Close to home travel

This week's travel has been back and forth from home to Doctor's office to Emergency Room to Hospital to home and repeat.  Thankfully the cardiologist surgeon was able to insert a stent today so my husband is on the road to recovery.  Tomorrow should be my last trip to and from the hospital, bringing him home.

It has been a long and tiring week.  A new post on New Hampshire should be posted soon I hope. 

Nebraska

Brochure cover

This post will be mostly memories of my childhood.  We lived in Nebraska for about three years when I was young.  I started second grade there and moved to California when I was finishing the fifth grade.  I only have a couple of postcards from Nebraska so I’m hoping I can dig out some old photos for this post.  We lived in Grand Island, near the Platte River where my Dad let me go duck hunting with him.   There were many fields of corn and my parents would hunt for pheasants in the fall.   This was a great town to grow up in and I have many fond memories of my years there.  

We arrived at a time when the birds were beginning to migrate south.  There were flocks that would land in the trees nearby for a moment and then suddenly take to the air all at once.  Nebraska is in the line of the migratory fly-way for many of the birds in our continent that migrate each year and it can be thrilling to see this natural phenomenon.  Since I had never seen this before I was amazed to see so many birds at one time.

One of the most important things I remember about Nebraska is the severe cold winters.  You have to understand, this was a little girl who was born and raised in the south where it seldom got cold enough to snow.  To suddenly adjust to walking to school when the temperature dropped below zero was a shock to me.  One morning the radio announcer said that it was sixteen degrees below zero.   My mother told my brother and I that we needed to bundle up good because we had never seen it that cold before.  Well, of course I got about half way to school before my friend and I decided that it was too cold to go to school and we went home.  My mother promptly put me in the car, dropped me off at school and told me the only way I was getting home in the cold was to walk – that it was never too cold to go to school.  

We did adjust and learned how much fun it was to watch the icicles grow in size until they were taller than we were.  Snowball fights, sledding. snow cream and snowman building changed our feelings about the winter and cold.  The second winter we lived there was the winter of 1948/49 when severe blizzards caused widespread disaster to the herds of cattle in Nebraska.  The drifts of snow on our house covered the entire first floor, forming an air tight vacuum.  My Dad had to go out my bedroom window and dig down to allow air to circulate into the house through the windows.  

Old Soldiers and Sailors Home in Grand Island

We were snow bound once.  My Dad had to attend a business meeting in Denver, Colorado and we all went with him.  We visited the Capitol Building and some other tourist spots while Dad was at work.  When his meeting was over we started to drive back home.  We were told to turn round as the roads were closed because of a huge snowstorm.  Several days later we started home but had to stay in Julesburg, Colorado as the roads in Nebraska were still not clear.   On the third day there, some truckers made a path about 25 miles through the fields to meet the snow plows in Nebraska.   Some of the snow drifts left by this blizzard were over twenty feet high and had blocked large sections of the highway.  It was exciting to us kids but worrisome to our parents and I know they were glad when we finally reached home. 

Occasionally we would go to The House of Yesterday, a natural history museum in Hastings, a nearby city.  At the entrance of the museum was a display of black widow spiders in a glass case that both frightened and fascinated me.  There was a pioneer’s sod home as one of the exhibits that let me imagine what it would have been like to have been a pioneer.  On the third floor they had a Dodo bird’s egg which also amazed me. I have always enjoyed museums and I think it was because I fell in love with this one when I was very young.  This museum is now called The Hastings Museum and it is still the largest municipal museum between Chicago and Denver.  A large screen theater and a planetarium have been added to the museum.   Special events and traveling exhibits make this a great place to bring youngsters.

Nebraska Capitol Building in Lincoln

Another place we visited was Boy’s Town.  At that time it was still relatively new.  I no longer remember much about it except for the impression that it was a really good place for children who needed a home.  Tours are available and the town has expanded since my visit so there is much more to see!

The College World Series for Baseball is held in Omaha, Nebraska.  Lincoln is the capitol city. These are the two largest cities in Nebraska and both have a wide array of big city venues including museums, art galleries, zoos, night life and family attractions.  

