Day 9 Silos & Dairies

 Welcome to the Big Cheese!

On our flight path from Lawrence we flew over Cedar Rapids, DesMoines and the Mighty, Muddy Mississippi River. The air as we approached the river was the first bit of turbulence we have felt so far. The river seems to want her might acknowledged so we got shaken up and tipped our wings.

Wisconsin Fields

Another first was an airplane sighting across our path, not close at all. We think of the ground space being vast but the atmosphere is so vast that we mostly feel all alone up here. It is quiet and lonely even at 5500'. We are keeping ourselves busy though. While autopilot does its job Steve is reading email on his ipad (to send from the ground later) and I am stuffing doll limbs.

We flew through IL for 10 minutes clipping the NW corner of the state. Then we were over WI fields which are different from the other fields we have seen. Instead of large square tracts here they've got strips of meandering squiggles. Quite pretty and excellent ideas for quilting patterns. Steve says the ribbons of green and brown are abstract art.

Madison Between Lakes

Madison is both the state capitol and the home of UW. The approach shows a city squeezed between two lakes. We flew over the capitol building for a very official landing. Luckily Obama was here and left before our arrival. It would have made for a messy arrival or a big delay for us. We quickly learned that this week is the annual International Dairy Expo, a very big deal here as you can imagine.

Silos & Dairies

Romeo & Juliette the Windmills

As soon as we were on the ground we borrowed a crew car and drove for an hour to tour Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's home, school & studio in Spring Green. On the road we passed enormous silos, contented cows, dairies, waving wheat, and fields of browning corn. The tour of his studio was interesting and it was nice to see his theater and hear the stories and anecdotes that keep his story alive. We were too late for the house tour but could see it from afar. He also built an amazing windmill in two parts. One is diamond shape and one a hexagon. It's called Romeo and Juliet.

Next is dinner in this most cosmopolitan city.

Day 8 Jayhawks Day

It's a long flight to eastern Kansas from western South Dakota. We watched the landscape lower in elevation, and turn from dusty, uninhabited land to green farm squares and circles. For a long while there were no cities, towns or villages only a few ranches or hamlets. Then Lawrence appeared on the plain.

This is a college town, Go Jayhawks!, much like Davis. The old downtown is bustling with bookstores, brew pubs, bike stores, and Ben & Jerrys. A few miles away the campus is spread out over a large, hilly area with tall, light stone buildings. An enormous stadium is active with football practice, and the coeds are flaunting their long legs during these Indian summer days. They know the whistling wind is just around the corner.




Jane got us entry into the Lawrence Athletic Club where we indulged in the first swim of the trip. The pool is salt water which is nice on the skin and hair. We made the round of downtown shops which of course included a huge fabric shop. We lunched at the Zen Zero and strolled around campus visiting the student union and art museum. Jayhawk statues/sculptures abound on campus. You can tell what is really important here.

We met Jane after work and we dined at Pachamama's where not only was the food excellent but we were treated to the live sweet sounds of classical guitar. The day was fine, temperature just right and the company, the best. It was a wonderful visit with Jane.  Tomorrow on to Madison.

Day 7 Devil's Tower

 It was an hour's drive from Deadwood to western Wyoming to see the first designated (by Teddy Roosevelt) National Monument in the U.S. As we drove in we asked the ranger about the hike around the base. She said it was steep only at the beginning of the 1 1/4  mile hike. Sounded like a piece of cake to us and it was easy, beautiful and worth it to see this enormous igneous rock formation from every angle.





There are three theories about its formation but it was probably formed underground and cooled to form  4,5,6,and 7 sided columns as long as 600 ft. Several Native American tribes have legends about the formation and consider it a sacred place.


 The entire tower is about 1267' tall and it stands as a unique feature in a landscape that was once red rock and has been completely carved away by the Belle Fourche River. There were several groups of climbers on their way up. However, one did not need to go to extremes to appreciate Devil's Tower. As we returned to the parking lot several people stopped us to ask if the hike was worth it. We replied absolutely!



Back to the plane in Spearfish to our next destination Lawrence, KS and Jane. It was a hot 3 hour flight over bleak landscape until the farms of KS became visible. Jane was there to meet us and tomorrow we get to explore another college town.

