Day 13 - Sept. 9, 2011 (Steve & Regional History)

After our first night at the Ball of Twine Inn in Cawker City, Kansas, we wandered over to the site of the restoration of an architectural and historical gem, the original limestone Hesperian Library built in 1884. The Victorian building is now being restored as the Cawker City Museum. Missing ornamentation of chimney, roof and ornate gables are being faithfully recreated using historic photographs. The goal of the restoration is to return the building to its original condition and adapt it for the preservation of historic artifacts of local interest.

As you look at the photo above, you will see the ladder at the front door. What you can't see is the man behind the ladder who stepped out to greet us as we approached the building. It was Steve Richardson, third generation Cawker City resident, local historian, and primary restorer of the museum. Steve invited us in to the building and showed the photo below as he shared some of the details and challenges of the restoration.
This photo was taken about 7 years after the library was built. I'm impressed by the Woman’s Hesperian Library Club dressed in their finest clothing posing proudly in front of the lovely building. When asked how he gained his skills in historic restoration, Steve told us he had watched every episode of the television show, This Old House! I would say there is more in his background than being an avid do-it-yourself television viewer...

Recognizing our interest in the city history, Steve asked if we wanted to see something really special in the United Methodist Church located next to the library/museum.
We were stunned when Steve led us into the sanctuary and showed us the oldest church organ in Kansas built in 1884. Henry Pilcher's Sons of Louisville, Kentucky built the organ for the Congregational Church in Kinsley, Kansas. In 1931, the Cawker City Methodists bought the organ and placed it in their native limestone church. In 1976, a new sanctuary was built, and the organ was restored by Reuter Organ Co., Lawrence, Kansas.
Steve Richardson is the church organist, European-trained master builder of pipe organs, and owner of Richardson Pipe Organs in nearby Downs, Kansas. After changing into his organ-playing shoes, he sat down and played a familiar hymn on this marvelous 127 year-old organ.
Steve told us he was in high school in 1976 when the organ was restored. He was fascinated by the restoration, and it prompted his life's work. I said, "Who knew?" and Steve replied, "God."
Sid looks on as Steve plays the pipe organ with masterful skills. This beautiful organ literally fills the front of the sanctuary. Such an unexpected treasure. My photos don't do it justice.
This close-up shows the oil lantern on one side of the organ. There's another lantern on the opposite side.
When Sid asked Steve about getting one of the native limestone blocks, Steve said there were some good ones at his home. We drove a few blocks to this old home being restored which Sid and I had noted earlier in the morning. The lot adjoins Steve's lot. He has purchased the home and is gradually restoring it with the same attention to detail he is using with the library restoration. Steve gave Sid an excellent example of the historic limestone.
When we asked about the unusual native limestone, Steve showed us this book, Land of the Post Rock, and explained that when towns in the Great Plains were settled, there were no trees for making fence posts. So, the resourceful settlers quarried the native limestone (aka post rock), which was plentiful. The photo above shows a barbed wire fence using post rock as fence posts. This rock was also used for many buildings as settlers moved out of their sod homes and dugouts to homes made of stone.

Steve generously gave us a grand tour of the town and Waconda Lake, sharing fascinating history about the early founders, Lincoln Park, Waconda Springs, famous former residents, and changes in the land brought about by the dam in the 1960s. We even saw the two town mansions...built next door to one another for the same family...but that's a long story. In case you are interested, the mansion made of post rock is currently for sale. We felt blessed to have met Steve who spent so much time with us sharing treasures we would never have seen on our own! He was one of the highlights of our trip. Thank you, Steve.
Here's another interesting building, now it is Lakeside Liquor Store.
It used to be a gas station. This building is just a few hundred feet from the limestone home Steve is restoring. So much history in this small town.

Day 12 - Sept. 8, 2011

We were greeted with this sight when we awoke in Valentine, Nebraska...foggy and chilly...not very good weather for kayaking on the Niobrara River. So we shelved our plans for getting on the river.
However, we drove out to the Fort Niobrara Wildlife Refuge to learn about this unique refuge and its history. It is located in the old Fort Niobrara Military Reservation, which was established in 1879 to keep peace between the settlers and the Sioux Indians and to control cattle rustlers and horse thieves. The army closed the fort in 1906, but used it to supply fresh horses for the cavalry until 1911.

