September

Well, we have submitted our final Fund For Teachers reports! Yeah! I know that you all are all surprised that we made the deadline with just a few hours left! We are so thankful for all the attention that we are receiving about the trip! Mrs. Linda Allen, former Spanish teacher at Yale High School, has written a great article about our trip that will be published in the Oklahoma Humanities November edition. We look forward to sharing this article with our friends and students...
More soon

Melody and Donna

Catching Up

This is a short blog to catch up, and hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post a blog for each day that is missing....tonight's hotel doesn't have wireless in the room and last night it was pretty late when we got settled...don't remember the excuses for the other nights....
Thursday we went to Donner Pass....quite a powerful experience to go through the museum and walk around the trails....couldn't help but express the irony of the fact that while walking down the trail to where the Donner Party lived out the winter of 1846 in solitude you can hear all of the cars and trucks zooming down the highway at 75 miles per hour....after we left there we headed to San Francisco....I couldn't talk Donna into walking across the Golden Gate Bridge...but it was still wonderful to drive across and view the Pacific Ocean to the west...we checked in the hotel and caught the bus for Fisherman's Wharf....we took the scenic route for a couple of blocks...and then headed the right direction....of course it had been in the high 90s when we came across California, but by the late afternoon and early evening the breeze that was blowing across the water was down right cold...so of course we had to buy a hoodie....I overheard one shopkeeper saying that they sell more coats in July than any other time, because everyone comes to San Fran thinking that it is summer....LOL...Friday morning we dumped our Coney Island water in the Pacific Ocean....and gathered a sample of Pacific ocean water....then we were off to the John Muir woods to see the Coastal Redwoods...these are not the giant Sequoia trees, but they were giant to us!!!! It was so peaceful and beautiful....it made me think of Eden and what that might have been like....We drove into the valley to spend the night....the traffic was terrible....so glad that I was able to visit...and would love to visit again.....BUT...I would not want to live there and have to put up with that kind of traffic all of the time....Saturday we drove and drove and drove...but it was worth it...we reached the Grand Canyon in time for Donna to see it before dark....it rained earlier in the day and was still cloudy...however she was so impressed....more details later....We stayed Saturday night in Flagstaff....We didn't get up quite as early as we thought we might, but that was ok...we had a great morning driving and walking through the "Terrified Forrest" as Donna called the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert......what another grand case of God showing off!!! How beautiful.....we continued to drive across NM....I had some really great Green Chile Blue Corn Enchiladas ..... Yum....don't think that Donna was so impressed with her fajitas....we called it quits at Santa Rosa for the night...hopefully we will arrive in Amarillo tomorrow.....I left out lots of details...
Thanks for reading....we miss everyone....we will be home soon.....Matt will be home Friday....Gordon will be home the 30th....hope Mike has enjoyed the peace and quiet! LOL

Nevada

Melody here—Tuesday and Wednesday we drove across Wyoming, Utah and Nevada----lots of rocks and sagebrush….We went through the Flaming Gorge National Park area early Tuesday….then headed into Utah….of course when we arrived at the Great Salt Lake, Donna had to taste some of the water…I don’t think she really believed that it would be salt water…but guess what it is salty….The Great Salt Lake is not a very beautiful piece of water….and the area we walked on was extremely stinky…Donna says that she wishes there could be a camera to capture the smell of things…except I don’t think anyone would want to smell this….we stepped over lots of carcasses of birds…pretty yucky…one of the interesting things about the Lake is the way the salt dries on the sand and it crunches under your feet---like stepping on a beach of corn flakes….then you will reach another part and if you step it will be very wet underneath your feet….so we traveled on….after leaving the lake area…the salt desert stretches for miles and miles and miles…we stopped at one rest area where you could walk out on the salt flat…it was probably over 2 feet thick…it looked like a sheet of ice….there was a man wind sailing on the salt…we were able to take some interesting pictures of him…he even let Donna go for a spin….I think my favorite part of Tuesday and Wednesday were seeing the mountains that were tall enough to still have snow remaining on the tops…we saw some peaks that were over 10,000 feet tall…..the really bad thing about the last couple of days has been the haze…it hasn’t been clear enough to see things until we are really close up….We did stop a little early on Wednesday ---we reached Reno…found a place with an outside pool and actually did a little swimming….nice to relax a little before heading into San Francisco…

