“All Aboard” the 1880 Train

Posted on June 8, 2014 by liv2rv

One of the longest running steam trains remaining in service, the 1880 Train, was on our VIP pass, so we spent a few hours taking the 20 mile round trip from Hill City to Keystone. Ticket prices are $28.00 round trip for adults, and we received complimentary passes.

1880 Train Hill City, SD

All Aboard

The train travels through the scenic Black Hills Forest where you can see many rock formations, Harney Peak, and (let’s be honest) a lot of run down trailer homes with a ton of junk in the yards.

Harney Peak from the train

the other scenic views

The train has your choice of open air cars and cars with windows. We opted for the open air car, as it was a nice day outside. The 1880 Train was used in the filming of the Gunsmoke television series. Our engine was number 104, which was built in 1926. They use water and oil to power the engine, which creates a lot of white smoke.

white smoke

Since the Black Hills has many changes in elevation, the train has to maneuver 4 – 6% grades, which is very difficult for any train. After we departed Hill City, the train quickly encountered a steep 6% grade, and we were barely moving on the tracks. Many of us in the back began chanting “I think I can, I think I can” to encourage the train to make it up the hill! When going up a hill, they add sand to keep the engine from overheating. This creates a brown smoke.

brown smoke going uphill

We had an enjoyable time on the trip, and it was interesting to see how the “well to do” traveled back in the early 20^th Century. There were remnants of old buildings along the way.

old mining building

There are some old telegraph poles along the way, with their glass insulators still intact.

telegraph poles

When we arrived at Keystone, the engine unhooked, moved down to the water tower to refill, and then drove around the train to hook back up in the front.

water tower

“refueling” with water

The engine we had for this trip was built in 1926 and was restored by the 1880 Train company.

Engine 104 from 1926

When we completed our round trip back to Hill City in just over 2 hours, the engine was again disconnected and taken back to the shop for maintenance before the next departure. They seem to take good care of these antiques.

back in Hill City

I firmly believe that you are only as old as you feel, so I couldn’t resist heading to the “kiddie” train area for some fun.

I can fit in this

We had a nice time, the weather was perfect for the trip. If you love trains, this would be a good trip to take.

Quote for the day: “The introduction of so powerful of an agent as steam to a carriage on wheels will make a great change in the situation of man.” – Thomas Jefferson

Wind Cave National Park

Posted on June 1, 2014 by liv2rv

One of the benefits of working in the tourism area in the Black Hills is the V.I.P. pass that we receive. The pass is for Visitor Industry Partners (VIP) and allows us free or reduced admission for many of the attractions in the area. This way when a visitor asks “what else is there to do”, we can tell them about the other attractions from our own experience. It’s a very smart marketing idea, and we plan on taking full advantage of our pass on our days off.

Our first stop was to Wind Cave National Park. The park offers five different cave tours in the summer. As part of the VIP pass, we received a complimentary Natural Entrance Tour (normally $12.00 per adult), which is the one tour available year round. Admission to the park is free, and they do have a campground.

Wind Cave

Wind Cave covers over 29,000 acres, with 70 percent natural prairie grassland and 30 percent forest. It is home to many species of animals, including a growing herd of bison. But the main attraction are the cave tours. The cave was first discovered in 1881 by two brothers, Jesse and Tom Bingham, who were out hunting deer. When they heard a loud whistling noise, they followed the sound and discovered a hole in the ground that was blowing air so strong it knocked Jesse’s hat off. The original entrance to the cave is no longer used, as it has a 90 degree turn right when you enter. As such, there is no evidence that bats or animals have entered the cave, because it would be a difficult entry way. At a constant 58 degrees the cave is also too warm for bats to live because they need colder temperatures to hibernate. Dan’s Mom would be happy to know there are no bats in the cave!

This is the original entrance to the cave.

Original entrance

The wind, which gave the cave its name, is created by the difference in barometric pressures inside and outside the cave. On the day we visited, the wind was blowing in to the cave, as demonstrated by this Park Ranger’s red piece of tape.

winds blowing in

The Bingham’s told others in town about their discovery, but there is no evidence they explored the cave further. In 1890, 16-year-old Alvin McDonald began exploring the cave, using candles and string (so he could find his way back out). He kept a diary of his daily explorations, which the Park Service has, and uses to document the history of the cave. The McDonald family blasted open passages to the cave and offered tours for a fee, along with selling specimens from the cave. In 1893, Alvin traveled to Chicago to display specimens at the Columbian Exposition, and to market the cave for tourism. Alvin came down with typhoid fever at the Exposition, and passed away in December, at the very young age of 20.

