All good things must end

Hi everyone,
(Jay) As they say, all good things must end. And so, after driving 6,300 miles,we have come to the end of a really beautiful journey. We visited many wonderful relatives who opened their homes and hearts to us. We met some nice strangers with whom we had interesting conversations. And we found that the three of us, yes I include Zoe, got along well; were companionable and entertaining. The final three days were a little rushed as we hurried home. We got a little tired of hotels! Zoe and I had a little excitement one evening just outside of Madison, Wisconsin. The hotel had a very long hall and Zoe and I had just stepped out the door of our room for her evening constitutional; I heard the door click shut and at the other end of the hall an elderly couple had trouble opening their door and accidently dropped the leash of their dog. He, or she, was about twice the size of Zoe and once she saw us charged full tilt in our direction. Zoe put on an air of nonchalance while I moved to intercept the flying ball of fur. Fortunately, he/she was friendly and we returned he/she to his embarrassed owners, who also proved to be nice and talkative. We met again at breakfast the next morning.


(Rachel) We arrived home on Wednesday at 4. I remembered saying years ago that I would never do that drive from St. Paul to Maine again! Actually, I did not do it as Jay did all the driving on the way home. In retrospect, we should have planned more time and had some stops on the way…oh well.
Final thoughts:
1. The best parts of the trip were when we were with family: Kaitlin and Jeff, Jeffrey Zollers, Jason Zollers, Minda and Steve, Andy Richardsons, John and Lois Carlson, Alberta and Viola.
2. We loved having an RV and would definitely do it again! It was so much more relaxing than a car. We had our food, the same bed every night, our clothes were unpacked and we could step back to our “house” anytime we wanted.
3. There is still an awful lot of open space in the U.S. We drove for hours seeing only a few houses and vast amounts of fields, open prairie. It is hard to remember this on the east coast.
4. The National Park system is incredible. Their exhibits, movies and bookstores were wonderful at every stop. The only issue we had was limiting how many books we could buy!
5. Nebraska or Iowa should educate the public about their farming. Some crops we couldn’t identify. We wanted to know how things were harvested and when. Perhaps they could put up informative billboards instead of ads! (John Carlson gave us a lesson on farming when we visited them in Benedict, NB) We discovered that in addition to corn, much of which goes for ethanol, they are raising acres and acres of sorghum and soy beans. We can’t begin to tell you how many miles of each we drove past!
6. Maine is fortunate to have an anti-billboard law! They are practically everywhere else and obnoxious!
7. Every new development in the states we were in is the same - small lots and cookie cutter houses. Sadly regions are loosing their individuality. There are MacDonalds and Burger Kings, among others, everywhere!
8. It is hard to find regional foods AND farm stands!
9. America is run on trucks!
10. Zoe is an incredible traveler. She slept on the back seat or between the seats of the RV. She did well in motels, other people’s homes, and loved being with the grandchildren, especially Espen who spent a lot of time with her. I don’t think there was a person or animal she met that she didn’t like. It all worked out better than we hoped!
11. Thanks for reading about our great adventure. It sure was fun!!!!

Love, Rachel, Jay, and Zoe

Grand Avenue in Minneapolis

With tornado warnings last night and severe thunderstorms, we were glad to be back in a house with a cellar. Andy and family ducked into a restaurant in Minneapolis as the sirens went off and hail hit their car. Luckily, nothing happened. I love St. Paul, but I don’t know about this severe weather!
Jay and I spent yesterday returning the rv (5% discount the next time we rent!) and then wandered down Grand Avenue in and out of neat shops until we landed at Grand Creamery which has the yummiest ice cream and homemade waffle cones with a malted milk ball in the bottom! We met the boys at the bus and then went to a new playground with a giant covered slide. I can’t believe we didn’t take pictures, especially of Jay going down-Nana was as Kai said “chicken”. (Jay’s note: I went down five times!)
We had a lovely ,late supper with Minda and Steve . It is so comfortable staying with them!
This morning we took the boys to school and ate breakfast there. They wanted us to have an image of them hanging up their bags every morning. We visited both classes in their public Montessori school. The children in both classes came right in and got busy. Impressive and beautiful school.
We are “hanging” out in a coffee shop a couple of blocks from Andy’s just like all the city folk.
Today lunch with the aunts (Alberta and Viola, age 89) and then movie night at Andy’s. Tomorrow maybe a museum with Minda and Steve and a family birthday party with Lisa’s family.
Then…..on our way back to ” da mills”
Love, Rachel and Jay

