
October 3 - 20, 2006
Milwaukee, Wis. - Little Bighorn Battlefield, Mont.
22,384 miles to date
2,241 miles this leg NOTE ABOUT NEW PHOTO FORMAT:
You may have noticed that the photo format has recently changed on this (free) blogging service. If we post more than 30 photos per entry (highly likely), then the majority of the photos appear as tiny thumbnails at the bottom of the entry. But the captions and titles are still there (fear not!), and here are two easy ways to view them in the new format:
1) Click on the first thumbnail and then scroll through the photos in order using the forward and back arrows, like a slideshow. The images show up big and the captions and titles appear alongside.
2) At the end of the blog text, and just above the banks of thumbnails, there is an option to “browse the photo pages.” Click on the “photo pages” link and you’ll get pages of the old-sized (medium-sized) thumbnails with captions and titles. You may have to click through 3-4 pages of these to see them all, but it’s the most like the old format.
AND A NEW FULL-ROUTE MAP:
Full Text Entry: Winter Migration
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Good Morning -- Rain here. Of course. In the thirties last night. Just finished the exciting chore of painting our garage... in time. Larry bought a single engine plane while you've been touring. We flew it to Madison, WI, the end of Sept. and stayed for a week -- the annual mystery convention. What an exciting trip that was. Took our dog Snoop with us. Not sure she was as excited about flying. It is VERY noisy up there.
I must say that we are totally jealous of your trip. We've crossed the country back and forth, car, train, plane, but what you have done is so much more meaningful. I feel you've left a lot of goodwill everywhere you stayed. Three cheers for you two.
I feel guilty about the nights you had to stay in the Wal Mart lots. There is a saying with all the Postmasters in the US - you will always have a place to stay. I should have said something a year ago. I thought you had everything pretty much set. I recall when we found Snoop (dog) ten years ago and took her on a trip to Eastern Washington. Left our windows down for air while we entered a small cafe/store/post office for a cool drink. Snoop jumped out and got lost. It was the Postmaster who called me. The Forest Service ranger found her. The Postmaster kept her over night -- and fed her steak. See, they take in strays all the time!
Don't know if you've seen the news, but KCP bought property on Lawrence St. and plans to build a theatre. We hired an artistic director, had just hired a development director (part-time) and she quit before she hardly got started. We are looking for someone to fill that position. Eventually we plan for it to become a full-time job, with pay, of course. Don't know if this is something you may be looking for, Shelly, but thought I'd toss it out there.
Good luck in the snow -- that must be arriving where you are.
Hugs,
Harriet , Larry, & Snoop
The travel adventures are getting better and better. How will you ever settle down to a "normal" life after this? As usual this was one heck of a nice blog. We are looking forward to seeing you soon but will miss the naratives of your travel across the country and great photos of people and places where you have been. All our love, Dad and Mom
Hi Shelly & Jeff! Katie & I were just marveling that we can't believe we've been reading this blog almost a YEAR! Thanks for providing all the great commentary & photos (and for including Sea Magazine in one of them!). Know you're on the hunt for some employment opportunities to keep you occupied post-trip; of course, we'd love to see you pick up where you left off in Sea! We've missed your contributions. Good luck in the final month(s) of your journey--you've inspired many!
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Clancy GravesWe knew Jeff's relatives were buried near Holstein, and we lucked out at the first cemetery we stopped at. Here are the markers of his great-great-grandparents, Lena and Martin Clancy.
Iowa TerracesJust east of Holstein we noticed many fields were terraced, and we imagined that the Clancys, newly immigrated from Ireland, might have felt at home in this country. No rock walls, though!
Fort RandallOf course we had to stop at Fort Randall in SE South Dakota, even though it was named for a non-relation, the deputy paymaster of the U.S. Army at the time of its founding. The fort was a significant
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Port Townsend VisitYou may have heard a rumor that Jeff was sighted in our home town early in the month. Well, it was true. He flew back from Minneapolis for a job interview, and this was literally the scene that greete
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Elsa & ImantsJeff was graciously hosted during his two-night stay by our friends Elsa & Imants.
VinceAnd he got to hang out with Vince, our 12-y-o Little Brother from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. We've been phoning him once a week and sending lots of postcards, but we still miss him. He's gr
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Hildara & DougWhile Jeff was in Port Townsend, Shelly visited family friends Hildara & Doug in Red Wing, Minn. Doug was in the Peace Corps in Peru with Shelly's parents in the 1970s, and met and married Hildara! T
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Mississippi from Barn BluffThis is a southward-looking view of the Mississippi River from Barn Bluff. It's not far from the river's headwaters in Itasca. In the foreground is a powerplant that burns garbage.
