Adventure – Valerie's Voice

The Bell Museum

When our boys were young, we went several times to the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History on the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis campus. It was a fun outing, and it was free back then.

The name has been shortened to Bell Museum.

In 2018 they built a new, beautiful building and moved from the Minneapolis campus to the St. Paul campus. And, they added a planetarium.

A much larger and modern building houses the Bell Museum and planetarium.

I was excited to see the planetarium. I remember going to the planetarium in the downtown Minneapolis library when I was in elementary school. I really enjoyed it.

I looked up the Minneapolis Public Library‘s history and discovered it opened in 1889 along 10^th street and Hennepin Avenue. But that’s not where I remembered it.

That library became overcrowded and out of date. In 1961 a new Minneapolis Public Library opened at 4^thstreet and Nicollet Ave. That’s where I remembered it. It too, has since been rebuilt (replacing the old stone castle-like building with a four-story glass and steel building , but no planetarium.) The one I went to as a child included a planetarium, and a small museum of Egyptian mummies, in its basement (which I had forgotten about until my memory was triggered when reading about it.)

Our massive, wonderful galaxy of stars shown in the planetarium.

All that to say, we went to visit the new Bell Museum last week. We paid extra to see the planetarium show…which was titled Minnesota Skies. This was a narrated program by a staff member interacting with the audience. I was disappointed because I was expecting to see more dark sky and starry, starry night scenes.

There were a few other choices for planetarium shows…so I suspect there are ones similar to the ones I remembered seeing as a child. I’ll have to try again.

Many of the dioramas in the natural history part of the building were the same ones in the old Bell Museum space.

When they moved to the new building, they didn’t take the scenes apart…they moved the entire displays. They were well-done when they were created, so it made sense to keep them intact.

A beautiful fawn in one of the dioramas.

The new Bell Museum has so much more to offer, with a hands-on area and many more displays about outer space and other natural history.

Apparently there are gardens to explore in the summer.

The Bell Museum is a great resource for the Twin Cities…although now they charge a fee to get in. And you have to pay for parking. That’s disappointing, because that can be restrictive for young families. However, I’m sure it’s a great destination for school field trips so many children can experience this great place.

A Night Memory

The writing assignment was to write a joyful memory of night. Joyful is not the right word for my story, but it is an unforgettable night memory…

It was a dark and stormy night (in 2014)…

We had a delayed start to our day, as we headed north to our vacation destination: Zongoene Lodge, a beautiful resort on the Indian Ocean in Mozambique, Africa. The hired drivers of a 15-passenger van were late to arrive at our apartment.

Our 2 1/2 month old granddaughter, in 2014.

When the driver’s arrived, seven family members filed into the rented van, with everyone’s luggage. Our son, his wife and 2 1/2 month old daughter, and Gary and I, piled into our son’s car. Finally, we were on our way. We drove out of the city on a good four-lane highway. After a couple of hours, we turned off the highway and started driving down a muddy, dirt road that had been washed out by all the rain from the previous night.

Our resort was still 35 kilometers away (22 miles). As we drove further into the countryside, the road got muddier, the puddles got deeper, and the ride got bumpier. The road was rugged, full of ruts and major pot holes, with large standing mini-lakes and water flowing over the road. You couldn’t see the potholes through the mud puddles.

By now the sun was setting, and it had started to rain.

Looking out over a few flooded areas towards our resort and the Indian Ocean. (2014)

Tim and Gary were in the front seat of our son’s car, Baby Zoey was strapped in her car seat in back with Andrea and me. The van, with the two hired drivers, and seven others from our party were behind us. The road kept getting worse. At one point, about 14 km in, our car slid down a steep hill and almost toppled over, but we made it to the bottom and stopped along side the road. We waited for the van, and watched it slide down the hill. I was praying it would reach the bottom without tipping over.

Once the van stopped, the angry drivers got out and said they would go no further. One said he had not been told the road would be so undriveable. But how could we have known the rains would cause such a mess?

Now that we were all stopped, it was obvious nobody was going to go any farther without help. But how? We were in the middle of nowhere, at night, in Mozambique Africa – a dark sky, made darker with clouds, and no traffic or traffic lights or city lights within miles and miles of where we were stranded…with a 2 ½ month old baby! Hmmm…I said to Andrea…”it will be interesting to see how God gets us out of this mess.”

Well, unbelievably, Tim’s cell phone worked. He was able to call the lodge. The manager rounded up two four-wheel drive vehicles (one belonged to a guest of the lodge) and they came to rescue us.