A land dispute erupted between the McDonald family and a mining company (there was no gold found in the cave), and eventually the government stepped in and took control of the cave. In January of 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt established Wind Cave as the seventh National Park (and the first cave), forever protecting the park for future generations.

Studies of the barometric pressure of the cave have estimated that only a small percent of the cave has been discovered. The Park Service is continuing to explore the cave, and it has been “growing” as they continue to find new passages. Right now, there are 141 known miles of the cave, all covering just one square mile of surface area. (ponder that math fact…!)

Wind Cave is famous for formations of Popcorn, Frostwork and Boxwork. Ninety-five percent of all the known Boxwork in caves around the world is found at Wind Cave. On our tour, we saw a lot of Boxwork, and a little Popcorn and Frostwork. The Popcorn and Frostwork is more prevalent in other parts of the cave that can be seen on other tours. Stalagmite and Stalactites are not common in the cave, as it is considered to be a dry cave. The visitor’s center has excellent specimens of the Popcorn and Frostwork, so the following are photographs of the specimens.

Popcorn is formed when small deposits of Calcium Carbonite seep through the limestone.

Popcorn crystals

This is the Popcorn that we saw on part of our Natural Entrance Tour:

Popcorn in the cave

Water seeps through the porous rock, evaporates, and leaves behind aragonite crystals, called Frostwork.

Frostwork formations

We saw one area that had a little frostwork:

frostwork inside the cave

The Natural Entrance Tour that we took is about 90 minutes in length, and has about 450 stairs to negotiate. It was a rather easy tour to navigate, and we did not feel too enclosed. We would recommend this tour as it was very informative. There was a part in our tour where the Park Ranger turned off all the lights, and lit a candle, so we could see what the early explorers were dealing with. For those so adventurous, they do offer one tour that is strictly by candlelight, so you can experience what touring the cave was like when it was first discovered. They also offer a very strenuous four-hour tour which involves a lot of crawling through narrow passages, so you do need to meet certain “width” restrictions!

The Natural Cave Entrance tour has some narrow passages….

watch your head!

But also some large rooms where everyone can fit, and the rangers will spend several minutes talking about the history of the cave.

wide open rooms

Boxwork is what this cave is known for, and we saw many examples on the ceiling of the cave. Boxwork is a honeycomb formation of thin calcite fins that protrude from the walls and ceilings of the cave. The Park Ranger explained that when they were first exploring the cave, using candles, the Boxwork initially looked like giant spider webs. That is what is documented in the diaries they have of the early cave explorers.

Boxwork formations

Photographs of caves are not the best way to see a cave. We definitely would recommend a visit to Wind Cave (remember…no bats!)

inside wind cave

Quote of the Day: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. Fear of the unknown is our greatest fear. Many of us would enter a tiger’s lair before we would enter a dark cave. While caution is a useful instinct, we lose many opportunities and much of the adventure of life if we fail to support the curious explorer within us.” – Joseph Campbell

A day of play at Custer State Park

Posted on May 30, 2014 by liv2rv

In mid-May, the state of South Dakota waives admission fees to all their state parks, as well as having free fishing, so we took advantage of our day off and spent the day at Custer State Park for fishing and exploring. Custer Park covers 71,000 acres and is home to the largest free-roaming bison herd, estimated at 1300 (and growing). There are over 60 miles of hiking and horseback trails available, and four man-made lakes for fishing, swimming and boating. There are several campgrounds, and lodges for rent.

The State Game Lodge is one of the many lodges available for rent. This one is the most famous in the park, because President Calvin Coolidge came for a visit and ended up spending the entire summer in 1927. It became known as “the summer White House”. President Coolidge was impressed by how much fish he would catch every day, not knowing that the park rangers were stocking the lake each night!

State Game Lodge

We started out our day out driving on the 21 mile long Wildlife Loop Road, where we saw many buffalo.

where the buffalo roam

Sometimes you just have to stop and wait for the big guys to pass.

coming thru!

We also saw many newborn buffalo, as this is certainly a growing population in the park.

wait up Mom!