Cheyenne

Melody here...Monday morning we set out to meet with Bruce Salzburg, the Attorney General of Wyoming....we wanted to do that because Bud and Temple met with his counter part, Mr. Preston. Mr. Salzburg was very generous with his time...thank you so much! It is such a small world...he went to kindergarten in Stillwater, Oklahoma!! He even remembered his street address and phone # from then.....When we told him what the boys had done while in Cheyenne, he said we should eat lunch at The Plains, IT IS STILL THERE! Although the boys couldn't eat or sleep inside, the newly opened Plains Hotel hosted a luncheon for the boys and Mr. Preston (and others) on the sidewalk outside of the hotel..... We were excited to hear about that! We headed to the library for confirmation about the boys trip....they sent us to the State Archives...they were very helpful...we found two newspaper articles...one from September 20, 1911 and one from September 21, 1911...we also were able to copy two photos of the Plains Hotel in March of 1911.....What a great find.....then we were off to eat lunch...we stopped at the Newspaper Office and visited with Kevin....although he was too busy to eat lunch with us...he said that he would pass our information along to the Education reporter Becky...Tonya was one of the secretaries at the newspaper...she was so friendly and energetic...we offered to take her to lunch also, but she had to stay and work....thanks Tonya..... The Plains Hotel is such a grand old hotel...very beautiful and ornate... we arrived in time to eat their lunch buffet and it was absolutely super!!! The brownies we had for dessert were so rich and gooey...We are so glad we decided to eat there.... it was a fantastic choice for us...... we asked to talk to the manager so we could pass along the story of the boys eating on the sidewalk....we talked to Connie....she listened so wonderfully to our story!! She even shared a postcard book about the Plains with us! Thank you so much.....I was disappointed that we didn't know about the Plains in advance or we could have stayed the night there! Oh well, maybe nextg time..... We headed out about 2:15....we felt pretty excited about the day...We left two books in Cheyenne...one at the public library and one with Mr. Salzburg.....It was super to be back on track of Bud and Temple.....Thanks again for reading....we are having a super time, but look forward to being home soon..... We drove until Green River and spent the night...also managed to get a little laundry done....this is the first time we have had decent wireless....tried to load some pictures yesterday...but they were so slow

Sunday at Mt. Rushmore

Donna: It’s Sunday and we headed toward Mt. Rushmore. Another destination not on the route of Bud and Temple, but we just had to see it while we were this close. Quite a few times yesterday people would make comments pretty close to, “You just walk up, see the faces, that’s all, then you leave. Nothing too great.” How wrong can they get? I am thinking they started walking around on their own and had no idea what they were seeing. Ranger Jason announced he was getting ready to give a walking tour. I was interested in having a guided tour because I heard him say he would explain why these four men were the ones chosen for the monument. I got a lot more than I had planned on. Way cool! We learned about how the idea was developed. How the men were chosen. About the work entailed in carving the monument. Ranger Jason even had some interesting facts to share about all four presidents. Then we were lucky enough to have him a little later to show us some of the tools used by the workers as well as a more detailed description of their job description. It seems every job was specializing. I was very surprised when learning that not one person was killed on the job.
We were driving toward Ft. Laramie when we were able to see the unfinished Crazy Horse monument. It will be even bigger than Mt. Rushmore. One fellow traveler who had visited Crazy Horse said that the face of one president on Mt. Rushmore would be the same height as the hair on Crazy Horse. I do plan to go back someday. We then headed to Ft. Laramie. I think about half the structures were ruins from the old fort. They had glass doors with locks so you couldn’t really get too close to the rooms that had a lot of artifacts in them. We’re planning on staying in Cheyenne, Wyoming tonight and look forward to meeting the attorney general and doing some more newspaper research tomorrow.

