DAY 75 TUESDAY 20th NOVEMBER 2007

Nashville, Tennessee (Miles to date: 8900)

The primary reason for staying in McMinnville is so that we could visit the State Capital of Tennessee, Nashville. Unfortunately I had miscalculated the distance from McMinnville to Nashville, thinking it was about 30 miles when it was a lot nearer 80 miles. Never mind we set off and it was a nice day and scenery was pleasant, rolling hills and still some autumn colour on the trees.

En route to the downtown we decided to pull off to see the Grand Ole Opry which is not very Ole at all. The Opry is situated on an entertainment complex on the outskirts of Nashville – we stopped to check if there was anything on whilst were in town. And basically there wasn’t – the famous weekly country show had moved downtown to the more historic Ryman Auditorium for the winter months. So this was our cue to move on.

Nashville itself is quite a modern looking city. It had a lot less of a grungy feel than Memphis – not quite sterile but a more sanitised feel. Once parked up we decided to trudge the streets for a while and find somewhere for lunch. We set off having found a couple of recommended restaurants from our trusty “Road food” book. We stumbled upon Broadway, the main music street in Nashville, full of bars, restaurants and shops selling cowboy hats, boots and garish shirts. Every bar and restaurant has live music and we were fortunate enough to find one with something going at 11:30am in the morning – which was not too early for me at least to have a beer and watch some country. We were joined by a coach load of tourists so it was quite good atmosphere for so early in the day. The artist was clever at working the audience, particularly the older women in the crowd. Buoyed by the music and beer we went off and called in at one of the cowboy outfitters along the street – attracted in by a set of pink cowboy boots in Emily’s size. Incredibly they even stock Stetsons that fitted Mark’s large noggin.

By this time all our activity had fuelled our hunger and we set out to try and find the restaurants we had written down. Unfortunately it turned out since the book had been written and published both places had disappeared into the ether, but luckily we found a couple of stout and well fed looking business men who recommended us to a home style cooking restaurant called Caroline’s. This turned out to be a gem – very basic with food served on plastic plates – but goodness was it tasty.

For the afternoon we decided to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame. We’re not really Country Music people but whilst in Nashville it had to be done. Not knowing anything about the music or the people we chose to take the self guided audio tour. The museum part of the Hall of Fame takes you from the early roots of Country Music through to the modern day – profiling the genres of music that influenced it and the stars of the Country Music scene. Interestingly enough one of the biggest displays was set aside for Elvis Presley who was billed in his early days as a County artist – and indeed he is inducted into the Hall of Fame (stretching things a bit). The final part of the tour is the rotunda which has a plaque for each inductee, including such greats as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell and Dolly Parton. This wasn’t as interesting a museum for us as was the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, but that is entirely due the fact that we don’t really follow Country Music.

DAY 74 Monday 19th NOVEMBER 2007

McMinnville, Tennessee (Miles to date: 8700)

The travel plans for today are to get to the town of McMinnville some 80 miles south of Nashville. To break the journey up we decide, or at least I decide, to stop at the town of Lynchburg. Apart from being a quaint little town, Lynchburg is famous as the home of the Jack Daniels the famous Tennessee whiskey house. Fortunately we arrive just in time for the last tour of the day. We have done a few factory tours on this trip, primarily as educational visits for Jack and Emily, but also because they were child friendly, such as the Cape Cod chip factory and Ben & Jerry’s Ice cream plant. This is definitely one for the adults. The other tours we have had were also a little disappointing in the sense that they were short and quite sterile as you mainly got to see things from behind big glass windows. Not this tour. Firstly they take you to the yard where they burn the wood to make the charcoal – which is what they pass the whiskey through to add body. Then you go into the cave where the water flows from inside the limestone hills of Tennessee, and then to the old building that was Jack Daniel’s office. In this office sit the safe that killed Jack – he kicked in rage one day, breaking his toe which led to septicaemia – resulting in losing his leg and finally death a few years later. After this you are taken into the main part of the distillery where you get to see the mash inside huge vats (which does not smell or look good). The next part of the tour, which was mine and Karen’s favourite, was going into the area where they pass the 140 percent alcohol across the charcoal before putting it in the barrels for storage. This is done to provide the whiskey’s flavour but it still smells pretty good even at this stage of its maturity. Finally we are taken through one of the storage buildings full of barrels of maturing Jack Daniels whiskey. Amusingly Morre County in which Lynchburg is situated is a dry county, so you cannot find any bars or retailers that sell alcohol (sounds not a place I’d like to live) and yet you find a whiskey distillery here. In fact Jack Daniels had 75 storage houses, each with about 20,000 barrels in them, within the Lynchburg area. This equates to 360 million bottles stored in what is a dry county. Having to be satisfied with just smelling the fumes we quite happily (at least the grown-ups do) set off for McMinnville our resting place for the next couple of days.

DAY 73 Sunday 18th NOVEMBER 2007

Graceland - Memphis, Tennessee (Miles to date: 8400)

Of course one of the things we had to see while we are in Memphis was Elvis’ Graceland Estate. We got there early to avoid the crowds but we are also out of season so it was not too bad. Before heading around the mansion we looked at the exhibit of Elvis’ stage outfits – the dozens of jump suits he had specially made for his performances through the 1970’s, and his personal aircraft including a Convair 880, which was named Lisa Marie after his daughter. Around a $1 million was spent furnishing this aircraft, including such luxuries as gold plating on the buckles of the seat belts and bathroom fittings.

Elvis bought Graceland when he was 22 years old for $100,000 and it was his home until his death in 1977. The tour of mansion is self-guided with head sets providing the tour. You travel through the lower floor rooms including the living room, dining room kitchen and personal rooms in the basement. Considering the obvious wealth of Elvis ,Graceland is a relatively modest home in terms of its size and since it has not been lived since his death it is trapped in the 1970s time warp in terms of design – with such oddities as fur covered furniture. Other rooms have been added to the property to exhibit Elvis memorabilia including his collection of gold, silver and platinum discs, his military uniforms and personal items of his, Priscilla and Lisa Marie. Although Jack and Emily never really knew Elvis they really enjoyed the tour of the mansion and grounds. The last thing on this part of the tour is the part of the grounds in which Elvis, his mother, father and grand mother are buried. Elvis’s grand mother lived to be 90 years old and lived to see the passing of her grandson and son, which is always a sad thing to see. We, particular myself and Karen were saddened by this as we had grown up with the legend of Elvis. Karen was even more concerned to see that the flowers that marked his grave were plastic!

To finish off the day we went around a collection of Elvis’ many cars and motor bikes, including the famous pink Cadillac. Boys with toys!!

DAY 72 Saturday 17th NOVEMBER 2007

Little Rock, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee (Miles to date: 8350)

Yesterday we transferred from Arkansas to Tennessee, staying in a cottage outside Memphis. We have a small cottage within the grounds of a large house, called the Lake House. This is relatively luxury for us with two bedrooms, a living room and a full kitchen …. feels like home.