Mississippi BluffsAnother view of the Mississippi from the bridge at the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. The gorge the river has carved here is quite beautiful.
Laura's CabinHildara took Shelly on a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is a replica of the log cabin she was born in near Pepin, Wis. (just across the river from Red Wing, Minn.).
Laura's SignatureLaura Ingalls Wilder inspired Shelly and millions of others with her "Little House on the Prairie" books. Technically, her birth cabin was the "Little House in the Big Woods," only now all the trees h
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Red Wing StonewareShelly took the fascinating factory tour at the Red Wing Stoneware Co., and bought a factory-second salad bowl, one of a very few "souvenirs" we have collected on this trip.
Cannon Valley TrailOn the day Jeff was interviewing in PT, Shelly was working up a chilled sweat on a 20-mile bike ride along the Cannon Valley Trail, led by Doug and his friend Fred (at right). We cycled from Red Wing
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Des Moines HostsIn the Des Moines, Iowa, area we were hosted by a community land trust colleague of Jeff's and his family. Rich and his son Alex and wife Joyce showed us a real good time on the first trip to Iowa for
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Guitar & UkeleleAlex plays guitar, so he and Jeff jammed a bit. Here Jeff is strumming his birthday present from Shelly: a baritone ukelele, one more stringed instrument to add to our collection!
Des Moines CapitolRich took us downtown to the World Food Festival on the streets near the state capitol building. We enjoyed the food, but were more impressed by the Iowans' bravery in planning an outdoor festival in
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Corn PickerRich hooked us up with the quintessential Iowa experience: harvesting corn! We took turns riding in the jump seat of this $250,000 corn picker -- that's Shelly in her yellow parka on the right. Note t
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Corn Picker DriverIn the driver's seat was Rich's friend Scott, a lifelong farmer and master at turning corners in that huge machine. He steers with his left hand and adjusts the augers with a control in his right hand
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Corn Picker ViewThis is the view out the dusty windshield, with a few stray ears of feed corn on top of the augers and a tractor-pulled grain wagon approaching. We offloaded the machine-shelled corn kernels on the fl
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Pierre HostsOur northernmost point in the Midwest was Pierre, S.D., where we were hosted by George and Gloria, the parents of a friend we visited earlier in New Orleans. They took us out in their boat on the Miss
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Badlands DeerFrom Pierre we headed to Badlands National Park for one overnight. We had one good day that allowed for hiking and one bad day (this is sunrise on the morning of that day) where the wind was blowing s
... [more]
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Good Morning -- Rain here. Of course. In the thirties last night. Just finished the exciting chore of painting our garage... in time. Larry bought a single engine plane while you've been touring. We flew it to Madison, WI, the end of Sept. and stayed for a week -- the annual mystery convention. What an exciting trip that was. Took our dog Snoop with us. Not sure she was as excited about flying. It is VERY noisy up there.
I must say that we are totally jealous of your trip. We've crossed the country back and forth, car, train, plane, but what you have done is so much more meaningful. I feel you've left a lot of goodwill everywhere you stayed. Three cheers for you two.
I feel guilty about the nights you had to stay in the Wal Mart lots. There is a saying with all the Postmasters in the US - you will always have a place to stay. I should have said something a year ago. I thought you had everything pretty much set. I recall when we found Snoop (dog) ten years ago and took her on a trip to Eastern Washington. Left our windows down for air while we entered a small cafe/store/post office for a cool drink. Snoop jumped out and got lost. It was the Postmaster who called me. The Forest Service ranger found her. The Postmaster kept her over night -- and fed her steak. See, they take in strays all the time!
Don't know if you've seen the news, but KCP bought property on Lawrence St. and plans to build a theatre. We hired an artistic director, had just hired a development director (part-time) and she quit before she hardly got started. We are looking for someone to fill that position. Eventually we plan for it to become a full-time job, with pay, of course. Don't know if this is something you may be looking for, Shelly, but thought I'd toss it out there.
Good luck in the snow -- that must be arriving where you are.
Hugs,
Harriet , Larry, & Snoop
The travel adventures are getting better and better. How will you ever settle down to a "normal" life after this? As usual this was one heck of a nice blog. We are looking forward to seeing you soon but will miss the naratives of your travel across the country and great photos of people and places where you have been. All our love, Dad and Mom
Hi Shelly & Jeff! Katie & I were just marveling that we can't believe we've been reading this blog almost a YEAR! Thanks for providing all the great commentary & photos (and for including Sea Magazine in one of them!). Know you're on the hunt for some employment opportunities to keep you occupied post-trip; of course, we'd love to see you pick up where you left off in Sea! We've missed your contributions. Good luck in the final month(s) of your journey--you've inspired many!
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