StanAndConnie.com

September 2003

September 2003

September was largely a mad dash across the country from Seattle to New York and back to Kansas City. We did stop several places to see the sights, though.

South Dakota, Black Hills area

We stopped long enough to see Mount Rushmore and the Badlands this time through. Mount Rushmore is in the Black Hills area, which is pretty scenic in itself. It's a little like the Ozarks, only cooler. The dark bark on the trees and dark foliage give the Black Hills their name.

Despite the well-known image of the four presidents being nearly everywhere you look, seeing Mount Rushmore in person is awe-inspiring. It really was a monumental achievement (pun intended), but what may not be well-known is that it was never completed. Comparing it to the original artist's model, you can see that there was much more planned. But the depression and World War II, and eventually the death of the artist, put an end to the work -- leaving the famous sculpture the way everyone knows it today.

(Click photos to enlarge)

By the way, the huge new cafe in the park has really good food at a reasonable price -- something I hadn't expected at a national monument. So we got to dine with the presidents (you can see them through the window behind Connie).


We also stopped by the new Crazy Horse memorial site, but didn't take the tour (it was getting late). But you can see it pretty well from the road. Obviously there's a lot of work left to be done on it, too.


Ever see goats on a bridge? Stop by Old McDonald's farm (a petting zoo) on the way to Mt. Rushmore for an unusual sight. This was right by the RV park we stayed in, and goats were on the bridge all the time. They must keep them well-fed up there.


We also peeked over the fence at the chickens and other farm critters. Some were staring back at me.


We also drove through the Badlands National Park. I generally knew what the badlands looked like, but imagined it to be all grey and lifeless. Well, it is pretty lifeless, but parts of it are very colorful.


Even the less colorful areas make for awesome landscapes. These are changing all the time, since the "rock" is really very soft, more like drying clay. It crumbles easily in your hands (umm, not that I touched it, I just heard that!), so you can imagine what the wind and water and blowing sand will do to it. Here are some more photos for you to enjoy.




Minneapolis, Minnesota

Our next stop was Minneapolis -- we had been wanting to visit the Mall of America for a long time, and this was our chance. The mall is certainly huge. We allowed a full day to walk through it, and still felt rushed. You'll find just about every kind of store of course, and the stores all surround the Snoopyville theme park. There's also a large Legoland store, and tons of restaurants and 2 separate food courts. It took us an hour just to decide what to eat for lunch.

I enjoyed the various lego "sculptures", everything from the space shuttle to Harry Potter could be found in legos.



Of course Snoopyville was pretty cool too. I expected a lot of small kids' rides, but I was impressed by the size and quality of the rides -- the roller coaster, log-ride, ferris wheel, and other rides were not just for kids.


Of course there were things for kids, too.


We walked around downtown Minneapolis one morning to see some of the famous landmarks. There's a large sculpture garden with the signature cherry-in-a-spoon sculpture and other artwork in a beautiful park, and some other nice architecture.


We also found the statue of Mary Tyler Moore among the downtown buildings.


By the way, something interesting about downtown Minneapolis is that there are enclosed walkways between many of the buildings (above street level), comprising a large network like a mall, complete with stores and cafes along the way -- making it possible to walk to a building many blocks away without stepping outside. I imagine that can be very handy in the cold winters!



Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Next we explored bits of Michigan's upper peninsula (U.P.). Michigan appears to be mostly forest, but different than the forests in the west. Most of the trees are relatively short, and of all different kinds. Perhaps it was just the way they lined the roads with trees as a buffer, but we rarely saw any open farmland -- and not a single cow! Surely they do more than grow trees there (though lumber is a pretty large industry). We also discovered that iron mining is a large industry in this area. And the great lakes make it easy to transport the iron ore down to the steel mills around Detroit and Chicago. It all makes sense now, right?

The first stop was Marquette, one of the most popular tourist areas in the U.P. It's on the north side, on Lake Superior. We had a nice Whitefish lunch at a local restaurant, and learned that Whitefish is actually a kind of fish, not just referring to white-colored fish in general. It's pretty much the most common fish in Michigan, and it's very good -- be sure not to miss it if you visit this area.


Then we just drove around the area taking in the sites. The Maritime museum had some interesting outdoor displays, like this fishing boat and a conning tower from a submarine, with a torpedo.


Presque Isle Park is a nice little park with a scenic drive around it. Of course I had to investigate the rocks at the "beach" (I found some nice little agates), and Connie just had to look cute.


Other attractions include "Superior Dome", the largest wooden dome in the country (world?) at the Northern Michigan University campus, a lot of restored Victorian homes, and St. Peter's Cathedral. The only good photo we got was of the cathedral.


We also visited Sault Ste Marie (pronounced "Soo Saint Marie"). This city is famous for the "Soo locks", which connect Lake Superior and Lake Huron and allow ships to pass between them. Without the locks, the passage would be a 20-foot drop through rapids (part of which still exist). We took the Soo Locks boat tour, which makes a 2-hour round trip through the locks. The locks are big enough for the super-tankers carrying iron ore and processed iron pellets, so our little tour boat was tiny in comparison. Below is a view approaching the lock, and from within the lock looking back at the ate closing.