Pronghorn are also present in the park, although this was the only one that we saw during our visit. We watched him or her stop and dig a hole, then poop in it….thought that was rather polite!

Pronghorn

And there are lot’s of prairie dogs roaming around as well.

prairie dog

After the loop, we headed up to the Mt. Coolidge Firetower and Lookout, which is at an elevation of 6023 feet. You can drive your vehicle all the way to the top, but be cautioned it is a gravel, narrow road without shoulders. I was hanging on tight to the door handle all the way up, hoping no one was on the way down, when I started to wonder why we grip tightly to door handles. If we went over the edge, would this really save me?! The view at the top was spectacular, although it was obstructed by four cell towers surrounding the lookout (although we found we can get 5 full bars of 4G!)

wonderful views

strong 4G here!

We ventured on and headed over to Center Lake, to try our luck at fishing. We had a nice spot in the ‘day use’ picnic area.

Center Lake day use area

I did not have any luck, but Dan managed to catch a few rainbow trout. They were too small to keep, but we will eventually get our fishing licenses and come back again. Looking forward to some tasty grilled trout this summer.

not a keeper 😦

shut out!

Dan tried a few areas to fish in, while I went off exploring (Dan’s on the right of the picture below)

nice spot to fish!

NEEDLES HIGHWAY SCENIC DRIVE

Needles highway goes through Custer Park, and has three tunnels that our very narrow, including one that is supposed to be 8’4” in width. We have talked to several people with dual rear wheel trucks that had no problem going through, so we decided to head on this road, although Dan was a bit skeptical. It is a very pretty drive, and if you are in this area, it is a “must do” item.

amazing views on Needles Hwy

We followed behind several antique cars that were driving through the park. I don’t know what these are, but there were about 12 of them driving together, and they were all having fun and stopping along the way.

some cool cars

The first tunnel has a width of 9 feet, so this wasn’t a problem getting though.

9 foot width

It was the second tunnel, by the Cathedral Spires (elevation 7050 feet), that was the one Dan was concerned about. Many of the tour buses go through these tunnels (and have the scrapes to prove it!), and I think they have actually widened the tunnels over time. I walked through the tunnel to make sure no traffic was coming, as this was a long tunnel, and not something you want to have to back up in. Dan slowly started in, and since there was no oncoming traffic, he just took his time going through. (Challenge accepted Phil!!)

hmmmm

a bit tight?

no problem!

challenge accepted!

We stopped at Sylvan Lake, another beautiful lake in the park, where they were setting up for a wedding that evening.

Sylvan Lake

There are so many more things to see and do at the park. This would be an ideal place for camping for a week, something we will keep in mind for future visits to this area.

Quote for the day: “A pessimist sees a dark tunnel. An optimist sees light at the end of a tunnel. A realist sees a freight train. The train operator sees three idiots standing on the tracks.” – Unknown

A little history of Crazy Horse Memorial

Posted on May 20, 2014 by liv2rv

Kachina

As promised in my last blog, I would provide some history on Crazy Horse Memorial, where we will be working this summer. Korczak Ziolkowski was born in Boston, and resided in Connecticut. In 1939 he came out to the Black Hills to work as an assistant to Gutzon Borglum, who was in charge of carving Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Korczak was fired from the job, and the letter from Borglum is on display at Crazy Horse Memorial.

Korczak went back home and worked on a sculpture, Paderewski: Study of an Immortal, which won first prize for sculpture at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear invited Korczak to carve Crazy Horse Memorial, and wrote “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, also.” Korczak did meet with the Chiefs in 1940, and began studying Crazy Horse and the Native American culture.

There is a photo of Korczak meeting with Chief Standing Bear in the museum.

Korczak and the Chief

From 1943 – 1945, Korczak volunteered for service in WWII, and accepted the Indians invitation after the war ended. He used his own money to purchase the land in the Black Hills and he starts building a log home on the property in 1947. He had several volunteers helping, among them Ruth Ross, who came from his home state of Connecticut.

June 3, 1948 the first blast occurred on the mountain. Korczak promised the memorial would be a non-profit project, and he would never take a salary or government funding. This is a photograph of what the mountain looked like in 1948.

1948 before 1st blast

And some photos over the years:

By 1982, the tunnel is visible, the top of the mountain was blasted off for the arm, and the right side of the mountain was blasted off, as they are beginning to go down the mountain to block out the head of the horse.