Day 6 The Original Fab Four

George, Tom, Teddy & Abe  are captured in stone in the glorious setting of Mt. Rushmore. The day was warm with a slight breeze as we made our acquaintance with these remarkable likenesses. We could feel their presence and admired the talent and fortitude of all the people who brought them to life.



From 1927-1941 the sculpture, Gutzon Borglum led a group of 400 men up the mountain. They had to climb up each day in all weather except the worst and bring their tools. They swung from harnesses while working. It was a huge project, George himself is 60 feet from chin to forehead. There is a boardwalk around the bottom so each man can be seen to his best advantage and a viewing platform for those who want to view from the front. The scene is beautiful especially in this season. It is an experience that makes American history real.

Later we took a hearty hike to the top of Spearfish Canyon, 1000' up. Living at the top of Longmeadow was good prep for this hike. Think twice the elevation. Spearfish Canyon is twice the age of the Grand Canyon but narrower. Erosion has removed some of the rock but the trees compensate nicely. We met a couple from San Diego at the top. They have a cabin in the area and have been coming to SD for 20 years. They took our photo and recommended Jake's Restaurant in Deadwood for dinner which is owned by Kevin Costner. It was elegant and the first delicious gourmet meal we have had in a week.

Day 5 History & Nature

'Tis the season of shimmering, golden aspens. Interspersed with pine they cover the hills for a fantasy of color. We planned to hike a long difficult hike on a forest service trail. It was a hot day and we wore our sandals for the 45 minute drive to the trail head. We packed a lunch, the camera, water, hats, etc. and I forgot my hiking shoes. End of hike. But it was a long drive over a gravel road through the forest and it was beautiful. We hope to include a photo in this post and fix the messy, disordered presentation of yesterday's post.



Deadwood is American history. The gold rush brought many characters to SD. We visited many of them at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery including Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock, Sol Star, the madames, and the businessmen, etc. The stones are mostly new as the cemetery had to be moved up the hill as the town grew. But the stones record the people and dates of birth & death. I noticed that many women died in their twenties and thirties and men rarely lived beyond forty or fifty. Families lost many children.





The town has a few old buildings but fires in the late 1800s took everything original. Deadwood was quite down on its luck until gambling was legalized here. Everything is reconstructed. Now everything, every shop, restaurant, hotel, hole-in-the-wall has a casino. There was a big federal infusion of money to save the area and judging from the traffic during this off season it's helped.



We visited the Adams Museum in Deadwood. It was built by W.E. Adams in the 1930's with $75,000  of his money to record the history and interpret the culture of the Black Hills. Adams built a sturdy stone building downtown and the displays include pioneer, mining, Lakota artifacts as well as Wild Bills's gun collection. It was also the coolest (air conditioned) place in town.

Though slightly disappointed not to have our hike, I am not sure I would have made it for 7.5 miles in this heat.

Day 4 Moon over Deadwood

Saturday, Sept. 25th
A mighty tailwind took us across Montana at record speeds. The flight at normal speed would have taken 3.5 hours. At 185 knots we arrived in Spearfish, SD having flown only 2.5 hours.

We departed Missoula after an early morning visit to the farmer's market where we sampled some fabulous native apples and Asian pears. We grabbed some homemade granola, skipped the homecoming parade, and Jacob took us to the airport. It was a great visit and probably the most time we have spent with Jacob since he was a little boy. He is an intelligent and thoughtful man now and we enjoyed his company.

The skies were clear except for a very high broken layer which kept us out of the hot sun. The air was smooth as we left the dry barren land of the west and entered the treed high plains of eastern Montana. As we approached Billings we saw the only "skyscrapers" in Montana. This means Billings, Montana's largest city, has the only buildings higher than 6 or 7 stories. We stopped in Billings for lunch and walked around the courthouse area to stretch our legs. I am impressed with the people of Montana who are exceptionally friendly and polite, and with the cleanliness of the cities. Of course, this big sky country is impressive all on its own.

