Today's journey was all about one place - Badlands National Park. Although Chuck and Lucie had visited more recently, I had not been here since one of our childhood cross-continental camping trips. The park was established as a national monument in 1929, the re-designated as a national park in 1978. It consists of two units connected by a very narrow strip of land. The south unit, also known as the Stronghold Unit, is entirely on the Pine Ridge Lakota reservation, and is administered by the National Park Service under an agreement with the tribe. A separate and much smaller area, also completely on the Pine Ridge Reservation, is called the Palmer Creek Unit. Both of the south unit areas are devoid of hiking trails and paved roads, and completely undeveloped. There are talks and even nascent ... read more

(Disclaimer: My narrative includes certainly elements best categorized as historical fiction. They may use terms that are not necessarily politically correct. Please accept them as necessary verisimilitude.) Our day started with a tour of the Ft. Leavenworth Frontier Army Museum.The collection consists mostly of various preserved frontier Army transportation vehicles, although it also includes uniforms and other Army paraphernalia. There are several larger weapons, such as gatling guns and howitzers. The fort here was established as a cantonment for troops under Col. Henry Leavenworth. Located on the (Kansas) side of the Missouri, the landing where a ferry was established became the unofficial jumping off point for the California Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Oregon Trail. The fort was instrumental in securing the West for the westward expansion of the young United States. Later,... read more

After leaving Mammoth Cave, we made the journey to St. Louis, where we were to spend two nights. Our hearty band at this time consisted of myself, my brother Chuck, and his wife Lucie. Neither of our wives wished to be gone the entire 5 weeks, so each of them was around for only about half of the journey. the three things we wished to do in the St. Louis were to visit the Cahokia Mounds across the river in Illinois, visit Camp Dubois, and visit the two great cemeteries in St. Louis, wherein are buried many notables, including William Clark. We started with Cahokia Mounds. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site preserves the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. At its peak it probably included nearly 20,000 inhabitants, making it larger than any subsequent city in ... read more

We have always felt an obligation to support local businesses when we travel, and never is this more true than when we are in a wine-producing area. Therefore, we embarked on a guided tour of the Chateauneuf-du-Pape area. This part of the Côtes du Rhône AOC. The rules here for labeling a wine appear to be a little complicated, but as I understand it you can label your wine with the Côtes du Rhône AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) if the wine production and grape sourcing are all within that defined region. As I understand it, you are not allowed to make wine from a single grape variety, but must blend at least two. You can further refine the label if the sourcing and production are done within one of 95 approved communes, and then the label ... read more

Our Oxford experience was spread over parts of two days, so no separate entry for May 15. We drove back to Heathrow that day after finishing our tour of Oxford University. We were to spend our final two nights of the trip in a hotel at the airport in one of the terminals used by Delta. As it turned out, it meant that we still had to walk almost the distance from downtown London to Heathrow to reach our terminal. But before that occurred, we had one final day in London, and it had been reserved for "fun" stuff or to pick up things we had missed initially. There is now a non-stop speedy train from Heathrow to Paddington Station every 15 minutes. We took the train and then got a taxi to Abbey Road Studios. ... read more