1982

By 1993, work had switched to focus on the head of Crazy Horse, which is partially completed. The tunnel under the arm now goes through to the other side.

1993

By 2005, the face was complete, and a substantial portion of the right side of the mountain has been removed, as they continue going deeper to carve out the head.

2005

This is a photo how it looks today:

May 15, 2014 view

Korczak worked alone on the mountain for several years, and suffered multiple injuries and several heart attacks over the years. He married Ruth in 1950, and they had 10 children. Korczak passed away in 1982 at the age of 74. His wife took charge of all activities at the memorial. In 1987 the focus shifted from carving the horse’s head, to the face of Crazy Horse, at the direction of Ruth.

In 1998, the face was completed, in time for the 50^th anniversary of the first blast on the mountain. Due to some substantial donations in recent years, work has accelerated and continues on the head of the horse and the hand of the outstretched arm. They have been blasting down the mountain, and are around 340 feet down, to block out the head. It may, at times, look like nothing is being done, but there are photos in the visitor’s area that show the progress over the years, and it is quite dramatic. Since the memorial is carved in the round (3-dimensional), some of the work is not visible from the viewing deck, as it is on the back side of the mountain.

There is so much history involved in the memorial, and I simply cannot do justice to the story in this short blog. Both of us have talked to many visitors over the last several days of work that were amazed at the story behind the memorial, how big the place is, and how difficult a task it is to blast and carve out a mountain into Crazy Horse. If you want to learn more, please visit their website at Crazyhorsememorial.org

WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO?

When you arrive at the memorial, we recommend you visit the excellent movie playing in the theatres that documents the history of the memorial. Then you can browse through The Indian Museum of North America and look at many Native American exhibits. There are two gift shops, one displaying items all hand crafted by Native American Indians, and the other with your standard souvenirs. The memorial has made a special effort to try to purchase items made in the United States, whenever possible.

museum

Here are two of our co-workers, hard at work in the gift shop!

Ruth and Rudee

lot’s of t-shirts

The original 1:34^th scale model made by Korczak is on display on the large viewing deck, and is a popular spot for photos.

1/34th scale model

There is a covered porch area that has a scale model of what the entire complex will look like in the future, along with a large bin of rocks that have come from the mountain blasting’s. The rocks are free (donations accepted), and reminded me of Lucy’s rock collection in the movie “The Long, Long Trailer.” You can then enter into part of the original log home of the Ziolkowski’s, which has many antique items on display. There is also a two-story Native American Educational and Cultural Center and Korczak’s artist studio.

Mrs. Ziolkowski is a huge sports fan, and has many sports memorabilia on display, including a size 24 shoe from Shaquille O’Neal. They also made a tracing of the shoe on the ground, and I put my foot in the outline for comparison.

There is also the Laughing Waters restaurant and snack bar, which has an extensive menu, including gluten-free and vegetarian selections. In the summer, they have various Native American artists perform concerts and dances on the viewing deck. And thanks to a generous donation from the Ray and Joan Kroc Foundation, (founder of McDonalds), they have a very popular nightly laser light show on the mountain. We are looking forward to seeing that when it starts up at the end of this month.

Quote for the day: “When the legends die, the dreams end. When the dreams end, there is no more greatness.” – Korczak Ziolkowski

Orientation day at Crazy Horse

Posted on May 16, 2014 by liv2rv

Wednesday, May 14 was “back to work” day!! We were both excited to start our new adventure for the summer, and it will be nice to have money coming “in”, instead of always going “out”. The first day is just orientation, filling out tax forms (only Federal since South Dakota has no state income tax), along with going over the basic rules that you have with any job.

Dan’s mom always took a ‘first day of school’ photo, so I thought I should get a ‘first day of work’ photo to continue the tradition!

Back to work!

We watched an excellent film on the history of Crazy Horse in one of the 2 theatre’s in the Visitor’s Center of the Memorial. If you ever come to Crazy Horse, we highly recommend viewing the movie as the first thing to do in the complex. It goes over the history of the Memorial, and has interviews with the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski (pronounced ‘jewel-cuf-ski’), who passed away in 1982, as well as his wife Ruth.

Then we took a tour of the many buildings in the complex, and then headed back to our meeting room for more orientation. We had an excellent complimentary lunch in the Laughing Waters Restaurant, followed by the highlight of the day, a van tour to the top of the monument.

