Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Sunday, August 1, 1999
Mackinaw Bridge
Mystery Spot
Sault Ste. Marie
Ontario, Canada
Valley Camp
A beautiful day to begin our trip!! The last several weeks had temperatures in the high 90s with heat indices in the 110s. But a cold front rolled through the night before departure and the weather for the at least the first few days of our trip would be perfect - highs in the 70s and lows in the upper 50s.
Our vacation was expected to cross the majority of this great country - as far west as Salt Lake City, Utah. This drive would cover more than 3000 miles! We begin by heading north to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
The night before, we tried to go to bed early in preparation for the journey. However, at 11:45 pm, Tam and I heard laughing originating from the girl’s bedroom. I walked in and found them wide awake. I mentioned that the trip would be a long one and that they’d better get some sleep. Michelle and Laura said they were too excited to sleep. They weren’t too excited at 7:05 am the next morning when I woke them up. Michelle asked if she could crawl into the car and sleep. Laura woke hungry but it quickly disappeared in the morning’s rush.
We pulled out of the driveway precisely at 8:19 am with the sounds of Jimmy Buffett blaring over the car stereo. The car odometer read 51,498 miles.
By 8:34 am, the girls were fighting and Laura said that she wanted to turn around. By 8:40, the girls had totally unpacked the car into the back seat.
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We had prepared well in advance for this trip. Hotel reservations were confirmed months ago. I designed tour T-Shirts that featured Mt. Rushmore on the front and said The Olin Family Tour of America 1999. On the back was a giant flag with each day of our vacation listed on it. We bought a DVD video/movie player and set it up in the back seat and plugged it into the car stereo for theater surround sound. We had the Range Rover serviced. We bought an array of travel games, books, flashlight, and film. We purchased a “special” Tupperware sealable plastic tub for bathroom emergencies - and even brought toilet paper.
We initiated several road games as we headed up route 131. The license plate game would pay off $10.00 per person if all 50 states are spotted along the way. We also played a daily game - if the kids saw 5 items that I selected - for example: a helicopter, McDonald’s truck, lighthouse, Canadian flag, and a school bus - they would each win $5.00. Tam and I also gave Michelle and Laura a fixed amount of money to spend during the adventure. We told them that they had to manage this money and that we would not help if they ran out.
Tam drove the first leg of the trip. She preferred that I drive in the afternoons because she gets drowsy after lunch. By 9:00 am, we were blasting through Grand Rapids singing Cheeseburger in Paradise. So far, so good.
At 9:02, we broke into our stash of wafer cookies, Jolly Ranchers, and M & Ms. This was definitely NOT going to be a weight-loss vacation! At precisely 9:57 am, Laura asked “How long before we get there ?”
We drove through the Michigan countryside with Barry White serenading Tam and me in the front while the kids watched Pokemon videos in the back.
The “family truckster” crossed the Mackinaw Bridge at 1:45 pm. The view was spectacular! You could cut the tension with a knife as we waited in the queue to pay the toll at the north end of the bridge. Why? Because we were about to experience something truly incredible and awe-inspiring ...The Mystery Spot!
Not much later, we arrived in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan - Gateway to Canada.
Sault Ste. Marie is the oldest city in Michigan. It was founded in 1620 when the French discoverer Etienne Brule passed through on the way to Lake Superior. Next came the Jesuit missionaries in 1641. In 1668, the town was named in honor of the Virgin Mary.
The rapids of the St. Mary’s River that drop 12 feet between Lake Superior and Lake Huron presented a problem to fur traders shipping their goods back east. The first American lock was built in 1855 and today, the locks are still the main attraction in the area. More than 95 million tons of freight pass through the Soo every year.
We excitedly drove across the International Bridge to Canada. This was Michelle and Laura’s first international experience. On the bridge, we crossed directly over the locks. A huge ore ship was just passing into Lake Superior. It was an impressive sight.
We stopped at the Ontario Information Center where we took pictures and stretched our legs. The Olin visit to Canada lasted a brief half an hour.
We checked into our hotel, which was an excellent Hampton Inn, and we quickly proceeded to the museum ship Valley Camp. This was a retired Great Lakes freighter that had been converted into a museum. We took a walking tour of the ship, including the bridge, captains quarters, and galley. The highlight of the museum for me were the only major pieces of the Edmund Fitzgerald that were found after its sinking, two mangled lifeboats. It was very sobering to see this twisted and ruined wreckage up-close.
It was getting late, so we drove to Jeff’s 50s Diner, where we ate ribs, fries, and root beer floats. Back at the hotel, we all went for a swim in the indoor pool. It wasn’t long before the kids were fast asleep after a long day.
Monday, August 2, 1999
Yooperland
Pictured Rocks
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Duluth
Up at 7:00 am, we were on the road by 8:30. We finally begin heading west, taking route 28 across the upper peninsula (more than 300 miles) to Duluth, Minnesota. It would be slow going because it was on two lane roads for the entirety of the drive. On the other hand, this would also be a blessing because we will able to enjoy the absolute beauty of the birch-studded pine forests that we would traverse.
The Hiawatha National Forest embraces over 893,348 acres, much of which is totally uninhabited, other than the black bears and moose that roam freely about.
Route 28 begins to parallel Lake Superior at Munising. We stopped at the Pictured Rocks Museum tourist trap so the kids could spend their money. Although we couldn’t take the two hour boat tour of Pictured Rocks, we could see them from the shore. The threatening clouds had blown away and bright sun reflected off the lake’s blue/green surface. Lake Superior was placid today, much different than the seventy foot waves that brought down the Edmund Fitzgerald. At Au Train, we all jumped out of the car and into Lake Superior. Michelle and Laura danced along the shoreline in abject joy, like only kids can. Tam noted that the air seemed fresher up here and the water seemed cleaner too.
We ate lunch at the Pizza Hut in Marquette. Before long, we stopped again at the Ishpeming Tourist Trap - a cross between a flea market and Spencer Gifts. While I was buying tacky bumper stickers, I asked the cashier how far it was to Duluth. She blew me away when she retorted, “about six hours.” I thought it was two of three hours maximum. The next leg I drove at no less than 75 mph. We smashed our way into Ironwood - 150 miles away, in less than two hours. We quickly found the famous and somewhat kitschy 52 foot tall Haiwatha statue and posed for pictures. Just outside Ironwood, we crossed into Wisconsin. This was a new state for the kids and we stopped by the state sign for pictures, the first of what would be many. We hauled non-stop through Wisconsin and didn’t look at anything.
The Duluth/Superior Bridge provided a beautiful view of the Duluth area. To the left were quickly rising hills with large houses sprinkled about. To the right were large coal and ore yards beyond which were huge ore docks (some of the largest in the world). This was the terminus of Lake Superior and the place where all mining products from Minnesota departed for the rest of the world. Duluth was one of the busiest ports in the world when ranked by tonnage.
But Duluth was much more than that. This is a gorgeous place. The lake and the surrounding hills added to Duluth’s uniqueness. The sounds of bells and horns and seagulls add to the flavor. Tam described it as “a Cincinnati beside a lake instead of a river.” Along the pier was a marketplace with restaurants, saloons, and gift shops. There was a boardwalk along the shore and the clip-clop of carriage rides wafts through the air. We ate at Grandma’s Saloon and Bar on the pier. Afterward, the kids played in the fountains that lined the sidewalk.
