Day 4: The Black Hills

Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary (IRAM)We had a 7 am off-road tour of the 11,000-acre sanctuary and met horses up close and personal. Wild horses are rescued from government lands, for example in Wyoming and Nevada, where they run wild and where overpopulation sends some to slaughter. Say hi to Paris and Nicole.

“Don Juan,” is one of the stallions on the ranch. Through DNA testing, it has been determined that he is a direct descendant of the Spanish mustangs brought to North America in the 15th century by the Conquistadors.

Native Americans revere the land occupied by the sanctuary. Previously barred from accessing the land, Native Americans from all over the country now come as Dayton O. Hyde, founder of the sanctuary, allows the Sundance ceremony to take place there each year at the summer solstice. This spirit pole is at the center of their sacred circle and is guarded by poles honoring veterans of foreign wars. Eagle feathers adorn the tops of the poles.

Mr. Ed giving us the razzberry.

Wind Cave National Park is the fourth largest cave in the world. It is a 121-mile breathing cave made of limestone, only 5% of which has been mapped. Our guide demonstrated what total darkness is like by turning off all the lights for a few minutes. You could not see your hand in front of your face and we could only imagine what it would be like to be lost in that cave without any artificial light.

Wind Cave contains 95% of the world’s “box work.” Imagine a brick wall where over time all the bricks have eroded away, leaving only the mortar. This is box work.

Hey Lou! We checked out the “backside” of Mt. Rushmore and it was exactly as you said it would be.

Needles Highway in Custer State Park winds its way through granite cathedral-like spires. The Spider had no trouble threading the needle through the single lane rock tunnels.

Eye of the Needle

Day 3: The Sandhills to the Black Hills

Today we went from the Sand Hills in Nebraska, to the Black Hills of South Dakota, taking the only AAA designated scenic route in Nebraska to Hot Springs, South Dakota.

We should have counted the number of trains we saw today hauling coal cars—there were many.

Carhenge—an unusual man-made sight in the High Plains. Notice the car sitting at the top. It’s a 1974 Chevy Vega, ya know, fill the oil and check the gas. This is the car I owned when Jean and I got married in 1977. It took us on our honeymoon to Virginia Beach. Upon further inspection, I noticed underneath the military gray paint job its true color, the same color of the car I once owned—a weird combination of blue and purple. So what do you think the chances are…….?

An unexpected sight in Nebraska—the Nebraska National Forest

Day 2: Across Iowa

Today we left Iowa City and got to Lincoln, NE, where we stayed with our friends Jack and Dottie. Jack and I met in the late seventies while we were both teaching high school in neighboring districts in Northern New Jersey. Jack left Jersey and headed south to Mississippi State, and I left Jersey and headed north to Yale. We met up again in the mid nineties in Florida—he as director of the School of Music at the University of Florida and I as dean of music of the New World School of the Arts in Miami. Jack left Florida and headed west to Nebraska where he is now dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and I headed north and west and am director of the school of music at the University of Illinois. Through the years we played concerts together and consoled each other during difficult times. Jack is the only pianist I ever met who actually enjoyed playing the Hindemith tuba sonata.

Sitting in our mirror for 30 miles along Route 92 in Iowa, the Mormon Trail, this image reminded me of “Duel,” Steven Spielberg’s first feature-length film of 1971 starring Dennis Weaver. That movie scared the begeezus out of me when I was 16 years old and just learning to drive. Luckily, this trucker was harmless.

Iconic Iowa--need we say more?

In Madison County, we encountered Cedar Bridge, built in 1883 and one of the six remaining covered bridges in Iowa. In Robert James Waller's novel The Bridges of Madison County, Cedar Bridge is where Francesca Johnson goes to meet Robert Kincaid to help him take photographs. Clint you were sooooooo sensitive and Meryl you were soooooo hot! Cedar bridge was destroyed by an arsonist on Sept. 3, 2002. A replica of the original bridge was built from the original plans and was dedicated on October 9, 2004.

Day 1: 7/7/09, and we're off........

Our first day took us from Champaign to Iowa City where we spent the night with our friends Kristin and Wayne. You wouldn’t know it by the picture, but Kristin is the director of the School of Music at the University of Iowa and Wayne is the director of orchestras at Iowa City’s West High School. We packed 30 days of essentials into the trunk of the spider. I was so proud of Jean—she only brought four pairs of shoes. I learned my packing skills from my good friend, Dave Kayser. Dave and I met as graduate students at Yale where we both founded the Brass Ring. Dave spent four years playing the trombone in the U.S. Army Band at West Point and was in charge of packing the band buses for tours. One time in 1987 while we were on tour in South Florida with the Brass Ring, Dave packed the entire quintet, luggage and instruments, into a small Plymouth Valiant station wagon to the amazement of a crowd gathered to watch this feat in the Hertz rental car lot at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. They applauded as we drove away to play our first concert on Marathon Key. We played together for 15 years, and he taught me everything I know about packing a car…and a cooler.

The Twin Grove Wind Farm is along Route 9 in central Illinois. It is the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi and stretches for almost 12 miles. It generates enough electricity to power over 100,000 homes for a year.

This sundial in Pekin, IL, is billed as the greatest sundial in the world. In order for a sundial to be totally accurate, it must be on a multiple of 15° longitude, and in the central time zone that multiple would be 90°. The sundial in Pekin is at 89.63° and is accurate to within 1 minute and 3 seconds per day.

This is the extent of our excitement for the day…we’re hurt’n.

7003 through 16 on 2

Seven thousand and three miles, through 16 states on two-lane roads and here's our preliminary itinerary. We like to take it as it comes, so things might change a bit. Each night we hope to put up an entry with a couple photos of the day. Stay tuned, we leave on July 7th.