Yellowstone Photos Part II
Badlands National Park
Max wanted to Skype with Colleen too
Max on the Mississippi
Why does the doll museum need bars???????
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Observe and Report
Badlands National Park
Max wanted to Skype with Colleen too
Max on the Mississippi
Why does the doll museum need bars???????
A long day's journey into Milwaukee
Yesterday was a long day on the road. I awoke in Chamberlain, SD and broke camp around 7 a.m. Max and I saw the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD before we crossed the border into Minnesota. We listened to Garrison Keillor and songs about traveling and the road. In the afternoon, we crossed over the mighty Mississippi and into Wisconsin.
The best bit to the day was watching a robin's egg blue sky turn to charcoal black. As Wisconsin turned its face from the sun, it nestled its nose into layers of pastel gossamer...pink, tangerine, purple, steel blue.
Max and I arrived at one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever seen around 8:45 p.m. I walked Max and fed him his dinner. He had plenty of attention at this dog-friendly hotel as the entire staff doted on him and fed him dog bones. I quickly took a shower and found that the bar was still serving dinner. I enjoyed english pea soup with fresh herbs topped with crisp prosciutto and also a mixed green salad.
This morning over breakfast I thought whether I should reveal this particular escapade because it is so luxurious. The Iron Horse Hotel is truly a haven for a tired soul and its pup. However, in keeping with truthful reporting and my additional thoughts over breakfast, I realized I must report. The following are notes I made at breakfast on a piece of scratch paper....
I'm sitting in the breakfast room, which is aptly named "The Library," at a large rectangular table with six antique, wooden chairs and bronze reading lamps weathered from age and the distinct pattern of human interaction.
As I glanced around the room, I thought, "What is it about libraries?" To make a successful room do you really only need dark leather couches distressed by repeated entry of hind-quarters, and volumes holding reports of life being lived? Truly, what is more inspiring than reading accounts of the possible, or someone's imagination on fire by the quandary of the impossible?
Each day new books are written. With the amount of stories in the world, you'd think that if you didn't like the one you were living, you could just go to The Library and choose another. However, maybe that's why there are so many books...because there are so many individuals. I remember Donella Meadows and her steps to intervene in a system. The most important is to change the story you tell yourself about yourself. Maybe changing the story is the easy part, if you can call it that, and believing what you tell yourself is where difficulty lies.
Just thinking my way around the room maks me radiate with an excited urge to push away my double-hickory-smoked bacon, egg whites, and sourdough toast with Bonne Matin raspberry jam, and devour these catalogs of information. Food for thought. These books...some are bigger and some are smaller, but they're all the same (thanks to Eddie Greer for the quote with many applications!)....meaning they all convey a message for each person. That is true power. You don't have to believe or like the words that are written for you to receive the message. It may be in understanding a new word, realizing that motorcycle maintenance and buddhism are not for you, or seeing the new, perceived love-of-your-life amidst a collection of black and white photographs---yes, how could you have ever thought you would marry a man who didn't wear an ascot?
This room has stories, more than a few that are unwritten. You can tell from the exposed pillars made square with wood now dry and cracked yet fidel. There is one brick wall and a fireplace with an open hearth in the corner. Large turn-of-the-century windows suround and let light into the dust pages of opened books on the top shelves. I am waste-deep in books on all four walls of the room. A sunbeam has found one of the languid leather couches. I hear Frank Sinatra, kitchen noises, and white noise coming from exposed ducts.
In this room words and phrases come with ease, as if my brain is inspired just be simple proximaty to works of language. My stomach is satisfied and my soul is soothed. These are good feelings in which to tarry. I sit in my antique wooden chair, sip ginger lemongrass tea, and silently converse with this room as we both observe each other. I have no expression but an ever-so-slightly upturned mouth.
The best bit to the day was watching a robin's egg blue sky turn to charcoal black. As Wisconsin turned its face from the sun, it nestled its nose into layers of pastel gossamer...pink, tangerine, purple, steel blue.