We waited over an hour when we finally saw headlights coming our way. The manager of the resort was in one of the vehicles. We transferred our luggage and rearranged the twelve of us into three vehicles. Once everyone and our luggage was out of the van, the van drivers stepped on the accelerator, spun their tires in the mud, turned the van around and sped away…madder than a hornet’s nest (after demanding more money.) They drove back up the hill (unbelievably they made it) and headed back to the city, while we headed to the resort, another ten miles down the dark, flooded, washed-out dirt road. We had all been dispersed into different vehicles with strangers, in the middle of nowhere, trusting we would all end up in the same place in a short while.

Grandma, Avó (Portuguese for grandma) and baby Zoey in 2014.

The resort owner drove Tim’s car, since he knew the road and could maneuver the dangerous spots. He led the way. Dan, Tim’s friend, was a good sport. He ended up in the bed of a pickup truck bouncing all the way back… in the rain! Finally, we all made it to the resort at midnight, after a very scary ride. We all let out a sigh of relief and a praise to God.

The staff had been waiting for us to arrive and had prepared a special drink to toast us as we walked into the lobby of Zongoene Lodge. A toast to our safe arrival, a toast to welcome us, and a toast to a night none of us would ever forget!

Oxbow Park and The Depot

After we left Kasson and our mini-history tour, we continued on our day trip to Oxbow Park in Olmstead County, near Byron, Minnesota. It is a surprisingly special place with a picnic area, a nature center, a zoo, a discovery playground, and camping facilities.

The small, but amazing, Zollman Zoo is aligned with Oxbow Park and houses over 30 species of wild animals native to Minnesota. Many of the animals at this zoo have physical injuries so they cannot be released back into nature, and some other animals come from other zoo facilities that have surplus animals.

I told this guy I was going to take his picture…

My favorite was seeing the cougar looking very relaxed in a tree trunk, watching us from his perch. When I told him I was going to take his picture, he moved his big paw under his chin and posed for us!

The nature center, also a part of Oxbow Park, is only a year old. It is spacious, modern and well done. A few more small critters are inside, as well as a lot of displays and information on nature.

There was a bird watching station too. We sat for a few minutes and saw multiple hummingbirds drinking from a couple of feeders hanging outside the large windows.

This hidden gem is a place we hope to take our grandkids to, sometime this summer. Did I mention it is free? Donations accepted.

And what day trip is complete without ice cream? Surprisingly, we had to search many small towns to find some. But we didn’t give up, and found The Depot, a renovated train station, in the small town of Goodhue. The new owner served delicious ice cream cones in a refurbished, old railway station, with friendly folk willing to give us a tour of the station’s renovation.

Fun adventures and discovery awaits when you take the back roads of Minnesota.

A Gift of Water

A writing assignment was to answer this question… Has a stranger ever helped you at a difficult time? The answer is yes, and here’s the story.

Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. photo vb

In 2015 we visited our son and his wife and our first grand-baby, Zoey, in Mozambique, Africa. We planned a side trip to Cape Town, South Africa as a chance to see another part of the continent. One of our most exciting, but challenging adventures there was to climb Table Mountain.

Photo by Robert Huczek on Unsplash (free internet photos)

Table Mountain is a beautiful sight overlooking Cape Town, and from a distance it looks like a table, thus the name.

A view of Cape Town off one side of Table Mountain. photo vb

Gary and I are used to hiking and have done a lot over the years. We’ve hiked some difficult terrains. Table Mountain ended up being one of the harder hikes I’ve done, but I didn’t know that when we started out. We donned our hiking boots and hats, and filled our water bottles and started up the steep path. There were several other hikers on this trail. It was hot, it was rocky, and it was pretty much straight up.

On our way up the rocky trail to the top of Table Mountain. photo gb

We were struggling. About two-thirds the way up there was an outcropping that provided a shady area, so we stopped to rest. A fit, young man came from behind us and noticed I was overheated. He asked if we had water. Yes, we did, thank you. Then he said to me, hold out your hat. I did as he said, and he poured HIS water into my hat and told me to tip it over my head. I did, and it felt so incredibly good to drench my hot self with the cool water.

After that, the young man continued on his merry way, and I was so grateful for his random act of kindness, and soon we continued our trek upward.

Note the cable car coming down from the station at the top of Table Mountain. photo vb

We rejoiced when we arrived at the top. We joined many folks enjoying the stunning vistas on this beautiful, sunny day (reaching the top by cable car or on foot). Then, as was our plan, we took the cable car down the mountain.

