Gone To Look For America

Scofield State Park, United States

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 15:22:04 -0600

The Pumpkin hauled itself out of Wyoming around 6:15 am in the dark to avoid the worst wind of the day, arriving in Tremonton, UT, around noon, whereupon I laid down for just a second before going for lunch. I think Tom gave up hope on me and got his own lunch. He woke me up about two hours later saying I conked out completely. I even had my shoes on.

Medaryville, United States

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 21:28:23 -0400

Into everyone's life a little cake must fall. Dessert for the worthy.

Webster County Historical Marker, United States

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 16:01:52 -0500

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Marie, look! We came to Minneapolis.....Kansas. :D Tomorrow we drive up to I-80 and follow the Oregon/Mormon Trail to Scott's Bluff, Chimney Rock, and Courthouse Rock. I've been reading some of the diaries women kept on their way west during the pioneer expansion, aka takeover of Native American lands from their rightful inhabitants, and I honestly feel a very tiny kinship with them as they went west. We are, in our own way, pulling our wagon westward, too. While my experiences so far haven't even begun to mirror theirs, we've seen many of the same landmarks they saw along the way. I'd like to take the pioneer road through the historic South Pass in Wyoming but panning for gold in Colorado is calling our names. I have no idea if we'll actually pan or if we'll go to a tourist trap and pan in their "salted with gold" sluices. One of the RV parks I'm considering has gold mine tailings and virgin dirt from the Fairplay mines southwest of Denver. They're right on the Platte River so...

Deadwood, United States

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 14:43:16 -0600

The Pumpkin poses at the Geographical Center of the Lower 48.

Cawker City, United States

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 14:35:38 -0500

The Well-Traveled Pumpkin goes to the World's Largest Ball of Twine, Cawker City, Kansas.

Saint Louis, United States

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 17:11:16 -0500

The Pumpkin arrives in St Louis for the next two days. Go up in the Arch, see the sights, visit the zoo...all the things. The expanse of asphalt you see before you is the rest of the RV park. This is very typical of downtown parks in tourist areas. You should see the KOA in downtown Vegas. There are no dividers between the sites, just parking lot lines.

Sunset in East St Louis, IL.

Memphis, United States

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 15:42:26 -0500

The Well-Traveled Pumpkin visits the Mighty Mississippi River. It was another 4 state day; AL, MS, TN, and now on the river just west of Memphis in Arkansas. Tomorrow we head to St Louis.

Johnson City, United States

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 18:08:42 -0400

The Well-Traveled Pumpkin sleeps in Tennessee. It acquired friends in Virginia last night thanks to an unexpected guest who brought us a bag of fresh Virginia mountain apples. Trust me, WA apples are great but Appalachian apples are prime for eating and for delicious cider.

Bar Harbor, United States

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 15:51:00 -0400

We made it to Maine. We're just outside Bar Harbor right on the water. If we backed up another 15 feet, we'd be IN the water.

Off to dip his feet in Mt Desert Narrows.

Albany, United States

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 16:56:07 -0400

Home is where you park it. Yes, yes that is a pumpkin on my doorstep. We may be on the road but a girl's gotta decorate for the season, you know.

Traverse City, United States

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 20:01:34 -0400

Campfire dining. I'd like to say it's a fancy camp style dinner but it's just leftovers we nuked.

There are worse places to camp. We're on the Mohawk River for the night.

Marquette, United States

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 14:32:45 -0400

Superior, it's said, never gives up its dead. Sure is pretty, though.

Waconia, United States

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 18:51:44 -0500

Make a campground and they will come.

Mitchell, United States

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 13:34:41 -0500

The one and only Corn Palace.

Sat, 12 Sep 2020 12:22:10 -0600

Making preparations for the day's fishing. He's my tackle jockey. I do the fishing.

Devils Tower, United States

Thu, 10 Sep 2020 14:03:57 -0600

Where I spent my morning.

Pierre, United States

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 18:48:30 -0500

It's juuuuuuust barely warm enough to sit outside if I bundle up in two shirts and a jacket with my legs wrapped in a fleece blanket.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, United States

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 16:42:44 -0600

The day's attraction. It's pretty impressive but there isn't much to do once you're there. We also went to the Crazy Horse monument. Ditto there although there are some really beautiful exhibits of Native American artistry there plus a huge gift shop.

Philipsburg, United States

Mon, 31 Aug 2020 20:00:00 -0600

Made it to Philipsburg today. We'll go panning for sapphires tomorrow or the next day. If I get even a little bit of colored rock, I'll be happy enough. I don't need gem-quality stuff. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Home for the night in rural Montana.

Also, I present to you Tom and Laura's Campfire Theatre. I was surprised other campers didn't show up with chairs. We were watching a surprisingly grim 50's B movie called "This Is Not A Test". It's pretty cheesily acted but the movie is thoughtful if a bit melancholy. Its focus is human psychology under extreme crisis. Last night's selection was Spaceballs. We had to put subtitles on because Burlington Northern was competing with Union Pacific for how many trains they could send by (BNSF tracks run right past the park and UP tracks about a quarter mile to the left of BNSF tracks so we were sandwiched in between). I guess sundays are a busy time on the freight lines. Tonight we're in the back hills of Montana for a couple of days. It's coooold up here. Thankfully, we brought stuff for that plus the trailer has a propane furnace with forced-air heat. I wouldn't bring a tent up here this time of year (or any, really. They have bears here.). We have a free day tomorrow to do...

Granite mine. Naturally they mined silver.

A little over 18 carats in various colored sapphires only one of which is truly gem quality. If I had it heat treated and cut it would be about 3/4 carat of flawless sapphire. I did find a rare deep pink one and an even rarer purple one, both too small to cut of course. It's fun to pan unassuming gravel then pick gorgeous raw gemstones out of the mess. It really was hard to restrain ourselves to a single large bucket of gravel. It's addictive like gambling. Then we went up several scary dirt roads until we found the correct one going to the ghost town and mine. Like I said, not for the faint of heart or low clearance vehicles.

Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, United States

Sun, 30 Aug 2020 12:00:00 -0700

We found this little gem of a park nestled up to the backside of the Selkirk Range of the Rockies along the Kootenai River outside Bonners Ferry, ID. It is a lovely place to picnic with a handful of tables along Myrtle Creek, plus a short but slightly steep trail up to Myrtle Creek Falls which is worth the trip. Since we were there at midday, about the only thing stirring were some birds, large flocks of Canadian Geese, and a few deer browsing in the marshes. On the walk up to the falls, we saw a couple of chipmunks and a really big red-headed woodpecker of some type foraging for insects along the lower tree trunks and even on the ground. I didn't know they would do that. The signs at the Visitor's Center say that they even have moose that wander through but it being the middle of the day, I'm sure any moose in its right mind was napping in the shade somewhere, waiting to feed at dusk. Tomorrow, we head over to Montana to go panning for sapphires. It should be fun. I hope I get one but there are no guarantees at all, much less if you get one that is gem quality. We'll see. It'll be fun anyway even if I don't get anything and that's the point of this trip, right?

Naples, United States

Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:10:00 -0700

We've parked for a couple days at a lovely RV park on a small lake. I have no idea what's next.

At the top of the campground. The trailer is behind me. I told you it was pleasant here. Half the road noise is actually the wind in the pines.