Thursday Thirteen 430: Don't Rock the Boat

Capitol Skyline, about an hour before sunset

Sunday evening, we had a work excursion -- a two-hour sunset cruise on Lake Mendota. The weather couldn't have been more perfect: a high of only 75F during the day, with a light wind and clear skies. It was a little cool out on the lake, and the water a bit choppy at times, but everyone played it smart in bringing a light jacket or sweatshirt. We left port an hour before sunset, and made a clockwise circuit of the lake, passing such notable local landmarks as the Governor's Mansion, Tenney Park Locks, The Boat House, The Red Gym, Memorial Union Terrace and Picnic Point. And, of course, there were magnificent views of the Capitol. We had a great time, and it brought to mind other occasions boats have played a role in my life.


1. When we were little, my dad owned a fishing boat, and would sometimes take my younger sister and I out with him. Not that we wanted to fish with him, it was just cool to go in the boat.

2. Some friend's of my parents owned a "cottage" on a private lake about an hour north of here. One summer when we were in high school, they invited my sisters and I, and some of our friends, up to camp on their land for a holiday weekend. This included use of the canoe, row boat and paddle boat.

3. The summer between my junior and senior years in HS, I was an exchange student to Norway. One night my host mother's brother borrowed a friend's fishing boat and took a couple of us out along the coast for a few hours. It was spectacular!

4. Almost a year later, friends and I were in Paris, France for spring break. The week's events included an evening Bateaux-Mouches cruise along the Seine, sailing past la Tour Eiffel, a replica of the Statue of Liberty, and other popular Paris destinations.

Sunset on Lake Mendota, Madison

5. One summer while I was in College, I was invited to spend a week in Canada with a friend's family. We stayed at a campground owned by her family, and spent a day whitewater canoeing. I'd been in a canoe many times before, but never over rapids before. It was a lot of fun, probably due to the fact they were gentle, easy rapids that weren't as strenuous or harrowing as some rapids can be. Alas, I never got the chance to try it again, and now a neck-injury would prevent me from participating.

6. My senior year in college, my sorority decided to do something a bit different for our spring formal. We had dinner at a nice restaurant, then held the dance portion on a Lake Michigan cruise ship. As it was early April, there were some pretty big swells out on the lake that made dancing a bit interesting at times, but it was one of the funnest dances ever!

7. A year or two after college, a friend and I spent a week in New Orleans, which included a two-hour Mississippi Riverboat cruise. Sure, it's touristy, but you learn some of the history of the city and it was a lot of fun. There are some great views from the boat!

8. A few years after college, a friend from out east visited for a week, and we made a day trip up to Wisconsin Dells for the Upper and Lower boat tours. We got to talking with another group visiting from out of state, who regaled us all with their rendition of Don't Rock the Boat, Baby -- or at least the chorus, over and over and over again. Ah, the memories...

9. A summer trip with friends a couple years later included multiple boats, beginning with the ferry to the Copper Harbor Lighthouse. The water was a bit choppy the day we went out, but it was well-worth it.

Terrace at Memorial Union

10. Another day and farther east, we visited Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We visited both the Upper and Lower Falls, and borrowed a rowboat at the Lower Falls to access a small and picturesque island. Yeah . . . guess who ended up doing the rowing? Unpronounceable, but definitely worth visiting if you're ever in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

11. Yet another day took us to Sault Ste Marie, where we enjoyed a cruise on the St Mary River with the Soo Lock Boat Tours. Again, really touristy, but a great way to hear a bit about the city and lock's history. We also visited the SS Valley Camp, a freighter that has been turned into a museum, and includes a memorial to the Edmund Fitzgerald.

12. The following year, friends and I traveled east to stay with a friend for a week. While there, another friend and her husband invited us out for a sunset cruise on the Chesapeake Bay in their boat. One of the highlights was passing by the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, which is only accessible by boat, and a stop in Annapolis.

