Happy Trails

We have had a wonderful adventure and hope you have enjoyed following along.  We felt bad being on the road when flooding was occurring  in our neighborhood and especially on my sister and brother in laws farm.  They lost a large pond, and had severe damage the crops, fields and  the long driveway leading into the farm.

During our travels we met many amazing people with interesting stories. With all the incredible landscapes we encountered, you still remember the people you met and wonder about them. I guess it's human nature.

I asked a question to lots of folks. "What does this county need to do to put people back to work"? As part of our chat, I told them we were from Washington but  we did not work for the Federal Government. I think it helped them take my question seriously.  Surprisingly I got the same answer many times.  Folks said they had  jobs to fill,  but needed people who were skilled or trained.  They also said that folks did not want to do the work they had.  Lot's of the work was in agriculture. Corn was king on this trip and I wonder about the farm subsidies, and ethanol programs. It's a complicated economy out there.

We burned a fair amount of that corn ethanol in all the gallons of gas we went through.  The trip in total was 4,200 miles.   Bertha was the hero.  We did not break down once. That is amazing for a 1985 VW camper. Almost unheard of.  The fog lights got knocked off  on a gravel road and the radio went wonky for a few hours, but came back on it's own.  Good thing too because music was a huge part of the enjoyment of the long hauls. Ipods, steaming Pandora from a phone, CD's and  local radio stations all were hard at work creating the appropriate soundtrack.. It was Marshal Tucker's  "fire on the Mountain" in the Black Hills and Jerry Garcia and David Grissom in the deep valleys of Pennsylvania.

Lastly, Cammie planned a lot more of this trip than I ever would have on my own.  I like to think we can just jump in the old camper and make an adventure of it.   Without Cam I would drive by Mt Rushmore and never realize what I missed.  Thanks for humoring my whim to wing it.  You made the trip!

 If you are still reading, I want to thank my dear work friends who helped cover the bases for a longer than usual vacation.  I will be back Monday, really.  Hello? Who is that in my cube? 



 Happy Trails    





   

Back in the Camper, Ohiopyle Style

Ohiopyle is a little town in Pennsylvania that is a high adventure gateway for rafting the Youghiogheny, biking, backpacking and appears to just be a cool place just to hang out. Unfortunately we have been hanging  out from Virginia to Wyoming for way over two weeks and now just need to get home.  We spent this last night in the State Park and enjoyed a wet smokey fire as best you can before hitting the sack.  I have added some pictures of how the ol camper functions as a sleeping quarters. We find it comfy and very boat like. Small boat, maybe dingy like.  When you turn the seats around and pop the top, it does create a pretty cool little house.   Cam was still asleep. I guess she will see this sooner or later.  It's time to hit the road for the last day.  

Watch Out! Falling Water!

We took the tour and it is easy to see why this residence has being nominated to be a World Heritage Site.  Actually eleven of FLW projects are being nominated as a package.  We were here about 10 years ago when they were rebuilding three of the cantilever decks. Falling Water was about to do just that. The story is the contractor did not properly support the concrete while it was curing and it sagged almost immediately and continued to creep downward for many years.

 Fortunately my street improvement  projects do not require prestressed concrete. I may suggest we change our standards.  It could make for some interesting new solutions, all in the name of pedestrian safety.   "Falling Sidewalks", Designed by Tom Hutchings circa 2011. 

I Always Wanted to Pretend to Be an Architiect

While planning our trip, Cam was looking up info about tours of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water and stumbled upon a website for a FLW house rental.  The idea that one can rent a house designed by America's most revered designer seems absolutely crazy to me.  The father of the owner commissioned this house in the 50's and he his wife now rent it out.  There was a one day opening when you normally have to rent for two nights and it corresponded with our travels back to Virginia.  I have to explain all this because it seems so extravagant.  It rented for less then many NYC hotel rooms, so we could not resist.
 

