West Across the Prairie

In the last few days since leaving Wisconsin we have traveled over 800 miles. We stayed at Dakotah Meadows RV Park in Prior Lake near the Twin Cities but did not do much while there except chill. We then moved to Frontier Fort Campground in Jamestown, ND adding state 47 to our list. As I write, we have just arrived at Red Trails Campground in Medora, ND for a week's stay to explore the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We did more interstate driving than we have done in a long while. Nice for getting from place to place quickly but usually we do prefer a slower pace.

We did take some smaller local roads getting out of Wisconsin and enjoyed the beautiful family farms we passed along the way.
In St. Paul we visited our second capitol building in as many states. The capitol was designed by Cass Gilbert who also designed the US Supreme Court Building. It has the world's largest unsupported marble dome. Above is the capitol building with the Cathedral of St. Paul in the background.

The capitol is being renovated so the huge chandelier that usually hangs in the rotunda was on the floor for cleaning. Top are the two chambers of the legislature and a Minnesota battle flag from the Civil War. Bottom left, the Governor's Reception Room and right, paintings on the ceiling of the Rathskeller Cafeteria. The original 1905 floral designs with mottoes written in German were painted over years ago and have just recently been restored. Some of the mottoes were changed during Prohibition from "wet", "Better be tipsy than feverish" to "dry", "Temperance is a virtue of man". Go Figure.

These are statues in St. Paul's Rice Park to honor natives F. Scott Fitzgerald (middle) and Charles Schulz. We have visited Schulz's Peanuts Museum in Santa Rosa, California. We enjoyed our short time in St. Paul including a visit to the Great Waters Brewery.

North Dakota does not have a lot of people (just over 600,000) but it makes up for it with some "LARGEST" roadside attractions. Left in Steele is the largest Sandhill Crane. Top in New Salem is Salem Sue, the largest Holstein Cow and bottom is the largest buffalo in Jamestown.

Within walking distance of the campground in Jamestown is Frontier Village a collection of 24 historical buildings from the states frontier past. Our first day there the authenticity of the place was even greater when a group driving restored cars were parked along the street.

Looking down the street is the saloon, sheriff's office, art gallery and dentist office. Bottom is a windmill, jail (I got rowdy) and 1898 log cabin.

Top is the bank, school and dentist office which looked like something you would see in a Hollywood torture movie. Bottom is the stagecoach that you can take for a ride around town. Middle the price list in the barber shop. Even I might think about a shave and a haircut if it was only two bits. Right is the writer's shack of Jamestown native, Louis L'Amour. The village is a worthwhile stop for a look back on pioneer times and the best part, admission is free.

In the same area is the National Buffalo Museum that works to promote the culture and history of the prairie and buffalo. The museum has a herd of 30 that roam over 200 acres. It is the home to White Cloud, Dakota Miracle and Dakota Legend, the only albino buffaloes in North America. Pictured are two of the albinos, but I am not sure which ones.

Some of the displays in the museum. Top, an Indian shirt made of buffalo hide, a buffalo, and a picture of thousands of skulls collected and sent east after the great herd was slaughtered in the late 1800's. In 1902 there were only 700 buffalo in herds owned by private individuals and 23 wild ones in Yellowstone. With preservation efforts there are now more than 500,000. Bottom, a display on how the Indians used the buffalo and a 10,000 year old skull.

Taliesin

We have been fans of Frank Lloyd Wright for a long time and search out any buildings of his design where ever we travel. We have been to Taliesin West in Scottsdale twice, so going to Spring Green to see Taliesin was high on our must do list. We were not disappointed. We opted for the four hour Estate Tour that included Hillside, a walk across the grounds passed Midway Barns, a refreshment break on Mr. Wright's private patio and the gardens and house. Kyle, our tour guide, was very well informed and did an excellent job.

