Our last day on the road, except for my flight home tomorrow (assuming I can get out of Dulles). No sightseeing today, just driving through cloudy mists and a little rain. More to come tonight, but the local attitude is that we are well west of the areas that Irene will hit hard. We hope for the best for everyone along the eastern seaboard and inland.
Stacie rode a horse today and thanks to Hannah, Diana, and Cinde (who lent us the horse), she now is convinced that she wants to take riding lessons. Hannah is an awesome teacher. After visiting Diana’s farm, walking the horses, and feeding the goats, and contemplating the views, Stacie has become even more of a farm enthusiast. Tomorrow, we leave for Virginia – our final destination.
Yesterday while driving from Mammoth Cave to Lexington, Kentucky we tried to stop at the Wild Turkey bourbon distillery, along the Bourbon Trail. Unbeknownst to us, the time changed just east of Cave City. We were breaking all speed limits to make the tour and get our tastes, when Stacie suddenly noticed that it was an hour later than we thought – and we had missed our window. So, this morning, we did a little backtracking and revisited Wild Turkey. We learned about yeast, mash and fermentation, distillation, and aging in charcoal burned oak barrels. In short, we learned what makes bourbon bourbon. Wild Turkey just moved to a new distillery, but uses the same aging buildings that it has used since the early days – they reminded me of Oliver Twist’s home. We tasted several types of bourbon, and purchased Wild Turkey’s newest product – Wild Turkey American Honey – yum! We also learned that the oak barrels can be used only once and after use are sold for various other uses, including beer-making. So our next purchase was some Kentucky style bourbon barrel ale. Kentucky had some of the most beautifully manicured farms I have ever seen. And miles and miles of pristine, white fences!
I didn’t mention this before, but yesterday we saw a truckload of pigs on the freeway. Many of them were standing, snouts through the slats in the big rig, gazing hopelessly and anxiously, seemingly resigned, into the great beyond – for that one last look at the world. My eyes met a few of theirs, and I got the distinct impression that they knew their future. Now there is no more bacon for me! The drive today was through beautiful southern Kentucky to Mammoth Cave, which is currently the largest cave in the world at 365 known miles. Of course we went on an underground tour. Mammoth Cave is very different from Jewel and Wind Caves – they are all limestone, but Mammoth is a lot wetter inside, harbors all kinds of life, and has incredible stalactites and stalagmites. We spent about 2 hours 250 feet below ground, winding through the passages carved by groundwater – the Frozen Niagra formation was incredible. The cave system is home to 130 forms of life including some blind fish, cave crickets, pack rats, and bats. You have not seen crickets until you have seen these cave crickets. Well, toward the end of the tour, the ranger casually shone her flashlight on the ceiling, only inches above our heads, and there were all these cave crickets clinging to the ceiling – these things were at least two inches long, with enormous daddy long leg type legs and antennaes the length of the Mississippi! We also saw a very cute bat, nestled in a crack. Prior to entering the cave, and upon leaving, we had to disinfect our shoes to prevent transmission of the fungus that caused “white nose syndrome” in bats. Outside we heard the hum of cicadas, insects I had long forgotten, about and saw the homes of the tent caterpillars. As we were leaving, we had a run in with an insect that seemed to be a cross between an angry carpenter bee and a huge biting fly – it flew into our open window and could not find a way out until we pulled over, jumped out, and opened all the doors. No more open windows for us!