13. Another year, when my sister and brother-in-law were living in Natchitoches, LA, they invited me and a couple friends down to stay with them for a week in December to experience the town's annual Christmas festival. En route, we made stops in St. Louis, MO and Memphis, TN -- the latter of which included a morning Mississippi River cruise. It was actually fairly pleasant considering it was early December and there was snow on the ground back home.



Your turn: Do you like boats? Been on any cruises or interesting excursions?



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Picnic Point, Madison, at sunset

Thursday Thirteen 428: Travel the World

01. Armenia
02. Belgium
03. Berlin
04. Cambridge
05. Denmark
06. Florence
07. Lebanon
08. Luxemburg
09. Rome
10. Tripoli
11. Wales
12. Waterloo
13. Windsor


Wisconsin . . . where you can travel the world without leaving the state!



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Thursday Thirteen 332: Norwegian Scrapbook

This week's T13 was inspired by Shelley's post from last week on trolls. This Saturday being Syttende Mai, it seems an appropriate topic for the week.

When I was in high school, I spent a summer in Norway as an AFS exchange student. If I had it to do over again, I would take more photos — a lot more photos! — and not be afraid of doing so. Here are a few pages from my paltry Norwegian scrapbook. Please forgive the quality of the photographs. At that time I had a cheap 110 camera, as many of us did back then (because — hello! — they were cheap), and did not get my first 35mm until I was in college. Plus, these are photos of the actual pages, not scans.

Prior to leaving, I received a packet from my host family, with photos of the family
and a map showing where the village of Hellvik is. There were four of us staying
with families in Hellvik (including a boy staying with my mother's parents), and
another girl in nearby Egersund.

Our first couple days in Norway were spent at a school in Bygdøy, just outside Oslo,
where we learned some basic Norwegian such as the alphabet, how to tell time, how
to count money, and some helpful phrases. We also visited the Norsk Folkemuseum,
where we saw this stavkirke. There used to be hundreds of these across Norway
(and thousands across Europe), but now there are only about two dozen.
Three days in Oslo were followed by an all-day train trip to the western coast.

The first week with my family was spent on vacation. We made a
daytrip to the Lista Lighthouse in Farsund, dating to 1836.

We also visited Loshavn. English vessels were lured into this harbor, where
they then broke up on the rocks. Boards from the ships were used to
build some of the original houses. Now there are a lot of summer homes here.

On another day, we visited Dyreparken, a zoo and amusement park in Kristiansand.
It is one of the most-visited attractions in Norway. This is one of the places I wish
I had taken more photos. There were amusement rides, a circus, a place to pan for gold
(my little brother didn't want this medal and gave it to me), trolls, gardens, and animals.
And yes, as you can see from the photo, people could feed the giraffes.

My host parents, Kari and Jostein, dressed for a christening.

One blustery, cold summer day, we visited a beach at
Ogna — just up the road from Hellvik — with our neighbors.

Yes, that is a picture of me, right after I killed my right knee on a boulder —
you can see the tear in my jeans. My host father had called me over to show
me what he called a "troll kettle" — a depression in the top of the rock
filled with water. It was a tall boulder, so I took a running leap at it —
except there was a low spot in front of it, vaulting me up into
instead of onto the rock. Yeah...ouch! The result was a large, ugly bruise.



Postcard of Egersund, the nearest town to us, where we did our weekly shopping.
My maternal host-grandmother had a bookstore here, sold some years ago.

One of the best-known buildings in Egersund is the historic Egersund Kirke,
a wooden church dating back to 1623. The detailing on the inside is amazing.

A family friend is a pilot, and one day my host father, the youngest two children and I
had the chance to go up in a little four-seater with him. I was allowed to take photos
of the surrounding country, but not of the airport (and this was long before 9/11). You
can see the old Hellvik Skole, our house and grandparents family farm in these photos.
After, I had the chance to experience a helicopter simulator, which was pretty cool.

Later in the summer, we spent a day in Stavanger, a lovely old harbor city. This
is one of those places I'd like to revisit, and take hoards of photos. Unfortunately,
I had forgotten my camera in the car, for which I was kicking myself all day as
we walked the narrow, cobblestone streets in Old Stavanger and visited the
Old Cathedral. The hand-carved pulpit is an example of exquisite craftsmanship.

