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NORTH CENTRAL
USA
Jun. –
Sep. 2009
Stopped by the FBI
We were in
the flat Midwest.
However, the fields were lush
with corn and soy bean, and we
found much of interest in small
towns, like a collection of farm
toys dating from 1900 to the
present and an exhibit on the
disastrous floods of the
Mississippi. Many towns had
hanging baskets of
multi-coloured petunias.
The year
before, in Alaska, fellow
tourists had invited us, and 11
months later we turned up on
their doorstep! They live in a
charming tree-lined suburb of
Fort Madison,
Iowa. Not one property had a
fence (unlike where we come
from!). Their hospitality
included a tour of the Keokuk
locks where large ships
are raised and lowered on the
Mississippi River.
Iowa rest
areas were convenient to park at
overnight, with shade, bbq
grills and Wi Fi!
Pella, Iowa
has a restored Dutch village
with a working windmill and
Dutch bakeries.
At the Annual
Car Show in Des
Moines, we found the
thousands of American models of
the 30’s to 60s rather boring
but a little nostalgic. Where we
parked that night, at the
Wal-Mart, Dipli attracted a lot
of attention as usual. Some
asked questions. Many just said:
“Welcome to America”, “Safe
travels”, “I like your truck” or
“Enjoy!”
Wisconsin’s
cities of Madison and
Milwaukee have the most
beautiful buildings right on the
water. (By Saarinen, Clatrava,
FLW) Our timing was right, and
we watched the Circus Parade
in Milwaukee. For 3 hours the
spectacle continued. Antique
circus wagons with musicians,
hundreds of horses, scores of
marchers and bands, elephants,
clowns and people in opulent
medieval costumes filed past.
The next
museum we visited happened to be
about the gangsters of
the 1930’s, like Dillinger, Al
Capone, Bonnie and Clyde (Oshkosh,
WI).
Then we had
to deal with the gangsters of
2009…: We received an urgent
sms to call South Africa. Our
son in law had detected that
fraudulent withdrawals had been
made from our bank account at an
ATM. A criminal within the bank
had obviously duplicated a bank
card. With 7 hours time
difference, we had almost 24
hours of emailing, texting and
phoning to get it all sorted
out.
Houdini
had lived in Appleton, WI
and his paraphernalia and
secrets to escape from straight
jackets, milk cans, etc are on
display there. Wisconsin is the
state with the largest dairy
industry and at a cheese
factory in Rudolph we
saw how 100s of delectable
cheeses are made.
We reached
the twin cities,
Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota.
Email was fast in the Public
Library completed in 2006, but
also at one constructed in 1917.
At the Science Museum we saw the
largest Triceratops skeleton in
the U.S.
Duluth
is dramatically situated on Lake
Superior. Our friends there have
a delightful garden and house
with 3 cats and an enticing shop
called “Lady Ocalat’s Emporium”.
The route
next to Lake Superior
must be one of the world’s
greatest drives.
We entered
Canada at Thunder Bay,
Ontario.
We went to
the city of Sudbury,
Ont., where we were married (in
1970) and where Jan had worked
for International Nickel and
Leone in the Public Library. We
tracked down two library
colleagues. One couple have a
beautiful house in the woods,
where we shared gourmet meals
and daily champagne breakfasts.
In
Michigan you are never more
than 5km away from a body of
fresh water and we were aware of
all the rivers, creeks and lakes
when driving off the Interstate.
At the
East Michigan Fair, near
Imlay City we were guests
and were interviewed by the
local newspaper. The most
unusual variety of rabbits was
among the live animals on
display. We saw chainsaw-carving
and chatted in Afrikaans to the
group of young South Africans
working at the fair.
Every night
in Jackson, MI the
Cascades with fountains and
16 waterfalls are illuminated
and perform with synchronised
music. The Cascade Park opened
in 1932!
Dipli had a
starting problem. It turned out
to be a corroded cable. While
Jan was eliminating causes, we
received an invitation to a
farm in Van Wert, Ohio.
We were astonished that, with
the best equipment, 4 people can
farm 4000 acres and feed 2000
hogs. We left with sweet corn,
choc chip/cranberry cookies and
zucchini bread.
The James
Dean Museum is in
Fairmount, Indiana, where he
went to school before he became
an actor. He crashed his Porsche
when he was only 24 (in 1955).
Garfield
was born in “Mamma Leoni’s
Italian kitchen”. The creator of
Garfield, Jim Davis was born in
Fairmount and still lives in the
area. His first Garfield
cartoons were accepted 31 years
ago. Ten thousand Garfield
products are currently sold
worldwide.