Melody here…Gutzon Borglum…another man who had a passion….but is not a name that is recognized in the households across America---but I hope to do my part to change that fact for the students of Yale…Borglum is the sculptor who had the vision to create the President’s faces on the side of Mt. Rushmore….A native of South Dakota wanted Borglum to carve the legends of the old west into the hills of South Dakota…but Borglum convinced him to carve the Presidents instead….he was a first generation American and had a deep love of his country…. What a great visionary…. Standing in front of the carved faces was another opportunity to marvel at the talent and vision of people across America….what talent to take the side of the mountain and turn it into the likeness of four of the greatest Presidents of our nation….It was amazing to hear that the men had to climb over 700 stairs to get to the top of the mountain….then they were able to clock in!!
Listening to the ranger talk about why these men were chosen, reinforced my desire to teach our students about these and other great men and their inspiring character traits….
Mt. Rushmore was my favorite part of today….we traveled through the open country of Wyoming…it is beautiful…stopped at Fort Laramie…lots of history….the Bedlam house is the oldest standing building in Wyoming (1848 or 9) –then headed to Cheyenne….
Another full day of seeing beautiful flora and fauna…I am amazed at all the deer and antelope we see….
Hope you are having a great day Matt……Everyone, thanks for reading….we hope that you all enjoy the little snippets we put on here….Look forward to being home and sharing all of the stories in person….consider yourself warned!!!!

Saturday--July 12

Donna: Saturday the 12th of July. Our first order of business was to stop at the 1800 Town. Not just a description. It really is the name of the town. We ate breakfast in an old train car. Original carpet, paint and tile. Pancakes, biscuits and gravy. Yum! I met some fellow travelers. Would you believe they were from Oklahoma? One was from OKC. A couple from Oilton. Then…one couple lives less than a mile from me! They even know some of my neighbors! We continued on and entered the Badlands National Park. A great geological sight. Various colors, sizes and shapes. At one point we actually got to climb around on some of the rocks. Did you ever notice it’s much easier to climb up than it is to come back down? The rocks we were climbing on seemed more like compacted dirt. I couldn’t imagine any serious rock climbing as I wouldn’t trust it to hold my weight. At many points (and we did stop at many) you could see off into the vast horizon. It was a sight to see in the middle of the afternoon. I think it would be absolutely gorgeous to see at sunrise or sunset. This was not on the path of Bud and Temple. I am sure they would have been amazed. I can’t imagine travel through the Badlands being easy for horseback riders.
We then decided to head to Deadwood. A stopping point for the night before heading for Mt. Rushmore the next morning. For a small town, it had lots of people. Lots of families and lots of motorcyclists. We were able to witness a gunfight in the middle of the street. Then, a little later, the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok took place in the #10 Saloon Museum. I got to personally meet Jack McCall, the man who shot Wild Bill! Melody was able to get Jack and Wild Bill’s autograph. Guess what! We met another Oklahoman from Bartlesville!
Melody here. I think my favorite part of Saturday was seeing another one of God’s beautiful creations. The Badlands almost looked like sand sculptures of giant proportions that have been weathered and eroded and neglected over time. If you look at them long enough you start to see many different shapes and images in the rocks. Another way to describe the Badlands is sand art on an enormous scale with all of the different colors. I think my favorite part of the badlands was the area where the stone and paleosols (are you impressed Mike? ) were yellow and pink along with the other colors, but the yellow and pink were very vivid, making a vibrant picture against the gray and brown rocky surroundings—like a giant paintbrush had been dripped across the rocks…. The brochure at the badlands says you can make the loop in 50 minutes. Yeah, right!
I enjoyed talking to Wild Bill Hickok and Jack McCall in Deadwood. It’s a pretty interesting little town with a lot of “wild” history. Tomorrow it is on to Mt. Rushmore!!

Please forgive us....

We have a correction to make---the Community Restaurant we enjoyed so much was in Cortland, NY--not Geneva---I would like to thank the person that emailed us to let us know we had gotten it wrong....please forgive us....we are a little bleary from all the time in the car...but we do remember the great food......