Chapel of the Holy Cross

Before leaving Arizona this spring, we took a drive to visit this popular landmark. 

Chapel of the Holy Cross is built into the red rock buttes overlooking Sedona Arizona.  The design was inspired and commissioned by a local rancher and sculptor in the 1930's.  It wasn't until decades later that the chapel site was selected and finalized.  The chapel was completed in 1956, taking 18 months to build.  

It is registered as a National Historic Site.

Burrowing Owls

Burrowing owls are at home in the dry open areas of the desert southwest.  These small long-legged owls nest and roost in underground burrows, often the prior home of prairie dogs or gophers.  Unlike most owls, they are active during daytime hours.  Burrowing owls eat large insects, small rodents (mice), and lizards (geckos).  They may also eat fruits and seeds of prickly pear and cholla cacti.  One sometimes sees an owl standing on a rock or high mound of sand to look for food.  Although not endangered in this area, they are a threatened species.  Observers should be considerate when approaching nests and/or birds, keeping a good distance away.  If nests are in an unsafe area, there are ways for wildlife officials to trap and move the owls to a safer location.  This winter I was successful and got some photos of a nesting pair...

Dwarf Car Museum

This winter we took a tour of The Dwarf Car Museum, located near Maricopa, AZ.  The museum, an unassuming corrugated steel shed in the desert, is the workshop and showroom for Ernie Adams dwarf cars.  Ernie, a native of Nebraska, started his love for cars as a child.  In 1965 the first  dwarf car, a 1928 Chevy 2-door sedan, was built using primarily parts of old refrigerators.  In the early 1980's his interest turned to dwarf race cars; the first race was in 1983 at the county fair in Prescott, AZ.  

Following the race cars came his dwarf cruisers...miniature fully dressed classics, complete with chrome, fenders, accessories, and interiors.  The cruisers are street legal and have been driven the Route 66 circuit, appeared in street fairs and rallies around the country.  While there we met the artist himself; Ernie is usually on-site to answer questions or just talk shop. The Dwarf Car Museum web site had lots of pictures...

Door County Wisconsin

Door County, a finger-like peninsula of land between Green Bay & Lake Michigan, has a variety of things to see and do.

Harbors, boats, lighthouses, beaches, sheer sandstone bluffs, dense forests of tall trees, state and county parks, fields of corn, cherry and apple orchards, golf courses, wineries and craft breweries, dairy farms, and small towns packed with restaurants, markets, shops and galleries for all.  Biking, hiking, and kayaking are popular.

A couple traditional things to do while there are: attend a "fish boil"

look for the goats grazing on rooftops in Sister Bay,

take a ferry to Washington Island to see the rocks at Schoolhouse Beach.

Bailey Yard North Platte Nebraska

 

Located in North Platte, Nebraska,  Union Pacific's Bailey Yard (named after long time Union Pacific president Edd Bailey) is one of the largest railroad classification yards in the world.  The rail yard covers 2850 acres of land, is 8 miles in length, and contains about 315 tracks.   Nearly 10,000 train cars pass through daily.  

The classification "hump" yard uses a unique mound system to sort cars bound for different destinations.  Cars from one train are rolled onto the hump, disconnected, then allowed to roll gently down the mound to be directed and reconnected to the new destination train.  In addition to this classification or sorting activity, Bailey Yard repairs, maintains, and fuels hundreds of diesel engines daily.

Bailey Yard activities are best seen from the Golden Spike Tower located nearby.  From observation decks 8 stories above the rail yard one can watch the trains come and go.  Guides (former Union Pacific employees) are present to answer questions or tell stories about working the yard.  Interactive kiosks and videos also offer information about the trains.

Scotts Bluff Nebraska

Along the North Platte River in western Nebraska a huge formation of sandstone and siltstone rises 800 feet above the prairie landscape. 

Scotts Bluff was a welcome sight in the 1800's as fur traders, military expeditions, pony express riders, and caravans of pioneers and settlers following the Oregon Trail headed westward.  Once they saw Scotts Bluff, they knew they were near Fort Mitchell, and that Fort Laramie, Wyoming wasn't far away. Weary emigrants in their covered wagons knew the western destinations of Utah, California, or Oregon were getting closer.  The relatively flat valley across the plains, and abundant water from the North Platte River, made this a favorable route to follow.

It is estimated that between 1841 and 1869 some 350,000 people joined wagon trains that traveled through this area of Nebraska.

Hannibal, Missouri

During our spring, 2018 travels, in May we spent a few days in the Hannibal, Missouri area.  We went first to Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site near Florida, MO.  The small two-room cabin birthplace of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) in 1835 is now preserved inside a modern museum.  An assortment of artifacts from other aspects of Clemens life, as well as many photos and books, are located there.   In 1839 the Clemens family family moved to Hannibal, MO.  Samuel's childhood adventures along the Mighty Mississippi later served as the basis for his stories about Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and others.  The authors pen name "Mark Twain" was first used in 1863.  In Hannibal, several historic properties related to Mark Twain are preserved and open as a self guided tour.  All attractions are included in one ticket price.  The Main Street Museum included 15 original Norman Rockwell paintings, as Rockwell was illustrator for some of  Twain's novels. 

Moored along the Mississippi River was Mark Twain Riverboat, which offers cruises with narrative commentary on river history, etc of the Hannibal area (Clemens had been a riverboat pilot himself, piloting on the Mississippi River for about 4 years prior to the start of the Civil War.

(I liked this painting located in the Hannibal Museum, so will use it as my photo this time)