Hope Cemetery, Barre, VT (Sept 30)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM !!!!!

 

Woke up this morning in a Walmart parking lot in White River Junction, NH (how did that happen again??) This time though it was worth it. We only bought tank treatment and dunkin donuts for breakfast. Hurricane Nicole hit early that morning, or what was left of her. There were standing puddles (small lakes) all over the parking lot, some several inches deep. We headed out early and actually beat the storm to Maine. Every time we stopped, it chased us and caught up with us. And then we would drive out of it again. Driving was okay, the only slow down was a roll over accident in front of us, and we made a couple of great stops along the way .... the first at Hope Cemetery (actually the night before) and Claremont, NH to see the church my gggrandfather designed.

When we were in Scottsburg IN, as part of our Chain Reaction Tour, we followed the advice of Herb and made a quick stop in Barre, VT to view the granite, hand-carved sculptures. Hope Cemetery was first plotted in the late 1800's. They brought in granite carvers from Italy to Vermont, the granite capital of the world and basically it became a competition to see who would get the job. The result is some of the finest granite headstones in the world, all located in the small town of Barre.

 

The headstones are amazing, especially when you understand that they were hand carved. The intricate details are difficult to capture on film, but we tried. Here are a few pictures and there are more in the Picasa Web Album titled "Hope Cemetery". Hope you enjoy.

 

 

more stones

 

Clayton, NY (Sept 25 - 29)

 

So we drove from Niagara Falls up along the lake towards Clayton, Chain Reaction stop from Herb in Scottsburg. It is a beautiful drive, a little windy today. We kept seeing signs for "horse and buggy". The roads are shared with the Amish up here.

 

Clayton is a very small town right on the St Lawrence Seaway. Our RV park was old and primarily seasonal trailers, but we had the entire "short stay" area to ourselves. The owner, Dave, was great and we ended up posting up there for longer than expected as we needed to REST. We have been running and running like crazy. First night there I took Moe out for an evening walk to watch the sunset. On the way back, I threw his stick and his leash must have locked, because the next thing I knew I was flying through the air. Landed on a rock on my right upper arm. Hurt like hell and gave just a charming, totally black and blue bruise, over the next couple of days. He did not mean to and it was partially my fault and he (Moe) felt so bad .... I had never ever seen him so submissive and so sorry afterwords.

 

Our primary reason for going to this area was to go to the 1000 Islands National Park, a group of islands (1500, not 1000)that was the IN place to stay at the start of the 1900's for the rich out of NYC. They came up here and built castles and homes on the islands they bought to inhabit for a few months every year. Many are still lived in. It had rained so hard in the morning we almost canceled our tour but I am so glad we didn't .... by the time we arrived at the dock it was beautiful, sunny and everything fresh and clean from the down pour. Great time to see all the castles and homes.

 

 

The Boldt Castle is the most famous. It was built in the early 1900's by the owner of the Waldorf Astoria hotel for his beloved wife Louise. They spent one summer in the power house waiting for the main castle to be built with their 2 small children. They were ready for the Grand Opening and party on February 14th (her birthday) when word came to the workers at the castle two weeks prior to the planned event to stop all construction .... Louise had died. He never lived in the castle or stepped foot on the island again and told his children it was never to be worked on while he was alive. It sat vacant except for vagrants until the mid 1970's when it was bought by the parks department and the refurbishing began. The castle has 365 windows .... one to clean for each day of the year. It is an ongoing process but open to the public for self guided tours.

 

The top floors have not been refurbished yet and the graffiti up there is just heart breaking .... names carved in walls and floor boards and walls with holes ripped out of them, fires started in the corners to keep warm. I guess if you are homeless it wouldn't have been a bad spot to set up camp, but the damage is awful.

Along with the Boldt Castle we went, via the waterway boat tour, to Millionaires Row on both the US and Canadian sides. Amazing and elaborate homes, one for sale for just a measly 21 million. I'm thinking I could handle that.