As much as I loved seeing historic Stavanger, my favorite part of the day was
our visit to the Iron Age Farm (Jernaldergården), just outside Stavanger.
Timeless story — farmer goes out to plow his fields, and unearths an ancient
artifact. There are three reconstructed buildings on site, as well as burial mounds
from the Bronze and Viking Ages. Many of the excavated artifacts are on exhibit
at the Stavanger Museum. From the hilltop here, you can see all the way down to
the North Sea and the Sverd i fjell (Swords in Mountain) monument, commemorated
by King Olav V of Norway in 1983. The monument is a tribute to King Harald Fairhair,
who brought Norway under one king in 872. The swords being planted in solid rock
symbolizes peace.

Our last few days in Norway were spent with families in Oslo. We had one
afternoon to wander around the city. My friends and I ran into a couple
other girls from our group on the steps outside Slottet, the royal palace,
where we learned we had missed seeing King Olav V by mere minutes.

LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen 255: Thirteen Place Magnets

Thirteen magnets from places I've been:

1. Pittsburgh, PA -- Friend and I attended the wedding of another friend, spent a week exploring the area.

2. Colorado -- Family lived there for a few years when younger, but I picked up at a conference attended in Denver in 2002. Too bad there wasn't time for a day-trip to the mountains.

3. Lewis Gintner Botanical Gardens; Richmond, VA -- Friends and I visited this lovely garden comprised of 30 acres in 1998.

4. Eagle Bluff Lighthouse; Door County, WI -- A friend and I camped a week at Peninsula State Park in Door County one summer. Eagle Bluff is a beautiful historical lighthouse open to visitors, located inside the park. One of these days I'll manage to dig out photos from the trip to share.

5. Wall Drug; Wall, SD -- Friends and I stopped here on a return trip from the Black Hills of South Dakota. A little hokey, but you almost have to stop just to say you've been. The western entrance of the Badlands Loop Scenic Byway off Interstate 90 is here--a highly recommended detour that runs roughly parallel to I-90.

6. Bear Country, USA; Rapid City, SD -- One of our many stops on the Black Hills camping trip, just south of Rapid City. This is a must see if you are ever in the area. It's a drive-thru animal park featuring North American wildlife. The big attraction, of course, are the black bears. There are tons of them! And if you're lucky, as we were, they come right up to your car.

7. Natchitoches, LA -- Pronounced "Nack-a-tish," this town is located 72 miles south of Shreveport.  Friends and I visited my sister there in December 1999. Natchitoches is known as the film site of Steel Magnolias (self-guided tour available), but there are other sites in the area worth seeing, including Oakland, Melrose (which we visited) and Magnolia Plantations, the Kate Chopin House and Alligator Park. There are a lot of galleries and crafts shops in the historic downtown area, and one of their biggest draws is the Christmas Festival of Light (featured in a scene of Steel Magnolias). The entire town is lit up, with neighbors competing against each other to see who can put up the most lights or lighted displays. I remember passing one cul-de-sac that was so lit up it looked like a runway.

8. Louvre Museum; Paris, France -- Visited during a spring break trip senior year in high school, though the ugly glass pyramid was not yet complete when we were there (a friend brought this back for me when she returned a few years ago). One of the best weeks ever!

9. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial; St. Louis, MO -- Otherwise known as the Gateway Arch. Friends and I stopped here a few hours en route to Natchitoches. We also stopped a night in Memphis, TN, but I apparently did not get a magnet there.

10. Pennsylvania -- I have actually been to PA four times. The first time a friend and I passed through en route to Washington, DC. The second time I traveled with a friend's family and we spent a day at Gettysburg. The third time friends and I were again in the DC area and made a day trip up to Gettysburg (it is impossible to truly see and appreciate everything in one day). The fourth time was for a friend's wedding in Pittsburgh. One of these days I may get as far east as Philadelphia.

