Summertime and the living was fun (mostly)

Summer began with Kearney’s annual Pawnee powwow. The Pawnee Indian tribes were native to the area of Nebraska in which we reside. They were somewhat different than many of our Native American tribes in that they did not war with the settlers. Many of them served as scouts for the US Cavalry, who were charged with protecting the wagon trains of settlers traveling through Nebraska Territory. By 1875, the Pawnees had been decimated by smallpox and other diseases. They took a voluntary relocation to Indian Territory, which later became Oklahoma, our 46th state.

About 500 years ago, the Arikara tribe moved from Nebraska to what is now North Dakota. The Arikara are historically a Pawnee tribe. The organizers of the powwow thought it would be appropriate to also invite the Arikara to participate. This year and hopefully in future years. The Arikara helped the Pawnees build an earth lodge on the powwow site in Kearney earlier in the year.



I am on the American Legion Color Guard and we were asked to do the flag ceremonies at the opening and closing of the powwow.



After that came the traditional dances. Very colorful.







The following week, we drove up to Hot Springs, South Dakota to attend the bi-annual family reunion of Elaine’s siblings and their offspring. On the way to South Dakota, we stopped and stayed with a high-school friend of Elaine’s, Jane Huewe Wahlstrom, who lives in Chadron, Nebraska. While in Chadron, we toured the Museum of the Fur Trade, located on the site of James Bordeaux’s 1837 trading post. In October or November of each year of its operation a caravan of carts would bring trade goods from Fort Laramie. The trip took about 4 day s to complete.



The goods were traded mainly for buffalo robes, about 1,000 each season, which were then transported to eastern USA. The museum includes actual items traded, plus historical displays of the era. A flintlock gun cost 5 buffalo robes (hides), a knife = 1 robe; 1 pound of gunpowder = 1 robe; a wool blanket = 3 robes.



The firearms display contains the largest and most complete collection of trade guns; i.e. made especially for the Indian trade.



The cactus were in bloom – such beautiful flowers in a harsh setting.



While Chadron is definitely far off the beaten track, should you ever have reason to be near there, this museum is a must see. I couldn’t believe that I had never heard of this museum. The contents are fabulous.

Our journey to the reunion took us through a very unpopulated area that is usually bereft of much rainfall. The spring of 2010 was an unusually wet season and the grass was very tall. The area is often a very burnt brown grassland by late June. Not this year. You travel for about an 100 miles, without seeing anything but grassland; even fences are rarely seen. What we did see were many large prong horns (aka antelope), enjoying the grasses that will go unharvested by man.



The reunion was held on the grounds of the Hot Springs Veteran’s Home, a facility founded to care for aging Civil War Veterans. It’s mission continues to care for aging veterans of subsequent wars. Here is a photo of the 11 living children of Joe & Irene Spielmann.



Anne flew to Rapid City, where we picked her up and did some touring of the Black Hills. The Hills have the tallest peaks east of the Rocky Mountains, and are generally covered in Ponderosa Pine. Unfortunately, the pine beetle is making inroads and the area made become denuded of these stately trees, as has much of Colorado in the past few years. The area has abundant wildlife, as you can see. Best viewing of wildlife is in Custer State Park (71,000 acres) and Wind Cave National Park. The burros are not native, but were once used to haul tourists up some mountain trails. They are very friendly and may be closely approached unlike the other wildlife, especially bison, which can be very unpredictable and dangerous.







Additionally, it has some well known attractions such as the “under construction” Crazy Horse monument (the sculptor took the job in 1939 and his children continue the yet unfinished privately-funded project) and Mount Rushmore (begun in 1927 and completed in 1941).





A week after returning home, we flew off to Hawaii for 2-wweks on the Big Island. Joining us were our great NZ friends, the O’Callaghan’s and Anne.



We lazed away the days at the beaches and enjoyed swimming and snorkeling at various picturesque sites:





Anne rented a Jeep and treated us to a visit to the peak of Mauna Kea (13,900 + ft). Megan O’Callaghan came with us. Megan is a lawyer in London. At 9,000 ft level there is a visitor center, where you spend a couple hours getting used to the high altitude. A short walk takes you to a place where the rare silver –sword grows.







A partially unpaved steep and winding road takes you to the summit, where we viewed the various observatories and watched the sunset. I did a short walk at the summit and became dizzy after only a minute or so. Slowly, I returned to the Jeep and let myself get used to the rarified atmosphere before getting out again.



The wind constantly howls at about 50 mph and the temp at sea level was 88 degrees, while it was only 42 at the summit.









On our return to Nebraska, we stayed two nights in Omaha, as Elaine had a conference that she attended on one of those days. On our free time, we visited the “Bodies” traveling exhibit. No pictures were allowed. The exhibit consists of various organ systems of the human body made from actual cadavers. I know it sounds macabre, but it is very educational and very respectfully done. I asked one of the docents where the bodies came from. Like just about everything nowadays, they come from China.

The Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa area were the wintering quarters of the Mormon move from Nauvoo, Illinois and other places to Utah in 1846. There are several sites that commemorate this historic event.



The headquarters of the Union Pacific Railroad, one of America’s largest is in Omaha. They have their own museum (relocated to Council Bluffs, Iowa a few years ago). Well worth a visit.



The Union Pacific was the westbound railroad that met at Promontory Point, Utah with the Eastbound railroad completing the first transcontinental railroad of North America in 1869. Several golden spikes were driven in the rails to celebrate the occasion. I often wondered what ever happened to the golden-alloy spikes (pure gold would be too soft to drive into the railbed). They were promptly removed after the ceremony and distributed to the railroad big wigs. On display is one of the spikes.



My Brother David came to visit in late July though early August. While with us, we visited the Happy Jack Chalk mine in Scotia, Nebraska. The mine operated from 1877 to the end of WW II. The chalk is not of the blackboard variety, but was primarily used as an filler ingredient in paint. It is a quick but interesting tour, & claims to be the only USA chalk mine that you can tour.





We spent several days swimming at a local swimming hole at Fort Kearney. Then we drove to the Sioux Falls area for a sad task, the placing of Tom’s grave marker in Colman cemetery in the Spielmann family plot. It has been over a year since we lost Tom. We miss Tom.



South Dakota, continued to receive high rainfall, with the result being a very impressive Sioux Falls.





During the late summer, I repainted our house in a burnt orange, with dark brown trim after our handyman had replaced some of the siding that was in poor condition. This kept me busy for a few days.



The Nebraska City (3 hrs southeast of Kearney) Apple Festival is held during the 3rd weekend of September. Elaine & I bought some hot apple pie and ice cream, some cider and some apples. From there, we toured the Arbor Lodge State Park, home of J. Sterling Morton’s mansion. Morton was an early settler of Nebraska Territory (1854).





Starting with a log cabin on the site, as his fortune grew, so did his mansion. Morton was the man who came up with the idea for Arbor Day in 1872. In 1885, the State Legislature declared the 1st arbor Day. Morton turned to politics and was Acting Territorial governor (1858-61) among other offices and was the first US Secretary of Agriculture under Grover Cleveland (1893-96). One of J. Sterling Morton’s sons was the founder of the famous Morton Salt firm (he took over an existing saltworks and renamed it). In 1923, the house and grounds were donated to the State of Nebraska and remains so to this day. The mansion and grounds are open to tours.









As summer left us, it was back to piano lessons, which I enjoy immensely among our other pursuits.
In October, Elaine & I helped at our local National Guard and Army Reserve families Halloween Party. Arrgh!!

Springtime in Southern Indiana

As we had not seen Anne since Christmas holidays, our first trip since returning from New Zealand had to be to Indiana. I had heard of a town with a strange name, “French Lick,” located in southern Indiana. We used some of our time share points to book a week in that town and after that, spent 5 days with Anne at her place.



While French Lick has a large hotel and casino complex, the real attraction is in the bordering town of West Baden Springs, originally known as Mile Lick, as it is 1 mile from French Lick. A health resort was established there in 1855. It was a custom in the 1800s to “take the waters” and get mud baths; as there were mineral springs, West Baden Springs housed a health resort, as it still does. The old hotel burned down in 1901 and was rebuilt in the tradition of Europe’s finest spas of the time. It was dubbed the “8th wonder of the World” for good reason. Over the years the resort changed owners and was a Jesuit seminary for over 30 years. Maintenance was neglected to the point that one of the walls collapsed. The Cook family came to the rescue and completely restored the structure to its original opulence. Since 2006, West Baden Springs Hotel has functioned as a Hotel/spa, with over 700 rooms. I’m not sure they ever rent them all out, but they do have 700 rooms available.
Here are some views of the grounds and exterior of the hotel.





Now the inside









Yes, that dome is 6 stories up and the 700 rooms make up the outside of the structure, with the large area under the dome devoted mainly to airspace.
The time share ran very reasonably-priced tours Mon-Thurs and we joined in on Tuesday for the Amish culture tour and on Wednesday for the Caverns and lake tour.
Southern Indiana has a large Amish community near the town of Montgomery. They are the Anabaptist sect that forswears modern inventions such as automobiles, motorized farm equipment, belts, zippers, electricity for the simple Christian life of hard work and more hard work.
The tour took us by many neat Germanic farmsteads.



Horses are everywhere, as they provide the “horsepower” to run their machinery and transportation.





Our tour took us to a typical home, where the lady of the house was making mulberry jam in large pots over a Coleman camp stove. Many Amish communities view photos of people as “graven images” so you don’t take up close photos of them out of respect for their customs.





In 2007, this area was struck by a tornado which destroyed many Amish homes and farm buildings, fortunately there was no loss of life or serious injury. Amish communities from as far away as Canada came to their aid within a day or two. They donated the time and materials to rebuild the damaged and destroyed buildings at no cost to the victims. The community was completely restored within 3 months, all without a dime of government aid.