Lexi, as the only child (teen) on board, got the priviledge of actually driving the tour boat. Although we all looked for seatbelts, none were needed. She did a great job and was at the helm for about 10 minutes. Vic got a great vidoe but not sure how to get it on here. If I can, I will post it later. Meanwhile, here's a picture of our girlie driving the boat. It was a blast for her and for all of us.

 

We finally made it to part of a Seahawks game at a little tavern in Alexandria Bay and got to watch the second half the of Seahawk's win over the Chargers. Sorry Steve, but we loved the game.

Lots more pictures in the web albums off to the right of the screen. There are two albums for this area ... Two Nations Tour and extras. Was combining two phone cameras and our regular camera. Enjoy the pictures and miss you all.

Gasport, NY (Sept 22-25)

**Blogger didn't want to upload my pics. To the right is a photostream from picasa. Click on "view my gallery" and it will take you to our web album of pictures. Will continue to add more albums.**

Learned another RV Lesson on the Road today driving through Buffalo New York. We were following our navigator after getting off 2 of the most awful bridges. I don't like bridges in the first place in the motor home and these were really arched .... and under construction. Maybe when a bridge is under construction they should close it?? Just a thought.

So right at the end of the bridge we took the exit we were supposed to, circled around under the highway to find 3 underpasses listed at 12 feet. We pulled over as we are at least 12-8 and usually don't go under anything under 13 feet !! No room to turn around anywhere and no feasible way to back up as we would have backed up and around the corner and back onto the bridge where traffic is moving at 55 to 60 MPH. Right behind us comes an Alfa RV (taller than ours) and pulling a car. He pulled in right behind us and Vic walked up and said .... "Hi. Misery loves company. My name is Vic". The two guys got out in the rain and looked at the underpass, I walked around trying to find a spot for us to turn around. We decided on option A. Vic inched the RV forward while Larry and I walked beside it up on the embankment so we could see the clearance. Believe it or not ... we made it without touching ... and so did Larry. Whew !! That was worth a few gray hairs.

Found a great campground that accepted the Passport America so we were half rate at 14 per night for 4 nights. It was about 30 miles out from the falls but just a beautiful spot. Met a few of the seasonals including Pat, a retired RN that has a trailer there right on the lake and a spot in Arizona that she splits her time between. They all loved Moe, coming around in their golf carts to play with him and bring him cookies. The owner said they are hesitant to accept German Shepherds but that everyone loved him and we were welcome back any time.

We spent several days at the falls. The first night Lexi had met some kids her own age and she stayed at the top of the lookout tower with them while we took Moe down around the falls at night, viewing the colored lights they shine on them and enjoying the park almost completely to ourselves. The weather was beautiful ... warm and humid following a record high day at 88 degrees (we brought the heat with us apparently).

We opted to do a formal "tour" the next day, which was a bus with a tour guide that took us to several spots. We saw the whirlpool below the falls and learned that it changes directions twice daily, depending on how much water Canada is pulling. No one is allowed in or around the rapids leading up to it, which are Class 6 rapids, due to several deaths that occurred years ago. It got its name of Devils Hole though from a fight with the Indians in the early 1800's where the white fur traders were run off the cliff and fell to their deaths below.

We missed the Maid of the Mist by about 10 minutes because the bus had to go pick up a couple of stragglers. I thought our tour guide was going to cry but it worked out okay.

On our tour we met Steve, a Vietnam Vet from Houston TX traveling the US. He had such a crazy sense of humor and was absolutely delighted with Lexi, as she was with him. The paired up and had a great time for the tour.

We went to the Cave of the Winds. When you check in they give you these charming yellow rain slickers and shower shoes to wear. You take an elevator down to the base of Bridal Veil Falls and walk around on a wooden decking where you can touch the water coming down the falls. The upper deck is called the hurricane deck. Look in the picture and note the sign that says "No Smoking". It's got to be a joke. You couldn't light anything there.

Lexi loved it !!!! She went to the hurricane deck and backed up into the falls and got completely and totally soaked but was grinning with a smile worth a million dollars. Steve "Dog" had so much fun sending her back up into the water. It was a blast.

