Day 13, June 21 Sioux City to Kennebeck, SD

When we left the hotel we decided to go to Lawton, IA before really getting on the road. Lawton has a lot of family history on my father's side. This was my great, great grandparents house that was passed down to my widowed great grandmother. When she passed away the State of Iowa paid for her nursing home expenses in exchange for the house. They fixed it up and made it into appartments for teachers. This beautiful home is probably about 150 years old.
After exploring Lawton awhile we got on the road to continue our trip. Our first stop is the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. The outside of the Corn Palace is decorated every year with different colored corn and some other plants. It was quite interesting especially since it was in the process of still being decorated.
The Corn Palace
Ben posing with an ear of corn!

This is part of the inside of the Corn Palace.

We went on from the Corn Palace to Kennebeck, SD to the KOA there. The KOA is very nice and clean. Tented on grass, which is always nice after tenting on rocky ground!

Day 4 Saturday June 12 - Grand Canyon Storm Video

Day 4 Saturday

Last night Luke lead an amazing campfire with a skit and stories from each child. He is really showing himself to be a great leader. I'm so proud of him. I made my first dessert in the dutch oven and it was delicious! I didn't burn it at all and every drop was devoured :)


This morning Mom and Coletta took a shuttle over to see Hermits Rest.






I got some laundry done at the local laundromat then took off on a hike with the rest of the gang. Mary almost slipped off the edge while trying to pose for a picture (eek). While we were away, the crows totally trashed our campsite. Learned our lesson on leaving food out. :)

When we all met back up at the campgrounds it was just in time for a major hail storm with Thunder and Lightning. Then it started to snow and we discovered that the large tent is not waterproof. All the sleeping bags in that tent got soaking wet.



But all is well, we will go back to the laundromat and dry the sleeping bags before bed. We did bring a spare tent so we will just set up the new tent when the rain stops. Adventurous day!



Stats:
7 Boo Boos
1 Mosquito Bite
22 "are we there yet"
2 Wildlife Excitement

Day 3 June 11 - Grand Canyon

Cathy made the first of her wonderful Dutch Oven deserts. It was gone in no time!
And the kids figured out what they were going to do to entertain the adults.

And Luke moderated the entertainment program.

Day 3 - Observations at the Grand Canyon

We went to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and were quite impressed....by the stupidity of some people! Lots of people were testing fate by standing on the very edge of the rim. They don't publish it much but people do go over the edge quite often. There is no railing and I think people just figure it must be safe because otherwise there would be a rail. Just a few months ago a grandfather died when he stepped back while having a picture taken. Notice in the photo how the edge can be undercut but not visible from the top!

We ended up going back to the campsite because it was so disturbing.

Day 3-FRIDAY June 11th Grand Canyon

Arrived late last night and had to set our tents up in the dark - but we did it! After a well deserved sleep we woke up to a beautiful forest with birds chirping and the children ready to have fun.

Timothy thinks it is funny to run deep in the forest away from the group. It is a group effort to get him corralled. On one of these "fun games" he managed to wander upon two elk sleeping in the bush. This was very scary since Timothy was not listening and the elk were very startled and confused. With me on one side and Luke not far away, Luke managed to get Tim's attention and thank God he listened. Timothy went to Luke and all is well.
We are spending the day checking out the beauty of the Grand Canyon and plan to get in some relaxation time :)

Stats:
1 Mosquito Bites
4 Boo Boos

Day 2 continued again

We explored Calico a bit then left only to end up in a huge backup from the big rig accident at 2:30am. There were hundreds of trucks that could not use the detour the cars were to go onto. The road was very old and the trucks would have totally destroyed the detour road in a matter of minutes. So, all the trucks were trying to get parked along the sides of the freeway where ever they could put them, hundreds of them! Poor truckers, we really felt for them and prayed for the families of those in the accident.

It was a long ride to the Grand Canyon because we were so behind in time. We were trying to get there before the sun went down. Unfortunately the signage in the park is very poor and we spent a good time trying to find the campsite. Once found we hurried to set up camp in the late dusk.

All is well that ends well!

Day 2 continued- I-40

Interstate 40 was our home for the day - these were our views.
--No, we did not take the "40" sign!

Day 2 June 10 - Calico, CA to Grand Canyon

There was more rock climbing and we checked out Calico Ghost Town this morning before leaving. *Note- it was not planned that we were all leaning in our Day 2 group picture. The wind was back in full force!
------

About 100 miles into today's drive the freeway came to a halt. We found out three separate collisions, all involving big rigs, killed two drivers early this morning.