Our hotel was great, the Hampton Inn at Canal Place on the pier. The room was spacious and the pool was put to good use.
Duluth was truly a wonderful and romantic place, but of course, we hadn’t been here in January either!
Tuesday, August 3, 1999
Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station
Paul Bunyan Adventure Park
Wahpeton, North Dakota
South Dakota
On this day, we left the Great Lakes behind and traversed the land of 10,000 lakes. We would bisect the state of Minnesota, the old Olin family stomping grounds, and hopefully make it to South Dakota. The drive across the upper peninsula was much longer than expected, let’s hope this drive goes faster !!
We headed over the hills surrounding Duluth and bid the city adieu. We soon stopped at Clouquet, Minnesota, where I toured and photographed the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed gas station in the world.
The drive to Brainerd took us through miles of dense swampland. Running along both sides of the road were ditches filled with water. Lakes, ponds, rivers, and more lakes !!
We passed through many small towns, including one (with a population of 221) that was the home to the 1995 and 1996 state high school “9 man” football champions.
We slipped into Brainerd just before lunch. In the center of town we drove over a tiny bridge that crossed over a tiny creek. A small sign on that bridge said Mississippi River. We could have waded across the thing, knee high!!. Not a very impressive introduction to the biggest and most famous river in North America.
Legend has it that the 15,000 lakes in Minnesota formed when melting snow filled the hoof prints left by Babe, Paul Bunyan’s giant blue ox. The Paul Bunyan Adventure Park in Brainerd was like a permanently located county fair. We had a great time riding dodge’m cars, tiny roller coasters, and bumper boats. A highlight was the thirty foot seated Paul Bunyan who greeted visitors by name when they entered the park. Michelle and Laura were both surprised and embarrassed when Paul welcomed them. Laura played tic tac toe against a chicken ... and lost. Laura and her Dad also took a neat helicopter ride over the city of Brainerd. The Olin family left the park happy, hungry ... and very wet.
After lunch, Tam took the wheel again and we hammered our way across the western half of Minnesota. The landscape became less swampy becoming rolling hills, with more agricultural development.
We passed through the small town of Breckinridge and before we knew it, we were in Wahpeton, North Dakota. Yes, North Dakota. This was the holy grail for Tom Olin, Jr. This was one of only two states in which I had not yet traveled ... and the only one in the continental United States. So we parked in front of the Wahpeton Dairy Queen and walked with great anticipation to pose in front of the state sign for posterity.
A half hour later, we were out of North Dakota. The South Dakota state sign was buried in a massive cornfield, but we made the kids pose anyway. Soon, we were on our way to our final destination of the day - Watertown, South Dakota. The land became treeless and barren. Just miles and miles of prairie grass. The entire seventy mile drive down from the North Dakota border was through a Sioux Indian reservation. This went by quickly though, as the speed limit on I 29 increased to 75 mph.
We spent the night at a Country Inn hotel. Very nice! We were selected as “Guests of the Day” by the hotel staff and were upgraded to a special family suite, which included an attached room with a kids bunk bed. This was wonderful except for the fact that the kids fought like cats over who got the top bunk. We even got a private parking space!!
We ate dinner at the McDonald’s down the street from the hotel. There, we saw our first real working cowboy with boots, hat, etc. This was the real thing, with dirty denim shirt, dark tan, and deeply etched face. He drove a well-used Chevy truck.
Looking out our hotel window, we could see at least twenty miles in every direction. Trees were hard to come by. More than 44 million acres of South Dakota was farm land. The top crops here were wheat, oats, and sunflowers. Ranching was also a leading business, covering more than 50 percent of the state.
Not long ago, however, all of these lands belonged to large Indian tribes such as the Lakotas of the great Sioux Nation. These nomadic groups reigned supreme for centuries, hunting the wild buffalo that roamed the plains. Nowadays, these proud tribes live on parceled out areas of pink on my South Dakota map.
Their revenge was manifest in the casinos popping up everywhere and the hundreds of cars and busses that brought white man to them with open wallets.
Wednesday, August 4, 1999
Mitchell Corn Palace
Badlands
Wall Drug Store
The real trip began in earnest as we headed west through South Dakota and into the Black Hills. My family had no idea what they about to see!!
Eastern South Dakota was a lot like Iowa only bigger and prettier. We drove 96 miles south to Sioux Falls and turned west, heading for Mitchell and the famous Corn Palace.
The first Wall drug sign appeared on I-29 north of Sioux Falls. Almost 400 miles from Wall, South Dakota.
The first Corn Palace was built in Mitchell in 1892 and was an attempt to attract farmers to the area. The current structure was built in 1920. It’s design looked something like a mosque and its entire exterior was covered with mosaics made from 3,000 bushels of local corn and grasses.
As a tourist destination, it did not offer much and soon we were back on I 90 and continuing west. For the next three hours, we were treated to a barrage of Wall Drug billboards. We actually counted more than 70 signs between Mitchell and Wall. The billboards said things like:
- T Rex - Wall Drug
- 6 Foot Rabbit - Wall Drug
- Free Ice Water - Wall Drug
- Clean Rest Rooms - Wall Drug
The Missouri River was big, wide, and beautiful when we crossed it. A powerful sight ... just as we thought it should be!!
The geography was changing subtly as we continued westward. The flat land was giving way to gently contoured hills. Then the hills became more severe, more abrupt. Then suddenly, buttes of hard, layered, sedimentary masses.
As we approached the Badlands, nature's awesome and radical work of brine sea evaporation and erosive winds had carved bizarre walls and pinnacles into the earth. This land had dense deposits of coarse rock and fossils. The term Badland came from the Lakota Sioux name “Mako Sica” meaning “land bad.”
We entered the park through the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. We quickly pulled into a public-access area and the kids scurried up the face of a nearby wall. The stone looked like powdered concrete and was so brittle that climbing by visitors had worn grooves in the surface. This accumulated loose gravel became treacherous when descending and footing was nearly impossible. After great effort, we topped a nearby wall, looked over the edge, and saw nothing but miles of arid, contoured earth. It was absolutely the harshest looking geographic sight one could see!! It was also strangely beautiful.
We entered the park through the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. We quickly pulled into a public-access area and the kids scurried up the face of a nearby wall. The stone looked like powdered concrete and was so brittle that climbing by visitors had worn grooves in the surface. This accumulated loose gravel became treacherous when descending and footing was nearly impossible. After great effort, we topped a nearby wall, looked over the edge, and saw nothing but miles of arid, contoured earth. It was absolutely the harshest looking geographic sight one could see!! It was also strangely beautiful.
Michelle and Laura grew bored after about five minutes in the park. They hated the fossil trail, which they thought was made-up and touristy. Soon, however, we were in Prairie Dog Town at the west end of the park. We wandered around on a large flat plain watching dozens of these creatures dash in and out of their burrowed holes. Surprisingly, they allowed us to get quite close, within four or five feet. A bathroom emergency shortened this visit and we were soon in the town of Wall, South Dakota (Population 832). After checking into our hotel, we went straight to our ultimate destination of the day - Wall Drug Store.
