Wisconsin Trip July 2012

Our Wisconsin trip started at Chapparal Campground, Wonewoc, WI on Thursday, July 12th.  We joined other members of Northland Travelers RV club for a weekend of camping and biking.  The campground has close access to a couple popular Wisconsin bike trails, which follow abandoned rail lines.  One trail advertises a 1/4 mile tunnel, which is so dark in the middle you need flashlights! 
   On Friday we explored small towns of LaValle (which had an old grain elevator converted to antique store), Ironton, Cazenovia, and Germantown.  It was in the last two where we found descendents of a Jax family, and located gravesites of some long past. We also visited a cheese factory, and bought homemade pie from an Amish girl who was selling from her buggy. We missed the bike ride which was scheduled for Saturday, as we had to leave early to make our next destination.
   On Saturday afternoon we arrived in Kiel, WI and parked at Kiel Marsh Wildlife Area (Broughton Sheboygan Marsh Park).  We went to visit Jim & Irene, a couple we met last winter in Arizona.  On Sunday, we all attended a polka mass and parish celebration at St. Johns church in Johnsburg, WI.  Here Gene met folks with last names similar to those of Johnsburg, MN...many were likely relatives! Monday and Tuesday were spent driving around to small towns in the area (Marytown, New Holstein, Mt. Calvary, Chilton), looking in cemetaries and talking with local residents about family ancestry.
    Wednesday found us on the road with the motorhome again, traveling a short distance north along Lake Winnebago to High Cliff State Park, Sherwood, WI.
     High Cliff started out as a limestone quarry operation in the mid to late 1800's.  Limestone from the bluffs was crushed and sent to a kiln where the heated stone turned to lime powder.  Vast amounts of forest were harvested to fire the kilns. But eventually the good limestone was depleted, and the operation shut down.  Remnants of the old kilns and quarry are still visible in the park. The park also has an area containing effigy mounds built by native tribes between 1000 and 1500 AD.  We camped there two days, explored the walking trails, and went to visit Gene's cousin and her husband who lived nearby the park.
    By Friday we were traveling again, headed to the Stevens Point area to stay at Vista Royalle Campground, Bancroft, WI. We spent time visiting Gene's relatives who lived in the area, and on Saturday toured Point Brewery, the oldest in Stevens Point (brewing since 1857).
    Sunday, July 22nd had arrived; time to make the drive back to Shoreview.  We enjoyed the entire Wisconsin experience: a cheese factory, a brewery, a dairy farm (in Kiel), and some wonderful scenery.
  

Return to Minnesota

On April 5th we left Casa Grande to start our journey toward Minnesota.  First stop was Prescott, Arizona where we spent a few days with Kathy's cousin and her husband.  They became our tour guides... taking us to view the Grand Canyon, then to see historic sites around Prescott area.
    After leaving Prescott we headed east along I-40, spending nights in Gallup and Santa Rosa, New Mexico. As we left Santa Rosa the winds picked up, and severe thunderstorms were predicted along our driving route.  We stopped in Tucumcari, NM for two days to wait out the storms.  Downtown Tucumcari is part of Route 66 National Scenic Byway, so we went by car to check out the colorful murals that cover shops and buildings along "Main Street", and spent some time at the local Historical Museum.
    With the threat of severe weather temporarily subsided we headed east again on I-40 through Amarillo, TX, then on to Clinton, Oklahoma. By then more severe weather, including hail, tornadoes, heavy rains and strong, gusty winds, was in the forecast again.  Woodward, OK (just north of Clinton) was hard hit by these storms.
We camped in Clinton for 3 days.
   From Clinton, OK we drove to Garden Plain, Kansas where we spent an afternoon and evening visiting some of Gene's relatives.  We parked overnight at the family farm place still occupied by an 89 year old cousin who had been born on that farm.
   After leaving Garden Plain we headed toward I-35, spending nights in Topeka, KS and Osceola, Iowa along the route home.  We arrived in Shoreview on April 19th.
    The motor home is parked, the Christmas decorations have been taken down, and yard and garden activities await...

St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery

  On March 27th we drove to St. Anthony's Monastery near Florence, AZ to view the beautiful church, chapels, and gardens that make up the Monastery.  Jen was visiting  for a few days the end of March, so she was able to go on this trip with us.
   In the summer of 1995 six monks arrived in the Arizona desert. Under the direction of Elder Ephraim, a disciple of Mt. Athos monastery in Greece, the building began. They constructed a main church, living quarters for the monks, a  dining hall, and guest facilities.  As the monastery expanded they added more chapels, a vegetable garden, citrus orchards, and an olive grove.
 
  The brotherhood of over 40 monks and novices living here follow a daily schedule of prayer and work...tending the gardens, orchards, and buildings; preparing food; and offering hospitality to visitors. Everyone is welcome to visit, but are asked to dress appropriately: men wear long sleeve shirts and long pants; women wear long sleeve blouses, long skirts, and head scarves.  A supply of clothing is kept at the visitor entrance for those needing it...Jen and I were given long skirts and head scarves to put on as we entered, as neither of us had those garments in our travel wardrobe...