Max and I arrived at one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever seen around 8:45 p.m. I walked Max and fed him his dinner. He had plenty of attention at this dog-friendly hotel as the entire staff doted on him and fed him dog bones. I quickly took a shower and found that the bar was still serving dinner. I enjoyed english pea soup with fresh herbs topped with crisp prosciutto and also a mixed green salad.
This morning over breakfast I thought whether I should reveal this particular escapade because it is so luxurious. The Iron Horse Hotel is truly a haven for a tired soul and its pup. However, in keeping with truthful reporting and my additional thoughts over breakfast, I realized I must report. The following are notes I made at breakfast on a piece of scratch paper....
I'm sitting in the breakfast room, which is aptly named "The Library," at a large rectangular table with six antique, wooden chairs and bronze reading lamps weathered from age and the distinct pattern of human interaction.
As I glanced around the room, I thought, "What is it about libraries?" To make a successful room do you really only need dark leather couches distressed by repeated entry of hind-quarters, and volumes holding reports of life being lived? Truly, what is more inspiring than reading accounts of the possible, or someone's imagination on fire by the quandary of the impossible?
Each day new books are written. With the amount of stories in the world, you'd think that if you didn't like the one you were living, you could just go to The Library and choose another. However, maybe that's why there are so many books...because there are so many individuals. I remember Donella Meadows and her steps to intervene in a system. The most important is to change the story you tell yourself about yourself. Maybe changing the story is the easy part, if you can call it that, and believing what you tell yourself is where difficulty lies.
Just thinking my way around the room maks me radiate with an excited urge to push away my double-hickory-smoked bacon, egg whites, and sourdough toast with Bonne Matin raspberry jam, and devour these catalogs of information. Food for thought. These books...some are bigger and some are smaller, but they're all the same (thanks to Eddie Greer for the quote with many applications!)....meaning they all convey a message for each person. That is true power. You don't have to believe or like the words that are written for you to receive the message. It may be in understanding a new word, realizing that motorcycle maintenance and buddhism are not for you, or seeing the new, perceived love-of-your-life amidst a collection of black and white photographs---yes, how could you have ever thought you would marry a man who didn't wear an ascot?
This room has stories, more than a few that are unwritten. You can tell from the exposed pillars made square with wood now dry and cracked yet fidel. There is one brick wall and a fireplace with an open hearth in the corner. Large turn-of-the-century windows suround and let light into the dust pages of opened books on the top shelves. I am waste-deep in books on all four walls of the room. A sunbeam has found one of the languid leather couches. I hear Frank Sinatra, kitchen noises, and white noise coming from exposed ducts.
In this room words and phrases come with ease, as if my brain is inspired just be simple proximaty to works of language. My stomach is satisfied and my soul is soothed. These are good feelings in which to tarry. I sit in my antique wooden chair, sip ginger lemongrass tea, and silently converse with this room as we both observe each other. I have no expression but an ever-so-slightly upturned mouth.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Ain't So Bad
On the third of October two-thousand and ten, the girl and her dog, Max, awoke to a beautiful morning in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She packed the car and took Max on a walk through some nearby woods while waiting for friends to join them.
The grass was tall and short...almost like thinning hair. There would rocks big and small, most black with a silvery luster. The girl couldn't help herself and, returning to childhood habits, picked up a couple of the rocks for a make-shift collection at home. The girl's mother, from whom she most certainly got her snap, crackle, and pop, had said that the flower beds around their home never needed tending because Lacey had brought home enough rocks in her pockets to completely cover them. Thinking about this story, traveling back to the playground in her mind, the girl smiled and loved her mom very much in that moment. Something that could have been an aggravation was seen as endearment. She likes this about her mother. It's this attitude that taught the girl how to look for the bright side in life.
When the friends from Texas, Kaye and Eddie, arrived and after hearing their story about hitting a deer the night before, they caravaned together to Wall, SD and the entrance to the Badlands. The girl had a premonition that she shouldn't rely on her GPS, Lily, to guide them as Lily has a mischievous side and likes to take the girl, her dog, and her friends and loved ones on many improptu adventures or "scenic routes" that...well...aren't really that scenic. It turns out she should have listened to her gut feeling....as she wasted half a tank of gas in a one horse town by way of side streets. Lily had her last laugh indeed.
