Serene Wandering

Do you remember Biosphere 2 from the 1990s?   Eight people lived in a sealed environment for two years out in the Arizona desert. When they finished their term, there was another group that started. I had vague recollections of it.

The Biosphere 2 is still here and is now owned and operated by the University of Arizona. The environment is no longer sealed and no longer conducts human experiments, yet, because the biosphere was created, a wealth of earth science experiments are possible.

The big project now is Landscape Environmental Observatory (LEO). On three large (think massive) landscapes, researchers are investigating how water, carbon and energy move through controlled environments. Much of the research emphasis is on global climate change.

They do “little” experiments too – this one in conjunction with a local high school science class.

When we visited, we were very fortunate to be offered a History Tour in addition to the regular Biosphere 2 Tour. Guides for both tours were excellent, some of the best we’ve ever had.

The question I wanted to ask was “What happened to Biosphere 1?”  They answered that before I could ask.  The scientists consider Biosphere 1 to be our Earth.

With a private expenditure of $150,000,000, Space Biospheres Ventures bought desert property in 1984 and began construction two years later with the purpose of developing self-sustaining space colonization technology. NASA was aware of, but not involved in Biosphere 2.

While construction was proceeding, scientists took 7 – 21 day trial runs in this small, practice biosphere.

Construction was completed in 1991. The glass enclosure has a floor plan of 3.14 acres and used 6500 windows. It is 91 feet high at the highest point and encloses 7.2 million cubic feet. A 500 ton stainless steel liner separates Biosphere 2 from the earth below. It involves thousands of miles of wiring, pipes and ductwork. It is an engineering marvel.

 

Five biome environments are part of Biosphere 2:  rainforest, desert, savannah, ocean and wetlands.

The first of two Human Missions began in 1991. The four men and four women  entered the airlock door below.  To the right was their communication window where people from the outside could come, see and speak with them using a  phone just out of the picture.

Each person had their own apartment and there was a communal kitchen.

The mission started with a 120 day store of food because it would take 90 days for new crops grown within the biosphere to yield food.  The monitoring and growing of food was their primary task and they each spent 65-70 hours per week doing that as well as maintaining systems. They grew 45 different crops and had an orchard for fruit trees. They had a few chickens, pigs and goats.

The biospherians had a largely vegetarian diet with meat included only once a week. They each had one small cup of coffee every two weeks as the coffee plant was deemed non-essential and only a small amount of space was dedicated to it.

A doctor was part of the group to monitor the biospherians’ health and to monitor personal and social responses to the two year enclosure and commitment. After eight months, each biospherian had lost between 20-25 pounds because they weren’t getting enough to eat.

Although the desert area north of Tucson was chosen because it averaged 300 days of sunshine a year, 1991-2 were El Nino years and the skies were far more overcast than usual. That effected the growth of plants and the production of food.

The reduced plant growth also effected the oxygen levels within the biosphere. Optimal oxygen levels for humans range between 19.5 and 23.5 percent. Serious side effects, and eventual death occur if oxygen levels fall below those levels. At or below 17 percent, mental abilities become impaired. Levels of 16 percent and below bring noticeable changes to physical well being. Levels under 14 percent will cause extreme exhaustion from physical activity.

At the end of the first year, the levels of oxygen available for the biospherians were 14.2 percent. They were trying to work 65 -70 hours per week, were constantly hungry and living at the oxygen equivalent of 13,000 feet.   Things were not going well and there was a lot of discord within the biosphere.

The decision was made to use the biosphere’s lungs to inject additional oxygen into the environment. This was done three times and allowed the experiment to continue.   The eight scientists completed their assignment.

There was a second, six month, mission which ended abruptly,  with drama.  We heard and read several different accounts of the problems but all were from the outside, not within Biosphere 2.  The decision was made to end Human Missions.

So, strictly speaking, was the biosphere environment capable of supporting the eight humans, plants and animals for two years without outside assistance?   No, but part of scientific research is learning what goes wrong and why.   That knowledge is important too.