    Beautiful woodwork, icons, and candles are plentiful. The rounded Byzantine dome (Russian dome) architecture and Russian Orthodox crosses are present on the church and chapels. The churches are open, with no pews or chairs, only benches surrounding the perimeter where those attending stand during the services.

 It is a beautiful hidden, desert surprise...

Biosphere 2

On March 14 we went on a tag-a-long tour from Val Vista Park to see Biosphere 2.  The drive to Biosphere was scenic, with changes in variety of cactus and other landscape as we ascended elevation to the site location in Oracle, AZ.  The mountains behind Biosphere 2 actually had some snow on the upper peaks.
  Original construction began in 1986 by Space Biospheres Ventures to construct a facility to study self-sustaining space-colonization technology.  Two missions were completed between 1991 and 1994, with human subjects sealed in  Biosphere 2 to analyze survivability in a created environment.  The outcomes were considered successful, but no further missions were planned.
   In 2007 University of Arizona took over management of the facility.  The enclosure is now used to support research for large scale ecology projects, such as the consequences of global climate change.  Ecosystems within Biosphere 2 include ocean with coral reef; mangrove wetlands; tropical rainforest; savannah grassland, and fog desert.  Huge air-handlers can adjust environmental conditions in each of these areas...e.g. if they want to study impact of less rain and cooler temperatures in the rainforest, this can be accomplished by settings made within the energy center.
   The most frequent visitor question...where is Biosphere 1?  Answer...Biosphere 1 is our natural planet Earth!

Copper Mine Tour

On March 9th we drove south of Tucson to the ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center in Sahuarita, AZ to tour an open pit copper mine.  The guided tour took us to the edge of the open mine pit, then back to the plant to see how the ore is processed and copper removed from the waste rock. At this mine, every ton of ore produces about 13 pounds of copper.  But, for every ton of ore approximately 3 ton of rock has to be processed.
 Rock is first blasted to fracture it into material that can be loaded onto the huge trucks and hauled to a crusher.  The primary crusher reduces the rock to about 8 inch size pieces. A secondary gyratory crusher breaks those pieces even smaller.  From there the rock travels through large rotating mills that contain 8 inch diameter steel balls which pulverize the rock into a powder. The powder is mixed with water, lime, and other chemicals to create a slurry which goes to a flotation tank. Air is bubbled in, the extracted copper attaches to the air bubbles and is separated, dried and forms a fine powder which is now 28% copper.  At this point the powder is shipped to another site for smelting and refining.
   Huge amounts of electricity and water are needed for this process.  Much of the water is reclaimed and reused, which helps in this state with so little water resources.  Some byproducts of the copper separation process, small amounts of silver and gold, can be sold to help pay for electricity.  Some mines like this are evaluating the use of solar panels to help supplement the energy requirement.  The open pits are very controversial due to the environmental impact they have.  There are some efforts being made to reclaim the damaged earth and initiate native plants and animals to come back.  One way of doing this is to introduce grazing cattle into the area, hoping as they feed they will spread grasses and seeds over the earth.

Saguaro Lake Cruise

On Feb 28th we viewed Saguaro Lake via a 90 minute narrated cruise aboard the Desert Belle Tour Boat.  Saguaro Lake is the 4th lake in a series formed by dams installed along the Salt River. Most well known is the first, Theodore Roosevelt Dam, which forms Theodore Roosevelt Lake. Following that is Horse Mesa Dam (Apache Lake), Morman Flat Dam (Canyon Lake), and finally Stewart Mountain Dam (Saguaro Lake).

   Saguaro Lake is a long, narrow lake that covers 1100 acres.  It is stocked with walleye, bass, trout, bluegills, crappies, and catfish by the Arizona Fish & Game Department.
    Located within the Tonto National Forest, rustic campsites are available by boat access only; hiking, biking, horse-back riding, and ATV trails wind their way through the desert areas surrounding Saguaro Lake.  A few RV campsites are available along the highway leading to the lake.
    Water from these lake reservoirs can be diverted for irrigation purposes.  According to the cruise narrator, some campers using boat access have awaken in the morning to find the water table has dropped by 4 feet or more, and their boat is now on dry land!
    Before driving home, we had lunch at Lake Shore Restaurant, located near the cruise departure area.

Casa Grande Cowboy and Indians Days

Cowboy and Indians Days was a week long rodeo event held in Casa Grande in February.  Different events were held each day; participants included cowboys from both the US and Canada, and Indians from various Native American tribes.  The day we went was "Ranch Rodeo" day, where the riders were teams of individuals from actual working ranches around the area.

   The day started with shooting, where riders on horseback rode through a prepared course and had to shoot balloons mounted on posts along the way. These were timed events, and points earned or lost depending on how many balloons broke and whether the course was followed correctly.

   After this event, the rodeo "zamboni" (little blue tractor with a drag behind) smoothed the field.  Other events that afternoon included catching a wild horse, putting a saddle on and riding it to a finish line; roping calves from a herd and pretending to brand them; catching two calves and loading them in a trailer; wild bronco riding, and finally, roping a wild cow and milking it.

    Lunch was served from a circle of "chuck wagons"...each wagon had a slightly different menu but all had to include beef, beans,and biscuits.
 
 This was a different sort of rodeo to watch, but the events were entertaining.