2018 07 15 Pipestone, MN, To Sioux Falls SD to Presho, SD - 07 28

Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, Minnesota - 20 July 2018

Several quarries within the Monument that are still used today. Any recognized Native American tribe can quarry pipestone but must use only hand-tools to extract the stone.  

Very nice trails through re-established prairie grasses heading towards the largest quarry.  

Bob stands next to the Sioux quartzite used throughout the state for building material of many buildings. 

The Oracle is the rock that kind of looks like a face.

And the scene through the hole let's you zero in, somewhat. 

Winnewissa Falls is really full due to the recent rains. 

Almost a rainbow to the right of the falls. Tori was disappointed that all these rocks are not allowing her to wade into the creek. 

But it took some convincing to get her to sit with me at the top of the falls. 

The walkway of rock across the Pipestone Creek seemed to some people to be scary as they took a long time to shuffle across before I took this photo. 

The signage needs no additional explanation. 

And the visage is easy to find. 

Now Tori is really unhappy because I won't let her wade in the Pipestone Creek. It's not over it's banks but close. 

Our hand-made pipe with the "Four Winds" silver bands. The artist, Pete 'Heyoka' Musil, of the Wahpeton Sioux, was a self-taught quarrier and pipemaker for over 45 years. His name means "he who boosts the peoples morale". He passed away almost two years ago and was one of the few who made this design of pipe.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota - 23 July 2018

We dropped off our home at the dealer for a check-up. Dinner at the Roll'n Pin Cafe & Grill with their wall of pins. 

Our hotel had a water slide into the pool which is inside this potion of the building. 

We could keep a close eye on our home since the dealer is next door to our hotel. 

Wednesday night dinner was at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que.

As we were first time diners, the manager gave us a bottle of their Sweet-N-Spicy sauce as a gift. Such nice people out west. 

We remember the Columbus Jazz and Rib Fest had a Famous Dave's that won the rib competition many times. The original store is in Michigan so we assume that's who was in our former hometown. 

We left Pipestone, Minnesota for the short trip to Sioux Falls, SD and dropped off our home for its annual check-up.

New Frontier RV Park, Presho, South Dakota - 26 July 2018

2018 07 10 - 07 14 Tailwater Campground Iowa City, KOA Albert Lea, MN and Spam Museum, Pipestone, MN

Tailwater West, Coralville, Iowa - 10 July 2018

Just a short stay but a really nice campground. Those Army Corps of Engineers know how to build stuff. Double wide sites, mostly shaded with well placed utilities. May not sound like a big deal but trying to squeeze into some sites or manipulate for access to the utilities can be a big headache. 

Pups enjoy the relative cool on the banks of the dam spillway. 

Dakota looks like she is trying to decide if she should take the plunge. Bad idea. 

Enough room to park the truck along side the RV. The only drawback was the two pull-through sites were new and not shaded after about 10am. We continue to have stifling heat and humidity. Seemed like the air conditioner was running full blast almost all day long. 

KOA Holiday, Albert Lea/Austin, Minnesota - 14 July 2018

We are getting very familiar with corn fields as our basic view outside. We were amused by a new camper who parked his rig and immediately jumped out, ran over to the field and was very disappointed not to find any ears ready to be picked for his dinner. 

SPAM Museum, Austin, Minnesota - 14 July 2018

A little bit of schtick never hurt anyone so, of course, we took a Sunday afternoon to engage in some. I assume we both have had some Spam some time in our pasts but nothing that either of us could recall. Is that a good thing? 

This is not a tour of a packaging plant. Big surprise there. It's really just a few rooms with information. A couple of sample trays are carried around by SPAMbassadors (this is not a spelling error) but there are no other actual products until you go the Gift Shop. 

Monty Python's SPAMalot is referenced several times. Six ingredients sold in 44 countries at a rate of 403,660,800 cans per year.
Everybody sing: "Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam! Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!"

The SPAM mascot - Sir Can-A-Lot. Nope. We don't make this stuff up, folks.

Twenty cans tall. Eh, they can't really believe someone is going to reach 35.

Working the assembly line - Fill, bake and label SPAM cans. 
She is so fast her hands are a blur. 

We may not be as fast as the automated processing line, but 13 seconds per can seems pretty fast to us. 

Seventeen different flavors. And searching for the next big thing. 

Pipestone RV Campground, Pipestone, Minnesota - 16 July 2018

Finally, some cooler weather and a partially shaded site. 

Breakfast at Lange's Cafe. Not sure it really rated 4 stars but the prices were more like 1988. 

Split Rock Creek State Park, Ihlen, Minnesota - 17 July 2018

As in Sioux Falls, there is a lot of Sioux quartzite in local quarries that is used in many of the buildings and other structures. Since it is so prevalent and the second hardest stone on earth, it's an excellent choice for long lasting construction.

Interesting step dam with a walkway over the top. This side of the dam slows the water coming over the top by making the outer wall layered with extending steps which practically eliminates the "washing machine" turbulence at the bottom.  

Tori found a good spot for wading and since there was nobody else at this little beach we allowed them off their leashes to go as far as they wanted. 

Hoping they would just go out by themselves didn't work very well so Bob consented to removing his shoes and socks and encouraging them to join him further out. 

Dakota may be a newbie at this swimming stuff but she seems to enjoy it even more than Tori. I had to watch both of them as they seemed determined when they came out of the water to stand right next to me and shake themselves. 

