An idyllic last night

I spent my last night away as I did the first-camping. This time without my dear friend Inez. I thought of her each time I set up my tent or used the camp stove she gifted me. Here is the site at Fool's Hollow Lake in Show Low Arizona, a place I will visit again for a longer time.

Miles and miles to go.

My next stop would be Devil's Tower in Wyoming. I camped, I walked the trails early in the morning before the crowds and the trance settled in for certain.

The tower is sacred to several Indian tribes and I include a photo of some of the prayer bundles placed there by indigenous people.

The trance continued

When I returned to the Visitor Center of the Little Bighorn, the parking lot was full, there were tour buses and the quiet solemnity had been disspelled.

Some National Park visitor centers are chock full of books on the subject of the park. One of my disappointments at the Women's Suffrage site was the paucity of written material.

The Little Big Horn was obviously stocked by someone who knew their stuff.

I've been following historian Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American since she began writing in the early days of the Trump administration. I was delighted to find this in the visitor center.

I was in a trance

I have felt like I was somewhere out of time when I visited Devil's Tower in Wyoming but more about that in a moment. 

My next stop after Theodore Roosevelt National Monument was the Battle of the Little Bighorn Battlefield.

About 20 years ago I read a book about the battle and I hoped to visit the battlefield at some point. I got there at 8 when it opened and as I drove the road and listened to the audio guide, the silence of the place weighed heavy.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

I had not thought much about Teddy Roosevelt even though I know he established the national park system when he was president.  The Rough Riders "let's go kill somebody put me off." Then I read River of Doubt about his exploration of the Amazon River basin and developed an admiration for him. This park is in The Badlands and does a great job of showing how the land shaped his thoughts. I was fortunate to see the herd of bison and the prairie dog colony before a thunder storm blew in and the bison moved somewhere else.

Biggest Sculpture in North Dakota?

That's what the sign said for Enchanted Highway. I'm intrigued by what people get up to in their spare time.

This isn't Kansas!

North Dakota grows lots and lots of sunflowers, for oil, I think.

Who knew the Plains begin in western Minnesota?

As I drove west from the headwaters of the Mississippi to North Dakota I was amazed to see the land flatten out and become The West.

The headwaters of the Mississippi

It's raining on and off but not cold. It was a short walk from the parking lot to the headwaters of the Mississippi and Lake Itasca.

Yet another campsite

One of the reasons I like camping is that the sites are so often in places where a resort hotel would cost hundreds of dollars a night. This is the first site I've had to walk into, down a short path into the woods and next to a stream whose noise I will hear first thing in the morning

A campsite with birds

I spent most of today driving because it's Sunday and I thought the traffic would be lighter. It was. The campground I chose (I use the app The Dyrt) is wonderful. In front of me is a stream and behind me a pond where kids are swimming. My ebird list, made while sitting next to my tent, includes an Osprey and a Belted Kingfisher, among others.

Mackinac or Mackinaw?

I spent the day on the Island today. It was a glorious sunny day, a good day for walking to Arch Rock. The view from every part of the island was spectacular.  

In Maine and Nova Scotia the indigenous tribe anglicized as Micmaq is actually Micmaw. I'll be researching Macinac/Macinaw to see if it is the same.

A dad's and kids day

This little village, which I think is Union City PA, is on Lake Canahdota. There are swimming beaches, paddle boats, hundreds of pontoon boats, cottages and houses, all modest, small businesses and lots of families. I've never seen so many dads spending time with their kids. They're fishing and swimming and biking and talking. I spent a couple hours in the game room of the campground charging my phone this morning and it was the same there

 I realized I have not heard a voice raised in anger. I have not heard a kid crying. I have seen only adults and children interacting happily. And I haven't seen a single Trump sign or sticker or a Let's Go Brandon flag. Perhaps not everyone in rural America is angry.

Here's tonight's campsite in Pennsylvania.

I'm hoping for a few birds in the morning.

Some of the best birding is a surprise.

The KOA campsite was next to a row of trees with berries and I had a list of 9 species first thing in the morning.

I was so grumpy last night I didn't even do a blog post.

I managed poorly and had to backtrack about 100 miles to find a campground...and it was a KOA. $50 for the KOA but $200 for the Motel 6 at the airport. Not a hard choice. I'm put off by the amenities at KOAs but I found it to be quite nice. I had a huge spot on the grass and even though I was next to the jump pad, it was very quiet after they turned it off.

The fight continues.

Today I made a stop in Seneca Falls, New York where the first women's suffrage convention was held. I found it less powerful than the Lorton museum where suffragettes were imprisoned and force fed.

The Gorge at Watkins Glen

It isspectacular. A geologists dream I imagine.

The Corning Glass Museum is overwhelming.

The history of glassmaking, the history of Owens-Corning, glass-making demonstrations, a chance to make my own and an incredible art museum with thought-provoking pieces. The ticket is good for 2 days so I will go back tomorrow.

Maybe chipmunks like toothpaste?

It was raining this morning so between downpours I dressed, brushed my teeth and headed to Corning to the glass museum. In my haste I left the toothpaste out. 

An antidote to heat and humidity

While in Maine I took a side trip to Grand Manan Island Nova Scotia. The ferry was shrouded in fog on the way over and I took this photo of the Lighthouse. Thinking about it cools me right off.

It was like getting to Mecca

Birders will know what I mean when I say that I was at Sapsucker Woods today at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca New York. State of the art research comes from here as do the ebird and Merlin apps. And they have a sense of humor too.