South Dakota

Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD

Missouri River navigated by Lewis and Clark

Museum honoring Lewis and Clark

Eight miles of Dirt Road to Triangle Ranch B & B

Yesterday we spent the day traveling from Minnesota to South Dakota. We passed thousands of acres of corn, wheat, sunflowers, and more. The countryside was largely flat but along the Missouri river there were rolling hills.  Luckily we stumbled upon Mitchell SD and the world's only corn palace. 

We are now on Philip, SD just twenty miles from the Badlands National Park at the Triangle Ranch B & B.  As we drove up the long dirt road to the ranch the air was filled with birds catching the grasshoppers that we flying at our car.  The B& B in located in a Sears Catalog Kit House - the Alhambra. Lyndy gave us a complete tour of the house.  We are staying in Grace's Room. We had a wonderful steak dinner last night with the steak grown here and prepared by Kenny.  As a young man Kenny was a bull rider in the college circuit and later he was the clown protecting the rodeo riders.

New Ulm, Minnesota

Yesterday we drove from Wisconsin to Minnesota, our first time visiting these states. We are staying at Bingham Hall Bed and Breakfast. Today we spent the day exploring New Ulm settled by Germans and Bohemians.  It is a small town that celebrates its origins with festivals throughout the year.  Many of the shops and restaurants feature German items and food.  We had a German meal last night.  Today we visited Schell's Brewery owned and operated by the same German family since 1860.  We had a tour of the brewery and a sampling of their various beers. Fern must have a little German heritage along with his French as he loves the German food and beer even more than I do.

Hermann Monument

We also visited the monument dedicated to Hermann, a German hero.  Hermann was my father's first name that had been passed down in his family and his name to passed on to my cousin Hermann in Erichshof, Germany and my brother as a middle name.  We had no idea of the significance of the name.

Glockenspiel celebrating New Ulm's history

Heritage Tree

Schell's Brewery

Peacock Mother and Chicks at the Brewery

Fish Boil

White Gull Inn in Fish Creek WI 

Fire for the Fish Boil 

http://www.whitegullinn.com/fishboil.html

Potatoes and Salt come first

Get the full story of the history and preparation of this tradition meal served in this part of the world.  It was a great end to our time in Door County.

White Fish from Lake Michigan goes in last

The Fish Boil Master

The Exciting Part-- Kerosene is added and the Boil Over flows

Dinner is served in the Dining Room

Door County, Wisconsin

A Barn Quilt - one of many

Fern at our B & B

This Hedgehog Shop reminded me of Hayden Taylor

Cherry Orchard from our B & B

Our B & B

Sunset Beach in Fish Creek

We arrived here in Door County on Friday afternoon. We did some exploring and had lunch before we checked into our first B & B of the trip. The Door County Lighthouse B&B was built in 2001 to look like a lighthouse. It has five rooms and lots of lighthouses on display and stenciled on the walls. We have the smallest room but it has its own Juliet balcony overlooking cherry orchards.


This is the land of cherries. At a large fruit stand filled with cherry products, we purchased some perserved cherries for pie and cherry jam for when we get home. We drove around much of Saturday stopping at the villages and walking through shops and along the lake front marinas. The weather is perfect with brillant blue sky, and a warm breeze. Seems to be quite a contrast to the east coast as our family there awaits Hurricane Irene. We have been checking on the predicted Cape Cod Irene event and it does not seem to be much different from our nor'easters with lots of wind and rain. Here's hoping all will be uneventful at home since we plan to keep heading west tomorrow.

Sault St. Marie to Munising Michigan

Sault St. Marie Locks- 

Munising Falls at Painted Rocks National Park

Shipping Vessel on Lake Superior

East Channel Light on Grand Island, Lake Superior

Painted Rocks from the water

Today we headed to the Locks at Sault St. Marie that help ships navigate between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.  Located on the Canadian border in the NE corner of the Upper Peninsula. Since no ships were scheduled to reach the locks for over four hours we headed west toward Munising via the scenic route through the wild woods of Michigan.  We did not see any moose or other wildlife but did spot a large freighter on Lake Superior.

At Munising we checked into our Motel then headed off to the docks to take a tour boat out to see Painted Rocks from the water.  Since there were high waves (6' to 9') we were only able to take an abbreviated trip.  We saw the layered sandstone cliffs eroded with water action from the lake. Our ride was smooth with no sign of the high wave action. 

Mackinac Island

Shepler's Boat Service 

Arch Rock

Arch Rock - Limestone Breccia

Our Cairn on Mackinac
one of many along the shore

The gardens are lush.
These window boxes are my inspiration for next summer.