The Wall Drug Store had become half of the city of Wall, South Dakota. It encompassed almost two full blocks. Once inside the rustic but tacky building, one found that there was almost no organization or logic to the place. There was stuff everywhere! There were also people everywhere! Ninety nine percent of the merchandise in the place was worthless. At the same time, it was fun to see a six foot “jackelope” rabbit, an animatron Tyranosaurus Rex, or pose with one of the dozen fiberglass cowboys or cigar store indians. The kids, of course, had an absolute blast. I bought two Mitchum deodorant roll-ons and received a free Wall Drug bumper sticker, which I immediately placed on the Rover, beside the stickers from the Corn Palace, Paul Bunyan, and the Mystery Spot.
We ate dinner across the street at the Cactus Café. Nothing special. We all took a quick swim in the Wall Best Western pool and went to bed in a very well-worn and small hotel room. It was a fantastic day and the next would be even better.
Thursday, August 5, 1999
Black Hills
Mount Rushmore
Crazy Horse
Wyoming
As we pulled out of the hotel lot early in the morning, we noticed about three dozen Harley Davidson motorcycles had parked beside us. It was a tipoff that things were happening nearby. We ate breakfast at the Ellsworth AFB McDonalds. Turning south at Rapid City, we plunged down long ravines and into the heart of the Black Hills. Raw, granite pinnacles extended beyond the evergreen trees. Everyone was keeping a sharp eye out for famous faces on the mountainside. We slipped through the town of Keystone, still asleep, and all of its tourist traps not yet opened. It was easy to imagine thousands of people milling about looking for that ultimate post card or chunk of fools gold.
We were barely out of town, driving up a sharp incline when we glimpsed a face, then it quickly disappeared behind the pines. Another opening, larger now. Yes, it was George Washington! Then ...Thomas Jefferson. Soon the entire work was visible but from left profile. In a way, I found this perspective to be more interesting than from straight-on. The Lincoln profile was particularly striking.
The Mount Rushmore carvings were initiated by famed sculptor Gutzon Borglum in 1927 when he was sixty years old. His vision of a great monument to four great Americans - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt became reality when Calvin Coolidge pushed legislation for its construction through Congress.
The design went through several iterations during the project. Jefferson was originally carved to Washington’s right side. But a major fault in the granite wall forced a redesign, months of work was blown off the mountain when Jefferson was removed from Washington’s right side and then placed on his left side. Still another fault ultimately pushed Jefferson’s head eight feet back into the mountain. The original concept also was to include shoulders, chests, and waists of the four presidents. This was never completed, partly because Borglum died in 1941, mid-project.
The entire national park facility had been redone since I was there last in 1971. There were massive square granite columns that directed the visitor straight toward the sculpture. The promenade ended at a large open viewing platform. For me, the work seemed larger and more real than I had initially remembered. The skin of the four presidents appeared supple and the quartet’s eyes pierced into the southern plains. Tam said that the sculpture was smaller than she imagined. She thought that it would cover the entire mountain. Mt Rushmore seemed to grow on the kids. They were disappointed at first, but then they kept staring at it with interest.
We followed a trail to the sculptor’s studio and saw the small-scale replicas that were used in the construction of the monument. A little known fact was that a special vault room had been built behind Lincoln’s head by Borglum as a storage place for important building documents and other pieces of Americana.
We continued on the Presidential Trail to the foot of the sculpture and took spectacular pictures up-close.
The sun that shone so brightly during our pictures of the monument was quickly becoming obscured by rain clouds. We could see downpours in the valley to the south and knew it was time to go.
Our next stop was the Big Thunder Gold Mine. Michelle and Laura panned for gold using special ribbed pans. Both were successful in sifting several nice pieces of 24 carat gold and they kept it in custom display vials.
When we drove to the Crazy Horse monument, we weren’t sure what we would find. All we knew was that it was a large, unfinished carving of the famous Sioux Indian on horseback. When we arrived we were dumbfounded. The sculpture was even bigger than any of us imagined. Fifty years into the project, and the small, twenty-man crew continuing the work of sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski was perhaps twenty-five percent finished. Unlike the Mt. Rushmore carving, this project was not federally subsidized. It was not being built by hundreds of skilled miners. It was a totally independent work being pursued by the sculptor’s family. For these reasons, visitors like us found ourselves “involved” in the project. We felt like we were rooting for the successful completion of the thing.
The story began when artist Korczak Ziolkowski was invited by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear to take on the project in 1947. When the work was begun in 1949, Korczak had only $174 dollars to his name. Knowing that the project was too large to be completed in his lifetime, he prepared three books of detailed plans to be used with scale models to continue the work.
The size and scale of the Crazy Horse monument was immense. The head was ninety feet tall, more than fifty percent larger than the heads on Mt. Rushmore. The carving would be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. Furthermore, Crazy Horse would be carved three dimensionally, from both sides of the mountain.
The Indian community chose Crazy Horse as the subject for their carving because he symbolized the strength and spirit of the Indian people. The sculpture itself was an answer to a derisive question asked by a white man “Where are your lands now?” Crazy Horse replied, “My lands are where my dead lie buried.”
Visiting this memorial was an impressive and moving experience. I look forward to returning to see it’s progress years from now.
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It was late afternoon, and we needed to get down the road. We changed our hotel reservations from Buffalo, Wyoming to Sheridan, Wyoming. This would require a further forty miles to drive but at least the new hotel selection had a pool.
Just outside the Black Hills, along the freeway, we filled up with gas in the legendary town of Sturgis. As luck would have it, the famous Harley Davidson rally in that small town was just getting started. Tens of thousands of Harley bikes from all over the country drove to this mega-event. Every hotel within a hundred miles was booked solid. You could easily smell the aroma of black leather in the air. We fueled up with a dozen or so biker friends at the local Pak n Sak, picked up a case of commemorative Harley ‘99 Coors Lite and boogied down the road.
As we broke out of the Black Hills, the topography began changing again, becoming even more barren than the eastern Dakotas. The soil was turning a rusty-orange color and there were desert-like stone outcroppings jutting out of the land. We were now in Wyoming.
Agricultural expanse had given way to mile after mile of wild prairie, brush, and long runs of snow drift-control fence. The land looked much more arid than anything else we’d seen so far. Tam pointed out Devil’s Tower National Monument from the highway. This landmark was clearly visible from more than thirty miles away! We were absolutely in the middle of nowhere! Of course, it was here that Laura announced that she had to go potty. We couldn’t find a restroom, but we did find a tumbleweed!!
Wyoming saw its first settlers in the early 1800s when the trappers and traders discovered incredible opportunities in the state. The original inhabitants, the native Indians, had been here for centuries. Inevitably, hostilities grew. By 1867, there had been incidents such as the Fetterman Massacre near Sheridan. Tensions continued to mount, culminating in the Battle of Little Bighorn in nearby Montana in 1876.
For the last forty years, oil had become a developing and profitable industry in the state. This was very apparent as we passed hundreds of oil pumps and storage tanks littered along the countryside.