First Accident:

At 1:14 a.m., a big rig rollover over on the freeway, blocking all lanes - Report said the driver's arm was broken in the crash, but that no one else was hurt.

Second Accident:

The stopped traffic began backing up to the west, and at 2:34 a.m., about two miles west of the initial crash, a big rig slammed into the back of a stopped big rig, which lurched forward into the back a another big rig, which in turn hit a fourth big rig. The driver of the tractor-trailer that failed to stop was killed.

Third Accident:

At 3:46 a.m., a mile west of the second collision, a third one occurred when a big rig driver failed to stop and hit the back of stopped big rig, pushing it into the back of a third one. The driver that didn't stop was killed.

So, East 40 was still closed when we arrived. CHP had every truck that was heading east pull over to create a huge truck parking lot in the desert of hundreds of trucks. Crazy! This set us back an hour or so but we are back on the road. Hopefully we will reach our site before it is too dark to set up tents.

Video of Day 1

Day 1 continued again

Arrived in Calico to a hot ROARING wind! We checked out the rock formations and they were amazing. The kids just loved them. I would have liked to have learned more about them, they were so dramatic!

Went to bed in our reserved cabins to the sound of pebbles blown against the door. Finally we turned the air conditioner on and the steady hum masked the sound of the wind gusts. We all woke up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break and were greeted with no wind and a most beautiful view of the star filled night sky! It was a real joy and hard to leave the sight.

DAY 1 continued

CALICO, CA

Stats:
3 Got Lost
1 Ran Out of Gas
0 Lost Children
0 Mosquito Bites
11 "Are we there yet"
0 Sunburns
2 Boo Boo - Benjamin's knee and leg

Positives: The rock formations at Calico's were "amazing"

Negatives: The wind was at 60mph Ugh...and running out of gas







Did I mention the wind???

Day 1, June 9

We all started out early on different paths from the San Francisco Bay Area to converge on the rest stop on Highway 5 some 26 miles south of Los Banos. Unfortunately the instructions weren't as clear as they should have been and she got a little lost but had a low tire fixed and did make it to join us.
And this is our Day 1 portrait! Then on the road as a caravan! Until.....
Whoops! Someone forgot to pack the gas! Never fear, the Highway Patrol and AAA were there! The kids made sure to get the patrolman's and the AAA driver's autograph... and on the road again! One little "lost" on the way but we finally made it to Calico Ghost Town, a real Ghost town in the Mojave Desert, now a San Bernadino Regional Park which includes a campground and cabins.

The geological formations were fantastic and the kids had a blast climbing them. It turned out to be one of their most memorable things on the trip!

To Friends and Family

Just a reminder we may not have internet service for several days so don't worry! Will update when we can. We will be calling when we have cell service. Jen will be updating the blog when we are not able!

Take off is in 15 minutes!

Current Mosquito Bite Count= O
Yahooooo!

All Packed....hopefully the car will still move!!

OK, we are ready and FULLY packed. Now off to bed to get a good rest and be up and ready to leave at 5:30 in the morning.

The kids are so anxious, they are looking forward to counting road kill, seeing how many different state license plates they can find, and a few other games.

Packing - Chapter 3

The Slice Map is on the Van!

All done....now let's see how long it lasts. Pictures to follow!

We are Officially out of space! EEEK!

Cathy is packing "The Loft" today!

Wow, we know we are close to leaving! "The Loft" is a Thule roof rack on the van. It will hold all the clothes and pillows for those in Van 1.

Tomorrow We Paint the Van!

We will be painting a map of the states we will be visiting on the side of the van. Photos to follow!

Sleeping Bags, etc have been delivered to Van 2

Van 2 is hauling all the sleeping bags and my art stuff. Everything has been delivered.

We will see them next when we meet at the rest stop on the 9th.

June 1 2010, Pack the Car!

For many reasons, main one being all the last minute appointments next week, we had to pack the car with 7 days to go. We managed to do this within an hour and a half, not rushing. And we got it all in!!!!! With a few nooks and crannies left! Wha hoo!!
Left to pack last minute: clothes, pillows and perishable food.

Always expect a bit of shifting the first few miles. A couple of things moved as the van left the driveway, nothing important. We'll get a complete report after she gets home.

Cathy will be posting packing pics soon.