Our plan for today was to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in downtown Memphis. This museum is built around the old Lorraine Hotel in Memphis which is poignant as this is the hotel on which balcony Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. As you round the corner you see the frontage of the hotel which seems to me most familiar having seen this numerous times in photographs and film footage. The outside of the building of the hotel displays a wreath which has been a permanent presence since the assassination. Inside the museum follows the trail of the civil rights movement in the US from the time of slavery, introducing the main protagonists in the movement – including John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln and Booker T Washington. Through this period Black people got equality, at least on paper, through the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments but in reality there was little equality, particularly in the Southern States. There was still segregation in schools, public transport, restaurants, public places and even things like drinking fountains were segregated. The museum’s main exhibits focus on the seminal moments in the civil rights movement of the 20th century that started to break down segregation and introduce equal rights. Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education and the nine students at Little Rock started to break down segregation in schools, numerous sit-ins in segregated restaurants and the Montgomery bus protests focusing on segregated transport started to attack the systematic discrimination against Black people. Following on from these events activists like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X started to build upon this momentum and mobilised more people into action. The museum has some large exhibits such as the Montgomery bus that succinctly depicts the unfairness of the segregation on public transport and how the actions of Rosa Parks changed this. The final exhibit on the main site takes you into rooms 306 and 307 of the Lorraine hotel which have been reconstructed to be as they were on April 4th 1968 when Martin Luther King was assassinated. You can look out on the balcony where he fell, the blood stained section of concrete has been removed but you can see where it sat. This was a moving experience for all of us Hoblets.

After this we moved across to another building on the opposite side of the road, where there are other exhibits. This is the former guest house from which the deadly shot was fired, again they have recreated the seedy bathroom from forensic photographs and you can see the view that the assassin would have had of the Lorraine Hotel’s balcony. In this section they present the story around the assassination including profiles of James Earl Ray, the convicted felon, the physical evidence and the various conspiracy theories. All very interesting.

We were all moved by this experience but our day was not done as we had bought combo tickets for the STAX museum. This museum covers the development of Soul Music and is found south of Memphis’ downtown on the site of the old STAX recording studio. The museum generally covers the history of soul music but inevitably focuses on the STAX record label which was a leading light in the soul music scene in the 1960s and early 1970s with artists such as Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs and Isaac Hayes. Jack and Emily were a little bored by this as they had not heard of any of these strange people but for the parents this was wonderful nostalgia. On leaving the museum we turned down some of the side streets trying to find the birth home of Aretha Franklin you get a real sense of this neighbourhood which is very poor and depressed. Guess these are the conditions that breed great soul and blues artists – still sad to see.

To finish the day we head into downtown and go to Beale Street which is where most of the music scene hangs out in the numerous clubs, restaurants and bars. We sit down and listen to a couple of blues bands playing out on the street, the atmosphere was fantastic and we had a wonderful time.

DAY 70 Thursday 15th NOVEMBER 2007

Fort Smith to Little Rock, Arkansas (Miles to date: 8150)

This morning we decided to head back into the historic district of Fort Smith. We had noticed the day before that the local visitor centre was in an historic building that was once a local bordello (we had to explain to Jack and Emily what one of these are …. at least in simple terms). Apparently being a border town quite a number of these existed until 1924 when prostitution became illegal. Anyway this bordello was called Miss Laura’s, which immediately meant Karen had to go there at least for a photograph. We were welcomed by a delightful local lady, who immediately introduced us to one of her co-workers who had some years come across from England. In fact she was a Norwich girl and we told her we had lived there and that Emily had actually been born in that fine city – it was great fun sharing the names of towns and villages we had in common. Before taking the tour of Miss Laura’s bordello we took a trolley bus tour of the historic district of Fort Smith. Some of the houses from the late nineteenth century were splendid and indeed one was up for sale at $194,000 …. most tempting!!! Arriving back at Miss Laura’s we were given a brief tour. The prohibition of prostitution was the death knell for this house as a house of ill repute and it was acquired by a local man who made it in to a restaurant. This didn’t turn out well and eventually the house fell into disrepair before it was bought by the town and restored. Unfortunately the house was hit by a tornado in the late 1980s and was pretty much wrecked but luckily they decided to restore it once more to its current glory. Whilst used as a visitor centre it is decorated in period style.

Karen now satisfied we head off to Little Rock. On the way we decide to try some more of the “Roadfood” recommended restaurants. To start with we pulled off at Russellville, Arkansas to tryout Feltner’s Whatta-Burger. As the name suggests this is a burger bar and as you queue for your food a lady comes and takes your order writing it on a paper bag. You then pay and collect your food. The burgers and fries are delicious and the milkshakes (we had butterscotch flavour) were outstanding. Not completely satisfied we go a few more miles and take a short detour to the Wagon Wheel in the town of Greenbrier. It is one of those cafes you would not normally look twice at but the meringue cakes – we tried the chocolate and the coconut cakes -were to die for.

Completely tubbed out we continued our route down to Little Rock, arriving mid-afternoon. We planned to do one visit before the day was out and decided upon the National Historic site at Central High School in Little Rock. As we are in the South this part our tour is destined to have a bit of a civil rights theme. The Central High School is still operational but there is National Parks visitor centre there dedicated to the events of 1957 – 58. Despite the Constitutional Amendments giving Blacks equal rights the reality in many Southern States was quite different well into the 1960s. Many school systems in these States were still segregated and in 1957 the Civil Rights movement chose to challenge this and their selected target was Little Rock. A group of teenagers were chosen to be registered at the Central High School – eventually this group would number nine (to go down in history as the “Little Rock Nine”.) The Governor of Arkansas, Orvil Faubus, called upon the whites of Arkansas to come to the school and protest, which they did and things turned ugly with fighting in the streets. Faubus called in the National Guard to keep peace which effectively meant keeping the nine Black students from entering the school. At this point the National Government intervened and President Eisenhower ordered in the paratroops who escorted the Black students through the protestors into the school – again violence erupted but the students made it into the school. Eventually the Board of Governors closed the High Schools in Little Rock, and they stayed closed for a year but eventually re-opened and the Black students continued to attend and graduate. This was a seminal event in the history of the Civil Rights Movement and was a catalyst for other changes in Black / White segregation. We spent an hour or so going through the exhibits at the visitor centre, with Jack and Emily doing the Junior Ranger programme for yet more badges, before we headed off to our hotel for the night.This was a very moving day..injustice always is hard to stomach!

DAY 69 Wednesday 14th NOVEMBER 2007

Tulsa to Fort Smith, Arkansas (Miles to date: 7950)

As we traverse from Tulsa to Fort Smith, Arkansas the scenery begins to noticeably chage; at last we see more vegetation and even some woodlands. Being further south the trees still have their autumn foliage and the yellows, reds and oranges – although it is a grey and windy day so not the best for appreciating these. The wind also provide some other challenges. Since we bought our roof box for the van we now present a sizeable target for the wind and on days like this driving is a bit like taming a bucking bronco. Makes the journey all the more tiring for the driver!