Although still privately owned, the property went through a series of management companies, eventually landing with Columbia University from 1996 to 2003. They built classrooms and housing to allow students studying earth systems science to live onsite while conducting experiments.

 

Biosphere 2 was eventually donated to the University of Arizona who operates it as a research facility. It was a very interesting place to visit and doesn’t feel like a failed experiment at all.

Even in “failed experiments” some positives come forth. One couple each from both the first and second human missions developed relationships and were married after they came out of Biosphere 2.

 

As our first big adventure in Tucson this winter, we took the “Boneyard Tour” at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) Facility on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.  There were no bones but there were lots and lots of aircraft!

Randy hadn’t been on Davis-Monthan since our wedding reception in 1980 and I hadn’t been there since the week after our reception when I went to the base commissary to supply our first kitchen. I was quite nervous about that excursion since I’d been married for a whole week and wasn’t really a military dependent anymore. I am such a rule follower, it is surprising that I went at all. I have never forgotten my transgression….

Back to the tour!  After two ID checks, we boarded a bus and drove through a familiar part of southeast Tucson near Randy’s childhood home. A huge number of planes in “dry dock” have always been visible as you travel around the area and we were ready to learn more about them.

 

We entered Davis-Monthan Air Force Base where no photographs were allowed until we came to the “boneyard” operated by AMARG.  Although we were required to stay on the bus, our friendly docent narrated around the boneyard and told us about its establishment and purposes.   More than four thousand aircraft from the U.S. Air Force, Navy-Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard, and several federal agencies including NASA are placed here.

Aircraft storage on Davis-Monthan began because the government already owned the land, the dry weather was conducive to avoiding decay and the caliche held up the planes.

Caliche is the hardpan a few inches below the surface of the desert floor. It allows the heavy planes to stay on the surface without sinking into the ground, even after decades. (This is the same material that doesn’t allow water to seep into the desert very effectively after a rain.)

The aircraft on-site are in varying degrees of storage, regeneration or recycle. AMARG operates the site as a money maker for the general fund.

When an aircraft is designated for placement at the AMARG site, it goes through a cleaning process and if high end electronics are present, they are removed.

A four layered rubber protectant, the last being white, is sprayed over  windows to protect the inside from excessive heat.

Some planes are scavenged and the parts sold.  These drums contain engines and other large components.

Some planes are stored with a target of eventual reinstatement, such as those for programs that were disbanded under sequestration.

Many aircraft will eventually be designated scrap and cut apart for the metals recycle market.       A few are even released and sold on the used plane market.

B52 model airplanes began flying in 1952. 744 planes were built between 1952 and 1962 and 78 are still on active duty with the US Air Force. The B52 carried nuclear weapons during the Cold War and the destruction of many were part of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT).  The B52s above were cut into five pieces, as per the treaty requirements, and are viewable by satellite for treaty verification purposes. The SALT-II treaty required that more B52s were destroyed, cutting those into three pieces.

The pictures don’t do justice to the massiveness of the facility.  4000+ aircraft take up a lot of ground space.  It was quite interesting and we’d recommend it if you travel to Tucson.

 

 

 

We spent Christmas Week in Mesa, Arizona at a 55+ Snowbird park. We were embraced warmly by the residents and enjoyed our stay. Valle de Oro is a very large park and only had room for us Christmas Week because many residents don’t arrive until after the holidays.   The park is at capacity during January, February and March at about 3700 residents. During the summer months, the population dips to about 200.

Randy enjoyed daily gab sessions with Duane, one of our friendly neighbors and a fellow Idahoan.

We enjoyed meeting and eating Christmas Dinner with our table mates here at the park.

Christmas Eve found us with Randy’s brother Tim and our sister-in-law Yvette. Elko enjoyed lounging near Yvette’s Christmas display – this is just a small portion of the town!

Tim and I battled for fifth and sixth place in our eight team Fantasy Football league. Even though neither of us did well, it was fun to be together watching the games and our corresponding points. Yvette was the league Champion this year (whoohoo!) and Randy came in fourth.

During our week in Mesa we enjoyed some of the local attractions. We went to the famous Organ Stop Pizza Parlor. The big draw here isn’t the pizza, it is the organ that utilizes one full wall of the large building. The corresponding light and percussion show was impressive.

