Nomads, day 5 and 6 (9/8/2023)

Days 5 and 6 of our Lewis and Clark adventure was really when it felt that the rubber hit the road. Here is a quick summary of our trek these two days:

Day 5: North Sioux City, ND – Vermillion – Spirit Mound – Yankton – Chamberlain (Dignity of Earth and Sky) – Gettysburg

Day 6: Gettysburg – Bismark, ND – Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center (in Washburn, ND) – Fort Mandan – East Totton Train Campground (on Lake Audubon near Coleharbor, ND)

What were the significant events on these two legs of our journey? Day 5 was eventful from a Lewis and Clark viewpoint. We initially wanted to stay in Vermillion; however, the heat-dome prevented this. Camping at 105 degrees in a van without air conditioning (when you are parked), with two dogs seemed unwise. The logic result was that we stayed in North Sioux City. We did want to visit Vermillion, a small college town in the middle of nowhere. Vermillion is a charming town, but we had an ulterior motive, our reason was: Spirit Mound.

Lewis and Clark learned of Spirit Mound from the Indians within a large radius of the Vermillion area. They had been warned to avoid it, because of spirits that supposedly lived on or near it. They were shorter, according to the native American legends, with big heads and had sharp spears with which they would hurt or even kill anyone approaching the mound. The hill was 12 miles north of the river from what now is Vermillion; and the explorers decided to go look for themselves. They climbed the hill and never found the angry spirits. Spirit Mound is now an historic landmark, that also includes a native Minnesota prairie. This was enough for us to also explore the mound. Since it was 95 degrees, we did not hike up the Mound, but we did spend a short time there walking through the prairie. To tell you the truth we were enchanted by what we saw; however, it was too hot to spend a lot of time there with our dogs.

Subsequently we drove to Yankton and had a good look at the Missouri. After that we took off for Chamberlain. The welcome center there has a great statue entitled Dignity of Earth and Sky. Altogether a fun trip through central South Dakota. Mostly a land with corn and soybean fields. However, there were patches of grasslands and to our surprise fields of sunflowers. The sunflowers had finished flowering and we were imagining how beautiful this could look when the flowers were in full bloom.

We arrived in Gettysburg around 5 pm. Our plan was to stay at the city park, where the community had established a number of camp sites. They had electricity and even showers. The camping is free, but a donation was appreciated. We were the only campers that night; it was all very acceptable; the showers were clean. In the middle of the night we were hit by a major thunderstorm which heralded the change of weather; from heat to more agreeable temperatures.

After breakfast at the local coffee shop in Gettysburg it was time to move further north. South Dakota (and parts of North Dakota) has numbered two roads along the river Route 1804 and Route 1806. Lewis and Clark moved upriver in 1804 and returned in 1806. You can therefore imagine that the route on the east side of the river is 1804 and on the west side is 1806. We decided to take 1804 and ended up on these dirt country roads during a steady cold drizzle with very strong winds. It was now 55 degrees and with a 40 or so mph wind, it was darn cold. Once in Bismark I was finally able to sample a beer at a local brewery for lunch. Unbeknownst to us, Bismark had its worst and actually, the country’s worst air quality, courtesy of the Canadian wildfires.

After a visit to Fort Mandan, we went to our campsite at Lake Audubon. The fort and visiting center were the first real thing we did since the start of our trip. While impressive, the fort was disappointing to me as well, since it was not re-build at the exact location or at least near the location of the old fort. The original site was 20 miles further north. However, the original site was most likely flooded caused by the damming of the river. Another item was that the walls were constructed by logs that were placed vertically. It seems that this might not be historically correct, and the logs might have been stacked horizontally, although there are no details in the historical accounts.

The campsite was great, it was on a lake and just a wonderful site. At night we were able to see the milky way and we witnessed a coyote chorus. The temperature dipped to 42 at night and we finally had to use our small space heater. In all an interesting two days of contrast, extreme heat followed by a chill that heralds the beginning of autumn.

Spirit Mound as viewed through a group on sunflowers on the native prairie in South Dakota.