Finally, the crew arrived in Wall, filled up with gas and peanut butter and headed into the park. The girl was thrilled by the sight of the incredible melted mountains. They were elegant and ghastly. Water and time had observed the topography, the mountains, their density, their weakness. Porous material had been found, flooded, weakened, and washed away. As with humans, all that had no integrity collapsed...and all that remains is integrity itself.
We aren't supposed to think about the passing of time. The wasting away. But everything has a life cycle. This was a reminder. It caused fluttering, brief moments of gut-wrenching pain. This girl has struggled for most of her life in putting her finger on what exactly it is she is supposed to do. The problem lies really in what she does know...that she is supposed to do something very particular. She has felt out of place so often because of this outlet she searches for. Or maybe it is a feeling for which she seeks. Not even she is sure, but she knows there is something missing, and the reminder that time is of the essence was felt heavy on the chest.
After lunch and rambling at the world-famous Wall Drug Store, the girl and her new friends said good-bye. As she pulled away from Wall and onto the interstate, she had a feeling that she did not recognize. She sat for a long moment just discovering this feeling. It was neither good nor bad, but necessary. She realized she was feeling much like what she imagined a baby bird felt like as its momma pushed it from the nest: ready, scared, exposed, hopeful, raw, seeking. That baby bird was suddenly aware she was in the unknown. Her journey now became a test of faith.
Faith. Vital as oxygen. And she drove on.
The grass was tall and short...almost like thinning hair. There would rocks big and small, most black with a silvery luster. The girl couldn't help herself and, returning to childhood habits, picked up a couple of the rocks for a make-shift collection at home. The girl's mother, from whom she most certainly got her snap, crackle, and pop, had said that the flower beds around their home never needed tending because Lacey had brought home enough rocks in her pockets to completely cover them. Thinking about this story, traveling back to the playground in her mind, the girl smiled and loved her mom very much in that moment. Something that could have been an aggravation was seen as endearment. She likes this about her mother. It's this attitude that taught the girl how to look for the bright side in life.
When the friends from Texas, Kaye and Eddie, arrived and after hearing their story about hitting a deer the night before, they caravaned together to Wall, SD and the entrance to the Badlands. The girl had a premonition that she shouldn't rely on her GPS, Lily, to guide them as Lily has a mischievous side and likes to take the girl, her dog, and her friends and loved ones on many improptu adventures or "scenic routes" that...well...aren't really that scenic. It turns out she should have listened to her gut feeling....as she wasted half a tank of gas in a one horse town by way of side streets. Lily had her last laugh indeed.
Finally, the crew arrived in Wall, filled up with gas and peanut butter and headed into the park. The girl was thrilled by the sight of the incredible melted mountains. They were elegant and ghastly. Water and time had observed the topography, the mountains, their density, their weakness. Porous material had been found, flooded, weakened, and washed away. As with humans, all that had no integrity collapsed...and all that remains is integrity itself.
We aren't supposed to think about the passing of time. The wasting away. But everything has a life cycle. This was a reminder. It caused fluttering, brief moments of gut-wrenching pain. This girl has struggled for most of her life in putting her finger on what exactly it is she is supposed to do. The problem lies really in what she does know...that she is supposed to do something very particular. She has felt out of place so often because of this outlet she searches for. Or maybe it is a feeling for which she seeks. Not even she is sure, but she knows there is something missing, and the reminder that time is of the essence was felt heavy on the chest.
After lunch and rambling at the world-famous Wall Drug Store, the girl and her new friends said good-bye. As she pulled away from Wall and onto the interstate, she had a feeling that she did not recognize. She sat for a long moment just discovering this feeling. It was neither good nor bad, but necessary. She realized she was feeling much like what she imagined a baby bird felt like as its momma pushed it from the nest: ready, scared, exposed, hopeful, raw, seeking. That baby bird was suddenly aware she was in the unknown. Her journey now became a test of faith.
Faith. Vital as oxygen. And she drove on.