The tour stopped at a few Amish stores, where you could purchase their crafts or the items they use at home. Elaine picked up a heavy duty pastry cutter and some jams and cheeses. After all this touring, it was time to enjoy an all-you-can-eat lunch at The Amish village Gasthof. www.gasthofamishvillahe.com I think it is run by the Mennonite community, as they have electricity. From what we learned Amish is just a stricter form of Mennonite. After lunch, we waddled through a very large flea market – but resisted the temptation to make any purchases.
Wednesday took us to the karst region of southern Indiana. I remember hearing the word “karst” for the first time in High School in reference to this part of the USA. Karsts are basically an area with extensive limestone caverns and with many sinkholes, that is, where the roof of a cavern collapses and leaves a visible depression in the ground above. Marengo Cave was our first stop. www.marengocave.com As we had actually gone here with Anne (who came down and stayed a couple nights) on Sunday, we just relaxed above ground as most of the rest of the party explored Crystal Palace Cavern. Two local schoolchildren first discovered the cave in 1883. When the property owner heard about it, he promptly fenced it off and began charging admission. In 1984 it was designated as a national landmark by the Dept. of the Interior as “””.the mostly profusely decorated cavern ‘ ‘ ‘ with speleothems of the highest quality.” Whatever a speleothem is.







As Caverns go, I’d say this one is definitely worth a look.
After another large lunch (BTW: I only gained 2 pounds during our stay and have already lost them), we again went underground into a limestone cave. One big difference, this one is a man-made cave. Originally, the Marengo Warehouse and Distribution Center was a limestone quarry.



However, as the bed of limestone got deeper under the soil, the overburden was too expensive to remove, so the owner started digging it from the face of the quarry. Eventually, the dugout parts came to about 250 acres of 1,100 rooms with 30 foot high ceilings, at a constant year round temperature of 56 degrees Fahrenheit. The owners decided that this would make a great warehouse or something like that. They added a cooling unit for products that need refrigeration at 45 degrees and a freezing unit for things that should be frozen (A 14 acre freezer area). For my overseas readers, 14 acres is just less than 6 hectares.
Our tour bus drove us around on some of the 33 miles of subterranean roads.





And we saw lots of materials, like MREs (that’s meals ready-to-eat for you non-military types)





Large barrels of such things as raspberry pulp and mashed bananas



It also provides an ideal environment for growing mushrooms and for storing automotive tires. All of the tires from the recall of Firestone tires several years ago were stored here until they could be destroyed. They continue to store an unbelievable amount of tires in this facility.
The day of touring finished with a 2-hour boat ride on a large pontoon boat on beautiful Patoka Lake, an 8,800 acre lake created by the US Army’s Corps of Engineers in the 1980s. www.patokalakeindiana.com



One of the nicest features of the lake is that the State owns all of the surrounding land, so there are no houses on the lake (other than 3 that were there before the lake was created. Forest surrounds the lake, with a few recreational areas cleared for a marina or beach. Enjoyed viewing an eagle nest and an osprey nest.







While in the area, we discovered that Abraham Lincoln spent much of his adolescence (1816-1830) on a farm near what is now called Lincoln City, Indiana. As we have visited Springfield, Illinois, where he practiced law and Washington D.C., where he served as our 16th President, this was a must see.
There is a very good Visitor Center that has artifacts from his life. www.nps.gov/libo



The grave of his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln is somewhere on the grounds, the stone in the cemetery is not where she is buried (no one knows where the actual burial site is).





The foundation to their 1829 cabin (there were a few earlier cabins, all since dismantled) has been cast in bronze; however, the actual cabin has long rotted away.



A reconstructed historical living farm, with a couple of period actors also graces this National Monument.



During our week at French Lick, we revisited Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana (See slutigram from June 2007). And enjoyed a delicious brunch in their lodge. Took a few more photos and bought another bag of fresh ground corn meal ground by the water-powered grist mill.





Then our week was up and we were off to Anne’s home in Bloomington. There are so many more things to see and do in Southern Indiana that another trip will have to be made.
Had a great time with Anne. Much of the time was spent just enjoying one another’s company.
Anne did tell us of the existence of an Exotic Feline Rescue Center near Center Point, Indiana. www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org Their mission is” to provide permanent homes for exotic felines that have been abused, abandoned or for some reason have nowhere to live out their lives …” It is one of 41 such centers in the USA (how many big cats are there here?), founded in 1991. It has 211 big cats in residence on 108 acres of land. All animals are neutered or spayed and once here, they will not leave. Guided tours are given – but you have to know how to get here, as there are no signs on the main road, and they are, understandably located on an unpaved road. Directions and hours are given on their website.
Here’s a sample of what we saw:









It was quite interesting to find out that the lions all start roaring when they hear a Harley-Davidson engine; nothing happens for a Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda or any other cycle, just Harley. They’d be a bit hit at the Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally.


One final view for my Sluti family. It's an inside joke for the rest of you.