11. Reptile Gardens; Rapid City, SD -- This place is actually just north of Bear Country, USA and is another must-see attraction that kids and adults alike will enjoy. The bird and gator shows were especially impressive.

12. Chicago, IL -- I have been to Chicago a few times, seeing as it is only about three hours southeast of me. Lots to see and do, including: Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Navy Pier, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

13. Minnesota -- Another state I have been to a few times, as a friend has lived in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area since college. Yes, we have been to Mall of America (twice), but also the Minneapolis Museum of Art and Renaissance Festival.

More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Water, Water every where

...Nor any drop to drink.

The pictures below are from Rotary Gardens in Janesville , taken a month ago. Many parts of Southern Wisconsin saw more than 100 inches of snow this past winter, which resulted in widespread flooding once it all melted. With rivers and lakes already swollen, you can imagine how critical things are after the heavy rains and severe storms of the past weekend. The situation has become dire in some areas as dams are breached, and roads, bridges and houses washed away. Hundreds have been evacuated. Sadly, with more rain possible throughout the next week, the situation is only going to get worse.

A Walk in the Rain

KM, Janesville Rotary Gardens, May 2008


Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.
~Roger Miller

Paris or Bust

Sunday was my friend Kim's birthday, and a large group of us gathered to celebrate. We started with a late lunch at the Nitty Gritty, and then most of us returned to her house for dessert. Several times throughout the afternoon conversation turned towards the upcoming high school reunion later this summer, which resulted in memories of Spring Break in Paris, and before we knew it...out came the yearbooks and Kim's Paris photo albums. The three children present loved seeing how their Mom and "aunts" looked back then.

While Tricia and I were looking through one of the Paris albums together a sheaf of papers fell out -- apparently some notes Kim had made while organizing her albums and had never throw away. One cryptic item that puzzled us was the notation that said "Heather and Michelle with Becky and Paula's sign." HUH?? What sign? Neither of us remembered a sign. Then while paging back through one of the albums again, I happened upon the photo below. Hey, look! It's Heather and Michelle...in front of a sign! Yeah, even with photographic evidence I still don't remember that sign. LOL (Click on the image to enlarge if you can't read the sign.)

Of course I had to borrow that page of pictures from Kim's album so I could scan and print it out for my own Paris scrapbook, as well as one of the group pictures. There were 18 students embarking upon that memorable journey, along with two French teachers (our teacher, Sarah Vaillancourt, and a friend of hers who taught at another school -- sadly, Janet was killed in a car accident a decade or more ago).

What made the trip most memorable was the number of friends traveling together. I am still friends with these girls, all these years later, and we have returned to Paris -- at least in memory and conversation -- many times since. Kim was even lucky enough to celebrate her 18th birthday during our trip. Even better -- it was the day we explored the Loire Valley. We stopped first at the Cathedral de Chartres, a beautiful old church whose two towers are in vastly different styles, but it is most notable for its gorgeous stained glass windows. Unfortauntely, as it was a rainy, overcast day, the few pictures we have do not do it justice. Here are pictures of Michelle (taken at Malmaison -- it was suggested as a substitute by our excellent tour guide when Versailles went on strike the day we were scheduled to tour it) and Kim (taken the night of her birthday).

We saw a few chateaux through the rain-streaked windows of our bus -- such as Blois, Châteaudun and Amboise -- but what was truly amazing was the fact that the rain stopped every time we pulled into one of the three sites we were to tour -- Chartres, Chenonceau, and Chambord -- then would start up again at the time we were to meet back at the bus. It meant our pictures weren't as spectacular as they could have been, but who cared about that? We were in France, exploring the Loire Valley!

Karen, Kim and Michelle (Chenonceau)

Tricia and Kim (Chambord)


While Karen, Michelle, Kim and Tricia all seemed to prefer Chenonceau and its magnificent gallery extending over the Cher River, I prefered the ornate chimneys and lanterns of Chambord -- not to mention the double-spiral staircase believed to be designed by Leonardo da Vinci, who is interred on the castle grounds. The picture above of Tricia and Kim was taken while they were on one helix, and I on the other.

