Home Again

Well, I just got back from three weeks on the road. Mom and I went out on what has become our yearly road trip following my niece's birthday party, and this time hit sites in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Nevada (sort of, we spent the night in Wells), Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.

I took over 2000 photos with my phone alone, and if you follow my Instagram account (@kiirenza), you surely saw some of them.

I just posted four albums of unedited photos from the phone, and some time this week, I'll probably add the photos from the camera, though the phone photos will probably be better. After all, the Motorola MotoX Pure Edition has a 21MP camera, versus the really old Canon EOS Rebel digital camera that I have.

Here's a few photos from the albums.

We started off at the Flight 93 Memorial

The Skew Bridge at the Allegheny Portage Railroad was cool

The Perry Victory Monument at Put-in-Bay, OH

Tons of shells washed up on the Lake Erie beach at Sterling State Park's campground

The Sleeping Bear Dunes were impressive

I hiked out to the Au Sable Lighthouse at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

I had never seen this plant before; it's an Indian Pipe, and it is a parasite! Obviously, it has no chlorophyll of its own.

The widowmaker drill, named such for the scores of men who died due to silicosis

Conglomerate Falls

A thimbleberry along the trail at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

People keep trying to improve on the standard Vulcanized rubber puck

I had to find out what a "pasty" was

I hiked in Voyageurs, and think I might have to go back for fishing

We saw so many abandoned homes and farms

A recreated earth lodge at the Knife River

Theodore Roosevelt National Park has some incredible scenery

An overlook shelter built by the CCC in the '30s.

We went back to Roosevelt the following morning so that we could tour the North Unit.

Fort Union, a trading post

There were some awesome dinosaur displays at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center

Fort Peck's Interpretative Center also had a tank with sturgeon in it. 

This was heart breaking. A beaded blanket that was traded for food by a homeless, starving Nez Perce tribe member.

Glacier National Park's Baring Falls

After Logan Pass, the sun came out at Glacier

Glacier was another one where we saw what we could the first afternoon, then came back for more the next morning.

I hiked up to Avalanche Lake in the morning

Craters of the Moon was an otherworldly landscape in the midst of Idaho

Dewdrop "Cave" is more of a splatter cone entrance or lava tube than anything

Minidoka Japanese-American internment camp. Lest we forget what happened in 1941.

Hagerman Fossil Beds

Do I even need to say it?

Simpson Springs Pony Express station. We had to drive 20 miles on dirt roads to get here. And the 20 more miles back to a "real" highway. 

The bighorn sheep rams were standing in the road like nothing could hurt them

The Flaming Gorge Dam

We did the dig site tour at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. This is one of only a handful of sites where dinosaur tracks and bones have been found together

The Thermopolis specimen, an Archaeopteryx link between birds and dinosaurs. 

Jewel Cave's nailhead spar calcite

Wind Cave's natural opening, a holy site for the Lakota Sioux and others, who see it as part of their creation story. 

Boxwork formation in Wind Cave

The Native American beadwork, art, and artifacts on display at the Crazy Horse Memorial museum is incredible

The South Dakota Badlands

I did the Castle Trail (five mile hike) this year at the Badlands. It did not disappoint

As we left the Badlands to head towards Wall, we found a herd of ewes and lambs.

The exhibit at the Minuteman Missile NHS visitor center is a must see

The Berry Bridge over the Niobrara River

Berry Falls, emptying into the Niobrara

Lincoln's brother-in-law served at Fort Randall. Not much remains of the fort's site any more, except for some foundations.

The spillway at the Fort Randall Dam

Pipestone quarry

Many historic sites preserve graffiti from an historical perspective. They don't appreciate new additions, though.

Effigy mounds in the forest. Most of the ones on the trail by the visitor center are round ones like these, though there are a few bears. 

The National Brewery Museum in Potosi is an eclectic mix of brewiana

In an effort to kill some time before arriving at our campsite for the night, we stopped briefly to explore these lime kilns in Hurstville

I chased this monarch butterfly around the Cowles Bog trail for a while, trying to get some good photos

The Fallen Timbers and Fort Miamis historic sites are on the banks of the Maumee River

Fort Necessity, the starting point for the French and Indian War

A prelude to the interstates that allowed us to see so much in just three weeks

Mount Washington Inn's bar

Someone else was relieved to be home, too

The dust, dirt and salt gathered over three weeks of driving