC, Palo Alto, will remember Endale Safaye, one of the last of the Ethiopian refugees that the church sponsored. John and I spent part of the evening with Endale tonight in Souix Falls, S. Dakota, and met his wife and 3 darling daughters. (Another child is expected next month.) Endale is buying a house, and is forever grateful for all that the church did to help give him a new life. He is active in a Lutheran Church, and he seems like a great dad. We are so glad to have re-connected.

A couple of side trips on our travels: Wall Drug Store, Wall, SD -- started out as a drug store, but now covers a block or so of adjoining shops -- sort of like a forerunner of the modern mall. Anything you can think of to buy is there -- including a shop of saddles and western wear that was a serious shopping trip for some people there. We think there was a drug store somewhere, but it got lost in the memorabilia and things to buy. Of all the things we could have purchased, we focused on their 5 cent coffee that had been advertised! Wasn't bad for the price!

We also went to the Lakota Native American Historical Museum. It was a new center filled with wonderful displays, photos and videos. Much of it was centered around the Massacre of Wounded Knee -- a part of our country's history that was certainly a tragedy!

Badlands

What an interesting area the Badlands National Park is in South Dakota. Unusual formations of jagged edges and colorful peaks and valleys formed by erosion. Layers of rock were deposited between 23 and 37 million years ago. Many fossils here also. The picture I've attached is what we saw from our campground. During the night we experienced about 45 minutes of non-stop lightning right above us, almost like constant fireworks that lit up the sky. Hard rain on and off. Hardly any thunder. We were thankful to be safe and dry in our trailer -- felt sorry for the tent campers, many of whom rushed to their cars.

Black Hills of South Dakota

We have thoroughly enjoyed the drive through Custer State Park and the Black Hills of South Dakota today. The rock formations are something else! We also went on two cave tours today, Crystal Cave and Wind Cave. We were 220 feet below the earth in one of them, marvelling at this vast dark maze that is still being explored. Ever been in a cave when they turned out the lights? It's pitch black!
We ended the day with a walk around Sylvan Lake, and enjoyed a wonderful walleye (state fish) dinner at the lodge there. So far we haven't done any fishing, so we have to order it from a menu!
Today was beautiful, but last night it poured buckets of rain as a tornado swept through (not right where we were, thankfully!) and even flooded a grocery store in Custer, we learned today. You never know what to expect when traveling the country!

Mt Rushmore & Crazy Horse

We marveled at the work of Gutson Borglum who created this masterpiece at Mt. Rushmore National Park. It was left unfinished when Borglum's son took over after his death. Because of the lack of money, he declared it complete. We also noted that the government has probably spent more on the facilities and parking garages than they did on the work itself!

It was also very impressive to see the sculptor work going on at Crazy Horse nearby. Fifty years after a Polish immigrant had been commissioned by the Lakota people to do the work, only the face has been completed. He has since died, but his wife and 8 children are completing it -- without any money from the government, which was their commitment. It is to honor the Native American people and their sacred connection to the earth.

Yellowstone

We have spent several days at Yellowstone. It is such a big park that it takes a long time to drive around to see things. Then if you get caught in a traffic jam because bison are crossing the road, (happened to us a couple of times!) it is even slower! We stayed at an RV park so that we could have hook-ups after 4 days in the Tetons with no hook-ups. Everything needed charging! We were also told to keep everything inside as there was a grizzly bear in our area! We didn’t ever see it, but the ranger was keeping people out of an area nearby because the bear was close to where we were. Our first drive was to see Old Faithful, the obvious destination! We not only got to see Old Faithful twice, but the Beehive Geyser behind it, which only goes off several times a week. It shoots twice as high as Old Faithful. Other days we did short hikes around the many bubbling mud pots, multi-colored and/or varied formations of the geysers or steam vents, plus the waterfalls, river, and Yellowstone Lake. The last day we enjoyed a short bike ride to Natural Bridge, a picnic by the rapids of Yellowstone River, and catching up on things (like laundry!) Even had buffalo patties for dinner!

No cell phone service, nor is there any place to connect to the internet in the Park. I’m finding it is not as easy as I thought to get on-line, so we apologize for not posting on the blog often enough! Finally got on-line at a KOA campground in Buffalo, WY -- we're using our KOA Gift Certificates -- thank you, Christ Church! We had to drive many miles out of our way today, going west and north instead of east to get out of the park. The Columbine Fire that has been burning uncontained for days meant the east exit was closed -- lots of smoke in the park much of the time we were there. Driving north there was another fire in western Montana -- a smoky day! Jason is on a bulldozer crew right now dealing with the wildfire that has been burning for weeks in Santa Barbara County, so we have been thinking of him during this time.

The Grand Tetons

Our first major destination was The Grand Tetons. We were not disappointed! The mountain peaks are awesome! The weather has been great, even with a few sprinkles mixed with sunshine a couple afternoons. We were finally able to relax a bit, take some short hikes and bike rides, enjoy eating every meal outdoors, play games, read. One of our picnics was by a stream, watching a moose across the stream watch us. It moved only slightly the whole time we were there. On Sunday we enjoyed taking a ferry across Jenny Lake, and hiking up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. As Christ Church was beginning their worship on that Sunday, we were at Inspiration Point being filled with spirit. We even sang a few hymns of praise and thanksgiving! We also went to the Moose Visitor Center that had just opened on Saturday. We avoided going on Saturday, even though we could have seen Dick Cheney, as well as the Secretary of the Interior and other top officials. We understand there was a protest going on in Jackson – we would rather have been part of that, given the lack of support by this Administration for natural resources!

Crossing the Desert

We were very fortunate to cross the desert when it was in the 80’s and low 90’s, not 100’s. Not bad at all! The most interesting stop was at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Our church movie group had watched the video, “The World's Fastest Indian,” which was a true story about an unsophisticated, older man from New Zealand, whose goal was to set a record for his class of motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Watch the video, if you can.

Race Completed

Jason Sweet, Gayle's son, completed his first Iron Man -- the VineMan -- when he swam 2.4 miles in the Russian River, biked 112 miles over up and down vineyard terrain, and completed with a 26.4 mile marathon run. He did it in less time than any of us thought he would, including him: 11 hours, 22 minutes! We still can't believe any body can do such a thing! He came in 25th out of 150, so lots of people were as crazy as he was! His whole family was there to cheer him on, spending some of the time along the route at the Wilson Winery (where we had to taste and then picnic, of course!) and then at Windsor High School as he made several transitions or loops. What a great day!

Finally on the road!

We left an empty, sparkling clean house in Santa Rosa on July 31, 2007 for new renters coming in August 1. Our first stop in our "home on wheels" is at Casini's RV Park about 40 miles from home. We're here so that we can watch our son, Jason Sweet, compete in the Vineman Ironman on Saturday, August 4th, starting with a 2.4 mile swim, then a 112 mi bicycle ride through wine country, ending with a 26.2 run. He's crazy, but we'll be cheering him on!