In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt and private conservation organizations were becoming increasingly concerned with the exploitation of wildlife and their habitats on the Great Plains and elsewhere. As a result, an Executive Order was signed on January 11, 1912, establishing Fort Niobrara as a "preserve and breeding ground for native birds." Later that year, the Refuge's purpose was expanded to include the conservation of buffalo and elk herds representative of those that once roamed the Great Plains.
As the fog cleared, we were pleased to see one of the 350 buffalo who live in the refuge. Sid said when the buffalo exhaled, he could see a large cloud of foggy breath. We were disappointed that I didn't capture that in any of my photos as we drove by. We also encountered a flock of turkeys and many different kinds of birds. What a lovely oasis in the midst of the Great Plains.
One of our destinations was Smith Falls State Park, just 18 miles east of Valentine. We met Nicki in the park office. A part-time employee who grew up around the privately-owned park property, Nickie gladly shared information about the unique climate and native trees in the park, including Aspen trees and Paper Bark Birch trees. We hiked to spring-fed Smith Falls, the highest waterfall in the state of Nebraska. In fact, a recent university study of 20 miles of the Niobrara River catalogued nearly 200 waterfalls in the area...all of them spring-fed.
On our way back through picturesque downtown Valentine, I captured this shot of detailed brickwork/carving on the front of the bank building...quite the eye-catcher.
On our way out of Valentine, the road ran parallel to the Cowboy Trail, a trail from rails being developed along 321 miles across the state. This quarter mile bridge is really attractive.
US Highway 83 took us through the famous Nebraska Sandhills, the largest sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere, spanning nearly 20,000 square miles. Precipitation allowed grassland plants to take root in the shifting sand, eventually stabilizing the dunes and holding them in place. Another unique aspect of the Nebraska Sandhills is that it is resting on one of the largest aquifers in the world. The Ogallala Aquifer consists of 1 billion acre-feet of ground water and comes above the surface at the base of many dunes. Thus the Sandhills is a region of dry and sandy grassland dunes with many thousands of lakes and wetlands scattered between them.
After passing near the geographical center of the continental United States, we arrived at Cawker City, Kansas, home of the World's Largest Ball of Twine! When we first started riding our motorcycle, we promised ourselves that we would stop to see roadside attractions as often as possible, including the world's largerst ball of twine. We were so excited to learn that we would be passing near this famous sight.
Of course, I made reservations for two nights at the "Ball of Twine Inn." The Inn has only one room, a large space with a living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. This homey little place is in downtown on Highway 24 and has its own courtyard with a pergola and several attractive birdhouses.
Naturally, I had to take a photo of the ball of twine during the golden hour just before sunset. Don't worry, I have more photos to share during Day 13's post. I know you can hardly wait!
Here's a shot of Sid in the courtyard enjoying the evening and our special view of of the ball of twine just across the street! We were in heaven.

Day 11 - Sept. 7, 2011

After eight nights at our cabin in Custer State Park, it was starting to feel like home; so, it's time to move on. We're not exactly sure where we are going to spend the next night, but we know we want to go to the world's largest drug store in Wall, South Dakota, just down Interstate 90. Let's hit the road!

It was 1936. Druggist Ted Hustead owned a struggling store in the town of Wall, South Dakota. The Great Depression gripped the nation, and the Dust Bowl made things doubly bad on the high plains. But Ted and his wife, Dorothy, had a bit of luck on their side. Their town and their little store happened to be about 75 miles east of the place where a man named Gutzon Borglum was carving likenesses of four presidents out of a Black Hills mountain. Dorothy figured tourists would come to see Mount Rushmore, and she figured the trek across the dry, barren plains would make those tourists hot and thirsty. The drug store should offer free ice water and her husband should put up signs along the highway to advertise it.

The dinosaur in the photo above is one of the many unique signs on I-90 advertising the free water at Wall Drug. We saw the first sign about 350 miles from the store, just as we left Iowa and entered South Dakota.

This old photo of the original store hangs in the history gallery of the current store (shown below) which now consists of 76,000-square-feet of fun and shopping. So successful is Wall Drug that the town of Wall, populated by a mere 800 residents, reported gross sales of nearly $37 million in the “retail trade” category in 2007. There is even a lovely little chapel in the store where loyal customers have been married!
After shopping in the store, we headed out to the Backyard, a free, outdoor, park-like area packed full of every kind of western-themed curiosity imaginable. I came face-to-face with a growling, smoking T-Rex who was interested in his feeding time.
Sid managed to take a ride on the world's largest jackalope. The jack nearly bucked him off, but he held on. I think the two of them had a great time. We plan to exchange Christmas cards this year with Sid's new friend.

Out in the parking lot, Sid proudly attached his new Wall Drug bumper sticker to the back of the trailer.



We saw this billboard of a Black Hills postcard in the Wall Drug Backyard, just after Sid's ride on the jackalope.
After leaving Wall Drug, we traveled across South Dakota to US Highway 83, which runs 1,885 miles from the Canadian border just north of Westhope, N.D. to Brownsville, Texas, on the Mexican border. It is one of the last and longest stretches of highway in America and little of it is spoiled by soulless four-lane Interstate. It's a road that passes through communities, by courthouses, diners, schools and family farms. It's the kind of by-way we prefer to travel, providing the opportunity to meet folks and hear their stories. We expect to travel three states via this route.
We stopped for the night in Valentine, Nebraska, at the highly-rated Trade Winds Motel. The nearby Niobrara National Scenic River is one of the top ten rivers for canoeing and kayaking in the US. We are planning to do a little kayaking here tomorrow.