I plan on a separate post about the history of Crazy Horse, as well as what is all available to see and do on-site. There simply is too much to cover in one post.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT THE MONUMENT

The first blast on the mountain was June 3, 1948, with 10 tons removed. When completed, the memorial will be 563 feet high, and 641 feet long in the round. The face of Crazy Horse is 87 feet, 6 inches. In perspective, the heads on Mt. Rushmore are 60 feet tall.

Korczak refused to take any money from the state and federal government. This policy remains in effect today, and the family has turned down several grants from the government. He did not want the memorial to remain unfinished, like Mt. Rushmore, after they accepted money from the government. The original plan for Mt. Rushmore were for more complete profiles, at a height of 285 feet. Another difference between the two, is Mt. Rushmore was carved on a mountain and Crazy Horse is blasting a mountain into a monument.

The memorial is supported entirely through admission fees, gift shop sales and private donations.

THE RIDE TO THE TOP

Our orientation group was able to take a van tour to the top of the memorial. For the general public, there are two ways you can get to the top. Twice a year, they have a Volksmarch, where the public is invited to walk to the top for a small donation of $3.00. It is 6.2 miles (10K) round trip. The other way to the top is with a private van tour, which costs $120.00, with $100.00 going as a tax-deductible donation to the non-profit foundation.

The roads are all crushed gravel, made from the rock blasted off the mountain. There is a ‘graveyard’ of old equipment, that they use for parts to repair current machinery.

The graveyard

There are deer and mountain goats that live up in the hills around the memorial. We saw some deer, along with this little critter. It is called a Marmot, which is similar to a woodchuck. The animals don’t seem to be bothered by the regular blasts.

Marmot

They are working on the hand, and the nose of the horse. This view of the outline of the hand is not visible to the general public, as it is on the back side of the monument.

working on the hand

This picture is directly on top of the hand, and shows the red lines where they will be blasting out for the hand.

markings for future blast

The face of Crazy Horse.

standing on arm

We had to wear hard hats, as they were working below.

This is an old shark tank which was donated to the memorial. When they are blasting on top, the workers will stay inside this to avoid getting struck by flying debris.

sharks?!

The view from the top….spectacular!

view from the top

To put the size of the memorial in perspective, this is the view from our campground…

view from our campground

And this is the view of our campground from the top of Crazy Horse.

CG from Crazy Horse

This is the view of the visitors complex.

Visitors Complex

The rock formation below is where Korczak is buried, as well as his daughter Ann, who passed away in 2011.

burial site

We did make time at the end of the day to stop back into the restaurant to sample Kuchen, the state dessert of South Dakota, as well as some Indian Flat Bread. Both were delicious.

SD State Dessert!

Indian Flat Bread

Dan commented that it was the best 1^st day orientation that he has been a part of!

Quote for the Day: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

A Winter Wonderland??!!

Posted on April 15, 2014 by liv2rv

Once again, this blog is being interrupted by Makena…who occasionally likes to write about RV life from the dog’s perspective

Keeping my peeps informed!

I woke up this morning and my mom was staring out the window, mumbling. In my seven short years, I have learned that is never a good sign.

But first, a little background. We left warm and sunny Florida on Wednesday, April 9 and I happily took a nap in my kennel in the back seat of the pickup truck, dreaming of more places to play. We seemed to stop every few hours for potty breaks, but then got back in and kept driving and driving. Three days, 1480 miles later, we arrived back at my most favorite place, “Camp Meyer” in Hortonville, Wisconsin. Several acres of nothing but green grass to room around and play!! And, unlike most campgrounds, I am allowed full access to the “clubhouse”! Sometimes I even take a nap on the owners bed. I really appreciate Aunt Linda and Uncle Doug letting me stay here for a few weeks before we go off to South Dakota.

For a few days, I was able to go out and play and run wild, as the weather was pretty good. But then the mumbling started this morning….and next thing I know my mom is getting out my Wisconsin Badger sweater…yikes! Although it keeps me warm, I am not a big fan of it, and didn’t understand why she was chasing me around the camper trying to put it on. It’s been so warm….but this is Wisconsin…

Not happy:(

Then the door opened, and I felt a cold breeze, and I started mumbling as well. What in the world happened?? I thought it was Spring?

Winter Wonderland!

“Camp Meyer”

I don’t think my Mom will be doing any bike riding soon!