It is mid afternoon when we arrive at Fort Smith and we decide to fill the time up by visiting the Fort Smith National Monument. This is the site of a frontier fort constructed in 1817 on the banks of the Arkansas River to control the Indian Territories which bordered Arkansas (what is now Oklahoma and Kansas). The growth in white populations on the East Coast increasingly put pressure for land so in 1830 President Andrew Jackson initiated the Indian Removal Act. Tribes from the East – Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles were initially put in to concentration camps and were then then forcibly bought together in a new land many miles from their homes. Many Indians suffered greatly during these evictions and many died in transit to their new territories – and the routes traveled by the poor people is now called the “Trail of Tears”. The more one hears of the suffering of these tribes (which still continues in many ways) the more shameful it all seems – one expects the Government could do more to improve the plight of these people if it so desired. As time moved on these Indian Territories, being sovereign to the Indians, became a haven for criminals from all races and creeds. To meet this new challenge the role of Fort Smith became more of law enforcement than fighting civil unrest. The former barracks became a prison, a most unpleasant one at that, earning the name “Hell on the Border”. Running this jurisdiction was Judge Issac Parker (known as the hanging judge) a tough but fair man who recruited some hard, brave men as US Marshalls to cross into Indian Territory and retrieve criminals and bring them back to face justice, which they did pretty successfully. All this story was very well presented throughout the museum – which is the old prison / barracks of Fort Smith. They even have grimly reconstructed the gallows – which could hang about 15 at a time – some 160 met their deaths this way.

You can’t say that Jack and Emily are not getting a broad education.

DAY 68 Tuesday 13th NOVEMBER 2007

Boot Hill and Tulsa, Oklahoma (Miles to date: 7800)

Today we wake and our plan for the morning is to satisfy one of my points of interest on the tour, Boot Hill. Having been bought up on Western films and the likes of John Wayne, Patrick Widmark and Henry Fonda I wanted to visit some of the towns synonymous with these films. To get in the mood we have been watching a few DVDs bought cheaply at Wal-mart stores and the classic movie channels on TV.

Dodge City was a true frontier town and was the end of the cattle trails from Texas, such as the famous Chisum trail. The herds were driven this far and from here distributed across the western territories. With these cowboys arriving in Dodge after a long hard ride they were up for a good time – and this often ended up with trouble. Dodge City ended up with Dodge City having a reputation for lawlessness – and to sort this problem out some tough US Marshals were put in place. Names of these Marshals, such a Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson have passed into folklore. Eventually the railroad arrived in Dodge City and the long cattle drives stopped and soon Dodge City became a civilised town. Today the cattle industry in significant in Dodge City – there are some large meat processing plants around town – but the cattle for these come from more local sources.

The Boot Hill Museum has been built on the original site of the famous grave yard. They have also built a replica of the original Front Street. We get to the museum early and it is like a ghost town. After a short orientation movie we set out to explore. The museum exhibits are fascinating and there are some fantastic artefacts and photographs from the period (around the 1850’s to 1880s). There are profiles of some of the good and bad characters from Dodge City’s past. We then took a brief trip outside and look around the Boot Hill cemetery – which is on the original site but is marked with not too authentic grave markers. Next we head off to Front Street which is continuation of the museum. We go into the general store and have a chat with some of the “locals” and then hit the saloon where one of the costumed staff is teaching a special ed member of staff the guitar. This boy gives us a rendition of “Twinkle twinkle little star”, for which we give a rapturous applause – the look of pride on his face was heart warming. We then knock back our sarsaparillas before heading off into the sunset.


We needed to stop for lunch. Entering a small town called Mullinville there were a number of unusual art pieces on the road side depicting an eclectic set of personalities such as George Bush, Margaret Thatcher and Lady Diana. This obviously caught our eye as much as a sign saying 'café- turn right and go two blocks', and being taught to do as we are told we instinctively followed these instructions. The Country Café was a delight, full of locals (which is a good sign) and serving simple, but tasty food. We eat our fill and as I pay I notice collection tin for tornado victims, which is not uncommon in this part of the world – so I donate and do not pay it any more attention. As we continue down the road we come to Greensburg, Kansas. Now the first thing Karen notices a structure of army tents, not unlike those you see in M.A.S.H and next you enter into the main part of town which is totally devastated. Then it all comes back to me – I remember hearing about this on the news earlier in the year. On May 4th of this year Greensburg was hit by an F5 tornado which destroyed 95% of the town and killed 11 people. Seeing this level of destruction, even some 6 months later, when a lot of cleaning up has obviously taken place, was startling. A large section of the town is quite literally flattened and there are only a few structures, the odd wall or two still standing. Jack and Emily were most moved and even before we left the town started to do a work piece on their feelings upon seeing the destruction.

Our stop over point is Tulsa, Oklahoma the centre of the oil industry in the area. If you didn’t know that before you arrived the breath grabbing smells in the air when you get there tells you. We get a glorious view across to the refinery, which is actually quite pretty at night. Our choice for dinner is the Spaghetti Warehouse – which turns out to be a great selection. Full and tired we hit the sack.

DAY 67 Monday 12th NOVEMBER 2007

Colorado Springs to Dodge City, Kansas (Miles to date: 7440)

Unfortunately it is time to leave Colorado Springs- we have loved it here. The mountains are fantastic and there is much to do. But all good things come to an end. Before we leave we have one more stop to make to see our friends the Elliots. We have known Sylvia, Peter and their children for many years from when we all lived in High Wycombe. They own a property in Colorado Springs – the main reason we went there – and they arrived yesterday from the UK. We spend a couple of hours with them having breakfast and catching up on things.

We also have one more chore. A week or two before Jack’s retainer (brace to you people in the UK) had broken and we had waited to get to civilisation to get it fixed. We found an orthodontist in Peublo, Colorado who said they could fit us in on short notice. Walking into the practice was wonderful it is completely open plan – they have four stations around a large room in which you also wait. In addition they have a Sega game station and an X-Box – Jack and Emily are in heaven and probably would have liked to wait longer. Not only was the orthodontist accommodating he was also resourceful and welded the break....and would not charge us!A rare man indeed!

Finally we are on our way on the long journey across to Dodge City, Kansas. As for much of our recent travels the land is flat and primarily farm land which looks very parched and barren from the long, hot summer sun. We reach town early evening and head down to Long John Silvers – a fish and chicken fast food chain. The store had just re-opened after a 6 month refurbishment so was packed with people, and the systems were a little rusty so we were there nearly an hour waiting (fortunately the food was good) – so not so fast fast food. Karen notices a cop walk in with Street Crime Unit on the back of his shirt. Karen immediately thinks he is something to do with rounding up ladies of the night, and asks his girlfriend about his work. It turns out that he works with the juvenile gangs in Dodge City – which has 7, a lot for a town of 30,000 people. Immediately this makes us concerned about parking our car outside the hotel with a bikes on the back and possessions inside. Fortunately tiredness after a long journey overcomes our safety concerns and we soon fall asleep.