Mt. Rushmore and New Friends
Hello from the Black Hills! This is a quick posting because I'm meeting some friends in about 30 minutes. We're driving out to the Badlands today. From their I'll move on across South Dakota. Below is a picture of the scenery from Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills.So, Mom had met these very kind people on several cruises that she has done. They are Eddie and Kaye Greer of Lubbock, Texas. Boy, are they a treat! We had a great time meeting and visiting Mt. Rushmore together. Last night they took me out to dinner. Oh yes indeed....I had buffalo steak! It was delicious. See pictures below from Mt. Rushmore.
This is a picture of Mt. Rushmore before carving.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Oh, Give Me a Home, Where the Buffalo Roam...
There is no way I can paint a word picture vivid enough for you, dear friends, that could come close to describing the sights I have seen since my last post. To say that there has been many different landscapes poured out before my eyes would be such a disservice to both the landscapes and my eyes. My eyes could not believe themselves on more than one occasion. I'm sure the landscapes enjoyed my eyes' ogling, as they didn't blush and slink away, but stood there just as bold and brazen as could be.
Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons deserve much more description than I have time for....so I will tell you about them in note form:
- These two national parks are beautiful gems in this nation. There is magic there.
- The land is quite literally hotter'n hell. Yellowstone has geysers, mud pots (also called paint pots--see video), fumeroles, and springs, to name a few.
- Max, not having his winter coat yet, was cold. The first night around 5 a.m. I awoke to very audibly walk to the potty (best word really...trust me)...loud enough so that the grizzlies, wolverines, moose, buffalo, elk, and chipmunks (mean little buggers) would know I was coming and mosey along. Poor Max was sound asleep--snoring even--but each time he snored a shiver would pass over him. I bundled him in extra blankets including a wool blanket from the Queen Mary II (Thanks Margaret!) and curled up next to him. The next night he wore my Patagonia fleece vest to bed and was as snug as a bug in a rug.
- Dryness. Let's say that every vital part of me, and many less than vital parts, are dryer than a cracker made of cotton. My nose gushes frequently which is funny because I just as frequently am without a tissue. I think I'll have to do laundry more frequently than I at first believed. Hmm.
- PG-13 area----By my last night at Yellowstone I was...well...ripe. So, I took a whore's bath. Ya know--feet, armpits, and undercarriage. I felt like a million bucks. Don't think I could get that much.
- Sorry Mom for the preceding.....but, I should be a good citizen and tell the truth as long as I'm doing this.
- The Grand Tetons remind me of synchronized swimmers for some reason. Maybe because they are such beautiful mountains, almost all the same height with gorgeous matching exteriors over pure raw powerful bodies.
- The aspen trees have on their fall frocks of deep goldenrod, some with a touch of pumpkin-orange. I didn't hear the quake, but I know its there.
- Buffalo beside the road, on the road, in the road, walking down the road, beside the road, BESIDE THE CAR!!! "Whoa Nelly! That there fella is bigger than the Murano." Max, in a showing of bravado to protect Alpha, growled at the buffalo...from the safety of the backseat. Good dog.
Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons deserve much more description than I have time for....so I will tell you about them in note form:
- These two national parks are beautiful gems in this nation. There is magic there.
- The land is quite literally hotter'n hell. Yellowstone has geysers, mud pots (also called paint pots--see video), fumeroles, and springs, to name a few.
- The first moment I shed a tear from emotion on this trip was in Yellowstone, around 8 a.m. when I was driving from the Madison campground toward Old Faithful. I saw a multitude of geysers spewing water and clouds of steam into the air. Since it was freezing outside, the steam was seen for quite a distance. The rising sun burned flame and gold on the billows of steam. It was a sunset climbing out of the land. I was overcome.
- At night there are voices of animals calling out to each other across the expanse. The cry begins as a whistle, but becomes more of a yearning...a high-pitched-to-low-pitched, long, drawn-out, slow melancoly. I'm afraid someone's lover has gone astray.