 It's the Louis Penfield House, in Willoughby Ohio.  This is one of the last FLW houses built.  It's a Unisonian House. These styles were designed to be built of common materials and were supposed to be economical to build.  Very few actually were. Most were completely customized by FLW and included furniture and artwork designed specifically for each house.  What is amazing is that the roof does not appear to have much holding it up. The glass walls on three sides are almost continuous.  Some serious cantilevers are at work here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usonia#Noted_Usonian_houses

I think FLW would have approved of VW Campers. 

The Road is My Middle Name

Here is what happens after about 400 miles of a 500 mile day.

All Roads Lead to Omaha

 

 As we were driving through Nebraska, it was getting late in the day and again we did not have a plan for evening.  The bridge on the interstate was closed due to last month's major flooding and the detour put us on local road that headed straight to Omaha.   We were curious about this place.  Everything I knew was extracted from a Mutual Of Omaha Wild Kingdom TV commercial from the 60's.   By sheer luck we ended up in front of the Hotel Deco which was right across the street from the Orpheum Theater. The beautiful historic hotel gave us a ridiculously low rate for the room and we soon learned everything in Omaha was a deal.

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We checked, in cleaned up, and went to the theater.  Jersey Boys was playing and there were a few seats left.  If you ever want to see an off off off Broadway version of Jersey Boys for cheap this is the place. Very entertaining. The Omahaians (?) went wild. 

Even the restaurant in the hotel was quite a fancy experience.  Cammie was crooned to by the lounge singer.
We headed out in the morning, not sure if the previous evenings glamfest was even real.  I was expecting cattle ranchers and spittoons.  Never underestimate Omaha. 

Badlands Redux

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 Had to stop at the giant prairie dog . Almost drove into a real prairie dog hole while parking the car.

We only made it to the center of SD on our way home when we needed a place to stay.

Full moon rising over the surrounding peaks.  Onward east in the morning.

Heading Home, We Went MAD

Heading east through the vast nothingness of central SD, we easily got distracted by a decommissioned Minute Man missile launch site that is now a national historical monument.  We are now down to only 450 Minute Man nuclear missiles.  MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction  was explained  as our best option at the time.  I am sleeping much better now.  The good news is we met  Renee the Ranger and she and her husband are new to owning a VW Camper. Welcome to the cult, I mean club.  I feel the world is safer just knowing these nice folks are at the missile site looking after things.  Great tour!

On to Devil's Tower Wyoming

This geologic formation appears to be an old volcano but it never reached the surface.  Over the millions of years the surrounding soils eroded away to expose what might have been.  This is all premised on a belief in geologic time, the age of the earth and a few other "theories" created by the  liberal lamestream media. 

A special thanks to Carol and Dave for allowing us to use the condo in Spearfish as our home base for a few days. It was a great break from the camper.  We chatted with the neighbor and assured here that hippies were not moving in.  She looked relieved.  She also had very nice things to say about your mom.   

There's Gold in Them Thar Black Hills

A gateway to the Blackhills is the town of Keystone. We happened to be there for the annual Holy Terror Mine Parade.  The east coast really is a pretty sane. I am ok with sane, but this place is pretty fun. 

Pictures of the Needles Highway through the Black Hills.  Hiking was great. The rock formations,  spectacular.  We met a couple who where hiking back to where he proposed to her 10 years ago.

Horsethief Lake, Pardner...

They don't name campgrounds after thieves in the east.

Very nice spot looking at the lake in the background.  JD and Cindy, It was great  camping next to you.  Enjoy your western tour.  It was fun crossing paths at several places over the last few days.

Drinking whiskey around the campfire as only you can, at Horse Thief Lake. 

Mt Rushmore or Bust

 Here is Cam talking into her shoe phone. No that is the self guided tour device.

 Yes, this place appropriately honors some of our most honorable presidents.  What kind of memorial can be built for the less honorable presidents?

I should have named this Blog, Mt Rushmore or bust. Those are some large busts.  Cammie is not helping me write this and I do not think she would approve of the sophomoric humor potential here.

Wildlife and Scenic Shots

Where the bison roam and the deer and the antelope graze.

  We drove through Scenic just to see what we missed buying. It is quite a nice ghost town. While we were there a cowboy was rounding up some cattle just off main street.  This really is the west.  

Next stop Mt Rushmore.