DAY 66 Sunday 11th NOVEMBER 2007

Colorado Springs, Colorado – Garden of the Gods (Miles to date: 7120)

As we had travelled far the previous day we decided to remain a bit closer to home. One of the areas we had wanted to look at was the park known as “The Garden of the Gods” which is only a few miles from downtown Colorado Springs. This is an area of large red rock structures that have been carved into sheer faces and steeple spire peaks. We initially go to the visitors centre to learn a bit more about the geology – and fortunately there is an orientation film. The rocks were formed in a similar fashion to the South Dakota Badlands at a time when a shallow sea filled what is now the interior of the USA. When this sea retreated a sedimentary sandstone layer was left behind which was then pushed upwards as the volcanic action that formed the Rocky Mountain range. Years of erosion has resulted in the delightful sculpture rock formations of today.

After this film we wondered into the gift shop and then found out one of the docents was giving a talk on the American Bison. Apparently in the 1500s there was estimated to be 60 million bison broadly scattered across a wide swath of the Americas. Even in the mid-century many millions still roamed across the central plains. At the end of the Civil war the US government turned its attention to fighting the Indians that had been squeezed into the plains by the expansion of the white man from the East and the West. After much hard fighting the US troops were not doing too well so the decision was made by the government to destroy the food supply of the “pesky” Indians so they put a bounty on the heads of bison – so began a huge slaughter which resulted in the massed herds being destroyed. By the 1870s only about 500 bison had actually survived. Fortunately someone saw some sense and programmes were put in place to preserve these wonderful animals and now the population in the US now numbers some 400,000 animals. The only truly wild herd lives in Yellowstone National Park (about 1000). We also learned a lot about buffalo physiology and their significance to the culture and support of the American Indians.

Having had our heads filled with loads of information we needed a break and so headed across to the Garden of the Gods park. This was a sacred place for the local Indian tribes and as you walk amongst the fantastic sculptured rocks you can understand why – it has a most spiritual feeling. We continue to walk and wonder at the rock with frequent stops for Emily to pet every dog walking through the park – being a warm Sunday afternoon this numbers a lot. Still it was a good chance for Karen to chat and find out people’s life history. These rocks have long been a popular place for rock climbers and today they are out in force. After a serene walk through the rocks we jump into the car and head off to one of the featured rocks – the balanced rock. As its name suggests this rock is teetering on a narrow point – seemingly impossibly balanced. For many years this rock was privately owned by an individual who used to charge money for people to have their picture taken by the rock. As camera technology grew to allow more people to own a personal camera this person erected a fence around the rock and charged admission. Eventually the City of Colorado Springs acquired the rock and added it the Garden of the Gods park.

Finishing up with some photos at the balanced rock we head up route 24 to Woodland Park where there is Dinosaur Resource Centre. The group who own and run this centre are renowned palaeontologists and have made many important discoveries. This centre demonstrates some of their dinosaur finds and sea creatures. We take a fascinating tour with a engaging and knowledgeable 16 year old (they grow up so quickly nowadays). At the end of the tour you get to look into their laboratories and the guide goes inside and produces a box with some interesting fossils inside including a Megoladon tooth.

Another action filled day for the Hoblets and probably one of the better of many great days we have had on this tour.

DAY 65 Saturday 10th NOVEMBER 2007

Caňon City, Colorado – Royal Gorge (Miles to date: 7070)

Today we went further a field to the Royal Gorge park some 50 miles south of Colorado Springs. The journey takes us through Caňon (pronounced Canyon) City. Along the route we stumble upon the largest rocking chair in the world outside a store – another photo opportunity. As we pass through the city Karen is most excited as there are Correctional Facilities and a prison museum – fortunately we have a schedule to keep and can not stop to exercise her fetish for imprisonment.

Royal Gorge is a wonderful natural marvel in itself, a 1000 foot plus deep gorge cut through the mountains by the Arkansas River. Early pioneers to the area recognised the beauty of the spot and also it provided an access route for the railways through the mountains. The railroad passes through the base of the narrow gorge just feet away from the bubbling rapids of the Arkansas.

The gorge also provided a challenge for the engineers and in 1929 they undertook a feat of engineering, a marvel for the age and erected a suspension bridge 1053 above the gorge below. Truly a spectacular piece of construction and still today is the world’s highest suspension bridge. When we read of this we simply had to go across it. But first we had to try some of the other engineering marvels at the park. Our first trip was down to the bottom of the gorge on the world’s steepest funicular railway. The track is wedged in a more or less vertical shaft cut into the gorge by an ancient water fall. The cars are more or less cages in which you stand for the 1500 foot descent to the bottom. This is not a journey for those who suffer from vertigo or claustrophobia. Emily is a bit panicky but once under way it is not so bad and the views at the bottom are amazing. You can almost reach down and touch the river and you are standing just a few feet from where the trains pass. Look up and you can see the suspension bridge dangling way above. We hang around for a few minutes and catch the next train up.

Our next choice is how to cross the gorge. We could of course take the bridge across, but more exciting is the tramway – which is the longest single span cable car in the world. Nothing more exciting than being suspended above a 1000 foot gorge by a single cable!!. We the intrepid Hoblets have to try this, but in all honesty with the exception of Jack none of us are too keen – but we do it anyway. It is not too bad but if the vertigo sufferers coped with the funicular they would almost certainly freak at this ride. Fortunately it is all over in four minutes and nearly all the passengers seem only too happy to disembark at the other side. On the far side there is a small animal park with some very sad looking bison, elk and big horn sheep – Emily likes this but the rest of us are a bit sad to see these wonderful creatures kept in somewhat small and inhospitable enclosures.

To return to our car we have to cross the gorge again and this time we finally cross the bridge. Although most people choose to walk the bridge it is shared with cars. This would not be too bad except for two reasons; (i) it is narrow and (ii) the floor is made of wooden planks which bounce up and down when the car goes over them. This is not a bridge for the faint of heart. As you cross the bridge you feel secure with the very strong looking multi-stranded cables firmly fastened into metal plates – it is not until you look down at the wooden plank flooring which has some rather large gaps between each that you feel once again nervous. For through these gaps you can clearly see the Arkansas River some 1053 feet below. We of course were perfectly safe and made it safely to the other side. Just to prove how safe it was we then jumped into our van and crossed the bridge – the noise of the planks jumping up and down was deafening and disconcerting all at the same time. The good news is that once you reach the other side you can’t get out and have to come all the way back again!

We had a wonderful time and once again the weather was kind. The chosen return route was more scenic and by the time we reached our cabin night time had arrived once more.

DAY 64 Friday 9th NOVEMBER 2007

Manitou Springs, Colorado – Pikes Peak (Miles to date: 6950)

This morning was a chilly start but we expected it to warm up through the day and there was not a cloud in the sky. An ideal day to go to the top of a 14,000 foot peak! Pikes Peak rises 14,110 feet above Colorado Springs. It is one of 50 peaks in Colorado over 14000 feet – in fact it is number 31 (the tallest is only about 14350 feet). There are several ways to the summit; walk, car or railway. We chose the latter. The route by car is interesting, the road is a dirt track that snakes its way up the top the mountain around a series of hairpin bends. Every year there is race held, which is a time trail, to reach the summit. This year the record was broken by a Japanese gentleman who got to the top in just over 10 minutes at an average speed approaching 80 miles an hour. When you see the series of bends that you need to transverse you realise what a feat this was.