We passed by Devil's tower, about 2000' above. It's an amazing sight but difficult to capture in a photo from our plane. Arrived in Spearfish which is just a skip and a jump over the border in SD about 4:30.  We drove from the airport to the Lodge at Deadwood. It is a new casino/hotel just outside the old reconstructed town of Deadwood. We are here for the comfortable room and plan not to visit the casino. As devotees of the HBO tv series DeadwooD, we were surprised to read in the guidebook how much of the real story was incorporated into the tv show. Life imitating art imitating life. Tonight it was steak, tomorrow it is serious hiking in the mountains that are beginning to turn Aspen yellow.

Fly Kaplan Air Day 3

Friday,  Sept. 24^th

GO GRIZ!

Today is the beginning of homecoming weekend for UM. Missoula is buzzing with people our age taking to the streets and restaurants and invading the tranquil campus. It is the also where we begin our college tour.

After a not so early morning hike through the Rattlesnake Wilderness where we were warned about bears, we walked quickly and quietly, we spent the day around town. Missoula is a neat, tidy small college town surrounded by dry hills. The Clark Fork River runs through the city as winding as Hwy 1. There is definitely a western flavor here and extremely casual is the name of the game.

The UM campus at 117 years old still has a few original red brick buildings though many of the buildings are new and gorgeous and state of the art. We toured the arts building and library and walked around enjoying a warm autumn sun. We people watched and felt very happy we are not 19 anymore. In the evening we met up with Jacob at the Montana Repertory Theater for an excellent performance of The Frybread Queen, which is a new Native American play. Our expectations were low and we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the actors (equity) and the play by Carolyn Dunn. It was a small theater in the round and sometimes difficult to hear. There was not a sound or a cough in the audience while we all strained to hear each word. The end was so shocking that there was no applause for a minute while the audience caught their collective breath. Bravo to UM and Montana Rep.

Tomorrow it is back in the plane heading for Deadwood, SD.

Fly Kaplan Air Day 2

Thur., Sept 23^rd

Today’s adventure did not involve airplanes at all.  The day began with an invigorating hike on the Blue Basin Overlook trail in the in the John Day Fossil Beds. We hiked around a hill through the extraordinary mountains reminiscent of Cappadocia in Turkey. The rock carvings look like rows of whirling dervish skirts.

After the hike and lunch in the Golden Spur Café we headed back toward the airport. We stopped at a gas station to fill the gas tank on our “courtesy car” and noticed that the engine was on overheat. It was scary to remove the cap on the radiator but the antifreeze was draining out as we watched and there was no water in the tank. We refilled the water and continued the last half hour to the airport while the engine remained on overheat the whole way. We prayed we would make it and thought we were in luck until we got to the last loop around the airport.

The engine quit completely as we were going up an incline. Steve rode the car like a real cowboy and we made it up that hill. At this point the car started smoking but we had a downhill in front of us. As we picked up a bit of speed Steve continued trying to start the engine as we had only one more long uphill to the airport entrance. Miraculously the engine started and we glided into the parking space at the airport gate as serious smoke started escaping the front end. We grabbed our things out of the trunk and ran. So much for “courtesy cars”. The moral is beware of freebies.

After this harrowing experience the mild turbulence encountered on leaving OR was nothing. We managed to skirt a bad weather system and flew into the clear skies on Montana. Nephew Jacob met us at the Missoula airport and we spent a lovely evening with him. Missoula is a lovely town with a beautiful meandering river and many good restaurants. We ate at the Silk Road that made us forget about dining in John Day.

Fly Kaplan Air Day 1

See the USA our way.

Wednesday, Sept. 22^nd

We’re off.  Sunny day, smooth air and tailwinds gets us to Ogilvie Field Grant County Airport in John Day Oregon in a mere 2 ½ hours.

The airport provided a vintage Dodge Intrepid boat in which I immediately hung my GPS. In spite of which it took three circlings of the airport before we located the exit to town.  We lunched at the Grubsteak in John Day and preceded 40 mi West to The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  We toured an outstanding Visitors Center containing actual fossil pieces from the area.

Then we had time for a short hike through the surrounding mountains before a quick dinner at the Dayville Café where deep fry is their specialty.  Ymmmm

At the end of a 5 mile dirt road we arrived at our destination, the Lands Inn B&B, where we were greeted by Carol (owner)  and Black (her dog). We were escorted to our double A Frame cabin overlooking a large vintage 1920’s hanger with a classic Stinson Bobcat  parked out front of their grass strip runway.  Nighty night.