CIRCLE THE WAGONS

Click on this to make it bigger.  You can see the "wagons" circling and some "wagons" arriving more coming in.

 

That's me on the left.

Laura's little school

The original Airstream

The walls of the sod house...V and D said it was cold and damp and moldy inside.

Dave couldn't resist playing a tune on this old pump organ. The organ belonged to Mary, Laura's sister.

Vannie having fun!

 

"Remember well, and bear in mind, a constant friend is hard to find."  LIWilder

 

“Laura felt a warmth inside her.  It was very small, but it was strong.  It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder (Author of Little House on the Prairie Series) This quote was from The Long Winter.

Just like Laura…I was feeling warm inside.

Just like Laura…I was feeling strong and steady.

Just like Laura…I wasn’t giving up.

This trip has been such a “growing up” for me.  I’ve covered some miles and gone up some hills and met new friends and seen new things.  Wow…just a little ole trailer from Louisiana…seeing the world!

When I arrived at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead in DeSmet, SD, I got the shivers.  I know I’ve seen great things on this trip, but pulling up on the prairie right where Laura ran and played was a highlight.  All the Airstreams had to get in a circle just like the covered wagons did long ago…and I think my ancestors did the same thing.  The wind was whistling by the plain…the grass was waving…the sky was blue and bright… Laura’s little house and barn and school were all in sight…my chill bumps were popping.

Vannie had borrowed a dress from her mother-in-law, Pearl Harris.  Pearl had made the dress back in the late 60’s for a centennial in Farmerville, LA.  Vannie could hardly wait till I was parked before she was puttin’ on that dress.  Oh my goodness, when she stepped out of me and into the prairie breeze, she could have been Laura herself.  Vannie was getting the same feeling I was having.  It was a special moment between the two of us.

“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” Laura Ingalls Wilder

I'M BAD

I'm singin' and dancin' here...Can ya hear me?  Can ya hear me?

out of the front window of my BFF

Notice the reflection in my back window...cool!

Because I’m Bad, I’m Bad…Come On

(Bad, Bad Really, Really Bad)

You know I’m Bad, I’m Bad…You Know It

Just a little Michael Jackson is appropriate here.  I was doing the moon walk and singing all the way through the South Dakota Badlands.  The scenery was  so “bad”.  Literally, the Lakota Native Americans called it makhosica, which means badlands.  The French…les mauvaises terres (badlands).  The Spanish…tierra baldia (waste land).  They were all referring to the dryness and the hardship of traveling through it.  But now there is a beautiful highway through it, so I was doing my dance and singing to the top of my lungs.  All I could think about was the beauty I saw in this “bad” part of our country.  The dark blues to black…the bright clays of yellow and red…the natural formations that looked like castles and kingdoms and fairy lands and stalactites and the moon.

One More Time (gotta picture me doing the Moon Walk)

Because I’m Bad, I’m Bad…Come On

(Bad, Bad Really, Really Bad)

You know I’m Bad, I’m Bad…You Know It

TWO "MAMMOTH" ADVENTURES

 

There's me on the far left.  I was in Hot Springs, SD.  That's a "fur" piece from Lafayette.  This ole girl's seeing some cool stuff.  I've met new friends from California, Colorado, Arizona, and Texas.

 

OK, Folks...these are the real things...Mammoth bones...Holy Cow, oops, I mean Mammoth!

Dave's listening to the information about the mammoths.

That's a biggie!!!  "Dem bones gonna rise again!"

This is the big guy, himself...Dr. Larry Agenbroad...a real mammoth scientist!  I bet there are not many of those.

 

Now for a look at a "mammoth" monument....Crazy Horse.  This monument is located near Hill City, SD

V and D looking good at the base of Crazy Horse.

 

This is a model of what the finished monument will look like.  Look real close and you will see the real thing in the background.

The Black Hills of South Dakota have so much history.  When we arrived in Hot Springs, I could feel it in the air.  We were going to see something BIG. 

Being a part of the VAC (Vintage Airstream Club) Caravan is so awesome.  Every day I get to visit with my new friends while Vannie and Dave tour the area.  Then in the afternoon, they return with great stories to tell.

This day was no exception.  Two “Mammoth” Adventures!!!  Who knew???  V and D were part of a behind the scenes tour of The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs.  Dr. Larry Agenbroad, world-wide recognized scientist and avid mammoth hunter, led the tour.  The leader of the caravan, Jim and Chris, had arranged  for the tour…even they had not realized that Dr. Agenbroad, himself, was going to be their guide.  There have been 50 plus Columbian mammoths found and 3 Wooly mammoths.  Dave said that was one “wooly bugger” of an adventure!

