The Badlands at Dawn

On Friday September 24th we were up before dawn for our 39 mile tour of the Badlands. This would be day 4 on our Land That We Love Tour. On this day besides taking in the Badlands our drive would be a total of 469 miles and approximately 6-1/2 hours to our destination for the night in Omaha, Nebraska.

We saw some Big Horned Sheep at our first stop and along the way.

The 39 mile loop is easy to access off of Interstate 90. We started on the west end of the loop and returned to Interstate 90 on the eastern entrance. The loop has convenient parking areas along the way to stop and enjoy the vistas. We took advantage of each one. Several of the parking areas also have restrooms.

That little black smudge in this photo is a buffalo. I zoomed in as far as I could to get this shot.

We were so thrilled to have started our tour before it got light and we would recommend dawn in the Badlands. Sunset would probably be another lovely time of day to be here, too.

Our first stop along the way and we were already blown away by the amazing landscape. I will be posting several days worth of photos from the Badlands.

We found ourselves reciting part of Psalm 19 and praising the Creator of it all as we began our day here…

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
²Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
³There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
⁴Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵    which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
⁸the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
⁹the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Rapid City and Wall, North Dakota

George Washington

We parked in downtown Rapid City with intentions of eating ‘Linner’ at one of the restaurants there. Note: this downtown area is a pay for parking area. You can use coins or credit card to park. The Italian restaurant we were interested in was not going to open until 5pm. We tried another restaurant but it was not good for us after a busy day of traveling and sight seeing (too loud and noisy and fried). Downtown Rapid City has a unique tourist feature with the Presidents of the United States memorialized on every corner. We were only able to photograph a few of them. This would be an amazing teaching moment for your homeschooled students or any students.

John Quincy Adams

James Monroe

William Howard Taft

Harry S. Truman

Lyndon B. Johnson

Ronald Reagon

George Bush

We said our adieus to Rapid City and got on to I-90 heading to Wall, South Dakota where we would have dinner at the Red Rock in Wall and spend the night. It was a down home restaurant with down home service and menu. We made it there in time to enjoy a seat next to a couple of gals who were traveling home from Pennsylvania to Oregon and who were originally from Southern California as are Dear and Me! A wonderful serendipitous meeting with enjoyable conversation.

All along the road to Wall you’ll see these signs every few miles reminding or enticing you to stop in Wall!

We stayed the night in a cabin in Wall at Frontier Cabins.

We filled up with gasoline at a Shell station just off of I-90 at $3.159 a gallon. Our lodging at the cabin with tax cost us $119.90.

We were ready to leave the following morning before dawn to discover and enjoy the Badlands. These cabins were on the highway that leads you to the west entrance to the Badlands loop.

It was a full and draining day but good. South Dakota has a lot to offer and we could have spent more than one night to enjoy all the area has to offer.

Land That We Love Tour ~ Helena

We left our home on Tuesday September 21st for Day 1 of our Land That We Love Tour. We filled our tank with gas at the Costco in Spokane, Washington at $3.489 per gallon and made it all the way to Helena, Montana on that tank of gas. Our first stop was at Montana’s State Capitol Building. We parked in the rear of the building.

Wilbur Fisk Sanders (1834-1905) one of Montana’s first senators.

It was a very impressive interior with a lovely rotunda and grand staircase. This link speaks of all the art in the rotunda.

This link speaks to the art on and around the Grand Stairway.

Thomas Francis Meagher

Lady Liberty.

As you can see we had a warm sunny day. After our time at the Capitol we headed downtown to find a spot to have a meal. It was Tuesday so we enjoyed a Taco Tuesday meal at the Windbag Saloon and Grill. Helena was a pay for parking downtown. After our meal and before we checked into our hotel we found and toured the beautiful Cathedral of St. Helena. I’ll save that for another day.

Our night in Helena was our most expensive night on our whole tour in a Hampton Inn. The further east we traveled the less expensive comparable hotels were. We experienced the Covid all disposable product phenomena. No mugs for coffee in your rooms or at the ‘free’ breakfasts. Everything was paper disposable. Our disposable cups for coffee deteriorated and we decided that we needed to purchase some mugs of our own for the rest of the journey. One of the things we decided on was to take an inexpensive coffee maker, our own coffee beans and our grinder to make our own coffee each morning in the hotels. We are not fans of the small coffee makers and coffee pods, etc. hotels offer these days. We would do this again whenever we travel. These days hotels limit bath towels, hand towels, and washcloths to one per person but you can request more. No cleaning rooms if you stayed longer than a night. All of our stays were one-nighters except for our VRBO in North Carolina and our stay with my brother and his family in Dallas.

It’s been good to catch up with a lot of your blogs and see what is new. We have a lot of fall clean-up to accomplish on our property but it looks like we will not need to mow again until Spring.

Farm to Table Hodgepodge

It’s time again for Wednesday Hodgepodge where Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions for us to ponder.