- Campfire cooking is just as good as I remember, but much more arduous. My first night I made chicken with wild sweet potatos, onion, chanterelle mushrooms and rosemary. The second night I made a can of soup and for some reason had to wash dishes THREE times!- Max, not having his winter coat yet, was cold. The first night around 5 a.m. I awoke to very audibly walk to the potty (best word really...trust me)...loud enough so that the grizzlies, wolverines, moose, buffalo, elk, and chipmunks (mean little buggers) would know I was coming and mosey along. Poor Max was sound asleep--snoring even--but each time he snored a shiver would pass over him. I bundled him in extra blankets including a wool blanket from the Queen Mary II (Thanks Margaret!) and curled up next to him. The next night he wore my Patagonia fleece vest to bed and was as snug as a bug in a rug.
- Dryness. Let's say that every vital part of me, and many less than vital parts, are dryer than a cracker made of cotton. My nose gushes frequently which is funny because I just as frequently am without a tissue. I think I'll have to do laundry more frequently than I at first believed. Hmm.
- PG-13 area----By my last night at Yellowstone I was...well...ripe. So, I took a whore's bath. Ya know--feet, armpits, and undercarriage. I felt like a million bucks. Don't think I could get that much.
- Sorry Mom for the preceding.....but, I should be a good citizen and tell the truth as long as I'm doing this.
- The Grand Tetons remind me of synchronized swimmers for some reason. Maybe because they are such beautiful mountains, almost all the same height with gorgeous matching exteriors over pure raw powerful bodies.
- The aspen trees have on their fall frocks of deep goldenrod, some with a touch of pumpkin-orange. I didn't hear the quake, but I know its there.
Well, those are the notes. Today, I will set out to Devil's Tower and make Mount Rushmore by noon. This is perfect because some friends of Mom's will be there at the exact same time. We've already planned to have dinner together and see some sights. Since this will be the first meal I've bought since the huckleberry pie incident, I'm hoping for something yummy---South Dakota???---buffalo steak!!!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Glacier National Park
This morning began with a very healthy breakfast--egg whites, steamed veggies, tea....and...well...huckleberry pie. I found a restaurant called Bojangles that was recommended for its pie. After being seated at the counter, I asked the waitress if it was too early for pie, so I'd know how to order. With sparkling blue eyes, she quickly replied, "It's NEVER too early for PIE!" I knew I'd found the right spot.
After filling up the dessert-tank, Max and I departed to Glacier National Park. On our way we passed two helicopter tour businesses. All of a sudden the car veered off the road and into the helicopter tour parking lot. At the exact same time, Max gave me "potty eyes." So, I had to get out and take him for a walk. While I was giving Max some time, a very nice man came out to tell me all about his helicopter business. Knowing that Going To The Sun Road was closed, I thought I'd listen because this would be a great way to see the park without being able to drive very far in.
So, I said, "Okay, let's go!" And we did...
It was too windy to get above the Continental Divide, but this trip was absolutely worth it. Such beauty, I cannot believe, except that I saw it with my own eyes.
Here is the car from above the helicopter business.
Max says, "woof." This means---I love Glacier!
Fall colors on the ground.
Onward and upward!
After filling up the dessert-tank, Max and I departed to Glacier National Park. On our way we passed two helicopter tour businesses. All of a sudden the car veered off the road and into the helicopter tour parking lot. At the exact same time, Max gave me "potty eyes." So, I had to get out and take him for a walk. While I was giving Max some time, a very nice man came out to tell me all about his helicopter business. Knowing that Going To The Sun Road was closed, I thought I'd listen because this would be a great way to see the park without being able to drive very far in.
So, I said, "Okay, let's go!" And we did...
It was too windy to get above the Continental Divide, but this trip was absolutely worth it. Such beauty, I cannot believe, except that I saw it with my own eyes.
Here is the car from above the helicopter business.
Max says, "woof." This means---I love Glacier!
Fall colors on the ground.
Onward and upward!
Day One: To Kalispell, MT
God is brilliant when he goes to excess. I've always heard that moderation is the key to a happy life. Could be that we as humans aren't savvy enough to know when going overboard is just right. Today I've seen a lot of God's heavy handed creation. For instance...when God made the Columbia River Gorge green, he made it so green, almost blue! But that could have simply been the blanket of thick blue fog tucked into the Gorge's corners this morning. The fog looked like periwinkle polar fleece.