From there we went to the Horse Shoe Falls. They are stunning. Canada definitely has the better view of them but breathtaking nonetheless. The rapids above are frightening in that they don't look like they are heading to that kind of fall. Our tour guide told the story of a young 17 year old girl and her 7 year old brother that were in a boat above the falls when the engine quit and the boat capsized. She was rescued by an off duty police office less than 10 feet from the top of horseshoe falls. Her brother, at the age of 7, remains the only person to have survived going over the falls without any protection. They believe that because he was so light weight (65 pounds) that he basically "floated" over the falls.

Our tour ended with a stop at the DareDevil Museum where we got to see several of the devices used to go over the falls. 16 people have done it on purpose. Some lived, some didn't. The fines have gone from 500 dollars to over 10,000 and 30 days in jail, but that doesn't discourage the real Dare Devils. We had the opportunity to meet John "Dave" Munday who runs the museum. He has successfully gone over twice and wants to be the first person to do it three times. He was scheduled to go over July 27 of this year but someone ratted him out. Not to be discouraged, he has another trip over the falls planned but obviously won't say when. He was a great guy, full of energy and personality. So when you read the headlines that he did it again ... know we got to shake his hand !!

Lexi is doing her report from the Niagara region on all the Dare Devils that have done it on purpose. The first was a retired school teacher in 1901 who went over at the age of 63. When she has it done, I will post it. It is very interesting.

I thought we we just going to see a big waterfall but it is so much more powerful than that. I am really glad we made the stop and took the time for a guided tour as we learned so much more than we would have otherwise. It was beautiful weather the whole time there too.

Scottsburg, IN (September 19 - 21)

We left Gordon WI after saying goodbye to Ma and Pa. The drive out was beautiful and we stopped for wild rice and baby swiss cheese in Spooner per Ma and Pa's recommendation. We had another Walmart night in Madison, WI and got out early the next morning. Lavender grows wild along side the freeways and everything is turning green again the farther south we get. We crossed over the Illinois state line at 0930 and paid our first toll of the trip at 2.85 for the privilege of driving on a crappy road !!! It costs us 16 dollars to just get through Chicago. Lexi loved the sky line and we had about an hour detour situation where we got just a little lost before we made our way back to the right freeway going the right way.

Traveled down on Hwy 65 through Indianapolis and listening to football on Vic's phone. Still haven't got to see a game yet and wouldn't have wanted to see that one (Denver). Got to Scottsburg and found an overpriced RV park to stay in (44/night). The good part was that they sold the Passport America, which gives us 50% off our stay at selected campgrounds, so it came down to a reasonable price (24/night). Nothing special about the campground. We are in Scottsburg for one reason only. I wanted to surprise Dad, and mom too, by going and caring for the Rice family cemetery as the last time they were out the stones were in poor condition.

Got up early the next day during a record heat wave of 98 degrees ... HOT HOT HOT. And humid too. We went to the county clerks office and we were able to get a county map that has the Rice Cemetery listed. With the map and dad's memory, we were able to find it. It is a small cemetery and about 100 yards back from a road that was chained off with a "Private Property" sign but no number listed so we just went on in through the soybean fields to the cemetery on the hill. Lexi had her brush and scrubbed each and every Rice stone to clean them up. One is falling over and we picked it back up and leaned it against the base stone but am not sure how many more years it will last.

We also were able to find Maggie's grave stone in a different cemetery. Maggie was Grampa Rice and Uncle Bob's mother and she died very young from TB, leaving behind 3 small boys. It was sad to see. I didn't realize they had lost their mother so young. Her site is in good condition.

At the Scottsburg IN city cemetery we found Russell Rice's headstone. His is in the best condition of all so Lexi had no cleaning to do; instead she picked up some beads from the ground and placed them on his grave.

It was a quick short visit to Scottsburg but we did what we intended to do and I am so happy we got to see the cemetery and that Lexi had the opportunity to clean the stones "for grampa".