Reflections

Reflections on our last morning of being on the road with the RV. After a shower moved through last night, and during which Rachel’s tornado phobia turned on high, the sky cleared and this morning we have an absolutely cloudless day. We are just north of the Minnesota line with about four hours of driving to St. Paul where we shall spend the afternoon cleaning our camp wagon from top to bottom.
We have seen endless stretches of prairie; rough impassible land formations (Badlands); huge drugstores which enveloped the whole town (Wall Drug): unusual rock formations (Devil’s Tower); endless prairies; constant winds: treeless plains; little towns of a hundred people clinging to life next to the highway: more endless prairies; pine bluffs; frontier outposts (Fort Laramie); old hometowns (Laramie); meandering rivers (Platte River); constant winds; little church on the prairie (Albin Baptist); some more endless prairies with ceaseless winds; a visit with a cousin in Benedict; and then more prairie driving back up to Minnesota. During this time we enjoyed beautiful weather (no tornados – no, not a one!); many museums and historical sites; and those new graceful windmills which are sprouting up here and there to ease our power problems.
As far as the RV goes: it is wonderful dropping the reins to the horses, and stepping back to your own kitchen, bed and restroom – just like the pioneers! We had to fetch our own water (via a hose), start the campfire (via the gas stove), stoke the fire (via the thermostat), crawl into our bed (queen sized) at night. I figured out how to play freecell solitare with real cards and we got much reading done. There was always something that had to be done, so I never had time to draw, but that was a problem of needing to make too much mileage. Next time will be different! Ha! J & R

St. Paul (2nd time)

Made it to St. Paul Wednesday noon and spent the afternoon cleaning the bronco,
I mean RV. A successful delivery was made to the RV rental place on Thursday. Visits are now taking place with cousins, grandchildren and, my twin aunts. More later,
love, J & R

Benedict

Benedict has a population of 230. The center is dominated by several huge grain elevators, with cute little houses on side streets surrounding them. My cousin’s house sits on a corner lot facing the elevators. We parked our RV in their yard and then, walked across and down the dirt street for supper at a little country café. The sirloin I had was wonderful. We enjoyed visiting together and then, in the morning had breakfast together.
We started driving around eleven and by 6 p.m. had made it over the Minnesota border where we camped in a little town named Mountain Lake.
A funny incident happened a couple days ago. We had stopped at a grocery store where Rachel bought fruit. We have been putting it in a plastic bowl while traveling and usually set the bowl in the sink to keep it from moving. Apparently, we forgot because after a short way down the road we heard a crash. Now I must mention that Zoe likes to ride in the front between us on the floor between the seats. A little later, I put on the brakes and, suddenly, Zoe jumped in the air as a cantaloupe came zooming down like a bowling ball from the back to the front of the RV. Strike! She was as surprised as we were.

Trek Eastward

Hi all,
Today began our trek eastward. We stopped one last time in historic downtown Laramie and bought coffee, rolls, and enjoyed the 19th Century architecture in the buildings. Then, got onto route 80 east bound off of Grand Avenue and began driving.
After passing Cheyenne we continued almost to the state line where we took route 215 north to a little town by the name of Albin where 102 years ago my grandfather Nordstrom started a little Baptist Church. The town is 17 miles north of Pine Bluff on a very straight road which had virtually no turns in the entire 17 miles! At last a little sign announced “Albin - population 120”. The church sits on the main road (the road through town) and has had two additions since my grandfather’s time. We were fortunate to meet a woman leaving who knew the name and gave us a tour throughout. Wanda Moore is a dental hygienist in Cheyenne – an hour away by her shortcut route. We were unfortunate to miss the lunch which they had after church. It would have been fun to meet more of the people many of whom met my mother and two aunts at the 100 year celebration two years ago. On the wall in the hallway was a picture of the first pastor and his family – so exciting to see my grandparents and family. It was interesting to see where my mother spent some of her childhood.
A rainstorm chased us out of Albin; very strong winds blowing up soil from the surrounding fields made it dark. We outran it and continued on 80 to Ogallala where we are camped next to a beautiful lake near a huge dam where an even larger lake is formed.
We met some locals who helpfully told us how to get here and were so talkative we thought we might be talking the rest of the night. Tomorrow we expect to arrive in Benedict where my cousin John Carlson lives. Such an adventure we are having.