And yes, the picture is rather dark. Remember that it was an overcast day, with the gloom extending indoors -- plus I had a Kodak 110 camera at that time. Anyone remember those? They were cheap and took halfway decent pictures in bright light, but even with a flash indoor pictures tended to be rather dark. A couple people in our group had disk or 35mm cameras, but most of us had a 110. Guess our parents figured if we broke or lost it, it was less expensive to replace.

Even with the unpredictable spring weather, it was a fabulous trip. Mme V's only rule was that we not sit around indoors all week staring at four walls. And we didn't! On free days we were allowed to go our own direction, so long as we went in groups of 2 or 3, but we were almost always en masse. We were up and breakfasting by 7am every morning, and most nights did not return to the hotel until after 10pm. There were three other smaller groups lumped together with us on the tour. Two of them spent most of the time grumbling about the hotel, the weather, or that there was nothing to do (seriously -- in Paris!), while the third group followed wherever we went.

It was really quite funny actually. Had they asked, we would have gladly shared our plans and invited their (very small) group to join us. Instead, they would quietly listen to our morning conversation, then show up wherever we were later. They should have listened more attentively the day we spoke of going to the disco, though. If they had, they would have known at what time we had to leave the disco to catch the last metro, and not had such an expensive taxi fare back to our hotel. Hehe... We had a blast that night! After dinner with the entirety of the tour group (our school plus the other three), our faction set out for an evening at the beautiful old Opéra Garnier (where we stayed for 2 of 3 acts of a modern ballet), followed by the disco. We had to run to make our connecting train back to the hotel, and the following morning one of the chaperons of the stick-in-the-mud groups was heard exclaiming to another, "That wild bunch didn't return until two in the morning last night!" Snicker.

We truly did have a fantastic week in Paris, though it was much too short. We saw a great deal of the city by foot, which is the only way to truly see and experience the city. We saw all the usual "touristy" sites, as well as lesser known ones. We visited Arc de Triomphe, La Tour Eiffel and the Palais de Chaillot. We saw the Louvre (before the glass monstrosity of a pyramid was built) and the Musée d'Orsay (my personal favorite). We toured Notre Dame and the beautiful Sainte-Chapelle (the stained glass windows there are breathtaking!). We strolled through Père-Lachaise cemetery and attended a fashion show at the Printemps department store. We toured the magnificence of Versailles, home of Kings Louis 14, 15 and 16, and the less-known Malmaison, home of Napoleon and Josephine. We explored the area near Centre Pompidou and Montmartre. So much that we did, yet we still did not see everything we wanted!

Do I yearn to go back? Definitely! So many avenues yet to explore, and sites to see anew! Some day I will return...

Sur le Cathedral de Notre Dame

Thursday Thirteen #29: Cemeteries

Though many find them creepy and morbid, I love cemeteries -- the older the better. I'm not saying I'd take a leisurely stroll through one on a dark and stormy night, but during the day they can be a peaceful communion with our past, whispering stories long forgotten. In keeping with the cemetery theme this week, here are thirteen cemeteries I've visited.

1. Père-Lachaise (Paris, France) ~ Visited during spring break my senior year in high school. I wish we'd had more time to wander those ancient paths. I remember passing markers for Hugo, Collette and James Morrison, but not many others. Must return some day!

2. Forest Hill Cemetery (Madison, Wisconsin) ~ Dating back to 1857, Forest Hill is a virtual "who's who" of Madison with many leaders in geovernment and other fields buried here, including one of my high school English teachers. There is also a paternal aunt who died of polio at age 9.

3. Resurrection Cemetery (Madison, Wisconsin) ~ It may not be quite as picturesque as Forest Hill, but there are a number of interesting Madisonians buried here as well. Located across from Forest Hill, it is the city's "Catholic" cemetery.

4. Roselawn Memorial Park (Madison, Wisconsin) ~ This one I've only been to once or twice, as it is more difficult for me to get to. Must make an effort one of these days to track down my paternal grandfather.

