Heading Home

I can’t believe we’ve been gone for over two and a half months. We are making our way home, currently in OKC, but we had a nice time in Texas on route. In Fredericksburg, we visited the Texas Rangers monument. They are still in existence, but early on they were a wild bunch. 

You may not be familiar with Buc-ee’s, it is a chain of travel centers known for clean (huge) bathrooms and many fueling positions. We stopped at one just for the adventure and it was quite an experience. The specialties are brisket, jerky, fudge, and bakery. Who could ask for more!!

Then on to College Station and the George Bush presidential library and museum. 

While visiting with friends in Houston we had our first virtual reality experience at the Ramses the Great exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. We were taken on on a whirlwind tour of two of Ramses’ most impressive monuments, Abu Simbel and Nefertari’s Tomb. What fun!

And we again enjoyed the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit. 

We are hoping for a turn toward spring weather as we arrive back in  MKE. 

Field of Dreams

One more stop in Iowa on our way home—the site of the baseball field in the 1988 movie Field of Dreams.

Rick disappearing into the cornfield. Will he return?

What did he find in there?!?!?

A Visit with my Brother

John is buried in Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver. There are 155 National cemeteries in 42 states. Fort Logan has more than 148,000 gravesites, all with the same headstones. John’s was installed just this week. Linda has been going regularly to place flowers from their garden. I still get teary just writing this. 

Rocky Mountain High

Had a couple great days of hiking with Erich and Ashlee and out grand puppies. 

Hiked along the Roaring Fork river in Aspen where there is a John Denver sanctuary. He was a long time resident of the city. Lyrics of his are carved into the boulders in the Song Garden. It celebrates John’s life and reflects his passion for nature and protecting the environment. 

Populus Tremuloides

That is the scientific name for the quaking aspens. They have been truly beautiful during our time in Aspen. We definitely hit the peak of color. Here’s a view of the Maroon Bells. 

The hike to Crater Lake took us through many aspen groves. 

And the weather has been perfect—lots of blue sky. 

Home, Home on the Range…….

where the deer and the antelope play. Well, they aren’t actually antelope, but that’s what they are called in Colorado. They are actually pronghorns. The name is derived from the forward projection or prong on each horn. They are extraordinarily fast. They can maintain 40 miles an hour for several miles and 60 MPH for short bursts. They are the fastest animal in the Western Hemisphere and the second fastest land mammal in the world, after the cheetah. 

It’s a game management success story. In the 1940s, there were only 5,000 and now there are 85,000 statewide. We saw many of they grazing as we drove south from Wyoming. 

So Much History

September 24

Why did I hate history in school and find it so fascinating now???

We spent the day in the Casper,Wyoming area. The National Historic Trails center is there. Between 1840 and 1869, approximately 500,000 emigrants traveled through Casper on three different trails—the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail and the California Trail. They migrated for different reasons: free land, religious freedom, and free gold. 

They all crossed the North Platte river at this location. We got to sit in a covered wagon and experience crossing the river. What fun!

A fourth trail is also commemorated—the Pony Express which operated from April 1860 through October 1861, becoming obsolete when the telegraph was completed. 

Along the Oregon Trail near Casper is Independence Rock, a large granite monolith. If the wagon trains reached the rock by Independence Day they would likely cross before the first snows. It literally was the half way point on their 2000 mile journey to Oregon. Most of that 2000 miles was done on foot!! Surely hardy, brave people. 

We walked around the entire rock. People climb to the top, but we didn’t risk it. 

Many people carved their names as they passed by and are still visible today. Here’s one from 1852. 

When we got to Laramie, we went to the Friday farmers market. There were native Americans performing. The woman performed the hoop dance. She was wearing a red dress to honor the hundreds of Native American women who had gone missing and who are overlooked. 

So the history part of our trip is behind us—on to golf and hiking. The Aspens should be beautiful.