2008JeffJourney

Daniel Boone is 275!

October 17, 2009

***Kids and Daniel Boone (or Scott New)

L was reading for Konos Daniel Boone's biography which mentioned frequently Fort Boonesborough.  This is so close to my sister's home that we couldn't pass up a visit.  Providentially, it was the same weekend as the big 275th Birthday Celebration complete with birthday cake.

http://www.fortboonesboroughlivinghistory.org/

 

***M making corn meal.

The fort was full of activity.  Each one of the cabins had either a display of artifacts or a living history demonstration.  We interacted with a blacksmith, gunsmith, weaver, several French fur traders, Blackfish (the Shawnee chief who adopted Daniel Boone as his son after taking him prisoner) and, of course, Daniel Boone himself.

 

***A- in the frame of a Wikiup (Indian housing).

It was with deep disappointment that I read that Daniel Boone did not wear a fur skinned cap. Scott New (aka Daniel Boone) reinforced this fact and replied when I asked him about the old tv show I was raised on, "You pretty much have to throw the whole thing out if you are looking for the truth." How sad.  L remained firm that she still likes the old reruns, but she enjoyed learning the truth about Daniel Boone as well.

 

***The crew standing outside the gates of Fort Boonesborough.

 

On The Way Home

Date: Friday, November 28, 2008 - Monday, December 1, 2008

Added:  NC, VA, MD, CT, & PA:  5 more states to our camper USA map this trip!

Audio Books:  The cheers go up as we finish Uncle Tom's Cabin, also finish The Misadventures of Maude March and Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells. We finish the ride with a few light books: Tonight on the Titanic, Buffalos Before Breakfast and Tigers at Twilight by Mary Pope Osborne

Location:
#1:  Packed up in Trumbull, CT leaving C&N to spend a little more time with family

K&A on Grumpa & Grandma's front steps

#2:  Jonestown Pennsylvania KOA - We stopped in the dark and the challenge was to back into a spot covered with fallen leaves.  J&K stood and marked out the obstacles and called directions to this very spatially challenged driver - yikes. Thankfully we made it into the space snug for the night.

#3  Frostburg, MD - stop for snow. A says, "ow"  She thought the snow looked prettier than it felt.

#4 Meadowbrook Mall, Bridgeport, WV:  Forgetting that we'd compete against the mad holiday shoppers we decided to stretch our legs and get lunch at the mall.  We were quickly reminded how wise we are to avoid shopping with the crowds!

#5 Kentucky - my sister's home for two nights - great time, no pictures.

#6 Home on Monday: 4:30 p.m./ 5 p.m. Friends arrive on their way home from FL. They help us unpack, hug and read to the children, encourage us with their tales of their missionary travels, and spend the night.

Now to press on in the homestretch till Christmas vacation....

June 28, 2008: THE END

Location:  Eureka, MO This KOA is 1 mile from Six Flags, yet 30 minutes from Downtown St. Louis.  We spent little time other than sleeping here.   It is a pretty KOA that even tent campers would enjoy.

Mileage: 10,000.0 exact reading of the odometer as we pulled in front of my sister’s home in KY.

Jr. Ranger Badge #8: Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

7 a.m.  “I’m SO weary, but I must get up….” I thought after I found my alarm and turned it off.  This is the last day of our trip and I had to get up and get us off to St. Louis to avoid long lines at the Arch.  We all struggled to cheerfully get into the car but we made it – granola bar in hand- on the road before 8 a.m.

***K walking to the Gateway Arch ***Heading up in the tram.

Our last stop was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.  Here we have come full circle.  We began our learning journey on the Mississippi River in Memphis and ended on the same river in St. Louis.  Our efforts to get up early paid off with short lines and a quick trip up the arch in the “tram” (or tin can) ride.  We looked out over the flooded muddy Mississippi river and the city of St. Louis.  Once we were back on the ground the kids were ready to tackle another Junior Ranger Program. This time they had to search the exhibits of the Westward Expansion Museum for the answers to questions about explorers, Indians, farmers and fur traders who made an impact on our country’s expansion. 