We left the next morning driving through Jefferson County Indiana where the original Rice homestead was. We didn't find the actual area but it was just nice to look out on the same rolling hills that my ancestors did. It is a beautiful area. We wanted to take the scenic route but about 7 miles in .... thank GOD there was an option to get back to the main highway. It was a crazy 7 miles and everyone driving towards us looked at us like we were insane !!! The road only said "No through trucks" not "No trucks". We have learned our lesson though that we need to take routes that are safe for through trucks too.

We met a great man at our RV park in Scottsburg named Herb. He is from the Merytle Beach area and was on a several month US tour. He gave great great advice for the next couple of weeks as he had just come down from upstate New York. Per his advice for our Chain Reaction tour, we are now headed to Clayton NY, the 1000 Island Two Nation Tour and the Hope Cemetery in Barre, VT

We got as far as Akron where we planned to spend the next night but decided to keep going. Was a great freeway surrounded by miles and miles and miles of Ohio cornfields. And around the next bend ... more cornfields. Off to your right ... cornfields. And up over the next hill on your left ... more cornfields. It got so monotonous that we were excited to see a soybean field (surrounded by cornfields).

We skirted through Pennsylvania and on into New York. Lexi finally said she felt like she was a long way away from home. Spent the night in another Walmart just over the state line in Fedoria, this one really not worth it as I ended up spending over 100 dollars at Walmart and we happened to be there the night of their scheduled parking lot cleaning. Late into the night we got hit by the remnants of Hurricane "something" ... can't remember which one. But the winds came in with tons of rain, we had no leaks and by the next morning it was overcast and a little windy, but not bad.

Gordon, WI (September 15-18)

We left Itasca and took a short but very windy trip over the bridge in Duluth and on to Gordon, WI. This is our kind of country here. They have ATV trails, legal and encouraged, along all the roads and it is legal to ride on the road as well. Ma and Pa, old friends of Vic's, own a little slice of heaven on Crystal Lake. We loved our time with them. Ma taught Lexi how to macrame necklaces and left her with string, lots of beads and catalogs and instructions. It has kept her busy along the road and counted for an art credit that day.




Their grandson Jake brought up his son Ashton on Friday and we had a great visit with him too. Moe was so happy to have his own friend in Ashton.




It was really nice for Vic to catch up with old friends and for me to meet new ones. Truly amazing people that were so welcoming and open with us. They sent us off with home made burritos and jars of homemade and homegrown chili, stew, salsa and hot sauce. Yummy yummy. Thank you thank you Ma and Pa. And I gave Ma a bunch of the sand dollars we had picked up from Westport earlier in the summer for her art projects. I knew I brought them all for a reason.

Our hope is to meet up with them next summer in Wyoming for some real high country wheeling and camping. We will keep our fingers crossed that it all works out. And maybe Pa will buy a Polaris by then ... LOL. Just kidding Pa. We are counting on your Honda to pull our Polaris's out of trouble. (Just kidding Vic... LOL).

Entering their driveway are a variety of hand painted signs that Ma makes. The one I got the biggest kick out of was a "Wall Drug" sign ... only 637 miles away. Between Rapid City and Wall Drug (at the entrance to the Badlands) is probably over 100 Wall Drug Signs. It certainly makes that 70 mile trip more entertaining. What a kick to see another Wall Drug sign at their house.

We had such a great time and can't wait to see them again. Here are a few pictures of our time there.

Itasca State Park (Sept 14 - 16)

Thanks to Mom we didn't miss the headwaters of the Missippippi River. Itasca State Park is the most beautiful place we have hit so far. The colors were already turning in the trees, Itasca Lake was gorgeous and right near our camp and there were very few campers down there while we were there. The weekends before and after had been sold out so we were quite lucky.

This is the view of the lake from right near our campground and the next is a picture of Moe at camp playing with his favorite toy !!