The next “Mammoth” adventure was to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial.  Crazy Horse is not a mammoth, as in animal, he is just as big as all get out.  After Mt. Rushmore was created, a member of the Lakota tribe in South Dakota approached Korcak Ziolkowski, a sculptor, to create a memorial in the mountain for their people.  Ziolkowski accepted the challenge.  It was begun in 1948 and is still a work in progress.  Vannie said that Crazy Horse's head is 27 feet taller than the heads of Mr. Rushmore.  Now, that makes a statement!  Powerful!  Oh...and when you are trying to say the sculptor's name...please try not to spit on anybody...Thanks...I'm still practicing (in private, of course).

MAMMALS, MOUNTAINS, MUSEUMS

Mammal #1..Buffalos Abound...notice the tiny little legs on the other side...sweet wee one!

 

Mammal #2...Prairie Dogs...Such cute little critters!

 

Mammal #3...White Donkeys...They were standing so still, I thought they were statues!

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More donkeys...Vannie got up close and personal with these. I'm sorry, but I'm staying my distance.

 

Now...Mountains...Yep...they are really there.  I first I thought 2 had fallen off, but then I realized they are kind of in the back and are looking to the side. Do you see them?

 

Guess who?  Check out the background. 

 

Going very slowly through one of many tunnels.  Only one car at a time.  This one was especially special with that view coming out the other side.

 

And Museums...Pioneer Historical Museum in Hot Springs, SD

 

Check out these steps to get to the museum...I knew I couldn't haul my fat a--, oops, I mean haul myself up, so I waited at the bottom.

 

The Parlor

 

Dishes

 

Sewing Machines

OK...north on hwy. 87, through Wind Cave National Park (did stop at the gift shop and V and D looked around), turned on 16A through Custer State Park and on up to Keystone, SD.  The mammals we did see!  The buffalos were the most amazing.  They were everywhere.  Mamas, Daddies, Babies!!  And they were in the fields, on the side of the road, in the middle of the road...you could say they were the "King of the Road."  In fact, I witnessed a big daddy buffalo in the middle of the road staring down 2 Harleys.  The guys on the Harleys finally decided they needed to turn around and go the other way.  That buffalo looked like he was about to charge!  He moved over to the right lane and I crept by very slowly.  I know I was bigger than him, but he looked a whole lot meaner.

The green fields were absolutely gorgeous.  They were gently rolling and looked like they were covered with Astro turf.  Every blade was perfect!  Then there was the prairie dogs...bobbing their little heads out to say hello.  The donkeys seemed to just come out of nowhere.  They were so friendly.  Some people on a tour bus were feeding them oranges.  That seemed a little illegal, but I just kept my mouth shut.

The presidents....V and D have been talking about Mt. Rushmore for weeks.  I have listened to facts about George, Thomas, Theodore, and Abraham till I'm blue in the face...guess I could say silver.  The big bad wolf would make a field day out of these guys...the better to smell you with, my dear (20 foot noses), the better to see you with, my dear (11 foot noses), the better to eat you with, my dear (18 foot mouths).  WOW!!! All I could think about was Cary Grant holding on to Eve Marie Saint hanging off the side of one of the faces in the movie, North by Northwest...can't remember which face.

The museum...Vannie said the Pioneer Museum was outstanding.  It was in an old school building similar to the one where she went to school...Bernice High School.  As she went through the rooms, she was reminded over and over again of her school.   Especially those wide wooden staircases and wooden floors and tall windows and black chalkboards and the principal office.  Each room in this museum was dedicated to clothing or dishes or medical equipment or sewing machines or musical instruments, etc. etc. etc.

I've rattled on way too long ...Today we headed to Hill City, SD.  The weather is a little messy.  V and D are cozy as a bug in a rug inside me at the moment.  They just returned from "happy hour" with the other Airstreamers in the group.  We are all parked in a half circle...makes me think of how the covered wagons circled around the campfire.  Gosh Darn, I'm feeling like a real pioneer!

REMINDS ME OF WILD HICKORY NUTS

campsite in Gothenburg, Nebraska

 

Hello, World...What's next?...

 

Dandelions???

 

Oh, No...dandelion leaves for supper...Are we on a budget???

 

Beautiful rolling hills, green meadows, hay bales

 

Lots of coal cars...I noticed that the tracks were so well kept...can you see me in the rearview mirror!!!