The Missouri seen from the bridge in Yankton, SD

Dignity of Earth and Sky

Camping in Gettysburg

Need I say more?

Driving the back roads in cold, rainy South Dakota

Fort Mandan.  The party overwintered their first year near the Mandan tribe in what is now near Washburn, North Dakota.  William Clark reported in his journal that in the first few days of January they were invited to what was a huge three-day party, something like a pow-wow, to launch a buffalo hunt.  He described how young warriors would lead their nude wives to the old men of the tribe for their pleasure, in the hope that the knowledge, wisdom and hunting skills of these older men would be transferred the younger husbands.  The older men would lead the young (married) women to the side and have intimate relations with them.  Boy, that is what you can call rubbing off.

According to Clark the enlisted men that were part of the expedition were also in high demand for this type of knowledge transfer.  Clark mentions that one private was particularly lucky and had sex with four different young ladies during the three-day fest.  According to accounts, sexually transmitted diseases were endemic in the native population, in particular syphilis.  In the book by Ambrose there is a discussion on whether syphilis and gonorrhea were endemic to the North American population or not, very unlike small pocks which was definitely spread by the European colonizers to the New World population.  I am not sure if there was a native cure for the ailment; however, treatment of the STDs among Europeans wasn’t pleasant.  It consisted of ingesting mercury as in mercurial chloride, known to cause mad hatter disease.

As all you readers know, I am older. I have white hair and also claim to be somewhat wiser (a little arrogance is good for the soul, I guess). In other words when we visited the Fort Mandan and the Mandan area, I was full of hope that I might be asked for some knowledge infusion. Although the thought of catching STDs did not make the thought very appealing.

Camping on Lake Audubon near Coleharbor, SD.  The temperatures dipped into the low 40s at night and we had to bring out the space heater.

Nomads, day 3 and 4 (9/5/2023)

We made it to the Lewis and Clark trail. A quick summary to start:

Day 3: Dr. Emmit Babbler Memorial Campground – Hermann – Swiss Meat & Sausage Company – Jefferson – Columbia – St. Joseph – Big Lake State Campground.

Day 4: Big Lake State Campground – Loess Hills Wildlife Refuge – Brownville, NE – Nebraska City – Winnebago Indian Reservation – Omaha – North Sioux City, SD.

As you can see, two long days. We arrived at our camp site around 7 p.m. on day 3, and around 6 p.m. at the motel on day 4. Yes, we had nice side trips at Clark’s Hill and the Wildlife Refuge on day 4. The refuge is huge and if you come at the right time, it should be chockablock with ducks, swans and cranes. For us the idea of loss is neat; it is a soil type formed from volcanic ash that was deposited thousands of years ago. It is usually yellow in color and extremely fertile. The loess deposits in these hills are among the deepest in the U.S.A. Both of us being schooled in soil science, this was a place to stop and explore. We saw a little bit but spent most of our time driving the 10-mile loop in the refuge. This had a mixture of wetland habitat and prairie. All very interesting to us, as well.

However, let’s start at the beginning of our trip. I had the initial idea to make our day 2 camping spot in Hermann, they have a city park open to campers. However, we decided to stay at the Babbler campground. In hindsight this appeared to be a good decision. Once in Hermann, we could not locate the city park. Hermann is a great tourist town on the Missouri and surprisingly on our way there, the road was littered with the “you are on the Lewis and Clark trail” signs. However, as of this writing, those signs kept pursuing us, indicating we are on the right trail.

After driving to Hermann and seeing what a tourist trap that was, we decided to aim for Jefferson City, figuring that we could put of our need for lunch and a bathroom break that long. However, just outside Hermann we hit the sausage factory. The decision was made to buy something for breakfast the next morning. We did not realize what we about to step into, a virtual meat market with all kinds of sausage concoctions and bacon. They also had a lunch counter, so that was easy. The problem as usual was the doggies and 95 degree temperatures; they don’t mix. We ate lunch in the van, and on we went. The road was absolutely fun, a small winding country road. One thing about this part of Missouri were all the wineries. I had tasted wines from the region in the mid-1990s and they were not bad then, but this turn we had no time to taste.