The railway that climbs up to the top of Pikes Peak is another example of a cog railway. In fact there are only 3 in the USA and we will have done 2 of them after this trip (we did Mount Washington back in September). The average gradient on Pikes Peak is 25 degree and takes about an hour an half to get to the summit. As with the other cog railways traction comes from a rack and pinion as opposed to rolling along a track as with traditional railway locomotives. In our (well at least Mark's) great wisdom we had not booked our tickets ahead of time and of course when we arrived there were a great number of people there already. It was Veterans Day weekend and lots of schools were closed for a long weekend and of course and this being a gloriously clear day the crowds had turned out – and unlike us had bought their tickets in advance. We had to go on standby and sat their nervously, not expecting to get on. Fortunately we did manage to squeeze on but we separated out a bit along the car.

The trip up Mount Washington was driven by a steam locomotive and was incredibly bumpy, like going across a cobble stone street on a bicycle with solid tyres. This was a whole lot smoother, which is just as well because the seats were not too comfortable. The locomotive on this occasion was a diesel, so wasn’t quite as atmospheric but was certainly much quieter. The initial part of the trip passes through a gorge with steep granite cliffs rising either side of the mountain, with large boulders lying at the base from years of weathering. On the trip up to the summit we get a story of the mountain’s geology and history from the conductor.

The granite peaks of the Rocky Mountain Range were formed by volcanic action millions of years ago and like the sandstone peaks of the Badlands these are eroding, but at a much lesser rate. Granite is porous rock, and the freezing and thawing of the absorbed water breaks open the granite – resulting these gigantic boulders tumbling down the mountain. We climb upwards and the land opens up to sprawling forests, lakes and grass land. Pikes Peak is a major source of water for Colorado Springs, providing 30% of the cities water requirements which is evident by the man made lakes. This mountain has always been a major landmark and received its name from the pioneer Zebulon Pike, who was sent West after the US government acquired lands through the Louisiana Purchase. Pike tried to climb the mountain but failed

At 12,000 feet the trees disappear and the landscape turns to grassland and scrub and that is the way it remains. Finally we reach the summit and leave the train for 40 minutes or so. The views are spectacular from the top and today we can see summits of mountains over 150 miles away and Colorado Springs is clearly visible below. We stand outside for a few minutes, but it is cold (as testified by the fact that there is snow on the ground). We beat a retreat inside and settle down for a cup of hot chocolate and high altitude doughnut (the process does not work so well at 14000 feet). The thing that we do notice is the thin air, we are all struggling a bit with breathing and Jack and Karen suffer from headaches (Karen nearly passes out in the restroom). All too soon it is time to leave and we start our descent. As the conductor passes through the train and asks for tickets he picks up Mark's accent and asks him where he is from and he provide my usual off pat answer – “England”. He then goes onto say that he has visited England several times and loves the railways there and has a friend who runs a railway in a small place called Leighton Buzzard. Of course Karen’s ears prick up and tells the conductor Mark lived there and his parents still do. We spend a few minutes exchanging pleasantries about the various steam railways around the UK. Finally, 3 ½ hours after starting we reach the bottom – it is a good deal warmer and breathing is easy once again. It was a worthwhile journey.

After this we go into downtown Manitou Springs to check out the shops. We wander into a few stores – as it is 5pm most are closing for the day. We do find one gift shop open and find it is run by a British woman (they get around these British women), who like some old world siren, lies in wait for unsuspecting, passing Brits to lure them into her web with some delicacies as Heinz baked beans and HP sauce. Having been in the US for sometime now and weaned off these foods we resist her temptation and move swiftly on.

DAY 63 THURSDAY 8th NOVEMBER 2007

Colorado Springs, Colorado (Miles to date: 6900)

We sat watching TV last night and Jack and Emily got hooked on to a programme on Animal Planet about a rescued Black Leopard called Eddie who was taken to a wildlife sanctuary near Denver. Well as they were watching Mark was surfing the Internet and checked on the whereabouts of this sanctuary and as it turned out it was very close to the route we were taking down to Colorado Springs. So without telling Jack and Emily we set off with the intention of fitting this in to our journey. This of course did not prove so easy as they don’t really encourage visitors, but after asking directions two or three times we eventually find the dirt track leading up to the sanctuary.

The Colorado Wildlife Conservation Sanctuary is a fascinating place. It is not a zoo but is a rescue centre for exotic animals, rescued from small zoos and private owners who have abused their animals or simply were unable to look after them. You are able to view some of the animals from raised walkways and platforms – other areas are large enclosures which you can only really see from a distance. There are a tremendous amount of animals here – we counted over 70 tigers alone, each with its own sad story. Some of the tigers are in pairs in small enclosures, but over time they are given the social skills to live in an environment with other tigers and they are released into much larger enclosures. As well as tigers there are African lions, leopards, mountain lions, wolves and bears. These are all taken care of through the dedication of the staff and donations – the running cost is over $1 million a year. Jack and Emily loved the experience and got to see the leopard on the Animal Planet film and the owner of the sanctuary. Emily also made a friend with the owner’s dogs – a friendly pair of boxers.

Moving on we decided to take a tour through downtown Denver – with the intent of finding another Roadfood book recommended store. Yes it was ice cream time again (after all the temperature was in the 70s!!). Our craving satiated we carried on towards our destination, Cascade, just to the north west of Colorado Springs. It is dark by the time we arrive at our small cabin but we find manage to find it and settle in for the night.

DAY 62 WEDNESDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2007

Sidney, Nebraska (Miles to date: 6670)

Today we travelled down to Sidney, Nebraska. There no real reason for doing this apart to break up the journey to Colorado Springs. On the way down Mark decided to visit Wounded Knee, which is found in the Oglala Sioux reservation, and is the site of the last battle between the US military and the Sioux. Many view this as a massacre, for at the end of hostilities 146 men, women and children of the Lakota Sioux lay dead. For a couple of weeks Mark has been reading the book “Bury my heart at Wounded Knee” which details the often tragic outcomes of major conflicts between the Indian Tribes and US government during the period 1860 to 1890.

As we entered the Oglala Sioux reservation the first thing you see is a newly constructed casino but as you travel deeper into the reservation towards the town of Pine Ridge the signs of the quality of life for these Native Americans is quite apparent. The housing is made up of ramshackle modular homes, and the filth is almost indescribable – with garbage and wrecked cars everywhere. It just seems there is no sense or civic pride and there is a projection of hopelessness all around. We are all deeply moved by what we see around us – it is hugely depressing and we’re just visitors to all of this. A little further down the road we pull into a gas station and as Mark was filling up Karen gets talking to two young girls with babies in strollers. When Karen gets into the car she explains that they had asked for money and she had given them some. We normally don’t give money to street people, preferring to give them food instead (our concern is that the money we give will be spent on alcohol or drugs). There is little hope for these people, the land is not very good for farming and employment prospects are poor in the area. It is very sad but we think it is important for Jack and Emily to see the realities of life and that not everyone is as well off as we are. Leaving Pine Ridge behind us we set-off to find Wounded Knee, which proved to be not as easy as we might have expected. After searching we find a rather scabby sign beside the road across from a tatty looking building which passes as a visitor centre come gift store – which unfortunately is closed. As we sit there some locals pull up to us in their van and ask if were interested in some craft products – explaining that our van limits us to what we can buy they quickly leave, obviously we did not look like good customers. We contemplate the powerful words on the historical marker, but we are saddened by the fact that we have seen some beautiful visitors’ centres across the country in National Parks and yet at this important location to the Sioux Nation nothing was here apart from this simple, worn looking placard.