Then there was gold. I came out from under the covers to find that once past the Cascades the land is rolling hills leading to plains of grasses so shimmering in the new sun that King Tut himself would be jealous. The gold turned into a choppy jute carpet in southeastern Washington knotted and twisted with short, crunchy, combustible-looking shrubbery. Max quickly discovered these low-lying shrubs had stickers on them.
I was overwhelmed by a gorgeous area called Coeur d'Alene just inside the Idaho border. Beautiful sparkling cobalt water and the cleanest, best designed rest stop I've ever seen. Max and I got out and played under beautiful cedars on a carpet of thick, green grass.
From there, the drive into Montana was incredible. The topography changed from chubby nannies sleeping against St. Bernards, to giant angular eagles taking flight from their downy nests of evergreen trees. Rock formations came one after another, each more beautiful than the last.
Tonight, though, the most startling display I've seen in a great while. God peppered the sky here in Kalispell with more stars than there are numbers. Max and I went for a nice walk after arriving and settling in to very comfortable quarters. It was nearly pitch black outside. The air is the perfect temperature...that of summer being challenged by fall with a sprinkle of higher altitude thrown in. The stars twinkled like they knew they were being watched and wanted to put on a show. I'm lucky to have been in the audience.
Clearly excess—but wonderfully so.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Departure Set
This Monday, September 27 I will be departing Salem in the wee early morning hours for a full day of driving. I have been fortunate to have a home with good friends willing to host me in Kalispell, MT on Monday and Tuesday nights as I am set to explore Glacier National Park while there.
My living room, dining room, kitchen, and guest room are littered with gear, food, bags, containers, and all (hopefully) the necessities Max and I will need over the coming weeks.
I'm now set up on a Sprint 3G/4G network so I can post from remote locations. I also have a Skype account and small camera that may allow me to video some postings from the road. If anyone knows how to do this...please call.
My living room, dining room, kitchen, and guest room are littered with gear, food, bags, containers, and all (hopefully) the necessities Max and I will need over the coming weeks.
I'm now set up on a Sprint 3G/4G network so I can post from remote locations. I also have a Skype account and small camera that may allow me to video some postings from the road. If anyone knows how to do this...please call.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Road
"You will find that it is all very familiar...the strange and faraway places where you've never been. The wild unknown leads you to a place just around the corner. Take a picture when you get there...the road is you."
- J. Bebe and R. Hammond from the movie Elizabethtown
- J. Bebe and R. Hammond from the movie Elizabethtown
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Road trip help---calling all friends
Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. I will be writing to you about my adventures as I head from coast to coast in the coming weeks. With me on my quest is my dog Max...or "Sir Maximillian Guinness." He'll probably have something to say from time-to-time.
I will be going through the following states: Oregon (home), Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada, and a brief stay in Canada north of the Great Lakes. That's 27 states, 2 countries, and the District of Columbia.
If you have friends or family in any of these states and along my route (see the Google Map), please let me know. I'd love a place to stay, cook, or shower. Just ask if your friends are dog-friendly. Max is everything friendly as he is a mellow mutt. I'd be happy to buy groceries and make a nice dinner in exchange for your family and/or friend's hospitality.
If anyone signs on to help me out, please email me their name(s), phone number, and email address so I can contact them. My dates are flexible right now, but I will call with lots of notice to let people know when I'm in the area.
Thanks y'all!
I will be going through the following states: Oregon (home), Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada, and a brief stay in Canada north of the Great Lakes. That's 27 states, 2 countries, and the District of Columbia.
If you have friends or family in any of these states and along my route (see the Google Map), please let me know. I'd love a place to stay, cook, or shower. Just ask if your friends are dog-friendly. Max is everything friendly as he is a mellow mutt. I'd be happy to buy groceries and make a nice dinner in exchange for your family and/or friend's hospitality.
If anyone signs on to help me out, please email me their name(s), phone number, and email address so I can contact them. My dates are flexible right now, but I will call with lots of notice to let people know when I'm in the area.
Thanks y'all!
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