The entrance to the 600 acre estate. More than 2000 acres of the nearby land was once owned by Wright's family. Nanc and I in the garden. The original Wright grave. His third wife had his remains exhumed, cremated and buried with her ashes at Taliesin West. That action was so unpopular with the family that the Arizona grave is unmarked so this is the only one pilgrims can visit.
The first Wright designed building on the estate is the 1902 Hillside School that was originally used by his aunts as a boarding school. Starting in the 1930's and continuing today it is the summer home of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. We toured the drafting studio, the community room and the theater. Unfortunately, inside photos were not allowed.

The windmill, Romeo and Juliet, is really two structures that hold each other up.

The Midway Farm building was rebuilt by Wright apprentices to blend better into the hillside using the material of older buildings on the property. In the beginning Taliesin was more than a school of architecture, it was also a working communal farm with most of the work being done by the apprentices. Much of the 600 acres is farmed today by a organic certified group. Midway was used for both the animals and the living quarters of the students. The stone silo has recently been turned into a small living space by a student.

Taliesin means shining brow and the house reflects Wright's belief in organic architecture where buildings blend into their surroundings. He often used local materials for construction. This view is from above Hillside.

This is a composite view from the garden. Taliesin was a work in progress where Wright would design and build something to see how it worked, then would change or tear it down when he had a new idea. Over 200 documented changes have been made to the house since it was first started 100 years ago in 1911. You can see many of the features that were used in other Wright buildings we have seen.

Today's house is really Taliesin three as it burned twice, the first time in 1914 when a deranged employee murdered seven people, including Wright's mistress, Mamah Borthwick Cheney, and her two children and then set fire to the home. The story of this incident is told in the book Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. Nanc just finished the book and said it was quite an interesting story covering that seven year period of their lives.

The entrance to the home. This became the entrance after changes were made to the driveway to guide people to this side of the house. There have been some issues with the house settling and major preservation work is one of the ongoing goals of the foundation.

Just a few shots of the house. Many of these elements have been used in other buildings. In addition to students, several Wright Fellows live on the property. The oldest is in his 90's and worked personally with Wright. There is a guest bedroom in the main house that is available for visiting family members and former students. The great room. Most of the furniture was built of plywood not the woods that would have been used in the homes of clients. This was Wright's way of experimenting with cheaper materials to see how things would work. If you are in the Spring Green area and only have time to see one place we would recommend Taliesin over the House on the Rock. We loved it.

The House on the Rock

For a couple who got rid of all their "stuff" and live in less than 400 square feet The House on the Rock is surely at the far, far opposite end of the spectrum. Pictured below is only a very small sample of the collection this man accumulated. It is even hard to think of something he didn't collect. Alex Jordon began construction of the house on a rock outcropping over the Wyoming Valley in the 1940's. The building continued until 1985 when the 218 foot cantilevered Infinity Room was completed. In addition to the house, Alex also built a huge metal structure to house all his stuff. It is a collection that is beyond belief.

The Infinity Room jetting out over the valley. It really does look like it goes on forever when you step into the room. The 3264 windows and a glass cocktail table offer spectacular views of the surrounding countryside.
The interior of the house was obviously inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright with its low ceilings and built in furniture. The story is that Wright was not a fan of the house.

And now some of the stuff. Understand, there are hundreds or even thousands of each type of item Alex collected. Top are Faberge eggs, a huge planter, and various bottles. Bottom, Tiffany pieces, guns and a cigarette lighter from Mobay were Nanc worked years ago.

More stuff! Top, model planes, Burma Shave signs and a model of the Delta Queen signed by Jimmy Carter. Bottom, one of over 200 fully furnished dollhouses, scrimshaw and one of several circuses.

It was difficult to get good pictures because everything was so packed together and the lighting was poor. Top is the world's largest carousel with over 20,000 lights and 269 handcrafted animals, but not one horse. We were very disappointed that visitors are not allowed to ride the carousel. Next are carousel horses and a music machine. Bottom is another of the music machines that Alex built. It is a full orchestra. There were several of these including a circus band and a fish band playing Octopus's Garden in the seafaring room. All the music machines worked and visitors are given tokens to play them. Next are a few beer steins and one of many organs in a room that used large industrial machines to create whimsical pieces. The House on the Rock is very different. It is difficult to describe and something you have to see to believe and is now on our been there done that list.