With our hearts full of sadness we continue our journey towards Nebraska. This part of our tour was pretty uneventful as we cross more of the Great Plains – yes more fields and prairie lands. Yawn!! We do find an interesting pull off, which Jack recognised from his book – Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, Car Henge, which is similar in design to it’s stone age inspiration, but instead of hulking rocks the construction is made of cars. We do love roadside art – really brightens our day. Stopping long enough to consume our made- up lunch we set off and eventually arrive at the delightful Holiday Inn in Sidney, Nebraska next to the mighty, cross country highway, I-80.

DAY 61 TUESDAY 6th NOVEMBER 2007

Badlands National Park, South Dakota (Miles to date: 6350)

Once again fortified by another of Judy’s great breakfasts we set off for the 80 miles journey out to the Badlands National Park. The landscape for the majority of the journey is typical of the Dakota’s – i.e. flat and non-descript. As we approach the Badlands it changes to an amazing barren landscape, devoid of any vegetation and crater like formations. Most peculiar!! Before exploring this amazing landscape we decide to visit a National Historic Monument – the Minute Man Missile Historic Monument.

North and South Dakota was the home to 500 or so Minute Man Missiles – primarily because of the central location in the USA, the remoteness and lack of population. This is the only National Park dedicated to the cold war. The visitors centre is a very temporary building with a small display area and a very helpful Ranger. Unfortunately we missed the tour of the underground launch bunker and missile silo which are a little distance away, but nevertheless it was a very interesting experience for both adults and children. We must come back and do the bunker tour some time.

Returning to the Badlands we stop off at the visitor centre. A visit to National Park visitors’ centres has become de rigour for our tour and Jack and Emily love the Junior Ranger programmes which have become a part of their education. This time we learn about the formation of the Badlands – sedimentary deposits that were laid down when a shallow sea filled the interior of the USA. As this sea retreated and finally disappeared these sedimentary deposits hardened but were eroded over the years by the elements leaving the structures that are now found in the Badlands. We also learn about the wildlife – in particular the endangered black footed ferret which has been re-introduced back into the Badlands. To complete our visit we take the scenic drive through the park, which takes us back towards Rapid City. The steep spiralling peaks and precipitous canyons provide the most spectacular backdrop for this ride, and there are plenty of scenic overviews that provide endless perspectives of this natural wonder. For those who haven’t seen the Badlands you need to hurry as they will be worn down (they are eroding a few feet per year) to some very unimpressive undulating mounds in the next 500,000 years or so – these peaks are ever-changing through the impacts of erosion.

On the way back along the I-90 we stop at the town of Wall to visit the Wall Drug Store. This is a bit of an institution – the store has expanded to take up about half of the main street in Wall and on a good day attracts 20,000 people through its doors (over a million people per year). The store started in 1931, but was not a roaring success, so its owner Ted Hustead put up roadside bill board offering free water and before you know it they were teeming with people. This sent Ted a bit billboard loopy so he erected these all over the USA, and the world, with mileage provided to the store. Signs have appeared in such locations as the North and South Poles, the Paris Metro, rail stations in Kenya, bus stations in London, and visitors to the Taj Mahal. Fortunately laws have been passed in the US to remove many of these pointless bill boards so if you want to see these for yourself you will have to travel to South Dakota.

DAY 60 MONDAY 5th NOVEMBER 2007

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota (Miles to date: 6250)

We wake to a very bright and crispy November morning. When we arrived last night it was very dark but in the morning you can see how wonderful our setting is. We look out across the fields where the deer savour the quiet morning (it is hunting season so it is better for them to run off) and horses and cows quietly feast in the fields. For breakfast we leave our cosy bunk house and trek across to Rick and Judy’s house: waiting for us is the most wonderful breakfast which we readily tuck into. Rick and Judy join us for breakfast and we have a great time chatting to them. Jack and Emily are somewhat bored by this adult conversation and go off to play with the Vee’s dog, a very lively Jack Russell.

After breakfast we head on out. Our first plan for the day is to visit Mount Rushmore – the main reason for heading out this way. We are told to take the scenic route that takes you up through the rugged mountains of Dakotas’ Black Hills. On this crisp (euphemism for cold) morning it was beautiful, with tunnels carved into the mountain through which you get framed glimpses of Mount Rushmore. It is truly beautiful, and the winding switchback roads take you through rough craggy granite peaks and lush forests of Ponderosa pines. The Black Hills rise out and high above the Great Plains, formed by the primordial effects of ancient volcanic action as the continental tectonic plates brushed together. They get their name from the Ponderosa pines which look black as you approach them from the plains. This road has a number of switch backs which are amazing feats of construction, curling back on and under themselves, hence the naming of one called “Pigs Tail”.

Mount Rushmore is a relatively recent creation, and started as a concept by state historian Doane Robinson in 1923. The choice of artist was Gutzon Borglum, a radical sculptor with a sense of scale and outlandish ambition. Work started on the Washington head in 1927 with the final 60 foot head, Teddy Roosevelt, being dedicated in 1939. The visitor centre gives a fascinating insight into the fantastic achievement and skills that went into sculpting the heads of presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. 90% of the sculpting was actually done by using explosives, with the rest being done with jack hammers, chisels and assorted other tools. The bottom of the mountain lays testament to the amount of material that was literally blown away over a 13 year period. The design itself changed several times through the work to take into consideration of the imperfections in the rock.

After a chilly but wonderful couple of hours at Mount Rushmore we set off south. I had also wanted to visit to visit Crazy Horse mountain – another monumental mountain sculpture project. The project was started in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear and so far the progress has a sculptured out face. When we drove up we were somewhat put off by the entry price and by the fact we had another place we wished to visit. So off we went.

The Mammoth Site Museum in Hot Springs, South Dakota had been recommended to us ,so that is where we were headed. To get there we passed through the town of Custer and then on through the Cave of the Wind National Park. The rolling hills of the park were stunning but what amused us most was our first site of prairie dogs, as around here there are thousands living in prairies dog “towns”, many by the roadside. Emily in particular was fascinated but these little creatures.

Hot Springs itself is an interesting town, with small boutique shops and restaurants. The Museum is as a result of an accidental find during a housing construction project. What they found was an ancient sink -hole into which a large number of mammoths had fallen into to their deaths. Over the years sediment settled on to these poor creatures who were perfectly preserved. The digging is unusual in the sense that as the excavation work has exposed the mammoth bones have been left in situ, which can be view by visitors from raised walkways. It is a most unusual exhibit and amazing to see the work in progress. They have found the remains of 115 mammoths – these are the original bones as the sediment has preserved them in an un-mineralised state. At the end of the tour we are allowed into the basement to the lab areas where you can see them working on the bones from the excavation. We get talking to one man, who is a volunteer, working in the labs along with his wife.