Day 10 - Sept. 6, 2011 (Daytime)

We started our day by riding the motorcycle via Needles Highway to picturesque Sylvan Lake Resort in Custer State Park. We were so surprised to see these "kayaks" parked at the dock. It looks like a bicycle with two pontoons instead of wheels. I would have loved to see someone using one...how does the high center of gravity work on the water? We had a busy day planned and couldn't give this a try...we were anxious to hike around the lake. Isn't is gorgeous?

Sylvan Lake is known as the "crown jewel" of Custer State Park. Created in 1881 when Theodore Reder built a dam across Sunday Gulch, it offers picnic areas, rock climbing, small rental boats, swimming, and hiking trails. It is also popular as a starting point for excursions to Harney Peak and The Needles. The lake was featured in the 2007 film National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The film made the lake appear to be located directly behind Mount Rushmore when in fact it is five miles southwest of the monument.

Here's a photo of Sid walking toward the dam area which is just above his head. I stopped to chat with the woman fishing (small figure to Sid's right). She said she was fishing for rainbow trout and expected to catch dinner in the lake. We circled the lake and hiked through the rocks/"needles" behind the dam. The photo below shows us (look hard) in a narrow pass to give you a sense of the size of the needles!

After hiking the path around the lake, we were back on the bike in the Black Hills, which are a Paleozoic/Mesozoic formation, created when a large dome pushed up from the earth in the region. Over the years the softer sediment eroded, leaving behind strange granite formations which we first visited on Day 8. However, we missed capturing a photo of the Needle's Eye, a prominent granite formation which stands nearly 40 feet tall and has an unusual slit that's only a few feet across. The photo below was taken from the parking area at the base of the formation.

However, that wasn't good enough for Sid who insisted we climb around the rocks across from the Needle's Eye. It was a fun and strenuous hike which allowed us to see the "needles" from a different perspective.

I was able to capture this photo from behind the Cathedral Spires looking out into the distance at the section of Needles Highway we traveled on Day 8. In fact, if you go back to Day 8, look for a photo of Sid sitting on a rock with the Cathedral Spires in the distance over his right shoulder -- that's where I'm standing when I took the photo!

This is a view of the Needle's Eye taken from the rock formations nearby. Look closely at the little red blob at the bottom just to the left of the base of the formation. It's our motorcycle! I can't believe Sid enticed me up that high...actually even higher since I took this shot on the way down. Sid has no sympathy for my fear of heights!

On the way back to Blue Bell Lodge cabins, Sid dropped me off to explore the woods near our cabin. He had located the area where our buffalo visitors spent the night before they joined us for breakfast a few days ago. He wasnted me to experience the serenity of the place (I called it the Buffalo Bedroom) with the sounds of French Creek in the background. It was lovely.

While in the Buffalo Bedroom, I found the dandelion seed head on the left, which I compared to an average-sized dandelion seed head on the right. I was fascinated by this thing, taking way too many photos of it!

Day 10 - Sept. 6, 2011 (Evening)

We decided to stay at Custer State Park an extra day because I wanted to be available in case I won the drawing for a motorcycle at Crazy Horse National Memorial. In addition, they were having a special night event that salutes memorial sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who was born 103 years ago on Sept. 6, 1908, and honors Lakota leader Crazy Horse, who was stabbed by a soldier on Sept. 5, 1877, and died Sept. 6 at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.
I knew things were going my way when we spotted these two on our way through the park. However, it bothered me a bit that the buffalo seemed to be sticking his tongue out at us. The mule deer, on the other hand, was quite pleasant.
Here are a couple of photos of the 2003 Indian Chief Roadmaster motorcycle that I was so certain I would win. Isn't she a beauty? I was really disappointed to learn that a gentleman from Washington state won the bike.
Here's a shot of the tailgate party being held in the parking lot with the memorial lit in the background. What fun we had!
George and Susan from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, were near us and shared their beer and sausage with us. Coincidentally, Kurt (beard) is from Wauwautosa, WI, and his friend, Sean, is from Milwaukeea, Wisconsin. We had a great time talking with these friendly folks from Wisconsin and introducing them to George and Susan from the same neck of the woods.
I shot a short video of the night blast. See below. (I hope it works, I've never posted a video!)

Wow, the memorial looks great after the festivities. It was a moving and memorable ceremony with a fun tailgate party, too. We were so glad we stayed the extra day to do this.Here is Sid in the bed of the truck after the festivities playing his banjo. He was chatting with Daniel, an employee of the memorial, who shared lots of insider information about the night blast.