Topeka, Kansas

Our time in Hillman this year has drawn to a close, and we made the decision that this year would also be our last year. As much as we enjoyed Northern Michigan, and Hillman in particular, not to mention all the great people who live and work there, we just felt a need to expand our vistas and open ourselves up to the rest of the country. Knowing this, saying goodbye on October 15th was just a little bittersweet. And, apparently we left just in time - we heard today that there was snow in Hillman just a couple of days ago!

The first thing on our agenda, after stopping for five days in Lansing to visit with my daughter and grandson, was to head to Chanute, Kansas, to the Nu-Wa factory to have some maintenance work done on our 5th wheel. Since we had not yet visited the Topeka, the state capitol of Kansas, we decided to work this into our schedule. So, today we did just that.

Unfortunately, the capitol building is undergoing a complete renovation, so the building was surrounded with scaffolding and heavy equipment, which distracted just a little from the overall experience. But luckily we were still able to get inside the building for our tour. Because of the renovation project, access to the rotunda and the dome was very limited, and no exhibits to speak of. Still, the structure itself was worth viewing, with the historic French Renaissance-style architecture, and we were able to get some pictures to add to our file of State Capitols.

Niagara Falls

For our seventh wedding anniversary, which happened to fall on the Labor Day weekend this year, Dan and I decided we would take a trip to Niagara Falls to celebrate. We figured we were close enough at 420 miles to warrant the drive, so we made reservations at a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, packed up for a long weekend, and headed out. My knowledge of Niagara Falls was pretty much limited to what I've seen in movies, but nothing could really prepare me for the magnitude of this natural wonder.

The weekend we were there was cool and crisp, perfect for walking, which we did a lot of! On Saturday, our anniversary, we walked about six miles total, crossing over the Rainbow Bridge to the New York side of the Falls, and back again. There are three falls altogether that comprise Niagara Falls: Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls. We viewed theses from many angles - from the top where you can see the sheer force of the water cascading straight down from the Niagara River; from a vantage point very close to the bottom; and from across the Niagara River, looking both from the Canadian side and the US side.

From certain vantage points, you can see rainbows sprouting across the Falls, sometimes even double and triple rainbows. It is really quite magical! Before the area became so built up, and city lights became a constant, on night with a full moon, you could also see lunar rainbows from Luna Island, the area between American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. I would have loved to see that!

Hopefully these pictures can give you a bit of an idea of the wonder of Niagara Falls.

Aunt Jean's 80th Birthday Party

Dan is lucky enough to still have two Aunts, both living in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Aunt Jean turned 80 years young in July, and her children decided to throw her a birthday party to celebrate the occasion. Hillman is 1088 miles from Fort Smith, but we figured, what the heck? May as well drive down for the big party and take advantage of the opportunity to see lots of Dan's family at the same time.

All 5 of Dan's siblings showed up (one brother actually lives in Fort Smith, the other sisters and brothers came from California and Illinois), as well as many cousins, second cousins, and cousin's once or twice removed (how the heck does that work, anyway?). There were about 100 people at the party, both family and friends of Aunt Jean's, and a very special guest showed up, the mayor of Fort Smith himself.

It's not everyday the mayor shows up to your birthday party, but it's not everyday you turn 80, either. Mayor C. Ray Baker presented Aunt Jean with 80 rose petals, which he sprinkled atop her head, and "A Special Birthday Proclamation" which proclaimed Aunt Jean's birthday and the day of her party as official "Jean Brannon Myers Days" in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

A fun time was had by all, and many reconnections were made between long lost family, friends, and loved ones.

Baby Niko

Do you believe in Serendipity? How about Synchronicity? I just have to believe that something like this was at work to bring us to Michigan this summer at the same time my daughter Mindy was going to be here to have her first child. When we decided last year to return to Hillman this year, Mindy had no plans of being in Michigan, and no plans to have a baby. But as fate or destiny or just dumb luck would have it, she and I ended up in a state 2200 miles away from Sacramento at the same time, which allowed me the great privilege of being here for the birth of Nikolai, my 6th grandchild, and 3rd grandson.

Baby Niko was born July 5th, and I was able to be at the hospital the whole time Mindy was in labor, up to, and following the birth. Milan, Niko's proud father, was by Mindy's side the whole time giving her much needed support. Niko's two grandmas were able to spend the next 3 weeks helping the family get settled into their new way of life, and I just want to say again how happy I was able to be a part of this wonderful experience.

Here are some pictures of little Niko.

Madison, Wisconsin

Here it is, the middle of August, and I realize I haven't made any updates to our blog since June. I was almost current after the last entry on The Badlands, but once we arrived at Thunder Bay in Hillman, Michigan, we slipped into the routine of working and golfing, and before I knew it, the blog had become very low on my list of things to do. So now I have to reach back to May to catch up. The last stop we made along our journey to Hillman was to the Madison, the capital of Wisconsin.

The Madison Capitol building is constructed of granite, nestled between Lake Monona and Lake Mendota, and is the only State Capitol ever built on an isthmus. Inside, the architecture, murals, stained glass, and paintings are striking in both size and content, encompassing 43 varieties of stone from around the world and boasting beautiful and unique hand-carved furniture. The interior colors are dominated by golden hues giving one the feeling of grandeur, warmth and richness.