 

We enjoyed an evening at the Arizona Opry and their Home for the Holidays show.

Someone in the Arizona Transportation Department has fun with highway signs.  We enjoyed seeing what was new each day when we were out and about.   On the day “Star Wars: Rogue One” was released, there was a sign about not letting your vehicle be a death star.

This is a view from the highway. It rained a lot during the week and there were puddles and pools in the desert. It seems so odd that the rain doesn’t soak easily into the desert!

There was some good weather too!   Randy enjoyed the sun!

We toured Taliesin West (pronounced tally-essen), designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as his winter camp.  Built in the remote desert but now on the outskirts of Scottsdale,  Taliesin West is a national historic landmark.   Building began in 1937 and most materials came from the desert landscape.

“A building should appear to grow easily from its site and be shaped to harmonize with its surroundings if Nature is manifest there.”  Frank Lloyd Wright

Taliesin West  was built and maintained almost entirely by Wright and his architecture apprentices (students) and was very personal for him. The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture continues to have an enrollment of 35 apprentices, paying $40,000 per year to gain a Master’s Degree in Architecture.   Fees include room and board at Taliesin in Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Arizona.  The entire school moves with the seasons, just as it did when Frank Lloyd Wright was alive.

One of the hallmarks of the design at Taliesin West is Wright’s “embrace and release” concept. Doorways and entrances are small and open into large rooms. He was an innovator of the “great room” design.

We enjoyed our tour very much and will look for future opportunities to see more Frank Lloyd Wright designs.

For years we have traveled following and embracing the Boise State Bronco Football team.   It was so nice of them to come to us this time!  They participated in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl held in Phoenix.

The best part of the evening was pregame when the roof opened and skydivers came in carrying the US flag, the AZ flag, the Cactus Bowl banner and flags for both Boise State and Baylor.   Imagine skydiving above this huge city and gliding through an open roof into a stadium.   It was impressive!

So, the game was the worst beat-down Boise State has ever suffered in post-season play.  By the end of the game Baylor fans finally outnumbered Boise State fans because so many BSU fans left – but not in our row!

Our row of people, who didn’t know each other before the game, remained to the bitter end.  Any of us could have moved to have more room but we all stayed together nice and cozy.   The couple Randy is sitting next to have been to every home and away football game since 2007.   The couple I am next to came to their very first as a Christmas present to each other.

Randy thinks maybe we should be done with away games after this debacle but I think after we mentally release this game and season,  we’ll be ready to embrace them again next fall.

Embrace and Release – 0r visa-versa!

 

 

The title, Looking for the Lost Dutchman’s Gold, is an unfair tease….We didn’t even look for the lost gold mine.  The Lost Dutchman, thought to be in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix,  is one of the most famous lost mines in America. Attempting to decipher a set of clues found after Jacob Waltz’ death (1810- 1892), thousands of people have looked for his hidden gold mine ever since.   Unfortunately, some die while searching each year.

Yet even without the quest of gold, we enjoyed our stay at Lost Dutchman State Park, nestled at the base of the Superstition Mountains.   This is truly one of the nicest state parks we’ve been to anywhere (sorry Oregon…). As you can see our view was amazing!

There are lots of hiking trails within the park and signs with desert information. An Eagle Scout made a Sundial from a coyote silhouette.

Of course there were real coyotes too – a neighbor saw one in our campsite, and Randy heard them howling a couple times.

The above mentioned camper was slightly annoying in that he would turn on his outside TV and then go off on a walk or whatever…..AARGH!  At least the volume wasn’t very loud and they were only there for the weekend.

We had to protect our vehicles from those pesky packrats, surrounding our trailer and lighting up the engine compartment of the truck with rope lights.

So, since we didn’t search for gold – we did other things in Apache Junction!

We went to the Mining Camp Restaurant – recommended by my cousin Lisa from her visits there years ago when she was driving trucks cross country.

We went to the Superstition Mountain Museum which highlighted Apacheland, at one time a location for filming western movies.