We had a great trip to Mackinac Island today by boat, only a 16 minute trip.  I picked up my first rock to add to Juliet's collection. The rock formations are really interesting.  And the cairns people have built along the shore were fun to spot as we biked all the way around the Island - 8 miles with no cars or trucks.  The only means of transportation allowed are bicycles and horse drawn carts and wagons.  We saw everything being transported from the docks to the local hotels and B & B's and restaurants. We also saw the garbage pickup cart. I wonder if they send it off island for disposal?

Only 492 people live year round on the island.  Their only means of escape in the winter when the lake freezes are snow machines.  This really makes Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket seem very convenient and civilized.

Mackinaw Bridge

Mackinaw Bridge entering the Upper Peninsula of MI

The wind warning was not really needed.
We had a smooth crossing.

This is a beautiful suspension bridge. 

We had a seven hour day driving from  Woodstock Ontario to St Ignace, Michigan.  Canada had acres and acres of corn that Fern thinks they might be growing for for ethanol fuel.  Just an educated guess.  The United States border crossing at Port Huron was a long wait in line but a short experience for us as we had only eaten and slept in Canada and had our passports ready.   Then we headed up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on I69 and I75.   The area seems to be sparsely populated by people and largely populated by trees.  Although there were signs about elk herds none were to be seen.  

The bridge at Mackinaw claims to be the longest suspension bridge in the world.  It is 200 feet high above the water at its highest points.  It is a very simple yet impressive design.  St Ignace is just over the bridge and has a definite tourist feel to it - lots of motels from the 1950's abandoned to the lovely one we are staying in right on Lake Huron.  We took a little walk and bought our boat tickets to go to Mackinaw Island tomorrow.  We can see the Island tonight from our room's balcony.

We just listened to the NBC National News for information about Hurricane Irene.  Let's hope it does not hit Cape Cod with more then rain this weekend!

Day 1

We left Yarmouth MA before 6 am on August 22nd. Drove 622 miles making it to Woodstock, Ontario by 5pm.  This is the only photo we took as we sped by the sign-- those of you who travel West on the Mass Turnpike (Interstate 90) will remember it.  Highest elevation on I90 until South Dakota which we will reach a week from tomorrow on our way to the Badlands!

Western Trip Itinerary

Ann and Fern Itinerary; August 22---Oct 2011

Cell Phones: 508-775-2167,  508-776-9239

Monday Aug 22: Depart from CC

Tuesday Aug 23: Best Western Harbour Pointe Lakefront, St. Ignace, MI

Friday Aug 26: Door County Lighthouse Inn (866-868-9088)
Egg Harbor, WI

Sunday Aug 28: Bingham Hall B & B (800-486-3514)
500 South German St, New Ulm MN

Tuesday Aug 30: Triangle Ranch B&B (605-859-2122), Philip, SD

Friday Sept 2: Dude Rancher Lodge (406-259-5561),
415 N 29th St, Billings, MT

Sunday Sept 4: Collins Mansion (406-452-4444)
1003 2nd Ave N.W., Great Falls, MT

Tuesday Sept 6: Glacier Park Lodge, Glacier National Park

Saturday Sept 10:   Evergreen Motel (406-646-7655)
229 Firehole Ave, West Yellowstone, MT 59758

Sunday Sept 11: Lake Lodge Frontier Cabin (307-344-7901)
Yellowstone National Park, WY

Wednes Sept 14: Flagg Ranch Resort (800-443-2311)
Moran, WY

Sunday Sept 18: Bumbleberry Inn (435-772-3224)
97 Bumbleberry Ln, Springdale UT

Thurs. Sept 22: Best Western Canyon De Chelly Inn (928-674-5874)
100 Main St., Chinle AZ

Sat.Sept 24: Far View Lodge, Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde CO

 Sun. Sept 25 & 26 Durango Lodge, Durango CO

Wild Blackberry Jam

The Blackberries are ready!

New jam jars washed and ready to fill.

The Foley Mill is great for pressing the berries and eliminating the seeds from the jam.
I also use the Foley Mill for applesauce made with New York State apples.
It is a favorite with the grandchildren

Juice ready to boil.

I added 6 tablespoons of pectin and brought it to a rolling boil.
Then I added the sugar - seven cups and brought it to a boil again.

Once it is jarred it needs to process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Jenn gave us special labels for our special product.  They are beautiful.

 Before we can leave on our great western adventure we wanted to harvest the wild blackberry crop and make jam to share with family and friends.  Fern has been picking the berries and dealing with the thorny brambles.  I get the jam making assignment. I tried to document the process with a few photos today.