Sure Wish I Could Send this Rain Home!

We've been traveling steadily north since we left home, stopping every 200 or 300 miles to spend 2 - 5 nights, get some rest, do some sightseeing.  And at almost every place we've stopped, we've endured at least one night of violent storms and flood-producing rains.  We haven't actually been flooded out of anywhere, or even had to change our route because of floods, but we have seen a lot of water.  Sights like the photo below are common on the sides of the roads.  Fields have turned into lakes overnight.  Sure wish we could send some of this home.  From what I hear, areas all around our neighborhood have gotten at least some rain, while we've only gotten a very very small amount.  Our daughter says everything at home is "crunchy".

Our campsite at Shady Oaks Campground in Garden City, Minnesota. I'm loving all the green!

The Watonwan River runs alongside the campground.

The Blue Earth River.  I read that the river was named by the Dakota tribe because of the blue clay they found along the edge of the river. Sadly, there's no longer any blue clay, but the name stuck.

The Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River.

The Dam Store.  It's beside the dam. It's really a little cafe. We got some good burgers here.

The interior of The Dam Store.  It's just as classy as you would expect.

Their motto.

I liked the signs they had all over the interior.

Wonder why this made me think of Tim?

This was my favorite sign.

I hope I get this next part right. I think it's an important part of our history. 

In 1862, near the Minnesota River, the Dakota tribe began a war on the U.S. because of broken treaties, broken promises and general mistreatment. We all know about the mistreatment of the native Americans. It was a brutal uprising, with many innocent whites being killed and injured.  Of course, the U.S. won the war, and sentiment against the Dakota was vicious and insatiable.  A trial was held, and 38 Dakota men were sentenced to death. Actually, I read that over a hundred were meant to be executed, but President Lincoln pardoned most of them.

In Mankato, Minnesota, the Dakota and the U.S. got together and designated a little spot downtown as Reconciliation Park.  It's a tiny little park, right beside the river, but it holds a big idea - forgiveness. Both sides have much to forgive. As, for one thing or another, we all do. 

A huge scroll with the names of all the men executed.

Reconcile
by Katherine Hughes

Remember the innocent dead,
Both Dakota and White,
Victims of events they could not control. 

Remember the guilty dead,
Both White and Dakota,
Whom reason abandoned.

Regret the times and attitudes
That brought dishonor
to both cultures.

Respect the deeds and kindnesses
That brought honor
to both cultures.

Hope for the future
When memories remain
Balanced by forgiveness.

Dakota Prayer
by Eli Taylor

Grandfather, Father, Creator
Look down upon us.

Whatever works we do
In a humble way

In the future, when the children
see them, they will understand

and have knowledge

Fort this reason, here at this
gathering place we have come

Have pity on us and look!! Make us
live together as a community!!

All my relatives

In between Tim playing golf, we did manage to get a lot of sightseeing done.  One of our favorite places was Minneopa State Park.  The name of the park is from the Dakota word, Minneinneopa, which is translated as "water falling twice."

Minneopa Falls was beautiful.  It's actually a double waterfall.  This is the top fall.  It falls about 6 or 7 feet. 
One good thing about the recent rains, is that the falls are really showing off. 

And this is the lower falls.  It cascades about 39 feet.  There's about 66 feet in between the falls. 
If you look really closely, you can see the first fall on the other side of the footbridge at the top of the photo.

And this is a view of the lower falls from the bottom of the falls. 

In another section of the park, the state has reintroduced a small herd of bison to the area. We drove through the bison enclosure, but they weren't close enough to the road to get pictures.

There's also an old grain mill in the park.  It was completed in 1864 and was used to grind wheat into flour.

This is an artist's concept of what the mill might have looked like in full operation.

 We are camped near Mille Lacs Lake this week.  Tim has really enjoyed the golf courses nearby.  Tomorrow we are heading on up to Duluth.  We are looking forward to seeing the big ships coming into port on Lake Superior.

York, Nebraska and Pipestone, Minnesota

I think I have what real writers call "writer's block".  Except in my case, being unable to think of anything to write doesn't keep me from writing anyway.  Just don't expect a whole lot of wit or even anything that makes sense.  In other words, everything is just as usual.

The next stop on our epic adventure was York, Nebraska.  Where a thunderstorm tried to kill us, I swear.  The weatherman's forecast was for 70 mph straight line wind gusts and quarter size hail.  We didn't get the hail, but I'm pretty sure we got the wind.  During the first round of storms, around 6pm, we grabbed Charlie and went to the Wal-Mart about a mile away from our campground. Yes, I took my dog into Wal-Mart.  He smelled like wet dog, and I'm pretty sure I did, too.  And we both looked like drowned rats.  It rained hard.  After about 45 minutes the storm passed, and we drove back to the campground, which now looked like a lake.  But all of the RV's were still there, so that was good.

The second round of storms came around 11:00.  Tim was already in bed.  I stayed up, because no one (but Tim) could sleep through the wind and the thunder and the lightning.  I tried to concentrate on a book I was reading until the trailer started shaking and shimmying like crazy.  Then I ran and jumped in bed and woke Tim up and told him if we were going to die, we had to die together, and if I had to be awake for it, he did, too.  We didn't die.

And the next day the weather was fine.  So we went to see Lee's Legendary Marbles and Collectibles.( http://www.leeslegendarymarbles.com/)

According to Lee, it is "a lifetime collection of marbles and the largest collection in the world."  We've been to all kinds of weird little museums, and, well, this was one of them.  Kind of dusty, it's a combination museum and antique (junk) store.  But it was interesting.  I saw a marble for sale for $350.  He also had all kinds of marble games. 

