16 - Eastern Canada (Toronto & Montreal)



Avril finding out her redneck husband has French Canadian roots!

Our trip across the border in Western Canada was so much fun we decided to see if the Eastern side was just as good! As for excitement, the drive through Detroit to Port Huron had us at the edge of our seat... low bridges everywhere! Or trailer is 13'6" tall, most of the bridges we had to pass under were 14'0", but we did have to go under one that was 13'7"...we held our breath on that one!

Once up in the Toronto area, we camped in a nice provincial park called Darlington, which is just minutes down the road from Avril's cousin Brian. Although it had been 40 yrs since she'd last seen Brian and his wife Rita, the trusty internet has kept them connected throughout the years.  Their daughter Robin had visited us 22 yrs ago, at our wedding! So you could say a family reunion was in order especially since almost all of Avril's relatives live on other continents.



FAMILY REUNION:



Brian, Robin and her 2 children Gracy & Gresham, Avril & Rita (and Jazz the dog!)

 

"HOUSTON, WE'LL BE HAVING COMPANY REAL SOON!"

After a wonderful day and a half spent with the Eastern Brownlie's we think a Southern visit is in the cards from some of them!!!  Brian mentioned he'll be retiring at the end of this year, so perhaps both him & Rita will do some trekking themselves?!?! ....watch this space!!! :)  We're pretty sure Robin is saving up for a ticket, she helped us out a bunch with French phrases for our upcoming trip to Montreal, but says her Spanish is a little rusty and needs some fine tuning...we can help with that....margarita, cerveza, gracias!...

Brian, Robin & kids at our campsite

FORSTER SIDE:

Our weekend reunion continued onto Dave's side of the family; his Aunt Lois and cousins Cameron & Janice (the one we visited in Cincinnati).  A fun evening by all, catching up and getting better acquainted with those we had not met before.  With all the family reminiscing going on, Dave started feeling a little melancholy, a little homesick perhaps?... turned out what he was feeling was a growing desire to visit the place where it all started for him. Dave yearned to return back to the place of his birth. Turns out, Dave was born in Lachine, Quebec, less than a day's drive from Toronto. So armed with French sayings that wouldn't get us into any trouble, we set our sights on Montreal.

Cameron, Dave, Lois, Daniel (Janice's son), John (Cameron's friend), Avril & Janice

PARLEZ VOUS ANGLAIS?

Fortunately Montreal was very bilinguel and although we attempted some French, it was comforting to know we could be understood either way.  Even though being a Canadian, I was surprised to realize Montreal is an island...kind of like Galveston, TX (near where we live). We took a scenic hike up Mount Royal where we enjoyed panaramic views of the city. They say it is here where Montreal was named, after Mount Royal, say it very fast, over & over, and you can hear how the two sound alike!

La city a la new...

La city, a la old.....(section of town known as Old Montreal)

LACHINE, THEN & NOW:

We were able to find the apartment complex Dave's parents stayed in when they lived in Lachine. We walked around the area and compared routes & buildings between today and yesterday.


Apartment Dave lived in for the first 2 yrs, 1st floor on the left

Little Dave on the balcony

 

Church steps Dave used to frequent as a toddler



Little Dave before the ascent....

WHERE TO NEXT DAVE?

Looks like little Dave thinks the water is where we should head towards next, perhaps to the coastal areas of Maine?  Stay tuned!

15 - The Wright Brothers & Cousin, Dayton & Cincinnati, OH

THE PLACE WITH AN "O" IN IT:

As we left Chicago I wasn't sure what to expect from Ohio. For one thing I couldn't remember where we were heading, "Are we in Idaho, no, wait, Iowa, right?" Dave kept shaking his head wondering, "Isn't she she supposed to be the navigator?"...

WELCOME TO LEBANON, OH:

And you wonder why I get geographically confused when we keep staying at places that belong in other parts of the world?! To Lebanon's credit, it is a very pretty town with a lot of character.  Lebanon has just one main street of shops & services, the houses nearby are all well kept with well maintained lawns, nothing run down here in this town!  We selected Lebanon since it was conveniently situated between Dayton (home of the Wright Brother's museum) & Cincinnati (home of Dave's cousin Janice).

THE WRIGHT STUFF:

This takes kitplanes to a whole new level...would you want to fly this?