Wyoming had 491,400 people and 1.1 million sheep.
As we continued down I 90, far distant shadows of mountains began to emerge on the horizon. Soon another, even higher, layer of mountains appeared beyond the first ones. These shapes became more pronounced and dramatic as we drove westward. These were the Big Horn mountains. For the first time, our kids saw snow-pack in mid-August. Making things even more dramatic, a storm squall was transposed in front of these mountains. It was easy to see large sheets of rain and massive bolts of lightning against this backdrop. We managed to avoid the rain and soon, we were crusin’ under blue sky again.
Along the way, we decided to come up with indian names for everyone in our family. They were:
- Dad - Big Bear
- Mom - Sunflower
- Michelle - Sly Fox
- Laura - Little Rabbit
The senior citizens quietly eating their dinner at the Sheridan, Wyoming Arbys never knew what hit them when the Olin tribe burst onto the scene. We were hungry, cranky, and tired.
The Sheridan Holiday Inn was an excellent stop. It was a Holidome with indoor pool, putting green, gift shop and laundry. When we got there, the pool was at full capacity and water was turning a sickly green-yellow color. The kids jumped right in.
It was a great and significant day for our family, although I don’t think our kids would realize it until years from now.
Friday, August 6, 1999
T-Rex Natural History Museum
Montana
Little Bighorn National Battlefield
After sleeping in and enjoying a relaxed leisurely breakfast, we headed out of Sheridan northbound toward Montana. While leaving the hotel, I picked up a brochure for the T-Rex Natural History Museum. It looked a little rinky-dinky but I thought that it might be fun for the kids.
The museum was located in Ranchester, Wyoming, a town of 386 people just off the freeway. We pulled to the small, but new, pole building and walked inside. In the doorway was a lady customer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (who incredibly was a friend of Reverend Fred Gibbs, former pastor of our church in Ashland) and the museum curator and “Director of Paleontology”, Mike Dawson. It was humble place, with small scale models of dinosaurs and a few real bone fragments. The museum’s claim to fame was a full scale replica of the famous T-Rex named Sue. Our expectations were low. Mike, however, was awesome! He knew volumes about dinosaurs and the people who were currently researching the science. His enthusiasm was contagious, and he could talk as easily with our kids as with Tam and me. Mike was an absolute pleasure! We were so blown away by this guy’s knowledge that we were sure he was a retired professor or scientist. Nope. He said that his real job was as a painter. This whole effort, the entire museum and everything in it, was simply a man following his passion. We purchased several dinosaur bone samples and Mike even gave the kids free samples of fossilized dinosaur poop. The T-Rex Natural History Museum was an unexpected and wonderful surprise.
The museum was located in Ranchester, Wyoming, a town of 386 people just off the freeway. We pulled to the small, but new, pole building and walked inside. In the doorway was a lady customer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (who incredibly was a friend of Reverend Fred Gibbs, former pastor of our church in Ashland) and the museum curator and “Director of Paleontology”, Mike Dawson. It was humble place, with small scale models of dinosaurs and a few real bone fragments. The museum’s claim to fame was a full scale replica of the famous T-Rex named Sue. Our expectations were low. Mike, however, was awesome! He knew volumes about dinosaurs and the people who were currently researching the science. His enthusiasm was contagious, and he could talk as easily with our kids as with Tam and me. Mike was an absolute pleasure! We were so blown away by this guy’s knowledge that we were sure he was a retired professor or scientist. Nope. He said that his real job was as a painter. This whole effort, the entire museum and everything in it, was simply a man following his passion. We purchased several dinosaur bone samples and Mike even gave the kids free samples of fossilized dinosaur poop. The T-Rex Natural History Museum was an unexpected and wonderful surprise.
About ten miles up the road we crossed into Montana. We took our mandatory picture in front of the state sign and rolled north. The geography of Montana was harsh and forbidding. It featured huge rock buttes and was covered with sparse weedy vegetation. The land took on a monochromatic brown hue.
We crossed the Little Bighorn River and knew that we were near our next destination.
The Little Bighorn National Battlefield was infamous because it was the location of “Custer’s Last Stand.” On June 25, 1876, an estimated 1,800 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors massacred all two hundred and twenty-five 7th Cavalry U.S. Army troops in a battle fought near the Little Bighorn River.
The U.S. Army, under the command of Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, was under specific direction to corral the remaining Indians not yet placed on reservations. Custer had developed a reputation of being cold-hearted toward the Indians and was well known for heavy-handed behavior.
The Indians, pushed out of the Dakotas and Wyoming, had their backs to the wall and were on the threshold of lashing out at the source of their struggle. Militant warriors such as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Gall were ready to respond to the next provocation.
Custer’s army approached the Indians encampments from the south and split his troops into three battalions to surround the camps. Custer’s problem was that he totally underestimated the size of the Indian camp and their willingness to counter attack after the army’s initial aggressions. By the time he figured this out his army was divided and his troops far outnumbered.
The battle itself lasted a relatively short time. The initial army attack on the Indian village began at 2:10 pm. The massacre at Custer Hill was over by 4:30.
The battlefield itself was a serene and powerfully moving site. Custer Hill featured a twenty-foot squatting obelisk on which the names of the lost are listed. The panorama from the hill was a vast prairie land rolling into the distance from all directions. Directly beneath the monument were forty-eight identical marble markers located where the soldiers fell. These markers were tightly grouped but sporadically placed. One marker featured a black shield and the name “G.A. Custer.”
Looking further out, there were marble markers, some grouped and some standing alone, spreading out for hundreds for yards in all directions. The wild grass nearly obscured some of the markers just as it certainly provided excellent camouflage for the indians as they crawled toward the top of Custer’s Hill during the battle. The grass also provided great cover for the many rattlesnakes that reside among the markers, preventing tourists from wandering all over the place.
It has been said that this battlefield, like the Alamo, has taken on special significance because there were no American survivors to “tell the tale.” Thus much that is known about the battle is conjecture and fiction.
In August 1983, a prairie fire swept over the battlefield. This provided a great opportunity to initiate an archeological investigation. As a result, 5000 artifacts were recovered which helped substantiate many theories of the battle.
It must have been awful to have been on Custer Hill, hundreds of miles from the nearest fort, and digesting the futility of the situation while completely surrounded by a force ten times larger than your own. It was very easy to visualize this while standing at the monument.
Later, in the parking lot as we were leaving, the kids spotted the ultra-elusive Hawaii license plate on a van.
Our short drive to Billings revealed more gorgeous topography, buttes and rolling foothills. Dark, spotty thunderstorms danced all around us while we drove high and dry to our hotel. On the outskirts of Billings, interstate I 94 terminated into I 90. Interstate 94 was the same highway that ran through Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. We checked into the Best Western - Billings, shopped at the Rimrock Mall and took another swim. Tam did one last laundry before our journey into the Yellowstone wilderness.
Saturday, August 7, 1999
Yellowstone National Park
Norris Geyser Basin
Fountain Paint Pots
Old Faithful Geyser
Old Faithful Inn
Another absolutely gorgeous day! We had had only five minutes of rain in the whole trip thus far. A quick breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel and we were on our way to a world-famous destination, Yellowstone National Park.