 

Train tracks and cow tracks

 

My spot in Hot Springs, SD at the KOA...Do you see the wee Airstream next to me.  So cute!

 

Who remembers that guy in the 60's named Euell Gibbons.  He was a proponent of natural diets.  The makers of Grape Nuts Cereal hired him to do commercials.  He would say on the commercial that Grape Nuts "reminds me of wild hickory nuts."  Well, when we pulled up to our site in Gothenburg, Nebraska, and there were wild dandelions all over the place, Vannie got to quivering.  She had just read an article in her Oprah magazine about edible weeds.  She could hardly wait to get out my door and start picking.  She did not tell Dave about the secret ingredient until after he took the first bite of her concoction.  She had sautéed a little onion, some garlic, olive oil, leftover carrots, salt/pepper and the dandelion leaves.  When that was cooked down, she added an egg and created an omelet.  She then put the dandelion omelet in a whole wheat tortilla and wrapped it up.  Dave couldn't stop raving about it.  Then she told him what it was.  He couldn't believe it...and it helped him stay regular for a long time!!!  It wasn't "wild hickory nuts", but the dandelions did the trick!

 

Today we traveled through Nebraska...lots of rolling green hills, cows, trains, small towns, no traffic, blue skies, farmers, tractors...There is nothing I like better than to be out in the wide open spaces rolling down the road.  There is a peace and freedom that is unsurpassed!  We arrived at the KOA in Hot Springs, SD around 3:00 (mountain time).  There were two Airstreams already here.  They were older than me, if you can believe that.  We got set up and enjoyed visiting with them.  More will be coming in tomorrow.  There is a cute couple parked by us from England.  They rented a camper after they flew over and are touring the States.  It was fun talking with them and hearing about their adventures.

 

Tomorrow about a dozen Airstreams will be here for the caravan.  The Airstreams will hang at the park while their owners doing some touring, etc.  I can't wait to compare notes with the other Vintage Campers.  I'm sure they will have stories to tell...I know I have some to share...I wonder if they have ever eaten a dandelion leaf wrap.

 

 

 

LET'S GO AND FIKAR

Note the wheat field right outside my window

 

Dave called these "fish scales".   A lot of houses in Lindsborg had them.

 

Saw this on several houses

 

Downtown Lindsborg

 

St. Lucia...Hands out gifts and sweets to children during the Christmas season 

 

A Dala Horse...A Swedish icon...They were all over town, each decorated by local artists.

 

A beautiful door framed by decorative tiles.

 

Window with wrought iron design

 

Blacksmith shop in the middle of town

While I was waking up this morning, Dave and Vannie decided to walk downtown in Lindsborg, Kansas.  This is just the cutest little town...V and D liked it so much, I get the feeling we will be back here one day.

Lindsborg is a central Kansas plains town of about 3,500.  It was founded by Swedish immigrants in 1868.  One can feel the influence of the Swedish all over the place.

Bet you are wondering what the title of this story is all about.  Well, while V and D were walking around they happened upon a delightful little coffee/bakery shop.  They stopped in to have breakfast, and this message was on the wall..."Let's go and fikar".  They inquired and discovered the meaning is..."taking time to enjoy coffee, sweets and conversation with friends."  I like it!  I was glad when they returned so that they could "fikar" with me.  Now you go and "fikar" with someone!!!

We headed out to Nebraska after our "fikaring".  More wheat and corn fields.  Dave said this is the bread basket of America.  I felt like I was in my own private snow globe.  I could see all the way to the curve of the earth in all directions.  Beautiful fields of gold or green!  I got this same feeling of the snow globe in west Texas, but it was all brown.  Beautiful in a completely different way with it's mesas and cattle ranges and mesquite trees.

We stopped in Gothenburg, Nebraska for the night.  What's with these "borg"..."burg"!  Nearly every small town has one or the other in it's name.  Gothenburg is the home to two Pony Express stations....so that makes it the Pony Express Capital of Nebraska.  Another little tidbit...the women's restroom in our campground is a storm shelter.  OK, folks, I can not fit into the women's restroom.  Ain't no way I'm getting in there.  So...I'm praying for clear skies.  I don't know if I can sleep a wink tonight thinking about this dilemma.  Vannie told me to just calm down and start counting sheep.  Easy for her say...she can fit in the restroom. Now she says to start counting backwards by threes from 200      200...197...194...191...zzzzzzzz