The Museum in Dayton puts on a great 30 min movie telling you about the lives of Wilbur & Orville. I learned they were enterprising printing press operators before owning 3 bicycle shops before pursuing their passion of conquering the air. It was interesting to learn about these type A personalities; self taught engineers, and human guinea pigs (piloting something no one had ever tried before). It was also a little sad to realize they spent every waking moment towards flight that there was no time for flight of fancy, (ie. romance).

One of many hangars at the museum

Near the Wright Brother's Museum is the Air Force Museum, one of the largest collections of aircraft from all eras. I think I would have appreciated it a little more if I hadn't spent the last 10 days in Oshkosh.  After 3 hrs, my saturation level for everything and anything aviation was spilling over...

My expression after 3 hrs....  :)

To balance things out a bit we did spend a day hiking through Caesar State Park and on one trail it led us to an old fashion town, called Pioneer Village. The waterfalls listed on the trail map were mere trickles, but at least it was tick free!



Pioneer Village in Caesar State Park, don't think Catalina cares for what Avril's eating!



HIGH FLYING COUSIN:

Ault Park, a beautiful place to picnic & for wedding pictures ...
which is what Janice's daughter Vanessa did in June!

We spent our last day in the area touring Cincinnati with Dave's cousin Janice who works for Delta Airlines. Janice rolled out the red carpet for us, taking us throughout the city, showing us the sights, then treating us to her gourmet cooking and prized margaritas - we'll be coming back for sure!!!

FAMILY TREE:

Family was on our menu this week and  since both Dave & Avril have family in the Toronto area we figure that will be our next destination as well as Dave visiting the place he was born, East of Toronto...way East - or should I say Est....Quebec!

14 - Chicago, IL (SHORT BUT SAVORY...)

Hawaiian pizza Giordano's style! One of the best pizzas we've had, yum!

DID SOMEONE SAY PIZZA?
Okay, okay, I think what Dave really said was, let's go to Chicago and check out the sights...what my mind was hearing was, "Let's go to Chicago and find the deepest and juiciest deep dish pizza on the planet!"... Hit the gas pedal Dave, and let's set our sights on the city that knows what to do with tomatoes & cheese.

Downtown, (Sears/Williams Tower is the tall rectangle that Dave's head is pushing over)!

PRE PIZZA PIE STUFF...

I have heard great things about Chicago but never had visited it before. I did get an opportunity recently when a good friend moved there but unfortunately we could not co-ordinate our schedules and before we knew it, they moved back to Texas.

We found a campsite called Hollywood Casino in Joliet, (40 miles West of Chicago).  The campground had spacious lots for just $27 a night, (maybe they were hoping we'd spend our savings at the casino?!?). It was interesting to find out the law for casinos was that all gambling had to be on the water. A few years ago, the customers started complaining they didn't like being held "captive" on the boat and preferred to come and go when they pleased. So to rectify this, the casino built an enclosed floating barge (roof & all) and connected it to the "mainland".  From the outside, you can't see it's on the water, and from the inside you can't feel it floating on the water!

Casino & RV campground (campground is at top/middle of picture)

Throughout our trip I text friends quick updates as to our status and when I texted we were heading to Chicago for 3 days, within 30 minutes I received multiple texts saying either to eat pizza or eat at Giordano's Pizzeria. Okay but it's 8am, we have to do something beforehand...so armed with water packs on our backs we took to the streets and did our own walking tour of Chicago.  We saw a tour group on segways and considered doing it (for the fun of it) but considered our caloric lunch in just a few hours and decided to burn as much as we could on foot!

Chicago was hot, our water packs were great to have, it's amazing how much water you consume, especially when hot outside.  We walked through Millennium park in the heart of the downtown area. Lots of sculptures and modern architecture for the eye to see.  Here are some of the sights:

Teardrop sculpture but more informally known as The Bean!

Millennium Park, fountains & giant led images that spit water out at you!

PIZZA DE LA RESISTANCE!

By the time we worked our way up through the main shopping drag we were close to our lunchtime destination. Upon arriving at Giordano's Pizzeria, we were seated promptly and we told the waiter exactly what we wanted before the drool from our lips could hit the table (because it smelled so good in there!).  Little did we know it takes over 45 min to make one of these masterpieces...oh the torture....so we waited, and waited and 43 minutes and 22 seconds later, our beloved newborn pizza pie arrived.  We ate in silence, savoring every morsel, only to have our food-gasmic experience broken with Avril saying, "Are you going to finish that last piece?"...