After stopping at Clark’s Hill (see below) and later in Jefferson City for our required visit to Starbucks, we pressed on. Mostly interstate highway driving, until we needed to get on the backroads to Big Lake State Park. The last part of the drive was flat. Fascinating was when we got off the highway and dove into the floodplain of the Missouri. It is huge in that part of this world. There were all kinds of reminders of the flood back in the 1800s. Big Lake looks like it was an old oxbow of the Missouri River that had been cut off a long time ago. When booking, little did we realize what a resort area this area was. Except for the state park, the lake was surrounded by vacation homes and the lake was full on pontoon boats and jet skis. This was a party park, all kinds of watercrafts; dogs were running lose, with some dog poop to step into. Getting that in the van required a cleaning effort that put us to sleep late. Rest rooms and showers were scarce at the park, but we knew we had a motel room the next night and showers are overrated anyway.

After visiting the Loess Hills it was off to the Nebraska side of the river. Brownville is a cute, touristy town, but the ice cream shop was closed! Lunch in Nebraska City and I dare say that I now understand why my family likes this state and says it is pretty. We drove along the floodplain, corn and soy, all the way to Omaha. Starbuck stop there. Temperatures reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 C). We got to the Hampton Inn in North Sioux City by 6:45. We had driven through Missouri, Nebraska, a sliver of Iowa into South Dakota. A trip that Lewis and Clark took a half year to cover was done in a fairly fast pace by us.

Our only other dedicated stop was Clark’s Hill. This hill is located just east of Jefferson City. Clark walked up for a view of the river. He discovered three Indian mounts on the hill, which remain there until this day. Our overall impression of this leg of the trip was that it fascinated us to see the transition from an area dominated by wooded areas to an area dominated by agriculture land (most of it in corn and soybeans). We were both schooled in the agronomy side of life, with a side of ecology. So, you can imagine our enjoyment of looking at the landscape passing by the van.

The view from Clark's Hill.

Our dog Radar waiting for the sun to set.

A random view of Nebraska

The Nebraska floodplains, as flat a a pancake, stark but somehow nice at least in our eyes.

Nomads, day 1 and 2 (9/3/20213)

We are on our way! Leaving home this past Thursday it felt like the good old days driving to work in Richmond. The notable exception was that almost immediately when we hit the interstate we had to slow down to a crawl and spend 45 minutes on what we usually can cover in 10 minutes. Oh well, a conspicuous start to a trip like this. After that it was relatively smooth sailing to our first-day destination Cave Run Lake, Kentucky. I had booked a camp site at the Twin Knob Campground in the Daniel Boon State Forest. We hit a lot of road construction in West Virginia and Kentucky, probably all thanks to the Biden money.

The first part of our route felt very familiar. Interstate 64 or I-64 is a highway I frequently traveled for work, at least all the way to the town of Lexington. In that area the highway turns rights towards the West Virginia line. Knowing that we were eventually going to be helped captive by the famous (at least to us) toll road section that dives down from Beckly to the capitol of Charleston and its gasoline and restaurant plazas, we decided to fill up before crossing the state line. I love stopping in Covington, in particular since one of my ex-students manages the local stormwater program there. When I retired, she was one of the few who emailed me and told me that I was the best teachers she had ever had. It is always nice to thank them with little sales tax we are able leave behind there.

Twin Knob Campground near Morehead, KY was a pleasant surprise. It was a joy camping there. So much of a pleasure that we decided that we did need to return there one of these days for a more extended stay. It’s a full day’s drive, but doable. The campground is located on a small peninsula in Cave Run Lake (reservoir). The lake is huge and appears to be stocked with fish; we drove by a fish hatchery near the dam that controls the water level in the lake.

We had a nice walk on a trail along the lake. Issues included the abundance of poison ivy and the fact that I tripped and fell. This was scary; I had broken my left wrist a few years ago; however, when I fell on that side this time, I was able to protect my wrist. Thank goodness I just scaped my elbow and my wrist hurt a bit but was ok. The moon was great that night and we went to sleep with is shining on me while laying my self down. The eastern screech owl was calling that evening, making it even more magical. The next day we did a two-and-a-half-mile hike before jumping back on I-64 on our way to St. Louis.