They had moved to a smaller house five years ago in the area so that they could be part of this project as volunteers. They were so dedicated that the work was helping them live with the knowledge that the gentleman had terminal cancer...their driving force had become uncovering an ancient life form!They were very gracious.

Our return to Hermosa is through Custer State Park. By this stage it was getting dark but this was an excellent time to see the deer … we see absolutely hundreds of them. The night is rapidly descending and we peer into the gloom to spot the 1300 or so bison hidden amongst the 100s of acres. We do spot some and as we leave the park we get to see a herd close up and even get to see a few rutting bulls. All in all a great day.

DAY 59 SUNDAY 4th NOVEMBER 2007

Hermosa, South Dakota (Miles to date: 5975)

Today we have one of our longer drives down to Hermosa, South Dakota, about 375 miles or so … we therefore set of relatively early for us. Fortunately we are going from Central to Mountain time (and we had daylight saving thrown in) so we “make up" some time. Luckily we set out on a very gloomy overcast day – which doesn’t make you feel so bad about travelling – you feel like you are wasting a day when you travel in the good weather.

We travel down from Stanton to join I-94 at New Salem, where we find Salem Sue, who at 38 feet high and 50 feet long is the world’s largest Holstein cow (not sure there is too much competition). We stopped briefly for some photos, because it was extremely cold.

Some miles further down the road we pull off I-94 at Gladstone and head southwards along the “Enchanted Highway”. Along this 31 mile stretch of road between Gladstone and Regent, ND are sets of huge sculptures in metal – supposedly the largest sculptures of their type in the world. The first sculpture is right at the exit of the highway and is of geese in flight. The artist, one Gary Greff, undertook this project in 1999 with no experience in art work and welding … and the results are certainly impressive. His aim was to try and draw people to the town of Regent, believing it would not survive if it based its future entirely on farming. Our particular favourites were the Grass Hoppers in the Field and Fisherman’s Dream. On reaching Regent we pulled over and went into a new café -come -art store in the main street … it was very trendy and nicely presented … a bit of a surprise in such a remote place. We were served by a 16 year old, attractive girl, whose mother owns the café. She was very articulate and confident for one so young … it seems amazing to me how the young people of today exude such confidence and authority, nothing like when I was that age. Makes me sound geriatric!!

Anyway we soon moved on to the rest of our long and somewhat tedious trip through the flat, endless prairies of the Dakotas. On the way down we had read that we would pass through the geographic centre of the combined 52 United States (apparently this used to be in Kansas before Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union). The exact point is somewhat disputed so it is all a bit unofficial and not clearly marked. So as we approach the city of Belle Fouce we are on the lookout for the signs – by this time the day is drawing to the end. We almost missed it but there is a sign saying that the marker is 8 miles off of the highway so off we pull. The road is a very bumpy dirt track through Government land – so we jiggle and joggle our way along past field of sheep and wild deer. Eventually we reach our destination, somewhat shaken and stirred like a good Martini, to find that the marker is even less official than we had suspected. All there is to show is a hand painted sign saying “CENTER OF THE NATION” stuck in a cobbled fashion to a rickety barb wire fence guarding a Union Flag stuck with little aplomb in the middle of a field. We were somewhat disappointed but at the same time the lack of style did amuse us. So we snap a quick photo and head on our way, stopping at Belle Fouche where there is a more official looking marker so we snap that too. At this stage we see the sign for the Devil’s Tower, a rather impressive monolith in the Blackhills of Dakota that was most famously used in the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” but unfortunately it is too much of a detour so we press on. As we enter the Blackhills area we notice signs for Deadwood – which reminds us of Doris Day playing Calamity Jane and we burst into a pretty poor rendition of the “Deadwood Stage”. The light is fading fast so we quickly divert into Deadwood to have a peek. Again we are disappointed to find that the town – especially the old part – has been turned into bars and hotels, all with casinos. South Dakota’s version of Las Vegas!! We suppose this is fitting with the past history of the town with gold prospectors burning their hard found fortunes – but we had expected something more “historic”. One again we are disappointed and it is time to get to out room for the night.

It is late by the time we reach our destination for the next three days. We are staying in a bed and breakfast – attractively known as the Ghost Canyon B&B, which is 15 miles outside Hermosa, South Dakota (the last 5 miles is yet another dirt road). Hermosa is a small town near Rapid City – one of the larger cities in South Dakota. As we pull into our accommodation we startle a small herd of deer – and our host Rick is waiting for us. We are staying in the old bunk house of the Ghost Canyon Ranch, owned by Rick and his wife Judy. It is a delightful place with two bedrooms (hurray alone time for the adults) and a separate sitting area. As close to home as we get nowadays. We settle down in front of a wonderful log fire, tired from a long and eventful journey.

DAY 58 SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER 2007

Washburn, North Dakota (Miles to date: 5550)

The Missouri River Lodge is a working farm, the owners are absent, now living in Las Vegas. They have put in place a young couple, Cyrena and Ross (together with their two children Ben – approaching 3 and Chris 14) to run the farm and bed and breakfast. The farm is partially arable and also has a herd of cows. The setting is wonderful with the farm set amongst rugged sandstone bluffs, some having been moulded into steep cliffs and sharp pinnacles by the effects of the elements over many years. Jack and Emily loved the chance to explore farm and they soon fell in love with the farm cats, in particular a Siamese cat, Bubbles.

The farm runs down to the Missouri River and is actually on the trail that the famous pioneer explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark took across North Dakota. Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery (a party of 33) set out from St Louis, Missouri at the turn of the 19th Century under the commission of the President Jefferson to explore the newly acquired territories through the Louisiana Contract with Napoleon. They primarily followed the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains and then across as far the Oregon coastline. The main reason for visiting this area was to find out more about Lewis and Clark – which is a topic Jack and Emily studied at school.

Our first place to visit was the Lewis and Clark Interpretation centre in Washburn. This is a very impressive visitor centre and we spent a good hour and a half going through the exhibits covering the journey of Lewis and Clark, with a particular focus on the time they spent in Washburn, and the life of the native Americans who lived in the area. Lewis and Clark huddled up in the area to ride out the winter and befriended the local native Americans, the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes. One of the Hidatsa squaws, Sacagawea, who was married to a local French-Canadian fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau, later joined Lewis and Clark and the Corps on their journey to Oregon. The story is that Sacagawea was from the Shoshone nation and was kidnapped by the Hidatsa. Her name in the Hidatsa tongue is Sakakewea – which confused Emily initially who had studied her story at school. Lewis and Clark chose to take her on their journey primarily because they planned to traverse Shoshone territory and required her help as a translator. Shortly before they left she had a baby which she carried with her whilst she journeyed with the Exploration Corps across unknown and sometimes hostile territory. All of this was documented in the diaries of Mssrs Lewis and Clark but what happened to Sakakawea in later years is less known, and this has all contributed to her mythical status.