Here's a large ship in the lock next to us (already lowered so you can only see the top part). Notice the pink "submarine" on the ship -- that's actually one of the new lifeboats, which are completely enclosed to survive the frigid winter waters here.


By the way, this is also the Canadian border -- some of the locks are in the U.S. and some are in Canada (so technically this was our first "trip" into Canada, though I guess it doesn't count if you don't get off the boat). Here's the international bridge into Canada, and a border marker in the water (the little rock island).


Here are some Canadians watching us as we passed through their lock. (Or maybe they were American tourists -- who can tell?) Also, the Canadian side of Sault Ste Marie is very pretty and has other museums and attractions, but we didn't have time to visit that side.


Here's a dramatic example of the lock's different levels -- after the water level was lowered in the lock, you could see the concrete "floor" of the lock entrance behind us, where we just entered.


Speaking of floors... did you know that boats have emergency exits?


Here's something you don't see in every gift shop -- S'more figures and lighthouse tea pots.


Right next to the Soo locks boat tours there's a huge museum ship, so we visited that as well. It's a cargo ship, which was used to haul processed iron ore pellets, grain and other bulk cargo. You can walk through the entire ship, including the engine room and cargo hold. Here's the bridge and a view of the upper deck looking back from the bridge.


Here's a power steering unit you won't find on your car:


Here's part of the cargo hold, now housing exhibits like this boat (lifeboat?) and a steel buoy that managed to sink (or perhaps was pulled to the bottom -- part of this exhibit is the remains of the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck). Notice how it's crumpled? That happened AFTER it sank, where the pressure at the bottom caused it to implode violently.




Mackinac Island

(Pronounced "Mackinaw")

This is one of the most famous attractions in Michigan, so we had to check it out. It's an island between the upper and lower peninsulas, and it's unique in that no cars are allowed on the island -- it's a living Victorian village. Transportation is by foot, bike, or horse -- and boy were there a lot of horses! Of course you have to take a ferry boat to the island. We took a twin-hull ferry like the one below. As you approach the island, you can see that the architecture follows the old-time theme, even though the houses are new. (These are probably just summer homes for people with a lot of money.)


Once you arrive on the island, the logical thing to do is take the carriage tour. Two horses carry 21 people around the island, which includes some rather steep hills. In the background, you can see part of the main street shopping area (which is about 25% fudge shops!) The other photo is the "back alley" of the main street, with bed-and-breakfasts and more upscale shops.


After passing landmarks such as the magnificent Grand hotel (a small part of which is shown below), you board what they call the "747" carriages -- these hold 36 people, pulled by 3 horses.


You can also tour the old fort (where the war of 1812 started), which has live demonstrations and a great view of the island.



If you still haven't had enough, you can rent your own carriage (or just a horse to ride horseback if you want), or rent a bike. You can ride all over the island, including an 8-mile road around the perimeter (on the beach) and through the state park (mostly forest).


One of the attractions in the state park is the Arch rock, which is also part of the standard tour.


We actually would have had more photos, but the battery ran out in the camera (and naturally I didn't have the spare with me). We could have shown you more of the Grand hotel, the Governor's mansion, the state park forest, and lots of fudge!



New York City

Finally, we made a quick trip to New York to visit family. Having been there several times before, there wasn't much new -- except the absence of the World Trade Center. We were able to get a great view of it -- from 30+ stories up, right across the street. Most of the rubble is long since gone, and now it's a 4-story hole in the ground. But since the subway goes through it, they have already built up buildings around it. It looks more like a bustling construction site now. But looking at the sides where gaping holes show remaining parts of the below-street parking garage, the magnitude is still hard to believe.




That's all for now -- we're back in Kansas City for a couple months and then head to Arizona for the winter. There may not be much to report until next spring, when we travel across the south and up to New York again.

Thank you for visiting our travel site. Please visit our other sites too:

	Campground Master -- A tracking program for your campground or inn. Easy to use and learn, but modern and powerful. One of the most inexpensive systems, great for small campgrounds. Designed by campground owners and full-time RVers.
	MysteryPhotos -- Every week a new photo is shown, which may be a close-up of something, or a section of a common object or sight. Guess what it is and you might win a prize. Lots of fun for the whole family! Free screensaver and wallpaper too.
	Awesome Screen Savers -- Cool photographic screen savers of the highest quality, for Windows PC's. Download FREE Lite versions of them all. Some are created with photos from our travels, some are awesome photos from NASA. (Contact me to have a screen saver made with your own photos!)
	Cottonwood Software -- My shareware business site, currently featuring File-Ex: a Windows file dialog enhancement tool. Great for people who work with a lot of files.
	Free -n- Cool -- Tons of Freebies, Giveaways, and Cool Sites -- all in one! You'll find a large selection of free samples you can get mailed to you, free games, screen savers, internet services, etc., plus hundreds of contests of all types, and a unique "intensely cool sites" list.

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