It was at another chapel that we had our big negative experience of the week!  The Goldfield Ghost Town website indicated worship services on Sunday morning so we went to the touristy venue with the idea of having breakfast, going to service and then exploring the ghost town.

The Sunday before Christmas, at a tourist venue, we expected a nice version of Cowboy Church. Instead, we and other tourists joined an established congregation using that chapel.  The “service” was the most hateful, judgmental, politically charged event we’ve ever had the misfortune to attend. If we could have exited with any kind of grace, we would have. The best I can say is that we survived it and my Trip Advisor review will allow other visitors to be more aware than we were.

Otherwise, our trip to Goldfield Ghost Town was enjoyable.

There was a shoot-out on Main Street and a nice little train ride around the town and lots of shopping opportunities!   Too bad I don’t have room to collect “stuff.”

On our last day at the park, Randy was touristed out and stayed home with Elko.  They did “boy things” to the trailer. I went on a Salt River Canyon cruise on the Dolly Steamboat.

People from Phoenix thought it was cold so I had the upstairs, outside seating all to myself for awhile!

The views and rock formation were terrific. This one below looks like a young girl looking up towards the left AND looks like Bach playing a piano to the right. The sound system played a Bach composition as we traveled through this area.

We enjoyed the Bald Eagle up atop the cliff and LOVED the Big Horned Sheep along the journey.

The captain spotted this sheep first – and suggested he was “mooning” the boat. In fact, it is often the lighter hind end that allows them to be spotted.

After having a boat for so many years, I love any opportunity to get out on the water – and what an unexpected pleasure to do so in the Arizona desert!

We made it to Yuma, Arizona and the first order of business was to have our truck and trailer washed and waxed! $130 later, both were clean and shiny!  Sunny and warm needs clean and shiny!

We enjoyed catching up with Myron and Peggy and meeting their new puppy. We were visiting them in Wisconsin last summer when we lived through that memorable storm!

We were so glad to reconnect with the friends we made at this park last year!  Randy golfed several times with Canadian friends, Dave and Gordon while Linda, Catie and I did a little bit of this and that.

We made the 30 minute trip to Los Algodones, Mexico to do some Christmas shopping. Most people go to Los Algodones to see dentists and optometrists. They cater to American and Canadian patients who come down for the inexpensive care. We’ll likely do that too someday.

While waiting in line to get back into the US, Randy spent time talking with these two veterans. The man on the right was a Vietnam vet while the one on the left served in Korea.  The latter has been driving commercial trucks since returning from Korea all those years ago. He will be 85 years old in a few months and will be forced to retire due to company policy.

Our week in Yuma with our friends went way too fast and soon we were off again, heading two hours east to a small town in the the middle of nowhere –  Ajo, Arizona. Ajo is the gateway to Rocky Point and selling insurance to those traveling into Mexico appears to be a lucrative business.

Ajo began life as a copper mining town and they have their very own poisonous lake at the bottom of the open pit.   The mine is currently shut down but has not been abandoned.  A former miner told me that the company does just enough to satisfy the government to keep their options open.

We are in a very nice RV park and poor Elko is miserable. In lieu of dirt or grass, the entire park is decorative rock of various hues and his feet are so sore. I’m glad our stay here will be brief, just 2 nights. “Where Summer Goes to Winter” is the Ajo Heights RV park slogan. I borrowed it for the title of this blog.

Coyote and javalina are common in the area and wander around and into the park. We glimpsed a coyote about 20 feet away from our campsite, but no javelina – at least not yet!

The reason we came to Ajo was to go to nearby Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Our friend, Beth, drove 2+ hours west from Tucson to join us. We had a lovely day viewing the scenery and cacti.

Randy and Beth took a hike up towards the arch while I stayed in the picnic area with Elko. He was not allowed on the trail so he rested his feet and I read a book.

The Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is also a United Nations Biosphere Reserve. It is one of the 699 reserves in 120 countries with ecosystems involving plants and animals of “unusual scientific and natural interest.” The designation is to help protect sites and promote research and conservation.