From the window of the rotating cable car, going down Table Mountain. photo vb

I was grateful for this young man’s random act of kindness that day on Table Mountain. What a delight to be treated so kindly… on a mountain trail… in a foreign country.

Cold Spring Tavern

Outside of Santa Barbara, up the San Marcos Pass, there is a former stagecoach stop. The Cold Spring Tavern, built in 1868, brings one back in time to the Old West.

A scenic drive led to this now popular restaurant where reservations are needed. We had lunch reservations set for 11:30 a.m., as soon as it opened.

The Cold Spring Tavern, a Wells Fargo stagecoach stop.

It sits all by itself on this old stagecoach route, on Stagecoach Road. We found parking in the rocky, rutty unpaved parking lot that held about ten cars. After the lot is full, cars line the streets for a long way…which was the case by the time we left.

I love eating outdoors, and this restaurant offered outdoor seating, but I thought it would be more of a unique experience to eat inside this original tavern. It had multiple, small rooms.

There are several rooms inside this tavern. We were seated in the room with the fireplace.

We were led to a room with a stone fireplace, and the fire was blazing. It was windy and cool outside so the fire felt good, and added much to the ambiance. We had the room to ourselves for a short while. We placed our order and sat back to relax in this unique and quiet setting. The food was tasty.

This outdoor space, in the back of the tavern, is used for receptions etc. The building in this picture is a road gang house, built for the Chinese road gang who built the toll road through the San Marcos Pass.

We know friends from Northfield who were married at the Cold Spring Tavern, back in 1973. We thought of them while we were there.

After lunch we drove another route home, through wine country and then back to Santa Barbara, along the Pacific Ocean.

We drove further north to view the surroundings.

We drove past a few beautiful vineyards.

We stopped to look at Butterfly Beach, CA

It was fun California day trippin’.

Another Colorful Adventure

In the past we have not usually acknowledged Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which is the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins, but we did celebrate the occasion this year. When we arrived in Dunedin, where our friends now live in Florida, a Mardi Gras parade was scheduled for that evening.

The parade route was blocks from their house so we walked over to join the fun. Our friends had a few Mardi Gras parades “under their belt” because their daughter lives in New Orleans, so Sue dug out her box of goodies labeled “Mardi Gras” and we donned some extra embellishments before we headed out.

I did not know, but at Mardi Gras parades the MO (mode of operation) is to throw out sparkly beaded necklaces…and when you catch one (or miss it and pick it up off the street) you collect them around your neck. They are plentiful, and we had accumulated a lot by the end of the parade.

The parade was at night, which meant the floats and displays were all lit up with multi-colored lights. I’m a fan of color and I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful lighted processions. It was fun to catch the jewels too.

There was a very large turnout for this parade. The parade route ended at a city park where there were plenty of concessions stands and other forms of entertainment to participate in after the parade.

It was a colorful and festive adventure.

A Colorful Adventure

We experienced some colorful adventures on our trip. One being in the “American Sign Museum” in Cincinnati, Ohio.

After seeing some neon sign pictures recently, I became intrigued. I wondered if there was a neon sign museum anywhere in the U.S. I searched the internet and found a few…the largest being The Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California. There was also The National Sign Museum in The Dalles, Oregon, The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio and The Lost Highway Museum (a private collection in Washington).

I thought if our undetermined route takes us near Cincinnati, it might be possible to check out the American Sign Museum on our way home from our recent roadtrip…and we did. The museum is small (it’s hoping to expand) but it was full of fun signs (not all neon) and signage history.

We enjoyed our time looking at all the different types and styles of signs and we felt it was worth the stop. I would consider going to other sign museums, if there was an opportunity to do so.

I was impressed by all the figures neon signs could portray. They are truly works of art. Each one unique.

Color, color… wonderful, bright color.

Who knew it would be so interesting to see a collection of old signs, but it was!

It is great to know neon signs continue to be crafted.

On our way out of town, we drove past this old Dairy Queen with its own antique signage.

Color, color… so much color. This was one of two colorful adventures on this trip. Stay tuned for another one.

Charleston and St. Augustine

On our February road trip through the southeastern states, we met up with a lot of friends and family. We pre-planned, or made last minute plans, to connect with folks that either lived in the areas we visited, or they were visiting the same areas in the south where we were. Our two intended sightseeing destinations were Charleston, South Carolina and St. Augustine, Florida.

The historic Inn where we stayed in the carriage house, out back.

We stayed in a beautiful carriage house in the historic district of Charleston, South Carolina. It rained the first day we were there, but the inn provided umbrellas so we went on our merry way, walking around the city, and to the Charleston Museum which was very interesting.

