Nomads, days 9 and 10 (9/12/2023}

Wow, we have been on the road since August 31, as of this writing that has been 11 days. In other words, I am a few days behind, so I better keep going. Today I felt really content and had the feeling I could keep going for years. My wife Donna had a weaker moment and admitted she missed living in a house. I think our dog Jasper agrees with her; Radar misses puppy time and playing but could probably join me with my travels. Naturally, this was only a weak moment from Donna, and we shall continue our journey. We have some catching up to do, and more about what we did today (day 11) in a later post.

Day 9 was spent quietly, and we eventually drove from Lewistown to Great Falls, which was only a 2 hour drive, or about 100 miles.

Day 10 was spent in and around Great Falls. I had scheduled a break in our travels, for what I was thinking laundry and just relaxing.

We woke up in Lewistown to rain, and it kept raining. Now it is no fun eating breakfast in the van, even with the seat turned around. Neither is it fun to sit outside on a picnic bench in the rain eating your breakfast. In other words, we decided to go out for breakfast. The day before, in a weak moment, we had breakfast at McDonalds, and we did not wish to repeat that dining experience. Really the food at Mickydee is OK, and it kept us satisfied till noon; it is just something we do not frequently do. The manager at the McDonald stop in Miles City was friendly and in the brief 20 minutes we were there, we learned more about her personal life (hiking), and her fear for AI, than we had ever hoped. She also profusely apologized for the motivation of the cashier at the restaurant. But then, I would probably also have a lousy attitude if that was my job.

In other words, we needed something else. Since we had the time, we put on a laundry at the RV place and went to the coffee shop downtown for breakfast. The place was jam-packed and after some waiting, these two couples invited us to join them at their table. We had a fun conversation, and all went well. The couple next to us were married the same year as us (they in May and we in June). It seems that Lewistown has a great festival on the first Saturday after Labor Day, and this was a kind of homecoming for the couple. The husband had gone to high school in town, but they now live in Illinois. However, we decided not to stay for the festival.

After waiting for the dryer to finish it was off to Great Falls. That afternoon we visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center (which was great) and we went downtown to visit the fiber (wool) shop that Donna had been looking forward to. When we arrived at the “Farmer’s Daughters” or the fiber shop, they were about to close (prematurely). The owners had just been diagnosed with COVID. What to do? A microbrewery next door perhaps? They allowed us to sit outside on the terrace with the dogs. And then it rained; poured. Thank goodness they allowed us to finish our beer and early dinner inside even with our dogs.

The next day we headed back downtown, the store was sterilized, and Donna could finally shop for wool. We had initially considered a day trip to Glacier National Park, but instead we decided to visit the Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge, maybe 20 miles north of town. Benton Lake was nice, it felt a bit like an African safari we had done 45 or so years ago; however, these was little wildlife, but some decent birdwatching around the lake.

At the end of the day, we just relaxed at the KOA campground we stayed at. KOA is not our style, but this one was decent with a dog park and a nature trail. My only major complaint was the roads on the KOA were full of mud and water. One interesting event happened. The wife of the folks next to us poured something on their campfire that created a blaze. In hindsight, I figured that it was some oil or started fluid. Subsequently she threw water on the flames, and as we all learn, water and oil don’t mix. The fire spread on top of the water and set their tent on fire. She was screaming and got more water when we walked by. I yelled at her not to pour more water and ran over to stomp out the flames with my feet. This was successful, but the entire corner of the tent burned out and eventually they ended up packing up and leaving the park. Oh well. A relaxing two slow days before continuing our travels.

After the rain in Great Falls that chased us into the brewery, there is a rainbow

The first evening we walked the nature trail at the KOA

A little out of order, but the beer and service at Mo was great!

At least one safari picture.  We saw two antelopes in the far distance

Inside shot of the wool shop

Nomads, Day 7 and 8 (9/9/2023)

We continue our trek up the great Missouri River, and it is time to report on days 7 and 8.