We were entertained with a family that arrived a little later than us who sat beside our table and constantly taxed their waiter's time by changing their order multiple times. Turns out the husband could only eat gluten free foods with no tomatoes..."why are you in an Italian restaurant????" They wanted pizza and hoped the restaurant could custom make one to which was a stern no, but to Giordano's credit their only non-tomato based pizza is a spinach alfredo one, to which the husband responded that he didn't like spinach...ugh, I sure hope the waiter's tip was worth it that day!

When we travel to major cities we usually like to take open top bus tours to get a feel for the area first and then explore the places we like most in more detail later. After leaving the restaurant we came across just such a tour operator. After examining their brochure, we discovered we had already walked to most of their sights listed. We decided to continue by foot to the last destination, the Navy Pier. The Navy Pier is like a boardwalk area, full of restaurants, rides, sights & seagulls...

TAXI !  I MEAN WATER TAXI !!!

By the time we arrived at the Pier, the heat of the day was getting to us. A great alternative for getting back to the train station (how we arrived into Chicago), was by water taxi.

Post pizza after glow....
When Dave said I looked hot, I was thinking of something other than what he saw here...

Navy Pier, looking back at Chicago's downtown skyline

Waiting for our water taxi

One bonus of water taxis... no traffic jams!

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY:
The next day we toured the museum. Dave had been here once before while in Chicago for work. One exhibit that he did not see was of a World War II, German U-505 submarine that the Americans captured off the coast of Africa in 1944.



A real submarine, complete with bullet holes from the the American fleet forcing it's surrender...



We spent about 6 hours at the museum, learning about cutting edge technologies, environmental developments, space exploration, interacting with mother nature models, and just generally having a peruse through the 14 acres of exhibits & models.

TICKED OFF!

Our last day in the Chicago area was spent hiking in the Starved Rock State Park.  Being a state park meant Catalina could join us. As we set off, she led the way, excited to lead us through the trails, often leaping up 2 steps at a time, happy to be back out on squirrel patrol. By the end of our hike, we had to stop a couple of times since Catalina would just lie in the middle of the trail, with the only thing she caught was her breath...(the squirrels could rest easy for another day!).  I had noticed a sign when we left the park warning people about ticks. "Better check the dog before we get home", I said. Fortunately she was clear.  The next day I was running my fingers through my hair and felt what I thought was a scab behind my ear...after pulling said scab out, I soon discovered it had 6 legs!!!! Eeewwwwwww.  Well that was a first for me!


Shores of the Illinois River in Starved Rock State Park



NEXT?

We will be heading East to Dayton, Ohio to see the Wright Brother's museum and then scoot down South to Cincinnati to visit Dave's cousin for the day. 

13 - Oshkosh, WI



The Brown Arch, you know you're in the right place when you see it!

Oshkosh is a place that holds special meaning to many pilots. As Dave likes to joke, it's the "mecca" in aviation, especially for homebuilders of experimental aircraft. It is a place where ideas, innovations in technology, educational forums and lots and lots of pretty airplanes come for the week. The town, (population 66,000) goes from normal to the worlds busiest airport at the end of July.

Camping under the wing....my queen sized bed in the rv is looking more & more appealing!

 In the past, we have been one of the many planes to fly in (approx. 10,000-15,000 aircraft), but this year we decided to camp out for the week in our rv with the tens of thousands of campers there also.  In the past we have only stayed for 3 days, since there is a limit as to how much airplane 24/7, coupled with sleeping on the ground in a tent in a field that always has something going on (and that means not much sleep happening)... Now that we have our home away from home, I figure I had a place to retreat to coupled with the truck - perhaps Catalina and I would take some day trips around the area.



Our neighbor's Paul & Louise's latest addition they built together, Tsamsiyu, (Avatar inspired "Sam")



The purpose of coming to Oshkosh for the third time in four years is for Dave to check the pulse on what's new in aircraft designs that would capture his heart and pocket book... We have a fast 2 place plane, we have a plane that lands on water, so what does the next plane need to do, or have that the others do not? 