Grocery shopping - first run

Tonight we did the dry goods grocery shopping. We are going to pack the car Tuesday so wanted to know how much room we will have to play with..... packing-wise. The produce will be packed last minute.

This is just a dry run!

A couple of weeks ago we decided we had better to a practice packing. Good thing too, a couple of adjustments needed to the shelf and other things. We needed to see if the containers fit like planned in the spots planned. We were very happy we had decided to do it when we did. The real packing begins in a few days, June 1! A lot of appointments scheduled for the last few days so we have can't leave it till last day. 11 days before lift off!

Pre-Pack! I found the photos!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

-Mark Twain

A Review of the Brickhouse Child Locator

A while back I bought a BrickHouse Child Locator. The Locator consists of tags that you attach or put in your child"s clothing or on a bracelet, then there is the locator that sends an alarm if the tag goes further than the range you set. It also shows the direction the tag is in.

I posted then that we would give a review but we haven't used it to this date. We were going to save it for the trip. But, Timmy has given us a challenge. Timmy is a special little boy. He loves life and especially loves the trampline, swings, and hiding things. Recently we found that Timmy needed glasses. He had his new glasses just a few days and he decided to hide them, they still haven't been found. Second pair of glasses...it took several days before the glasses were missing again. It took Mom a few days before she found them. This time she attached the "Child Locator" tag to the elastic band that holds the glasses on his head. Sure enough, a couple of days later the glasses were missing again. Mom got out the Locator and found them in about a minute. They were in the sandbox under the sand, the locator tag still attached. (You can see the tag in the photo hanging by his right shoulder.)

Mom is now talking about attaching tags to his shoes, he loves to hide them too!

Rave reviews so far for the Brickhouse Child Locator!

The Meeting of the Grand Council of the Treehuggers

Yesterday the Grand Council met.

(The Minor Council will have to have a meeting later. They were very disappointed they couldn't miss school to attend the Grand Council meeting.)

The number of tents needed and who was going to sleep where on days 2, 3 and 4 were decided. Also, we found who is on which team and what each team's responsibilities will be. Some of the items on the packing list were discussed. The Tree Hugger car flags flopped. The paint flew off and then the flag shredded in 10 minutes...back to the drawing board! We decided to go back to our ribbons, they have always worked.

The itinerary was reviewed. Questions (including those from the Minor Council) were answered and resolved. Everyone is anxious and ready to go!

20 days to go!

Pre-Pack!

This morning Cathy and I did a quick pre-pack exercise. So glad we decided to do it this early. The shelf needed a little adjusting, the handles on the kitchen box need to be changed, and the tent box needs another handle.

But we did a little adjusting here and there and it looks like everything will fit. It was scary there for a few moments! My hubby took pictures that would have spoken volumes but unfortunately his camera memory was full. It went like this...Cathy backs the van up to the front of the garage, I open the garage door. Our eyes went from the shelves holding all the stuff to be loaded.....to the back of the van where all the stuff had to go!!! But it is going to work out ok, thank heavens!

Cathy and George also got one of those hard torpedo-shaped luggage carriers, a big one with lots of room. That is where all the clothes will go.

The Grand Council of the Treehuggers will meet at 10:30 tomorrow morning to go over any details not worked out and questions that need to be answered.

Yes, these aliens from another world will be joining us

These two will keep things moving!

We would like to leave TODAY!

But can't : (

30 Days!

Another milestone!

We are getting closer!! And more excited!
Little Ben thought we were starting our trip last Wednesday when we were driving up to Oakland to celebrate Uncle Robert becoming a USA citizen!

June 6th we are going to paint the map on the car!

We are starting to calendar all the last things we have to do:
June 8 - appointments, vote, make dinner for the 9th, get ice for cooler
June 7 - appointments, charge all electronic devises, start packing
June 6 - trip grocery shopping, cinnamon roll baking (a tradition when we go on trips), paint map on car, luggage rack on car
June 5
June 4
June 3
June 2
June 1 - Shelf goes into car and stuff that goes under it. (We will get an idea how we are doing as far as how much we can take. Easier to jettison BEFORE we take off!)
May ? - Car nets, sleeping bags, painting stuff, etc to Coletta's car

Our "Blue Tent"

This is the ticket for our wonderful "Blue Tent" celebrating it's 43rd year with us on the Slice of America Trip. (Looks like one of the kids autographed it way back then!)

Do we keep everything or what!