Here are a few pictures from our Madison, Wisconsin, Capitol Tour.

Badlands National Park

Even though we were on somewhat of a schedule traveling from Washington to Michigan, we did allow ourselves enough time for a couple of unplanned side trips along the way. One that came up while we were in South Dakota was a brief stop at the Badlands National Park. I've never seen anything like this, and my first impression was this seemed like a landscape that belonged on another planet, or perhaps the setting for a movie like "The Lord of The Rings". Since that movie has already been made, maybe for an adaptation of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series. It is stark, desolate, eerie, and other-worldly.

The park consists of nearly 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires, and is really impossible to describe. The history of the Badlands stretches back to the beginning of time, and the land is rich with fossil beds dating 23 to 35 million years old. The evolution of mammal species such as the horse, sheep, rhinoceros and pig can be studied in the Badlands formations. An array of extinct animals, ranging from very enormous to very small, once ranged through the area now included in Badlands National Park. Some lived in the subtropical forests that flourished after the retreat of the shallow inland seas, while others inhabited the savannahs and grasslands that came in the years afterward.

Hopefully you can get at least a glimpse into this place like no other with the attached pictures. Remember - click on them to enlarge for the full effect.

Pierre, South Dakota

After leaving Rapid City, we continued our Eastward trek, with a two day stop near Pierre, South Dakota to visit the state capitol. Much to our surprise and delight, we were literally the only visitors there on the day we took our tour. It happened to be Sunday, and Mother's Day, and not very pleasant weather, so perhaps all those things combined made this an unlikely day for crowds. Since we were the only ones there, we were given a lengthy and private tour of the building by the docent on duty that day.

The first thing we noticed inside the building was the similarities to the construction and architecture to the capitol building in Helena, Montana. The architect did indeed pattern his design after the state capitol in Helena, with one major difference. The floor of the capitol building in Pierre is made of terrazzo tile. The floor is said to have been laid by 66 Italian artists. To give these artists a chance to place their signatures in the building (without allowing them to actually sign their names to the floor), each is said to have been given a blue stone to place in the floor. Only 55 of these tiles have been found, however. It is thought that the remaining stones may have been placed in locations now covered by walls, doors, or carpeting.

Here are some pictures of the outside, interior, and tile floor of the capitol building in Pierre.

Mt. Rushmore

Located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a monumental granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941), and represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States with 60-foot sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres and is 5,725 feet above sea level. The memorial attracts approximately two million people annually.

We reached Rapid City on May 4th, very excited to finally get a chance to visit Mt. Rushmore. Although I had been here with my family during a cross-country vacation when I was 15, I only had a vague recollection of the experience. This was to be Dan's first visit, and we were both looking forward to the experience. The weather was unseasonably cold, and we woke on the morning of May 5th to a light dusting of snow in our RV Park. As we drove up to the memorial, snow continued to fall, and we were wondering how this would impact our viewing.

When we arrived, it was quite cold and overcast; fog had started to roll in, and the faces of the presidents were sometimes obscured by the swirling mists and the moisture that had collected on their stone likenesses. We took a few pictures, toured the visitor center, and watched a short film on the history of the monument before deciding to leave and try again the next day.

We had much better luck when we returned on May 6th. The air was clear (although still cold, and now windy), but our view was unobscured and we were able to really appreciate the full impact of this masterpiece, trying to capture the feeling in about 50 or more pictures. I've included just a few of the very best for your viewing.

Devils Tower National Monument

After leaving Helena, our destination was Rapid City, South Dakota, to visit Mt. Rushmore. We planned to take two days to get there, as the mileage was a little long for a one day haul. On the second day, we only had a 4-hour trip on the schedule, so we decided to alter our route slightly and incorporate a trip to The Devils Tower National Monument, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, standing 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, 5,112 feet above sea level, and 867 feet from its base to the summit.

Devils Tower is made up of igneous rock, which is made directly from molten rock coming to the surface. Devil's Tower was a spire of molten rock that forced its way from deep inside the earth through the surface, or near to the surface. As time wore on, the sedimentary rock that surrounded the tower eroded, leaving Devil's Tower exposed. Sedimentary rock is much softer than igneous rock, thus it erodes faster. Devil's Tower was left standing tall when everything else had been blown or shifted away from it.

You may recognize the shape of Devils Tower from the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, where the top of the tower was featured as the landing pad for the aliens. The monument is located in a 1347 acre park featuring more than seven miles of hiking trails and is home to birds such as hawks, eagles, vultures, falcons and mammals such as white-tailed deer and the black-tailed prairie dog. More than 5000 climbers from all over the world climb the tower every year.

Devils Tower is a sacred site of worship for many American Indians and is known as Mato Tipila by the Lakota, which means "Bear Lodge". As Dan and I walked the 1.3 mile trail that skirts around the tower, we saw many prayer bundles tied to the surrounding trees. There were instructions at the beginning of the trail asking hikers not to disturb the prayer bundles as they are considered physical symbolic representation of prayers and are part of religious ceremonies. It's easy to understand how this could be a holy place. I was filled with respect for this massive monolith, and was struck with awe and wonder just standing in the presence of something so wondrous and mysterious.