 

The monument’s 31 mile southern border is also the international border. Border patrol vehicles, helicopters and agents are common sights.  We have never had any trouble and don’t expect to.

Tomorrow we move on – hopefully there will be packed dirt for Elko instead of more rocks. We won’t even think about grass for awhile but we should still be able to enjoy summer in winter.

We stayed at this campground two years ago and have talked about it ever since. Even though our site was decent, the campground has been high on our list of worst campgrounds ever.  I named the blog post from that week “This Place is Creepy.”

It was creepy because, although the campground looked like it had once been quite nice, it had deteriorated horribly. Dozens and dozens of power pedestals were in various stages of disrepair.  Coyotes were howling and dogs (from a nearby rescue facility) were barking night and day. There were enough “annual site owners” living in decrepit rigs/tents/tarps that it didn’t feel safe to wander around after dark. (To be fair, there were and are a number of California Thousand Trails campgrounds with that situation.)

We had a Thousand Trails Southwest Zone Pass when we stayed here before. We found a couple of parks we liked in the system and many that we did not, including this one at Soledad Canyon, 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

When asked to complete an on-line evaluation of our stay, I was brutally honest and had a number of suggestions. That resulted in several follow-up phone interviews by people up the chain. The brand new manager, not responsible for the sad state of affairs, said she hoped we would try the park again someday. Ha! We never thought that would happen.

So, Creepy Campground-Revisited. Why???  That is a fair question. The answer is minimally financial and mostly curiosity.

The financial part is easy. We bought another Thousand Trails Zone Pass for our trip back east last summer. Campgrounds (where we could fit) in the northeast are $50 -70 per night and we thought the pass would be more cost effective. When our trip was cut short to help care for our grandson, Thousand Trails representatives were kind enough to exchange our Midwest and Northeast Zones to Northwest and Southwest. So by staying here again, we are using our pass for a couple more nights.

Staying here again just to save a few bucks would not have been motivation enough. Curiosity sealed the deal because we had read reviews over the last year about how the place had been improved. When our itinerary brought us this way, we decided to see for ourselves.

We can see some structural improvements with upgrades to power pedestals in two sections. There have been new camper cabins installed. There is still a very long way to go but it does appear that there has been progress.

Additionally, the “annual site owners” living in the decrepit rigs/tents/tarps are gone. I hope they are all living in better circumstances now than they were here, but the campground looks better and feels safer without them.

Last time we were here Elko ate something that made him very sick so we did not explore the area at all.  We all had better luck this time!

We went to the Los Angeles County Park, Vasquez Rocks Natural Area. You may not have been there, but you’ve seen the rocks many times!

Hundreds of movies, TV shows and music videos have been filmed at Vasquez Rocks because of proximity to Los Angeles. Movie examples include: Flintstones, Planet of the Apes, Blazing Saddles and My Stepmother is an Alien. TV examples include The Big Valley, CSI, Lassie and The Twilight Zone.

The filming example that came up over and over again was Captain Kirk fighting Gorn. Click here to re-live that epic Star Trek battle!

There was actually a filming/photography event happening while we visited the rocks.  We didn’t recognize the “star” (not a surprise) and my picture didn’t turn out well enough to ask all of you for help.

Tomorrow we leave the formerly creepy campground and head into Arizona.  We will be here and there around the state for about three months – Randy is a happy guy!

When I wrote Slowing Down in Rapid City, I didn’t expect that the blog would slow to nothing for five weeks. We were anticipating fun times heading to Laramie, Wyoming to meet Kent and Pam for the Boise State football game.

It was kind of fun, but three years in a row our road trip game with Kent and Pam has been a BSU loss… with huge bowl game implications. I couldn’t get too interested in writing about that.

We went home to Boise and spent a nice week with family and friends. We saw our grandson dressed as an adorable fisherman on Halloween.

Then we spent a cold, wet and dark week on the coast near Newport, Oregon.

Facebook facilitated a pleasant, unexpected lunch with friends Jack and Marilyn who were also in Newport.

We spent a week with my parents in Vancouver and a long Thanksgiving weekend with family in eastern Washington. Good times were spent both places including Seahawk fests, Russian Rummy card games and a movie in the local theater.

