Springs in the Fall

Friday, October 29, 2021

After leaving our AirBnb condo in Branson, my sister headed home to St. Louis. Taking the most direct route, her drive was about 4 hours long. Bob and I also headed to St. Louis, taking a route that would have us on the road for two days. No...we didn't get lost, but instead were on a nostalgic pilgrimage to revisit some special places from our childhoods.

Bob's grandmother (Granny to him) lived in the "boot heel" of Missouri so he has many special memories of times spent at her house and the surrounding area. I grew up in Southern Illinois and my family often took camping trips throughout Missouri when I was young. Between the two of us, we had mapped out a route to visit some of the places that we remembered from years gone by. Interestingly enough, many of these spots were springs located in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (hence the title of this post!)

Roads through southern Missouri are scenic but the hills and curves are not conducive to quick travels. Google Maps was our navigation guide, but we found that it didn't always give us the best advice on routes. This wasn't too much of a concern since we weren't under any time constraints. We just went with the flow and enjoyed the journey.

Back roads of Missouri.

Our first stop was at Alley Mill located west of Eminence, Missouri.. The mill was built in 1894 to grind grain into flour and was powered by water rushing out of Alley Springs. The day was cool but comfortable enough to hike the 1.7 mile loop trail that went around the springs, passed by a small waterfall and followed along the river. (Pardon the abundance of photos. I read that Alley Mill is one of the most photographed in the world and it is easy to see why!)

Bridge crossing over the river to the mill.

The spring with its dark turquoise water.

Bob had fun crawling through the small caves in the bluffs along the trail.

Crossing back over the stream at the end of the trail.

Just north of the town of Eminence was our next stop, Round Spring, one of Missouri's first state parks in 1932. No one else was around as we walked the short trail to the spring. 

From the National Park Service website:  The spring itself is some 55 feet deep, rising in a nearly circular pool of water before flowing under a natural bridge to join the Current River. On an average day, some 26 million gallons of water flow from the spring. At quiet times, otters, wood ducks, and great blue herons may be seen in the spring.

Round Spring

To complete our "spring day in the fall", we drove to Big Spring near the town of Van Buren. The name is not very creative, but it is accurate. Big Spring is one of the largest (if not THE largest) in the United States. Enough water flows out of the spring to fill Busch Stadium in St. Louis in just a little over a day! No hike is needed to see this spring, it is visible from the parking area and comes bubbling up out of the base of a limestone bluff. 

From the National Park website:  At an average daily flow of 286 MILLION gallons of water, Big Spring is an awesome sight and a geologic wonder. Underground passages carry water from as far as 45 miles away to emerge at the spring. Studies have shown that the water is carrying a load of dissolved limestone equivalent to 70 tons a day! This dissolved rock gives the spring its color and is also carving out a huge conduit underground. Should the spring ever go dry, a huge cave will be the result.

Exploring the bluffs above the spring.

Our day ended in the town of Poplar Bluff. It was getting dark as we pulled into the Fairfield Inn and Suites and we were hungry. Our Covid comfort level hasn't gotten to the point where we want to eat at an indoor restaurant yet. (Nor did we feel like getting cleaned up after our day of hiking and rummaging through the woods.) An Imo's Pizza was located adjacent to the gas station next door so we gave them a call. My sister loves Imo's but it was new to us. We walked over to pick up our pizza and brought it back to enjoy in our room. We both gave it a thumbs up!

Convenient after a day of exploring...Imo's Pizza right next door to our hotel!

Our room had one of the best hotel showers I have encountered and it felt wonderful. A little TV and then off to bed. Tomorrow...another day full of memories!

Road-Tripping to Branson

October 25 - November 6, 2021 (Part 1)

A couple of years ago, as we were anticipating Bob's retirement, I was mentally planning several big bucket list trips. I had actually gotten so far as to book a 28-day cruise to the South Pacific for February 2020 and a land tour of Turkey for May 2020. And beyond that I was dreaming of traveling to all seven continents. After all, our 2019 cruise to South America and Antarctica had given us a great start on this goal.