Women on the trail

From 1840 to 1870, almost 250,000 courageous women undertook an unpredictable and strenuous journey that began east of the Mississippi River. They generally traveled with wagon trains on one of three routes: the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, or the Santa Fe Trail. Most traveled with husbands or other family members, but a few also traveled with children of their own.

One of the most serious events women endured on the journey was childbirth. An estimated twenty to twenty-five percent were either pregnant or gave birth to children on the trail (Schlissel, 1982). This in itself posed danger due to the unclean circumstances, complications and the lack of doctors and midwives.

In their diaries, many women reported their childbirth in a very nonchalant and stoic manner. One woman kept a diary of her trip but never once mentioned that she was pregnant until the entry where she told of the birth. "A few days later my eighth child was born. After this we picked up and ferried across the Columbia River, utilizing skiff, canoes, and flatboat to get across, taking three days to complete."

Others report more devastating incidents of childbirth. It was not uncommon to lose the mother, the child, or both during childbirth in the 19th century; this was especially true along the trail. It was common for other members of the wagon train to take on orphaned children, either adopting them or just taking them the rest of the way until they could find relatives or someone to take them.

We are NOT taking anyone pregnant!

Don't Forget the Water!!

In a lot of the areas fresh water was available along the trail. But then there were plenty of areas that only had alkaline water. Animals and people would get sick or die from drinking this water.

Would you spend $100 for a glass of water? Some 49ers on the California Trail did.

Because of poor planning or a bad guide, many western-bound 49ers were unprepared for the hot, dry deserts of Nevada. A few sharp businessmen in California knew this and took advantage of the situation. They traveled eastward with barrels of water. Extremely thirsty, many 49ers paid $1, $5, even $100 for a glass of precious water.

But water was not the only expensive item on the Oregon-California Trail. For example, at the start of the journey, flour could be purchased for $4.00 a barrel, but further along the price rose to a sky-high $1.00 per pint. Other staples could also be quite expensive:

·Sugar $1.50 per pint

·Coffee $1.00 per pint

·Liquor $4.00 per pint

Surprisingly, there were other staples that were amazingly cheap. For example, at Ft. Laramie, bacon could be had for a penny per pound. Those who had excess bacon often considered it worthless and dumped it by the side of the road. One emigrant reported seeing ten tons on one pile.

Why the wide disparity in prices? The basic laws of supply and demand were at work. Most wagon trains took too much bacon and so it had little trading value. Water, on the other hand was in short supply and thus commanded a high price.

More on Wagon Train Life in the 1840s

Remember that we were talking about how rough and rutted the trails were. Well. there was an unexpected break for women on that account: butter churning, the wagons bounced around so much the butter was churned by just ridding in the wagon.

What would your food shopping list look like if you were joining the "Great Migration"? The trip usually took at least 4 months, and for some unlucky travelers, as much as 1 year. You could consult the books written for those taking this adventure. The most popular of these books was Randolph B. Marcy's A Handbook for Overland Expeditions. Staples as flour, sugar, cornmeal, coffee, dried beans, rice, bacon, and salt port would be needed. Dried fruit optional. How much of each are you going to bring? While on the trip you could supplement with meat, fish, berries, roots. The total amount the Conestoga wagon could hold was 2,000 lbs. -But remember, the heavier the wagon, the slower it will be pulled and the harder on your animals. Supplies had to be compact, lightweight, and nonperishable. Don't forget, you have to also bring replacement parts for your wagon, tools, household goods, kitchen goods (a Dutch oven alone can weigh 27 lbs!) and your family members will be riding in the wagon. Also, figure in the weight of your containers, the staples were carried in wooden barrels often lashed to the outside of the wagon.

Breakfast had to be completed by 4 a.m. so that the wagon train could be on its way by daybreak. Beans, cornmeal mush, Johnnycakes or pancakes, and coffee were the usual breakfast. Fresh milk was available from the dairy cows that some families brought along.

Since the wagon trains only traveled during the day, (safety considerations and no headlights!) lunch was something quick like pieces of meat roasted straight over a campfire combined with a quick rest before resuming the trail. Longer-cooking stews were left for the evening meal. The women made bread dough while riding in the wagons and timed the rising so that it would be ready to bake when evening camp was made...

" Taste of the States: A Food History of America, Hilde Gabriel Lee [Howell Press:Charlottesville VA] 1992 (p. 241-2)

More information is at:http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpioneer.html#pioneer

Ok, in response to some on the previous post.......