Synergy, a concept plane still in development, but we're keeping an eye on it!



 Another fun aspect of Oshkosh is that many of our friends and neighbors also attended it which made it a great opportunity to catch up with some people we had not seen in a few months! Our nextdoor neighbors were even kind enough to bring us all of our mail!

Good friend & champion hugger, Ernie Butcher was a key player in restoring the RV1 aircraft & donating it to the Experimental Aircraft Association. Pictured with Ernie is Dick VanGrunsven, RV1 creator & Rod Hightower, EAA president.



Night time airshow act! An amazing show that is worth seeing!



The weather was extremely hot at the beginning of the event. Fortunately Catalina managed well in the trailer during the morning with windows open and was treated to generator a/c in the afternoon.  The campsite we were at is just an open field, so no electricity, water or sewer hookups. We had to keep an eye on our water consumption and try & stretch things out for the week. As we arrived in Oshkosh, our grey water tank that drains water from the shower & bathroom sink cracked and needed to be replaced. We used this opportunity of knowing we'd be in one location for an extended period of time to have a new tank delivered and arranged a local repair shop to do the work.

Oshkosh's Seaplane Base



After 7 days Oshkoshing, no new project found, pocket book intact, we watched the trailers leave our campsite until we were the last one in our field. After 2 more days we headed to the repair shop (it was the earliest he could do the repair). We did spend one day driving through Door County which takes you up Green Bay and down Lake Michigan, a very scenic drive.

 

Hey, where did everybody go???





Peninsula State Park, walking along the 2.5 mile Eagle Trail



Ephraim, WI, a pretty seaside town on a pennisula W of Lake Michigan

Sand Dunes Park, WI overlooking Lake Michigan


NEXT STOP?
Dave figured I needed to pick the next destination since I managed over a week in Oshkosh. Chicago is nearby and a place I have not seen but want to check out. So Southward we travel!

12 - South Dakota

MAN MADE & NATURAL STONE CARVINGS:

The South Dakota area hosts many gems of the natural kind along with those that man has had a role in. Before heading toward the Black Hills, we skirted by The Devil's Tower on the Wyoming/South Dakota border.  Stopping overnight we enjoyed the afternoon and sunset view of the tower. There is a nice 1.3 mile paved path around the perimeter of the tower that is an easy walk winding in & out of the trees. It was interesting to learn the tower is not one solid piece of rock but rather thousands of columns. When the magma cooled it actually fractured into perfect geometric shapes, (like the shapes you see in a dried out lake out in the dessert and the mud all has the same octagonal like pattern).  After touring Devil's Tower I had the uncontrollable urge to make mashed potatoes....or was that Richard Dreyfuss????   :)

View from our campsite



Walking along the pathway at the base of the tower

MT. RUSHMORE & CRAZY HORSE:




Avenue of Flags, leading you towards the Monument



At first light we were destined for Rapid City, SD, where we'd stay for 3 days to check out the monuments and the Badlands.  Mt. Rushmore was quite impressive, the last time we'd seen it was about 2000' above ground while flying by, many years ago in our 2 place airplane. From the ground the perspective was much better! It's amazing what fourteen years of blasting & drilling and over 400 people can achieve. I wonder how hard of a choice the creator & sculptor had in choosing which of the 30 presidents (assuming presidents were the only option) would represent their vision.  Both of us were impressed with the attention to detail (even though the sculptor had a 60 ft canvas to work on). Things like the glint in the pupils and how they were carved (which upon closer inspection is stone chiseled on the outside of the eye in order to give you that 3D effect).


Amazing what a lot of jack hammering can accomplish!



Shortly after the completion of Mt. Rushmore, another memorial started construction. Unlike Mt. Rushmore's 14 yr project lifespan, the Crazy Horse Memorial, 64 years later, is still a work in progress.



Crazy Horse Memorial as it stands today...

 The original sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski passed away in 1982, but his legacy and dream to complete the memorial continue through his wife and 7 of his children. Unlike Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse is a non profit organization that has twice turned down federal funding offers, believing the interested public should pay for it and not the taxpayer. Such a noble attitude, but after viewing the large visitor's center, not much progress has been made. Thanks to google & Wikipedia, we discovered afterwards that it has been reported the family have spent millions from the admission funds received. On what exactly we do not know, but judging from the lack of work it would seem that personal gain would be one avenue of speculation.  The cost to create Mt. Rushmore was just under 1 million dollars. Today, over 3.5 million visitors come to Mt. Rushmore.  The Crazy Horse Memorial is just 17 miles from Mt. Rushmore, so one would think that at least half of those visitors would also see it too. If you do the math at $10 per person, it doesn't seem like lack of funding is the problem.