Our campsite was lovely, just below the dam right on a lake with many trees surrounding us. After supper the wind began and then the thunder and continuous lightning. We were rocking and rolling. I went to the front seat to watch and because it felt less hazardous. Jay joined me and we stayed for half and hour until it let up. It didn’t help that I am reading The Children’s blizzard by David Laskin about the great blizzard of 1888 that happened within minutes. (not that I expected snow!)
Morning found it all quiet and Jay spotted three American White Pelicans which are quite rare and fish actually jumping out of the water in front of us. A walk around the campground and we met a couple from Half Moon Bay, CA in a huge rv which they showed us. They are on a 4 month retirement trip hoping to be in Maine for the foliage and will then go down the eastern seaboard to Florida and home along the southern borders.
On our way to Benedict we stopped at the Great Archway Museum which extends over route 80. It was recommended by the couple who helped us find the campsite. It turned out to be a multimedia walk through history of the westward movement.
Now we are in Benedict after a day of Jay trying to hold the camper on the road with gusty winds and many trucks. We just did a drive through the town of 230 people, neat houses and big grain elevators in the middle. We are right near a railroad track so I imagine we will hear a whistle tonight as we have every night on our trip. You are never far from the railroad in the west!

Wyoming

Hi again,
On the morning of the 14th we skedaddled (western talk) out of Lusk and enjoyed the prairie for mile after mile as we wound our way down route 85. At the town of Fort Laramie, we detoured over to the real Fort Laramie, one of the 19th century forts which helped the pioneers cross the plains and “subdue” the Indians. It was on a flat plain next to the Platte River, down some from the bluffs around it. It served as a fort between 1849 and 1890 when it was no longer needed. Many houses and barracks have been restored; many are preserved as ruins; and some, over its long history, have been lost entirely. It was easy to see how it was a welcome sight for the tired travelers, but also how boring life must have been there for the army. After surveying the entire place, watching a movie on the history, helping the economy by buying several books, and becoming better informed citizens, we drove down the road a few miles to two other nearly forgotten historical spots. The first was called Register Rock; a large bluff where people from the wagon trains camped overnight and carved their names and dates into the stone face of the soft limestone rock. Many 20th Century idiots have carved their names too, but the oldest section now has a chain link fence to protect it. I took several pictures of old names, of course. The second site was a spot of rock where the wagon wheels actually wore tracks in the stone – they figure over 500,000 people migrated out on the Oregon Trail – and in one spot the trail was about 4 feet down in the stone. Soft stone!
What beautiful country as we drove down route 34 to Laramie; high stony outcroppings on both sides of the road at times; much endless prairie grasses, big storm clouds building to our northeast. I get very nostalgic about it.
Laramie has grown. Developments have sprouted out in every direction. We got situated in the KOA campground – unfortunately, located right next to Interstate 80. There are many trailer parks in the area and we both thought “uck” as we drove in, but it hasn’t been at all bad. We slept right through the hum of the highway.
After checking in we took a quick tour and went through the downtown as I knew it, now known as the “historic” downtown – boy, does that make me feel old – and then the old neighborhood. I found the elementary school I attended (Beitle School) and then we parked next to the park we used to walk through and walked over to 1933 Custer. There were thick lush bushes and trees in every yard now – not the empty yards with scrawny trees struggling to live that I remember – and the houses are small and packed close together. There were kids playing in the front yard and I introduced ourselves. A very polite young man (tenth grader) talked to us and told us to look at the back yard and take pictures. He offered to take us inside too, but without a parent we wouldn’t go in. They had just moved in a few weeks ago and he attends a recent high school a few blocks further out off Grand Avenue. The neighborhood has become more “seedy” and lower income than what it once was. A huge movie theatre complex occupies the end of the street where the National Guard Armory used to sit. Ugly!
We treated ourselves to a steak dinner in the “historic” district after walking around downtown for awhile. There was a street farmers market going on, on a couple of blocked off streets, which we enjoyed. Have found the Episcopal Cathedral, but not the old Baptist Church where we used to attend. Today, Saturday, we will do some more driving around and looking. It is a slow morning. Resting.
more later, j & r