As we headed west out of Billings, we could see a large snow-capped mountain range in the distance ahead. This was the Absaroka Range of the Rocky Mountains. The highest point in Montana, Granite Point (12,779 feet), is part of that range. We would spend all day driving around this mountain before turning south into Yellowstone.
We approached Yellowstone National Park from the north, through the original Roosevelt Arch entrance that stood when visitors arrived by train via Gardiner, Montana. We negotiated our way through the Rocky Mountains by following the Yellowstone River valley and then Indian and Obsidian Creeks.
We stopped at Fort Yellowstone to pick up brochures and maps before driving the short quarter-mile to Mammoth Hot Springs. These springs were a series of travertine terraces (calcium carbonate) that stack more than a hundred feet in the air. The superheated sulphur water seeped to the surface through fissures in the terraces. Much of the surface was white, not from minerals but from the cyanobacteria that thrive in hot water.
Our family began to climb the trails and wooden steps to the upper terrace. Tam and Laura turned around midway through the climb due to the strong sulphur gas that Mammoth threw off. Yellowstone, at more than 7500 feet in altitude, may also have been a factor. Michelle and I pushed on and made it to the top.
Before long, we were making our way toward the Norris Geyser Basin. The road wound around the mountain ledges and followed the river valley. We pulled into the parking lot at the same time as a major thunderstorm. Each lightning bolt gashed into the nearby pines and the thunder rolled among the mountains with real authority.
We continued south into the park. Every turn presented us with a new and fantastic vista. Sheer mountains, steam vents, roaming elk, and fabulous waterfalls were consuming my film faster than I could reload it. We stopped several times to view moose and elk standing along the road.
Yellowstone was in transition, having been seriously burned by a tremendous forest fire that the park sustained in 1988. Almost fifty percent of the two million acre park was destroyed by the forest fire. Eleven years later, the effects were still quite evident. At any given moment, you could see millions of trees either completely stripped of all branches, like flag poles, or laid flat across an entire mountainside. Yet, the grassy prairies were green and there were new pines sprouting up. Most of these trees were eight to ten feet tall and were still dwarfed by the still standing grey and black trunks.
Our next stop was at Fountain Paint Pots in the lower geyser basin. This area is a commotion of nature gone wild. There were belching sulphur gas vents, blowing with such force as to sound like jet engines. There were also the paint pots, bubbling mud puddles. Blurp, blaat, boop!! A few feet away were jet geysers, twig geysers, and funnel geysers. Each geyser had a unique personality, shooting water and steam in all directions.
We continued through the Midway and Upper Geyser Basins. There were fly fisherman standing in the Firehole River only yards away from major geyser runoff areas. Steam was billowing from big holes in the distance and through little cracks beside the road. Across a valley, were a dozen or more steam plumes, all against the backdrop of the mountains and rivers.
After driving three hours from the Roosevelt Arch, we finally arrived at the Old Faithful Inn. It looked exactly like the wilderness lodge at Disneyworld, only more authentic. It should, however, because it was built in 1903. The lobby featured a ten-story lofted ceiling and creaky rough-sawn beam work. Our room was rough (like camping indoors) but at least it had a private bath. Many rooms shared community facilities down the hall.
Laura and I sprinted downstairs to catch the next eruption of Old Faithful just outside while Tam and Michelle got organized in the room.
We ate at the lodge snack shop and made reservations for a stagecoach ride tomorrow. We investigated the other lodges and stores in the Old Faithful area. The four of us wrapped up an exciting day by watching a park service presentation on the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone. They had been eradicated in 1914, but new thinking brought about efforts to restock the park in 1995. Yellowstone had ten packs of wolves in the wild during our visit.
On the way back to the hotel, Laura spotted a coyote running across our sidewalk. We stood and watched as it galloped into the nearby trees.
We prepared for bed and the kids watched a DVD movie because our room had no television. Roughing-it ... not!
The Olin family at the Old Faithful Geyser,
Yellowstone National Park
Sunday, August 8, 1999
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Tower-Roosevelt
Roosevelt Lodge
In 1872, Yellowstone became the world’s first national park. This was the result of great foresight on the part of many people concerned about balancing the need to enjoy, yet preserve our natural world.
In the early years, Yellowstone was an attraction primarily due to the extravaganza of geysers and hot springs. There was little interest at the time in the park’s wildlife. But as much of our country became settled, Yellowstone’s importance as a wildlife sanctuary grew.
A primary concern for the park is the increasing number of visitors it receives each year. It is believed that some animal species, including the grizzly bear, are dwindling as a result of this growth in tourism. This awareness of the Yellowstone ecosystem and its fragility and the changes instituted, will help keep the park a healthy environment for both man and nature.
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On a cloudless Sunday morning, we headed up to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Norris Geyser Basin, and the Tower- Roosevelt area.
As I walked in from packing the car for the day’s activities I heard singing coming from the portico of the lodge. It was an early morning church service.
The Olin family watched Old Faithful blow its top before leaving. We arrived at the Yellowstone canyon at mid-morning. This was the best time to photograph the canyon. From Lookout Point we could see the Lower Falls pouring 400 feet into the river below. The canyon walls rose sharply hundreds of feet on either side of the Yellowstone River. The jagged walls featured major pinnacles and a few, brave pines precariously rooted into the vertical crevasses. The walls were also home to a few large Ospreys which circled constantly over the rising air currents. The power of nature at this moment was awe-inspiring.
We drove to the other side of the canyon, to Artist Point. The falls looked even better from this side.
After an hour or so, we back-tracked toward Norris Geyser Basin. On the way, we stopped at the Fire Exhibit. Here, the 1988 forest fire was so intense that the ground was totally scorched and nothing survived. During the ensuing years, wind storms caused “blowdown” of the burnt timbers. There was almost nothing left standing in a one square mile section of the park.
The Norris Geyser Basin featured an array of thermal phenomena not found anywhere else in the park. Steamboat Geyser, the largest in the world, erupts so irregularly that the interval can range from days to years. Porcelain Basin is the parks hottest exposed area. It contains springs, paint pots, funnels, and small geysers. The basin is a living rainbow of high-temperature bacteria and algae. Tam and Laura pulled their shirts over their noses to fend off the sulphur fumes. Michelle and I kind of liked it. Walking through the basin on the raised wooden walkways was like walking across a frying pan. Michelle would nervously walk down the center of the eight foot wide boardwalks. Laura, of course, was periodically walking a tightrope along the edge of the platforms, even when she knew that falling off might kill her. Tam and I constantly reminded her of this and eventually took the precaution of holding her hand at every venue.
About thirty percent of Yellowstone National Park is a giant circular caldera. This area includes all of the thermal regions and a good portion of the Yellowstone Lake as well. So in essence, Yellowstone is a volcano, still simmering. And the Old Faithful Inn was sitting in the middle of it!
After a quick lunch at the Canyon Village, we proceeded toward Tower-Roosevelt. This was a narrow treacherous stretch of road that traversed Mt. Washburn before running back down the other side. This drive gave us unbelievable easterly views of the Absaroka Range. We climbed as high as 8,859 feet at and eventually arrived at Tower Fall.