After the interpretation centre we travelled two miles down the road to the Fort Mandan exhibition. We went into the visitor centre where we watched a film on the Lewis and Clark expedition and then were taken on a tour of the replica of the Fort. It is a small “A” shaped construction that was to protect the Corps during their winter stay in Washburn. It was simple structure with sleeping quarters, some storage room and a forge. The original fort unfortunately burnt down but the chronicles of Lewis and Clark and some of their party detailed the construction of the fort so they we able to authentically reproduce it.

On our way through Stanton the previous night we had noticed the Knife River Indian Villages National Monument – so we decided to stop by and see the exhibits. The Knife River joins the Missouri close to Stanton and is the spot where the main Hidatsa and Mandan villages were sited – and was the home of Sakakawea. As with all the National Park Service the centre is fantastic and we first of all get our bearings by watching an orientation film on the history of the Indian villages. There were something like 120 lodges in these villages with 10 to 30 people in each. Inside the visitor centre there is an exhibition on the lifestyles and cultural aspects of these Indian tribes. We even got the chance to try out some of the everyday items like a buffalo skin – which was amazingly heavy. After warming up on the inside we braved the outside – to be fair it was warm but blowing a bit of a gale. The outside exhibits included a earth lodge – which was surprisingly warm and cosy. Later we enquired about whether they did sleepovers but apparently there is a bit of a rodent problem. The lodge is a single room but included all the requirement for comfortable living including storage for the vegetables grown through the summer, which are stored in a pit under the ground. After viewing the recreated earth lodge we walked down toward the village – the original lodges were long gone but there were clear to see undulations in the ground where they had been. Being all alone in this space had a very spiritual affect on all of us.

We got back to the farm about an hour before sunset, and immediately set off to follow one of the trails to the top of one of the bluffs. These bluffs and made of sedimentary layers and are not much more than compressed mud. Weathering has caused them to have steep, cliff like sides on some edges and flat tops. We climb to the top just in time for the sunset and to enjoy, in blissful solitude, the views across the farm down to the Missouri River. We seek out the turf carving of a turtle, set down long ago but the local Indians, but it is somewhat difficult to make out – never mind the view is worth the climb!! The day was quickly drawing to a close so we hurried down the hill back to the farm, where we shared a pizza with Cyrena, Ross and their family – plus one of the guests who was a contract worker on one of the local electric plants that line the Missouri. To end the day we went outside and climbed a hill – it was a wonderfully clear night and without the light pollution of civilisation we were able to admire the night sky, with its infinite clusters of stars and galaxies.

We were thrilled when we we all spotted a shooting star!!

A perfect end to a perfect day.

DAY 57 FRIDAY 2nd NOVEMBER 2007

Stanton, North Dakota (Miles to date: 5475)

Another day, another road! The temperature is a lot cooler -made all the more chilly by a strong wind which is typical of the Great Plains – there is nothing to stop the wind as is whistles across the land. We are traversing the plains and the landscape is not as flat as I had expected, there are undulations, but all the same there is little to distinguish one mile from the next. After a couple hours along I-94 we come into Jamestown, one of the larger towns along the Interstate. We pull off to find another our the roadside attractions on my list – this time the world’s largest buffalo which is sited on top of a hill next to the National Buffalo Museum. The site of the buffalo is a small mock up of a frontier town complete with stores, jails and stage coaches – unfortunately everything is closed so we snap a few quick photos and head off. As we leave we see next door to the Buffalo Museum a food stand called the chuck wagon selling buffalo burgers – most incongruous. Our day of surprises is not yet over for as we go no more than 50 miles along the Interstate we happen upon yet another roadside oddity – this time a giant stork, “hidden” behind a bar- come- casino (not exactly Las Vegas style!!!)

We set off onwards and eventually reach Bismarck ,the state capitol of North Dakota, crossing the Missouri River, the second of the great rivers of the USA we have reached. The land is flat and I would imagine very inhospitable in the winter months. The main highlight for us on this part of the journey is our first sighting of tumbleweed crossing the highway. We pull off to explore the town a bit more. Our first call is for a bit of lunch and we stop at a 50’s diner complete with juke boxes at the booths. After this we head into the town in search of interesting sights, in particular the State Capitol building. Unfortunately the official buildings are very modern and non-descript so we leave disappointed. From Bismarck we head north to 31 miles to Washburn and then onto the small village of Stanton. At this point we crisscross the boundary from central time and mountain time, in fact we chose to eat in Stanton’s only café which is mountain time and then fill up at the garage next door which is in central time! From Stanton we head 9 miles north and turn off onto a dirt road for another 4 miles or so. It is getting dark now but we can see in the gloom the outlines of bluffs and shadows of cows. We finally reach our destination, the Missouri River Lodge. This place is somewhere Lewis and Clarke write about in their journals!!!Our room is very pleasant with two large beds, with a large but dated bathroom. We settle down for the evening – what is nice that there is common sitting room with a fire place (albeit a gas fire) where we can escape from the sleeping children.

DAY 56 THURSDAY 1st NOVEMBER 2007

Fargo, North Dakota (Miles to date: 5150)

Today was a transfer day from Minneapolis to Fargo, North Dakota. Before setting off we decided to steel ourselves by visiting Al’s Breakfast one more time. Having eaten our fill once again we set off on our trip through the Minnesotan countryside.

A few miles down the road we heard some strange noises coming from on top so we pulled over and found some of the fixtures had not been fully tightened down so we made a few quick adjustments and set off.

As we head north through Minnesota we start to see the type of scenery we expect to see for the next few hundred miles. Basically all we see are gentle rolling hills made up of fields and prairie land, broken up with numerous lakes. To break up the monotony I planned to try and find some strange roadside attractions. My first mission (I hadn’t shared this with Karen and the children – wanted it to be a surprise) was to find a 150ft Otter which is supposedly in a park in a town called Fergus Falls. Unfortunately Fergus Falls was larger than expected and I couldn’t find the park and being male could not bring myself to ask for directions to a 150ft otter. The rest of the family were getting frustrated because they obviously didn’t know what we were looking for and I played on this by refusing to tell them even as Fergus Falls fell back into the distance. Fortunately there was a second target just up the road – this time a large prairie chicken, in the town of Rothsay, the prairie chicken capital of the world (I wonder who else competed for this honour). This discovery improved my mood after the disappointment of the otter. Now on a roll we head off to Pelican Falls to find …. you guessed it the world’s largest Pelican. The town is quite small but as you might expect pelicans are everywhere, not real ones of course but various shapes and sizes statues of the large jowl water fowl. The river is also named after the aforementioned bird and across it is the most lovely suspension foot bridge. Just down from the bridge is large weir at the bottom of which is our prey - a 15ft high pelican.

Having had our fill of road side attractions we put our heads down and head off to our overnight destination; Fargo, North Dakota, just inside the state line. Our hotel is the Holiday Inn Express in Fargo. Myself and Karen spend nearly an hour transferring stuff from the inside of the van to our newly acquired roof box – after minimal swearing and a bit of huffing and puffing we get the clasp on the box closed.