And On We Go

 I guess it is about time I let anyone who may be interested in knowing that we made it to southern Indiana.  Only difficulties that we had was a blown trailer tire before we got to Billings, Montana.  Because of this problem, we were not able to go see one of Bob's cousins.  Instead we spent the time getting a new tire purchased and on the trailer.  

We didn't make any finds or make any side trips until we got to Nauvoo, Ill.  There we stopped for a few nights and got to see our dear friends, the Thompsons, who are serving a mission there.  They were able to find us a spot in the RV Park where they are staying so, between their working keeping the grounds beautiful and watered and their  other responsibilities, we got to spend time with them.  We watched them in the play "Rendezvous."

 

We did take a side trip to the town of Quincy.  Bob's great grandfather and his two brothers lived there before moving to Montana.  His grandfather was born there.  The only record of them that we found was the marriage license and certificate for his great grandfather and mother.

We traveled on and arrived in "Kentuckiana" in time for the heat of the summer, which was accompanied by lots of humidity.  The heat index was over one hundred for several days.

We made it across the river to see W and C.  This is the boat that W has been working on.  It is looking good.  He was just putting the gunwales on.  We also saw their transformed back yard and garden.  We got to bring home some garden produce.  Yum!

 We have been busy looking at property to build on but nothing decided yet.

We took a break and went down to Four Bridge; the old railroad bridge that is now for walking and biking.  This is the I 65 bridge.  It was cool and there was also a breeze blowing so it made it very nice.  It was called the Four Bridge because it was used by four different railroads.  Kentucky is on the left and Indiana is on the right.

This is the Louisville skyline.  If you look close, and though the girders  you can see the Kentucky Fried Chicken Yum Center.  Lots of things happen there.  It is directly below the two red roofed buildings.  This area is pretty at night with the domed building's dome lit up.



The Four Bridge is one mile long.  Indiana still needs to finish it's ramp up to the bridge.

 

This is looking down river.  On the right you can see two darker towers and a white one.  That is what is now called the Water Tower, which it was.  We went there for Blues and Barbecue with W and C.  There are other functions there also.  The white tower and building are very pretty.

Counting the bridge that we are standing on, there are four bridges crossing the Ohio River in this area.  If you look close you can see the other three.  The cranes are working on the area where the new bridge will be located.  Then interstate traffic will go south on one and north on the other.






There is lots of barge traffic on the river.  Here is one of them.  There are locks on the river upstream from here that they have to go through.



A walk by the river wouldn't be complete without seeing one of the river boats paddling along.

Celebrating the Fourth of July

Sorry that this is a little late in getting posted but we have been on the road.  We went east after this camping trip.

The third of July found us heading for the mountains where it was cooler.  It had been in the nineties.  Unfortunately, T wasn't able to go with us because of a summer job that he now has.  We went south of Missoula, Mt. up along the Wise River and into the mountains.  Our camp was at just over 7700 feet.  The flowers were in full bloom.  We saw this beautiful meadow a few yards from our camp site the first evening.  We were going to get back and take a picture of it lit up but never got back to camp early enough.

On the Fourth we went south to the old deserted, partly restored, mining town of Bannack.  At one time it had a population of around ten thousand.  We toured the town and went into the buildings.  This town had a thriving community and even was trying to become the seat for the county.

One of Montana's notorious outlaws, Henry Plummer, and his gang were here.  He got himself elected sheriff, and therefore had no fear of the law.  If someone had gold accumulated or if there was a load going out, they would intercept it, leaving no witnesses.  One of his gang, Club Foot George, was recognized as being involved in a hold-up.  They also did their work in Virginia City.  A vigilantly group was formed, they were rounded up, and then hung.  Plummer and his two deputies were hung from the rafters at the back of a saloon.

This was the court house.  The hanging gallows are at the start of the hills between it and the building to the right.

Most of the old mill is still standing.  Part of it burnt back in around 1972 and the mill was then shut down.  This truck took us up to the mill where we received a guided tour and learned about the mining in that area.

 

 The second day we went into Butte.  We went to the college museum.  They have displayed an old mining town that you can walk around in.  There was also some minerals on display as well as a doll house collection.

One of B's memories is going to Butte to do Christmas shopping.  Lunch was 'pasties' at the Woolworth's lunch counter.  So we asked where we now could get pasties and they told us to go to Joe's Pasties shop, which we did, and we all had one for lunch.  

Another thing that B remembered was Columbia Gardens, an amusement park.  It is part of an open pit mine now.  The waitress heard us talking about the swings they had there and said that they were now in a park not very far away.  So after lunch we went to the park to play on the merry-go-round and to swing.  They are called horse swings.

We took the trolley tour around Butte which made a stop by the Berkley Pitt Mine.  It is now filling with water, about a foot a month.  They are claiming copper out of the water and still making money.  They are set up to clean the water once they have to start dumping it into the streams, which will be in a few more years.                                                        

 This is a building across the water from where we were standing.  You can see how large this pit is as you spot the building in the next picture.  It is just left of center and appears as a white speck.  Looking at the ground colorization helps to find it.

 

The last morning we went to Crystal Park, not far from where we were camping.  Sorry I didn't get any pictures.  The area is full of quartz crystals.  Most are small pieces.  The area has really been dug up, but you can find a few small crystals.  

Then we broke camp and said our goodbyes.  L, B, and the kids went home and we headed east to our next adventure.