But when life gives you lemons, you make tasty lemonade!! So my parents dug out their winter boots, coats, hats and mittens and we all went outside and played in the snow!

Last week it was shorts and sandals

Venice, FL

Today it’s boots and pants (and boots and pants..!)

Hortonville, WI

snow doesn’t stop me!

I also want to thank Mary Jo for letting me come over to her house last week and try to catch lizards. Next time, I will do better!

Where did they go?

Well that’s it for now, hope you are enjoying my blogs!

They say a picture tells a thousand words, so instead of a “quote of the day”, I decided to use a picture (thanks Angie!):

Wine Walk and more family time

Posted on March 29, 2014 by liv2rv

We got together on Dan’s dad’s birthday (Makena already did her blog post, since they share the same birthday) for a nice dinner on the river in New Smyrna Beach. Dan’s brother Gary, his wife Julia and youngest daughter Jasmine joined in.

On Friday, the seven of us went on the evening Victory Casino Cruise out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The campground we are staying at organized an outing, and we went along with the group. The owner of the campground was able to get a group rate of $21.00 per person, which included admission to the cruise, a delicious buffet dinner, and $20.00 in match play. The cruise ship has to go out to international waters before you can begin gambling, which takes about 35 minutes once you leave port. They offer everything that you would find in a regular casino. Unfortunately, we have no big wins to brag about!

Dan’s mom and dad

sunset on the cruise

On Saturday (3/22), we met up with Gary, Julia and Jasmine for the Wine Walk on Flagler Avenue in New Smyrna Beach. Dan’s parents had their end of season dinner at their condo, so they did not join in.

New Smyrna Beach

For $25.00, you receive a souvenir wine glass and 20 coupons for wine sampling. The walk goes from 1pm – 7pm and covers 12 businesses in the thriving downtown of New Smyrna Beach. The weather was perfect and it appeared several thousand people were also doing the walk. It was a great way to see all the wonderful shops and restaurants on Flagler Avenue, and to sample many great wines along the way!

cheers!

You received a map of downtown with all the participating establishments. Each place had a list of the wines that were available to sample. Each sample required 1 – 5 tickets, depending on the retail value of the wine.

lots of choices

studying the wine menu

There were many choices available, from whites to reds, ports, and several sangrias. Several of the places made their own version of sangria, using mangos as the main ingredient. We all agreed it was one of our favorites. So if you like to make your own sangria, try using mangos as the fruit. It was very refreshing!

Dan, Julia, Jasmine, Gary

And there was even some entertainment along the way. We had never seen a baby grand piano on a peddle cart before. He was very good, and a lot of fun to listen to.

piano peddle cart

father-daughter time

Flagler Avenue

The ladies at the Galleria De Vitro were having a lot of fun handing out samples. They said life is short, so you better enjoy it! And they certainly were!

Galleria De Vitro

And of course there were the usual ‘touristy’ signs.

Not sure what Gary is trying to tell his friends…

hmmm?!

lots of choices

making new friends

a sangria siesta?

We kept track of the wines that we liked, and will take our list with us when we go shopping. It was a lot of fun, and they are doing another walk in April, in case anyone happens to be in the New Smyrna Beach area. It was a great way for the downtown businesses to bring a lot of people to the area.

On Sunday, we (Dan’s parents, Gary, Jasmine, Dan and I) played golf at Cypress Head in Port Orange. Julia opted to keep Makena company at the condo. It has been over a year since I last played, and it showed! I donated a few golf balls to the pond. But on a positive side, we finally saw the Florida Scrub Jay. We learned about these on our birding tour, but did not notice one until Sunday. We did not bring our camera along, but this is a photo from the internet that shows what they look like.

This is the only species of bird endemic to Florida, so we were excited to finally see two of them.

After golf, we all met up with Julia and had a nice dinner together, on their final night in town. It was a fun, busy week getting together. And they seemed to enjoy getting out of the cold and snow.

Quote for the Day: “Wine is the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages.” – Louis Pasteur

Kayaking and family time

Posted on March 26, 2014 by liv2rv

Dan’s brother Gary, wife Julia and youngest daughter Jasmine flew down from frigid Minnesota and Iowa for a “Spring Break” and some sunshine. They are staying just up the road in New Smyrna Beach, where Dan’s parents rent a condo for a few months to also escape the cold and snow.

