Missouri and Montana

Posted on September 23, 2013September 23, 2013 by Dusty Roads | 1 Comment

There’s a photo blog I follow and his post yesterday was that he wants to take pictures in all 50 states before he’s 50. He’s been to 22 states so far. Check his blog out. For the most part its a photo blog. Not a lot of writing but some of his pictures are amazing http://placesunknown.com/2013/09/22/50-by-50/

But back to my quest to visit every state. For me, at my age it isn’t before 50, already passed that milestone. Talk about a bucket list!

Let’s see, we were running through the 8 states that start with “M” and we’ve reached the last 2. And sad to say, I haven’t been to either, Missouri or Montana.

Lets see what I’m missing in Missouri.

I know Missouri is the “Show Me ” State so I’m sure there must be lots to live up to that slogan, plus my time share has an exchange there in Branson. They describe Branson, Missouri, as your destination for good old-fashioned family fun where you can choose from over 70 live shows (head for the famous ’76 Strip Country Music Boulevard), 50 restaurants, amusement parks, whitewater rafting and premier trout fishing. Whew! And that’s just 1 place!

Missouri is another state that divides it’s area up into sections. There’s Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest. One thing I did notice is that RT 61 seems to be a popular scenic drive right through the state.

Parts of the Ozark mountains are also in Missouri.

Missouri played a part in the civil war and there are monuments and attractions celebrating that role as well.

After Harry S. Truman grew up in Independence, leading the allied forces to victory in World War II seemed like the next logical step. And to think, the newspapers at first reported that he lost his election.

Samuel Clemens was born in Missouri.

Then, he penned under the name Mark Twain and changed Hannibal, Missouri into America’s Hometown with classic literary characters like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

And how about St. Louis…meet me in St Louis Louie.

I have to see the famous arch.

Sounds like a neat state to visit as long as I don’t have to paint any fences. 🙂

Last but not least is Montana.

This state is high on my list. With one of the most diverse geographies of any state in the union, as well as being the fourth largest in sheer size, Montana’s snow-peaked mountains, lush valleys and flowing rivers make it a popular tourist destination. Known as “Big Sky Country,” the state’s wide open spaces are home to national parks like Glacier and Yellowstone.

To me Montana means ranching and cowboys and the west. Billings, Montana comes to mind. When you visit Billings you visit the land where General Custer fought the Sioux and Cheyenne, where Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led their people through struggles and to victories, where William Clark left his signature as the Lewis & Clark Expedition passed through and where Calamity Jane raised a ruckus. Learn about the old Railroad history that Billings was built on and about its namesake: Frederick Billings.

Well, I’m running out of space again. Time to post the tally of seen /to be seen states.

Of the 8 M states I’ve only been to 2, Maine and Massachusetts. That leaves 6 that still need a visit. So the count is 8 visited, 18 still to go. (24 states left to review)

M is for…

Posted on September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Wow, Did you realize there are 8 states that start with the letter M? I am not going to do all 8 in one post, especially since a couple of them are going to be crossed off as visited. So before I start can you name all 8 states?

Alphabetically Maine is first. So while you’re thinking about the other 7 states I’ll tell you a little bit about my neighbor to the north. I fell in love with Maine last year when I had the chance to take 2 “mini” vacations.

Maine

YES.

First thing that come to mind when I think of Maine is the gorgeous, rugged coastline. And if you have a rugged coast you need lighthouses. More than 60 lighthouses dot the Maine coast from the well known Nubble Light in York to West Quoddy Head, the easternmost lighthouse in the United States. I’ve seen and photographed a bunch of them, Nubble, Spring Ledge, Portland Head, Pemaquid and more but I’m a long way from all 60!+

Maine is for “Lobsta” or lobster if you want to be accurate. Everyone’s either heard of or eaten Maine Lobster, those feisty crustaceans that are so good boiled, fried, rolled, baked, in salad, well just about any way you want to eat them. Did you know that lobster were once so plentiful that they were used as fertilizer! Native Americans used them as bait to catch more appealing fish. They were considered poverty food and fed to servants and prisoners. You’ve come a long way , baby!

Maine is for wildlife.

I saw a big bull moose there while walking a nature trail.

I braved the sea to get a glimpse of puffins, crazy little clowns. I never realized how tiny they are until I saw them riding those crashing waves.

Maine has the first National Park east of the Mississippi, Acadia National Park. The park includes Mount Desert Island and Cadillac Mountain.

I still want to try a train ride from Boston to Portland. It’s called the “Downeaster”. It can be done in 1 day but it might be nicer to stay over in Portland a night to see a bit more.

By the way, I wrote a lot of posts on Maine last year. Here’s a link to just one of the many :https://aroundustyroads.com/2012/08/29/day-is-done-gone-the-sun/

How many States Have You Visited?

Posted on September 10, 2013September 10, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Here I am in a traveling “lull”. I’ve been so busy getting acclimated to my new job and my new schedule that vacations and travel haven’t been “TOM” (top of mind). Even now that I’m getting settled in I’m still figuring out the finances. There were bills that I didn’t have before that I now have to pay, bills that I did have that have gone away, bills that were “automatically deducted” that I now have to remember to pay and so on. Plus a big change is that there is no overtime with my new job. I’m earning pretty close to the same hourly rate but a lot of my “fun” money was what I earned by working “OT”.