 

We also enjoyed eating the results of competition chili tweaking –  one pot of green and two reds.  Cousin Kylee’s red was hot but mellowed nicely with sour cream!

After Thanksgiving we began our trek south for winter.  We spent a very cold, snowy night in Bend, Oregon and then crossed into California.

We always forget about the inspection stations going into California but are rarely questioned and have never before had anything confiscated.  This time we had to give up mangos purchased at Costco – I bought more mangos at a California Costco a few days later.

So, what finally got me motivated to write again?   Redding, California.   Redding was sunny and warm…..okay, mostly sunny and it was warmer than we’d been in a month….and there were things to see and do.    Redding, Set, Go!

We had an interesting tour of the Lake Shasta Dam -it was even free.  When measured by concrete mass,  this is the second largest dam in the United States – second to Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State.  Enough concrete was used in the Shasta dam’s construction to make a sidewalk, three feet wide and four inches thick, all around the earth at the equator.

The dam was built between 1937 and 1944 and the concrete won’t be fully cured until 2045.  There are 5.3 miles of tunnels within the dam for inspection and seepage (they don’t call it leaking).

This tunnel was tiled for tourists and had a unique echo quality. Clap here and you can hear it come back at the speed of sound.

The primary purposes for building the Lake Shasta Dam were flood control and irrigation. Power generation is a byproduct in times of peak need.  It is sold regionally and all the way to west Texas and North Dakota.

The next day we went to the Lake Shasta Caverns.  First we had a nice boat ride across the lake to a remote peninsula accessed only by water.

We walked a great set of caverns with lots of the interesting formations.

We are heading south and looking for things to see and do.  Thanks Redding!
Redding, Set, Go!

For the last six weeks, we have rushed through Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota because we were closing down campgrounds as the winter season approaches. We had to move on because there wasn’t any reason, or place, to stay.

With the Boise State – Wyoming football game on Saturday as the book end for this journey, we found ourselves spending nine nights at Hart Ranch outside of Rapid City. This campground stays open year round and there are a surprising number of rigs (60) getting prepped to hunker down for winter.

The resort is huge and it takes me an hour to walk the perimeter each morning.  A few times I have been fortunate enough to see this big horned owl.

We also slowed down our excursion activity because we were here in 2006 and visited the famous attractions then. We saw Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave and Mount Rushmore on that trip. This time we were content to see Mount Rushmore from the highway turnout.

The only place we visited in 2006 and again on this trip was Custer State Park.

We have fond memories of driving the wildlife loop and seeing the bison roaming and the burros coming right up to the truck looking for food or attention.

These are our burro pictures from 2006.  We didn’t see them at all this time.

We did see the bison this time!  Most were near the corrals as they were rounded up in late September. The young calves are branded and about a third of the herd are sold. The bison feed on park grasslands so the herd must be maintained at a level that can be naturally supported.

We saw pronghorn and wild turkeys!

Driving the Needles Highway, also inside Custer State Park, we were thrilled to watch these mountain goats!

We saw some great scenery along the Needles Highway and went through some tunnels that were a tight squeeze for our big truck!

In nearby Keystone, we went to the National Presidential Wax Museum.

All 44 presidents, and some other historic notables, are represented in wax, some in bust displays and some in scenes.

An audio tour provides information about each president. For example, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was related to eleven past presidents!

Grover Cleveland was the only president married while in office. He was 49, and his wife was 22. They had five children together, the last being Ruth. Baby Ruth candy bar was named for Cleveland’s last child.

Continuing with the president theme, Rapid City is the City of Presidents. The downtown district has presidential statues on each street corner.

When we went to lunch at Que Pasa?, we found Herbert Hoover. (Que Pasa? also had a terrific pumpkin spiced margarita, but I digress…)

On the other corners of the intersection, we found Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Chester Arthur.

Still in Rapid City, we found something totally unexpected – The Berlin Wall, or rather two sections of it.

We traveled to nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base to visit the South Dakota Air and Space Museum. Behind the sign is a B1-B Lancer.

