Roadside Surprises

One of the best things about a road trip are what you see outside the car windows as you're driving across state, county, and city lines... . The scene is constantly changing, especially if you decide to take local byways and backroads rather than the interstate. The landscape can change from green vegetation to golden grasses, rolling hills to vast prairies, and sparkling lakes to rectangular plots of crops. This was my expectation coming into this trip, and the Midwest did not disappoint.

But perhaps the best things are the surprises that you do not expect. On this trip, we experienced multiple such moments and locations. There was Theodore Roosevelt National Park (as I blogged earlier about). Another was the never-ending Lake Superior coastline, which we followed all the way to Marquette. Never before this trip did I ever consider that the Midwest would have so much beachfront. (It turns out that the Michigan apparently has the 2nd most coastline of any state, only following Alaska.) If the weather was 15 degreees warmer, I am sure northern Michigan cities would be as popular as ocean bordering beach town. And then there were the fireflies that greeted us with a blinking lightshow as we crossed into Iowa.

It wasn't all Mother Nature's doing though Along the way, we encountered many man made novelties as well... Sue the world's largest Holstein (New Salem, ND) crowd, Wall Drug (Wall, SD) and the Corn Palace (Mitchell, SD) already have a devout following.

However, some reputations have not trickled into the general public's awareness yet. One of these places is located on highway 81 in ND, running north/south on a highway that This 32 mile stretch of road has been named the "Enchanted Highway". On the "Enchanged HIghway", you will come across fish, pheasants, and grasshoppers of epic proportion.

Overall, our drive through the Midwest uncovered numerous "diamonds in the rough"... Some known, some not. But each unique in their own way. And although I probably won't revisit all of them, I was glad to have seen them at least once.

Patriotism & Transgressions

Hi all, once again, this a delayed post due to not internet connectivity. And after reading it again, I apologize for any perceived sappiness. Just writing it like I see it. - SC
***********************


Over the past couple weeks, Norman and I have seen a lot in the Midwest. And one of the common themes we've noticed is there seems to be a higher level of patriotism. Old Glory hangs from the front stoops of houses and can be seen painted on the barns. N & I have even joked that we are performing our patriotic duty by supporting middle America's economy rather than spending money overseas. We're buying from the local grocery store and gas station. We even are driving an American made car ('92 Dodge Spirit baby!).

The past couple days have been a climax of this observation. After we left North Dakota, we made a stop in the "geographic center of the United States". Actually, we made two stops. The first was the convenient and glamorous visitor center in Belle Forche, SD. The only problem is that the real US center is in the middle of a grassy plain, 20 miles outside of the town. They built a "more convenient" marker for the tourists. But it just didn't feel right, so we trekked it out to the actual site as well.

The "convenient" geographic center of the US.

The REAL geographic center of the US (photo courtesy of N. Meznarich)

The climax of patriotism was after we arrived in Keystone, SD. The town is a combination of western facade and Vegas glitz. But the main reason that Keystone is popular is because it's two miles away from Mt. Rushmore. I've never visited the memorial before, and to be honest, my initial reaction was not great. We arrived in late afternoon, so we decided to head up to the site for dinner and then catch the evening light show. The buffalo stew was tasty, but the light show left much to be desired. Most of it was displayed on a big screen, with narration by James Earl Jones. I'm sure it was a riveting video, but we wouldn't know since we couldn't see it where we were sitting. Another reason we were probably put off was the entire area was the antithesis of Theodore Roosevelt NP. Large crowds, lots of pavement, gifts shops, and a four story parking garage... I think we experienced culture shock. Nonetheless, we took our pictures,and left the presentation thinking disappointed thoughts. After taking a day off, we decided to return to the memorial during the day this morning. And I do have to say, after spending some more time looking at faces etched in granite, my opinion changed a bit. Sure, I still think what I said earlier rings true, but I have the utmost respect for the vision and labor put forth to transform a piece of massive rock into a natural treasure. Too much blood, sweat, and tears have gone into making it for me to blow it off because of all the hoopla surrounding it.

Mt. Rushmore at night.

So that was this morning. After we visited the four presidents, we moved to the Badlands this afternoon... and what a change of history that is. One of the black stains in our US history is how we treated the Native Americans of the Badland region. The Oglala Lakota Tribe has resided in the area for hundreds of years. But once gold fever hit, the US government seized the land without regard for the Native Americans. Only in 1980(!) was this addressed by the Supreme Court as a "despicable act", and the Tribe was awarded over 100 million dollars. The Oglala Lakota turned the money down, stating they would rather have the land. And so it is to this day -- the OL Tribe hasn't taken the money, and the value has grown to 900+ million dollars in a trust fund of sorts. And the catch is that the tribe will never be able to recoup the land that once was theirs.

Sorry, this is the only picture I have to convey the culture of the Native Americans.