Speaking of farmers, on one of our traveling days we took an exit to visit the Mennonite Heritage & Agricultural Museum in Goessel, Kansas. The mural above is from part of the museum.

1. What obligation do you believe you have to your country?

I suppose as a good citizen we are obliged to follow the laws of our country. It would be good for a citizen to know what is in the Constitution of the United States of America. I also think we are obliged to cast an informed vote in elections. As long as the laws of the country don’t violate my religious freedom in following God’s laws and my worship of Him I’ll keep the law. My allegiance is first and foremost to God the Father and His Law set down in the Bible.

2. October 12 is National Farmers Day. Do you know any farmers?

Yes, I know several farmers from my experience with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook and now living in Colville we’ve been acquainted with more farmers. We have farmers across the road from us.

What do they farm/grow/raise?

Hay, Wheat, Alfalfa, Corn, Vegetables, Apples, Apricots, Pears. Dairy Farms and Cattle ranches abound, too, along with sheep and goats and pigs.

Are there any farm stands where you live? Do you shop there?

Yes there are great farm stands and farmers markets and yes, I do shop there. Wednesdays and Saturdays we have a Farmer’s Market in town. I like to stop and support our local farmers. Farmer’s Market only runs through October and then opens up again sometime in the Spring.

3. What’s a skill you think everyone should have? Tell us why?

I think everyone should be taught to read. Reading is foundational to so many other skills. Without this skill you are more open to misguidance and deception and false teaching.

4. Favorite thing you’ve purchased this year?

I bid on, won, and purchased Tea for Eight in my home. It was so nice to sit at the table and be served all the wonderful delicacies that the Hostess made. The only thing I had to do which I thoroughly enjoyed was to set the table with my hoard of tea things.

5. What’s your favorite place to visit in the fall?

The Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze at a local farm here in Colville. The maze is always top notch!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We are just back from driving across the country for 20 days. We called our trip, Land That We Love Tour. I’ll be sharing lots of photos from all the things we saw along the way on my blog. So much to share.

When we arrived home we found sweet notes taped around the house that our grandkids left us.

“Welcome home We missed you See you soon Addy” also “I ❤️ u”

The note on the bottom right is Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti. Addy has been mastering and enjoying this song.

Baba appreciated each note and drawing and it made me smile real big.

Hope to come around soon and see how y’all answered the questions this week.

There’s No Place Like Home

We are home again from our ‘Land That We Love Tour‘. It will take me a day or two to recuperate and digest all that we enjoyed these past 20 days.

Hope you all have a good week. A very special Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian neighbors!

Happy Columbus Day in the U.S.A.!

Tex-Mex

On our Land That We Love Tour we went to the fanciest Mexican restaurant we’ve ever seen on Tuesday night, Mariano’s. It is owned by the Martinez family. Mariano Martinez is the inventor of the World’s First Frozen Margarita Machine.

The first machine is now in the Smithsonian.

My youngest brother’s familia.

Dear and me.

Poblano Carbon

Tex-Mex tacos.

It’s Fall y’all!

Today we are meeting up with a dear friend from California who happens to be visiting her daughter who now lives in Texas. Serendipitous to be able to see each other in Texas.

Fun times today and then we hit the road early on Thursday heading north, then west, then north and then west, then west and north to our home! Did you catch our route?

All the Way to Dallas

On Monday The Land That We Love Tour took us out of Tennessee through Memphis then into Arkansas and on to Texas.

Memphis Bass Pro Shop!

We crossed the Mississippi River to get to Arkansas.

The Mighty Mississippi!

We stopped in Texarkana on the Texas/Arkansas border to fuel up the car and us before heading on to Dallas.

We got off on the main drag which has establishments in Arkansas on the north side and Texas on the south side.

The Arkansas side of the road has Arkansas flags on the light poles and the Texas side of the street has Texas flags on the posts.

We are having good fellowship time with my youngest brother’s family.

We are thankful and grateful to God for another safe day on the road.

Land That We Love Tour

Our bags are packed. Our vehicle is loaded. Our house keepers are watching over our home. We are eastbound from the State of Washington. We’ll travel south in Washington, east to Idaho and make our first overnight stop in Helena, Montana. Hoping to add postcards along our journey. Time will tell how much time I have to blog and visit other bloggers. We’re naming our trip, “Land That We Love Tour”.

Hot Diggity Hodgepodge

Standing tall at almost 500 years-old, the Airlie Oak tree invites guests out to the
Oak Lawn. The Airlie Oak is a Southern Live Oak and draped with Spanish moss.
This moss does not harm the tree and uses water & nutrients from the air to grow
and thrive.

1. Do you think the pandemic has had any kind of positive impact on your mental health? Explain.

Now that’s an interesting question. For me, depending on God more and reading His Word more has been the best positive impact on my mental health during this weird time. Knowing that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever brings stability in my mind when things get crazy.

