An interesting day of the tour to be sure. I suggested to Cousin Rick that given the days, weeks, months? that I would be traveling I wondered if I would be better off in a minivan. I hope to spend no nights in any motel, choosing instead campgrounds, homes of friends, or rest areas. So, we put out heads together and came to the conclusion that I should trade my Honda Civic straight up for a van. And it worked, with the help of lovely Bill Jacobs Chevrolet Sales Associate Kisha (pictured to the right). So now I am a gypsy in a van. I made a sleeping area, of sorts, and loaded all of my food and supplies and pressed on west.....and of course there was more corn, thousands and thousands of acres of corn.
I don't know if the landmark photo is readable, but it was worth the shot. At a rest area in northwest Wisconsin the plaque relates that in the late 19th century this spot was a nesting, resting area for passenger pigeons....and that at one point it was estimated that there were 136 million pigeons nesting in the area. That number was too impressive for me to not share it. I am not sure what happened to the pigeons.
A wonderful day of travel across Illinois and Wisconsin and this eve I landed in Minneapolis, MN at the home of a great friend, Mike Moore. These states are so big that it reminds me of the intimidating size of this country. So, as the stock market fluctuates, and the presidential candidates attempt to crucify each other, I am pushing westward under crystal clear blue skies and evenings full of oceans of stars. I have managed, thus far, to not eat at any restaurant and to not lodge at any motel. My food has been what I brought along and that provided by gracious friends and relatives. Next I am heading to the western shores of Lake Superior and then off to North Dakota where I hope to find camping, more stars, and maybe even another, albeit never equal, comet.
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Now all day I have been obsessing about all those dead birds. On the web I found the following: "The very thought of so many birds is impossible for us to imagine, and that the Passenger Pigeon, considered to be the most numerous bird in the world, was made extinct in such a short time. Authors have said that there were more Passenger Pigeons in North America than all of the other birds in the world combined. In the early 1800s, it was estimated that there were an estimated 2 billion (2,000,000,000) Passenger Pigeons. (That is an inconceivable number). Accurate estimates now place the total number of Passenger Pigeons in North American during that time at somewhere between 3-5 billion birds." And yet now they are indeed all dead. The last one in captivity died in something like 1911 - I think her name was Martha. I am not making that up.
I just wonder about all of those pigeon droppings!
Sean, good to hear and see you are doing well. Couple observations:
#1 Safety Tip: Don't drive and take digital photos, unless you can take them with out looking.
#2 Roughing It: If you are really roughing it, really--Lose the "The Champ One Wipes." Try leaves instead. You get a pass on the rice a roni -- we had that at boy's scout camp.
#3 Sean driving a mini-van -- ok, owning one......I hope you see enough comets for a life time!
stay well :)
rw
Doc I was hoping you were kidding about the minivan, guess not haha. Your daughter is on the floor and refusing to get up to look at it. Thanks for visiting the colleges for me--NOT! Love you stay safe!
So yes, I finally sat down to read your blog. This part hurt my heart. RIP Honda Civic.
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