Just past Tower Fall were huge vertical walls, easily one thousand feet straight up that actually seemed to hang over the road. On the other side was a three thousand foot drop to the raging Yellowstone River below. Both inspiring and intimidating.
The Roosevelt Lodge was built in 1906 to commemorate the 1903 visit on that site by Theodore Roosevelt. The building looked like it hadn’t been maintained since then either. The stagecoach ride that we had scheduled to ride departed from the lodge stables. Our “stagecoach adventure” took us on a short thirty minute ride into the Lamar Valley. The ride was worth it, if only for the antelope that we spotted along the way.
On the drive back to Old Faithful Inn, Tam spotted a large fox running across the road at Canyon Junction.
Perfect weather made for a picturesque showing of the Old Faithful Geyser as the sunset glowed along the distant mountain ridge. It was a tremendous finish to a great stay at Yellowstone National Park.
Monday, August 9, 1999
Continental Divide
Grant Lodge
Grand Tetons National Park
Jenny Lake
Jackson Hole
Spring Creek Stables
We were boogie-ing down the road by 8:00 am, headed for our ultimate destination, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Laura had been climbing the walls waiting for this day ... the Spring Creek Dude Ranch.
We crossed the Continental Divide three times. Ultimately, we stopped and took pictures at one of the signs, which said our altitude was 8,859 feet. There was a lake at the crest of the divide that flowed in two directions!
We stopped at the West Thumb Junction where we toured more hot springs and geysers, only this time, the springs were located adjacent to the West Thumb section of Yellowstone Lake. Tam was very impressed with the huge lake and the mountains in the distance. She commented that next visit, she would like to stay at Fishing Bridge Lodge.
Everyone was a bit grouchy since we hadn’t had breakfast yet, so we stopped at Grant Lodge for a bite. After waiting more than an hour for food, we left ... only now grouchy was turning ugly. This was the low point of the trip. We continued to drive south out of the park without one word being said. It was weird when the glorious Tetons come into view and everybody stared straight ahead, emotionless. We finally broke out the Cheez Whiz and Ritz Crackers and things improved.
We left Yellowstone grudgingly, but also anxious to see the beauty of the legendary Grand Tetons that were fast approaching. A quick blast through John D. Rockefeller National Forest then ... boom ... the Grand Tetons in their full majesty. The mountains reflected off mirror-like Jackson Lake. We continued to head south, paralleling the mountains as they became clearer and more sharply etched in the intensifying sunlight.
We followed the Jenny Lake turnout and let the kids go barefoot in the glacial lake. The average depth of Jenny Lake is 240 feet and its maximum depth is nearly 700 feet. As the kids played, Tam and I stood on the shore watching the mighty Tetons rise from the opposite shore. Tam said it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.
The Tetons were different than most mountains. They were sharper, rockier, and rose more dramatically than other mountains. For thirty miles we paralleled the Tetons, taking picture after picture.
As we approached the town of Jackson, we passed the airport and the giant National Elk Refuge. Jackson was small but very active town. It was a tourist haven! I saw at least four busloads of Asian tourists dump out on town square. There must have been at least fifty art galleries in Jackson. I overheard one old man say to another while their wives were in a gallery, “same stuff, different shelves.” I think that said it all!
We all bought cowboy hats in anticipation of our great riding event. Laura’s was a bent-up thing with a chin rope that looked perfect on her. Michelle’s hat was black with a really cool beaded hatband. Tam’s was a lovely brown/rust weave with a nice dress leather band. I asked the salesman to pick one out for me. He asked what I wanted, I said something that looked old and used and would look natural on me. He walked right over grabbed a grey-tan hat that looked like it had a million miles on it and plopped it on my head. He asked me what size I wore. I told him 7 ½. He said, ”Nope, you’re a 7 3/8 ... and that hat is your size.” Ok, he sounded confident about it so I went with the choice.
Just outside of Jackson was our next lodging, The Spring Creek Ranch. It was located one thousand feet above the Jackson valley and had an electrifying view of the Tetons. Our room was actually half of a duplex with two bedrooms, refrigerator, laundry, fireplace, and porch. This was a great place! The kids were super-excited, especially because there was a pool.
In the blink of an eye, we were on our way to Spring Creek Stables where we signed multiple liability releases before mounting up on horseback. Laura was beside herself. She wanted to run into the stalls and pick one out. Nelson, our tour guide, brought out each horse, picked out just for us. The first horse out was mine. It was a big black horse named Trent. Next was a brown horse named Fiddle. This was Michelle’s. Third was a nice gray and white steed named Two-Bits. Laura almost climbed her without needing stirrups. The last one was a real ball-buster named Teton Twister. Tam swallowed hard and got on.
Our trail ride immediately proceeded up several hundred feet to the top of Jackson Hill. We tracked along the mountaintop and then descended through dense woods and finally made our way back to the stables. It was an awesome hour long journey. Afterward, we ate dinner at the stables with all of the ranch hands. We sat at picnic tables watching the sun set over the Tetons and talked with the cook. He was the craggiest, roughest, hairiest guy we saw all trip. His beard was so wild that the only part of his face you could recognize were his dark glasses. Some beans dripped out of the pot and we watched him wipe them back in with his scab-covered fingers. Yes, this was totally gross but you know what? Under the circumstances, we loved it!! Our nickname for him was "Scabby."
Later, the kids took a swim while Tam and I walked over to the Amangari Hotel just behind the resort. The architecture of this famous Aman resort was unbelievable but the atmosphere seemed a tad “snobby.” Maybe it was their reaction to our cowboy hats and gym shoes in their fancy lobby.
We watched the last flickers of light dancing off the Tetons and called it a night. Our mood now was really great. Amazing what good fun and good food can do for you!
Tuesday, August 10, 1999
Teton Pass
Idaho
Utah
Promentory Point
Great Salt Lake
Salt Lake City
The early morning Tetons were as beautiful as the evening Tetons ...
Several hot air balloons took advantage of the calm morning air and launched from the Snake River. They ascended in front of the glistening mountains.
We rolled out of Jackson on route 22 and climbed up the Teton Pass, a narrow two lane road (often at grades of 10 and 12 percent). The Range Rover groaned up the mountains, popping in and out of passing gear. We topped out at 9600 feet and rolled down the other side, breaking for cars lined up in front of us. At the bottom of the hill we crossed into Idaho. The girls quickly bailed out and posed with the state sign. Laura caught a splinter on one of the posts and for the next several miles Mom poked and prodded at her finger.
Idaho is potato country but we couldn’t tell what a potato field was supposed to look like. As a result, we never knew if we saw a potato or not.
We serpentined up and down miles of two lane blacktop, paralleling the Snake River until we reached Idaho Falls. From there, we hooked up with interstate 15 and headed south. Suddenly, we noticed that we were driving through a lava field. A lava field, in Idaho?? Yes! Four thousand years ago, an eruption of pahoehoe lava flowed over 220 square miles of Idaho plains. We stopped at a rest area that featured a unique “lava trail.” The four of us noted that it looked just like Hawaii.