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Last Night in South Dakota

Our last night in South Dakota, the wind rocked us to sleep. Then it kept rocking us all night including a few gusts which woke us up and made us think we were Dorothy in Wizard of Oz being carried to places unknown The evening temperature was 91, the mornings 40! We went from air conditioning to heat!
This morning we crossed over into Wyoming! Whooopeee!! It felt like coming home. Devil’s Tower was our first stop. After a ranger talk on the climbers at Devil’s Tower, we walked the entire perimeter and watched several climbers. The last two were inching their way up a tiny crack in a vertical face hundreds of feet up from the base. I (J) spent so long looking through the binoculars that we didn’t leave the park until after one thirty. Devil’s tower is sacred to the Native Americans and we saw prayer cloths tied to trees as we walked. Legend has it that some girls were trying to escape a bear and the rock grew out of the ground to help them. The bear clawed the sides as he tried to reach them. This actually seems a more “plausible” explanation than any of the three geologists give! Can you tell I love Native American legends?! ®
A long drive across the prairie; beautiful rolling country side; cattle; deer even in towns; antelope all along the way and also in towns; grasslands; one of the most unpopulated areas in the country – the county has 700 acres for every individual. God’s great earth!
We are in a tiny campground in Lusk, Wyoming. It is very minimal; not even a caretaker. Fortunately, other campers helped us out with the water hookup. We went through a Newcastle, Wyoming. Not where either of us want to retire! Then, it was 78 miles to Lusk with absolutely NOTHING in the way of services. Guess you get used to watching your gas gauge!
Tomorrow, we move on to Fort Laramie and then Laramie where we called ahead for reservations at the local KOA.

Bad Dude in the Badlands

I stayed on the trail!

Palisades Park

beautiful gorge - we actually walked across that bridge.
A sign said no diving or jumping!

Palisades National Park

South Dakota evening of the eleventh
It seemed as though we drove all day, fighting a strong wind out of the north and really didn’t go far. We saw several windmill farms which actually look quite beautiful in the cornfields. Everyone is growing corn instead of other things for ethenal. Managed to cross the state line into South Dakota, barely, and are camped in a beautiful campground with an amazing gorge nearby called Palisades National Park. It is a nice experience to pull into a spot and plug yourself in. We took a walk to see the gorge, met a couple from Lewiston, Maine and then cooked a chicken supper. Jay had his first experience leveling the rv with some lego like things. I thought it looked fine, but I know he was just waiting for an excuse!
Windy again today, Sept 12, but being on the interstate, made good time. The speed limit is 75 (yes, I did type that right) with reduction to 65 at construction sites. Lots of straight stretches. We took the loop through the Badlands and Rachel liked it more than she thought she would. It has a rather prehistoric beauty. Then, we stopped at Wall Drug for ice cream and checked out the bookstore – bought two books. Everything had a western theme, you know. I looked for rattlesnake bookends, but couldn’t find any. I don’t know if Rachel would have let me bring them in the house!
Tonight we are in Rapid City, just short of the Wyoming line. We expect to go to Devils Tower tomorrow and then head south.
Love to all, j&r on the road

St. Paul

Hi all,
Friday afternoon we arrived in St. Paul after a visit in Northfield at St. Olaf’s College. We walked through the chapel and saw the new organ by Holcamp – it probably makes a good sound, but the case is minimal and not very interesting (they are known for their terrible cases – or lack of them. Arrived in St. Paul in time to unload at Steve and Minda’s and then meet the bus when Espin and Kai arrived home from school. Friday night was “movie” night and so we had pizza with them and watched a movie about seals and saving a baby in the ocean. Saturday we visited the kids school. Sunday we attended the Greek Orthodox Church with Minda and Steve; a very long service – three hours; actually four if you include the singing of hymns and sung readings before the service proper. Episcopalians, don’t complain about an hour and a quarter!!!
Tuesday morning, after a nice weekend visiting with Andy and Lisa and Espen and Kai at 1129 Blair and Minda and Steve at 1759 Blair (please note the numbers may be wrong since I am trying to remember) we picked up our new RV on Monday afternoon. Our very first act with Rachel following me in the Liberty was for me to miss the turn onto 94 from 52 in St. Paul and for us to trail down various streets until we could get turned around again and on the right road. That said, we loaded all our possessions into our new home, dropped by to show it to Espen and Kai and headed out of town. That is it’s own story, but dusk found us as the only inhabitants in a campground near New Germany, Minnesota – beautiful spot - with a little man made lake next to us; sunny skies and everything. First night was successful – we were getting used to cramped quarters and used to cooking on our own.
Our home, starting from the back, has a “Queen sized” bed in the rear left corner with the only access at the foot on the right – otherwise you have to crawl over it. A coffin sized shower (on end) is in the right hand rear corner with a toilet right next to it.
Showering is an experience as you have to wet yourself down; turn a little switch which stops the water; soap yourself up; then, hose yourself down to rinse. Drying off is a little like spelunking putting body parts into unnatural positions to get a towel to them.
Continuing, facing back still, on the right is a little bathroom sink with mirror; then, a little closet for hanging clothes; followed by the refrigerator and freezer, stacked, and lastly, our kitchen table with seating for four – the drivers seat is forward of that. On the left from the bed, is the kitchen – gas stove, oven, microwave, sink to the left of that, cup boards over sink; then, the door to the outside. A swivel chair is next to the door – then – ta da the cab again. Over the cab is another bed – double – which we don’t use except for storage. There is a TV over the swivel chair so we are always civilized!
Zoe has found herself a little spot to sleep at night between the two front seats. She has steadfastly refused to sleep in her bed which we faithfully haul around everywhere. Right now she is in it though under the table (which also makes into a bed although I can’t imagine how six people would survive in here) where we keep the bed during the day.
Rachel says we will never make South Dakota if I don’t start driving so,
Bye for now. J&R