5. Mt. Cavalry (Dubuque, Iowa) ~ Maternal grandparents are buried here. I don't recall much about it as it's been a couple decades since I was there. I remember a pretty little chapel and, being as it was January, lots of snow and cold.

6. Mount Moriah Cemetery (Deadwood, SD) ~ The original Boot Hill where Calamity Jane and Wild Bill are buried.

7. Lafayette Cemetery #1 (New Orleans) ~ Can you visit New Orleans without viewing at least one cemetery? I only wish we had taken one of the cemetery tours and had taken more pictures. Next time... *wink*

8. Arlington National Cemetery (Alexandria, VA) ~ Sobering, but definitely a site worth visiting in the Washington, D.C. area. Though it was interesting to see the graves of the Kennedy family and mast of the USS Main, and the Tomb of the Unknowns emotional, what impacted us more was the monument to the Space Shuttle Challenger crew, which exploded in 1986 when we were still in high school. I think it's a matter of remembering where you were when it happened, much as the Kennedy assassination is for our parents.

9. Gettysburg National Cemetery (Gettysburg, PA) ~ A solemn site to visit, but well worthwhile. There are monuments dedicated to various regiments who fought and perished here scattered throughout the battlefields. During our first visit we did not find any for Wisconsin, but found all but one the second time there, including one for the famed Iron Brigade.

10. Fort Mackinac Post Cemetery (Mackinac Island, MI) ~ A pretty little historic cemetery.

11. St. John's Church (Richmond, VA) ~ A lovely old graveyard I would have enjoyed exploring at greater length. The church was built in 1741 and buriels continued into the 1820s. Among those buried here are George Wythe (signer of the Declaration), Elizabeth Arnold Poe (Edgar's mother), James Mercer, and many veterans of the American Revolution and War of 1812.

12. St. Mary's Cemetery (Old Town Alexandria, VA) ~ While visiting a friend in Alex one year, we all went on a ghost tour, which ended at this quaint little church cemetery.

13. La Belle Cemetery (Oconomowoc, WI) ~ I wish I could say my visits to this one were ones I wanted to remember, but who wants to remember burying a friend who was taken far too young (ten yrs ago this December)? Still, it is a pretty cemetery, and she has a beautiful view from her hilltop. TFJ, Jenni.

And two I'd like to visit:

14. Mount Auburn Cemetery (Boston, MA) ~ Dedicated in 1831, it was the first of America's rural, or garden, cemeteries and is the one Forest Hill Cemetery is modeled after. I saw this one featured on a PBS special about famous cemeteries in the US in 2005 and it does intrigue me. History and horticulture coexist here, and famous graves include those of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Julia Ward Howe, Charles Bulfinch, James Russell Lowell, Winslow Homer, Margaret Fuller, and abolitionist Charles Sumner.

15. Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta, GA) ~ Another one heard about in the PBS cemetery special. Notable graves include that of author Margeret Mitchell.

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More Stained Glass

A few more pics from the Smith Museum of Stained Glass at Navy Pier in Chicago. In case you're wondering how I was able to remember what each one was called and the period it was created, it's a writer's secret called...mini notebook and pen. Carrying them with you at all times truly does come in handy. Just ask the friends who made fun of me on our D.C. trip several years back--only to literally come running to me at the National Archives, demanding my notebook and pen so they could copy down info on the Mason-Dixon line, which we had crossed a few days earlier en route to Gettysburg. Uh-huh...you can bet they've never ridiculed my penchant to carry pen and paper since. *WEG*

Landscape With Yellow Sky, c. 1915

Autumn Landscape, c.1890

The Four Seasons, c. 1907-08
(The glare in this one was from someone taking a pic behind me. Had I realized it would turn out this bad, I would have taken a second)

Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows

A mentioning by Kate of Tiffany stained glass on her blog reminded me of the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, which we visited during an extended weekend in Chicago around this time last summer. The museum is housed at Navy Pier and houses more than 150 works of art, many of which were originally from buildings in the Chicago area. I only took photos of about a dozen of my favorites, having been promised copies of pictures taken throughout the galleries by a friend. A good thing I did or would have nothing from this segment of our trip. Nope, more than a year later I have yet to see a single picture from her--whereas I gave friends CDs containing copies of my pictures only a month or so after the trip. Considering the fact I still haven't received pics promised by this friend in 1998, it honestly did not surprise me. Disgust and annoy, maybe; surprise, no.

