Winter Migration

North America » United States » Montana » Little Bighorn Battlefield
October 23rd 2006

Published: October 24th 2006

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 capti... Read Full Entry

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Shelly & Jeff Randall

Waltzing Matilda

We are a writer/photographer and a land-use planner from Port Townsend, Wash., who quit our jobs to take a year-long "sabbatical" for the 12 months of 2006. Our travel vehicle was a Volkswagen Westfalia camper-van named Matilda, after the Australian phrase (and song) "Waltzing Matilda" -- meaning to hit the road with your possessions slung in a bag over your shoulder. We were glad not to be wandering on foot like those Aussie swagmen! We had a memorable trip waltzing around the U.S. and Canada, learning as much as we could about this vast and diverse continent we call home. So glad we di... full info

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Clancy Graves

We 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 Terraces

Just 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 Randall

Of 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 outpost during the Indian/Frontier Wars after the Civil War.

Port Townsend Visit

You 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 greeted him when he got off the bus from the airport. The annual Kinetic Skulpture Festival was in full swing! (The Yellow School Bus is PT's entry in this krazy kontest.)

Elsa & Imants

Jeff was graciously hosted during his two-night stay by our friends Elsa & Imants.

Vince

And 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 grown!

Hildara & Doug

While 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! This is the view of their town from Barn Bluff, which we hiked to the top of. (Photo courtesy of Doug)

Mississippi from Barn Bluff

This 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 Bluffs

Another view of the Mississippi from the bridge at the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. The gorge the river has carved here is quite beautiful.

Laura's Cabin

Hildara 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 Signature

Laura 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 have been cleared for farming.

Red Wing Stoneware

Shelly 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 Trail

On 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 to Welch, the halfway point, and back. (Photo courtesy of Doug)

Des Moines Hosts

In 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 either of us.

Guitar & Ukelele

Alex 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 Capitol

Rich 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 mid-October! (It was not that warm...)

Corn Picker

Rich 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 the suburban residences that have sprawled to the edge of this corn field, a common sight.

Corn Picker Driver

In 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.

Corn Picker View

This 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 fly, using a side chute.

Pierre Hosts

Our 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 Missouri River, and we could see the state capitol dome from the water.

Badlands Deer

From 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 so hard we didn't want to get out of Matilda!

25th October 2006

Dad and Mom
non-member comment

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!
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

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