Home Sweet Home, Monday, 9/8/14 and Tuesday, 9/9/14

Monday, September 8, 2014

We left Springfield, Missouri at 7:45 a.m. this morning and passed through Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and ended up in Birmingham, Alabama at 5:15 p.m.  We met Chuck’s Uncle Danny and his wife, Gisele, at Shane’s Rib Shack and visited with them while we ate supper. 

At 6:30 p.m. we headed south and stopped for the night at a hotel in Clanton, Alabama.  We’ll be home tomorrow.  Yeaaaaaa!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

We left the hotel at 8:30 a.m. this morning with a single minded goal—getting home.   We stopped for a quick bite to eat in Bainbridge, Georgia and when we went through Tallahassee, Florida we saw a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop with the HOT sign turned on.  Of course, we had to stop there and buy a dozen hot glazed doughnuts, and we promptly ate six of those melt in your mouth morsels.   

We pulled into our yard in Weeki Wachee, Florida at 5:45 p.m.  The temperature was in the eighties and the humidity was 89%, but we were excited to be home four months after we left for our adventure in Montana.  We unloaded the truck and piled everything in the living room, but we decided that further unpacking and laundry could wait until tomorrow. 

This will be our last blog entry for this year, but we wanted to share with our faithful readers how many of you there are to this date. 

Blog Hits by Country:

 United States               2132

Russia                              81

Germany                         26

Poland                             24

Ukraine                           19

Turkey                             14

Norway                              7

France                                6

United Kingdom               6

Latvia                                  3

South Korea                       1   

Taiwan                                1

              TOTAL           2320                           

Virginia City/Nevada City, Montana is a fantastic place and they have done a great job of preserving the history of the Old West.  We highly recommend that you all plan a vacation there and spend lots of money so the preservation efforts will continue and this glimpse into the past will be there for our children and our children’s children.  If you have any comments or questions you may direct them to us at travel@cindycations.net.   

As to our future plans, we are flying to San Diego, California on October 3rd to see our son and his family.  On October 11^th we will board a ship headed home and take a 15 day cruise through the Panama Canal to Tampa, Florida.  We will probably take another seasonal summer job next year and are considering a location somewhere in New England.  But, of course, that is subject to change depending on any better offers that may come along.          

 Thanks for taking this journey with us!

 Chuck and Cindy 

 

 

Kansas Barbeque, Sunday, 9/7/14

Sunday, September 7, 2014

 We left the hotel this morning at 8:10 a.m. and headed south on I-29.  We contacted Daniel (our former inn mate) and told him we were near Kansas City and made plans to meet him and his parents at Bass Pro Shop in Olathe, Kansas about 11:00 a.m.  Our timing was impeccable as we both pulled into the parking lot at the same time.  After hearty greetings all around, we walked through the store for a few minutes and posed for a picture with Daniel which he immediately sent to all the other inn mates.   

We followed our hosts to Smokin’ Joe’s which is one of their favorite barbeque haunts.  Dan Sr. ordered everyone lots of ribs, French fries, and smoked ham sandwiches which were delicious.  Chuck thought it was a treat to have some real Kansas barbeque.  After eating and visiting for quite a while, we were invited to follow our friends to their home in DeSoto, Kansas which was about a 15 minute drive from the restaurant.  We enjoyed looking at all the plants and flowers in their yard, and we met one of the family dogs.  Kerri (Daniel’s mother) shared a pot full of plants with Cindy which are called “Hens and Chicks.”  Kerri assured Cindy that she could not kill these succulents, but Cindy is going to give most of them to her mother as she has a green thumb and loves all succulent plants. 

We all piled in Dan’s truck and took a tour of the cute little town and saw the school where both Kerri and Dan Jr. attended kindergarten in the same classroom.   We drove to a city park which is adjacent to the Kansas River, and we walked around a bit and admired the scenery.  There are evidently some huge catfish in the river as evidenced by the catfish heads which are nailed to a nearby telephone pole.  This custom has been going on for years, and the locals apparently use the pole as some type of trophy wall.

 
We took our leave of the Hoschouer family at 3:00 p.m. and drove south to Springfield, Missouri.  We checked into our hotel room at 6:00 p.m., and Chuck immediately turned on the television to watch some football.