We ate lunch at the Pocatello Sizzler restaurant. The food was pretty good but the portions were small. Soon, we were closing in on Utah. The kids were professionals at this by now. They jumped out, posed under the sign, and were back in the car in less than one minute.
Our one car caravan was making great time, so we veered off into the desert for one last detour. We drove and drove and drove into increasingly barren land, often covered with dried salt washes. Just when we were sure that we were lost ... a sign. Eleven more miles to Promentory Point. This had to be the most out-of-the-way historic place in the world. It was where the famous “Golden Spike” was hammered into place, creating our first intercontinental railroad. When we got there, we could see tracks running in both directions, disappearing into the desert haze. Despite its location, it was a very nice national park facility. Its architecture was impressive in design and featured unique Utah stonework. It also had a great theater and museum. Our time was short, however, and we needed to focus on the highlights. We marched out to the trackside where one of the two engines was sitting. In front of that engine was a special railroad tie with a plaque on it ... but no golden spike. Laura kept saying, “Where’s the spike. Where’s the spike?” The other engine and the spike were part of the 3:30 program, that we unfortunately, did not have time for.
On May 10, 1869, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific rails met to form the first transcontinental railroad. The last spike driven to complete this connection was a “golden spike.” This ceremony marked seven years of development plans and government legislation. The run of rail, from Omaha to Sacramento, was exactly 1776 miles. The completion of this project effectively marked the end of “the wild west” as it united our country from coast to coast.
Promentory Point, Utah
Location of the
Golden Spike National Monument
Speaking of miles, our trip odometer was reading 3000 miles as we neared Salt Lake City. The mighty Wasatch Mountains ran along the eastern side of Interstate 15 as we neared our destination.
Salt Lake City was busy getting ready for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The highway was chewed up. Every exit ramp to downtown was closed. Many streets around the Mormon Temple were being redone and several new hotels were under construction.
We checked into our Hampton Inn and I called my friend Bob Sackett to determine if he had arrived yet. Bob flew out from Michigan to meet us and drive the Range Rover back while we take Amtrak home. I can’t thank him enough for doing this because our family had been in tight quarters for two weeks and we were all ragged around the edges. Bob had arrived in Salt lake City safe and sound and would be touring the area with us the next day.
August 11, 1999
Sundance
Morman Temple Square
Tornado Damage
How many times had I said that the weather had been good to us on this trip? Well, on this day, mother nature got even.
Things started innocently enough. We picked up Bob bright and early at the Murrayside Hampton Inn and went south toward Provo. We soon turned left and headed up the side of Mt. Timanogos. As we drove up the lovely winding road, a babbling brook was running downhill beside us. After a short distance up the road, a large stone greeted us. On it was carved the word Sundance.
The Sundance Resort suffered a major avalanche during the winter but was rebuilt and was better than ever. In fact, the facility had tripled in size since I last visited. Looking up, the mountain had become surrounded by angry rolling clouds. But in the ravine, we were perfectly fine. In the time it took us to peruse the gift shop, the clouds cleared. Bob, Michelle, Laura, and I then took the forty five minute lift ride to the top of the mountain. In one direction, we could see as far as Colorado. In the other, we could see a huge estate home and fenced acreage on the facing mountainside. This was the home of Sundance founder and mega-movie star Robert Redford. After finishing the ride, we all had a superb lunch at the Sundance Grill Room. This facility, although only two years old, was built with old timbers and looked like it could have been there for a hundred years.
The five of us wandered around the resort before making our way back to Salt Lake City to tour Temple Square, home of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints. Tam was really looking forward to seeing the Mormon Tabernacle. But on the drive back toward Salt Lake City we could see a massive thunderstorm in front of us. The clouds were totally black and lightning was flying everywhere. I mentioned that it looked like the city was “getting hammered.” That was a real understatement. Michelle said she thought she saw a tornado ... I laughed and told her that Utah never gets tornados.
The monsoon caught us as we approached our exit. Things appeared to be in disarray. More disarray than just the usual road construction snafus.
We stopped at the local Ferrari dealer, since it was raining, to look at cars and maybe pick up some T shirts. When we walked in, three salesmen were glued to the television in the showroom. They were in shock. They said that they had just watched a tornado go through the center of town. What? Come on. Utah never gets tornados. As I watched the TV coverage, they showed a tape from a weather cam. It clearly showed a massive tornado going through downtown Salt Lake City. We were standing only six blocks away! It was classified as an F2 tornado.
Reports started to come in. Multiple fatalities and hundreds of injuries. Michelle became unglued, she was sure that her beloved stuffed pink teddy bear at the hotel was killed. We drove by our hotel, and it appeared all right so we continued toward the city center in hopes of seeing the Temple Square. As we approached the area, we noted several helicopters in the air, police and fire vehicles speeding in every direction, and all traffic had ground to a halt. I tried to get close to Temple Square, no dice. Road blocks everywhere. So instead, we drove around to assess the damage. With our car radio giving us constant updates, we found ground zero, the impact point of the tornado. The Wyndham Hotel had half of its windows blown out. Drapes were flapping in the wind out of each window. Behind it was the Delta Center, home of the NBA Utah Jazz. The entire west side glass fascia was blown away and twenty percent of the arena roof had been torn off. Trees were completely shredded. Power poles were snapped in half. Debris was all over the streets.
A local bar lost an entire brick wall, which collapsed on the cars parked outside. A policeman was overheard at a street blockade that the “selection of that 'gay' bar was by the hand of God.”
On this day, the Salt Lake City exposition center was hosting its biggest event of the year, the Outdoor Retailer’s Convention. It was so large that several overflow tents were being set up for the trade show and the tornado marched right through them, killing a conventioneer and seriously injuring dozens of others.
The whole city was in shock. Later, a newsman on TV said that there was more damage done by this twister than all of the other Utah tornados combined. The Governor was too upset to go on television. President Clinton made a special announcement.
On our car radio, the mayor announced that the entire downtown area was being shut down, including Temple Square. So our plans to visit it were literally blown away. We opted to go to Trolley Square, where there was power, and a Hard Rock Café.
After a quick stop for reading materials at the local Barnes & Noble, we headed back to the hotel. It was still without power. Tam and I carried our extra luggage down the fire stairs and packed it into the Range Rover. We thanked Bob again for taking our car home.
We sat in a dark hotel room while the kids climbed the walls. Can you imagine two kids in a hotel room without TV? After about an hour ... ping ... the power came on. Tam and Michelle went downstairs to get some snacks. About five minutes later, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG the hotel fire alarm went off. Laura scrambled to pick up Baby Robin and Pink Teddy. I scrambled for my wallet. We met Tam and Michelle in the hall and ran down the stairs into the parking lot. In a few seconds ten fire trucks arrived and checked out the situation. It was a false alarm. By this point, Michelle was a total basket case and Laura was worried too. I can’t blame them. I had been running on adrenaline for the last six hours too.
The kids couldn’t leave Salt Lake City soon enough. They would get their wish, our scheduled departure on Amtrak would be 4:30 am the next morning.
The four of us all laid together in the bed and watched CNN coverage of everything going on outside our window.