I remember playing this with my Uncle Charles when I was a little girl.
 It was called Chinese Checkers back then. 
Is there a more politically correct name for it now?

The next day we left York and drove to Pipestone, Minnesota.  The weather was still good, and the scenery, mostly farm land, was surprisingly beautiful.  You can't just pull over on a two lane road with no shoulder when you're pulling a fifth wheel, but I took a few pictures anyhow as we were sailing down the road at 60 mph.  Hope you can tell how pretty (and green!) it all was.

And, finally, we were at our destination. You know those peace pipes the ummm...Native Americans were always smoking in old Cowboy and errr....Native American movies?  Well, the real deal, the pipes they passed around during ceremonies and the ratifying of peace treaties and such were made from a certain, reddish color stone found only in this part of Minnesota.  And that is why the town is called Pipestone.  We spent some time at Pipestone National Monument, and it was quite interesting.  But I still don't approve of tobacco.  Nasty stuff. I'm not sure they were smoking straight tobacco, either. We walked down the quarry trail, which was a very quiet and peaceful walk.  We had wanted to see the waterfall that was there in the park, but the trail to it was closed because of the heavy rains.

There were a few pretty wildflowers on the trail.

And a tree tunnel.  I love tree tunnels!

And bugs.

 

 I noticed that all the signage actually said "Indians".  I don't know why people get upset about that word.  Though it is confusing.  We have American Indian friends and we have Indian Indian friends, so there's that.  But, when I was little, my Uncle Charles told me we were descended from an Indian princess, so that made me an Indian princess. And I liked being an Indian princess.  Native  American Princess just doesn't have the same ring.  And Indigenous Peoples Princess just sounds plain weird.  Of course now that I'm all grown up, I'm pretty sure he just told me that because of my dark complexion and long dark hair.  But I still identify as an Indian. 

This mule statue was in front of a gift shop.  I don't know why.

The Pipestone Water Tower is a 132 foot tall concrete water tower. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is unique because it is one of only two water towers in the United States designed by Architect L. P. Wolfe.  It was constructed in 1920.  The people of Pipestone are so proud of their water tower that they built a park around it.  They also celebrate their water tower during the Water Tower Festival, held in June.  We just missed it. 

We are still at Garden City.  I'm looking forward to telling you all about it, but not today.  I think I've finally run out of words.

Wamego, Kansas

A few miles outside of Wamego, Kansas sits a little church called the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church.  I've been wanting to go there ever since I heard about it.  This is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

"Beecher Bible and Rifle Church is a historic church at the southeastern corner of Chapel and Elm Streets in Wabaunsee, Kansas. The church is named after Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, a financial backer for the town who helped smuggle rifles past pro-slavery forces in crates marked Beecher's Bibles.

The town of Wabaunsee was founded in 1855 by a group of about 70 New England emigrants from New Haven, Connecticut who established the Connecticut Kansas Colony, alternatively called the New Haven Colony or the Beecher Rifle Colony. The settlers were inspired by a sermon given by well-known abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher and Beecher gave money to help supply rifles for the men to defend themselves. The rifles were smuggled through pro-slavery areas in crates marked "Beecher's Bibles," and consequently the rifles themselves became known as Beecher's Bibles. Wabaunsee was staunchly anti-slavery and became part of the Underground Railroad in late 1856 and helped Lawrence after Quantrill's Raid.^[2]

In 1862 the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church was completed after four years of construction. The church was built of local limestone by church member Robert Banks, with contrasting stone accents. The overall style is described as Plains Vernacular. The structure is crowned by a gable roof and a wood bell tower. A central brick chimney vents wood stoves on the perimeter of the church, connecting to the chimney via metal stovepipes. The church is entered through a vestibule that provides access to the choir loft stairs. The main space was divided down the center into men's and women's sides.^[2][3]

The church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971."  Wikipedia

Of course, I took pictures.  I mean, if you don't have a picture, it didn't really happen, right?

Flowers along the "new" addition of the church. 
The church is still in use, and from the looks of it, the congregation takes great pride in their historic church.

For such a small town, Wamego, Kansas has a lot of interesting things to see.  One of the main attractions is the Oz Museum.  We really enjoyed our visit there.  The Wizard of Oz has always fascinated me, although, as a child, the flying monkeys scared me silly!  I still don't like them.  But for some reason, this sign on a locked closet, made me laugh!

Keep Out
Witches Only
If opened we will release our flying monkeys.

I took a lot of pictures, and I can't decide which ones to post, so here's all of them. You're welcome.

The green building is the Oz Museum.

I loved this quilt so much I took individual pictures of each square.

This stained glass window was inside the little theater where they play the movie all day.
It's really all about those ruby slippers.
It's always about the shoes!

 This sign was on the exit.  I like it.

This restaurant gave us a laugh.  It's in the same block as the museum.

The "Yellow Brick Burrito"
This doesn/t sound like TexMex
Tim wanted to try it, but I just wasn't that brave.
Besides, they were closed.

 One of our favorite places in Wamego is the Wamego City Park.  It is beautiful!  The Wamego Historical Society and Museum is also in the park.  I'm sad that we never got to go inside, because it was always closed when we were there.  But, of course I took pictures.

The windmill is over 100 years old, and was once used to grind corn. 

                                                                  

There's even a free train ride for the kids!

After we left Wamego, we stopped at York, SD for a couple of nights, then Pipestone, MN, and now we are in Garden City, MN.  And I have so much more to tell you!! But it's just going to have to wait, because I'm tired and sleepy, and I guess my computer is, too, because I'm having a lot of trouble trying to format this post.  So, good night for now.  

And to all my friends and family...remember, we're just a phone call away.  And we sure do miss you all!