Anyway, here are a few examples of the beautiful stained glass windows on display at the Smith Museum.

Lyric Poetry

Angel at the Gates of Heaven, c. 1900

Girl With Cherry Blossoms, c. 1890

Niagara Falls -- Maid of the Mist

A few more pics from Niagara, this time from below the falls via the Maid of the Mist.

The thunderous crash of water on rocks at the foot of the American Falls is amazing, but even more so as you draw nearer to the Horseshoe Falls.

The Horseshoe Falls. Don't you just love the sea foam and color of the water?

Mist partially shrouds the Horseshoe Falls and another tour boat as we head back to dock.

Don't you absolutely hate it when you've patiently framed an awesome shot...and then some idiot not paying attention walks across your frame, or sticks an arm out?

Niagara Falls

Last night I was looking through some vacation pictures from 1998. I thought I had a campfire pic from one of our two nights at the worst-place-we've-ever-camped (seriously--Kat is no longer allowed to make our reservations. She asked no questions and we ended up in this cramped little place right on the highway). While I did find one of Kat preparing the campfire, I did not find any of the fire at night, which I was sure I had. Will have to look in the Door County pics, as soon as I figure out which pile they are. Have I mentioned how far behind I am in my scrapbooks? I have several years sorted out into soda flats (just right for making sure nothing gets crinkled, lost or out of order) that really need to go into albums. One of these days I will catch up! Really. I hope.

Anyway, while I had my Niagara pictures out I figured I might as well scan some of the better ones for sharing. Looking back at them now some don't seem near as good as I thought they were then, but others were better than I remembered. In any case, it's something different to share, right? This was the last leg of our how-many-states-can-you-visit-in eleven-days tour. (Answer: eleven plus one Canadian province.) Kim, Kat and I drove out to Alexandria, VA to stay with a friend and in addition to all the states we had to drive through to get there, we visited many more. We took day trips to Gettysburg, PA; Richmond, VA; Annapolis and Baltimore, MD; Rehoboth Beach and Dover, DE -- plus two full days in Washington, DC. Our trip ended over Labor Day weekend with a drive up to Niagara Falls, NY. Two nights there (one full day visiting the Falls), then a drive through Ontario back to the states, and then down through Michigan and Indiana back to Chicago. Yup, we pretty much needed a week off to recover from vacation. *grin*

Between the three of us we took a lot of pictures, a vast majority of them at Niagara Falls. The park is actually quite nice, with pathways over narrow sections of the Niagara River to islands that afford different views of the three falls -- American, Bridal Veil, and Horseshoe -- as well as the Niagara River. Though we didn't take the tour behind the Bridal Veil Falls, we did go on the Maid of the Mist boat tour. Yes, it's a totally touristy thing to do, but it's the only way to get close to the Horseshoe Falls, with boats departing the American and Canadian sides every 15 minutes. The rise and fall of the waves and the mist on your face is rather exhilarating. Not to mention you get posh plastic rain coats that are all the fashion rage. Hehe.... I am sooo glad there aren't any pictures wearing those!

Looking to the rocks below the American Falls, which would be to the left of this picture.

This shot of the American Falls is taken from one of the smaller islands. To get there you first walk across a pedestrian bridge to tiny Green Island, then to the much larger Goat Island. Near the crest of the Falls is a little walkway to Luna Island, which separates the smaller Bridal Veil Falls from the American. You can see the observation tower/elevator down to the boat landing in the background, with the Rainbow Bridge behind that. Visitors to the park can walk across the bridge to the Canadian side, which we did not do as certain individuals claimed to be too tired from walking all day. Some people's friends are such wimps!