In
Indianapolis we had lots of
fun at the Indiana State Fair,
watching racing piglets sprint
towards an Oreo cookie!, a
lumber jack show and gargantuan
pumpkins being judged. Grub
included: “elephant ears”, fried
green tomatoes, Rib Eye burgers,
candy apples and “taters”, a
potato cut in one long shred and
deep fried.
Our Hi
Lift jack was bent as a
result of the rigging when we
had the accident in 2008. At the
factory in Bloomfield, In.,
we were hoping to merely buy a
new shaft, but instead we were
received by the 4th
generation owner. He gave us a
new Hi Lift, red and white
regalia and arranged for us to
have a tour of the factory.
Columbus,
Indiana
is one of the great
architectural cities of the
U.S., where even schools were
designed by renowned architects.
A yummy treat was enjoyed at the
ornate 100-year old Zaharakos
ice cream parlour.
Union
Station, Cincinnati, Ohio
saw thousands of soldiers being
sent off to war. Now the Art
Deco building houses museums.
The “Dinosaurs Alive” display
had full-size models, of
gigantic prehistoric animals,
moving and roaring. One
illustrated that a Gigantoraptor,
found in Mongolia, had been
covered with feathers.
Columbus,
Ohio
“Chihuly
Re-imaged”: Large contemporary
glass works of art (from
the famous Dale Chihuly studio)
in many shapes and colours, were
placed around the plants in the
conservatory of the botanic
garden. A stunning scene!
At one of the
remaining working glass
factories in Cambridge, Ohio
we watched the melting and
moulding of glass. We also
reminisced among the cowboy
memorabilia in the museum
honouring Hopalong Cassidy
(William Boyd). Jan had enjoyed
watching him on TV; London 1953.
In the
countryside of West Virginia
we came upon Prabhupada’s
palace. A gold covered and
flamboyant memorial to a Krishna
priest.
“Falling
water”, is a spectacular Frank
Lloyd Wright-designed house
cantilevered over a river next
to a waterfall. Built in
Pennsylvania 70 years ago.
In
Virginia we viewed George
Washington’s house on the
Potomac River and Thomas
Jefferson’s home on the
hill.
We saw
replicas of the ships which had
come to Jamestown, to
establish the first British
colony and where only 60 of
214 people survived the first
two years (1607-9).
Yorktown’s
1781 decisive revolutionary
battle is depicted in a
soldier’s camp with displays of
surgical and cooking procedures
and demonstrations of firing of
the muskets. Our tour of the
Battlefield was led by a most
brilliant park ranger bringing
to life the armies of Washington
(assisted by Lafayette) vs.
Cornwallis.
In
Williamsburg people in
traditional dress demonstrate
Colonial life of 1700s. The
most cherished and remarkable,
for us, was to meet artisans of
printing, book binding,
carpentry, wig making, weaving,
gunsmithing etc. They know
everything about their trade and
still produce articles with 18th
century tools, in their small
work shops.
After Bacon’s
Castle with its Jacobean
Architecture it was a scientific
experience again: Surry
Nuclear Information Center
portrays how Nuclear Energy is
produced. 104 Nuclear power
stations providing 20% of the
US’s power. Used fuel is stored
securely on the premises
awaiting the opening of the
Yucca Mountain site in Nevada
(now postponed to after 2017).
From a
generous friend’s handsome home,
we enjoyed the sights of
Washington, DC Jan drove
Dipli so that Leone could
photograph him in front of the
Capitol. It was just
before “nine/eleven” and the
president was to give a speech
in the Capitol that evening. A
few blocks further, when we
stopped to set the GPS navigator
to take us home, we saw flashing
lights behind us. Suddenly to
the side and behind the driver’s
door, hand on holster, appeared
a flushed man in an FBI
windbreaker: “Let me see both
your hands!” “Switch off, use
one hand only, then let me see
both your hands again”. “Now get
out!”.
The
handwritten International
Driving Permit is not good
enough, so Jan goes to get our
passports and a second agent
follows Jan into the camper.
(Presumably to check that it was
not filled with drums of
fertiliser & diesel). In the
mean time a woman “passer by”
elbows between two FBI agents to
question Leone extensively about
our travels. (Was she one of
them?). After half an hour, the
rush hour traffic is backed up
behind us. No response from “Big
Brother” on the radioed enquiry
about us.
“We have
decided to let you go” – looking
rather sheepish.
This journey
up to September 2009:
Time on the road (excluding home
visits): 5 years, 10 months
Kilometres driven: 247 000
Countries visited: 88 (with
Dipli). US States: 39
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