Mad About Madison

We moved to Lake Farm County Park near Madison, Wisconsin's capital and home to the university. It is a great little city built on an isthmus between Lake Medota and Lake Monona. It has much to offer to the outdoor enthusiast because of all the water and also has excellent bike routes throughout the city and surrounding area. There is quite a bit to do in the city such as visiting the capitol, museums, used book stores and neat little shops, just to name a few. It is a pretty compact city so if you don't mind doing a little walking much is accessible on foot.

Since we were here, I decided to stop by the university to try and see a high school classmate, Barry Alvarez, who I have not seen in 47 years. Barry is now the Wisconsin athletic director after 16 years as the head football coach who returned the Badgers to national prominence. Unfortunately, he was out of the office when we stopped. He is obviously very well respected here as you can see by the banner and the statue. I'm sure he is the only 1964 Union High School grad who has a statue of himself right outside his office. This is another one of the things about fulltiming that is so neat, you can just drop in on people you have not seen in years as you travel the country.
We have been to several buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in our travels and we can now add Monona Terrace to the list. The terrace was built in the 1990's using the exterior plans Wisconsin native Wright had originally drawn in 1938 as a cultural, governmental, and recreational building and which he reworked several times before signing off on the final design just before his death in 1959. The state of the art interior was redesigned by Taliesin architect, Tony Puttman, as a community and convention center. Included in the new design is a bike elevator so cyclists can get from the trail by the lake to the street level above. Wright's quote says it all. The building does tie them together as it is built over the highway and railroad that separates the city from the beautiful lake. We enjoyed lunch at the rooftop restaurant overlooking the water.

The Wisconsin Capitol from the terrace.

One thing we wish we had started doing sooner in our travels is touring state capitol buildings. They are usually very beautiful and always have interesting bits of history about the state. Bottom left is the Supreme court and right is the Senate chamber. Top left is in the rotunda and on the right is a painting in the Assembly chamber. We were peeking through the door at the painting when a worker saw us and took us in and gave us a little local history. Click to enlarge the picture and you will see the ghost in the mural just above the badger located in the left of the photo.

Wisconsin is at the center of the attack on middle class workers by Republican controlled state governments across the nation. I wanted to check out what is happening with the teachers and other public employees who had their bargaining RIGHTS taken away by newly elected Republican Governor Scott Walker. Wisconsin became the center of this struggle when thousands protested the new law at the capitol this past winter. Wisconsin has a recall law and next week there will be nine recall elections that union members hope will give them power in at least one house of the legislature. There are also plans to recall Walker next January after he has the required one year in office. For the upcoming election one dirty trick that was in the news was a flyer sent by a group backed by the Koch brothers (Oklahomans who were Walker's biggest financial supporters) that told people the election was being held on the eleventh when it is really being held on the ninth. Hopefully the workers of Wisconsin will show the rest of the country how to stand up against these attacks on the middle class.

Madison may be the most bike friendly city we have ever been in. There are miles of bike only trails and wide well marked bike paths on many streets. The red bikes are available throughout the city for people to use and leave at another stop. One bike shop where we did a little shopping has four shops within about six blocks of the university.

Of course when in Wisconsin you must purchase cheese which we did at a store called Fromagination. When we entered the store a photographer was taking pictures for the Madison visitors bureau and asked us to be models. We were so thrilled that we failed to take any pictures ourselves. So if you are in Madison and see our pictures in an ad please let us know so we can get a copy. We purchased several varieties of cheese and they are wonderful. There were many things we didn't get to do while in Madison so we have put it on our list as a place we will definitely return to.

Oshkosh By Gosh

We moved on to Oshkosh to tour the EAA AirVenture Museum and to visit with George & CeCe Donaldson, another couple we met at Betty's. The museum is dedicated to innovators in flight. There are displays on the Wright brothers, Lindbergh, Burt & Dick Rutan, air racing, WWII and even a section on model aircraft. The Pioneer Airport, an outdoor exhibit, has several hangers displaying older aircraft and other artifacts of early flight. We were here the week before the AirVenture Fly-in that will bring over a half million people and thousands of planes to Oshkosh. The fly-in will make Oshkosh the busiest airport in the country for a week.