In regards to the privy arrangements the pioneer women used.
1. when they would gather around and spread their skirts to afford their women friends some privacy---no, that is not why they wore long skirts they were the modest fashion of the time, but they came in handy in an instance like this. By the way, most women did not wear underwear at the time, it was invented after the civil war. It consisted of three pieces, 2 pieces were a leg with a waist (sort of like half of a pair of shorts each) , the third, a string going through the waistband to hold them on and together. That way they did not have to take them down, they were spit in two, if you know what I mean.

2. Toilet paper - we will have 2 rolls with us at all times, just in case. Toilet paper was not invented yet in the 1840s, and the sears roebucks catalogue wasn't either. It was leaves (be choosy, no poison ivy or poison oak, or nettles, for that matter. Then in the prairies where bushes were far and few between....grass or get creative!

3. Campfire fuel---of course when there were downed trees, no problem. But the prairies were pretty sparse for miles! Cow pies, though not contained to cows, buffalo or anything else could furnish fuel for the fire.....not fresh ones!

We will have plenty of propane fuel for our 2 stoves. Thank God!

Comparing our day with the 1840s pioneers

A pioneer in a Conestoga wagon would cover 10-15 miles on a good day. On a rainy, muddy day he may only cover 1 mile! On our road trip we will be covering 400 miles a day on the average.

We know just where we are going. We have even seen the road and exits on google maps.
Our pioneer would hope he had a good guide that knew the way to California or Oregon. Some guides got lost and it could end in disaster for the wagon train.

The pioneer's guide needed to know where good water was for the people and the animals. We will have plenty of bottled water with us and besides, we can get good water at any town or rest stop. Our transportation does not need more water throughout the day.

The loaded Conestoga wagon was a very noisy place, all the pots and pans and other things hanging from hooks inside banged against each other all day long. We will have headphones on the dvd's, ipods, etc. Yeh, Cathy will have the music turned up on the CD!

The roads will be rather comfortable. And we have nice springs on the vans. The wagon trains were traveling on "trails", rutted, rocky, dusty, hot, cold, wet, dry. We will be in air conditioned/heated bliss on nice smooth asphalt. And we have windshield wipers!

They brought some food (the kind that has to last a LONG time) or they would have to hunt for their meals. We will be bringing some food, we will have coolers, too, and we will never be too far from a grocery store if necessary. Oh, we are hitting a few subway sandwich places too.

They would have to set up camp in the middle of nowhere, putting their wagons in a circle for mutual protection. A few of the men would have to stay up all night keeping an eye on the animals. We have reservations at all the stops we are going to make. We will have water, table and RESTROOMS! Some places even have electricity!!!

Speaking of restrooms, the women on a wagon train would go off together for privacy and safety. If they were on the open flat plains they would gather around in a circle and hold their skirts out to give each some privacy.

Another Dutch Oven recipe!

Better Ever Cornbread

1 cup butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk
2 cups sugar
2 cups cornmeal
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl mix together butter, eggs, and milk.
In a separate bowl sift together sugar, cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients 1 cup at a time until well blended.
Spoon cornbread mixture into a lightly greased 12" Dutch oven and spread evenly.

Cover the Dutch oven and bake using 8-10 briquettes bottom and 14-16 briquettes top for 45 minutes or until cornbread turns golden brown.
NOTE: For even browning make sure to turn the oven lid 1/4 turn in opposite directions every 10 minutes.

Serve warm with honey butter.

Serves: 10-12

Independence Rock

Along the path of the various wagontrain trails there were geologic formations that stood out. They became landmarks and some became "registers" of the great migration of pioneers. The pioneers carved their names in them to show they had been here. Following wagon trains would often check to see if they could find the names of any of their friends that had started out ahead of them and they would add their own names.

Those That Came Before Us

In the 1860s Oregon pioneers and their teams of oxen, mules and heavy draft horses drawing Conestoga wagons ventured east to west looking forward for good land and a new life. In the years following the discovery of Gold in California in 1849 another migration took much the same path. These thousands of travelers left wagon ruts in their wake that still show sign of their passage.

The photo above is from Guernsey State Park in Wyoming. This shows the best how the wagons left ruts in the landscape. The wheels not only cut through the earth but also there is a center higher rut from the grease bucket hung on the back of the wagon for greasing the wheels. They certainly embarked on a "Road Trip"!