Tripping

We've been traveling since the fourth of August, when we left Hyde Park, New York for Delaware to visit Michele and Joe, Mike and Peggy's daughter and son-in-law. We left Delaware for a few hours in Pennsylvania with Kristi, their other daughter.

Then the traveling really started. We drove for about 12 hours from Central Pennsylvania to Central Indiana, Decatur. We moved from the car to the RV, spent the night and left the next morning, heading west and north. I found that Indiana was flat, and as corny as Kansas is reputed to be(according to the song). We turned north in central Illinois and camped in South Beloit, about 1 mile from the Wisconsin border. From what I saw of Illinois, it's as corny as Indiana.

I want to talk about impressions I've had in this first week of travel. I have marveled at the flatness of the land, the richness of the crops, the sheer greenness of the landscape. I was excited as we crossed the Mississippi River at its size this far north and at the lock visible from the bridge. A tug pushing six or eight barges was passing under the bridge as we crossed it. Just north of the bridge was a small dam (small in height) with a lock at one end. I guess I had been unaware of the fact that the Mississippi was navigable this far north (between Wisconsin and Minnesota). Anyway, a surprise and a beautiful sight.

Driving in Wisconsin, or was it Minnesota, I saw a billboard advertising the Spam Museum!! Mine hosts immediately suggested we detour to see this wonder. No, we didn't. (Peggy, who is listening to me dictate this, whispered, Minnesota). One of the beautiful sites I have seen while traveling is the wind farm or windmill farm, whichever is the correct way to refer to it. Driving the flat lands of the Midwest, it is wonderful to see on the horizon, Where there is a slight ridge, I would spot the blade of a propeller. Slowly, the blade grows to three and you can see the supporting post of the windmill. Moving your eyes along the ridge, you could see more and more of these windmills coming into view. The supporting posts are 40 to 50 feet high, and the blades are 25 to 30 feet long. Some of the wind farms have 25 to 50 windmills. I think they're a beautiful sight. As I watch them, a comparison between their beauty, their use of an endless source of power, their non-polluting functionality and nuclear power and all of its attendant problems, especially those of disposal, repeatedly occurred to me. I'm not sure how I would feel if I lived on Cape Cod. But right now I'm a windmill advocate.

Having told you about the endless cornfields I've seen have to tell you that there is an intervening crop, which seems just as endless, but grows so much lower that you have to think about it. This crop is soybeans. As far as I can determine, crops are rotated in alternate years between corn and soybeans. Most soybean fields have stray stalks of corn here and there scattered through them. If I remember my science,( or is it the farmer's sons training,) beans are legumes which you put nitrogen into the soil thus replacing the element which corn strips from the soil.

Yesterday, Wednesday the 15th, Mike and I went to the county fair here in Fairmont Minnesota. I had seen a leaflet describing the activities at the fair, day by day. Wednesday was senior citizen day, half-price (three dollars). Plus, there were a number of donkey, mule, and horse competitions. I have never seen a donkey or mule competition of any sort so I was all hot to go. The first activities were halter competitions for mules (no donkeys showed so that was canceled). In some of the activities the mules were compared to each other and the best was chosen. Others were judged on the showmanship of the human handler. Similar competitions were held for horses, including Percheron's, Clydesdales, and Belgians. Two little girls maybe aged 10 and 12, led hulking great Clydesdale geldings around the ring, including the length of the Ring at a trot. No reins, no bits, no help. Just halters. Amazing! The last part of the competition we watched was called a Khana. This consisted of an obstacle course designed to cause an ill trained animal to shy or bolt. There was a narrow wooden bridge with flowers in the handrails, a rapping plank where the rider had to dismount and walk down and lead the horse beside, a barrel to be stepped or jumped over, a gate to be opened and closed while mounted, and a water obstacle, which had to be walked through. Some of the mule riders were simply amazing. The training, the patience, the sheer beauty of the performance.

I must say I am enjoying life on the road. Today, acquaintances of Mike and Peggy invited us to brunch. We had wonderful homemade pancakes, and omelettes in a bag. You mix up the eggs and ham and cheese, etc. in sealable sandwich baggie, put it in a pot of boiling water for eight to 10 minutes and voilà, omelettes. The point is not the food but the open friendliness of the people I am meeting. Talk about Southern hospitality. The other thing I'm enjoying somewhat secretly is the distinctive accents I'm hearing. Olie Olafsen really did affect the speech of Minnesotans.

More pics.