Downtown Desoto, Kansas

 

 

 

 

Corn Palace, Friday, 9/5/14 and Saturday, 9/6/14

Friday, September 5, 2014 

It was cold this morning as we headed east on I-90 at 8:30 a.m.  We were headed to Casper, Wyoming as Cindy wanted to see a specific museum located there.  At 2:30 p.m. Chuck said he thought for sure we would have already been there.  Upon investigation, we realized that we had missed the I-25 exit at Buffalo, Wyoming and were almost in South Dakota.  Oh well, so much for the museum.  At 4:00 p.m. we stopped in Rapid City, South Dakota and ate an early supper at Texas Roadhouse.  Chuck then filled up with gas and washed the truck in a self-service car wash.  (He did not wash the suitcases.)   At 5:30 p.m. we checked into a hotel and Chuck spent the evening watching sports on TV, and we also studied the maps to decide upon a new route home.   We are planning to go through Kansas City so we can meet Dan and his family for some good barbeque on Sunday.  (Dan is the young man who got shot and hung so many times this summer, and we lived with him at the Bonanza Inn.)

Saturday, September 6, 2014

We left Rapid City this morning at 8:40 a.m. and headed east on I-90.  We got off the interstate and drove through Mitchell, SD and past the Corn Palace.  We were so amazed by that structure on our journey last year that we wanted to see it again.  We found that the building is currently undergoing a remodeling and the streets around it were blocked off, but we got a look at it from about a block away.   Every spring, its exterior is completely covered with thousands of bushels of native South Dakota corn, grain and grasses that are arranged into large murals.  The theme for this year is “remember when.”  We saw crops of corn growing along both sides of the road for the whole day.  (That’s a lot of corn!)  We also saw quite a few sunflower fields.   

We drove across the Great Plains through miles and miles of nothingness and couldn’t help but think of the pioneers who traveled this land via covered wagons.  We covered 1037 miles in two days, but the pioneers only traveled 12 to 20 miles a day, under the best conditions. In the immense open spaces of the Great Plains, this frequently meant that settlers stopped for the night within sight of their previous day's campsite.  In poor conditions -- when the ground was muddy or rocky, when there were rivers to be crossed, or when there were hills to be climbed -- they might toil all day long to progress less than five miles.   It would have taken a wagon train a minimum of 52 days to cover the territory we covered since leaving Bozeman, Montana yesterday morning.   

We stopped in Council Bluffs, Iowa to buy gas and then went to a restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  The name of the restaurant was Dixie Quicks, and we were sorry that we succumbed to the lure of the TV show hype.  This is about the fourth restaurant we have visited after having seen it on the show, and we have been disappointed each and every time.  We called it an evening and checked into our hotel in Council Bluffs at about 7:00 p.m.

 

Glacier National Park, Thursday, 9/4/14

Thursday, September 4, 2014 

It was thirty nine degrees when we got up this morning, and we started off from the hotel at 8:30 a.m.  We skirted along the east side of Glacier National Park for several miles and it was slow going but we had some beautiful views.   It was 10:00 a.m. when we entered the park at a little town called Saint Mary.  This park is very different from Yellowstone.  There are lots of thick trees along much of the road and very few places to pull out and take in the scenery.  The road was under construction for much of the way, and we were stopped several times to wait for our turn on a one lane dirt road.  (This didn’t do much for truck’s appearance that was so clean after having accidentally gone through the car wash yesterday.)  We drove so close to a rock cliff at points that Chuck folded in the mirrors so they wouldn’t get damaged.   

Since we were not able to stop too often, Chuck got the brilliant idea that Cindy could stand up in her seat and poke her head out of the moon roof to take pictures.  That worked pretty well, except that Cindy felt like a gopher as she frequently popped her head up and got stares from passing motorists.  We got a nice picture of one glacier, but this was nothing like the scenery we saw last year in Alaska.  We were also disappointed not to have seen any animals.   

We exited the west side of the park at noon and turned south.  We drove down the east side of Flathead Lake which is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River.  It is approximately 27.3 miles long and up to 15.5 miles wide with a maximum depth of 371 feet.  The water was clear and blue and the lake was surrounded by mountains.  We passed through several apple and cherry orchards on our way to Missoula.  We stopped for a late lunch in Missoula and at 4:00 p.m. headed east on I-90.  We checked into our hotel in Bozeman at 7:00 p.m.   

Flathead Lake

 

 

 

 

 

Last Work Day and Goodbye Virginia City, Tuesday, 9/2/14 and Wednesday, 9/3/14

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

It was nice weather again today for our last day of work in Montana.  Chuck worked on the train, and Cindy worked at the gold panning operation.   A busload of train enthusiasts from Pennsylvania showed up today and rode the train and panned for gold.  Half of them rode the train while half of them panned for gold and then they switched around.  Cindy lined up all the pans we own and put dirt in them along with tweezers and vials, so she was ready for the onslaught.   