Spotted Sandpiper

The former Rock Island Line Railroad Depot in Pipestone has been repurposed as the Keepers Gift Shop & Galery. The Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers is a non-profit formed by local Native Americans and tribal leaders to protect and educate the public about the nearby pipestone quarries and the carving of pipes. This red pipestone quarry has been used for over three thousand years. Outside the Depot is the World's Largest pipe.  Bud Johnston tells the story of how three different people told him about dreams they had that he would build a giant pipe to commemorate the use of Catlinite (a softer stone than Sioux quartzite) that is buried between two layers of quartzite. He originally drew a design for an 8 foot pipe. His eldest son was appalled and insisted the pipe had to be much larger. Standing 30 feet tall, it is not only the largest but the largest working pipe. The four stainless bands on the bowl represent the four winds or directions from which tribe members arrived to quarry pipestone. Often mislabeled as "Peace pipes", the Plains Indians ceremonial pipes are used for prayer as well as community building. It's believed the smoke from the pipe delivers voices to the Great Spirit.

Just up the street from the Gift Shop is the Pipestone National Monument where Native Americans still dig the raw stone and carve pipes inside the Visitor's Center. 

Constructed, as many buildings here, of Sioux quartzite, the Visitor's Center has two paths in opposite directions leading out to the quarries.

Buildings of Pipestone - 19 July 2018

The Calumet Inn - Built of Sioux quartzite with Jasper quartzite (the darker accents) has a 36 room hotel, 2 restaurants and 2 pubs. "Calumet" is French meaning pipe. 

The Moore Block Building was built by Leon H. Moore a local businessman, contractor and sculptor, who owned a quartzite quarry. He has sculpted numerous gargoyles in sandstone for the front and side of his building. The largest is just called "Moses" between the windows. Legend has it that Moore sculpted a nude for placement in the niche to the left called "Eve". Apparently, the townspeople were outraged and forced it's removal, never to be seen again.

Pipestone County Courthouse

Another L.H. Moore sculpture of a Civil War soldier. The placards surrounding the statue contain the names of Minnesotans who fought in the Spanish-American and Civil Wars.  

2018 07 07 - 07 09 White Haven, Downtown St. Louis and friends

Ulysses S Grant Homestead, St. Louis, Missouri - 7 Jul 2018 

The rehabilitation work completed now the first floor is open to visitors. If the paint job looks a little off, the "Paris green" was verified by some original doorway paint at the back of the house before it was expanded. This house was purchased from General Grant's father-in-law, Colonel Dent. The original plantation was worked by several hundred slaves owned by the Dent family. 

The back of the house is where the house slaves would enter from the below ground "winter" kitchen behind the panel. The summer kitchen is separated from the main house off the left hand side of the photo. Behind the summer kitchen is the ice house where river ice is cut into large chunks and covered with sawdust to slow thawing for preserving food over the summer months. Next to the ice house is a huge chicken coop capable of holding about 200 chickens. They collected eggs for sale and consumption. One of the dogs had been trained to catch selected chickens for family consumption.   

Family photos and personal items. 

These are representative clothing of the Civil War era. 

 Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and St. Louis Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri - 9 July 2018

After a four year renovation, the entrance has been moved from outside the Arch legs to the base of the Arch which also housed the Museum of Westward Expansion, with exhibits on the pioneers, Native Americans, miners, railroad workers, cowboys and others who collaborated and clashed as the American West was opened. This Memorial sits close to the starting point of the 1804-1806 western exploration campaign of Lewis and Clarks' Corps of Discovery. 

The new entrance allows for direct access from downtown St. Louis without having to cross any streets and dealing with car and truck traffic. The entire Memorial is 91 acres and includes the former St. Louis Courthouse. 

Closeup of the new entrance has a reflecting pond in the middle and directs visitors around the raised grassy areas towards the entrance doors. 

In line for our ride "To The Top". Each leg of the Arch has a series of 8 connected pods with five seats. The trip up takes 4 minutes while the trip down only takes 3 minutes. Completed in 1968 at a cost of $13 million ($77.5 million in 2016). At a height, and width of the legs, of 630 feet of stainless steel, it is the world's tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere and Missouri's tallest accessible building. 

A cross-section of the arch's legs are equilateral triangles, narrowing at the bases from 54 feet to 17 feet at the top. Twenty-six feet of the foundation is in bedrock which makes the arch resistant to earthquakes and is designed to sway up to 18 inches in either direction. From the top, left to right - The new Anheuser-Busch Stadium, Market Street and the America's Center Convention Complex on the far right. 

The new Anheuser-Busch Stadium, home the St. Louis Cardinal Baseball team.

The Old St. Louis County Courthouse, built from 1864 to 1894, is now part of the Gateway Arch National Park. The famous 1846 Dred Scott citizenship case was heard in the west wing before the remodeling began in 1855. The case was ultimately decided by the US Supreme Court in 1857 which ruled the Scotts did not have grounds to sue as they were not citizens. Slave auctions were held in the Courthouse Probate Courts near the East door until 1861

The America's Center Convention Complex is home to four distinct meeting facilities under one roof: Cervantes Convention Center, The Dome at America’s Center, the St. Louis Executive Conference Center and the Ferrara Theatre.

The Old St. Louis Cathedral or Basilica of St. Louis, King of France. The first cathedral west of the Mississippi River and until 1845 the only parish church in the city of St. Louis. Construction began in 1831 but earliest records suggest a tent was used in 1766 until 1770 when a small log house was built. The name was changed to Basilica of St. Louis after a larger church was built in 1914 farther west in the city's Central West End neighborhood.

Time for lunch and since we are here might as well head to the new Ballpark Village and the Budweiser Brew House for salad and sandwiches with a brewsky chaser. 

Reunion with Old Friends - 8 July 2018

Tom and Joanne Childress have been friends of Bob's since High School. We all attended the University of Missouri - St. Louis and attended each others weddings. 

They came out to see our new home...

And somebody decided they were good friends to have around. We couldn't agree more.