2. A hot mess, hot under the collar, in hot water, hot button, hot diggity dog!, hot shot, hot seat….choose one and tell us how it applies to your life currently.

I’m choosing hot diggity dog because this song was popular and reached #1 on the “billboard” in 1956. I was five years old then and how it applies to my life now is that it makes me smile to remember it and sing along with Perry!

3. Speaking of the hot seat, do you work well under pressure or do you actively avoid high pressure situations?

I’m really not involved in high pressure situations. Being retired adds to that fact. If I have the choice I’d stay away from high pressure situations.

4. Hotdogs-yay or nay? If you said yay how do you like yours? Did you know July is National hotdog month?

Yes, please. I love a good hot dog. Nathan’s are my favorite. When in Chicago years ago I experienced a Chicago Dog and I would enjoy being able to have one of those when the hot dog craving hits. Haven’t found a good Chicago Dog on the West Coast.

5. I read here a list of America’s coolest Southern towns. They are Marfa Texas, Greenville South Carolina, Abindgon Virginia, Athens Georgia, Bentonville Arkansas, Florence Alabama, Oxford Mississippi, Abita Springs Louisiana, Wilmington North Carolina, Monroeville Alabama, McMinnville Tennessee, Natchez Mississippi. How many on the list have you seen in person? Which town on the list would you most like to see?

The only place on this list I’ve been to is Wilmington, North Carolina, specifically Airlie Gardens. Abingdon, Virginia looks like a nice place to visit.

In 2013 our daughter and I drove from the Seattle area to Jacksonville, North Carolina. Our son in law was stationed at Camp Lejeune and he was returning from a deployment in Afghanistan. We had the task of finding an apartment for the two of them and moving some of their stored possessions into that apartment along with buying some furnishings. When our work was done we took a little side trip to enjoy Airlie Gardens in the Wilmington area. The photo at the top of this post is of our daughter in front of the famous Airlie Oak.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Here are some more photos from Airlie Gardens.

And…speaking of gardens here are some quotes I want to remember:

“Ever since Satan deceived Eve false teachers following his pattern, have portrayed the truth as error and offered error as truth.”

“The risk of wandering from the truth and becoming confused and disloyal is a constant threat to the church of Jesus Christ.”

“Therefore, absolute loyalty to God, Jesus Christ, the gospel, and biblical truth are nonnegotiable principles for everyone who names the name of Christ.”

MacArthur New Testament Commentary 2 Corinthians, pg. 356 & 360

Thank you to Joyce for asking the questions.

Prayers for Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge

To remind me to pray for the people of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I’m re-posting about one of the days from Katie and my road trip from Seattle to Jacksonville, North Carolina in May of 2014. We were driving her and a lot of her stuff back to Camp Le Jeune in anticipation of Andrew’s return from Afghanistan.

Praying for this area of our country that is burning. Praying for rain and containment. Also praying for the people who have lost everything. Not forgetting to pray, too, for the Firefighters and First Responders.

From May of 2014…

We left Hendersonville, Tennessee after a stop at Starbucks and filling up our gas tank at a Kroeger Grocery store Station. Kroeger in Washington is either our Fred Meyer stores or our QFC stores.

Right about here on the road our clocks turned forward an hour and we were now in the Eastern Time Zone!

We really weren’t prepared for our drive through Sevierville and Pigeon Forge and the strange sights we would see.

This was promising but then we drove into the bizarre world of Pigeon Forge.

What!?

The Hatfields and the McCoys!

The Titanic?

We weren’t able to make it to Rushmore and this did not make up for it!

A Bavarian Denny’s? This town had an amazing amount of dinner theaters of different genres to experience. There were some great looking miniature golf properties but so many other ~~tacky~~ unusual properties.

We did not divert our path further to go to Dollywood.

Now this was more like it. This was the scenery we were expecting on our Smoky Mountain Detour.

This was in the town of Gatlinburg. This town had a lot of candy shops, donut shops, fudge shops, taffy shops and Whiskey shops.

Ripley’s Aquarium was also located here. I’m scared to think of what kind of creatures you would see in there.

We bought a sandwich here and headed out to our destination on this day which was Asheville, North Carolina.

We laughed real hard when we crossed this river 8 times during our detour!

We made it to Asheville at 5:30, checked into our hotel and then got ready for our dinner reservation at the Omni Grove Hotel on their Sunset Terrace. That experience will be a future post!

We are so happy to be here in Asheville for a two day stretch. We spent most of the day at the Biltmore Estate properties today and walked our feet off. We are chilling in our hotel room tonight having a picnic in our room instead of heading out to eat. The weather was beautiful today. Tomorrow we drive our final miles on this road trip across the U.S.A.

Thanks to all of you bloggy friends for following along with us on this journey across the U.S.A.

Now back to 2016 I’ll be linking this post to signs, signs with Lesley.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: U.S.A.