The last train run was at 4:00 p.m. today, so Chuck went to help Cindy clean out the troughs and close up for the season as this was the last day for gold panning.  The Nevada City museum will remain open until September 14^th, and the train will run on the weekends through that date.  

Elise got back from her trip to Seattle last night at 1:00 a.m., and she was napping when we got home at 5:30 p.m.  We woke her up and took her to Ennis with us to get pizza one last time.  She and the inn mates had a great trip to Seattle and she showed us some pictures including one she took of the famous Space Needle.  We got back to the Bonanza Inn at 7:00 p.m. and got the truck loaded and ready to go by 9:30 p.m. 

 

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

We left the Bonanza Inn this morning at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at the Ford dealership in Helena about 8:45 a.m.  We had the back of the truck loaded down with weather proof items and the back seat was full of suitcases and other items that should not get wet.  In order for the mechanic to work on the seat heaters, we had to unload the back seat and put everything into the truck bed.  Chuck warned the service representative that we had moved all our possessions to the back and asked that he please make sure to keep the truck inside in case it rained before we took possession.  We then took the dealer’s shuttle van to a shopping complex and wandered around for a while.  We got a call that the truck was almost ready, so we called for the shuttle and stood in the cold wind waiting for a ride.  (It has been in the forties and fifties all day.)   When we returned to pick up the truck, the mechanic came in all sheepishly and said he was so sorry but he had run the truck through the automatic car wash and didn’t realize the back was full of our belongings.  Oh my gosh!!!!  Our suitcases are fabric soft siders and they were sopping wet as well as a cardboard box.  There was also an open topped bag full of toiletry items and there was about an inch of water in the bottom of the bag, and the contents were a mess.   We left all the stuff in the back of the truck hoping it would dry out some, and then we drove to a restaurant and ate lunch.   

At 12:30 p.m. the suitcases were somewhat dry, so we put them in the front and headed north.  At 4:00 p.m., we checked into a hotel in Browning, Montana which is just east of Glacier National Park.   We plan to drive through the park tomorrow.

Goodbye Virginia City

 

 

 

Hail, PBS Special, and Hanging, Sat., 8/30/14 through Mon. 9/1/14

Saturday, August 30, 2014

It was in the sixties and overcast all morning.  Cindy started off the day at the River of Gold and there was a steady stream of customers.  Chuck started his day being a garbage man and cleaning the bathrooms.  After Chuck relieved Joni for her lunch break, he found out the train had been fixed and was informed he was to start running the train at 1:00 p.m.  Joni was at the Nevada City museum, so Cindy was told to relieve Joni so she could work with Chuck on the train.  When Cindy’s relief arrived at the gold panning operation she walked over to the museum and the line of customers was out the door.   It didn’t get any better from that point forward.   

There was a hanging at 2:30 p.m. and the weather was looking really ominous.  It was reported that the hanging was over at 3:00 p.m. and the pseudo dead man was on the ground.  His widow came rushing down the hill on her horse and jumped off to grieve over the body of her husband.  At just that moment there was crashing thunder and lightning, and the sky opened up and deposited a torrential flood of rain and large hailstones all over Virginia and Nevada cities.  The weather turned cold after that and there must have been about 100 bodies milling around the desk where Cindy was working and they had just about every music machine going at once.  It was horrendous!   

Chuck’s experience with the hail was as follows:  He had just loaded up a trainload of people at the Virginia City depot when he saw the rain approaching.  He told everyone to get off the train and wait in the depot to see what happened.  The storm happened, but after about twenty minutes he determined that they could continue on their way.  At 4:00 p.m. the engine jumped the track again, but only one wheel went off the track so they were able to back it up onto the track again and continue on their way albeit a bit behind schedule.   

Cindy met 16 people today from Ryegate School and she thoroughly enjoyed talking with them.  Ryegate, Montana is northwest of Billings and there are 33 students in the whole school Kindergarten through 12^th grade.   There are 23 elementary students and 10 middle and high school students.  There are three seniors in this year’s class.  The middle and high school students along with six teacher chaperones left Ryegate on Thursday morning for a camping trip.  This is an annual event as the teachers think it helps build teamwork and comradery.  For the last couple of years they have camped in Yellowstone National Park, but this year they did a road trip to include Bannack, Elkhorn Hot Springs, Lewis and Clark Caverns, and Virginia/Nevada cities.  Since the school is so small, all of the teachers are required to teach two subjects or teach one subject at two schools.  Most of this information came from Ag teacher John Spizziri who teaches at two schools and also runs a ranch.  Cindy met the science and PE teacher who is also the head coach for track and cross country.  (Eight of the ten kids here today are members of the cross country team.)  There was a teacher here who teaches computers to all grades K-12 and also serves as librarian and activities director.  Most of the students live on farms and ranches and the furthest one away from school rides a bus 40 miles each way.    All Montana schools are required to teach Indian education and Ryegate School is given $1000 per year towards that end.  Some of the money for this trip was taken from that fund, but the teachers themselves foot much of the cost.  The kids in Ryegate will definitely not fall through any cracks in the education system there.   The picture below is of the librarian and Cedar who is a senior this year.   