We headed up to the head waters and Lexi, as part of her science project, filled a water bottle from the headquarters. We will have her get an additional water bottle from the Mississippi River far down stream near the gulf, and then compare them. The water up here is so clear that I had to put black electrical tape on the bottle and store it in the bathroom cupboard so someone didn't drink it. Don't think we will have to worry so much with the next bottle.

Here are some pictures of us all at the head waters. It was a beautiful day to be there.






Oh and I almost forgot about the racoons at Itasca. They were everywhere. We took Moe out for a night time stroll and he bolted up a tree. We could see the bugger up there looking down at us so we decided, right quickly, to get back to camp. That night, knowing they were all around, including on our awning looking in the door of the RV, we put Moe's food into his kennel and locked it. The next morning there were only 2 pieces left !! Don't know how they got it through the bars but they did.

Aberdeen SD (Sept 13-14)

Just a quick overnight in a Walmart parking lot. On our way there, we went through a serious bug storm. Had to stop and wash the windshields twice in 15 miles just so we could see out. It was gross.

After setting up the slide at Walmart we couldn't get it back in !! The screw had broken on the gear thing but Vic was able to fix it ... Thank God. I really didn't want to spend one more night at Walmart, but they are very kind to travelers and its nice for a quick over night.

Hill City SD (Sept 7 - 12)

Found a wonderful RV campground with huge sites and open fields for Moe to run in right out side of Hill City, SD. We are now after Labor Weekend and got a 40 percent savings off from their standard rates. Planned to post up here for 3 nights but ended up staying 5 just because we loved the area and because I needed a grieving day after Jeff flew home on the 10th. He was an absolute joy to have along and we miss him so much. His enthusiasm and his willingness to help with the heavy stuff, as well as serving us pancakes and Eggs Benedict in bed .... will be missed for the rest of the trip. But I am glad he was able to join us for the time he did and now he is ready to get on with the next steps in his life. But Jeffy .... so you know ... we miss you every day. And yes, I am packing the car right.

We all went to visit Mt Rushmore the first day, once during the day and then back to the lighting ceremony in the evening. Lexi was hilarious, holloring out .... "Look guys ... its that Dude" when she was the first to catch the profile of Washington as we approached the top. The lighting ceremony was remarkable and a privilege for us to be a part of honoring our veterans in such a way. Very moving for both kids. Our neighbor Bob from California, at the RV park, is a Vietnam war vet, and we were able to convince him to join us for the lighting ceremony on September 11, 2010. He had tears in his eyes after the ceremony and told us it was the first time he had truly been welcomed home. I am so glad we got to be a part of that for him. Probably 250 vets went down on stage that night.

I made the reservations for Jeff to fly home the evening of the 8th for the 9th, or so I thought until the next morning, early, when I went to print him his boarding pass, only to find out his flight was on the 10th. Since we were up early, and its Jeff's favorite time of day, we decided to head out early morning through the Needles Highway Loop where the road is literally cut through the cliffs. It was amazing to see in the early morning light.

That evening we headed to the Badlands so Jeff could see them before he left the next morning. We brought Moe with us, which turned out to be a very good idea. Hit the Badlands about an hour before sunset and the colors where beautiful. Strange area though ... makes you wonder if you are still on planet earth. We had never seen anything like it. The trip home was quite eventful. Huge lightening storms over the entire sky with almost continuous strikes and heavy heavy rain. Went from 70 mph to 25 mph when it hit. Just crawled along the freeway, thinking that was safe than stopping, and we finally drove through it. Figured we had us all in the car, including Moe, so anything that happened to the RV would just be "stuff". But when we got back, it didn't look like the storm had hit camp.

Jeff left on an early morning flight the next day and after a few tears, we decided to just stay a few more days and relax. Lexi really wanted to go to Mt Rushmore to celebrate the anniversary of 9/11 and honor our vets again. We enjoyed it even more the second time around.

The taste treat of the week was fresh home made pie from the Purple Pie Place in Custer, SD. Bought an apple the first day and actually drove back for a peach the next day. They were unbelievably good.