Well, it wasn't meant to be. We cancelled the South Pacific cruise before final payment. Something just didn't feel right about the trip. Perhaps I had a premonition of what was coming? And by the time we were to have been in Turkey the whole world had shut down. As many others, I assumed the "pandemic pause" would be over in a few weeks and then we would continue on with our travel dreams.

Now, nearly two years later, the ability to travel is slowly returning, but not even close to what I would consider "normal". So instead of writing posts about our international adventures, I am using this blog to write about our close-to-home jaunts. Perhaps these travels aren't exciting or interesting to others, but they still fall under the category of our "souvenir memories" and as such, I will record them. Lord willing, I will be able to look back on these times in the future and say "remember when we had that pandemic..."

With our Black Hills trip in the rearview mirror, we decided to squeeze in one more fall trip. One advantage to living in a large country, such as the U.S., is that the seasons do not change simultaneously in all locations. Our timing had been good to catch fall colors in the Black Hills in late September but by traveling south in late October we could once again catch the beautiful autumn foliage.

Our two weeks in Missouri was a combination of tourist sites, nostalgia, and family time so rather than give a day-by-day account, I will do the condensed version covering some of the highlights.

Touristy stuff first...

Hot Springs, South Dakota

 Friday, October 1, 2021

Our last day in the Black Hills...and a day with no plans.

The morning view from our deck.

Armed with lots of Black Hills tourist brochures and a map we decided over breakfast that we would head south....to the town of Hot Springs. Because we were in no hurry, we chose to take the longer route going and make the return trip a little more direct.

In our new car (which technically is two years old but seems new since we have done very little traveling during the pandemic!) the first thing I always do is connect my iPhone. The car is equipped with Apple CarPlay and it is nice to be able to use Google Maps and some of the other apps on my phone via the screen on the dash. BUT...connecting my phone did nothing. I fiddled and fiddled but the car and my phone just weren't going to play nice.

I finally had Bob pull over, turn off the car and then restart it. This procedure usually yields pretty good results when I have issues with my home computer, but in this case...nothing. My consensus was that the iPhone cable must have gone bad so I gave up. Using Google Maps was still possible on the phone, it just meant Bob no longer had the larger screen map to follow. 

Fossils don't rank very high on my list of things to see when we travel, but Bob thought it would be interesting to visit the the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. The active paleontological dig site has the largest concentration of mammoth remains in the world and also fossils of other Ice Age animals such as camel, llama, giant short-faced bear, wolf, and coyote.

The Lows and Highs of our Day in the Black Hills

Thursday, September 30, 2021

With our last visit only a year ago AND extending our trip a few days this year we were able to be more relaxed and not feel the pressure to be on the go all of the time. Today I gave myself permission to not set an alarm and have a more leisurely morning enjoying my coffee. Bob (as usual) decided the morning gave him the time to hike up the hill by our cabin. On his hike he had a "small world" moment when he ran into a couple who had originally lived not too far from our home but retired and bought the house right across the road from the AirBnB where we were staying. (Stay tuned for an even "smaller world" moment coming up tomorrow!)

There were no concrete plans today so after a bit of a discussion, we decided to drive into Wind Cave National Park. Our AirBnB is right on the border of the park so we had been on the back roads on our wildlife quest but had not yet entered the park "officially". This time we went through at the park entrance, but used our America the Beautiful pass so there was no fee. 

From our son's experience and reading reviews online, I knew taking a cave tour meant showing up at the crack of dawn to get a ticket. So when we stopped at the visitor center at 10:40 am we expected to just go through quickly and look at the exhibits. Besides, taking a cave tour with a group of people was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to be doing in a pandemic.

