Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry, Iowa It is not unusual to view, in a national park, works made of dirt. At Ocmulgee, in Georgia, on last year’s trip we saw huge platform and burial mounds, one as tall as fifty feet and bigger than a city block. Mostly, they believed, these mounds served as platforms for the houses of the power and religious elite. Some of them, as digging found, served as burial mounds. And there were a few that were definitely ceremonial lodges where people entered through a dug-out hole into a chamber that was partially underground, and surrounded with thick walls of dirt. Ancient Puebloans, with a different kind of mostly sandy dirt, didn’t create piles of sand, but rather learned to create mud bricks and built elaborate great houses. Although involving more ... read more

Pikes Peak State Park, MacGregor, IA After a full week of driving and sight-seeing, we finally got a down day. A ‘down day’, or what I sometimes call ‘a day off’, is exactly like it sounds - a day we don’t have anything planned. It is one of those days where I ask Joan ‘ so what do you want to do today?’ And she replies ‘I don’t know. What do you want to do?’ Then, of course, me being male, I respond ‘ I asked you first?’. And, well you know how that goes. Although we don’t do much on down days, there is one ‘task’ that seems to always make it - an afternoon nap! We managed one of those yesterday - first one of the trip - and it was delicious. And we ... read more

Rodeo City Park, Fort Madison, IA We are getting used to breaking camp, hitching up, and driving through the rain. So we knew what to do yesterday when we woke up and it was raining cats and dogs. But even with all the practice, I can’t say that I like it - its hard work and unpleasant. The reward, of course, is that you get to move on. And by the end of the day, after a long 330 miles pretty much straight across southern Iowa, we finally saw patches of blue. Although the rain varied from spells of intense downpours to periods of just dark skies, it was chilly outside and damp. Us westerners aren’t used to all this wet cold. We left Beatrice due east to Auburn and then headed north to Nebraska City ... read more

Chautauqua Park, Beatrice, NE After the day before, yesterday was unremarkable. And, well, that’s just fine. We started the day by enjoying an hour or two in our own private campground. Since we were the only campers, miles from anything, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the birds singing in the background. Joan and I both did a 15-minute workout in the open air, which was invigorating. As part of our changed travel routine, we try to get a short but vigorous workout in before we get in the car for a driving day. It virtually eliminates the back and leg pains I sometimes get driving long distances. Joan does a yoga thing, I have a HIIT routine I do, trying to restore some of my long-gone muscle mass. Meanwhile, the girls kept our morale up ... read more

Lathrop State Park, Walsenberg, Colorado Yes, we made it! I was aiming for leaving right around 1:00 and, well, it was more like 1:30. But we actually managed to get everything done - packed everything on the list, and a few things that weren’t; got the car fully gassed up, checked the mail, bought a bag of ice, hitched up, took a shower, and then shut down the house electrical and water systems. Makes me tired just thinking of all that! But, in the end, everything got done and it really wasn’t too bad. I think it helped to have a detailed exit plan with dozens of things to check off over the last few days. Yes, probably a bit of OCD shining through, but it helps me cope and not forget things. We took a ... read more