Here's a few pics of our time in the Rushmore Area. I am going to be figuring out how to post a link to a Picassa Web album that will have the rest of the pictures.

Cody WY (Sep 3 - 6)

Finally got the pictures from the camera to the computer and had to go back and update this part of our trip with the pictures of our night out at Cassie's to celebrate our anniversary.
















Our camp site in Cody. Nice clean shiny bus !!!!



And that's what we call a good hair day in this household !!


Arrived in Cody WY on Friday of Labor Day Weekend. We were a little worried about getting a spot but had no problems. Pulled into Ponderosa RV park. Sites were a little close together but it worked out. We ended up taking 3 tent spots and actually had more room than if we had taken an RV spot. The last day a mobile service came and washed the RV. The guy that did it is a police officer from Cody and does this on the side. He was very impressed with Jeff's wax job. Got laundry completed, thanks to Lexi who did it all .... wash, dried, ironed, folded or hung up AND put away. While she was doing that we scoured the inside of the bus, treated all the wood and organized. Got great pictures of us all dressed up to go out to dinner but they are on the camera, so will post later. Had a wonderful steak dinner at Cassie's Steakhouse in Cody and Jeff and Lexi talked to the waiter without us knowing and had an anniversary dessert brought to the table. Made us so proud of them!!!!

Did not do the Buffalo Bill Museum and regretting it now.We just had a hard time because the only thing offered was a 2 day admission to 5 museums but Lexi and Jeff did go to the Dug Up Gun Museum.

The absolute best part of our journey to Cody was our day drive .... a 10 hour drive and too long on Moe to be left behind. He was good but missed us too much.

We started the driving going to Meeteetse, WY (population 250)and had a drink with Jeff at the Cowboy Saloon where Butch Cassidy was arrested on trumped up horse thieving charges and spent 18 months in jail. He was actually arrested for talking about planning on robbing the local bank, built in 1904 and still standing. It is now a museum but holds the distinction of having never been robbed.

We had seen a write up on "The Cowboy Chocolatier". His name is Tim Kellogg and he is a local rancher that opened up the chocolate store in Meeteetse. Not only is he fabulous at what he does, but he is an absolute stud too and we got to see him .... thought Lexi was going to swoon to the floor. Had the best treat there (other than the glimpse of Mr. Kellogg ... lol) ... Sea Salt Caramel covered in dark chocolate. Everything was good but that was the best. They don't allow pictures to be taken in the shop, but if you look him up, you will see what I mean.

We left Meeteetse and drove west on the main road for about 6 miles and then turned onto a gravel road for about 30 miles that ended as a 4 wheeling road going over and through streams. We made it fine in the tracker and Jeff had a good time driving it. Our destination was Kirwin, WY, a ghost mining town.



View of our drive up through the mountain gorge heading to Kirwin.



In 1907, Kirwin, at 9000 feet, had a population of 200 people and 38 buildings, when it was hit with a record snow storm that dumped 100 feet of snow on the town in 9 days of straight blizzards that got stuck in the gorge. An avalanche hit the town, destroying many buildings and killing 3 people. A rescue mission was sent up from Meeteetse, and every resident left immediately and no one has lived there since. The locals say that when the went back the next spring, dinner dishes with food had been left at the dining room tables of many homes. People left that quick. Amelia Erhart and her husband built there but their home site was abandoned following her disappearance.

We saw old log cabins, still standing from the early 1900's, the mine, which you can go into and look around and lots of old mining equipment. Jeff was so excited and had such a wonderful time that his whole attitude was contagious. He has such a passion for history and all things old. I will never forget that day and all the joy in watching him and listening to his excitement. What a great kid !! And the other one had a good time too and behaved herself.



Jeff and I at the entrance to the mine.


The Kirwin mine that survived the avalanche.

!!
Bother and sister trying out the double seater outhouse. For real.








Sorry that was a little long but was one of our absolute high lights. Will update from Cody on tomorrow. The sun has broke out of the clouds here and it is just absolutely gorgeous.



This a truck Jeff and Vic saw in Cody WY.