A few stunt planes including the world's smallest, bottom left.
Aircraft in the main hall including a replica of the Wright Flyer.

Air Racers.

We have been to many aircraft museums and this is one of the best with most of the planes being built by private enthusiasts who just love flight and are not in it to make money.

This is the workshop of a person building his own plane. This was of special interest to me as I have an uncle who worked for years at building a glider in his basement.

The Eagle Hanger, dedicated to WWII aviation, has an interactive map that shows all the major air battles of the war. Some of the aircraft were out of the hanger for the fly-in. Bottom left is a P-38 and right a P-51. Middle is a painting from a WWII bomber named Sagittarius. The archer is our sign.

The exhibit covering the Rutan's had a few of the many planes they built including (left) Space Ship One, the first private craft to fly into space and return to Earth with people aboard. There was a special on Voyager (not pictured), the first plane to circumnavigate the world nonstop without refueling. We have seen the Voyager in the Air & Space Museum in DC.

They have a very good kids section that we both enjoyed. Top, Nanc and I are in front of a screen that shows how a heat seeking missile works. Bottom, Nanc pedals to turn the propeller to cool off and I try to grab the floating balls that demonstrate the weightlessness of space. There was no harm done to any children as WE had fun in this section.

Here we are at dinner with CeCe and George. We had a great evening catching up on their travels, including being in the tornadoes that hit Alabama this spring. We also learned a lot about the up coming AirVenture where they both are volunteers. We will have to make sure attending the fly-in is on our list of future travels.

On the Shores of Gitche Gumee

For us, it was Christmas in July as we moved to the Kewadin Casino in Christmas, MI were they have 50 amp electricity at a few spots in the parking lot that are FREE. That made losing a few dollars easier to take. We are here to see Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, a park that stretches 40 miles along the southern shore of Lake Superior at its widest point. The best way to see the sandstone rock formations, beaches and waterfalls is from a boat. There where a couple of people on the boat who had hiked the length of the park and they said the view was much better from the lake.

Miners Castle, one of the few formations that is easy to get to by driving.
It was a beautiful day on the water with its color changing from blue to aqua and green. It was so clear you could see deep into the lake. There is another boat tour that goes out to see old ship wrecks on the bottom. Most of the erosion from waves comes with the winter storms that travel across 160 miles of open water.

This arch is called Lovers Leap. The water under the arch is only a couple of feet deep.

Look carefully at this rock and you can see the profile of an Indian.

The tree on Chapel Rock is unique. It has survived more than 50 years after the connecting arch collapsed because its roots, now hanging in the air, are still attached to the shore.

Only one trip a day goes as far as Spray Falls. Is is worth taking that trip to see this beautiful falls. Much of the coast east of this point consists of beaches and sand dunes.

Some of the many colorful cliffs with there different colors which are caused from various minerals that the water seeps through.

This is a Sandhill Crane. Its unusual color is the result of the birds drinking the tannin colored water from the area streams and lakes.

We drove to the Beaver Lake (lower right) area and did a day hike of the few miles through the forest to Lake Superior (top left). The forest was beautiful but we were attacked by evil flies on the portion that went along Superior.

Left is Alger Falls and right is Munising Falls.

There are several lighthouses in the area to guide ships around the shoals and sandbars like this one at the entrance to Munising Harbor. Right is the 150 year old Grand Island Light. The two on the left are different than any lights we have seen. They work as a pair and when a ship had them lined up it was in a safe channel to enter the harbor. For navigation the lights have been replaced by buoys and of course GPS.

One of the beautiful sunsets we saw on Lake Superior. We really enjoyed this part of the UP, remote little towns nestled in the forest or along the lake. A new food I had here was a pastie. It is a sandwich like thing with meat and root vegetables, including rutabaga, that is wrapped in pot pie dough. It was served with gravy and was very good. We also purchased some smoked whitefish which was excellent.