BUT...as we entered I heard the guy behind the counter saying that they still had a couple of tickets left for the 11 am tour. A little voice in one ear was saying "no way...why would you want to be in such a confined place with a bunch of strangers!" while the other ear was hearing "go for it...you know how much Bob loves caves!" 

Long Lost Memories in Custer State Park

 Wednesday, September 29, 2021

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday's blue skies and warm temps were gone and we woke up to a windy overcast day with highs only in the mid-50's. Definitely a jeans and jacket sort of day.

The goal for the day was to explore in Custer State Park, specifically Needles Highway and a couple of other spots that our son had suggested after their recent Black Hills trip. 

Going north on route 385 provides a pretty good view of the Crazy Horse Monument. Visiting the monument was on our tentative itinerary but we never made it so I was glad I took some photos as we were driving past. (Something to look forward to on a future visit!) I was using a pretty long zoom, but the highway view isn't too bad even with the naked eye.

The large truck parked on the arm gives some perspective on just how huge this sculpture is!

Heads in the Mud

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Many years ago we did a family camping trip to the Black Hills and hit most of the major tourist sites with our 2 boys (son #3 hadn't come along yet.) The youngest at the time was about 3 years old and didn't quite grasp the idea of a sculpture so he referred to the four presidents carved into Mt. Rushmore as the "heads in the mud". Hence the title of this blog post. 

The AirBnb apartment where we were staying was an efficiency built above a large garage next to the owner's home. The upstairs space had been quite warm when we arrived the previous afternoon so when we went to bed I had left the windows open and the ceiling fans running. As the temperatures dropped during the night the apartment became cooler and cooler and by the time we woke up both Bob and I were freezing! 

Last year we didn't make it to Mt. Rushmore so this year it became a priority on our to-do list. We got an early start and as we were pulling out of the driveway our car showed an outside temperature of 47º in the valley. When we arrived at the Mt. Rushmore National Monument 45 minutes later the temp had risen to 67º!

Admission to the monument is free, but there is a fee for the parking garage. It was a bit confusing trying to figure out how to use the automated kiosk to get a parking pass. The regular fee is $10 (good for a whole year!) but the senior citizen rate is half of that...$5. It was unclear how we were to prove we were "old folks", but at one point a question popped up on the screen asking if we were 62 or older. There was no human interaction at any point in the process so I'm assuming it must be on the honor system. The machine spit out a parking pass which we would show as we pulled out of the garage. I doubt we get back to Mt. Rushmore anytime in the next year but if we do, our parking pass will still be valid!

At 8:30 am, the monument was already quite busy. After walking through the Avenue of Flags, we took the obligatory selfie from the viewing terrace. 

Spearfish Canyon is Golden

 Monday, September 27, 2021

Our plans didn't require getting up early, but regardless I was up by 6:15 am. It wasn't long before Bob was also awake so we (meaning mostly Bob!) packed up the car. After a quick breakfast we were on the road. A flock of wild turkeys was there to say goodbye as we pulled out of the Turtle House driveway. Barely a mile down the road we had to brake to avoid hitting a couple of deer. (So many deer in the Spearfish area!!!) In less than 3 miles, we turned onto the Spearfish Canyon Highway.

Wild turkeys.

Spearfish Canyon is (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful drives you can find. Tall bluffs line the sides of the highway which follows along Spearfish Canyon Creek. That time of the morning, the sun was just beginning to climb above the bluffs lighting up the golden colored trees.

Devil's Tower and Termespheres!

Sunday, September 26, 2021

You might recognize these 5 musical notes from the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." And if you have seen the movie, you would also recognize Devils Tower...our destination for the day. 

One of the main reasons we decided to add on a two-night stay to our trip in the northern part of the Black Hills was to put us closer to Devil's Tower National Monument...something we didn't include in last year's itinerary. It's not like we haven't been there before. Bob estimates that he has climbed Devil's Tower 10 times...or at least that is his guess because he has actually lost count. But it has been some time since he has been here and much longer since I visited.