There are many other cities and places to see in Nebraska.  Check out their website at http://www.visitnebraska.com

Montana

The Great Falls at Black Eagle Dam in Montana

Montana is one of the least populated states with some of the most spectacular scenery.  It is truly a hiker and camper’s heaven.  There are wilderness trails, ski slopes, forests and mountains with plenty of rivers and lakes and more sky than you ever imagined.   Montana is called Big Sky Country for good reason.   Most days you feel like you can see forever because the air is so clear and the land is so open. 

This is land where you can imagine large herds of Bison roaming the hills and valleys.  Early settlers called them “buffalo” in error.  There is a Buffalo Jump not far from Great Falls where Native Americans used to drive the animals.   Some of them would fall to their death before the herd changed their forward momentum to avoid the cliff.  This gave the Native Americans an easier way to provide meat for the tribe.  

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Sunset in Montana - Big Sky Country

In this post I will only tell you about some of the places that impressed me when I visited my daughter.  She lives near Great Falls in a small town called Power, population about 300.  This area is east of the mountains so the mountain views are in the distance, making beautiful views at both sunrise and sunset.  Where she lives is lower ground so her view is blocked by trees but the attached photo shows what spectacular sunsets are viewed there

Elk graze in the meadows when snows cover the mountains.

The C. M. Russell Art Museum is in Great Falls and has a gift shop attached, where I was able to purchase several prints.  Charles M. Russell was an artist who depicted the Old American West in his many paintings of Cowboys, Indians and Western scenery.  His paintings are exquisite in their detail, making both animals and people “come alive” on the canvas.  His original paintings sell for many thousands of dollars including one that sold just a few years ago for several million dollars.  

 

Other places we went included the Great Falls and the Lewis and Clark National Trail Interpretive Center with displays and artifacts regarding the Lewis and Clark Expedition..  Due to the high cliffs and falls the expedition spent about a month in this area, forced to portage around the falls with their canoes and supplies.

McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park

We also visited Giant Springs, the largest freshwater spring in the United States.  It is the source of the Roe River, which flows 200 feet or less before it joins the Missouri River.  The Roe River has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest river in the world.  There is also a fish hatchery on the park like grounds of this area.

On Amtrak I traveled by Glacier Park early one morning and enjoyed watching the light change on the huge rock formations that could be seen from the train window.  The chalets at the entrance to the park looked so inviting that I wished my schedule would have allowed me to stop for a few days there. 

 

Vintage Card - Belton Chalets near Glacier National Park

 

 

 

 

I strongly recommend you visit the website for Montana just because it has so much to offer.   Their website is a truly user friendly one with many ways to find just what you might like to see or do.  Their website is http://visitmt.com/.   They boast of 16 ski areas, 7 nations (of Native Americans), 6 tourism regions of the state, and 2 national parks.  There are also 54 State Parks, many small towns and a few cities.  Take a video tour even if you can’t see it in person.

This land of ours

This is just an extra - a break now that I am about half way through this project.  It is just a few of my thoughts to help you see my country and our people the way I do.  I love to fly because you can see the way glaciers formed the land below and how the rivers carve the land.  There are parts of our western states that are so wild and remote they make me wonder if any person has ever been in that spot.  

Grand Canyon View

To understand the people of the United States of America, perhaps a look at the geography of our country might explain why we have been able to grow and prosper so well.  When water and food is plentiful, people are able to live without worrying about their basic necessities so much.  When you have a bountiful supply, it is much easier to be generous with the excess.   There are people who are hungry in our country, but they are a small proportion of the total population.  Most of them are only temporarily without food, not dying of hunger because there is no food available. 

Our country has been blessed with a large amount of land that is good for cultivation, many rivers and lakes to provide water and fish, great forests to allow a variety of wildlife to exist and a moderate climate.  Our desert areas are not extensive even though there are several areas of desert.  Although there are extreme high and low temperatures each year, they are in isolated local areas rather than widespread across the entire country. 