My highlight was seeing a full Buffalo robe like the one described in a book we had read about Cynthia Ann Parker, a woman who was captured by the Comanche when she was 9 years old.  She lived with the Comanche until recaptured by the Texas Rangers.  By then she only knew the Comanche ways and never adapted back.  (The fictionalized biography we read was, Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker by Carolyn Meyer.)

After taking another Jr. Ranger Pledge and receiving their badges, certificates and patches we were on our way back to the campground to hurriedly pack up one last time.

Within an hour we were over the Mississippi River and back on "our" side of the USA. I at once began to feel at home and on a regular car trip, instead of the big adventure we had been on.  Our drive to KY took us through two more states (Illinois and Indiana) without too much notice.  Tired from the last few days events we passed the hours fairly quietly.  We only stopped for food and gas.  The excitement began as we neared the Reiss home with our eyes (except for S’s who was driving) on the odometer – watching to see if we’d hit the 10,000 mile mark.

***The final tally:

 

Trial #3

We are thankful we have made these weekend trips before going full time in the RV.

Lesson #1: A waterproof pad is good on any bed.  We have experienced and survived the nighttime vomiting that never ceases to escape us in our travels.

Lesson #2:  Upgrading to AAA RV Plus was a brilliant idea.  Just as K and I were reveling in the perceived fact that we would be arriving home in time to not only unpack the camper but get a good night sleep before IOWA testing began on Monday morning, the black smoke puffed from our rear.  We pulled over to see a shredded tire and dripping grey and black water tanks (ewww!).  A kind gentleman pulled over immediately and stayed with us for the remaining four hours as wildflowers were collected, stories were told, troopers were hailed, the sun set, the temperatures dropped, constellations were found,  and the tire was, at last, changed.

***What better place to break down than surrounded by the beauty of Foxhall Farm in Douglasville?

Lesson #3:  Be careful what back country road you turn down. Who would have thought that a cul-de-sac would have a row of mailboxes in the middle of the road?  Racing home to meet the pizza delivery at 11 p.m. we found that road.  K and S teamed together to navigate the turns without taking out a single mailbox or tree!

Are you an Uniformitarianist or Catastrophist?

 

Hmmm… Since most of the museums we’ll see will be influenced solely by the uniformitarian view, we toured one of the few museums in the U.S.that wholeheartedly embraces the catastrophist view - the Creation Museum in Northern KY (http://www.creationmuseum.org/).  On the car ride north, we boggled our minds with the audio version of the Apologia General Science chapters on geology.  This museum presents an abundance of information favoring the catastrophism view.

One of our favorites is the fish fossil caught in the act of eating a fish.  Could this have happened in a catastrophe or in a slow process over time?

 

 

**Phooning on a suspension bridge on the grounds during our lunch break.  The kids' enthusiasm was caught by my sister's family as well.

Trial #2

When reading about Big Bone Lick State Park in KY, I wondered why I hadn't heard of it before.  A name like that tends to stick in your mind.  This is the place where American Vertebrate Paleontology began.  In 1739 Charles Le Moyne discovered the salt lick.  Over time, fossilized bones of mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths and bison were uncovered.  Even Lewis and Clark took notice and studied the fossils before heading into the unknown lands of the west.  (See the website for the park: http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/recparks/bb/)

"You can't even dig a post hole without bumping into something," the museum employee told us.  She also explained that 3 children found fist sized mastodon teeth in one week on the park grounds.  "They are everywhere."  We didn't make any such discoveries, but we did enjoy viewing the bison herd and seeing the park while running, biking and hiking.

As for the trial? 

Lesson #1: One hose may not be enough to connect up to the designated water supply (a trip to Walmart and 2 hoses later we had water in the trailer.)

Lesson #2:  A flat site is much preferred.  Sleeping with the trailer propped up high, resting on thin boards and bricks makes for a worrisome night.  - "Don't shake the camper!!!! " (That Walmart trip also involved more dependable wheel chocks than rocks found at the site and some more stable supports.)

"Get behind me Mom! I'm an expert!" 5 y.o. M exclaimed.  An expert in mud that is. After a week of rain the Kentucky ground was saturated.  While hiking M made sure that K and I had a path of solid ground on which to tread.  An expert he is.