We had the Dr. Edmund A. Babbler Memorial State Park on our radar. This park is some 20 or so miles west of St. Louis and it is truly a more urban state park at the outskirts of a very wealthy neighborhood. Camping was an experience in this park. The site we were on was a concrete pad which was nice; however, our neighbors were very cut loose, and it was intimate. Thank goodness, the folks next to us were nice and invited us to join them at their campfire and after dinner we had a nice time talking with them about their jobs, our past jobs and retirement. They actually served on an Air Force installation near where we live and it was nice to talk with them about that.

My impression of the first two days is a lot of highways, and even more construction being conducted on these roads; a sign to me that Washington money is trickling down. But it makes the drive a bit more cumbersome and slows you down. Secondly, we seemed to drive through Indiana and Illinois without spending any money in these states. Lastly, I personally found that parts of southern Indiana and Illinois reminded me of driving through the Netherlands. It was flat with hedgerows, church steeples and farm buildings in the distance.

Well, a somewhat boring report of our travels, no terrible insights or thoughts. Just us beelining Missouri where the actual Lewis and Clark journey starts.

We are on our way.  Good bey Virginia, see you in a few!

The lake and location where I tripped and lost my dignity and scraped my elbow.

Hello Missouri! (Picture taken by Donna Briede)

Our second evening out.  In the St. Lewis area (Dr. Edmund Babbler SP, I really need to research who this Babbler is, I had never heard of him before).

Nomadic life will continue (8/21/2023)

It has been a few weeks since I checked in here on my blog, but so be it. I can notice that my readership has declined somewhat during these past two months, but maybe I can atribute that to the vacation that many are having, my retirement, and all the things going on in my life. For one we had some major structural work done in our home. This cost gobs of money, but we justified it by the fact that we are healthy, plan to live here for at least another 10 to 15 years, and it would increase the value of our home. It may in the long run even save us money.

But this is not what I want to write about. I am writing to forewarn you, my dear readers, that the nomad will be resuming his nomadic lifestyle during the month of September. We are planning a trip across the country to attend to family festivities in California. Yes, we will be doing this with our camper van, the Ford Transit, that we recently purchased from friends. I already wrote about some dress rehearsal camping trips here and here.

The trip is estimated to take two weeks to travel from the east to the west coast. After the festivities we will need to return home and we have no idea yet how long we will be taking to accomplish that or the route. Naturally, I will try to write about our trip (both going and returning); maybe not a daily report, but I hope to write a regular dispatch from the road. I really hope to give you all an idea of what we are experiencing and how I am feeling. It will include reviews of the places (camping areas) we stay; places we visit; walks and hikes we do; restaurants we eat at; maybe some microbreweries or wineries; or even some knitting shops.

Are we preparing? Yes, we are! On our way out west we are planning to roughly follow the Lewis and Clark trail, at least to the Montana-Idaho border, or the source of the Missouri river before turning south towards the Los Angeles area. I have been reading various books including the book by Stephen E. Ambrose entitled “Undaunted Courage, Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West,” Julie Fanselow’s “Traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail,” and Alain de Botton’s “The Art of Travel.” As you can see, I always have a number of books open, but that’s me. I have been booking camp sites and figuring out the best routes to drive. We’ll try to stay away from the interstate highways once we reach St. Louis, the “official” start of the trail.

We have given ourselves 14 days to get across; however, there are a lot of unknowns. Of course there is hurricane season. We really wondered why the festivities were planned at the height of this time of year. Twenty years ago, our area was hit by hurricane Isabel on September 18, and our party is on September 16 in LA. Our area sustained major damage as a result of Isabel’s passing; we lost electricity for 13 days. Hurricanes have been in the back of our mind ever since during the month of September and leaving home that month is somewhat scary. In addition, leaving my bonsai trees for more than a few days worries me somewhat, although I have an automated watering system and my neighbor Bob promised he would keep an eye on them.