High Plains

 Our population per square km averages 32 people per square km or 12.355 per square mile.  This is less than Belarus (47/km or 18.147/mi) and more than Sweden (21/km or 8.1081/mi).  Twenty-eight of our states have higher population density, but thirty-two of them are lower with Montana (2.648/km or 1.0224mi.), Wyoming (2.259/km pr 0.872/mi.) and Alaska (0.488/km or 0.1888/mi.) as the three least populated states.  That means you might have to check out five square miles before you would find one person in Alaska!  Our cities may be densely populated but we have a lot of wide open spaces!  When land is plentiful it is not difficult to provide food in a temperate climate with a sufficient water supply.  It’s also very easy to be tolerant of your neighbor if he lives several kilometers or miles away.  

Water is the basic necessity of life that draws all people to settle and build near a water source.  This is true everywhere.  The rivers, lakes and seas of this world provide not only water but food so it is only natural that cities and towns spring up in these places and barren areas are the last to be settled. 

The Mississippi River forms the border or flows through a total of ten states from near the Canadian border in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.  The Mississippi River Valley is constantly being renewed with silt from the river.  This makes very fertile land along this delta region and a shipping channel to connect the northern and southern states.  

Fall Foliage Show of Color

Thirteen of the states have the Atlantic Ocean as their eastern border. Alaska, Hawaii, California, Washington and Oregon enjoy the Pacific Ocean while Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are on the Gulf of Mexico.  The St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes provide the border between Canada and ten of our northern states.  The Colorado River, which formed the Grand Canyon, flows through several of our land locked western states.  Other large rivers and many lakes provide water sources to the remaining interior states.   We have few states without a good water and food supply.  Even our desert areas have water piped in to supply enough water for daily living even if it is not available to irrigate crops or water lawns to keep them green.

The Great Plains is called the bread basket because it is such an immense, mainly flat, fertile land where wheat and other grains are grown in large quantities.  It is difficult to imagine how large this area is unless you travel across it.  I really began to understand this when I took a train ride from Oregon to Chicago.  When we left Glacier Park in Montana, the Great Plains began. Fields of grain as far as you could see formed the view all day long.   It was almost a full 24 hours before we finally began to see trees and rolling hills the next morning.  

Grandeur of the Mountains

This is the land where Native Americans once lived with enormous herds of bison.  It must have been spectacular to see that sight!  I am ashamed that my ancestors failed to understand that there was plenty to share.  The slaughter of the bison herds just for their hides (and the bragging rights of killing so many at once) was shameful.    Although there were many just and noble people who began this country, there were also many scoundrels and selfish ones.   I guess this is true anywhere you go.  There are good people and there are also those who think only of themselves.  They remind me of little babies who haven’t learned to share.

 

Like the water sources, there are several mountain ranges in the United States.  These geographical features are shared by many states and help to define certain regions.  We have the Great Plains, The Mississippi River Valley, The Rocky Mountains, The Appalachians, The Great Lakes Region and The Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts.  We have other regions, such as The New England States, which are defined by their history as the original settlements of this country.  The South consists mainly of states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War.  When I write about an individual state I may not always remember to mention the main characteristics of that state.  Please understand it is only because I may not think of it at the time.

Beauty on the Desert

Free passage between states and a good highway system has allowed us to travel or move to any area of the country that appeals to us.   My family moved to seven different states during the time I attended school.  We lived in Arkansas, Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and then back to Texas before I graduated from high school.  During that time we visited many of the states nearby.  I guess that is why I love to travel and have enjoyed the many moves since.      

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, each state began to receive more tourists from within the USA.  This created a demand for more hotels, restaurants, theme parks, and other “tourist” attractions.  This has made the USA a great tourist destination no matter where you go. 

I believe any true lover of travel can find interesting things to see and do anywhere they go.  If you really enjoy travel, the main thing you are looking for is to see how other people live, what exciting things are in their backyards and what special tastes they can serve.   Every place has its own story and each place is a little different from its neighbors.  If I could live my life again and choose to do what I want, I would love to travel to every country and meet all the people of the world.