View from "Notch Point" overlooking the Badlands.

So what can I draw from this? That over the past 200 years, our country has much to be proud of and much to be ashamed for. But I do feel that although we can't correct our transgressions of the last two centuries, we can learn from them, and continue to strive for progress. And that is
something to be proud of.

A Walk (and Stay) on the Wild Side

It's been a whirlwind trip over the past few days... I'll try to give you a quick recap, and the delve into some more of the highlights.

The last time I posted, we were in Marquette, trying the local culinary fare. We then moved onward to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit on the west side of North Dakota. Along the way we stayed in Duluth, MN and Bismarck, ND (where we continued the eating trend by partaking in a Portland Chocolate Malt and a Cracker Barrel Country Fried Steak, respectively. Both were expectantly fantastic.) Once we arrived in North Dakota, we were able to see not only Sue, the largest Holstein Cow in the world, but also a strip of road called The Enchanted Highway. In total, we drove about a thousand miles (plus or minus) over two days... Definitely more road trip than photography. But we were able to get some camera time too.

Now before you think we're eating our way through the country, let me say that we've actually been quite frugal with our meals. A majority of the time we are on a European inspired menu -- we have deli meat sandies, cheese, and fresh fruit. All courtesy of the local grocery of the town we are passing through. Don't get me wrong, we're definitely not roughing it. But we aren't eating out everyday either.

Although the cuisine on our trip has been memorable so far, the highlight of the past week has really been our time spent in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). The park is broken into two sections. The southern section is off of I-94, and is the better known of the two. We stayed there for the last night, but both Norman and I highly recommend the north unit. The wildness of the area is unreal -- you lose sense of the fact that you're in a national park. Rather it's a feeling of getting a glimpse of what it was to live like the cowboys of old.

A sampling of high points and pics from our time in TRNP. Click the thumbnail for a larger image.

Catching sunrise and sunset on the cliffs in the area. Waking up at 5am is not fun, but the resulting photographs hopefully outweighed the sleepiness.

The first morning, on the ridge behind us where the sun was rising, a herd of bighorn sheep crested over the hill toward us. We were able to get some silhouette shots of the sheep grazing their breakfast.

Also that morning, on our way back to our campsite, we realized the camping area was surrounded by bison. We slowly maneuvered the car around the beasts, and sat in awe that we were merely yards away from the gigantic animals. (A sad side note -- in the mid 1800's, there were an estimated 40 million bison in the US. From 1870-1890, that number was reduced to 1500 due to hunting and the fur trade). Thanks to T. Roosevelt and other conservationists, the numbers are now around 500K. They were saved from extinction.)

Seeing God's color palette on the sunset sky, the golden light glistening off the wild grass fields. If you can remember what the wheat looked like at the end of the movie Gladiator, you wouldn't be far off.

Strolling into a valley populated by a prairie dog town, and settling in on the grass, watching the dogs squeak out warnings that humans were near by. Then realizing that once again, the herd of bison were moving into the valley behind us. We moved to the side, and once again reveled in the opportunity to be as close (yet still a safe distance) as we were.

Hiking to the third largest petrified forest... once there, the landscape felt alien. It was perhaps the closest thing I will ever experience to walking on Mars and the Moon.

All in all, the TRNP skyrocketed to being one of my favorite National Parks. I can not say enough about it. It is a hidden gem and worth every mile we drove to get there.

Pad Thai & Pasties

So today was our last day in the U.P. Norman wanted to have a final pasty before leaving Michigan, so I consulted my Lonely Planet guidebook, and checked to see if there was any recommendations. Turns out Marquette not only had a good pasty place, but was home to the "best pad thai in the world". Since we were driving through the town, we thought it fitting to accept the challenge of enjoying both a pasty and pad thai for lunch. After driving along the south shore of Lake Superior, we cruised into Marquette, located the Jean Kay's Pasties & Subs on my iPhone, and pulled into the parking lot. Long story short, we both ordered steak pasty, consumed it (best crust of the three we've had), and then walked outside, wondering where the Thai joint was. We looked around, and realized the Rice Paddy was a block away. But since the JK Pasty lot was for customers only, we got in the car, drove a block down, parked, and strolled into the aforementioned restaurant.

Rupert, the traveling food critic.

Upon entering, we were greeted by a white guy cashier and the owner, Aoy (no idea how to actually pronounce her name). She's apparently quite popular with the college crowd (Marquette is home to Northern Michigan University) and winter Olympic skaters (they have a training facility in town). Anyway, when she sees me, she asks with twinkle in her eye "Are you a spy from the Hong Kong Buffet? No, your English is too good boyfriend." Nice way to be greeted, huh? Apparently she calls everybody girlfriend or boyfriend. Anyway, we order the pad thai, and although she's swamped with orders, she whips up a couple entrees in a couple minutes. Then, having learned that we came because of the "best pad thai in the world", she wants to watch us eat it... The final verdict? Norman, who lives in Ann Arbor, gave it a 8/10 (admitting that he hadn't had pad thai for over a year). And me? Perhaps it's because I lived in Thailand for a year, or maybe that Seattle has some great places too, I rated the food a 4/10. But factoring in Aoy, it bumps up the experience to a solid 7.