We didn’t get off work until 7:00 p.m. and there were still piles of hail stones around town that looked like old snow.  When we got home there were lots of people about so we went out to eat again tonight in Ennis.  We arrived back at the Bonanza Inn at 8:15 p.m. and Chuck went to the rehearsal hall to watch some college football as he has been in football withdrawal lately. 



Ryegate Librarian and Cedar

Sunday, August 31, 2014

It was overcast this morning, but after a rainstorm about 1:00 p.m. it cleared up and was nice the rest of the day.  Chuck started his day at 8:00 a.m. at the train barn.  He and the local maintenance/restoration guy worked on fixing a wheel on the train.  After four hours they thought it was fixed well enough to operate again, but near the Virginia City depot it derailed again.  They got it back on the track, greased the problem area on the track and managed to keep it going for the rest of the day.   

Cindy and Joni worked together at the gold panning operation and it was one of the busiest days all season.  At one point we had 42 people panning for gold and 10 more waiting for a pan and a spot at a trough.  The most memorable customers came in early this morning.  It was a young couple and their two year old son.  They said that they were here gold panning six years ago on the Memorial Day holiday and the man planted a fake diamond ring under the dirt in his girlfriend’s gold pan.  When she found it in the pan he went over to her, got down on one knee, showed her the real diamond ring he had purchased and asked her to marry him.  Obviously she said yes, and this is the first time they have been back here since that momentous occasion. 

Chuck got off work at 5:30 p.m. and went home to take a shower as he was dirty and greasy from his train exertions.  He then picked Cindy up from work and we went to the Nevada City living history volunteer covered dish supper.  This is an annual year end event held to thank all the volunteers.  There were a few speeches, and after we ate the individual volunteers were presented with The President’s Volunteer Service Award.  There were approximately 50 volunteers in attendance and we ate on benches under the trees.  The volunteers were all still dressed in their 1863 clothing, and it was easy to imagine that we were at an old time dinner on the grounds.  Dan Thyer, the living history curator, was presented with a throw blanket which depicted people and scenes from some of the events this year.  The pictures were actually woven into the blanket and it was most impressive.

We got home around 8:00 p.m. and Chuck worked on packing up a few more belongings since our departure date looms near.   The living history people stayed busy until after 11:00 p.m. because a film crew from PBS came to film a portion of a documentary about the famous western artist, Charlie Russell.  Most of it was filmed in the saloon and a portion of it portrayed him exchanging sketches for drinks. 

 

Couple Engaged at River of Gold

 

Monday, September 1, 2014

 It was really nice weather today—sunny and in the seventies.  We worked together at the River of Gold and it was even busier than yesterday.  At one point we had about sixty people present, and there were not enough pans or troughs to go around so people were waiting in line. 

Chuck took his lunch break at 1:00 p.m. and went to see a hanging at Nevada City.  Every historical event portrayed this summer has been based on actual things that happened here in history, and Chuck thought that this was the best one yet. 

We got off work at 6:30 p.m. and went home to do some laundry and pack some more boxes. 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

Snake Man, Friday, 8/29/14

Friday, August 29, 2014

The weather was beautiful again today in the seventies.  Chuck worked at the River of Gold, and Cindy worked at the Nevada City museum.  All operations were slow today, and the train is still not fixed.   

The snake man came to Nevada City today for the last time this year.  He caught one rattlesnake at the cemetery and then came into the museum to make his report.  He asked Cindy if she wanted to see the snake that was in his backpack, and of course she did.  He opened up the top of the container and she heard lots of angry rattling.  He dumped the snake out onto the floor and then held it in place with a long metal tool.  He offered to let Cindy get a close up photo and held it up and towards her.  She did not much care to get such a close shot and backed away from the snake.  He told her that the snakes will be gone by the first frost.  He said they migrate about five miles into the rocky mountain areas and spend the winter there. 

We got off work at 6:30 p.m. and drove straight to Ennis to get a pizza.  We were expecting lots of living history volunteers to be at the Bonanza Inn when we got home, but not a soul was in sight so we had a quiet evening alone.