While we were at the condo, Dan noticed a familiar site in the sand. Can you guess what this is? Hint, it was on March 14th…..

Happy Pi Day!

Yes, some creative math geeks spent their day on the beach making the “Pi” symbol, and wrote out a decimal approximation for Pi. Spring Break gets pretty wild in New Smyrna Beach!!

Dan was able to dust off the golf clubs and golf with his parents and brother last Friday. Julia and I joined the foursome later for a delicious dinner (we had to do the “early bird special” of course!). Saturday we had a quiet family day, with a long walk on the beach. Unfortunately, Dan and I both ended up with multiple blisters on the bottom of our feet from the hot sand (yes, I know those of you still wearing winter boots have no sympathy for us!). Dan’s mom fixed a delicious dinner and fresh strawberry pie, and we had a competitive card game of ‘hand and foot’, which the guys won. Sunday Dan and I just rested our very painful feet!

Monday (3/17) we again got together for dinner and cards, and Jasmine flew in late that night. On Wednesday, Gary, Julia and Jasmine joined Dan and I down in Cocoa Beach, on a 2 hour Kayaking Tour on the Indian River, with Island Time Kayaking. We had seen this tour offered on Groupon, and the price ($25.00 for 2 people) was right. Neither of us had ever kayaked before, and we both wanted to try it out.

We all agreed that the kayaking was a lot of fun, but the “tour” was rather lacking. We would not recommend this tour company for kayaking. Part of the problem was the location, and the other was our tour guide. Despite the tour company’s advertising manatees, dolphins, and 300 species of birds, we saw 2 birds during the 2 hours. Our tour guide was lacking in customer service skills (we shouldn’t have to ask him what his name is), and really seemed dis-interested in the tour. Our first stop on our “tour” was to look at an old fence post that previously marked the border of the Kennedy Space Centers property. We stared at it while he went on about how the tug boats and cargo ships pollute the water. He spent about 20 minutes giving us his views on healthcare, and people who have purchased a trip to Mars. Then he paddled off to go check out a new boat that was on the dock by Sea Ray, and with 30 minutes left in the tour, he paddled back in and told us we had 30 minutes to ourselves to do what we wanted!

We certainly would love to go kayaking again, and may look into one of the inflatable Sea Eagle Kayaks that many RVers have and love. You can certainly get a nice workout when paddling upstream! And we have seen many photos from other blogs of nicer places in which to kayak in! It was a very relaxing time.

The brothers

Gary and niece Jasmine

Julia

floating along

Dan getting a workout

This is the new yacht that Sea Ray is apparently testing out, according to our tour guide.

Sea Ray’s new yacht

The two birds that we saw on our tour.

turkey vulture

unknown bird

After our tour, we headed down to Cocoa Beach, to catch whatever rays would soak thru our Broad Spectrum SPF 50 lotion! There were many families and spring breakers enjoying the beach. We discovered a nice restaurant right on the beach, where we had a great dinner, and some tasty “foofy” frozen drinks!

foofy drink time

Quote for the day: “The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it.” – Chinese Philosopher

The U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum

Posted on March 23, 2014 by liv2rv

Dan and I have always had a fascination with the Space program, so we stopped in at The U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, after we finished our bird tour at Merritt Island. The museum, which has free admission (yea!), is crammed full of memorabilia from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle missions. Currently, the museum is in an old building, and is literally bursting at the seams. In talking with the volunteer on duty, they just signed a lease for a new building, that will have about 7,000 square feet of exhibit space, compared with the 1400 square feet they have now.

Many of the items have been donated by employees from the space center, as well as the astronauts. While we were there, a woman came in inquiring about donating memorabilia her father received while working at the space center in the 60’s and 70’s. They were very eager to receive her late father’s collection, and she was happy it would be enjoyed by the public for years to come.

Below is a photo of the recovery suit worn by Virgil “Gus” Grissom after the Gemini 3 flight. Grissom was the 2nd American to fly in space. He was set to command the first manned Apollo mission, but was tragically killed when fire erupted in his spacecraft on the Launchpad in a training mission on January 27, 1967. Crewmates Edward White II and Roger Chaffee were also killed.