Bob rappelling down from the top of Devils Tower in 2005.

Bob and two of our sons on top of Devils Tower (2005).

A climber's view.

Badlands to Black Hills

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Slow and relaxed mornings are what I have loved most about retirement. No alarm clock, spending up to an hour drinking my cup (or two) of coffee and generally just not getting in a hurry for anything. Bob knows my routine, so he knew his best option would be to go out hiking while I took my time showering and getting ready for the day. He headed out walking towards some of the peaks near the cabin.

Bob's morning hike took him to the peak in the distance.

A summit selfie. 😀

Westward Ho

Please check out my blogs from our 2020 Black Hills & Badlands trip for more information on what to do in this area!

With less than 6 hours of travel to reach the Badlands (our first destination) there wasn't any need to rush to get out of the house. Normally we have a whole checklist of things to do when we leave on a trip, but this time our son, his wife and youngest son were arriving later in the afternoon to spend the weekend in our home. They were dropping off their older son at a church camp retreat nearby and would stay until Sunday when they would pick him up and go home. I left a detailed note explaining what all they needed to do when they left (turn off the water, empty the garbage, etc.) This son is very responsible but I still felt the need to do a FaceTime call while we were driving just to make SURE everything was handled correctly.

The change from summer to fall was quite apparent as we drove. The corn and soybean fields were turning from green to gold and fields of sunflowers were now almost unrecognizable. What had been a blanket of yellow flowers was now just dried brown stems. A sure sign of autumn was a truck passing by pulling a trailer loaded with pumpkins.

Black Hills 2.0

If you received an email alert for this blog post, be aware that the Feed Burner mail service that I used previously is being discontinued. If you would like to make sure you are notified of any future posts, please sign up on the right side of this page for my new service with Follow.It. More information can be found in the previous blog post. Thanks a bunch!

Like many people, when the word "pandemic" started popping up, I thought life might change for oh...maybe a month or two tops. Never did I imagine that a year and a half later my travel plans would be formed based on the ability to be outside or stay social distant. But that is exactly what pushed us to plan a return trip to the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota.

A couple of weeks after our 2nd Covid vaccine in March I was ready to go SOMEWHERE. When I noticed on the AirBnB website that the Black Hills apartment we rented last year was available for the same time this year it seemed like a sign. The fact that the reservation could be cancelled up until the day before made it easy to commit without really being committed. Five nights in late September...booked.

I Need Your Help

Hello Readers...

For now there won't be any travel blog posts from exotic locations, but we are planning a short road trip soon. If you have signed up to follow this blog via email, then I need your help to make sure you continue to get notified when a new post is published.

The email service I used previously to alert readers of a new post has been discontinued and will no longer work. I have added a new service called "follow.it" that will alert you whenever a new blog post is added. All you have to do is provide your email address in the box on the right hand side of the blog to subscribe. There is no cost and your address will not be shared nor will you be bombarded with SPAM. You will also be able to unsubscribe easily should you decide you don't want to be notified.

Once you enter your email in the box, you will be asked to confirm you are not a robot. Immediately you should receive an email asking you to confirm your request. If the confirmation email doesn't show up, check your spam folder to see if the email is there. The email sender will be listed as: follow.it. 

Technology advancements have managed to outpace my computer skills, so I would welcome any comments on how this is working...or not working! I would also love it if any of my current subscribers would sign up (again) and be even more happy if new subscribers join!

Thanks a bunch. Let's hope that REAL travel gets back to normal and we will have many more adventures to share!!

Mary

March 11 - The Beginning AND the End?

 March 11, 2020

The World Health Organization declared the fast spreading coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and the world changed overnight. It has been a long year and an especially long winter but perhaps the end is in sight?

March 11, 2021

Interesting that exactly one year later Bob and I received the second of our Moderna vaccines which we are hoping is our ticket to a "somewhat" more normal life. 