A final item is of course not knowing what to expect in the northern states. This includes the weather and animals like bears. Will it be cold in Montana, will we be bugged by grizzlies? Yes, I already loaded a space heater, which will only work when we have shore power, and I bought bear spray. Reading accounts about van-life in Reddit, I learn that van floors are notoriously cold and poor Radar (our dog) who sleeps on the floor was already shivering when the outside temperatures dipped below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But then today it is 102 degrees in North and South Dakota.

All this thinking and anticipation reminds me a little of what I read in The Art of Travel about that subject. Botton writes about de Esseintes, a character in J.K. Huysman’s 1884 novel A Rebours who was a great armchair traveler full of anticipation but was bitterly disappointed when reaching his destination and almost immediately returned home without completing his planned visits. In other words, we will see how this will all pan out. I am sure that there will be days when we will be disappointed, and days when we will be ecstatic; tired days and days that we want to keep going. After our 6 days of camping in July we felt great and were ready for more. So hopefully this will be fine too. Stay tuned.

The rear of the van has been decorated.  If you are a reader on the trail we are following and you see these decals, come and say hello.

Bonsai lessons (8/7/2023)

I had the pleasure the other day to have a grandmother and her grandson over to look at my bonsai trees. The grandmother is a friend from the yacht club, and she had heard that I grow bonsai. Her teenage grandson had tried to grow a bonsai from seed; however, it never germinated. We had already made two appointments, but they never panned out, and this time they were 30 minutes early.

It was fun to be back somewhat in the teaching mode. We started out looking at my 35-year-old Siberian elm, this is one of my favorite trees and it is in quarantine. The quarantine is not because of disease or something like that, but somehow when it is on the tables where I keep my trees, the Japanese beetles find it and it seems that only hit my three Siberian elms. I have a stand of canna lilies nearby and they are a favorite of these ferocious insects in my yard. But somehow when I move them away from my tables and the lilies, these elms are more or less safe from these bugs.

Walking around the tables and showing them my little trees was a lot of fun. The kid was very inquisitive, and grandma could not get him away from the place. He seemed particularly impressed by the tree (cherry) which I had to go at with a saw-saw or hacksaw. The root was simply too big. Grandma was impressed with my American hollies; she hates those prickly leaves. Fun was talking about my citrus trees that I grew from seed. As I told them anything is possible, with a little knowledge.

We talked about styles; how to miniaturize the leaves; root pruning; best time of year to work on them; pots; and of course, soils and fertilizer. I have written about this before, but it seems that everybody wants to buy a bonsai tree or has bought one once in their life. I think at least 95% of them invariably die within the first few months.

Most of this is soil related, the trees at the big box stores usually come in crappy soil in pots that don’t drain very well. The result is root rot when the temperatures rise in the pots, and they do not drain. Plants die or at least get weak. What to do? Repot? If you do that, you kill the poor guy. No, we just need to make sure we do not over or under water too much and we might want to protect the container from overheating. Additional issues seen is the lack of light. Folks put their first bonsai inside on the coffee table. However, it was an outdoors tree that likes full sunlight. Death is imminent. Finally, folks may start pruning or shaping to quickly and weaken the tree.

We talked for over an hour and a half. It was fun talking about my trees and what I do with them, my plans and more. It was just plain fun interacting with someone who was interested in my hobby and sharing these things with him. It made me feel good for the rest of the day.

The lower trunk of my Siberian elm.  It is approximately 35 years old and was developed from seed.  In the soils post that I have link to above, there is another picture of it.  This tree has gone all over the country with me and has been ignored for a while.  It is finally on a decent trajectory.

This is the cherry that I got earlier this year.  It was a thick stick in a pot with a horrible root.  I used the hack saw to cut 2/3rds of it and planted in an Anderson flat.  It seems to be doing well.  I have no idea what styling decisions I will make in the near future but will probably have to cut it shorter.

One of my hollies.  Maybe not really visible.  It has been in a pot ffor at least 7 years, I dug it up in my yard.

The citrus plants grown from seed.  This is their second summer, and they are enjoying themselves.  I have a few oranges and lemons, all grown from seeds.