So while I figure out what I can spend on travel and prepare for next year’s vacation I’ve been playing a little game with myself. There’s a survey/game that goes around Facebook every now and then. It lists all the states and you click on the ones you’ve been to and it gives you a “traveler’s rating” or some such thing. Of course most of the people I know are counting states their plane landed in even if they never got off the plane. I don’t think that’s really the intention but I could be wrong.

Back when I started traveling for fun I thought it might be nice to spend a week in every state. That means 50 weeks of vacation. Of course I would have to “double up” a few years because I doubt if I have 50 years left to take one week a year. I thought I’d like to sell my condo and buy an RV and travel the US that way but the downturn in Real Estate values put a damper on that plan, at least for now.

But I am not going to give up. I met a couple whose goal was to visit every National Park once they retired and they did it. Since there are about 388 National Parks in the U. S. it makes visiting each state sound like a measly goal.

So back to the little game I’ve been playing with myself…I’m trying to cross states off my list but I never seem to get very far before I get side tracked.

How many states have you been to? Can you make a list?

Time for a little TLV (Tour, Lunch. Visitor Center)

Posted on June 28, 2013June 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

So far the tour had been ok. I had hoped we’d see more animals. We’d scoured the mountainsides for Dall Sheep but there weren’t any around. No bears either even at a distance.

We did see a couple more moose and then some caribou.

The guide finally addressed the issue of gulls in the middle of Alaska.

They are called Mew Gulls. And according to him they migrate here to nest. They usually build their nests in trees or even on the ground as long as they are near water. Each time I/we saw them there was a river or pond nearby.

We even got back to the lodge in time for lunch.

Thinking we might be able to save a couple of dollars (or a few pennies) we went to the Base Camp restaurant next to the King Salmon. Turns out they are really the same restaurant just different names. I didn’t quite get the logic there. They share the kitchen, the menu is the same and so are the prices.

Both Sandy and I ordered the fish and chips. It was so good. Not cheap (or inexpensive) but worth every penny.

Then we wandered through the souvenir shops before heading to the shuttle for a trip to the Visitor Center.

After all, I had to get my National Parks Passport Stamped because who knows when I’ll ever get back to Denali again.

The Visitor Center was awesome. There was a small museum nearby that we never even got to go to because the displays in the Center were so good. I got my passport stamped and then we explored the exhibits.

We saw more animals in the Visitor Center displays than we’d seen the whole trip. There were dioramas of Moose

and bear

and wolves.

The Dall sheep looked magnificent.

The Golden eagle was caught in the act of snatching it’s dinner.

The conservation message was clear. Even the smallest things can make a big difference even tipping the balance of nature. I couldn’t help but think of the endangered Piping Plovers back home.

The Athabaskans, the First People, understood this and still respect the delicate balance of man and nature today.

Finally one of my favorite posters…Dogs Don’t Run Out of Gas…I loved that and it was a reminder that we needed to catch the shuttle back because we were going dog sledding this evening.

Where are the Sharks? Where is the Valley?

Posted on March 4, 2013March 4, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Back on the tram we headed back to the info Center. As we traveled through the sawgrass prairie our guide turned to the landscape. The birds and alligators were still there but it was time to learn about the land. We stopped at a mound covered with trees where she explained that this was “Tree Island”. During the wet season it is surrounded by water but the canopy of the trees on the island keep the interior dry and the shade makes it cool. Everything from animals like Florida Panthers, deer, alligators and even humans use these tree islands for shelter. Large tree islands doubled as homes for the native Florida Indians. There is room on the interior for small campfires and dry for sleeping.

Moving on we passed the skeleton of a dead gator and an anhinga looking for a mate. You can tell when an anhinga is ready to mate by the colored circle around its eye. When they are searching for a mate the color of the circle becomes a brilliant color.

Then she asked the million dollar question…why is this area called Shark Valley? As we looked around it didn’t look like a valley. The land looked pretty flat and there certainly wasn’t enough water for sharks. But that’s where we were about to be corrected.

According to the guide Shark Valley is really a valley. To get to the coast you really have to go uphill. The rise may be slight and not that noticeable but it is there. Therefore this area does meet the definition if a valley: 1.low-lying area: a long low area of land, often with a river or stream running through it, that is surrounded by higher ground

Ok so it’s a valley but where does the shark part come into it? The Everglades is not a swamp. The water is not stagnant. It is a slow-moving river filled with vegetation, hence the name “river of grass”, but it’s a wide shallow river still the same. And rivers go somewhere. The Everglades eventually connects to the sea. At the junction where the fresh water Everglades meets the salt water of the sea an area of brackish water exists. Here salt water crocodiles mingle with fresh water American alligators. It is the only place in the world where these 2 species exist side by side. And it is here that bull sharks enter the valley.

Bull sharks are unique in the shark/fish world in that they can survive in both fresh and salt water. So in the brackish water where the ocean and fresh water meet, bull sharks come to hunt. The lower end of this valley connects to the ocean and creates that unique environment. Early settlers saw the sharks and the name Shark Valley stuck.

I attempted an internet search to confirm this explanation but so far my preliminary results have come up empty so I pass this along as a story told by our guide. It rings true to me. Florida is higher at the coast than the interior and bull sharks do survive in both fresh and salt water. That has been confirmed in many places of the world. So Welcome to Shark Valley. Definitely a place to visit when you get a chance.