Last month we got our first jab and were given appointments for four weeks later for the next shot. A mid-March blizzard is always a possibility so it was a relief to have a sunny day in the mid-40's to make the half hour drive to the small pharmacy where our vaccine was waiting. The drive was not without a little bit of excitement, however. Bob had to make a couple of quick stops. First, to avoid hitting a pheasant that flew up in front of our car and then to avoid hitting (or being hit) by four deer darting across the highway. Definitely gets your heart pumping!

Pulling up in front of the tiny drugstore on main street I couldn't help but think what a different experience we were having compared to those in a big city going to a mass vaccination site. Just as the first time, the pharmacy was pretty much empty and in less than 10 minutes we both had our shots.

Shortly after we took our seats for the 15-minute post vaccine waiting period, some acquaintances came in for their vaccines. Visiting with them made the time fly by and then we were back on the road headed home.

The 15-minute waiting period following the vaccine.

Bob suffered a bit yesterday with side effects of his vaccine...achy muscles, low grade fever and tiredness. My only symptom was a pretty sore arm with a red rash around the injection site. Today both of us are feeling pretty good so the effects were short-lived.

Now to look ahead...

In exactly TWO weeks, our son and grandkids are coming for a visit. Other than a couple of brief outdoor visits last summer, this will be the first time in over a year that we have been together. AND...shortly after they leave our other son and grandkids are coming during their spring break to stay for a few days. Yippee!

I have no idea when traveling may be a part of our lives again, but I am starting to dream "just a bit." For now spending time with family and "maybe" eating at a restaurant will seem pretty exciting to us!

V-Day

I have been on a treasure hunt recently and a few days ago I struck gold! Yes...my persistence paid off and I was able to score two much coveted appointments for our covid vaccines!

Initially I thought our health care provider would be our route to the vaccine, and had resigned myself to the fact that it was going to be a long time before our turn came. The clinic was starting with the oldest age group of patients and then slowly working their way down. When I called, they were only making appointments for those in their 80's. Since Bob and I are at the bottom of the 65+ age group it was going to be forever before we got our call.

Several weeks ago Minnesota opened nine community pilot sites scattered around the state where they were going to be giving shots to those over 65 and also educators. Bob and I were both ready on the first day when the phone lines opened up and repeatedly called...like over 100 times each! At the same time, I also tried to log in to the website using a computer and ipad simultaneously. Nothing. The few calls that did connect were answered with a recording saying the phone lines were all busy. The website pretty much crashed. After a couple of hours I gave up.

Later in the day I checked the website one more time and it looked like appointments were available at one of the sites about 60 miles away. I quickly started trying, but at the end of the process I received a message saying all appointments had been filled and we had been placed on a waiting list. Frustrating, but it gave us a tiny glimmer of hope.

After only two weeks, the state decided to close all but three of the pilot sites (in Minneapolis, Duluth and Rochester) all of which are over 3 hours away from us. New sign-ups were not being accepted and a lottery would be held to choose names from the waiting list. All of the sites were too far to drive in winter weather even if our names did get picked from the hundreds of thousands on the waiting list.

This past week I happened to read that a limited supply of vaccine was being sent out to some of the smaller pharmacies in the state. I called several places listed on the state "Find My Vaccine" website but the best I could do was get put on waiting lists with hundreds of other people. 

Later in the morning I happened to look at the state website one more time and realized that a new pharmacy chain had been added. I went on the pharmacy website and found a location 30 miles from us and began trying to book an appointment. Many times I almost made it through the process only to get a pop-up that said the time slot had been filled. 

I wasn't about to give up however and eventually I was able to set up an appointment for myself. What a relief to see an email confirmation come through saying that my vaccine was scheduled in just 2 days! I had to repeat the process repeatedly but was able to get Bob's appointment booked as well, just10 minutes after mine!

The interesting twist to the story is that around 5 pm that evening I got a call from one of the other pharmacies that had put us on a waiting list. They had available appointments! I declined, but immediately called my neighbor who then called some of her friends. So the time and frustration I spent resulted in vaccines for all five of us!