Our lovely Bed & Breakfast room on the second floor of a restored carriage house in Charleston, South Carolina.

We toured a WWII aircraft carrier (the Yorktown) in Charleston which we found intriguing and worthwhile.

USS Yorktown is an aircraft carrier built during World War II for the United States Navy. It is located on Patriot’s Point in Charleston, SC.

We went on a horse-drawn carriage ride (on a nice, sunny day).

The Belgium-draft horse, Moultrie, took us for a ride on a carriage around town.

We walked along Rainbow Row (named for a series of thirteen colorful historic row houses in Charleston), and ate some great seafood.

Charleston is nicknamed the holy city because of its number of church spires that dot its skyline.

St. Michael’s is one of the churches with a steeple, built in the 1750’s. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. George Washington worshipped there one time, as did Robert E. Lee. It continues to have an active congregation today.

It’s a stunning white church that stands out. It is gorgeous! During the revolutionary war, the steeple was painted black for disguise. For more of its colorful history click here: St. Michael’s Church.

A friend recommended I read the book Celia Garth prior to our visit to Charleston. It is a historical fiction novel by Gwen Bristow written in 1959. The narrative takes place in Charleston during the revolutionary war. The author provided me some orientation to the town, and a lot of its history. The story was fun to envision as we walked along the cobblestone streets.

An amazing mural painted on the side a a brick building, near the stables.

The beautiful, spacious front porch of the inn where we stayed in Charleston.

Charleston is s charming city.

St. Augustine, on the northeast coast of Florida, was an exciting place to visit too. It is the oldest city in the U.S., and is known for its Spanish colonial architecture. We enjoyed walking around this city, which is our preferred mode of transportation. The beautiful buildings and quaint shops and old city gate were all fun to see.

Flager College, established in 1968 in the former, luxury Ponce De Leon Hotel.

We toured the Castillo de San Marcos fort, a 17^th-century Spanish stone fortress.

The drawbridge over the moat around the fort.

We climbed up 219 steps of the historic 1874 St. Augustine Lighthouse.

Looking up the spiral staircase in the lighthouse.

And we ate more great seafood.

We had a delicious dinner at this restaurant on the ocean in St. Augustine.

Our long shadows on an Atlantic ocean beach in St. Augustine.

Although I had not read a book about St. Augustine before our trip (it was referred to several times in Celia Garth), we throughly enjoyed our visit to the oldest city in the United States.

I liked this fountain. The masks that decorate this fountain was a gift to the City of St. Augustine (in 2005) by its sister city in Spain, the City of Avilés, birthplace of Pedro Menéndez, founder of St. Augustine in 1565.

Home Again

We have arrived safely home from our 4,690 miles road trip, through eleven states in southeastern US. We saw a lot of beauty in nature, and beauty in the many friends and family we were able to visit. We are grateful all went well, and we had a great time!

There have been unusual weather patterns all across the country. It was warm here in Minnesota during February, with little snow fall. And it was cooler than normal in the southeast, where we were.

In Iowa Monday night, February 26, it was 72* and we ate dinner outside on a restaurant patio.

But our welcome home present was a cold snap. As we drove closer to Northfield the next day, the temperature kept dropping. When we arrived home we unloaded our car in 25* temperatures. It also started snowing. Sigh. We woke up to 5*!

It is predicted to remain cold for one day and then the temperatures will start climbing back up again. What a roller coaster. I wonder what kind of weather March will bring?

The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary

While visiting with our friends near Clearwater, FL they thought we would like to visit the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary, and they were right.

We enjoyed seeing the beautiful coastal birds, which included owls, egrets, herons, and several other birds we see back in Minnesota.

We walked alongside this beautiful great egret.

Up close and personal with a great egret.

Although most of the birds in the sanctuary have been injured somehow, it was great to see them recovering and walking or flying around…some up close and personal.

Many of the birds were in enclosures by themselves, or in large pens with multiple birds. Some were walking the grounds and others were flying freely.

One example of an enclosure for multiple birds.

Of course, the risk is one may get bombed with a plop of bird poop. One such plop landed on our friend’s cell phone.

The sandhill cranes were in an enclosed pen, but I was able to zoom in for a picture. I’ve only seen them in flight, or in a field before, so it was special to see them so close.

Some of the birds may be perfectly healthy, but they know where to find an easy, free meal. Part of the sanctuary is open to the seashore, along the intercoastal waterway.

I’m grateful for the people who run this small, but intimate bird sanctuary that is free and open to the public (donations accepted). It’s a way to help the birds, and to introduce the birds to anyone who stops by.