We were adjacent to the runway and watched several B1s doing “touch and go”s while we looked at aircraft on the museum grounds.

Berlin was divided into four quadrants after WWII and in June, 1948 Stalin made a play to control the entire city, blockading roads, railroads and canals. Food, clothing, and electricity were cut off to the free quadrants in Berlin.

A massive humanitarian effort to feed 2.5 million people was undertaken by the allies, flying a sky bridge 24 hours a day. For 15 months massive transport planes brought food and supplies along a narrow 20 mile corridor.

This effort included the Berlin Candy Bomber, Lt. Gail Halvorsen, who began dropping candy by small parachute. The candy bombing was taken up by other airlift pilots as well, and the allies eventually dropped 15 tons of candy to Berlin children.

Protecting the humanitarian efforts were sixty B-29s that were rumored to be nuclear armed. Half of those were from the 28th Bombardment Group from Rapid City, South Dakota. Stalin discontinued the blockade in 1949 and an uneasy peace was maintained.

We have enjoyed our slow stay at Hart Ranch. Handy Randy even got a little work in, adding a water filtering system.

Tomorrow we are on the move again to meet our friends Kent and Pam in Laramie for the previously mentioned Boise State – Wyoming football game. The winner will be in first place of the mountain division of the Mountain West conference.  Go Broncos!

Wild Bill Hickok lived a life of adventure after serving in the Union Army. He was a gun-slinger, hunter,  scout, and  marshall.  He womanized and eventually married.

Wild Bill Hickok’s first love was gambling and his life ended at the gaming table.  He was shot from behind at Saloon #10 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory and was buried in the local cemetery.

Calamity Jane led a hard life as a scout, frontierswoman, performer in wild west shows and prostitute.   Although she had been intrigued with him, Wild Bill wasn’t interested in her.

Spurned by him in life,  Calamity Jane got the best of Wild Bill Hickok in the end.  When she died, Calamity Jane’s dying wish was to be buried next to him.   We saw their graves, side by side, at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Deadwood was a rough place in 1876. It was an illegal mining town on land that had been reserved for the Lakota Sioux in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. The discovery of gold brought miners and a level of lawlessness that was legendary.

Gambling continued in Deadwood until 1947 even though state law banned it in 1889. (Deadwood gambling was legalized again in 1989 to support preservation efforts.)  Moonshine producers ignored prohibition in the 1920s and brothels continued to operate in Deadwood until 1980.

Deadwood seems safe enough now – even Starbucks is here!  Because it is October, there were many tourist activities that were closed for the season. We were able to go to the Adams Museum, the Franklin Hotel and the Mount Moriah Cemetery. We might come back again someday to see more, partially because we stayed at the very best RV park we’ve ever been to.

The Elkhorn Ridge RV Park, between Spearfish and Deadwood, is nearly perfect for a private park.  Some resort amenities like the pool and disc golf were seasonally closed but the quiet and wide open spaces of the off season were nice in exchange.

We haven’t had many nice weather days lately.  On our only warm and sunny day we went for the scenery and drove the Spearfish Scenic By-way.   We had a brief stop at Bridal Veil Falls.

Another day we went to Belle Fourche and learned that it is pronounced Belle Foosh.  We went there to see the Center of the Nation Monument.   Since we’ve been to the Center of the Universe (Wallace, Idaho) and the Center of the World (Felicity, California), we figured we should also go to the Center of the Nation.   At least this claim has some measurement behind it!

With the admission of Alaska and Hawaii to our country in 1959,  the geographic center of the nation moved from Lebanon, Kansas to a point near Belle Fourche, South Dakota.

We also went to the DC Booth Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish, but were only able to walk the grounds.   Off season again, don’t you know!

Opening in 1896, DC Booth was one of the first fish hatcheries in the west.   Millions of trout were raised for release each year. Now they raise a “token” 50,000 fish per year as the hatchery has transitioned to a historic site with a museum,  Booth House and archives.