Looking to the rocks below the Bridal Veil Falls. If you're wondering how a person can spend an entire day at the falls, well--believe me, it's quite easy. For one, there are a system of paths along the shores of the Falls, the river, and around Goat Island. There are different tours to take, and exploring to do on your own. And there is the fact that you become so mesmerized watching that cascade of water pouring over the crest and crashing against the rocks below that you lose all track of time.


And, of course, when the sun is just right, there are hundreds of rainbows shimmering in the mist over the falls.

Thursday Thirteen #5: Places I've Been

THIRTEEN PLACES I'VE BEEN

1. Norway: Oslo, Stavanger, Kristiansand -- but primarily Hellvik and Egersund, plus a few little towns along the southwest coast. (I was an exchange student and lived in the tiny, picturesque village of Hellvik, outside Egersund.)

2. France: Paris, Loire Valley (Chartres, Chenonceaux, and my personal favorite -- Chambord).

3. Canada: Sowerby, London, and Toronto (all in Ontario).

4. New Orleans (Twice, pre-Katrina).

5. Denver, Colorado (A few times--we lived in Brush for a few years when I was little, plus I was there for RWA several years back).

6. Black Hills, South Dakota (friends and I camped a week there several years ago. LOVED it, want to go back!)

7. Natchitoches, LA (Where "Steel Magnolias" was filmed; Melrose Plantation was a memorable highlight) and Shreveport.

8. Pittsburgh (could they possibly have any more bridges??) and Gettysburg, PA (A sobering experience, but definitely worth visiting.)

9. Washington, DC (Three times so far, and still haven't seen everything I want to.)

10. Memphis, TN (Home of the blues, baby!)

11. Dover and Rehoboth Beach, DE (One of our day trips during a week out east)

12. Virginia and Maryland: Richmond, Alexandria, Arlington, Baltimore, Annapolis (The great thing about visiting friends in Alexandria is that it is so close to many other great cities -- the sunset cruise on the Chesapeake Bay up to Annapolis was awesome!)

13. Michigan's Upper Upper Peninsula (Eagle Harbor, Copper Harbor, Whitefish Point, Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinac Island...)

Man, I really miss being able to travel.

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Links to other Thursday Thirteens:

1. Kissa 2. Gina 3. R.G. 4. Elle 5. Rhonda 6. Crystal

7. Jenn 8. Emma 9. Ember 10. Jenna

11. Jana 12. Emily 13. Dayna 14. Jennifer McK 15. Loribelle

16. Lis 17. Lia 18. Angelle 19. Shelley 20. Shari

(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Mammoth Site

The Mammoth Site was one of my favorite stops during a trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota ten years back. Located just south of where we stayed in Custer, Hot Springs was once reknowned for its warm mineral springs. People journeyed here from around the world to partake in the therapeutic waters, and many of the old bath houses have been revitalized.

The mammoths were discovered in 1974 when a construction crew arrived to level a hill for a new housing developement and hit a giant bone. The site was once a sinkhole that, on the surface, appeared to be a spring-fed pond. Animals would venture down to the water for a drink, only to be trapped in the rich sediment (interesting note: most of the mammoths found are young adult males). Over hundreds of years the pond dried up, preserving the remains under silt and sediment. More than 50 Columbian and woolly mammoth have been found here, as well as a giant short-faced bear, rabbits, fish, assorted invertebrates and other small mammels.

The Mammoth Site is what they call in-situ, because you visit the actual dig site--and yes, they are still doing excavations here, which you can apply to participate in during July--and is the largest Columbian mammoth exhibit in the world. A building has been erected over the site to protect it from the elements, which also allows them to do on-site research year round. After the short tour you are allowed to stroll around the site (there are rails to keep people from walking across or damaging it), learn more about the Pleistocene era, and take photographs. There is also a connected museum and discovery center where various fossils and the replica of a mammoth bone shelter found in the Ukraine are on display.

The pictures look much better than they scanned, but obviously fail to do the site justice. For a better look and to read more about the site click here. This is one place I hope to revisit some day!

Bog Walk

Bog Walk; Boerner Botanical Gardens