Gus Grissom

This is the hatch and frame that was recovered from Mercury Capsule #4. This was a suborbital flight, by Gus Grissom, that lasted about 15 minutes and was uneventful until splashdown, when the hatch cover blew. Grissom was saved from drowning, and the capsule sank into the Atlantic Ocean. It was recovered in 1999.

space hatch

various memorabilia

NASA used a high-speed camera (pictured below), capable of taking 4,000 photos per minute, to check rocket and missile engine performance during tests and during lift-off of the rockets at the space center. The camera was attached to a drive motor below the camera, and is about 3 feet tall with the motor attached.

high speed camera

They had a nice model of the space shuttle on the launch assembly pad.

model of space shuttle launch pad

This museum had a lot of interesting facts and figures for the math geeks.

lots of math involved in the space program!

And even something of interest for radiology geeks! The lunar EVA spacesuit boots that Neal Armstrong left on the moon were x-rayed on July 7,1969, 9 days before the launch of Apollo 11. The radiograph was done to insure there were no foreign objects in the boots which could compromise the integrity of the spacesuit.

x-rays used to document history!

The Space Center has it’s own fire department, and they had several displays in their honor.

fire fighter suit in the 60’s

The museum had a tribute to the crews of the 2 Space Shuttle missions that tragically ended. The Space Shuttle Challenger blew up just 73 seconds after the launch on January 28, 1986. I remember hearing about this during a Physics class in college (UW – Eau Claire). Our professor was visibly upset and released class early and we all went over to a cafeteria to watch the news on television. (life before the internet, where we had to ‘wait’ for news!) Dan was doing his student teaching in Marshfield, Wisconsin when word came in during an algebra II class. This shuttle launch was one of the most widely viewed live space events, because Christa McAuliffe, was on board. She would have been the first teacher in space. The space shuttle program was grounded for 3 years after this catastrophe.

Challenger Crew

On February 1, 2003, all seven members of the Space Shuttle Columbia crew perished when their shuttle disintegrated upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana. Again the shuttle program was put on hold for 2 years.

Columbia Crew

The photo below is a giant rotary dial phone used in the control rooms. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but it is about 8 inches high by 10 inches wide. Amazing how much technology has shrunk the size of phones today!

a giant phone

NASA used these giant Lithium Chloride Batteries on 3 Titan missile missions. One battery has a 250 amp hour capacity, and was the first lithium battery used of this capacity.

a big battery

The photo below shows a mission control room, and the museum has on display several of the actual control panels from this room.

photo of mission control

control panels

Overall, we enjoyed this museum, even though it is in very cramped quarters. We were the only 2 people visiting at the time. We look forward to coming again some day, after they move into their new building.

Quote for the day: “Looking down the road, space exploration and the benefits it yields – in medicine and information technology – should not be overlooked.” – Bob Barr

Happy Birthday to me and Grandpa Stu!!

Posted on March 20, 2014 by liv2rv

Keeping my peeps informed!

Today is my 7th Birthday, so my mom is letting me post again!! I share my birthday with Grandpa Stu (Dan’s dad). He turns 77 today! And since we are both in Florida, we were able to share some cake together!!!

Grandpa Stu and I

My parents have always let me have a small lick of a piece of cake for every birthday that I have had. So when I saw the little piece on the table, I was very excited!!!

Yummy!!

And my grandparents bought me a stuffed hamburger toy, which I was able to “destuff” in under 2 minutes!!

Stuffed burger

My grandparents also took me for a nice long walk, which I always enjoy! But before we drove up to visit them, I did get to go for a walk at our campground. My mom was a little afraid on our walk, because she saw an alligator by our campsite. She just stopped, and then my dad started laughing.

I’m not afraid

Turns out the new owners of the RV park have been busy putting out all kinds of decorations around the park, including a fake alligator. I wasn’t afraid at all, and told the gator to stay away from my football!

And even though today starts “March Madness” with non-stop basketball (Go Bucky!), football is still #1 in my heart. So no birthday would be complete without another game of football!

I love to play!

Now for those who are wondering about my “people age”, it is a myth that one dog year equals seven people years. A dog’s age varies by their size and breed. Since I am only 12 pounds, my “people age” is 44 years.

I hope everyone has a happy first day of Spring!!! Yea!!! And tomorrow is my Aunt Linda’s birthday, so I want to wish her a great day too! (I won’t disclose her age though!)

Quote for the Day: “Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.” – John Grogan

Liv2RV

Living and working around the country in a RV

Category Archives: Full time RVing