Earlier this year, we applied to volunteer at the DC Booth Historic Fish Hatchery for the summer 2017 season.   It looks interesting, and maybe we will revisit the idea again some day but the volunteer coordinator at DC Booth has not yet begun scheduling for 2017 and Oregon State Parks’ rangers have.

We are headed back to Oregon to volunteer in 2017!   We have the following volunteer assignments on the Oregon coast next summer:

May 2017 – Umpqua Lighthouse State Park – near Reedsport
July 2017 – William Tubman State Park – near Reedsport
August 2017 – Jesse Honeyman State Park – near Florence

If you are headed to the coast next summer, we’d love to see you!

 

 The name Thermopolis just sounds like there should be hot springs in the area and there are.  The world’s largest mineral hot springs are located in Thermopolis, Wyoming.

There are two commercial pools with all the perks, including slides.  There is also a less elaborate state park option.

We went to the state park pool for a free 20 minute soak. The water was very warm, smelled of sulphur and twenty minutes was just about right.

Still within the state park, we drove to the bison pasture and saw a small herd.

Thermopolis was on our route because of the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, recommended by Boise friends Bryan and Debbie. This unassuming place has quite an impressive collection of fossils from around the world.

They also have active “digs” in the area and visitors can pay to spend time out at a site and participate.   It was windy and cold the day we were there and we didn’t even ask about going out but we could see workers cleaning and brushing specimens in the center’s lab.

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center’s claim to fame is its Archaeopteryx fossil. Archaeopteryx is thought to be a transitional species between dinosaurs and birds.

The Thermopolis archaeopteryx, found in present day Germany, is the most complete specimen in the world and the only one on display in the United States. It died on its stomach in a “road kill” position, giving scientists a different view than the typical “died on its side” version.

A 3D projection system shows the archaeopteryx fossil rising from the slab, first in skeletal form and then as it might have looked with feathers.

There are many dinosaurs, whole and partial throughout the center. Some are real and some are cast and some are a combination of both.

This cast caught my attention!

Ichthyosaur was a marine reptile but not a fish, lizard or dinosaur.  It was interesting to me because a British woman found the first ichthyosaur fossil.   In the early 1800s, Mary Anning, paleontologist and fossil dealer, found a variety of marine fossils and was quite well known. The nursery rhyme “She sells seashells by the sea shore” was inspired by her work.

Even though Thermopolis sounds warm, and the waters certainly are, we ended up in a cold front with snow. Most melted off quickly but we still had a little left the next morning.

And the first part of our drive leaving Thermopolis was quite lovely.

Badlands National Park was on our loose itinerary but we learned all of the campgrounds nearby were closed or closing so our window of opportunity was go now or skip it. We adjusted, spent a long seven hour day in the truck,  and headed to the last campground standing.   That seems to be a theme lately!

The Cedar Pass campground was adequate but obviously not designed by anyone who had an RV.   Trailer and motorhome doors opened onto the street, not onto the grass.  They got it right on the new loop, but it was already closed for winter.

We did have lovely views of the Badlands peaks.

We drove the Scenic Loop and stopped at a few viewpoints. We had Elko with us so were not able to go on any of the trails. National parks don’t like dogs – even in the off season.

 

If you have traveled in this area you know there are signs for Wall Drug visible for hundreds of miles across the region. The only other time we traveled in this area, it was evening and Wall Drug was closed. So this time we made a point of stopping and had lunch.

Wall Drug opened in 1931 and was barely profitable during its early years. The business thrived once they started offering free ice water to hot and weary travelers in 1935.

On our way back to the campground we stopped at the Prairie Homestead Historic Site.

This sod house was built in 1909 after Mr. and Mrs. Ed Brown obtained the surrounding 160 acres under the Homestead Act. Their obligation was to build a house, plow some acreage and live here for five years.

Because of the harshness of the land, less than twenty percent of homesteaders in this area were able to make a living and actually receive their land “patent.” Beating the odds, the Brown family lived here until 1936 and a renter worked the land and lived in the house until 1949.

Those who came west on the Oregon trail, or lived in mining towns, or lived in sod houses seem far heartier than we are these days!  But of course, I’m just speaking for Elko, Randy and me!