August 12, 1999
Amtrak California Zephyr to Denver
Colorado
Glenwood Springs
Moffat Tunnel
Nebraska
Wow, quick is right. Our day began with a 3:00 am wake up call. By 3:30 we were in the hotel lobby waiting for our shuttle to the Amtrak station. We were met by Les, a night manager at the hotel. He brightened up our day by pulling a balloon out of his pocket and made lion out of it for Laura. He made a wiener dog for Michelle. Les promptly took us to the station like we were real VIPs. The train station was packed at 3:45 am. The people, half asleep like us, were all waiting to board the legendary California Zephyr. The train was already in the station, so fears about tornado track damage were unfounded.
The conductor called sleeper car people first. That was us! Car number 631. Rooms D and E. The divider was taken down and we had almost a full size hotel room ... with two toilets. The kids jumped on the two upper bunks while Tam and I packed things away. Tam went right back to sleep. The three of us kids were too excited to sleep so we all laid in bed and watched the world go by. I finally got to sleep and the girls shared the bunk above me. In no time it was morning.
Our train crawled slowly through Utah mountain passes and ravines. Dozens of antelope were standing near the tracks hanging out for the California Zephyr. We ate breakfast while at the Helper, Utah station. The train ride was quiet and smooth as we passed through the southeastern part of Utah. In the distance, I could see the northern reaches of the San Rafael Swell which look very much like monument valley.
As we headed into the mountains we entered another new state - Colorado. We followed the Colorado River, cutting through passes and deep ravines. We traveled through several gorgeous river gorges, the most beautiful of which were Glenwood Springs, near Aspen. This gorge featured bright red and orange walls of sedimentary rock. Gore Canyon was spectacular as well, but it featured granite-like volcanic stone that was dark grey and black.
All of the canyons had hundreds of rafters, canoers, and kayakers gliding down the mighty Colorado.
On board, the kids were busy jumping from car to car. They went three times to the café car and every time brought back White Castle cheeseburgers. For Michelle and Laura eating seemed to be the only way to pass time. I read the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer before we got to Denver.
The ride across the Rocky Mountains meant that we would pass through a dozen tunnels. Some were only a few feet long. But just east of Winter Park, we went through the Moffat Tunnel, third longest in the world! The Moffat Tunnel cut through the Rockies at an altitude of 9639 feet and bisected the Continental Divide. It was six and a half miles long and took fifteen minutes to pass through it. The tunnel was built in 1927 and cost eighteen lives, but it shaved three hours off of rail travel between Denver and destinations west.
South Boulder Canyon was spectacular as dusk approached and the last few rays of sunlight glimmered through the pines and across gorgeous Lake Granby.
We finally emerged from a tunnel and there was the entire Boulder / Denver valley laid out before us. It was raining and dark clouds were widely spread about. There was a large rainbow that we could see from end to end crowning over the city. Even though we could see Denver, it took more than an hour to get to the train station. We finally arrived in the dark, and parked only a few feet from Coors Field.
The Olins disembarked to stretch our legs and buy a few more supplies. The Denver train station was reminiscent of the Chicago station (same age) but was in much rougher shape. Back on board, Tam opted to shower while we were parked at the station. This was a good move for a multitude of reasons.
We were an hour behind schedule and our new train engineer, Mario Andretti, was determined to make up time during the night. He exploded across the Colorado and Nebraska countryside at breakneck speed, on tracks seemingly ill-suited for that purpose. It was so rough that nobody could sleep or even get up to go to the toilet. On several occasions it felt like we were derailing.
August 13, 1999
Omaha
Iowa
Illnois
Amtrak Chicago to Kalamazoo
As dawn’s early light approached, we began to slow down into Omaha. This would be our last “service” stop before Chicago, meaning that we would be there for about fifteen minutes. I thought that this would be an opportune time to take a shower. Wrong. Somebody had turned the water off.
We were back under way and I tried the shower again. Nope. I found our car attendant and she told me that someone forgot to repressurize the system in Omaha and that it had to be done from outside the train. Before long, the Amtrak California Zephyr was stopped in the middle of a giant Iowa corn field. Eventually, we got moving again and the water was on. The western part of Iowa was famous for having the worst track in the Amtrak system. I chose this precise location to take my shower. There are benefits to a shower that is only two foot by two foot. The walls provide good support during rough travel. Unfortunately I dropped my soap ... twice.
Iowa looked just like it did ten years ago when we lived there. Pigs and corn. The overcast clouds cast a dull gray pall over the tassles.
We crossed the mighty Mississippi River again at Burlington, Iowa. This was how we imagined the river should be ... big, wide, and muddy. Ten days before, we crossed the Mississippi in Brainerd, Minnesota where it was barely ten feet wide. What a difference five thousand miles of travel made.
We passed through Galesburg, Illinois, the hometown of Carl Sandberg and location of a famous debate between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.
As the California Zephyr closed in on its ultimate destination, the cities became larger and population more dense. We zipped by cities with familiar names like Naperville, West Hinsdale, Hinsdale, Harlem and Cicero. Then screeeech!! We stopped in the middle of the Chicago rail yard. A problem with switching lights made us sit for more than an hour. In the meantime, a massive thunderstorm hit Chicagoland. Black-green rolling clouds swallowed the Sears Building as it began to pour.
We were in trouble with our connection. Our train pulled in at 5:12 pm and our next one was scheduled at 5:20. The Olin family ran like banshees through the train station and jumped on board.
The ride home on Amtrak 354 was a gluttonfest: 6 White Castle cheeseburgers, 2 pizzas, 2 bags of Snickers, and a bag of M & Ms to boot. We followed the nasty weather into Michigan. We were all looking forward to sleeping in our own beds.
It was after 10 pm when we pulled into Kalamazoo station. Grandma Gloria met four very tired people. We gathered our things, dumped them into her Jeep and headed home. There, we found everything in order, lots of mail, and a special Welcome Home sign from Xan Stravers, our house sitter, who took care of things while we were gone. It was great to be home!
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I was tired but felt great. We learned much, about our country and our nation’s history. We also learned a lot about each other. We learned that Laura can snore in any hotel and any altitude. We learned that Michelle loves adventures, as long as she doesn’t fall through the earth’s crust into a geyser. We learned that Mom secretly loves to do laundry, even on the road. We also learned that too many dirty hotel pools can give Dad a nasty case of swimmer’s ear.
I had wondered about taking the kids at such young ages on a trip this ambitious. Those worries were groundless. I was proud of both of them. I was proud of Tam for carrying so much of the load on this trip.
Our journey crossed fourteen states. Tam and I drove 3,226 miles to Salt Lake City. Undoubtedly Bob added another 2,000 driving back. We rode in cars, trains, roller coasters, boats, helicopters, stage coaches, and on horseback. We saw elk, moose, fox, coyote, hawks, eagles, and bison. We visited world famous historical landmarks and some of America's greatest tourist traps. We were part of an annual motorcycle migration and also part of the biggest disaster in the history of Salt Lake City.
The Olin family certainly left its mark on this great land in the summer of 1999. I think that America left its mark on us as well. I am grateful that I was a part of this wonderful adventure.