Much of our weather this winter has been warmer than normal. But...as we headed north for our appointment, the thermometer reading was headed south. The temperature never got above zero and snow was falling lightly and blowing across the highway, reducing visibility in some places.

A snowy drive to get our vaccines.

Getting the vaccine couldn't have been easier. No other customers were in the tiny, small-town pharmacy when we arrived and within a few minutes both of us had gotten our shots. We sat on folding chairs in the cold-remedy aisle for 15 minutes afterwards and then we were free to go. Our only other stop was at a gas station to add air to our tires. Due to the extreme cold, the "check tire" light had come on.

Bob dealt with a sore arm for a couple of days afterwards. I felt a bit tired, but that was it. Now we wait. The booster to our Moderna vaccine is already scheduled in four weeks...almost a year to the day when a state of emergency was first declared in Minnesota due to the pandemic.

Who knows what the future holds in terms of this virus. Besides the variants being reported from the U.K., South Africa and Brazil, today the news is reporting even more variants emerging that have started here in the U.S. At the same time, however, case numbers are dropping drastically.

Right now I am not overly optimistic that international travel will be normal anytime in the near future. But I am hopeful that now we can be comfortable seeing family again and maybe even take some road trips. A little light at the end of a very long tunnel.

January Jottings

In my last post I alluded to the fact that Minnesota has been experiencing a relative mild winter. That is only partly true. Temperatures have been trending above normal, but a few days ago we got hit with our second major blizzard in less than a month. 

On the prairie there is nothing to block the wind so when it starts to blow, it really blows. A few inches of snow with winds gusting 50 to 60 mph and everything shuts down. With zero visibility, travel becomes impossible and the plows don’t even attempt to clear the roads or highways until things settle down. Such is life in the upper Midwest. 

Before I retired, a snowstorm meant my school would close...sometimes for a full day or days, other times it would be a late start or early out. Kids (and teachers alike) would anxiously listen to weather announcements on TV and radio to see if their district would be on the “Close Line.”     Being forced to stay home, a snow day was like a gift of free time that could be spent as one desired...reading a book, watching a movie, baking cookies, etc. This most recent blizzard made me realize how much my life during this pandemic has felt like one perpetual snow day after another. But now instead of a quiet day to be savored and enjoyed, It feels like a prison sentence. I have to keep reminding myself of how fortunate I really am. I have the luxury of staying home and staying safe when so many others don’t. Just human nature to want what we can’t have I suppose. 

With all of this “at-home-time”, squirrel watching has become a daily activity. Bob built a feeder this winter and we have it mounted on the deck outside of our family room. I have a perfect view from my desk and have been keeping my camera at the ready. Here are some photos of our regular lunch patrons: 

The squirrels in our neighborhood are becoming obese.

This poor guy has a sore tail. Eewww.

Even during the blizzard the regular customers showed up at the buffet.

Shortly after seeing some activity by our bushes the other day, I looked out and saw this guy land in our plum tree. From a little googling, I believe he is a Cooper’s Hawk. It wasn’t the first time we have spotted hawks hunting in our neighborhood, but I had never seen one with red eyes. Apparently this is a characteristic of a mature hawk, the juveniles have yellow colored eyes. 

Cooper's Hawk

And the wildlife photo that most excited me from this past week...an owl! This little guy was sitting in a neighbor’s tree and was so well camouflaged that I would have never spotted him if a friend hadn’t pointed him out. 

The worst of our winter is still to come, but it is nice to realize that our days are getting longer. This time of year, the sun has moved so far south that I can watch the sun setting over the lake from my kitchen window. On most nights I enjoy the view from indoors, but every now and then the show is so spectacular that I just have to bundle up and walk down to the shoreline to take it all in. How amazing!

I love how the clouds are reflected in the open water along the shoreline.