Model of what the memorial will look like in ?? years time...

$20,000 GUM:
Even though we had a National Parks pass, we still had to pay to see Mt. Rushmore. The rationale from the ranger was that it is a free monument but the parking to see it isn't free...Part of the $11 parking fee goes towards removing gum from the walkways.  I thought at least one person I know would be interested in that tid bit of information....  :)


IS IT ART?
After seeing the natural and man made rock formations, I had to question, is this really art or are "we" just defacing nature? Would a bronze sculpture at the base of the mountain have sufficed? I'm not sure I can answer that, perhaps seeing other forms of art & sculptures throughout the country will shed more light on it. I wonder if a project like this would happen in today's modern time... just random musings while driving...


THERE ARE MAMMOTHS IN SOUTH DAKOTA!

Active dig site containing mammoth remains & fossils of other creatures

Well I guess it's actually mammoth remains... In our brochures of places to see in the area, one thing caught our attention: real live archaeological dig site over a mammoth sink hole.  Over 26,000 yrs ago, mammoths along with other animals came upon a natural hot spring which unbeknownst to them, was a one way feeding area; you can go in but you can't get out! The hot spring was actually a sinkhole over 60' deep. Our tour guide told us that the trapped mammoths didn't lose their footing all at once, but rather approx. 3 a year. Sixty mammoths have been discovered and as an interesting fact, all 60 are males!!!  The sink hole was discovered in 1974. Fortunately the land owner knew it's historical importance and sold the land for the same amount he paid for it to the university's Paleontology Dept. which built the visitor's center & museum around the site. How cool is it to walk around an active fossil dig?! Seeing partially exposed bones and hearing facts about our past and stories of the site itself. The museum is located in Hot Springs, a definite stop if this is something you're interested in.

A typical scenario, one male mammoth too stubborn to ask for directions & ends up falling into a sinkhole!

LOOKING FOR BISON:

Custer State Park & Wind Cave National Park were homes to many, many bison. So many that we came across bison traffic jams while driving along the scenic roads. The open prairies, rolling hills, big sky horizons, stuff that makes you take a deep breath in and exhale slowly with an ahhhh....then comes the aw, sh*t!, dumba$s, move your f@#!ing car you sorry excuse of a person!!! (Dave's words, not mine).  Welcome to the world of bison watching rage....Oh the 2 hr holdup inching forward was as much of an earful as the scenery outside was an eyeful.  In the end, we just drove on the wrong side of the road, passing all the bison spotters and probably saved ourselves another couple of hours of Dave's sailor talk :)

Wind Cave Park also had another interesting feature, a dry cave, meaning less moist inside therefore slightly different formations within.  Why is it that most caves are discovered by teenage boys? Guess they're the only ones crazy enough to go down a dark hole with just a candle...

B-B-B-BADLANDS!

On our final day we drove out to the Badlands. It was a hot day and by the time we arrived the temps were already past 100 degrees. We took some short hikes, including one that required you to climb up a wooden log style ladder. No problem except the wood itself was very hot to the touch...We wondered why a family coming down were "bum scooting it". By the time it was our turn I went down facing the hill & gingerly grabbing the log rungs like they were hot potatoes. By the time we left the Badlands, the temp on the truck's outside thermometer said 112 degrees.  Despite the high temps, it was a very scenic drive.

An idea of how vast the Badlands are...

Hot rungs & carrying water, very co-ordinated indeed!!!

NEXT STOP?
Fortunately for Dave, Oshkosh is enroute to our Eastward trek. So his aviation withdrawal tendencies will soon subside, (I hope). One mission for Dave during this time off is to seriously look for his next airplane project. We have a fast plane, a plane that lands on water, so what feature should our third one have??? I'm thinking multi place but efficient and not cost a lot...we'll see if there's something at Oshkosh that screams, "Build Me!" on it!!!




Looking for Dave's next project to build....oh where can it be???