A portion of the I29 that we wanted to travel on was closed, so we had to take some detours to get to our destination. The 2012 hard copy road atlas came in handy because the car’s GPS was going a little crazy – it kept trying to get us back to the original route despite our kind words letting it know that this was impossible. Give it up, we said, it ain’t happening – but that little GPS kept right on telling us to make a legal U turn. Our alternate route took us along Route 2 in Iowa – a surprise to us – a home to an Amish community. Our first clue was the black horse and buggy on the road in front of us. Later we saw several buggies parked at a home, the Amish at work in the fields, and an entire group under some trees eating lunch. Apparently, this community was started in the 1970s, so it’s pretty recent, and it encompasses 8 churches. It brought back memories of Pennsylvania. Later, to pass the time, we played a variety of car games. We heard about the earthquake and more about the hurricane. Finally, after 13 hours, we arrived at the hotel
South Dakota and Iowa
We refreshed some more geology memories today, and were reminded that the Great Plains used to be a shallow sea. Then continental plates pushed and shoved, mountains were raised, and the sea drained. First it became a subtropical forest, then a savannah, and then the grasslands that we see today. Rain, wind, and erosion shaped some of the landscape into the Badlands. Touring the area by car, we wondered what the first settlers must have thought when seeing the area – did they liken it to hell? What was it like to live in those sod houses, built into the side of a hill, and listen to the winds whistle, and the grass sing? From the Badlands we traversed South Dakota from west to east. The prairie stretched endlessly in all directions, with farms infrequently dotting the horizon. Outside the car windows, we were mesmerized by acres and acres of corn and sunflowers interspersed with silos and rounded “bales” of hay. To pass the time, we started reading all the billboards along the I-90 and learned about some of the local views, seeing “Your Parents Choose You,” “Life is a Gift Not a Choice,” “Abortion – Did you Forget Someone?” and even an “Evict Pelosi.” The saddest part of the day was observing the damage wrought by the flooding Missouri in terms of submerged land, downed trees, debris, and ruined homes and businesses, not to mention injuries and lost lives. To top it off, we heard from home today – Callie cat had an accident with her tail and a door, and underwent surgery this morning. She will come home tomorrow with a shorter tail, hopefully to more careful door etiquette, and as a wiser cat.
Our goal today was to see wildlife. The means for our success was the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park. First we spied a lonesome buffalo, ambling along the side of the road, then an entire herd blanketing the prairie. When the white man came to the prairie, the buffalo numbered 30 to 60 million, and lived harmoniously with the Indians. Within several decades, thanks to the white man, only 600 remained. Several ranchers recognized that these animals, in existence since the Pliocene, had to be preserved and rescued them. Then the U.S. government caught on, and buffalo were reintroduced to Yellowstone, Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park, and a few other locations. Now, between the U.S. and Canada, approximately 60,000 buffalo roam. Nothing like the past, but better than extinction. As we continued along, we encountered wild burros, loitering near the edge of the road. Very curious and charming, they nosed up to us, licking our windows, scratching necks against the mirrors, and once we rolled down the windows, inserting themselves into our car. Eventually, they moved on to richer vehicles. Further along, a seemingly anxious pronghorn antelope didn’t know which way to go - this way and that way, up and down the same hill, jutting his head back and forth, and not able to make a decision. Soon we spied a herd, resting in the shad, white rumps winking at us. A few miles further on, a group of wild turkeys strutted in the long grass. Last but not least, we found the prairie dog town. They sat on their burrows stoically, surveying the territory, ever vigilant, ever ready to warn their neighbors of impending danger, and enormously beguiling. Oh, and interspersed with all this, several mule deer grazed in the nearby meadow. Next we toured Wind Cave National Park. Another limestone cave system, the 6th largest in the world, the cave is famous for its boxwork calcite. Geologists don’t know quite how the boxwork forms – the current hypothesis is that the limestone was fractured, calcite was precipitated in the fractures, and later when the limestone was dissolved by infiltrating carbonic acid, the calcite remained, forming boxwork. However it was created, it forms marvelous intricate criss-crossing patterns, extending from the ceiling and along the walls. Similar to Jewel Cave, Wind Cave was discovered in 1881 by guess who – a couple of teenage boys who heard wind whistling through a small hole. Several years later, another boy named Alvin McDonald, explored miles of the cave using only a notebook, candle, and string. The story is that he would guide tourists through the cave, and suddenly decide to explore a passage, leaving such tourists in the encroaching blackness with only the stub of a flickering candle. Thankfully, our tour guide was more reliable and we were immensely grateful for the sparse but constant electricity, provided via the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). One last note – on our tour, we walked along a concrete ribbon and climbed up and down more than 400 steps. The ribbon and steps were constructed by the men of the CCC, who each filled tires with 70 pounds of wet cement that was then carried around each man’s neck into the cave – and it took four tires of cement to construct one step. These same men also hand dug the 250 foot elevator shaft that still takes tourists into the cave and built the park headquarters and staff housing. That is hard work and dedication.
Custer, SD