So that's was our dining experience for the day... We've got a couple things on our food radar still to eat (egg bakes, pies, and ice cream scoop for N, and the Cracker Barrel for me). Any suggestions on what else we can try? Anything specific to the regions?

Road Lessons

I've only been in Michigan for a week now, but I've already taken away some lessons that will serve me well after this trip is over. I imagine this will be a returning post over the next few weeks.

1. There's something instinctively manly about starting a fire with a fire starter (like flint & steel) and dry leaves.

2. Tahquamenon Falls' mosquitoes are as slow as they are persistent.

3. The iPhone makes a great portable music system, even if speakers aren't great.

4. Candy bar wrappers are not waterproof. We put a few candy bars in the cooler so they wouldn't melt, but the water from the ice soaked thru, thus leaving us with soggy, poo-like chocolate. (We still ate one anyway though.)

5. Hot, low pressure showers work. But they are completely unsatisfying.

6. The Upper Peninsula is dotted with waterfalls, of which we've taken pictures of nearly all of them. Well, it seems like we have anyway.

7. The UP food of choice is a meat and potato filled calzone-like item called the "pasty". Pronouced with a soft "a" sound, like "past-ee". Not to be confused with a paste-y. Completely different, right ladies?

8. Either I'm spoiled by my mattress at home, or my body's getting old (probably the latter). I can't sleep on a Thermarest through the night without tossing and turning.

9. If there was ever any doubt, I am a nerd. I'm camping in the middle of the the Michigan wilderness, and Facebooking and blogging whenever I find a signal.

10. Flip flops are my friend. Too bad I didn't bring them. Doh!

11. I think Rupert might have a bigger following than I do.

The Phenomenon known as Tahquamenon

This post was typed out on my iPhone a couple days ago, but since I didn't have connectivity, I'm posting it now. - SC

***********************

The last couple of days, Norman and I have been in the Tahquamenon Falls (TF) vicinity. The area is pretty and reminds Norman of Canada. Our time here has been filled with taking photographs and and enduring the bugs. I'll touch on the latter first.

Before the trip started, N had mentioned the mosquitos in the UP (Upper Pennisula) were probably going to be problematic. We stocked up on repellant, and he purchased some "anti-bug" clothing. Supposedly it kills any insect that comes in contact with it. I have yet to see it work, but nonetheless I've taken to calling him the "harbinger of death" anyway. Honestly, I thought we might have gone a bit overboard. But the hype is for real. The mosquitoes up here in TF are relentless. If the US military could somehow unleash these bugs in the search for Bin Laden, he would voluntarily surrender himself. (He might claim that it was a cruel & unusual punishment though- Mother Nature's version of waterboarding.) So we apply the spray, and we are granted peace for of a couple hours. Once it wears out though, the all-you-can-suck buffet is open for business again. The only true relief we have is to escape to the sanctuary of our tent. So here I am, hunkered in our little two man shelter, typing away on my iPhone, with mesh being the only thing between me and the insatiable horde.

So why did we choose this insect ridden campsite? Because of the waterfalls. There are two sections - the upper Tahquamenon Falls is the better known bigger brother, but in my opinion the lower falls are more photogenic.

Our time so far has been a real learning experience for me. Although I've been shooting longer, Norm's much more of a technical photographer. He's the guy who knows how to use ALL the features on his DSLR. So it's been great to learn from him and apply those skills myself.

On this trip, we've also made it a point to experiment with various "optical resin" (kinda plastic-y) filters. Although a bit cumbersome, they've opened up a new way to capture images. The filters we have been using (thin square/rectangle shaped tiles called "neutral density" and "graduated") allow us to reduce the amount of light captured by the camera, therefore allowing more motion (blur), color, and definiton in our images. Using these filters, I can finally take pictures like there pros. Here's a few pics showcasing what I mean. Plus a little friend we met along the way.

It's been fun discovering the various ways to use the filters... I'm sure we'll utilize them even more over the rest of the trip. I'll post some more pics as I take them. Hopefully you enjoy them!

Spencer and Norman go to White Castle

Norm and I have never experienced White Castle, so it only made sense that we hit it at 2am. And we knew it was destiny when their website had free slider coupons. So now with bellies full, we head back home. Mission accomplished.

Away I Go.

I'm off to Michigan for my "Great Road Trip" with my cousin. Looking forward to seeing the rugged beauty of the Midewest, and to find evidence there is reason to visit these often neglected states. I'll try to post messages and pics from the road, so you can share in a bit of the experience. Until then...