Hello from Illinois!

We left Columbus on Tuesday after a great weekend with 3 of our grandchildren and their parents!
I decided that we should stop in Dayton and visit the Wright Brother's Cycle Shop and National Park Center. We seem to be on a Wright theme here! As all the National Parks, it was extremely well done. We now understand how an airplane works and were fascinated to learn how much and how they figured things out. Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American poet was also featured-fascinating story. Then we went to another museum to see the actual 1905 plane. There is so much more to see in Dayton especially the air museum which would take all day. It is an easy jaunt from Columbus so we will do it on another trip.
Today we spent the afternoon in Springfield, Illinois. First we went to Frank Lloyd Wright's largest prairie style house, the Dana Thomas house. Very different than any we had seen, and early, it is filled with gorgeous stained glass windows and lights.
Next was Abraham Lincoln's home which is in a four block National Park district for pedestrians only. We had a tour of the home (on my wish list) and walked through the district. Again, many things to see in Springfield related to Lincoln if we had more time.
Off toward St Paul tomorrow......
Love, Rachel and Jay

A Trek Westward

Hi all,
A week ago this morning, Rachel, Zoe, and I climbed into our Jeep Liberty and began a trek westward into the setting sun, although at the time the sun was rising and at our backs. We stopped at Milford, Pa the first night just over the Pennsylvania line from N.Y. Cute town. Tuesday, after a waterfall stop and a couple hours visiting Jim Thorpe (it is a town, not a person) we went on south of Harrisburg to the home of my niece, Kaitlin and her husband Jeff and new son, Toren. They were most gracious to us even though we mooched tremendously; and, Wednesday were off to our tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield. We took our pictures at the monument commemorating the 20th Maine where they, under the brilliant leadership of Joshua Chamberlin, stopped the attack on the second day and, thereby, saved the Union army. No mean accomplishment on a hot July day! It was emotional to stand behind the stone wall at the point where Picket's Charge was turned back and Lewis Armistead was killed. We were able to tour both halves of the battlefield. Zoe enjoyed nosing around and peeing on the Confederate side.
After several hours, we continued to Chambersburg where Wilson College is located and where Rachel went to college many , ummm, I'd better not say, years ago. It has a very beautiful campus. We had one moment of intense excitement when I did a U-turn, unknowingly, on a one way street and we found ourselves facing a line of oncoming traffic. Fortunately, salvation was a little alley away where we escaped and saw another part of normally unseen Chambersburg. Then we drove on to within a few miles of Bear Run where our next days excitement awaited us.
On Thursday morning we toured Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwaters; a moment we had both anticipated for many years. It exceeded our expectations and is probably the most beautiful house and yard in the country. We were overwhelmed! In the afternoon we toured yet another FLW house at Kentuck Knob; also beautiful, but different than Fallingwaters. After all that excitement we continued the last 200 miles to Jeff and Brandi's home outside of Columbus. Since they both had to work Friday we got to spend the day with our grandchildren Joanna and Grant.
In the evening, Jason and Trish arrived with Caitlyn, our youngest granddaughter. So we had a full house for the weekend: six adults, three grandchildren and three dogs!!!
We've had a marvellous weekend. Jason and Trish had to go home Sunday and so the rest of us went to the Greek festival in Columbus where we ate Greek food, watched Greek dancing and had a tour of their beautiful Cathedral. Monday, Labor Day, has been pretty much a day of rest and day of preparation for leaving tomorrow morning on the next leg of our trip.
love to all, Jay, Rachel, and Zoe