Day 7: East Totten Trail Campground – New Town (SD) – Belfield – Medora – Theodore Roosevelt National Park – Miles City (MT)

Day 8: Miles City – Pompeys Pillar National Monument – Billings – Lewistown

It was a cold morning when we woke up. It was about 43 degrees (6 C), at least that is what the Weather Channel told us. One thing that had been pretty surprising to me was that all through Nebraska and South Dakota we had great cell phone coverage. This was somewhat amazing to me but every little hamlet and even along all the roads we had traveled, my phone told me it was mostly a 5G service. Even in North Dakota where we were on day 7 and for a large part during day 8, we were never without cell phone coverage. Some of the posts up to now were written when my wife, Donna, was driving and I used the hotspot on my phone.

To continue, that night at the East Totten Trail Campground we used our small space heater, the night sky was amazing, and we even heard a group of coyotes howl, which greatly amused our dogs. It was interesting to watch the folks next to us trying to level their huge camper; it took the guy at least a half hour or longer. We have Camco leveling blocks, which look like giant Lego blocks, and I just had to drive one side of our van on to them to sleep somewhat level that night.

The next day it was through the North Dakota prairie, we go! This part of the world was a mix of corn, sun flowers and native short grass prairie rangelands. We did drive a number of fields that appear to be alfalfa. Amazing were the oil rigs or pump that were littered throughout the landscape. We had heard of the North Dakota oil boom and here it was! Most towns on the road were small, except the town of New Town, which appeared to be a tourist resort and oil town. Being from our area, New Town is a development in Williamsburg where we used to work.

After lunch in Belfield at a very interesting restaurant, we toured the southern section of the Theodor Roosevelt National Park. It was a pity that the sky was so smoky; however, the park is definitely worth visiting. We were off to Miles City (MT), after a brief visit to the park. In Miles City we experienced a true camping site, a gravel lot with plenty of RVs, including folks that live there long-term. It was located next to a feed lot and here we came up with notion that SD, ND and MT were dominated by flies. The owner of the RV site was a riot and we enjoyed interacting with her. Bathrooms were clean and it felt great to take a shower.

The trip next day was fairly uneventful. The visit to Pompeys Pillar was fun and warmish. Pompeys pillar is the site where you can find the only real evidence of the trip that Lewis and Clark made. Clark carved his signature into the rock. It was a shame that they were doing some heavy work there and had a huge crane set up. But after inquiry, I found out that the pillar was slowly coming apart, courtesy the weather. As I used to teach, water is the strongest force in breaking rocks apart. Combine that with frost, and Clark’s signature was in danger. It was interesting to see how the entire pillar was being monitored. The crane was there to assist with a stabilization effort.

After lunch and groceries in Billings it was on the road again to Lewistown. This town is the central point in Montana and a cute town. We quickly found out that microbreweries in Montana do not allow dogs, something that we are accustomed to in Virginia. In other words, my dream of doing a microbrewery tour of Lewis and Clark was dashed. We again stayed at an ordinary camp site, this time without feedlot and great owner who talked our ears off, but still with a lot of flies and folks that do not clean up after their dogs next to your camp site. Oh well. That night we were hit by more rain, which sounds great on the van. Overall, a fun two days. I cannot get over the fact how much I missed this type of landscape we have been driving through. The prairie is amazing. A second observation was that it seems that the country in this area is littered with casinos. Every small (and large town) in SC, ND and MT seem to have a casino in it. These are combined with local bars or liquor stores.

On a sad note, it was around this time that our good friend Vaughn Deel had passed away. The news affected my wife and me greatly. Vaughn was a great person and wonderful musician. He always remembered us and had a kind word for you whenever you met him. It was shortly after we moved to Virgina that he had a stem cell transplant what kept him alive for at least another 22 years. It were these years that he did not take for granted. Rest in peace Vaughn and do some jamming up there with Jerry and the bunch.

Breakfast at the East Totten Trail Campground

North Dakota Prairie with its windmills

National Grasslands

In the Theodor Roosevelt NP, showing of our camping van.

In my classes I used to tell folks about rocks as mulch and the pedestaling you can see in the dessert.  Here you can see where there were rocks there was no erosion.

Pompeys Pillar.

The view from on top of Pompeys pillar: the Yellowstone River (Clark's return route).

We made it to Lewistown and it's time to relax.

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).